First of all, stop describing yourself as an “old lady”. “Old“ is someone who is around 10 years older than you are. Always.
Look for brands and shops such as Sea Salt, White Stuff and Fat Face. There is almost nothing there that someone of older years can’t wear. Also department stores such as John Lewis stock variety of brands and I think, whilst I may be wrong on this, if you look online, they will give you a free clothes consultation. Go onto the websites and you will see that brands now use models with a wide variety of ages and that’s really helpful. You’ll also notice from that that the older models wear every single style and colour of clothing: nothing is out of bounds. Except for skirts that are about 6 inches long.
Note that I’m not suggesting that you have to buy all the things that you like. Just have a look, see what catches your eye and make a note and then move onto the next shop. Take it easy it doesn’t all have to be done in a week.
You’ll also notice that the shop assistants in those shops are a variety of ages and wear that particular shops brand clothing, which is helpful. Whilst they’re most likely to assure you that everything suits you, in fact it probably will do, and if you give them a choice between several different colours and styles they will help you decide. Go in on a weekday when they’re quiet.
It’s absolutely fine- and I cannot stress this enough- not to buy just because you’ve gone into a shop, looked and tried clothing on. Let them know that you’re looking for ideas and that you’ll be back.
Then, keep an eye open for when they have discounts and multi buy bargains. Some shops, such as White Stuff, seem to just have them at random points during a month and even the staff don’t know when they’re coming, presumably to prevent them alerting their friends, I don’t know. Also going to TK Maxx and have a look for clothing similar to the ones that caught your eye. TK Maxx can have a load of old rubbish, but it’s worth having a hunt once you’ve got your eye in.
Get some necklaces and scarves or scrunchies that you can add. These will cover up a neckline, which gets scrawny with age, and will also boost the eye catching factor of what you wear.
Go to charity shops and have a look through, not for really good brands, which probably won’t be there, but for clothes of a colouring similar to what you’ve identified that you like. The advantage of charity shops is that if you decide something doesn’t suit you after all then you can wash it, and return it and it can be sold on again.
The only thing I really urge you not to wear is leggings, with nothing over them, because whilst these are very attractive on young women with good figures, these really become less attractive as one gets older. You tend to look as though you’ve just gone out forgetting to put your dress or skirt on. Wearing them won’t make you look younger or trendy or something like that. You want to look well put together and colourful.
Avoid midcalf length skirts and don’t be afraid to wear cardigans, jerseys or jackets that are tailored or figure hugging. I tend to think that lots of frills and bits and pieces are better on younger women and that clean lines look better on older ones but there’s always an exception to every guideline.
I’m a similar age to you.
i’ve just had an extra thought, which is really a sort of reverse engineering. If you go onto the Patra silks website or look at their catalogue, they have an uncanny ability to turn attractive young women into really dreary looking middle-aged and older women just by wearing those colours and styles. That’s what you want to avoid. .