She's dressed some of the most beautiful and iconic women on the planet, so legendary designer Amanda Wakeley knows a thing or two about feeling confident and attractive at any age.
In this week's episode of HELLO!’s Second Act podcast, the 63-year-old fashion designer spoke to host Ateh Jewel about the lessons she’s learned over the past few years - from dusting herself off following personal tragedy and professional setbacks to giving herself permission to rest after a seriously hectic first act.
Even more inspiring? The super-practical style tips that sum up her big goal - to make women feel amazing. "As a woman, designing for women, it's always been my mission just to make women feel great," she says.
Over the years, Amanda has dressed Princess Kate, Princess Diana and Meghan Markle for some of the biggest moments of their lives, as well as dozens of celebrities on the red carpet - and she has plenty of tips for normal women who want to sparkle too.
"Ignore the judgment," she says. "Just get on and wear what makes you feel as fabulous as you do. There is no such thing as age-appropriate in my view. If you feel good in it, just go with it."
© Photo: RexAmanda recommends taking mirror selfies as you try on outfits - but crucially, covering your face with your phone while you snap away, so you don't get distracted by your hair and makeup (or lack of!). Amanda also thinks finding style icons you can relate to, rather than aspiring to look like Hailey Bieber when you're in your fifties, is key.
"I do think it helps if you can find an icon or two who has a similar shape to you or not a million miles off," she says. "And then you can see, okay, so these are working. This is working on her curves, so it's going to work on me, or this is working on her colouring."
HELLO!'s Second Act is a newsletter for women in midlife and beyond. It's completely free to sign up and is a one-stop-shop for advice and inspiration on the issues our Second Act community have told us matter most: health, relationships, travel, menopause, divorce, careers, finance and more.
She adds: "Just experiment and try to start building a little bit of a mood board as to what the new you could look like, because you may have kids who have flown the nest, you might be embarking on a new chapter of your life. You might be newly single, you might be postmenopausal, or with a different body."
The designer also spoke about how working with psychotherapist and grief counsellor Julia Samuel, a close friend of the late Princess Diana, helped her through the hardest period of her life to date: when she lost her brother and her business within a fortnight of each other.
"It hits you like a freight train," she says. "And she is literally the goddess of grief. She saved my sanity, and I'd never been big on therapy, but wow, did she help unpick what I was going through, make sense of it, and just help me heal myself and grieve and then heal myself."
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