FINALLY I’M HAPPY IN MY OWN SKIN

SALLY MONTGOMERIE, 59, is a divorced prosthetics technician from London.

LAST weekend, I was in a cafe when two trendy young men told me I looked ‘cool’ and asked if I was a designer. It still surprises me to receive such compliments, because I used to feel embarrassed by how I looked — but now I have never felt more beautiful or stylish.

my mum died when I was a baby so there was no strong female influence to teach me how to do my hair or make-up, or how to choose clothes.

Dad worked long hours as a builder so nannies came and went and I grew to be a skinny tomboy with buck teeth, cropped hair and a flat chest.

The feminist era of the Seventies and eighties was a relief because it became oK for women to look masculine and strong. For a while I was a punk, which suited my naturally angry, skinny look.

I only began to blossom when I reached my 50s and discovered that a more feminine, Forties-inspired silhouette really suits me.

The more feminine I looked, the more comments I got. And going grey not only saved me money, it also increased the compliments.

Before turning 50, I vowed that if I had enough money I’d get a boob job, veneers and Botox, convinced that only then might I feel beautiful.

Now I wouldn’t entertain such thoughts — I finally like the way I look.