Head, shoulders, knees and...

I don't believe that I have ever met a woman who is happy with her appearance. We all have specific obsessions or unease with particular parts of our faces or bodies, usually unnoticed by others but that we find obvious and depressing. I remember the friend who confessed to her shamefully wide feet that I had never noticed, the colleague who would not be seen dead in a sleeveless top for fear of revealing "monstrous" arms, the relative who would hide her smile behind her hand to conceal supposedly unbearably crooked teeth. One advantage of getting older is that we develop a good understanding of our strengths and weaknesses and refine coping strategies - one of which is not to care! We know what works and what doesn't work for our bodies. We won't blindly fall for the new trend when we know from experience that it just does not suit us. We've been there, done the jumpsuit or crinkled permed-hair and will not make uncomfortable fools of ourselves again.

However, there is a sting in the tale as just when we know ourselves well enough to hide the problems and focus on the assets, age throws a whole new series of challenges at us. Gravity becomes the enemy when what used to be firm and voluptuous gets droopy and heavy.  Skininness is not necessarily the answer as what used to be lithe and elegant becomes wiry or gaunt. The tried and tested recipes that we had developed no longer apply and we need to find new tricks.

Head...
The main areas that seem to bear the brunt of aging are the face, the neckline, the arms, the stomach and the knees.  I am pretty skeptical with regards to creams and ointments but I guess the usual recommendations of moisturising, keeping out of the sun and leading a healthy lifestyle do help to a degree... I won't go into the more radical procedures that seem to be making progress around me, from injections to surgery as beauty pages are full of them and the field is well covered.  I am more interested in non-surgical, fashion based solutions. There are so many options that I will skim through suggestions and return at a later stage.

Shoulder...
To hide crinkly sun-damaged skin, layering tops can be a good solution. A V-neck or scoop-neck top or jacket can show-off a nice neckline whilst a tight under-layer hides the offending crepey skin. A fine-knit or jersey mock-neck jumper can also do wonders under a dress as shown in Canadian designer Marie Saint Pierre's autumn 2009 collection:  http://www.mariesaintpierre.com/msp_en.html
Scarves also come in handy to cover the neck and cleavage area with something beautiful, soft, classic or ethnic, wild or elegant.  Scarves are a great way of lighting up an outfit whilst showing one's personality. Liberty of London have a great selection:
http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/categorylist/dept/womenswear_scarves?resetFilters=true
Some lucky women keep well toned, tennis player arms but more often than not, our arms show our age and are better kept covered. Tops with 3/4 length sleeves do wonders on baggy arms. The stomach area also suffers with age and few of us can boast the perfect smooth tummy that designers expect of us to wear low-cut trousers or tight fitting outfits. Longer tops skimming the waist do a good job of hiding expanding mid-riffs.

Knees and toes...
Chose skirts that stop below the knee but follow the shape of the body. A nice A-line can work too but I would stay away from tight and short but also from baggy and shapeless. When asked, "how old is too old to wear a miniskirt",  Joanna Lumley' - the poster girl for the art of aging gracefully - answers: opaque tights (50+ deniers), boots and a long coat to deal with the "bad bits". She concludes her answer to Mark Lawson who interviewed her for Radio 4's Front Row: "Go for it baby!" I am not that brave, but she can be!