Courtney Blood and her mum Marie have always loved fashion and spending long afternoons shopping, but neither of them imagined their favourite pastime would change their lives.
Just over a year ago, during a visit to a local Target store, Courtney filmed 82-year-old Marie styled up in the latest looks. Proud of her mum’s zest for life and age-defying good looks, the former corporate executive-turned-stylist later posted the videos, of Marie playfully strutting an impromptu change room catwalk, to her social media.
“We had so much fun filming and I thought I’d share some of Mum’s top tips for ageing well, because she is fit and fantastic and living a great life at 82,” Courtney tells Woman’s Day. Within 24 hours, Courtney’s Instagram had gone into meltdown, and “Granny M” as her family lovingly calls her, was trending around the world.
INSTA-GRAN!
“I didn’t even know what Instagram was, let alone becoming an influencer! One of my sons now calls me Insta-Gran,” Marie laughs. Such was the response to their feel-good reels, sharing their fashion tips and tricks using affordable basics and pre-loved, recycled pieces, that the stylish mother and daughter duo began posting regularly.
Today, they’ve amassed almost 250,000 followers from every corner of the world on their Instagram feed @mondayprojectco, including the USA, Ireland and Canada. “We certainly didn’t plan this,” Courtney says. “Mum and I get together and have fun, doing what makes us happy, and it’s all just evolved naturally.”
Although the glamorous octogenarian is finding fashion fame later in life, Courtney says Marie, a mother of four, grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of three, has always had an eye for style.
“She didn’t spend a huge amount on clothes when we were growing up because we didn’t have the money to spend, we always bought pre-loved or recycled clothes, and dyed things or altered them to suit us, and Mum sewed all of my clothes,” Courtney says.
“I refused to wear my school uniform, I’d turn up to school in beautiful dresses with layers of petticoats, dressed to the nines. My teacher told me she looked forward to coming to school just to see what I was wearing!”
NO-FUSS RULES
“My mother sewed and my grandmother sewed,” Marie adds. “We always took good care of our clothes, that was just the norm.” The pair have followed the same, no-fuss beauty rules throughout the years, too, with healthy body and mind at the heart of their routine. Marie, who used to run marathons with Courtney, and still runs 10km every morning with a cross-country running club, attends the local U3A group every week, enrolling in a variety of classes, and swears by simple skincare and a daily sunscreen for her glowing skin.
“My mother Nelly lived to 98 and she had the most beautiful skin,” Marie says. “She never went out in the sun and used basic cold-cream every day.”
“Mum taught us from a very early age that if you take care of your hair, teeth, skin and nails, if you got those basics right, everything else worked,” Courtney, 54, adds “It’s never too late to start looking after yourself.”
The pair have recently been to Europe for a dream holiday, the rewards of their social media success and they are buoyed in the knowledge that they’re making a difference to positive ageing. “We don’t see a lot of women in their 80s around, we’re invisible, that’s a very real thing, and we need to give more exposure to older women – and as women, we need to be more assertive and say, ‘I’m here!’” Marie says.
“For me, it’s the joy of being with Courtney, we have a lot of fun.” “Yes we do,” Courtney adds, “We are just a mum and daughter having fun, showing what we do, and if it helps others then great! People tell us it inspires them, and if it spreads a little self-love then we’re happy.”
Pick up this week’s Woman’s Day for more of Courtney and Marie’s top fashion tips and visit on Instagram @mondayprojectco and @womansdayaus for our fashion collaboration with them.
