Now it's beauty before youth

Somebody, somewhere once said that if you stand still long enough, you will come back around into fashion again.

At 52, I like to think I have never been truly banished from the realms of the stylish - but I have felt pretty marginalised in recent times.

When the buzz is all about what's being worn by Paula Yates's daughters Peaches and Pixie or the girl out of the Harry Potter films, the fact that I have children (and quite a few items of clothing) older than most of them makes me feel well and truly out of the loop.

So, hurrah for Michelle Obama. And hurrah for Sarah Palin, come to that. Both women are 44, and the fact that they managed to look chic, sexy and fashionable on the recent US campaign trail has given me the validation I needed to declare women over 40 to be the new style icons.

Once you look around, you see them everywhere. GulfWeekly's agony aunt and leading Bahrain Rotarian Betsy B Mathieson, 50, is full of self confidence. She explained: "It's all about positive energy - if you are happy within yourself and your heart is full of love and kindness for others those are the exact things you will radiate to other people."

Reaching her late 40s has also given Kristin Scott Thomas the most fabulously sexy-chic bloom. She used to look a bit prim; now she is dressed in the best bits of YSL. Mary Portas from British TV's Mary Queen of Shops fashion programme is 46 and models her own quirky/strict style that never looks like anyone else's. Designer Betty Jackson is coming up to 60 and still wears the most desirable soft black leather biker jacket with real panache.

Then there are the more outre types. Their contemporaries might not want to follow their lead, but you have to admire the individuality of Chanel muse Amanda Harlech, 49, Issey Miyake-mad architect Zaha Hadid, 58, and the colourful, wacky-fashion looks of Vivienne Westwood, 67, and Zandra Rhodes, 68. Their looks are totally their own - strong, intelligent, dramatic.

Many of those women were among the 40 women over 40 named in Good Housekeeping's Stylish at Any Age feature, one of our best-read recent pieces.

If that means that we are seeing the end of ironed hair, featureless faces and cookie-cutter looks that come straight from the catwalk without an iota of personalisation along the way, then I will be a happier woman. I think fashion is at its most boring when it is all about that nanosecond's looks and labels, and not about the joy women get from putting themselves together differently every day.

And the thing about those women who are over 40 (or 50, or 60) is that they have wardrobes that go back a long way - and the confidence to haul something from the back of it and give it another whirl. They may not always pull if off, but in a sea of sameness their chutzpah is admirable - and now it's also fashionable.

Youth will always have a premium. Firm, soft, perfect skin, a gazelle-like body - these are wonderful things. But they are not the only way to be beautiful. I came upon a recent picture of Deborah Harry on a celebrity website - 'God, hasn't she aged since backstage at the Whisky in 1977!' cracked the photographer. And, of course, she has.

She is no longer the same New Wave babe in her black shift with peroxide blonde hair. But 31 years later, she is a different kind of babe. Whatever it was, she has still got quite a lot of it, and her current style - still lots of black, but not the same blonde - harks back to her 70s heyday without setting her in aspic.

I believe the important point is not about looking young, it's about looking good. Lauren Hutton, for example, pictured in this week's Grazia with an Olsen (she's modelling for their label) looks her age - but fabulous with it. Like most models once they have finished full-time work, she has put on a little weight and her face looks lived-in and lively.

What makes the over-40s stand out from the fashion crowd is their sense of style and self. They're not slaves to every trend; if something doesn't suit them, they won't go near it. Some are as keen to show Pilates-ed flesh as any twenty-something, others are keener on age-appropriateness. They stick to opaque tights if their knees are looking pudgy; they like a sleeve to hide the dreaded bingo wings.

For real women over 40, the knowledge that a few of their comrades are making the fashion grade is a much-needed shot in the arm. So many magazines and shops do nothing but cater to the youngest (and slimmest) part of the market that continuing to follow fashion can be a most demoralising pursuit.

Personally, I find it quite shocking how ageist people have become. In my 50s, I now understand Germaine Greer's comment about middle-aged women being invisible. But on a recent trip to Rome I came away feeling quite fabulous for a change - Italian men don't appear to discriminate so clearly on the basis of age.

I did have a sexy little fashion moment in London recently, though. Popping out to get a sandwich in Soho, my eyes locked with 60s heartthrob Terence Stamp across Broadwick Street. He ran his steely blue eyes down my well-wrapped-up body to the fabulous flat patent boots I was wearing, then looked me full in the face and smiled. It was bliss. When I did the same thing to him, though, I discovered he was wearing purple Crocs. Perhaps it is our male contemporaries who need to learn to grow old gracefully.

Editor's note: Louise Chunn is the editor of Good Housekeeping.