“I’m sure my friends think that I’m the last person to have a facelift, since I never wear makeup and I like wearing shorts and sneakers. I’ve always been sort of a tomboy,” says Maryland resident Susan*, age 60. But a facelift is just what she did. It started when Susan, a trained nurse, was asked by two friends to help them when they had their facelifts. “It got me thinking and doing some research.”

Susan chose Maryland plastic surgeon Dr. Michele Shermak. While talking about a facelift, Susan told Shermak that she had also always been bothered by her 36DD breasts. She ended up scheduling a breast reduction and a lift. And while doing that, she added in an upper eyelift, with more surgery to come.

According to Shermak, clients like Susan represent today’s consumers. “There has definitely been a trend to combine procedures,” says Shermak. “No one wants to undergo surgery and take off from work and other daily activities twice.”

A smiling Susan says, “Having a breast reduction was the best thing I ever did. It made me feel like a new person. I’m now about a medium-C and can wear shirts I never could before, and my buttons aren’t popping open.”

THE PRIZE ON THE EYES
As people age, their eyelids stretch and the muscles supporting them weaken. As a result, the eyelids begin to droop and get crepey. Maryland board-certified plastic surgeon Gregory Dick says, “Upon meeting someone, the first thing we look at are their eyes and we can quickly gauge the person’s mood, health, vitality, and age.”

Susan remembers, “I was beginning to think that I was looking older than my age, which was not something I wanted.” Susan had what is called blepharoplasty, an eyelid lift achieved by removing all of the extra skin that might have accumulated on the eye as a result of aging, gravity, and loss of elasticity. Blepharoplasty gives the patient a refreshed appearance without telegraphing to the world that they’ve had plastic surgery. Patients heal well and scars are very forgiving—often totally imperceptible. It’s not a very painful recovery and results last a long time. Dick says, “That’s why the eyes are the big bang for the buck, the best use of one’s funds.” Susan would certainly agree. She says, “It made me [look] brighter and took years off my face.”

THE FACELIFT COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET
“Today, there’s more information online about plastic surgery. I think when fashion designer Marc Jacobs at 58 had a facelift in 2021 and documented the entire procedure, it gave a lot of people something to think about,” says Shermak. The average age of her patients getting procedures done is 50-plus. The most popular age range is anywhere between 50 and 70, though she says she’s seeing younger people coming in for work, in part thanks to Zoom. “They want to look refreshed and there are many ways to achieve this from a mini-facelift or a neck lift, to a lower facelift, full facelift, to injectables.”

Several months after her first procedures, Susan underwent a lower facelift with Shermak. A lower facelift focuses on everything below the corners of the mouth and includes nasolabial folds (creases extending from both sides of the nose to the corners of the mouth), marionette lines, jawline, the submental (under chin) area, jowls, and the neck. Susan’s surgery was performed in an accredited surgical center, and she went home the same day.

“I went to a work meeting with people I hadn’t seen in a long time and one person was staring at me,” Susan happily remembers. “When I asked what was wrong, they said, ‘I can’t put my finger on it, but you look younger.’ I think it took 10 years off my face. It’s so natural looking, not like the tight Joan Rivers look of years ago.” Susan finished her journey with a lower eyelift in 2022.

THE MOMMY MAKEOVER
Maryland resident Amy says, “I’ve always had a weight problem.” So, after losing 40 pounds and knowing she was finished having children, Amy had a consultation with Maryland plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Cohen about having work done on her breasts and abdomen. This procedure has become known as a “Mommy Makeover.” According to Cohen, “Mommy Makeovers are very popular and it’s mostly for women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s who have had their children. They’ve seen changes in their mid-section as well as possibly in their breasts, even though they lead a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and eat well.”

“Some things just can’t be corrected without surgery,” he continues.

Many women show Cohen pictures of what they think is attractive, which is helpful as it gives a good idea of what they want.

“A “Mommy Makeover” can involve a tummy tuck—removing fat, skin, and tightening muscles—liposuctions and, for the breasts, just a lift or having an implant to restore firmness,” says Cohen. “Other times it’s a breast reduction, and sometimes a woman wants to go bigger.”

