Still chasing her dreams: Peta Mathias on the art of being fabulous

Peta Mathias is simply too busy embracing the next chapter of her life. Photo / Sally Tagg

At the age of 71, Peta Mathias still has strangers coming up in the street to tell her she's beautiful. Clearly she is not beautiful, says Peta, who describes herself as pomegranate-shaped with a long nose and 30,000 freckles. What those people are attracted to is her flamboyant appearance, she explains.

Even during lockdowns, living alone in a small inner-city Auckland apartment, Peta chooses something gorgeous to wear each day. "Clothes make me feel happy," she says. "I love beauty and I love style."

Her latest book, Shed Couture, tells the story of her life through a passion for fashion. She has always loved dressing up and that hasn't changed just because she is older now.

"Sometimes I'll change clothes three times a day so I'm happy with the colour I'm wearing," she admits. "It's all about mood. I might walk around in an outfit for a few hours, feel out of sync, and as soon as I change it, feel balanced and right again."

Peta is outspoken and funny about fashion – she thinks pink lipstick is a cry for help, white leggings make you look like a slug that has lost its colour and black is not a colour but an absence of light – but she is also very serious. She shops carefully and cleverly, buying clothes that she will keep and wear for decades, and has some garments still in use that date back to the '80s and '90s.

Living in the moment: "Sometimes I'll change clothes three time a day," says Peta. "It's all about mood." Photo / Sally Tagg

"Most of my clothes are bought on-sale or in recycle departments," she tells. "Occasionally, I'll have a breakdown and buy something at full price if I can't live without it, but that's unusual. They're all such good quality that they never fall apart. And the other trick is that I don't buy clothes that are dramatically fashionable, so they tend not to date."

For a long time, Peta stored her older couture in a shed (hence the name of the book) since she had gained a lot of weight during menopause and couldn't fit into it. But now those extra kilos have fallen off and those clothes are back in circulation again.

Peta says it would be 'boring' to retire. Photo / Sally Tagg

Forget the idea that older women are meant to be invisible or that you should change your style as you age, Peta isn't buying into any of it. She sports blazing red hair and a bold red lip, layers on scarves and jewellery, and refuses to give up high heels.

"Nature is your enemy and you have to fight it till the end," she says. "This is just my opinion, but as you get older, you need to add the colour that you're losing from your hair and skin. You can't just lie down and give in."

It helps that Peta got her age crisis over with early on in life. "I was hitting 30 and I looked in the mirror and for the first time noticed that my body was changing," she recalls. "I could see the lines on my face for the first time.

"Up to that point, I'd been drifting. I'd been living this free life and I realised I had to get my act together. I couldn't just keep wandering around forever having adventure and romance."

That was when she started to construct the always-interesting life she went on to lead, which has included a fair bit of adventure and romance, but also lots of hard work. Peta has presented TV shows, written books, performed stage shows and led foodie tours to every corner of the globe. While she might be in her eighth decade now, she is still chasing dreams and leading a big, bold life.

Peta says she is constantly coming up with new ideas and plans. Photo / Sally Tagg

Still, turning 70 was a milestone, she concedes. "It was so shocking that it wasn't shocking," she shares. "And 70 just sounded so old that I couldn't feel anything. So I had a party, then thought there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm just ignoring it and pretending it's not happening, which is basically what I've done."

The pandemic has changed things for Peta, as it has for most people. It means she can't get back to the home she renovated in the south of France and had to cancel all her international tours. Rather than deciding that it was time for retirement, Peta has been almost as busy as ever, holding events and tours in New Zealand, hosting cooking classes at her home and even managing a Rarotonga tour.

She is constantly coming up with new ideas and plans. "I don't feel like I've peaked yet," explains Peta. "It's not that I have a list of things I want to do, but I feel like I have lots of energy and it would be boring to retire. Things do tend to come to me – they sort of fall on my head.

"My television career fell on my head. So did book writing – I was only going to write one book and I've written 18. You never know what life holds, so you've got to be open.

"Also, as you get older, you need to keep your brain, as well as your body, really healthy. If there's one thing that will keep you mentally sharp, it's continuing to work and learn new skills."

Clothing is there to tell a story about you, she believes. Your choice of cut, colour, fabric and style send subtle messages about who you are. Peta's clothes send a strong signal that she is interesting.

"You can tell that I'm a performer and I'm not shy because dressing like this attracts a lot of attention," she tells.

Her love of fashion was inherited from her mother, who was a talented seamstress and made lovely clothes for all six of her children. During the hippie era in the 1970s, she loosened things up. And then moving to Paris when she was 30, Peta became influenced by the way French women dress. All of those eras of her life went into forming the style she has today.

"But style is really just knowing what suits you," she says. "And if you're an ordinary looking person, which I am, then it helps you make the best that you possibly can of your appearance. I think it's a matter of self-respect."

Not everyone feels happiest in bright clothes, she concedes, and some people don't care about fashion at all, but she always will. Wearing beautiful clothes each day is an easy source of pleasure and it has been hugely cheering for her in these uncertain times.

While she misses her globe-trotting life, Peta is grateful to be in New Zealand right now.

"I sit on my balcony here, look at the beautiful view and even though I've lost a lot, I'm thankful."

The upside of having her wings trimmed is that she has spent more time with friends and family, has got to know the local food and music scenes better, and has travelled all over Aotearoa, meeting new people.

Life is still full of uncertainties, but one thing seems sure, Peta will find a way to make the best of things.

"I don't know what my future holds, but I'm going to be very well dressed in it," she promises.

• Shed Couture by Peta Mathias is published by Penguin Random House.