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At 76, Meryl Streep Is Making a Statement. The Clothes Are Just Part of It
Six cities. Thirty looks. One argument: Older women are not finished, and the world needs to pay attention
With her bold, confident style during the press tour for “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” Meryl Streep is “rejecting the premise that women of a certain age must style themselves with a whisper rather than a roar.” (Photo by Grant Buchanan/Dave Benett/WireImage)
Grant Buchanan/Dave Benett/WireImage
Key takeaways
- Meryl Streep used her press tour to make an explicit statement about the invisibility of older women, telling reporters in Japan that women over 50 “disappear into the woodwork.”
- Anti-ageism activist Ashton Applewhite and Pratt Institute fashion professor Adrienne Jones both argue that what Streep is doing goes beyond celebrity dressing — it is a public demonstration that confidence and visibility deepen after 50.
- Stylist Micaela Erlanger built the entire tour around one principle: Dress Meryl Streep as she is now, not as the character she plays.
Meryl Streep knows what is at stake. At a press conference promoting The Devil Wears Prada 2 in Japan, the three-time Oscar winner and one of AARP’s Movies for Grownups fabulous women over 50, spoke about what it means to be leading a major Hollywood film at 76. “You don’t see many 70-, almost 77-year-old women playing parts like this in any movie or under any circumstance,” she told reporters, as shared by the Associated Press. “So I’m happy to represent, you know?”
She went further. “Often women over 50, I’d say, disappear into the woodwork,” she added. “Their interests and opinions are less valued in our culture, so it’s fun to see this person who is credibly placed in the world and having that influence.”
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Streep kicks off “The Devil Wears Prada 2” press tour at the fan event in Mexico City on March 30, wearing a floor-length navy Schiaparelli gown with gold hardware, paired with a Schiaparelli bag and jewels.
Angel Delgado/Getty Images for Disney
Ashton Applewhite, an anti-ageism activist and the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, heard those words and recognized them for what they were: “She is explicitly calling out gendered ageism. She’s not just doing her job as a celebrity promoting a movie. She is making a political statement, and that’s courageous.”
The statement, Applewhite argues, carries weight precisely because of who is making it. “She is a remarkable actor. She has extraordinary, unique talent. So that powers, in my opinion, the way she is in the world. When you are in the presence of a great artist, then that changes the water and the air around her.” And the message Streep sends to women watching? “She’s encouraging women to take up space with confidence,” says Applewhite.
Streep appears on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in New York on April 1, wearing a cerulean blue J.Crew sweater, Dolce & Gabbana trousers and Gianvito Rossi shoes — a direct nod to the original film’s most famous scene.
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
Carla Rockmore, a fashion designer and influencer who has built a following by championing style for women 50 and older, puts it more bluntly. “By dressing so boldly, Meryl Streep is rejecting the premise that women of a certain age must style themselves with a whisper rather than a roar,” she says. “It’s a power move.”
AARP’s own research backs her up. The Mirror/Mirror study, which has tracked women’s perspectives on aging and beauty since 2018, found that the understanding of beauty expands and deepens with age — a conclusion drawn from surveys of thousands of women across generations. The most recent edition, released in 2025, found that women grow into their authentic selves as they age, but that media representations have failed to capture that authenticity.
.jpg?anchor=0,24&q=80&color=ffffffff&u=k2e9ec&w=375 "Meryl Streep’s Most Stylish Press Tour Ever")
At the world premiere at Lincoln Center in New York on April 20, Streep wears a sweeping red Givenchy by Sarah Burton caped gown with black leather opera gloves, David Yurman jewels and Stuart Weitzman shoes.
Patricia Schlein/STAR MAX/IPx/Getty Images
Streep walks the red carpet at “The Devil Wears Prada 2” European Premiere in London on April 23, wearing a custom red Prada satin coat over a white silk blouse and black tailored trousers, with Leighton jewels and a custom Judith Leiber bag.
Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images
At a fan event in Seoul on April 8, Streep wears a custom all-black Celine by Michael Rider sculptural ensemble with a wide obi belt, Oliver Peoples sunglasses and Leighton jewels.
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Streep’s press tour, seen through that lens, is not just a fashion moment. It is a corrective.
