Show me the way.

I'm heading toward my mid thirties - in just a couple of months in fact. And the question arises - on the high street, in the media, on the catwalk and via my friends; are we thirty-somethings 'past it'?

Twenty-somethings may say 'Hell yeah - go and shop in M & S and leave us whippersnappers to prance about nonchalantly in our spanglies and skinny pleathers and muse about our exciting futures.'

To which I retort, 'Actually M & S have some rather nice pieces this season, now get out of my way, that Balmain lookalike is mine.'

However, if I let down my defenses a little, I would probably admit that I have been considering Botox for next year - simply as a preventative measure of course - and to be honest in more recent years I have avoided hot pants, playsuits, mini/bodycon dresses and more lately 'jeggings' - simply because I am not twenty five nor am I Kate Moss - but quite frankly I don't want to be. Kate Moss that is - I wouldn't mind being twenty five again. But I'm going to be thirty five instead. Though it's not instead, because I have already had a go at being twenty five. And here's a thought. I know more about me and 'my style' now, than I did ten years ago. I know more about what I LOVE - as opposed to what 'Look' magazine loves - now, than i did ten years ago. So if that's anything to go by, then I should be looking forward to what my forties may bring. (Eccentricity and cheaper Botox I hope.)

Show me a twenty five yr old style icon with more character, signature, grace, beauty and authenticity than these forty-something women. Yes - forty-something. Aren't they sirens? I admire and aspire to them. To their wisdom, their confidence and their savvy. I'd like some of that for my birthday please. (As well as a Balmain jacket)

(P.S. I know there probably are twenty five yr olds out there with these qualities but humor me here - i am a little senile after all.)

Daphne Guinness: Born 9th November 1967

'I grew up in an artists’ colony near Barcelona with Salvador DalÍ and the Surrealists, so my dress sense is very coloured by my youth. Everybody knew that DalÍ was the most crazy; you’d go to his house and he would have lobsters in his pool. Anything went, clothes-wise. You could wear whatever you wanted any time of day, so people would wear evening clothes at breakfast time, simple Catalan shoes and hats, lots of brightly coloured hippy kaftans, and a lot of French, tailored outfits.'

'I think you do have a more fun life if you wear beautiful clothes. There is a certain joy in it; dressing well is an art and it shows respect to be neatly turned out' ( http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article2300331.ece)

Gwen Stefani: born October 3, 1969

"I know I'm vain," she has said. "I have so much makeup—I'm not kidding. I've always loved beauty. I was the girl who was like, 'Ask your mom if we can play with clothes or makeup, and you know what? I'm doing the same thing now that I was doing when I was 10." (Instyle mag)

Cate Blanchett: Born 14 May, 1969

"It`s not just women on film, 18-year-old girls feel pressure to do preventative injecting. I see someone`s face, someone`s body who`d had children and I think they`re the song lines of your experience, and why would you want to eradicate that? I look at people sort of entombing themselves and all you see is their little pin holes of terror... and you think, just live your life, death is not going to be any easier just because your face can`t move."

(imdb.com)