Amy, who had two C-sections, had a “Mommy Makeover” in June 2021. The seven-hour surgery involved a tummy tuck, breast reduction and lift, and liposuction on her back and hip area. Cohen says, “Generally recovery is anywhere between three to six weeks.” For her part, Amy is thrilled with the results. “My clothes fit so much better now,” she says. “There are no bulges.”

NO SURGERY, THANK YOU
Not everyone who wants to turn back the clock or look refreshed wants surgery. “Today, there are many non-invasive procedures to address a multitude of issues,” says Maryland dermatologist Dr. Robert Weiss, of Maryland Dermatology Laser Skin & Vein and an investigator on many procedures. “And now many products and procedures that were delayed because of the pandemic are becoming available.”

Maryland resident Linda, who is in her 60s, was having her yearly skin checkup when her dermatologist, Dr. Margaret Weiss—whose husband is Dr. Robert Weiss—asked if there was anything she wanted to address. “I was like, ‘I really hate the dark circles and puffiness under my eyes,’” says Linda, who has never wanted injectables.

Margaret Weiss, also at Maryland Dermatology Laser Skin & Vein, told her about a new non-invasive device, Tixel, that could correct that problem. After showing her the literature, Linda went home, thought about it, and made an appointment. “They gave me numbing cream before the procedure, so it wasn’t painful,” says Linda who had four treatments, each about 15 minutes. “I was a little red, but there wasn’t any downtime. And after the treatments, I had people commenting on how beautiful my eyes looked,” says a pleased Linda.

Be On Trend

Curious to know what’s trending?

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, these are the top five surgical procedures of 2020, the year for which there is most recent data:

◼ Nose Reshaping
◼ Eyelid Surgery
◼ Facelift
◼ Liposuction
◼ Breast Augmentation
◼ Other high volume surgical procedures, including tummy tuck and breast lift

AND THE TOP FIVE MINIMALLY INVASIVE COSMETIC PROCEDURES:
◼ Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox, Dysport, Xeomin)
◼ Soft Tissue Fillers
◼ Chemical Peel
◼ Laser Skin Resurfacing
◼ Intense Pulsed Light (ILP Treatment)
◼ Other high volume minimally invasive procedures:
Noninvasive Fat Reduction,
Nonsurgical Skin Tightening

GAME CHANGERS
Robert Weiss explains that, “Tixel has been available in Europe for about four years and in the States in the last year. It works with thermal energy that is delivered through a titanium treatment head. It’s safe to use around the eyes and during the treatment we use a Zimmer cooler that blows cold air on the skin. Patients report it’s about a zero-to-one on a scale of zero-to-10 for pain. It tightens the skin, improves tone and texture, and lifts eyes for sagging eyelids or eyebags.”

In other words, Tixel is something of a non-surgical eye lift. “My European colleagues say that it can last several years,” he says. “We are also using it to get rid of the lines around the mouth. There is no downtime, and it gets better over time.”

For those who want immediate results on upper lip lines, there’s Redensity, a new category of fillers classified as a dermal booster. It’s superficially injected to boost the dermas. Unlike many other fillers, there are no bumps or lumps, so the final result is a natural look.

Weiss says that he prefers Tixel because it lasts longer compared to Redensity, which, like other fillers, only lasts about a year. Tixel can last up to five years.

Another injectable, DAXXIFY (DAXI), a competitor of the ever-popular Botox, has been getting a lot of hype. Weiss explains that while it was delayed by the pandemic, DAXI is an injectable treatment that promises to be longer-lasting than others on the market, and rather than having three treatments a year, only requires two.

“Patients who are happy with Botox might not change,” he says. “But patients who would rather come into the office only twice a year may find it appealing. Of course, a lot will depend on pricing.”

“Whatever injectable we use, we never want our patients to have that deer-in-the-headlights look,” he concludes.

There’s still more that’s new on the market. The latest of the Restylane family of hyaluronic-acid injectables is Restylane Contour. Used in the cheek area, it volumizes as well as lifts in a very natural subtle way, and lasts about a year.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
As everyone knows, it’s easy to gain some weight, and even when we don’t, our weight tends to redistribute, especially as we age. Dr. Shirley Olsen of Maryland says, “One patient came in when she couldn’t zip up her jeans. The funny thing was she hadn’t gained any weight, it had just shifted. And by wearing only leggings, she didn’t know. The good news is that CoolSculpting did the trick. All her jeans now fit.”

