Turning 50 led to me discovering my own sense of style

I’ve Twigged how I can feel good and wear well.

She might be a pensioner, but Twiggy, our first-ever supermodel, is even more elegant and stylish than she was back in the swinging Sixties.

She’s been speaking out on behalf of mature women and talking a lot of sense, particularly about what we should all be wearing.

I agree with Twiggy that these days women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond should not feel they need to throw away all their trendy outfits and settle for elastic-waisted trousers and a frumpy jumper.

It was when I turned 50 that I finally discovered my own sense of style. It coincided with the whole Mad Men TV series phenomenon where the female cast wore fitted dresses, pencil skirts and blouses.

Around that time I also lost a bit of weight and felt more confident in myself.

I discovered clothes that suited me and many other older women with curves who still want to be stylish but don’t want to be slaves to fashion did the same.

I’ve been doing a lot of research into this for the clothing range I have designed for JD Williams and it has been fascinating to hear what women really want.

It’s actually very simple.

This is all about clothes that fit, flatter and make you feel good about yourself.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen a lovely dress in the shops which would have been perfect for me if it had come with a three-quarter length sleeve or was just a little bit longer; or a really fitted dress that just needs a bit of clever tailoring or rouching around the tummy to really make the wearer look good.

I buy most of my clothes from the High Street and I still pop into Top Shop, River Island and Oasis for a look.

I obviously don’t buy the itsy-bitsy little jumpsuits and teeny-tiny short skirts on sale for teens and twentysomethings; but you can still pick up blouses, jumpers and dresses that are perfect for all ages if you look hard enough.

I don’t think you should count yourself out of patronising any shop.

There are, however, some clothes that you do have to give up when you hit a certain age.

Twiggy did a clear-out and got rid of her hot pants and when I turned 50 I sadly put my mini kilt into the bag for the charity shop.

It was a bit of a wrench, but I swapped it for a Black Watch knee-length chic pencil skirt which is much more elegant.

It’s interesting that manufacturers of fashion and all sorts of beauty products are just waking up to the fact that mature women want to look their best and often have a bit of money to spend on themselves.

Advertisers and manufacturers are always chasing the youngsters when they should be concentrating their energies on us over-50s.

After all, we are in our prime.