Model Dorrit Bøilerehauge: “Now that I'm older, I'm self-assured in a different way”

It often feels as if everyone else has it all figured out, but if you look a little closer you’ll notice the cracks. Our new monthly series My Imperfect Life featuring inspiring Scandinavian tastemakers is about exactly that: life’s beautiful, but it's also about challenging moments – and overcoming them. After all, it’s often in the toughest times we find out who we really are...

Dorrit Bøilerehauge never had any intention of becoming a model. Though much of her youth was spent scribbling at her desk, fashioning clothing for little paper dolls and experimenting with old vintage pieces stowed away in her parents’ attic, it still hadn’t ever quite dawned on her that modelling could be on the cards. Even years later, when busy working as a university professor in Aarhus University, spending her 9 - 5 lecturing on fashion branding and digging into the far corners of the internet for the latest trends, she still hadn’t ever entertained the thought of being in front of the camera.

But after a chance message from a modelling agent took her by surprise (and with a little bit of persuasion from her family members) she suddenly started to entertain the thought of embracing an entirely new career later in life. Having walked for the likes of Aeron, Lovechild1979 and appearing in high-profile campaigns such as H&M and Caia Cosmetics (and not to mention the three covers she has shot in this year alone) she’s well on her way to a successful second career in the industry that she has long loved.

Now, she’s taken to the Insta grid to share her wisdom and highlight how age diversity in the industry is so important. Being one of the first to admit that life on the internet isn’t all that it seems, she shares her honest, no-holds-barred guide to living life authentically:

I never quite considered that I would be modelling in my sixties, but here I am. By now, I've been a model for a year and a half. I got into it by chance after receiving a message from an agent at the modelling agency Le Management, who had seen me somewhere and asked, "Would you be interested?" I was happily surprised, but then I started to get a little doubtful, saying to myself, "Do I really want to do this?" It was actually my grown up daughters who reassured me that it was a great opportunity and encouraged me to go for it. I’m glad they did, as now ​​I love entering the studio and the whole creative process.

I’ve also realised now that I like challenges, so that’s probably why I started cold water swimming. All of a sudden I thought, ‘I can do that.’ I live close to the sea in Aarhus, so I’ll go swimming once a week in the morning. Often I go on a Sunday, and afterwards I’ll warm up with coffee and breakfast. I’ll go with my neighbours, it’s such a nice thing to do together. It resets you and recharges you and it opens up your senses. When I stand there, it gives me lots of clarity and energy.

I used to be very critical towards myself. It was that fault-finding mission that so many of us have when we look at ourselves in the mirror. But when I was in my fifties and I started ageing, I realised how absurd this was and I decided, ‘That's enough!’ Ageing challenges a lot of people, but we have to say, ‘Now it’s time.’ I'm exercising and I'm in the gym three times a week, so it all comes together. The self-doubt from my twenties has faded, and now I think, ‘I've done okay.’

The years bringing up small children are frightfully busy. I have two daughters, Anna Sofia and Cristina, and when they were little I was working as an assistant professor. It’s round the clock, with the daytime job and looking after the kids. You're busy, you're tired and you haven't done it before so you think, ‘OK, How should I handle this situation?’ But I managed. I just got on with it. I trusted my intuition, even as a young mother – and I also enjoyed it.

I enjoy learning and that's what drives me. When I work on my Instagram, what I'm trying to do is show people that mature people can be cool. I write about a lot of topics, such as age diversity and what's on my mind. It's not telling other people what they should do, but if they get inspired, then, that’s great.

I don't edit my photos (it would take too long) so the images really are me. Yes, I take a lot of photos and choose the best one, and that's what you get. Nobody should be embarrassed about the way they look. I am where I am in life and I should look the way I look.

We're very fascinated by youth; some people pursue it their whole lives, and yet, we also know that when we are young, it’s not the easiest time. It brings with it lots of fun, lots of exciting times, but there are also moments of uncertainty and doubt – it's a mixed picture.

Now that I'm older, I'm self-assured in a different way. When it comes to a second career later on in life, my experience is that I know myself much better now than I did before. I've tried many things and I've been successful in a number of those things, and I know by now that if I work at something, I’ll get better. But I’m no longer worried about what other people might think any more. If things go wrong, which some things inevitably will, it doesn't define me.