50 is the new 40 ”’they ”said, but who wants to be 40 when we can be fabulous at 50. Some of us have  gained a few extra kilos that appeared over night , that we never had before and don’t know how we could possibly have not noticed them before now , lumps and bumps that change the body that had been so familiar to you, the body you knew how to dress, what looked good, what to stay away from and  so we loose our sense of style and confidence.

But, confidence does not depend on wealth , size or age nor is it innate: you can learn it. Which means that whatever your dress size or budget you can be that woman -that turns heads, gets noticed. After all we women of a certain age seem to be all the rage right now, with many designers and retailers  using older models to tap in to the mature market worth around £2.5 billion , so with that much money why shouldn’t we look fab?

Even so, sometimes it is very hard to decide what to buy , where to buy clothes that suit you and your changing  body type,where are the dresses with sleeves, the affordable clothes, the clothes that say i’m not dead yet…i’m still very much alive and I want  to look and feel good in clothes that don’t make me feel like ”mutton dressed as lamb” but the fab at 50 woman that I AM. Stylish, chic and on fleek clothes that show case me.

The average woman our age is size 14 + so it is depressing to go from store to store seeing beautiful clothes , only to find the largest size is a ”14” but the stick insect size 14, and when you do find sizes that fit …well what can I say ”granny smith” comes to mind, tents, am I pregnant?..no and I  don’t want to look pregnant either, been there done that etc , etc.

This makes online shopping even more difficult, not only are the visuals  modelled by skinny women so you can’t imagine what the product will look like on you, or if it’s a plus size and there are increasingly more option for the larger woman these days it is equally as hard to imagine what a product will look like on you when the model could be 2-6 sizes bigger.   Unless you can afford high end fashion, which most of us can’t, except for an important occasion, I am wondering exactly what 50 yr olds the designers have in mind when they are designing for us and where are these clothes available?

I am passionate about fashion , my big downfall being shoes and bags but no point in investing in them if there are no outfits to go with them.

I have recently found that I can fit into clothes labelled 12 , 14, 16 and 18!!!! depending on the make, the fabric and what item of clothing it is.

My clothes shopping trips are fast becoming a nightmare for me but a great day for my daughter who tries to find the funny side of my mishaps in the changing room, my struggles not only to get in and out of clothes that I thought would fit but the gasps of horror from me as I survey the strange , slightly plump woman in totally ill fitting clothes staring back at me. We always end up almost on the floor laughing, so at least I CAN see the funny side of things even if inside I’m thinking of the unfairness of it all.

I have taken some comfort in that fact, and acknowledge that there is no standard size ,  except if you are a size zero.

If you are a generous size 14 and have found nice , affordable stylish clothes please share here with us all. I can’t be the only woman who feels like this , can I ???

Looking forward to those all important comments , likes and shares.

Chat soon.