Olsen, who has performed over 10,000 CoolSculpting procedures, is now using CoolSculpting Elite. It is used for the treatment of visible fat bulges in the submental (under the chin) and submandibular (under the jawline) areas, thigh, abdomen, and flank. It can also combat bra fat, back fat, underneath the buttocks (also known as banana roll), and upper arm.

“CoolSculpting Elite results in 18 percent more fat reduction than the older Legacy,” says Olsen. “There’s less bruising, it is more comfortable, and can do up to four sites at once. In 35 minutes, the total treatment is done.” The manufacturers of CoolSculpting also say there is some skin tightening. But it’s important to know that it’s not a treatment for weight loss.

Another non-invasive treatment is EMSCULPT. It’s the first esthetic device to build muscle and sculpt your body. Through high-intensity electromagnetic therapy, one can firm and tone muscles. This procedure builds muscles and burns fat without having to hit the gym and do sit-ups to get that six-pack. For best results, four treatments are recommended over the course of four weeks.

“Today the goal with all non-invasive treatments is a better but natural look,” says Robert Weiss. And with so many women—and men, too—exploring ways to ward off aging, there are certain to be more and more injectables and procedures coming to market.

*Some of the names in this story have been changed to protect the privacy of the subjects.

You could say managing money is in Dorie Fain’s blood.

“I’m third generation in the business—my father and grandfather had their own firms, in financial planning and as a stockbroker,” says Fain, adding that, at night, her parents would sit around the dinner table and talk about work. (Her mother was a physical therapist in special education.)

“It was an incredible gift to have our parents frame our career choices around the kind of life we wanted to live above the actual work itself,” she says.

That’s what ultimately led to her 2009 founding of &Wealth, a boutique financial advisory firm created specifically for women who are managing major life changes—like divorce or widowhood—and are on their own with newfound finances for the very first time.

You are known for helping women manage their money. What was the impetus behind that?
Over the many years that I worked at a big firm, there were three distinct instances where the husband almost exclusively drove all of the day-to-day investment direction. Over time, when each husband died, the surviving wife was left with an enormous burden to navigate all the tax, legal, and financial complexity on her own for the very first time. Each of the male professional advisors had been selected by the husbands and were not an ideal fit for a grieving spouse who needed significant support.

How did your own divorce change the path of your career?
I had avoided divorce like it was contagious but then found myself getting divorced. This personal experience informed my view of the emotional aspect of making major life decisions during the most intense grief. Other women started to seek out my guidance knowing I had also been divorced, which started the path to the niche we serve today.

While it impacts both men and women, the people who we serve tend to fit in more traditional roles where men earn the majority or all the money, and the women do most everything else. Women were often left outside of the conversations and decision-making that built the foundation of their shared financial picture. Traditionally, the advisor structure was built by men, for men. We want women to be included in the conversation—built by women, for women.

What do you wish women knew about money?
In my experience, women have shown to have far better instincts and have more patience and less ego when making decisions about money. I think it is important that women hear this and know this. I also think it is not helpful for women to receive the message that they should be doing this alone or that they must take an interest in the topic of money.

There is an entire profession that was built to provide this support, that men have been actively gaining advantage in for decades. It simply means that more women understand that they can build the same types of trusting professional relationships that have benefited men for so long

“You know why women love Claire McCardell?” says sculptor Sarah Hempel Irani. “Because she gave us pockets. And then she gave us flats.”

The only girl of Eleanor and Adrian McCardell’s four children, Claire McCardell was born into a well-to-do family in Frederick in 1905. She climbed trees, rode horses, skied, and acquired the nickname “Kick” for her skill in keeping roughhousing boys at bay. She also made outfits for her paper dolls from her mother’s magazine photos, kept an interested eye on local seamstress Annie Koogle when she sewed clothes for the family, and liked to tear apart her brothers’ less-restrictive clothes to see how they were pieced together.

The visionary behind ready-to-wear fashion for women on the move, she’d later create sporty cycling ensembles for women and incorporate menswear details in her signature designs.

“She wouldn’t have called herself a revolutionary,” Hempel Irani continues, “but what she did was revolutionary.”

