Fashion: Style is all about self

Death and taxes, Benjamin Franklin once said, are the only certain things in life. I'd like to add one more to the list: at some point in a woman's life she will be told she should wear a safari jacket. Not when she's planning a trip to Africa, but when she turns 40.

She will also then probably be told she should invest in a peasant skirt and something called a "naval blazer". Going on safaris, living as a peasant and joining the navy - who knew life after 40 was so filled with adventure?

Disappointingly, these tips are part of what I call age-dictated style: when clothes are divided up according to what is "appropriate" in each decade of a woman's life.