Forget mutton dressed as lamb, embrace your maturity but never lose your sense of fun.

Age defying celebrities like Helen Mirran, Gina Gershon, Sophia Loren, all know how to dress young for their age without looking like mutton. And a post on age defying style would not be complete without giving British style icon Joan Collins (87) a mention. Her youthful glamour, rocking PU and leather leggings shows us Joan Collin's confidence is really all you need.

Age defiance in middle age is about dressing for your shape and size, rather than dressing like a 20-year-old. Over forty the hardest thing to do is to look at yourself and realistically see what you look like in certain clothes.  As we age we rarely see ourselves as we actually are.  Add life pressure like work, kids, relationships into the equation and for many women dressing to impress simply takes a back seat to other priorities until we wake up one day and wonder where she (the fabulous fashionista you used to be) went. 

Here are our 2 Golden Rules to Looking Younger

1. Never dress to please others, only to please ourselves, so if you feel good in what you wear and you are only showing off the good bits, then you have got your style right. If figure hugging dresses suit you then wear them, if your legs aren't great then don't wear a short skirt; this applies at any age and is just common sense. It's OK to raid your teenagers wardrobe if it fits and it covers. It's not a good idea to show off your arms in a skimpy sleeveless dress if you have massive bat wings to hide and a volumptuous bosom popping out of fabric triangles held together with a bit of string. All this will do is draw attention to the bits you hate and make you feel even less confident.

2. The second golden rule to look younger is "either or". Don’t show too much leg if you have your boobs out on show. Don’t wear a skin-tight dress if you have a big muffin or obvious knicker line. Avoid no tights and a mini skirt if your knees are wrinkly. And definitely don’t wear a mini skirt if you have tree trunk legs or are thick around the middle. We've all walked into a room and immediately realised we are wearing the wrong thing, too dressy or not dressy enough so establishing a dress code before you turn up anywhere puts you ahead of the game.

Looking fantastic in clothes is not really about age, more aesthetics. Being comfortable with your body is critical for good styling and something little and black always looks amazing on anyone any age. Women over forty styling does get stuck. "I could never wear that" "That doesn't suit me" Try to be open to new suggestions from a stylist you trust on simply trying something new outside your comfort zone on and seeing how you feel in it.

 The main key to looking younger in clothes is to understand what you wore at 20, you don't wear at 40, what you wore at 30, you don't wear at fifty. 

You have to change your style as you mature but of course you can use elements of younger looks, like a sloucy logo sweater or bomber jacket restyled in a different way. The trick for older women interested in looking younger is to cover up the age dead giveaways like, armpits and upper arms, cleavage (unless your decollete is exceptional) and knees, oh and stay in shape. Once you've let it all go bodywise you will immediately look older.

Inside all of us is a healthy person desperate to get out, so nurture the thin within to keep you looking young and stylish."

Photo by: Brooke Cagle Unsplash