BREAK THE RULES

Ditching outmoded adages about how they should dress, middle-aged women are looking better than ever

WHEN beauty guru Bobbi Brown, 60, met with President Obama at the White House in May 2016, she didn’t spend a lot of time agonizing over her dress.

“I wore a pair of black pants from Band of Outsiders, a white button-down shirt and Stan Smith sneakers,” she tells The Post proudly. “The first thing Obama said when he saw me was, ‘Cool kicks, Bobbi Brown!’ ”

Not long ago, women Brown’s age — in fact, most women over the age of 40 — were expected to fade into middle age wearing low heels and dowdy dresses. But many of the outdated rules about what is — and isn’t — appropriate for ladies after age 40 are being thrown out the window by baby boomers and Gen X women with better bodies and savvier fashion sense than ever before.

“Thirty years ago, there were clear-cut rules about how a woman should look after a certain age,” says Poupak Sionit, chief marketing officer of GlamSquad, an app that allows users to order at-home hair and makeup services on short notice. “But those lines are very blurred right now.”

Increased longevity may have something to do with this cultural shift.

“Forty seems young now that women are living to be 85, 90, even 100 years old,” says Natasha Cornstein, CEO of Blushington, a makeup-andbeauty lounge with a strong client base over the age of 40.

Many also see it as a natural evolution of the women’s empowerment movement.

“What people really care about today is authenticity and self-expression,” says Brown. “If a 45-year-old woman feels like sneakers or pink hair really speak to her personal style, she is going to go for it, regardless of her age.”

But while the old maxims have been kicked to the curb, Brown cautions the need to always “look appropriate.” In other words, say yes to ripped jeans on the weekend, just not in the boardroom. Likewise, purple hair can be supercool if you’re a hair colorist — or work in a creative field — but less so if you’re employed at a conservative law firm.

So what are you waiting for, 40-somethings? Put on your trendy sneakers and feel free to embrace these other fashionforward looks.