The Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the annual black tie fundraiser also known as “the party of the year” in New York, is good for many things: ogling movie stars (“Hi, I’m George,” quoth co-host George Clooney in the receiving line, a statement of such astounding obviousness it left many a guest speechless); checking out the fashion/power nexus (Ron Perelman sitting with Barry Diller, aka Mr Diane von Furstenberg; Rupert Murdoch deep in conversation with Shelby Bryan, Anna Wintour’s significant other); and getting wardrobe ideas from red carpet-goers, most of whom were sporting autumn/winter gowns not yet available in stores. What it is generally not known for, however, is answering a question that has been preying on my mind lately: once you hit what is commonly termed middle-life, what does it mean to dress your age?

All this started because of an irate e-mail from a reader fed up with fashion (me included). She was in her 60s, launching a business, needed to look “convincing” to venture capitalists, and didn’t think anything in the catwalk reports would work – not the painterly chiffon trend, the hippie chic trend, or the chunky knit trend. Even the “return of the jacket”, courtesy of YSL’s strong-shouldered separates, wasn’t talking her talk – probably because of the banana-trousered bottoms involved.