I've been having a bit of a clothes splurge lately, on two accounts.

One, of course, is that for once in my life I actually have some dosh, though so deeply ingrained is the habit of thrift that I still can't bring myself to look around an actual shop - all the following purchases cost peanuts on Ebay.

The second, though, is that I have a very important interview to conduct very soon, along with meeting my boss, meeting family I haven't seen in several years, having a birthday party and meeting with friends I haven't seen - some of them - in 30 years. And that made me realise that I didn't have anything remotely smart to wear.

When we moved to France in 1999, I gave away most of my (40 - count 'em) work suits and of the two I kept, only one is really still wearable (the other is SO out of fashion that I keep it only for sentimental reasons). I could wear the old stone silk noaille one, but a girl likes to have options, after all.

I also gave my friend M all my smart jackets when I lost weight and OK, I'm cursing slightly, having put the weight back on, but it's also true that I hadn't worn any of them in years and the shoulders were getting on for too big. I don't live a businesswear-type life on a daily basis, and my clothes tend to fall into the categories of pretty, practical or glamorous, but having to go to major cities several times in a few months suddenly calls for something a bit less casual and countrified, though still not too formal as I'm not that kind of girl.

First up then is this pair of 1980s cotton-modal dresses by French designer Jean Chancal. These two dresses both have beautiful drape, lots of movement, pockets you can actually use, and a fabric weight that seems curiously lacking in more modern clothing. Teamed with one of my vintage jackets a cropped cardigan or shrug, I think I'll get a lot of wear out of these even if I don't wear them on my London and Paris trips. 

Second up is this flock of pink dresses for summer. The magenta one with a flower print is in crinkle cotton by Boden - great for travelling - while the pink one with little dots is also Boden but in silk with a silk lining - delicious for summer, it's got some very nice details such as piping and a deeply flounced hem. The pink dress with swirls is linen. Again, all three would be great with a little cropped cardi or shrug.

I plumped for more vintage clothes with this hemstitched lemon linen dress-and-jacket suit, probably 1960s. It fits perfectly and will be great teamed with my new pink suede Russell and Bromley boots. 

Another dress suit, this time a dress-and-coat combi, I bought for alteration. The dress in its current style is way too Queeny but with a v-neck, new darts and a bit of trimming, it should come up nicely. I don't have this suit yet and don't know what fabric it is, but the vendor thought it was wool mix. 

Shoes are something that I find phenomenally difficult to buy. What I like I can't afford and the current fashion for lumpy, clumpy, platformy, huge-heeled shoes is something I find truly ugly. The dainty, pointy and reasonably low-heeled shoes I like cost an arm and a leg in this neck of the woods, but are listed on Ebay mainly as 'wedding shoes' and fortunately cost naff all. This pink pair of Laura Ashley suedes are right up my street, and I've also ordered some Foot Petals insoles from the US to hopefully make wearing my shoes more comfortable. 

I'm OK for scarves and anyway I make them, though I did buy a zinging magenta one-dollar pashmina from China, and I have plenty of nice blouses, so I then I took a look at handbags. At one time I was quite reasonably off for these, as they used to be given away free on the ferry if you bought Duty-free perfume. But over the past 15 years I've munched through my lovely Texiers and Tulas and now suddenly realised with a shock that all I had left was a couple of cheap brown faux-leather totes, and one cream and black python Kelly bag that I had made for me 20 years ago.

Time, then, to search around for some decent leather bags and I've lucked into these. I like a bright bag that doesn't match anything, and these look just the ticket for summer. These are: lime-green leather ostrich-look 'Birkin' (top left), mint leather mock-croc faux-Hermes, pink leather Jasper Conran mini-tote, and a beige real ostrich 1950s. 

Last but not least, check out my nifty little Cartier Tank-alike quartz watch with leather strap. One cent plus shipping from Hong Kong, so if it turns out to be crap, at least I haven't lost my shirt.

It is wonderful once again to be in sandals instead of boots, and to feel cool, crisp linen on my skin.

Speaking of linen, it was rather a shock to find that my 'new' lavender linen Boden dress is now four years old, but on the upside, this means I am due a new frock, as I can now feel justified in wearing the Boden one for every day and not only for posh.

I therefore wore it on Monday to go shopping, along with a long white linen coat with a Nehru neckline from Hobbs (lots of cover to please the dermatologist, since I am now sworn off the sun forever and aye). 

Being a long-time sewist, I can run up a summer frock in the course of an evening, so when I buy one it's got to offer me something special, such as a good print, piped seams, a lining, or an invisible zipper. So I knew pretty exactly what I was looking for from my new dress:

1 Pale blue.

2 Floral.

3 Quality linen.

4 V-neck.

6 Sleeveless, so it can be worn alone, over t-shirts or under a top layer. Besides, nothing dates a dress like the sleevehead. 

7 Long, so I can go bare-legged.

And above, folks, after a bit of scouting around, is the very dress.

This little Monsoon number cost me £7.50 on Ebay, though I had to bid for it twice (I dropped out at about 16 quid the first time it appeared, when it was better photographed and therefore looked more desireable). So I hope it will be winging its way to me (or at least splashing) very soon. 

I did notice, however, that my criteria for a dress were only met by certain makes, so thought I would share the information. Here, in no particular order are the brands that seem to me to go that extra mile when it comes to design offerings that will suit a mid-life babe:

1 Monsoon - good silk dresses as well as linens in vibrant colours and nice prints as well as plains.

2 Boden - excellent stretch, wrap viscose dresses, plus linens with flare and interesting edgings.

3 Hobbs - arty, intellectual dresses with interesting design details. In fact my favourite linen items are all by Hobbs.

4 Per Una - flirty, feminine dresses with lots of volume at the hem, plus the same design in skirts.

5 Laura Ashley - basic linen dresses with thin cotton linings.

6 Phase Eight - pretty dresses with feminine details.

As aforementioned, once you hit 40, summer dressing can turn into a total nightmare. While most of us look pretty OK swathed in sweaters, manufacturers desert the average woman entirely come summer and produce a plethora of skimpy, low-cut, short bits of nothing that only look good on a 16-year-old.

There's also the tricky issue of colour. Most women's go-to colour is black and black clothing accounts for 76 per cent of all women's clothing sold in the UK, but in the harsh light of summer, it looks a bit dreary to say the least and not everyone wants to dress in screaming shades of pink, blue and yellow as an alternative. Meanwhile, the manufacturers churn out black shift dresses all summer as if we all worked in law firms.

The freshest colour for summer is undoubtedly white, but it takes a brave soul to dress in white from head to foot and it's hardly the most practical colour if you're climbing in and out of cars or public transport or pelting along the UK's crowded, dusty streets.

Monochrome schemes, however - mixing black and white - look as good in town as at the seaside, so if you stick to black and white for your beachwear this winter, when you get back you can continue to wear the clothes throughout the British summer, if it ever arrives. 

The combination of black and white always looks crisp, which is important when you're wilting like limp celery. You can go for the more formal combinations of block colour and trad patterns like stripes and spots, or alternatively choose florals - or even both: as long as the colour scheme remains monochrome, all the patterns will tie together. Once you've pulled together your basic wardrobe, you can add accessories in any colour you like to make things ever-more summery.

Flicking through the Damart catalogue recently, I noticed how quickly you can build a wardrobe from their offerings of black and white clothes this year, and the prices are very reasonable. Therefore all the pix shown are Damart, but you can probably get this look from any high street store. 

I was very taken with the two-pack of dresses above, and the matching two pack of skirts (left), each with one plain black and one monochrome floral. They are all in pull-on cotton jersey for maximum ease of use (and no ironing) and the floral pattern will hide a bit of salt and sand as easily as city dirt. Add in both the black and white versions of this little cotton jersey shrug (above) with its cute fluted sleeve and that gives you many interchangeable outfits. It's good to see a shrug that's suited for daytime use and not just evening.  

Cleverly, Damart have also produced a matching swimdress, which means you can simply pull on the floral skirt over the swimdress to be covered for the walk back to the hotel. Or you could try this swimsuit instead, which is toning rather than an exact match. It offers slightly less coverage but a different neckline. 

This reversible skirt is also worth looking at - floral one side, diagonal striped on the other. I love reversible clothes when I'm packing and can't take much and although this skirt design doesn't exactly set the world alight, it looks very wearable with a simple tee or short blouse. 

This bias-cut floral dress (below) is very simple and flattering, with a skimming cut that feels comfy in the heat and the diagonal pattern making you look slimmer. Again, it can be dressed up with cardis and shrugs for a different look.  And for evening or lounging around, this colour-blocked maxi dress is fabulous, if you have the height to carry it off.  

Add in a couple of pairs of jeans or trousers in white and black, and that's your summer wardrobe pretty much taken care of, and if you want a bit of colour, add in some accessories in red, blue, aqua, gold or whatever other colour takes your fancy.

Have fun on the beach.

Not all of About.com's top tips for summer trends need trouble the over-40s babe, I imagine. Ruffles, for instance, are a tricky beast once a girl hits 30, especially anywhere in the bust area. I'd keep them for things like scarves or other accessories rather than garments, or it really can look muttony. The exception is perhaps the very short, crisp ruffle on a white cotton shirt worn OPEN - whatever you do, don't do it up (very Tory magistrate).

Safari and tribal are useful staples in every season - nothing new here then. Last year, La Redoute's catalogue was simply stuffed with them. Women in mid-life are probably best off choosing classic safari like this Betty Jackson skirt from Debenham's, which is less Ray Mears and more Out of Africa. As for tribal, it's a great look but easy to overdo - again accessories work well, especially with plain black or white. The chunky bracelet shown on the homepage is a tenner  from Debenham's. 

Statement shoes are something you can stuff up your jumper as far as I'm concerned. I've never seen so many ugly shoes in my life as in this past season and I can only hope that designers soon stop taking whatever drug it is they're on and get us all back into something more anatomically correct and comfortable. In five years time, people are going to wonder whatever possessed women to wear such bloody ugly things on their feet (probably as they wheel round the female members of the family in Bath chairs because we've all destroyed our knees). 

Bare shoulders is one of those Mmn moments for the over-40s babe. Nearly all women have nice shoulders, even if you have bingo wings, so why not take advantage of the summer sun and flaunt them a little? (If you know you're going to be photographed, don't forget to take your foundation makeup right down to the edge of the dress, otherwise your neck and decollete will look a different colour from your face in the pictures.)

Bright bags are a definite yes for me, especially since I prefer to dress in neutrals on the whole. Bright red, blue or yellow is a bag colour than can carry you surprisingly far - because it doesn't match with anything, it goes with anything - and it just gives an outfit a bit of a lift. 

Asymmetry I'm all in favour of when it's of the Issey Miyake/Junya Watanabe/Commes des Garcons type, but the kind of asymmetry About.com means is the Hollywood one-shoulder gown type, which frankly I think looks weird, like a woman's been vacuum-sealed into her dress. Bruce Oldfield was forever doing this sort of thing back in the 80s and it looked strange even then. Don't know why, I just don't find this look attractive - Alix could make it work in the 1930s but it seems beyond today's lot. 

The high-low hem is another look that won't be bothering me this season - a high-low hem on an evening gown has serious potential for making you look like an extra from Moulin Rouge. For those who enjoy evening wear, a classic long sheath with a split is a sexier look out of which you'll get more mileage.

Nude shoes are an absolute yes for summer, especially if you're going bare-legged. If they have high heels, they make your legs look far longer, and even in flats they're very elegant - my favourites are simple nubuck Footglove slingbacks with a small heel. Nude shoes go with almost anything - if you're wearing a brightly coloured dress, dark shoes look too businesslike and bright shoes give you a big fat full stop on the ends of your feet, but nude shoes will always work.