Mid life allure

I am struck each week by the number of magazine supplements falling over themselves in their efforts to advise me on how to retain my inner sexiness now that I am offically Past My Best. Chances are you will find at least one feature in every freebie magazine. Of course all these articles have a marketing objective so it is usually linked to clothes you need to buy or skincare to invest in or exercises to buy on DVD. I tend to read these articles with rapt attention, only to experience terminal disappointment. After all, the advice is quite depressingly unoriginal by and large - wear your skirt a bit longer, no more sleeveless tops, go for elegance rather than fashion, start spending hundreds on bags and jewellery because apparently you can afford it in your forties, avoid bright colours as they make you stand out for the wrong reason, if you must wear a bright colour make it just a splash of one in a scarf, and finally, leopardprint shoes are in for any woman over the age of fifty thanks to Theresa May. It takes a great deal of self esteem to look beyond this largely pointless advice, and none of us possesses enough confidence all of the time.  This is presumably why quite a lot of taupe turtlenecks feature in the morning commute among Women Of A Certain Age. Me, I like to stay true to my instincts, which broadly go like this: black is not a colour, and I Do Colour. I stay with colours that flatter my skin tone but I am still capable of going completely oer the top with them - indeed, I often make it my business to do so. Do not wear coloured tights, say the articles. Oh dear, I think with irony, then I had better wear my bright red tights as frequently as possible before I get any older. Invest in a timeless classic, like a really expensive ring, exhorts the fashion advisor. I ponder over that one and wonder who, with kids in middle school, has money to blow on overpriced trinkets when school uniform, school trips, house maintenance, family food, and massive university tuition fees, need to take priority. On top of which, with the amount of dough kneading I do, the chances  of a ring losing itself in batter and turning up on someone's plate, or in their jaws, is frankly too high to risk paying for. Spend a hundred quid on Creme de La Mer anti ageing algae cream. I worked in a pharmacy every Summer for about 10 years and concluded from that experience that a tub of E45 at £2.50 would more than do the trick.If there is one thing to remember when reading this stuff it is that I have spent my entire adolescence wondering what other people think about how I look. The most liberating quality I have acquired with years of life experience, is the ability not to give a toss what other people think about how I dress, speak or move and I'll be damned if that gets taken away from me. So here's the thing. Ongoing recovery of my reconstructed foot, which I have worked like a trooper to restore mobility to, prohibits the purchase of any shoe with a heel, no matter how kitten heel.  So I will commute in trainers and spend my working day in stylish, flat boots packed out with surgical orthotics that nobody can see. Living in a grey climate means I have a daily urge to counteract the weather with colour. Green and yellow are my current favourites. Early morning sport means I need to change fast from sporty to office elegance so jersey dresses and easy, comfortable jackets are massive winners in my wardrobe, added to which they pack up perfectly for short overseas visits. Does any of this chime with advice from the experts? None of it.  Which means that, chances are it's spot on.