At last! It seems that High Street retailers have actually caught on that we ‘older’ women have money and we want to spend it on looking fantastic. The past few seasons’ offerings of girly smock tops, floral sprig dresses and shorts have left us feeling totally ignored. M&S has tried to reignite the power of the older woman using the gorgeous and ever youthful Twiggy as one of its main models but I’m afraid the clothes just don’t hit the standards required. Many styles revolve around overlong skirts and bias cut dresses which don’t flatter anyone. There choice items seeming to be only available in London. Mango has picked up on the need and their advertising campaigns will star Lauren Hutton, who at 63 looks fantastic and approachable at the same time. Ines de la Fressange, the glamorous 50 year old model, is the centre piece of Gap’s promotional ranges. Other stores to try - Banana Republic, Cos, Jaegar - great for tailoring, L K Bennett, Karen Millen (if you are on the slim side ) and Reiss. I’ve gone off Hobbs as I see too many other women in the same garments plus I feel they just recycle designs using different colours and fabrics to take them from one season to the next. Laura Ashley has nothing much to say and Monsoon is quite garish in its choice of colours. Phase Eight and Principles can come up with the goods and Coast is restyling its High Street look. Perhaps there’s hope yet? 

I don’t know what it is about being 50 but I’ve cried more in the last few months than in the last 49 years. Sometimes it’s because I’m happy, mostly because I’m not. I do know it’s hormonal so there’s not a great deal I can do about it, apart from HRT which I’m not going to pursue. So what do you do when life seems so bleak? Firstly, I cry. If there is some kind of negativity or blockage in the body, we need to release it. Don’t get me wrong, I hate feeling this weak but I understand ‘it’s better out than in’, as my Grandma used to say. Secondly, I apply my favourite lipstick. The additional colour in my face seems to instantly brighten me up. I then either go for a walk or immerse myself in something I can really get absorbed in. If this fails, I lie on the couch with a blanket on top and get some nurturing. What I never do is make huge decisions when I feel this emotional. I always know that things will look better in the morning - another of my Grandma’s wise sayings - so I let it all go until a more appropriate time. Fashion Feng Shui uses colour to assist us achieving in our desires so I choose the most relevant. Black/navy blue and dark shades are for reflection, so I don’t go near them. Yellows and browns are for grounding - sometimes a good thing to do. Reds and purples are for having fun, which is great if you can manage it. Pastels and metallics are for analysis, again I avoid. Greens and blues are for action - often the very best solution for me, so you will often find me in my favourite jeans. How about you? What do you do to end your misery? Let me know. 

There is such a lot of press coverage about Dame Helen in her lovely rose bikini and nearly all of it positive too. How fabulous to have the press adore the way you look at the ripe old age of 62. An age where most actresses have been written off and certainly not labelled as’sexy’. I know she probably has ’staff’ to help her stay looking as great as she does but what struck me was how at ease she was with her own body. Compare her to Madonna or the younger Mrs Beckham. They appear too body conscious and obsessed with how they look. I hope that by the time I’m 62, I’ll also look that great and better still, retain the sense of fitting comfortably into my own skin.   

Ethical Dressing? Can’t say that I had given too much thought to it in the past as it always looked as though it would be ‘hippy’ clothing in orange linen. However, all that changed when I attended a seminar with speaker Elizabeth Laskar. I’m not going to write down all the details about Free versus Fair Trade as it’s probably well documented already. What I did get excited about was the notion of recyling your clothes by redesigning to make new and totally different outfits. Elizabeth was wearing a fabulous suit, made out of a combination of 2 over-large suits she picked up at a charity shop for a total cost of £10. I love the idea of wearing totally unique clothes that no-one else can buy, especially if they are also value for money and ethical into the bargain. She mentioned a boutique called Junky Styling in Brick Lane. As a big Westwood fan, I need to pay it a visit as it’s edgy designs are just up my street www.junkystyling.com.  Take a look at their new A/W08 collection - it’s fab. One of their female clients had a wedding dress made from her father’s old shirts! That’s certainly different. Other places to try include: Ciel’s in Brighton for the slightly avante garde as well as your staple garments; People Tree - a green ‘high street’ clothing catalogue; Howies -  for sporty types and the men in your life; Terra Planna  -  shoes; Green baby -  infants and children; Edun - courtesy of Bono’s wife Debbie Little,  for top notch Japanese type quality and Juste  - Bangladeshi silks used to clothe the sophisticated and chic.  There is much more to it than I originally though and I believe it will continue to grow. So go and check it out for yourself.

