I was interviewed last week by the press, not for my sense of style but because I have no children (though I do have 2 grown up stepkids). The piece was a comparison of three women’s lives. I was the ‘childless because I wanted to be’ woman, another was childless because she was unable to have children and the other was a fully fledged mum. The reported asked me if I was so youthful because I had no kids. Interesting question. Many of my friends who have children would say that it was because they HAD children that they remained young. I wonder if it matters or perhaps it’s more to do with having a sense of the child within? Being childlike (as opposed to childish) means retaining a sense of play, mischieviousness and curiousity. Isn’t that what children do? They also laugh many more times a day than we do, so perhaps its time to forget the botox and go play?

Black- we all love it, though some of us know we shouldn’t. It can be dynamic, powerful, sexy, slimming and downright safe! But if you’re going to be any of those things and you want black to help you, you might as well go to an expert. A new site www.basicallyblack.com will help you find anything you want in guess what? Yes, black. Not only could you find your perfect LBD but they have some fantastic black jeans, with a slightly higher waist to hide any muffin tops. Contrary to what you might think, black can be difficult to wear as you get older and you need to take into account many factors such as your colouring, texture of your skin and hair, your height and your inner essence. Get it wrong and black can make you look bigger, tired, older and drained. If you don’t have access to a colour analyst, hold black against your face and see what happens. If it creates shadows, you may well want to limit it to your bottom half or a try a lower neckline. Depth of colour, weave, weight, texture and type of fabric can all help or hinder, so it’s not as easy to wear as you might have imagined. Think also about how it makes you feel.  If it’s draining you of energy, leave it alone. This might help though - word is out that the days of the brightly, coloured IT bag have gone. The latest craze? You guessed it - black. Plain, simple, unadorned and less excessive than we’ve been used to but still retaining the larger size dimensions. Can’t go wrong with that one!

Even though my lips look quite plump and full for a woman my age, I had never mastered the use of lip gloss. Every time I tried, it would end up bleeding into tiny cracks along my top lip - not a pretty sight! But I have found my knight in shining armour (if you can have a cosmetic version). Enter Chanel Precision Lip Correction cream. Absolutely brilliant. I apply first thing in the morning and never need to touch up again. My lips are juicy and perfect with no cracks/ bleeding at all. It’s truly a miracle cream.

I’ve always been a big fan of wearing lipstick and blusher that really matches your skin tone. You can check this by looking at the inside of your lips. Match this, and you have a wonderful natural look that won’t jar but harmonises beautifully. However, you’ll probably get arrested if you go to a cosmetics counter sticking out your bottom lip and asking for a match – or will you? The wonderful Bobbi Brown has produced a new lip system. Find Your Perfect Shades is in the form of a colour wheel which enables the consultant to match 4 types of lipstick in neutral, bright and deep shades to your own lips, giving you 12 possibles to choose from. If you ask nicely, they will let you have your own wheel to take home so you can stick your lip out to your hearts content and find your match in the comfort of your own bedroom.

Have you ever wondered how celebrities cope with the general ups and downs of life?  Sometimes when the traumas and headaches of our existence really get us down and we don’t know what to do about them, it’s not a bad idea to think ‘outside the box’.  So if you have any secret hankerings to be famous, this one’s for you. I have to say that acting and thinking like someone else for the day ticks all my boxes. Two books, centred around the 20th century icons Jackie O and Audrey Hepburn, might help you live your fantasies and solve your problems all in one go. If you have a challenge in your life, instead of fretting and worrying yourself sick, just ask yourself ” how would Audrey/Jackie handle it?”  If you can put it into someone else’s hands, it will appear easier from the get-go to deal with. Give it a try. You might even find you like having problems! Both books available from www.amazon.co.uk

Lots of you emailed me to say that you wanted to see the little skirt I was talking about the other day. Well, here it is. I apologise for the photo. My husband is lovely but he’s not David Bailey!!

I really love reading articles by  Liz Jones, the Daily Mail’s Fashion Addict. She is not afraid to show us her vulnerable and perfectionist streaks and that makes her top notch in my estimation. Yesterday’s article was so true for many women. She was talking about how love and fashion go hand in hand for a woman but not necessarily for a man. You know what I mean I’m sure. Think about a first date. You obsess about what to wear, get yourself polished and primped and hurtle down to the gym to lose some unwanted inches and, just to be on the safe side, stick to eating celery as your main meal of choice. A man, on the other hand, just breezes in without a care. Liz was talking about how many of her choices meant that she didn’t let herself go enough to have a good time. Her obsession with looking good, wearing expensive labels and trying to remain youthful were at the expense of getting tiddly, having a good laugh, staying up late and perhaps getting a stain on her immaculate outfits.  I knew a girl once upon a time that wouldn’t ever let her boyfriend see her without makeup. She’d go to bed wearing it, creep out once he was asleep to remove it then get up at 5am to reapply so she would be ‘perfect’ when he awoke. Sounds ridiculous, but this is what our culture can do to us if we’re not careful. I’m hoping that by 50, we know that a life  accepting our wrinkles and laughter lines is so much happier and fulfilled than ‘perfection personified’. Who’s perfect anyway? We all have different ideas on what it looks like and it’s so hard to maintain. My advice? Crack a smile and get on with living a joyful and authentic life, whatever you, and it, looks like. Have a happy Tuesday.

