Fifty is not a Four Letter Word: Where oh where are the stylish dresses with sleeves?

Something happened to me when I turned fifty - it was a fashion paradigm shift. The realization that despite feeling only 36 I could not longer continue to dress the same way I did in my 30s and 40s.

These days fifty is not a four-letter word, 50 is now an age, with a little fashion and beauty know-how, when women can look better than they did in their 30s. Take, for example, Carol Vorderman, who looks stunning at 51. And, as for ladies such as Helen Mirren, Lulu, Twiggy or Joanna Lumley, they are living proof that you can be "of a certain age" and still look gorgeous.

However, my biggest gripe is trying to find clothes that are fashionable for 50+ women, that do not have them either looking like their daughter or dressing like their mum.

One of the most frustrating things about going clothes shopping once you are over 50 is trying to find fashionable dresses with sleeves.

Trying to find stylish dresses with sleeves to cover flabby arms is very difficult. So much so that Prima magazine started a campaign named " A call to arms," backed by grown up and gorgeous celebrities such as Helen Mirren and Lulu, to persuade high-street clothing stores to cater more for fashion over 50. It doesn't have to be a full sleeve, either - a cropped, three-quarter sleeve is very flattering, and even a short sleeve will do, provided it disguises the dreaded bingo wings!

What many fashion retailers seem to ignore is that a 2010 survey found that three out of four British women actually hate their flabby arms more than any other part of their body.

Another thing about clothes shopping in your 50s is that the shop assistants look so young (and so thin)! I live in France but when I return periodically to my home country I make a beeline for all the familiar high street chains.

The last time I was in London I went into New Look, Top Shop and Monsoon (all the favourite haunts of my 30s and 40s), and for the first time, I felt really OLD. Not to mention that since I was last in the UK, the size of clothes physically seemed to have shrunk, and trying to find clothing in my size, (since I have now had to make peace with myself that I have expanded to a size 14+ - whereas in my 40s I used to be a 10) was an absolute nightmare.

It wasn't so much a case of what I liked, but what would fit me! Surely reaching that half-century mark does not mean that I am relegated to shopping in Evans! When I did find a couple of dress styles I liked, they were all sleeveless - arggghhh! I remember wingeing to the sales assistant, "Why are their no dresses with sleeves?"

However, I am please to say that there is hope on the horizon in the shape of good old M&S - that bastion of British retailing, where even Margaret Thatcher admitted to buying her knickers!. Marks and Spencers are one of the few UK retail chains (Debenhams is another) that has taken heed of the plight of older women and are developing stylish and fashionable pieces that older women can wear, such as the recently released Twiggy collection for spring summer 2012, designed by Twiggy herself.

The last time I was in the UK I bought an M&S Woman red fan-print faux wrap dress in a supportive stretchy material, which not only had a youthful, but still age-appropriate, print (rather than those dreadfully ageing wallpaper florals or hideously on-trend young pyjama prints), but also pulled me in at all the right places and had arm-slimming three-quarter sleeves. Just to make my day, I turned on the TV today to see ITV This Morning's presenter Holly Willoughby (who I adore) wearing the same dress, although she looks a lot better than me in it!

Holly Willoughby wearing the red fan print dress from M&S - ITV.com/thismorning

Debenhams, in their Designers at Debenhams collection, do some great dresses with sleeves too - and I love Fifty Plus and Phase Eight's timeless wrap dresses.

Let's hope there are a few more retailers that don't give up on women over 50 - whilst we may no longer be the right side of 35, we still we want to be fashionable!

I'd love to know about your favourite dresses with sleeves. Where do you buy them? What label do you recommend? Let's share some of your favourite brands with others. Please post your comments below.