Brooke Shields On Her Best Decade! At Harper's Bazaar's Luncheon With Estee Lauder

by The Daily Front Row

(NEW YORK) Harper’s Bazaar threw its annual celebration of age’s insignificance, aka “Fabulous At Every Age,” in tandem with Estee Lauder yesterday afternoon. Brooke Shields was on hosting duty for the luncheon, which consisted of a five-lettuce salad, grilled salmon and roasted chicken avec peas, morel mushrooms, cheesecake, and that billion-dollar sweeping view of Central Park from the 44th floor Hearst Tower perch. Also on the agenda? Glenda Bailey welcomed the Shields’ intros and hugs for this year’s finalists (congrats to winner Teruko Laura Burrell, 54, plus the full roster of finalists: Jen Tam, 24, Norma Lujan, 38, Florence Wormser, 48, and Karyn Calabrese, 66!), and Bazaar publisher Carol Smith wrapping things up by reading a very apropos birthday card she received this week from an old college roommate. (Happy belated, Carol!) Apres lunching, Shields chatted with The Daily about being beyond her years as a tot and being just where she wants to be right now. 
BY ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV 

How do you feel about aging: Does getting older freak you out, Brooke?
It’s taken me so long, and through so many different eras in my life, to truly hear my own voice. This last decade has been the least oppressive; the self-inflicting kind of oppression. It’s been the most fulfilling time in my emotional and physical life.

Why? 
I’m celebrating myself instead of trying to be someone else. 

Gotcha. How does that feel?  
I feel like I’m in my youth now. I always felt, and had to act, older than my age as a kid. I was the little kid who acted like an adult.

How so?
I was never really precocious, but I bore the weight of every situation. I was always taking care of the people around me, of my mother…and I was busy being a professional when I was really young. That period of time where you start to listen to yourself was totally disjointed for me. There was no progression emotionally.

Did motherhood help you feel more confident? 
No; I was rendered completely insecure upon having my first child! 

Any words of wisdom on hitting that sweet spot?
Don’t rush it! But make sure you listen. You may get there earlier than I did. My circumstances were…unique. My daughters are seven and 10 years old, and I think they’re more self aware than I was at their ages. 

You may also like