Getting Dressed: Keeping up appearances
Don’t wear beige or black. Do wear make-up and festive glitter boots
For many women, 2020 was the year that fashion and style passed us by.
Confined to barracks, we slopped around in old tracksuits, never wore make-up and allowed our hair to show two inches of white roots.
Trouble is, if we allow standards to slip, we can risk looking like ancient hags before our time, and there may be no way back. So here are a few tips for looking good over the festive season and beyond, without having to take out a second mortgage.
These days, at the age of 76, I buy my clothes from supermarkets and bung in a new pair of jeans or a T-shirt with the groceries. This is a low-cost way of keeping up to date, and I take my leads from two older women who always get it right: Jane Seymour, 69, and Jane Fonda, amazing at 82.
Never overdressed, these two enduring celebrities add a touch of modern, youthful-looking sportiness to their style and keep it plain and simple, with block colours, clean lines and no ageing florals.
They also cut back on the jewellery count and their fingers are ring-free, as nothing screams ‘old woman’ more loudly than three rings embedded in every finger. Only children’s writer Jacqueline Wilson can get away with it.
It helps that both these women also have fantastic figures – although they do admit that rigid self-discipline, not luck, is their secret. I do my best by pedalling daily on my exercise bike. Being overweight is never a good idea, for either looks or health.
Television academic Mary Beard has a quirky interest in fashion. Although her long-white-hair-no-make-up look works for her, it is not something every woman would want to emulate.
At the other extreme, 80-year-old writer Barbara Amiel wears overfussy designer gear and, in my view, her lip-fillers do her no favours.
One thing I never worry about is being mutton dressed as lamb. Biker jackets and bovver boots can work equally well at all ages, and don’t have to make you look like a Hell’s Granny.
Short skirts with very thick tights or leggings cut a dash if you’ve got the legs. Otherwise, midi skirts are the answer – but not floor length, as these can give the impression of gliding on castors.
A mistake many older women make – and I admit I’m frequently one of them – is to wear black all the time. It’s best to add a bit of colour, with either a bright jumper or a colourful scarf, as head-totoe black can make it look as though you are in perpetual mourning, as well as draining colour from your face.
The Oldie’s Prue Leith, 80, is an inspiration for vibrant colour.
People think black is slimming but it’s not. Beige is almost as bad and should be avoided by all but the very young who, let’s face it, can get away with just about anything.
Which brings us on to make-up. In lockdown, a lot of women abandoned cosmetics altogether but I’m of the opinion that lipstick should be compulsory for the over-50s. Otherwise, you can fade right away and look as though you haven’t got a face at all.
Lipstick does smudge on face masks, true, but good old Lipcote effectively seals it, and you don’t want to look like a total washout when you take the mask off.
False eyelashes are out – think Barbara Cartland – but lash-lengthening mascara lifts the eyes when otherwise they can risk disappearing into your head. I also recommend eyebrow waxing and tinting and, if you can stand the pain, microblading once in a while.
Eyebrows tend to go wild with advancing years and may need strict taming and shaping to frame the face. A touch of Botox works wonders and it has stood the test of time. Yes, I’m a convert.
Whenever hairdressers are open, rush to them, because older hair needs a lot of attention. Although grey or white hair can look great, it takes as much looking after as a three-weekly tint. Jane Fonda has gone silver but her hair is always impeccably styled and, actually, expertly coloured as well – not left to nature.
What about Christmas Day? With no parties on offer this year, I’m in favour of all-out glamour: a sparkly top with sleeves – NOT a Christmas jumper with reindeer on it. Then, velvet trousers or a velvet skirt; new, mind, not dug out of the dressing-up box from years back.
Have a Christmas nails manicure – mine are silvery-blue this year – and, for that final touch, don glitter boots.
They will get you lots of attention and compliments, and who wants to fade into the background if you are the hostess?
Do you suffer from tired, old feet? That’s no excuse – you can get glitter boots in wide-fit.