Streep’s movie The Devil Wears Prada 2 opens May 1, and the six weeks that preceded it included stops in six cities around the world and upwards of 30 looks, all of which were built around a single idea. Stylist Micaela Erlanger, who has worked with Streep for 11 years, was clear from the start: This tour was not about Miranda Priestly, the imperious magazine editor Streep plays in the film. “We wanted to have a wink and a nod to the original movie, but it’s also about evolution,” she told Vogue. “It was about dressing Meryl Streep as she is now, a powerful and realized woman at the height of her career.”
Julia von Boehm, a creative consultant and celebrity stylist who has dressed Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Uma Thurman, watched the tour with a professional eye. What struck her was not the volume of the looks but what held them together. “Her looks are more out there for this press tour, but still I feel like they’re not like a fashion trend,” she says. “She still stays herself.”
That balance showed up city by city. In Seoul, Streep wore a custom Prada red suit; the look was clean, commanding and elegant. In New York, at the world premiere on April 20, Erlanger first sent her out in a Gucci tiger-print fur coat — what the stylist called “a little decoy” on Instagram— before Streep changed into the actual premiere look: a sweeping red Givenchy by Sarah Burton caped gown with black leather opera gloves and David Yurman jewels. “Everything about this look exudes power and confidence,” Erlanger told Vogue. “Every inch of her is covered, but not in a way that feels modest or apologetic. It’s both power and autonomy. It reads as fashion armor while still demanding to be looked at all at once.”
Streep arrives at Lincoln Center wearing a Gucci tiger-print fur coat over black trousers with Gucci sunglasses, Fope 1929 jewelry and a Fashionphile clutch — what her stylist Micaela Erlanger called “a little decoy” before the main event.
The Hapa Blonde/GC Images/Getty Images
During a photo call in Seoul on April 8, Streep wears a custom red Prada double-breasted suit with a brown leather belt, gold chain necklace and David Yurman jewels.
Han Myung-Gu/WireImage/Getty Images
For von Boehm, the through line across every look is not the designers or the silhouettes. It’s something inherent to Streep. “She never struggled to stay relevant. She was always herself. She never changed, but she’s still young in spirit and in fashion, and she has humor. Sometimes when she wears something, she takes it with humor, and that’s wonderful. She doesn’t take herself too serious.” And the message that sends to women watching? Von Boehm is unambiguous: “You’re not finished with life. You’re out there and you’re great and you’re confident.”
Applewhite makes a related observation. Streep’s style, she notes, is doing something specific that separates it from the anxiety-driven dressing that often surrounds older women in Hollywood: “Her fashions and her style are not chasing youth.”
Streep greets fans in Shanghai on April 10, wearing a deep blue satin Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello dress with a wide dark obi sash, Cindy Chao jewels, Alexandre Birman heels and Wolford stockings.
VCG/VCG via Getty Images
Adrienne Jones, who has taught fashion design at New York’s Pratt Institute for more than 25 years, situates Streep within a longer tradition. Women dressing boldly and brilliantly in their later decades is not new, she says — it simply rarely gets this kind of platform. Streep, Jones says, “is just one of many style icons who hits the nail on the head every time she steps out the door.”
What the tour represents for women who aren’t celebrities is something Jones has carefully considered. “Women over 50 are not dead,” she says.
The culture of youth has obscured a practical truth: By the time a woman reaches her 50s, she has largely figured out who she is. “When you’re younger, you really haven’t developed a style yet. You’re still figuring out who you are,” says Jones. That figuring-out process, she argues, is what produces the freedom that defines how older women dress at their best: “Women over 50 are free. I don’t have to fit in any box. I don’t even know what the box is, what the shape of a box is.”
For women who want to start somewhere, Jones has one piece of advice. Forget black as a default. “Start with color,” she says. “Color changes everything.” That means a scarf, a sweater, a cardigan, whatever works for you. “And don’t forget the lipstick.”
Streep attends ‘A Night with The Runway’ Gala Reception for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” at the National Gallery in London on April 23, wearing a floor-length Richard Quinn gown covered in dense black embellishment with Emmanuelle Khanh sunglasses, Sauer jewelry and Wolford fishnet stockings.
Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images
For all the best on film and TV, visit AARP’s Movies for Grownups.
The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
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