Women aged 50 plus spend an average of £1,783 a year on looking glamorous, a study has found. The typical older woman annually splashes out £117 on make-up, £378 on clothes and a whopping £1,288 on nights out. The study of 1,800 females aged 50-70 revealed, far from being over the hill, they are living life to the full - spending money on looking great and spending their free-time socialising with pals. In a typical month they enjoy a minimum of three evenings out on the tiles - with cocktails and wine bars among the most popular activities.
Over the same period respondents fine dine twice, go on two clothes shopping sprees, catch-up with friends four times - and visit their local hair salon every other month. While seven in ten women revealed they receive compliments about their appearance during nights out as a matter of course and a fifth are regularly approached by potential suitors. Commissioned by Peter Hahn, specialists in fashion for the mature woman, the research also found a quarter consider themselves to be glamorous. And over half say they have experienced a new lease of life since turning 50.
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A spokeswoman for Peter Hahn said: "With this research we want to get some indication of what the typical woman in their 50s and older is like. Our research suggests many older women like to lead quite a classy and glamorous lifestyle - enjoying nice food, looking good and having a great time with their friends. They appear to have refined their tastes over the years and know what they like - and what they want out of life."
Fifty-one per cent of women said it takes years of experience to truly master being glamorous - and 28 per cent think newer generations of females are less glam than they are. However, many put this down to younger women not having had as much life experience as them – with one respondent admitting it takes time to feel comfortable as who you are. While another said older females are less inclined to follow fads - and instead they take the best fashions from different eras in order refine their sense of glamour.
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More than a third of respondents believe glamour can be found in a piece of exquisite designer clothing or a handbag. And the average female over 50 owns two designer handbags and one pair of designer sunglasses - with a third owning up to three pairs of designer shoes. Three quarters of respondents said they enjoy getting glammed up for special occasions - and nine in ten said it’s important they look their best where possible.