- Jane Fonda opened up about why she doesn’t like shopping.
- She said it makes her “uncomfortable” for a few reasons.
- “I would say 90% I’ve made peace with my body,” she explained.
Jane Fonda appears to be a picture of confidence—but the actress has insecurities like anyone else. The 87-year-old opened up about shopping for clothes and body image in a new interview.
Fonda recently told The New York Times that she “basically [doesn’t] go shopping” for a few reasons. First and foremost, she is an activist and environmentalist who swore off buying new clothes during a 2019 protest and has been known to recycle outfits. Secondly, Fonda isn’t a huge fan of the fitting room, she admitted.
“Occasionally I will order something online if I’m on a trip and going into forests and need quick-drying pants and shirts—that kind of thing. But I don’t like to shop. I feel uncomfortable,” she explained. “I would say 90% I’ve made peace with my body, but there’s still that 10%. It’s hard to stand in the fitting room and put clothes on and not like the way you look.”
She prefers to put her effort and energy into other facets of life that she knows sets a positive example for women everywhere. “It manifests in remaining active, keeping fit, standing up for what you believe politically, having good posture, staying curious,” she said. Those intentions have kept her young, physically and mentally. “I don’t feel like an old person. I’m much younger than I was when I was in my 20s, in all the ways that matter,” she shared.
The one compromise she has made for aging is her footwear—she’s not big into heels (unless they’re Sneex, of course), which is why she is promoting a campaign with luxury sneaker brand Golden Goose. “I started really getting into sneakers in my 40s when I started running,” she said. “Back then, I wore sneakers only for working out and running. Now that I’m 87, I don’t wear heels anymore because they throw my pelvis and my hips out of whack. So low heels or almost flat shoes have become my thing.”
And over the years, she has collected a lot of them. “I don’t throw them away. I don’t want them to end up in the ocean,” she said. “I have many, many dozens of all kinds of sneakers, starting with the old colored Reebok high-tops.”
One less thing to shop for, right?
Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.