McCardell tossed aside girdles, darts, shoulder pads, and unwieldy zippers that ran along the back of garments, as well as Paris fashion trends, and developed the distinctive, mid-century style known as The American Look that embodied both elegant simplicity and practical purpose.

“I like buttons that button and bows that tie,” she once said. More recently, McCardell’s designs served as the go-to fashion inspiration for the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime hit The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

As always, necessity was the mother of her inventions. When leather and rubber were in short supply during World War II, she turned to shoe manufacturer Capezio to help repurpose ballet slippers into functional footwear that fit her designs. To lighten her luggage on her European travels, McCardell created separates by designing dresses with interchangeable blouses and skirts.

Over a groundbreaking career as a designer and businesswoman, she became one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century, according to Life magazine, influencing designers from Diane von Furstenberg to Michael Kors and Donna Karan.

“She modernized the way women dress,” designer Anna Sui told The Washington Post. “Her clothes are timeless.”

Two years ago, the all-women’s Frederick Art Club, founded in 1897, decided the time was long overdue to honor McCardell, whose clothes are part of the collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, and the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

Initial plans called for a relatively modest bas-relief sculpture. But as they delved into their subject, they realized they wanted to make a larger statement that would reflect the enormous impact of her democratizing designs for the women of her era, who were seeking freedom and new roles in the workplace and society.

“Newswomen, in particular, were crazy about her,” says Linda Moran, chair of the Art Club’s Claire McCardell Project. “They gave her two Coty Awards.”

Eventually, they commissioned Hempel Irani, an award-winning sculptor who had recently moved back to Frederick, to create a 7-foot-6-inch bronze sculpture to pay homage to the designer in her hometown. (McCardell, whose life and career were cut short by cancer in 1958, is buried in the family plot at Frederick’s Mount Olivet Cemetery.) The bronze statue, with accompanying signage that will share her story, is scheduled for a fall unveiling at the city’s Carroll Creek Linear Park, Fredrick’s popular downtown greenway.

With the endeavor, the Art Club joins a national “break the bronze ceiling” movement to lift more monumental women on pedestals. Currently, less than 7 percent of the more than 5,100 monuments in the U.S. honor women.

As a teenager, Claire McCardell had hoped to study in New York. But, in a sign of the times, her father initially persuaded her to enroll at nearby Hood College in the home economics program. After two years, the somewhat shy, yet unwavering, McCardell moved to the Big Apple and enrolled at the Parsons School of Design.

Single and working for a designer in Manhattan, her big break came at 33 when a buyer for a major retailer noticed the dress McCardell was wearing. It was not a part of the company’s line he’d been shown, but something she had designed. What became known as “the Monastic Dress” hung loosely, but with a versatile belt that could be gracefully tied to follow a woman’s curves. The initial order sold out in a day.

“I’ve always designed things I needed myself,” McCardell later said. “It just turns out that other people need them, too.”

After years of participating in local bikepacking trips, Danielle Parnes and Kimberly Wiman were fed up with the male-dominated rides—which felt more competitive than welcoming—and started searching for ways to create more inclusion within the region’s bikepacking scene.

Once they learned how groups in other cities organize trips for bicycle adventurers who identify as women, transgender, femme, and non-binary during the WTF Bikexplorers Summit and Ride Series last August, they looked to build a similar community in Baltimore. “It was very powerful to see that riding bikes, having fun, and getting to know each other on a personal level could bring such a wide range of people together,” says Parnes.

The two now co-lead WTF Mid-Atlantic Bikepacking, a group that encourages local women and trans, femme, and non-binary people to strap camping gear—including tents, food, and water—to their bikes and ride together to a campsite destination. Since forming the group in October, Parnes and Wiman have hosted four trips, including rides along the C&O Canal and through Michaux State Forest, as well as an introductory workshop at Baltimore Bicycle Works.

Along with making the excursions free and accessible to those without cars, the pair also prioritizes creating an open dialogue so that bikepackers of all experience levels feel comfortable asking questions and traveling with the group. “Some people feel like they need to have a ton of knowledge or experience before they start riding—that’s a big barrier in WTF groups,” says Wiman. “When in reality, we can support and teach each other a lot.”

