SHANE WATSON'S ultimate autumn/winter fashion guide for the over-50s - the trends to avoid and new season styles you CAN pull off

Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn moreThe bitingly cold weather hasn't hit yet – but autumn is finally here – and we all need clothes. By we I mean style conscious, cash strapped, fifty-plus women who want to look great for their age, without spending much.I've been writing about the fashion that works best for over fifties in my How To Dress Like A Grown Up column for the Daily Mail for several years. My job is to find the clothes and accessories that work hardest for us, that flatter our figures and signal our fashion savvy, while keeping one eye on what makes us look younger and what tips us into frumpy territory. It's fashion advice with a built-in anti-ageing formula.So here are nine style tips you might want to consider for this season, along with the pieces you'll find on the high street now that might be worth the investment.1. FAUX FUR AND FRINGING TO ADD TEXTUREFor autumn, it's out with nineties minimalism and in with rich textures; a whiff of decadence and fun. Bring out your faux fur chubby and sling it over the shoulders of a sleeveless top or invest in a furry bomber jacket. Note: the thicker and more substantial the fur, the better. It's important for fifty-plusers that this fur looks expensive with plenty of texture in dark browns and blacks; steer clear of those slim cardigans with detachable collars – they mostly look cheap.Marks and Spencer has tons of fur to choose from this season, from faux fur trim parkas to snoods.Most of us will baulk at wearing feathers (think of the cleaning), but fringing is far less intimidating. We're talking about everything from a midi skirt with a longish fringed hem, to a tweedy jacket with rough frayed trims, to a fringe-embellished handbag. A feather detail, a furry collar, a fringe trim on a jacket edge – these are the details that make clothes look new and the opposite of dowdy for the season ahead. 2. INVEST IN A BLACK SKIRTThe M&S customer is wasting no time getting on with her skirt shopping, and a black knee-grazing kilt style is currently the store's number one best-seller.These skirts, with or without a jacket, have shifted the dial, and now feminine elegance is back and wearable for fifty-plusers. We can look cool and grown up in skirts again. Just stick to entry-level black for now – the colour that gives you the most options – and work your way up to checks and tweeds, or whatever floats your boat.Take M&S's black wrap kilt complete with pleats and buckle fastenings – it's a black skirt with surprisingly wide appeal. With a white shirt and fluffy grey sweater, it's got a back-to-school vibe, but a grown-up could wear it with a turtleneck or a striped shirt, a soft blouse and a cropped jacket, and tall boots. Less kilty and more midi, with pleats and side-seam pockets, is Boden's Aya cotton sateen skirt. This is lighter, and the length makes it easier to wear with shorter boots or even bare legs and block heels. Baujken's chunky box pleat skirt in a black wool blend has just the right amount of swish and looks good with a fitted sweater. Otherwise, silky lace trim skirts are worth a look. These are more popular than ever and are now in the 'why not?' category, especially if they're black, the hem is asymmetric (less lingerie-like), and you're wearing them smart casually (no other way).3. EMBRACE BOOTS There's one important thing to know about knee boots at our age, and that is they're the gateway to skirt and dress wearing.If you're accustomed to wearing trousers and jeans, your chances of putting on a skirt in the morning are 70 per cent higher if boots are part of the equation.Boots give you more options, and they avoid the bother of tights (not to be underestimated) but that's not the key. What matters is they add that critical bit of edge, a dash of youthful attitude, the element of tough, that automatically prevents your midi dress or nicely tailored below-the-knee skirt from looking too ladylike and proper.The Little Black Boot is what will give your white trousers legs well into autumn, and, provided they're not heavy, LBBS are useful now under jumpsuits, blue jeans and with midi dresses or skirts.Knee boots can lift you out of a potential dowdy trap. Look in the mirror and feel a bit like your mum? Add knee boots. There are lots of riding boot-adjacent styles, with or without the hardware, which will certainly smarten up a skirt for the day.But, I would focus on the seventies look boot (close-fitting to the leg, block-heeled with a slightly squared-off or flat oval toe and an easy-to-walk-in heel – not, note, platforms). These are the all-rounders you can wear peeking out under wide-leg trousers, showing off under straight-leg jeans, or with any length hemlines from just knee-covering to ankle-grazing.You might instantly dismiss the overknee boot as OTT, but actually they're just an extra-long knee boot to wear under skirts – all the more reason when there are splits or a wrap that's liable to separate when you sit down – and when they're clinging, they give you the option of knee coverage with hemlines that don't quite cover them.If you're looking to refresh your ankle boots, then the sock style, or close fit, is the look of the moment, with or without a heel. The fashion crowd get theirs from Nomasei, but they're not cheap. For something similar, I would try M&S's with a chisel toe and a 2-inch heel.4. MOVE ON FROM FAIR ISLE FOR COUNTRY CHICHeritage fashion – clothes we associate with the British countryside at its most traditional and affluent – is big news this autumn. Fair Isle knits are back in a big way. But for many of us, Fair Isle (much as we love it) is just too royal-babies-at-Balmoral. The