How tell if your clothes are making your face look old …including the draining colours midlife women must stop wearing – and six tricks to shave off the years: SHANE WATSON

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1. Bold earrings

Bold statement earrings were a big feature of the autumn catwalks – sculptural, drop, doorknockers; there’s no rule other than go big, avoid dainty, and maybe get a thick collarbone-grazing chain to match. Zara has lots of striking earrings, including coral resin drops in a rhinestone surround (£15.99, zara.com).

2. Not slate grey 

Some of us are convinced that certain colours are chic enough to leapfrog any issues about ‘being draining’. Grey is a killer for most Fifty Plusers unless it’s snowcap grey or you wear it on top of an ivory or sky blue collar. Camel and beige are similarly tricky, and navy, I now find – unless it’s very dark in a sumptuous soft wool – more ageing than black. Navy crepe or suiting I would avoid on principle.

3. A coloured funnel neck

A blouse in a colour that brings out your eyes is not – as you might think – the answer to anti ageing your face. We need the colour right up against our jawlines for it to have maximum impact which is why funnel neck jackets, sweaters and high neck blouses are so popular; great both for disguising necks and delivering colour where we need it most. Kill two birds with one stone with M&S’s funnel-neck quarter-zip red jumper (£40, marksandspencer.com).

Another trick is wearing a fine gauge polo neck or high neck T shirt under a shirt or sweater, and that dash of white is a very effective face lifter. Try Zara’s high-neck white T-shirt (£19.99).

4. A lurex or metallic thread trim

Why does a Chanel-adjacent jacket always look so good? Because of the gold and silver metallic thread trims, the many coloured tweedy fabrics, the fluffy fringing, the blingy buttons (this season these are often for decoration and they do up with a zip). 

The difference between a blue plaid bomber jacket and one with a fluffy light grey trim on the collar and silver buttons, is the difference between face flattening and face brightening. For Chanel-alike jackets, head to Mango or Zara, who have endless styles to choose from. I like Zara’s knit tweedy jacket with frayed trims, metallic thread and a few spattered sequins (£59.99). 

5. Faux fur

In the same vein, there aren’t many women who don’t look better for a face framing bit of fur whether that’s a collar, a scarf or hat. It’s important for the fifty plusers that this fur looks expensive with plenty of texture; steer clear of those slim cardigans with detachable collars – they mostly look cheap – dark browns and black. Marks and Spencer has tons of fur to choose from this season, from faux fur trim parkas (£95) to snoods (£26).

6. Lace trims

You don’t want to go overboard with a lace-edged collar, but a bit of detail, not too fussy, can work like a tweakment. And Other Stories does a satin-effect V-neck ivory top with a double-layer black lace V trim (£87, stories.com) that, if you don’t mind baring your arms, will look fabulous with black trousers or a long black skirt.