Above all else, Parnes and Wiman strive to empower fellow bikepackers by creating a space for them to create relationships based on honesty and a love for the outdoors. “Bikepacking is really difficult,
and oftentimes on non-WTF rides, there’s not much acknowledgment of how physically and mentally tough it is,” says Wiman. “That vulnerability of feeling able to ask for help allows for a much deeper bond to form between people who go on a trip together.”

The “freshman class” of lawmakers currently convening in Annapolis for their first full week in this year’s General Assembly, includes more women (31) than men (29) for the first time in history.

Those surging numbers of newly elected female representatives mean a record 72 women will serve in the 188-member state legislature this session. Specifically, 11 of those rookie legislators are alumnae of Emerge Maryland, an increasingly successful nonprofit that identifies and trains Democratic women seeking political office.

Since its founding in 2012 and the launch of its first class in 2013, Emerge Maryland has trained 103 women to run for public office. So far, more than 70 percent of those who have participated in the 75-hour, four-to-six-month program have run for elected office—with more than 60 percent winning their various races. Officeholders include not just state representatives, but county and city council, school board, and Democratic state committee members.

“In 2011, there was a confluence of events that got us started,” says Diane Fink, executive director of Emerge Maryland, who previously worked as legislative staff in the General Assembly and served two terms on the Frederick County Democratic State Central Committee. “But the short story is co-founder Martha McKenna, myself, and Barbara Mikulski got together and realized something had to be done about the number of women in Annapolis, which was declining at the time. Women candidates were having to leave the state for one-hour and half-day workshops. And they were not being recruited, but discouraged, from running.”

With key support from Mikulski, the nonprofit got off the ground under the umbrella of Emerge America, which now has affiliated chapters in 25 states.

Baltimore City elected leaders with Emerge Maryland training include City Council member Shannon Sneed, who won in 2016; state Del. Brooke Lierman, who was in Emerge Maryland’s inaugural class and won office in 2014; and state Del. Robbyn Lewis and state Del. Stephanie Smith, both of whom won election for the first time this past November.

Overall, 19 of 25 Emerge Maryland alumnae won in November, including the first black women and the first Chinese immigrant elected to the General Assembly from Montgomery County, as well as the first woman ever elected as State’s Attorney in Anne Arundel County.

Thirty-year-old Sarah Elfreth from Anne Arundel County became the youngest woman elected to the State Senate this fall. A pair of Emerge Maryland alumnae also flipped seats from male to female in the Anne Arundel County Council this fall and that seven-member body is now 5-2 majority female. Emerge Maryland alumna Shaneka Henson was previously elected to the Annapolis City Council in 2017.

The overall impact: Anne Arundel County is decidedly more female and a little bluer.

“We are now electing people who have not had a seat at the table and have not had their voices heard in the past,” says Fink. “The issues they raise, about childcare, increasing the minimum wage, domestic violence, for example, are not heard, not in the same way, when women bring their voices to the table. Fifty-two percent of the population is female and our representation should reflect that.”

With a growing track record and budding network, Emerge Maryland announced a cohort of 20 women in its class of 2019, including five women from Baltimore City who successfully navigated the competitive application process.

“Women across Maryland are now looking to the women who have come before them and realizing they too have what it takes to run and serve in elected office,” says Fink. “They are smart, energized, and ready to run.”

The new legislators in Maryland are part of a rising national tide of women who have been inspired to run for office by a desire to improve their communities, but also by the last presidential election.

During the previous election cycle in 2016, 920 potential female candidates contacted Emily’s List, a group that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights, spokeswoman Lindsay Crete told The Washington Post. Two years later, in large part as a reaction to the election of President Trump, that figure rose more than 40-fold, to 42,000, according to Crete.

Emerge Maryland’s 20 new class members are: Shruti Bhatnagar, Laurie Brittingham, Katina Burley, Rose Greene Colby, Tamira Dunn, Remi Duyile, Cornett Fenn, Cynthia Cotte Griffiths, Natasha Guynes, Ebony Johnson, Kimberlee Lena Kennedy, Stacy Korbelak, Mikkyo McDaniel, Yvette Monroe, Andreana Overton, Odette Ramos, Tori Rose, Shirley Schreffler, Ainy Haider-Shah, and Sarah Wolek.

Don’t be surprised if you hear those names again.