Being fashionable at fifty can be as easy as it was when you were twenty-something. The mature woman has developed a sense of her own style and blending new trends into that style may be easier than you think. Making just a few adjustments may be all you need to spiff up a lacklustre look or pull yourself out of your fashion rut.

* Go through your closet and be brutal. We all have them, clothing items that we should know don’t work for us anymore. Find the courage to take that long, hard look in the mirror and coldly assess your wardrobe choices and how they work with your mature body. Toss out any clothes that no longer flatter your figure. Keep classics that don’t go out of style, there’s no need to buy a complete new wardrobe.

* Examine the new trends for those that work with your body shape, adopt those and reject the ones that call attention to your problem areas. For instance, leggings with a long top are back in fashion. Leggings can be a disaster for heavy legs but if you have great legs and want to disguise a heavier middle, they may work well for you. On the other hand, another fashion trend like a volume skirt and skin hugging top may only serve to emphasize your middle and hips. Go instead for tailored jackets and tops that give you a shapely line.

* Look for brighter and lighter colors, especially near the face. Dark colors near the face are harsh and can accentuate the look of lines and wrinkles. Pastels and lighter shades of rich hues or white will soften the face.

* Refresh your look. Throw out the makeup you’ve worn for 20 years. Chances are it’s no longer the right look for you. Get a makeover for an expert opinion on what colors work for you.

* Consider a new hairstyle or haircolor. It can be a great confidence booster.

* Accessorize. New shoes, handbags, belts and even earrings will add excitement and style even to your existing wardrobe. Add a few fun items for pizzazz and to lift your spirits.

Great Places to Shop:

avenue

Chico’s

liz claiborne

Chadwick’s

After her divorce from comedian David Steinberg, Judy Steinberg decided it was time for her to begin life anew. Her book Fabulous After Fifty: And Sexy at Sixty! is the result.

In the book, Steinberg encourages women to get in shape and spruce up their wardrobes. She advises women to “find the glamourous new you and show mother nature who’s boss”.

Steinberg shares with women her mechanisms for surviving divorce and learning to look towards the future, even if it is going to be different from the future they had envisioned. She talks to women about changing things in their lives, from the decor of their bedrooms to their attitudes towards their bodies. Being single and sixty doesn’t mean you can’t also be sexy.

The book deals with the issues of single life after fifty with both humor and compassion. It is now available in paperback at Amazon dot com.

For those of us who have experienced the changes that middle age bring, we know how hard it is to maintain a good self-image amidst the barrage of images of bone-thin twenty-somethings that pout at us from magazine covers in the supermarket.

But what we seem to forget is that beauty is not always measured on this scale. By today’s standards, many of the world’s most famous sex symbols would be considered overweight. Marilyn Monroe by today’s measurements would wear at least a size 12 and in those times when she gained weight might have gone as high as a size 16. In today’s Hollywood, Marilyn just wouldn’t cut it. The standard of beauty today as “thin” can be seen in celebrities like Paris Hilton and Calista Flockhart. But any man whose interest is worth having is likely to choose Marilyn over any of them, because the truth is, what makes a woman sexy to a man is not how many of her ribs he can count (even if he thinks one of them used to be his).

The facts are these: The average American woman is 5′4″ tall and weighs 140 pounds while the average female model is 5′11″ tall and weighs 117 pounds. As the average American male is only 5′10″ tall a nation full of model-proportioned women would look like an Amazon nation.

Instead of trying to achieve waif-like proportions, mature women need to embrace the qualities that only maturity brings. Perhaps one day, if we refuse to accept the image Hollywood and fashion magazines try to force on us, things will change. It is said that songstress and actress Jennifer Lopez, known for her curvaceous figure, once fired her manager for telling her she had to go on a diet.

And remember, nothing is sexier than self-confidence.

Cosmetic companies are revving up their marketing of makeup to women in their 40s and 50s in a very unique way – they are using spokeswomen and models who are in their 40s and 50s.

In 2004, 66% of all cosmetics were purchased by women over 50. The figures were convincing. The cosmetics companies have realized they must now compete for the over-50 demographic instead of ignoring it while catering only to women in their twenties. Cover Girl has re-hired Christie Brinkley, 52. 60-year-old Diane Keaton is the spokeswoman for L’Oreal’s age-perfect skin products and Sharon Stone, 48 is putting her face in Christian Dior’s skin care product ads.

Okay, so we don’t all look like Christie Brinkley or Sharon Stone, but let’s face it, we know we are not ready to be labeled old. At least the cosmetics companies are recognizing that mature women are not to be ignored and that there are beautiful women of all ages.

“It is brilliant. It is high time that cosmetic companies realized that women still have faces after 40,” says Matt Thornhill, president of the Boomer Project, a consulting and research firm in Richmond, Va.