40 over 40

Brenda Kinsel's 40 over 40 is a book every woman over 40 should have in her arsenal.

I say arsenal rather than library, because it is so packed with tips and wrinkles that it really acts as a great weapon at your disposal.

Kinsel is an image consultant - in other words, it's her job to dress women so that they look their best. In this book, she focuses principally on the style ruts you can get into at mid-life, and about these she is very astute.

The book is written in a resolutely (almost irritatingly) upbeat, cheerleadery sort of fashion, and liberally sprinkled with line drawings that may illustrate a point or may just be page fillers. It's also divided into 40 chapters, which is merely a marketing gimmick, but Kinsel does have plenty to say. 

Where this book is really helpful is on the psychology of clothes - the reasons we won't get rid of things that patently don't suit us or that we'll never wear, the way we keep buying clothes for a body 20 years younger or 20 pounds lighter than the one we actually inhabit. The chapter on Your Clothes Have Expired is frankly blush-making. I like to think I'm on top of this sort of thing, but it was galling to see how many basic fashion mistakes I still make. And yes, I did still believe that synthetics were bad for you because it was drummed into us back in the 80s... 

Chapters 7-10 are invaluable. These cover who you are, what you do, what you want from your clothes, what person you want to see in the mirror, what person you want to become. These exercises really help you to define yourself and your relationship with your clothes. For instance, you're encouraged to collect images of things you like - interiors, jewellery, clothes - anything, really - and to work out what it is that appeals to you. In this regard, Kinsel is not suggesting that there is such a thing as good taste, but that you need to define your own individual taste in order to enjoy wearing clothes. 

Pretty quickly, playing with this (and it is great fun, by the way) I came to realise that what I want from my clothes is exactly what I want from my house. My pictures were mostly interiors - all cool, simple, pared down and casual - beach houses mainly. And so is my wardrobe - simple, pared-down, comfortable and practical. In both, there is also the unusual twist that makes you look again. In my house, it's wedding kimonos and obis on the walls, while in my closet it's hand-made jewelry and vintage items that pep up a wardrobe that is otherwise very plain and simple.

Other chapters include how to dress to echo your colouring (a fab trick that I now follow every day), how to dress for your high-school reunion, how to mix colours and prints, how to dress after a divorce (Kinsel has clearly been through the wringer herself) and when to walk away from an item that is screaming at you to buy buy buy. The chapter on Clothes Are Like Boyfriends made me cringe at myself - I can't tell you how many fixer-uppers are STILL in my sewing room, waiting for that change of buttons, change of collar, change of colour and bit of embroidery that will render them just perfect. God knows, I should know better. 

40 over 40 is a great purchase for any woman over 40 who wants to understand her relationship with her wardrobe.  

Available at: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk