There are few greater staples in a woman's wardrobe than a well-fitting pair of jeans, but what do you do if you can't find a pair that fits?

It can be especially hard to find well-fitting jeans once you hit your 40s - particularly if you suffer from bloat, weight fluctuation during a period, or have fibroids, or are simply an apple shape where you carry weight on your middle, as many women do after the menopause.

A lot of women in mid-life and above prefer a higher waist, which has become a rare beast, and there is also the question of how your jeans feel. I know, for instance, that I like my jeans to hold my legs and backside tight but there are particular times of the month when I really don't want any constriction at the waist - I'm sure this comfort aspect is one of the things that sends many women screaming back into leggings. 

Well, the answer is, you can easily cheat. Here are four good options.

Bootcut denim leggings

These are my go-to 'jeans' for everyday wear - they look pretty much exactly like jeans as long as you wear your (long enough) t-shirt or blouse outside your pants. Evans do navy bootcut denim leggings (£18) with elastic all the way around from size 16 and above, and BHS do flat-front straight-cut or bootcut denim leggings (£16) in navy and black, with a flat front but a more gathered back. Note, btw, that these leggings are extremely cheap compared with jeans because they lack construction details - they don't have pockets and there are no flat-fell seams down the outside leg, for instance. As ever, our US sisters are much better served - these Metroland leggings pictured come in seven different colours from Amazon.com whereas over at .co.uk, Brits have to make do with skinny leggings that make you look like a pig on stilts. 

Maternity jeans

A secret boon for post-menopausal or apple-shaped women, but one you might not have thought of. A pair of maternity jeans and a long top looks perfectly normal from the outside - correct stitching, proper pockets, bottom of a fly etc - but gives you a huge amount of comfort at the waist. If you're handy with a needle, you can even adapt your favourite jeans using an old t-shirt and the results are equally professional.

Knitted jeans

For a larger budget (though still cheap compared with 'name' jeans such as Levis) these knitted jeans from Orvis look exactly like normal jeans, with the fly front, half pockets, etc, except they're knitted and therefore incredibly comfortable. £42 reduced from £69. I assume that these jeans won't haul anything back into place, though, given their amount of stretch!

Make them

Most of us have never thought of making our own jeans but there are lots of patterns for jeans available from all the leading companies - those shown are from Vogue. If you're not up to making your own, check out having them made by a dressmaker. This is not a cheap option (though a LOT cheaper than a named brand) but the advantage here is that if you get the fit right, they could be the most comfortable jeans you ever own, and you can have them customised, such as no pockets, different pockets, elastic in the back, etc. You can also have an endless selection of fabrics, including fashion denims in a huge colour range, or with prints or sparkle, or jeans in other fabrics such as linen twill.

I love what they can do for you - make you look perky when you're feeling down, soothe your body when you've had a tough day, hide your bad bits and accentuate your good bits. In particular, I have a love affair with fabrics - with real silk lingerie and soft kid leather shoes; with cashmere and fluffy angora knits; with scratchy Harris tweed and butter-soft suede.

But I am not, at all times, greatly enamoured of fashion.

One of the reasons is that fashion often sucks. When the trend turns to sack dresses with shoestring straps, where's a girl to turn? But another reason is that I'm a tightwad. If I buy a thing, and I love it and I look good in it, and I enjoy wearing it, I feel seriously aggrieved when fashion moves on and I can't wear my lovely item any more because it's 'old fashioned'. Keep it long enough and doubtless it'll be in fashion again, but you can't wear it a second time because it only reminds people how long you've been on the planet.

What are the options? Get it out once a year, stroke it and put it away again? Give it to someone younger? Chuck it in the bin?

One way to avoid that obsolete feeling is to wear vintage.

Vintage isn't for everyone but it greatly appeals to a certain type of woman - NOT being in fashion takes a bit of courage and it sometimes means you'll attract attention. It's not for shrinking violets. When you wear vintage, people often ask you where you got your clothes, or to turn around, or they feel your fabrics. When you wear it, you make yourself public.

Nor is vintage for people who are squeamish, worrying about whether someone's sweated into this clothing, or broken wind into it, or - good grief - died in it. Dear readers, if you had ever worked in retail and seen the filthy sweaty women who try on the clothes that are then sold as so-called clean and still have their tags, you would be less worried about this. The first thing I do with my new clothes is get the things dry cleaned...

Anyway, about a third of my wardrobe is vintage, and here's why:

* Vintage enables you to find fabrics that don't exist any more. Fabrics come and go in fashion and those of the Victorian era through to the end of the 1930s are simply no longer made. Fabrics like peau de soie and peau de peche and vintage satin bear no resemblance to their modern equivalents. 1920s and 1930s silk velvets are so fine you can pull a whole garment through a wedding ring, and come in the most wonderful colours - saffron yellow, emerald green, devores of all shades. Pre-1960s cottons have a higher thread count per inch than modern cottons and remain crisp and cool in the summer heat, while the gold and silver metallic laces and lames are beyond description.

* Vintage enables you to find techniques that are now rare outside the couture market. Fully-beaded dresses, fully-sequinned dresses, handknits with beading on every stitch, knitwear lined with organza or dupion. If you're really lucky and keep your eyes peeled, you might even get genuine couture at bargain-basement prices. I own several genuine couture items which would be well beyond my pocket if they were modern - my favourite is a trapeze-shape 1960s alpaca coat with nutria collar and cuffs, which cost £15. A similar one costs about £3,500 from Alexander McQueen.

* If you're petite, you may find the fit is much better. I am a shade under 5ft 2inches, which means I don't fit well into modern ranges other than petite (limited ranges and expensive). Luckily, I am handy with a needle, but reaching for the vintage racks means I don't have to be. In particular, garments from the 1950s fit like a glove, especially those with the three-quarter sleeves which were so popular back then.

* The quality of cut and tailoring can be superb. Even in day dresses of the 1950s and earlier, the seam allowances are enormous, making the garment more sturdy, the sleeves are properly faced, bodices may be fully lined and you tend to find French seams and clipped pinked seams rather than serged. When it comes to jackets and coats, the differences are enormous - properly weighted hems, Hong-Kong finishes, organza interfacing, prick-stitching.

Who can't wear vintage

Vintage won't work for everybody. In particular, it can be a problem with taller women unless they're thin and fine-boned. If you have a model's figure, the world is your oyster, but if you're broad shouldered or carrying any weight, your choice is more limited. Women have gotten bigger over the past 100 years and clothing before the 1960s was also worn over some form of corsetry, which shaped the figure from an early age. My friend M was slender but she couldn't even get her arms through the sleeves of one of my 1950s coats because the cuffs were so tightly tailored and her arms were inches longer than the fit of the coat. Nor would her broad shoulders or wide ribcage fit into my tiny jackets.

A tight fit doesn't apply to all items - the loose, untailored garments of the 1920s will fit many modern women and Victorian underwear is voluminous and fits almost everyone. 1950s 'trapeze-style' coats, which swing out from a narrow shoulder also fit most women - but broadly speaking, clothing of the rest of the 20th century can be problematical if you're over 5ft 6inches or above a UK size 10 (US 8). Pay particular attention to sizing if you're buying online.

The vintage market sells its goods by decade, so here's what to look for in each era.

Victorian era

White cotton, often hand-embroidered, especially voluminous nighties (good for full-figured women), bloomers and petticoats. Hand-made blouses with lace inserts (you'll need a tiny waist). Travelling costumes in wool or linen. Avoid anything black, especially silk - black silks were 'weighted' with iron salts which make the the fabric rot.

1910-1920

Pretty day dresses in cotton batiste or lace (very delicate). Tailored items in wool, especially gabardine. This was an extremely feminine era that used delicate fabrics and many of the clothes have not survived.

1920-1930

Evening gowns in beaded silk or cotton (store flat, never hang), lame items, devore velvet and silk velvet jackets. T-shirt-shaped blouses in silk, with beading. Evening coats and capes in velvet. Avoid gelatine sequins, which can't be washed. The average woman in the 1920s was not especially thin or small-waisted and designs are often quite forgiving.

1930-1939

Bias-cut evening gowns in lame or silk tissue, velvet gowns, velvet jackets, 'peignoirs' (negligees) in chiffon or velvet. Fairisle handknits. You HAVE to be thin to wear 1930s dresses - this was the era of the great slim-down and gowns made so tight you could barely sit down in them.

1940-1947

Tailor-made suits, CC41 (official Utility wear) items, including suits and coats. Evening gowns and jackets, often in black and shocking pink, with big shoulder pads. Avoid items that are overworn - clothing and fabric production was tightly regulated during the war years and many fabrics are of poor quality and have not worn well.

1947-1960

Suits, coats, tailored dresses. Day dresses with full skirts, especially in cotton prints. Mexican-style circle skirts. Cropped knitwear with three-quarter sleeves. Beaded knitwear. Sequinned knitwear. Trousers and capris with side zips. The 1950s was a very feminine era and generally requires a small waist and a largish bust. You can always pad the bust if need be, but modern women tend to have thicker waists than in the 1950s, when women routinely wore waist-cinchers.

1960-1970

Shift dresses and coats of a similar shape, usually in stiffish fabrics, including some synthetics. Beaded and sequinned knitwear. Ribbon knitwear. Capes. Avoid the cheaper synthetic items, especially nylon that has been washed many times.

1970s

Maxi dresses in bold prints, original-era Laura Ashley frocks in dimity prints, embroidered ethnic items.

I'm stopping at the 1970s because that's moving into an area when most of us either were, or became adults, and if there's one golden rule about vintage, it's don't wear it now if you were an adult when it first came out. It's borderline if you were a child, as I was in the early 1970s.

Where to find them

If you want to try wearing vintage, you can't beat visiting a clothing store and trying things on. Pay no attention to sizing - this has changed over the years and the label is unlikely to tell you anything you need to know, such as whether the garment will fit your ribcage.

It's very hard to get a good idea of vintage by buying online, and I'm wary of it myself even though I've been wearing vintage since the late 70s. If you do decide to buy online, make sure your vendor has a good returns policy, and pay close attention to the measurements given - most vendors give extremely detailed measurements. Err on the side of caution, if need be, and buy overlarge, and take the garment to a tailor for retailoring - you can always take a thing in, but don't expect to be able to let an item out.

1 Microfibre shorties. Go for a slightly low waist, and nude for the colour so that it goes under everything. Shorties give you a better line under clothing than a thong or brief and if your tummy or bottom are starting to sag, look out for those with butt-lift and tummy panels built in. The best are made by Jockey and Hanro but I mostly buy Dim because I live in France.

2 Nude-colour microfibre bodies or long camisoles, or a thermal camisole in silk jersey. If you choose the camisole rather than the body, make sure it's long enough to come down to at least your low hip, then it won't budge under clothing when you bend or stretch. If you choose the body, consider one with a built-in bra to minimise bulk and strap-show. Wearing underwear of this kind allows you to wear low-waist or sheer clothing secure in the knowledge that you're properly covered up. It also has the secondary effect of smoothing over a bra that has lace or other additions, which many of the best support bras do. Check out Figleaves for ideas, or Winter Silks for thermal camisoles.

3 A decent bra. This becomes increasingly important as you age and the breast tissue softens, so keep your ideas updated - what suited you last year may not be right now. Wearing the right bra can take 10 pounds off your silhouette, so get properly fitted and when you find what you like, buy three of them (one to wash, one to wear and one to rest). Nude-colour is more flexible than white, then white, then black, then coloured items. If you're a C-cup or above, choose strong, wide straps that hoick your breasts forward and whatever your size, make sure the support comes from the band, not the straps (take your arms out of the straps and jump up and down to check). After 25 years of underwires, lately I'm a convert to the Doreen bra by Triumph, which is the best-selling bra in the UK. Sadly not the most attractive item to look at - though the Luxury option is an improvement - it gives a great shape under clothing, complete security as you move around and is so comfortable you don't know you're wearing it.

4 T-shirts. Choose short sleeves if your arms are toned, but long-sleeved tees are infinitely more wearable for most women and they cover a multitude of sins. Long sleeves can be a hard beast to find, though, so when they appear in the shops, snap them up. Winter weight tees are usually better quality than summer tees - don't waste your cash on anything see-through. A crisp white tee is as useful as a white blouse and can be dressed up or down accordingly, but almost any colour is wearable. Avoid logos and designs though - keep them plain. By and large a scoop-neck or v-neck is the most flattering neckline unless you're very thin, and cotton with some stretch - say 5 per cent - wears better than pure cotton.

5 Fitted white cotton shirts. Have a bunch of these in various styles - here's a good place to echo the current trend for volume in sleeves, if that's your thing, or a personal fetish for lace or embroidery. A shirt ending at around hip length means you can tuck it in or leave it out - keep it fitted, not tight nor loose and baggy, so that you can layer both under and over. Vertical detailing such as pintucks, seams or pleats will lengthen your torso, making it looks slimmer - only choose items with horizontal details if you're small-busted. Collarless or collared is up to you, but a shaped open rever or a standard shirt neck flipped up at the back are very flattering. Wear the neck open to give you a long, slimming, vertical line. Just above your bra is a good level, but if you feel this is too revealing, fill in the gap with a camisole or light t-shirt. White shirts are available everywhere, but Gap do good cotton ones and George at Asda do fab poly-cotton ones if you're short of cash. For investment pieces, consider Shirin Guild or men's shirtmakers such as Hilditch and Key.

6 Sweaters. By this I mean thin 2-ply cashmere or merino if you can stretch to it, something like Courtelle if you can't. Choose crewneck for the most mileage, v-neck to be flattering, or poloneck if you're the chilly sort, and always buy them long-sleeved and hip length. These thin jumpers should be close-fitting - loose enough to get a blouse or tee underneath but still tight enough to go under a jacket. You need at least three - one in black, one in a paler neutral such as cream, beige or grey, and one in a colour that really makes your complexion sing - but having more won't hurt.

7 Well-cut black pants. Follow the style of the day, but not slavishly - avoid fashion extremes such as parachute legs and fiddly details like cargo pockets. Most women are well-served by a slightly low waist (ie: just under your belly button, not a low-rider), no pockets and a side zip to minimise bulk. This style of waist is very clean and allows you to wear your tops either tucked in or layered on top. Keep the leg bootcut, straight, full or flared. For fibres, anything matt and with some stretch is useful - wool/poly blends, microfibre and stretch velvet are all good options. I buy mine at La Redoute or from the supermarket.

8 Jeans. Choose a slightly low waist for minimum bulk, some stretch in the denim (2-10 per cent), dark indigo dye and a boot cut hemmed to the right length for either flats or heels. This type of jean will take you almost everywhere except formal offices and functions and it practically never dates - for this reason, avoid acid-washes, stonewashes, cropped legs, zips at the ankles, paper-bag waists or anything 'trendy'. A bootcut is not only flattering on every woman with hips or an arse, it also gives you the option of wearing long boots underneath in cool weather. You can wear these jeans with a t-shirt every day, with a jacket to smarten them up, with a white shirt, a sweater or a frilly blouse. When the denim starts to look tired, chuck it in the wash with a pack of Dylon dye and follow the instructions. Don't allow your denim to get stained, messy or faded unless it's strictly for casual wear. After indigo blue, neutral colours such as black, grey and beige will give you the most mileage. Personally I favour Boden, which has a choice of bootcut width.

9 Knee-length skirt. Somewhere around your knee, from slightly above to slightly below there is a length that is perfect for you. Take the trouble to find it and your legs will magically slim down and lengthen. Once you do find it, have all your skirts altered to fit (this might entail a visit to the tailor, as if you shorten skirts you often have to narrow them too). The knee-length skirt is always appropriate wear for business but you can wear it to work all day and still go out in it in the evening. Black woolmix with some stretch is probably best, followed by a neutral with some texture, and pair it with dark tights and shoes or boots.

10 A classic coat. You can't go wrong with a trenchcoat or fly-front polo-coat of the Burberry type in a dateless colour such as beige or navy. Bought with a zip-out lining it will take you through at least three seasons each year. The real thing is always worth the investment (I've had my Burberry polo-coat about 15 years and even then it was from a charity shop) but cheap knock-offs can be found in microfibre with poly linings and they will go in the washing machine. If you're looking for a winter coat, the most flattering shape on women remains the classic wrapover camelhair with a standard or shawl collar, worn to the knee or calf, belted or unbelted. In a good colour like beige, navy or black, it will take you from office to night out to a weekend in the country with nothing more than a change of accessories. Wool-poly blends will last you 2-5 seasons, while a good cashmere will last a lifetime. Incidentally, this is the coat that has consistently tested as the most appealing to men, if that might sway you.

11 Black leather footwear. Shoes are a very personal thing. My best friend has over 65 pairs and favours leopard-print stilettos; I have about 10 pairs and favour stack-heeled boots. One thing we're both agreed on, though, is that the black leather ones are the ones we really wear. However full your wardrobe is of spiky-heeled satin numbers, pink suede peep-toes and diamante-studded boots, the fact is that streets are dirty, driving takes its toll and your feet can get cold nine months of the year. Good-quality footwear is a must, whether it's Footglove sandals, Chanel slingbacks or Shelley's boots, and black leather requires the least upkeep. Decide on your style - flats, court shoes, spike-heel boots - and maintain them well.

12 Accessories. Here's where any woman can dress up her basics and really make the most of colour and trends without breaking the bank. So if there's a season's colour that you like and that suits you, buy it in a scarf or belt rather than something expensive like a jacket. If there's a fussy trend in bags or belts, such as studs, fringeing or crochet, consider carefully whether it works on you - nothing updates an outfit quicker than a change of bag, but nothing dates it quicker either. Also, few things date a woman of a certain age more than an unwise belt (my once-favourite 4-inch deep black elastic belt with gigantic double peacock bronze clasp doesn't look quite so good now that it's not teamed with football-player shoulders and a big swirly skirt...) Trends apart, you'll still find that the accessories you wear the most are in good quality materials such as silk, wool and leather, and in neutrals such as brown or black, and cosmetic colours that flatter your skin. This means items such as leather belts 0.5-1inch wide, silk foulard squares, long velvet scarves, dark leather gloves and classic hats such as berets and fedoras.