If you’re interested in learning how to dress to look and feel fabulous in a small but intimate environment, read on.  My next workshop will be held on November 26th in central London.

This is a great chance to get together with like minded women and find out what really suits you and have some fun at the same time. The other workshops are now full so this is the ONLY date left this year, so please don’t miss out.

Aimed at women over 40, this will show you how to accentuate all your good points and disguise the rest. You’ll find out about your own particular brand of style so that you’ll always look fantastic, in your own way. Just because you’re over 40, does not mean you can’t still look fabulous, turn heads and feel confident in the way you look.

The number of participants never exceeds 20 so you’ll receive individual attention intertwined with the camaraderie of a group. As the venue is in central London, why not make the most of your new found knowledge and head to the shops (or you can buy me to go with you!)

The price is £150 inclusive and is an investment worth making. Just think, no more expensive mistakes AND you’ll always look and feel fantastic.

I can’t wait to meet you so sign up now to ensure secure your space by contacting me on 0845 123 5107.

Don’t know if you’ve ever read a copy of ‘O’ - Oprah Winfrey’s magazine. If you haven’t, I suggest you get a copy from W H Smith straightaway. In my book, one of the best reads around in magazine form mainly because she treats all of us as special, regardless of what we look like. The magazine also has some great tips on all relevant topics such as finance, love, healing and so on so not just for fashion and style followers. I loved this month’s fabulous style article highlighting just how the blonde hair, permatan look can age us. The magazine took a number of beautiful women from California, all blonde haired, blue eyed, long haired with great bodies and dressed them using New York ‘rules’. What an amazing difference. To my eyes anyway, they all lost years from their ages - without exception. I’ve spoken many times about how I feel I have a more youthful and stylish image due to ‘muting’ my look and wearing softer colours in my clothing and make up. Well it worked on them too.  Be interesting to see if they keep it up once they return home to the West Coast. Here is the code of dress they were using before the makeover.

1. Hair: blonde and long
2. Skin: very tan (often spray-tanned)
3. Teeth: blindingly white
4. Lips: conspicuously full
5. Noses: pert
6. Breasts: notably large
7. Tummies: flat; hips: nonexistent
8. Nails: long, French-tipped, and square
9. Jewellery: big and frequently diamond
10. Clothes: mostly pastels, corals; formfitting and revealing

So next time you are thinking about a sunbed/fake tan, a boob job, synthetic nails or hair extensions - beware! It’s now not only old hat but truly ‘old’.

I spotted the most gorgeous and stylish little tulip skirt yesterday in Top Shop. It was grey, blue and white with an elasticated black waistband and I fell in love instantly. Yes, I am 50 and the skirt was probably better suited to a 20 year old, but I’m not an image professional for nothing. Firstly, the wonderful assistant found me a size 10 by stripping the mannequin - this may not sound a great deal but I’m sure you will have already come across most fashion stores’ policy of not being able to remove garments from the mannequins due to health and safety and how only the skills of the visual merchandising team(usually situated in a completely different town) are able to divest the plastic models of their clothes correctly. Anyway, throwing caution to the wind, this wonderful girl got the skirt for me even though she was convinced an 8 would fit - loved her lots as you can tell. She was correct. The 8 did fit but it meant it was way too short. Wearing the 10 lower down my torso made it more appropriate to my age group while still staying on trend. She asked what I was going to wear it with and gave some suggestions (some not bad) but I knew I had to make this a fabulous 50 year old statement.  First off to H&M for a grey, polo neck at £12.99 and some grey opaque tights for a couple of pounds. Team with a waisted grey suit jacket I already own and some grey boots and voila.  A £30 skirt plus top and tights at less than £20 made this outfit a million dollars. My husband LOVED it and that’s the best compliment I’ll ever receive. The message behind this story - Do Not Be Put Off By Younger Clothes Stores - There Is Always a Way To Successfully Wear Something If You Know How To Adapt The Trend. The other surprising but fabulous thing was that the sales assistant made me promise that I would go back and show her what I’d done. Fantastic - a young sales assistant that really cares about learning and respects the needs and know-how of her customers. I’m off today to show her the results. I think she’ll be impressed.