How exciting - a US consultant sent me an unexpected email yesterday saying that Heading South?, my previous book aimed at women over 40, was featured in the Wall Street Journal. I’m so glad she wrote to me otherwise I would never have known. Then immediately after that piece of news came a call from Suzy Greaves, one of the UK’s Top Self Help Gurus. She wants to interview me about the Feel Fab at 50 book next Monday. I’m also featured in an article about female MP’s in a new magazine called Total Politics, in the newsstands next Friday. Wow, it’s all go.    

No I don’t mean from too many gin and tonics but just generally lacking in confidence. I think there are certain times when all of us feel like that - even me - and most people who know me would be quite surprised at that statement. I think being around the 50 age group is quite daunting, especially where clothes are concerned. However great your figure is, no-one wants to be accused of having the 16-61 syndrome (you look 16 from the back and 61 from the front!) I’m quite small in build and have been able to get away with wearing the cheaper end of the market for a long time but I’m making a conscious choice to move away from that. The credit crunch may be out there but one good thing that comes out of that is we can buy the more expensive clothes at reduced, and therefore, more affordable prices.  As you know from my previous blogs, I am a Vivienne Westwood fan and I had a great time picking up some bargains in her Newcastle sale last weekend and I had fantastic service to boot, which warranted a huge gift of a box of choc’s from me the next day. I also received great customer service in Newcastle’s M&S too (a very welcome surprise). I’ve justified the price tags because the pieces won’t date, I certainly won’t be bumping into lots of other women in the same outfits (you need attitude to wear her designs successfully) and they make me feel fabulous. You still wonder though, will other people laugh at me, will they understand the outfit?  But you know, life is too short to worry. Hold your head high and wear your clothes with pride. As long as you know they suit you - physically and mentally - you know you’ll be a wow.  I had a private yoga session yesterday and my teacher helped me get into crow. If you don’t know what it is, you balance on your hands with your knees on the backs of your upper arms, bending forward so your feet are in the air. It’s scary, as you can easily topple and break your nose. On asking how I felt - answer very fragile - she said it was good to feel the fear and do it anyway ( see Susan Jeffer’s book for more on this subject). That’s how I feel about being 50. We all need to change a little and it can be very scary but you know what, we’ll all come out the other side a better (dressed) person if we follow our instincts and make the right choices. Living in the past is not the answer. Be prepared to be curious.   

I have a favour to ask, it only takes a minute….

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is
having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet
their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an
underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on
‘donating a mammogram’ for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn’t cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use
the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for
advertising.

Here’s the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

I’m pretty sure that I’ve just invented this phrase but I wondered, as we’re both the same age, what it would be like to commit to 3 hours of exercise each day. Would I have a body like hers do you think or just need my bed? Being curious - read my new book for more on this subject - I set myself a challenge a couple of weeks ago to don my yoga gear and practice for 2-3 hours daily for a whole week. Yoga is something I have a love/hate relationship with and it tends to produce quite a lot of hidden anger in me, so not always pleasant. I took on my teacher’s advice and tried to drop any attachment to the outcome and just went along to each class, however tired I felt.  I’m delighted to say that I feel fantastic.  I feel lighter, not only in weight, but in spirit and I’m pretty sure that my body looks more ‘defined’. Once I’d dropped the attachment, I honestly enjoyed the whole experience.  I’m also appearing to eat more healthily too though I still have my small glass of wine most nights. Can I keep it up? Unlikely, as I’d need to get up very early to do so on a regular basis. Will I make sure regular yoga is a part of my weekly routine? You bet. I might not look as good as Madonna but I certainly feel OK for a middle aged broad!