grown-up, chic alternative is an argyle knit. You won't regret buying one now and slipping yours under a tailored jacket as the weather gets colder. Make life easier for yourself and introduce country checks and plaids on top while keeping your bottom half plain. There are versions of that brown check bomber style that Princess Diana put on the map during her honeymoon at Balmoral in stores now, but the best is M&S's check zip-up funnel neck. Wellies should be knee-length and sensible (olive green ideally) or short and hardwearing with tabs and heavy treads. I've converted from Tretorns to M&S's sturdy ankle rubber boots because they're a third of the price and look good in town or country, in black or brown.5. TRY ON THE NEW BLAZERA blazer is a lifesaver in my view. But the truth is (as I discovered when I reached for a neat blue needlecord single-breasted blazer the other day) not all blazers are created equal. It's probably easier to say what the new blazer is not. It's not plain blue for a start – too everyday normal, even if it is in corduroy. It's not made of any fabric you might associate with the boardroom; it's not smooth and (unless it's flecked tweed) it's not black. It's not a narrow fit. In this blazer, you want to feel all the bonuses you get from a normal blazer – instantly pulled together, instantly smarter, instantly more poised – and as well as all that, more original and interesting. The easiest route to achieving this is with a tweed or 'heritage' check. I have personally never owned a tweed wool blazer, and now I do and can confirm it hits the spot.There's been a lot of talk already this season about 'heritage' English country looks rising to the top of the fashion tree, and what that means in practice is that slick modern tailoring, technical fabrics, and black have taken a back seat to herringbone coats, tweed and check jackets, argyle knits, greys and browns. Of the lot, the tweed or check jacket has the widest, 'can't go wrong' appeal. 6. THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL LAYERINGWhat looks newer than a shirt with nothing underneath is a shirt over a polo neck under a blazer; or a T-shirt under a crew neck under a funnel neck blouson jacket. Get used to thinking in twos or threes. A structured, buttoned-up cardigan works like a softly tailored jacket. In due course you may want a softly tailored boucle jacket, but this is your entry-level item that works on milder days too. It's not cheap – head to John Lewis for great value quality cashmere – but the structured high-neck cashmere sweater continues to be the single best value-for-wear item in your wardrobe. Wear it with a pencil skirt, wear it with tailored trousers, wear it neck robed (the new shoulder robed!) with a sleeveless dress. 7. A DASH OF RED (AGAIN)A dash of red was the instant outfit-transforming colour of last autumn; it worked so well we're adding more. The item to get is a sweater or quarter zip (the chicest style as decreed by Chanel's Matthieu Blazy), but it's the collar that's important. For now, try Jigsaw's chunky collared short-sleeved top. Not any old red will do: it needs to be scarlet, not too orangey and not veering towards burgundy.8. FINESSE YOUR FOOTWEAR Let's start with a shoe that has just the right attitude for now and autumn: a no-frills classic kitten heel – easy to wear and elegant. It could be leopard print (the exotic detail you want to be wearing with everything), and it might be pony skin (tick for texture and specialness). The kitten slingback was perfect for summer and is going strong for autumn with more emphasis on glossy finishes and animal print. Hold onto the ones you already own and consider investing in a red pair or leopard.High vamp flat pumps are the grown-up version of ballerinas, which have become the Gen Z go-with-everything shoe. The difference with these is that they are cut high on the front of the foot (low-cut is exposing on the Fifty Pluser), plain and sleek, not gathered with a little bow (bows and gathering feel too girlish now), and they have an almond or squarish toe (or what they call round-square), so they're sharper. You're wearing these with smart trousers, longer hemlines and – always – bare feet.9. TOP IT OFF WITH AN AUTUMN ACCESSORYA glossy leather tote is an excellent and practical way to add luxury and sophistication to your look. We're moving beyond stealth wealth, but there's still a flavour of it in the mix, and this is where to get it.New Look's brown slouchy tote bag is a cracker at £25.99, while & Other Stories' tote is back by popular demand.Tie a silk print scarf (something simple and geometric, not floral) around the handle of your bag. Tie the same scarf around the waist of a jumpsuit (one corner smoothed over your hip) or a pair of fitted trousers worn with a tonal top. Loop it inside the collar of an extra undone shirt.John Lewis does a staggered stripe silk square in white and black, and Me+Em has several geometric print silk squares in the sale from £34. The scarf-tied bag is this autumn's instant chic hack.The wool bandana, the runaway trend of last year, is still going strong, and now the bigger wool scarf – roughly shoulder-width – has entered the competition.If you don't already own one, head to Marks & Spencer: it has a big triangle scarf in chilli red.The idea is to mix textures, add softness and colour, and for the Fifty Plusers this is, obviously, dream camouflage for the neck and jawline.Your new neck decor doesn't have to be a wool bandana. It could be silk or satin; it might be cotton or fur.If you haven't got a belt already, you're missing out on a chance to smarten up your jeans and give new polish to old trousers.Black leather or faux leather and gold hardware is still the gold standard, and M&S do one for £16.