Dear Answer Angel Ellen: As far back as I can remember, I have loved hair accessories. Barrettes, clips, headbands, pins, decorative combs, colorful scrunchies and, most especially, hair bows. Over the years, I’ve amassed quite a collection and even a few designer pieces.

But, as I move into middle age, I have started to doubt myself. Am I getting too old to wear these hair adornments?

The reason I’m asking now is that my young teen daughter thinks it is time for me to “act my age” and stop wearing bows in my hair. She seems to think the other hair things are OK but insists that my bows need to go. So, now, as I move into middle age (40 plus), I have started to doubt myself. Am I getting too old to wear bows?

--Nora N.

Dear Nora: Not necessarily.

I get lots of questions from women asking if they are kidding themselves, trying to slow the aging process by wearing certain styles or accessories and looking silly in the process. Only you can answer the question if wearing an accessory, a style, a skirt length makes you self-conscious. If the answer is no, then enjoy being you.

Almost any look can be overdone and that goes for hair bows. Maybe a big pink satin bow perched on the side of your head could read “out of place.” But a black velvet bow with a rhinestone clasp is an elegant way to hold back a ponytail for women of all ages.

Bottom line: You be you.

But if you are inclined to dial back on the hair bows, there are many other ways to indulge your bow craving. Shoes with bows never go out of style. Valentino and Ferragamo have been selling them for decades and still do. They’re classics and be-bowed footwear is available at every price point.

Blouses with bows, large and small, at the neck are everywhere now. Type “women’s clothing with bows” into your search engine and you’ll see a dazzling number of bow’d fashions of every type—dresses, shirts and lots and lots of sweaters—enough to satisfy everyone’s yearning to tie one on.

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Ever since I saw Pamela Anderson going “makeup free” with Valerie Bertinelli on the Drew Barrymore show (with Drew too looking great without any makeup) I got the courage to try it and I love it! Do you think it will catch on?

--Lee Anne D.

Dear Lee Anne: It sure makes getting ready to leave the house a lot easier! Many big name celebrities have joined the crowd (at least briefly), posting no-makeup photos online. And they look gorgeous (or, I suppose, they wouldn’t have posted them in the first place). There has always been a huge contingent of women who never wear makeup and are quite content. But that’s not for everyone. Some of us—me included—feel naked without a little eyeliner and lipstick.

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I’d like your opinion on a style of jackets, which I see women wearing mostly with pants or jeans where the women roll up the jacket cuffs to show the sleeve lining, which is a contrasting color or a print, often stripes. To me it looks sloppy, like the jacket is too big.

--Alana J.

Dear Alana: I’m not a fan of showing off the lining of a jacket by rolling up the sleeves. Like you, that style makes me think the wearer bought the wrong size or borrowed a friend’s blazer. The style is particularly jarring when the lining is a shiny fabric usually associated with a garment’s insides. Runway shows have made oversized suit jackets and blazers worn with baggy wide-leg trousers a popular fall/winter look so don’t be surprised to see more oversized clothing—and more rolled-up sleeves.

Reader Rants

Alice S. writes: “I don't like the padded insoles in dress shoes. I went shopping for a pair of dress shoes, but they all have heavily padded insoles that you can’t remove that take up too much room in the toe box. I wish they'd accommodate for that in the toe box so your foot isn't squeezed in there. So I didn't buy anything and am keeping what I have--oldies but goodies.”

From Mary W.: “Nice manicures are one thing, but the currently in-vogue super-long claws are just plain STUPID! I'm tired of being asked to do things for total strangers because they're afraid of damaging their nails. The worst was the woman in a restroom who asked me to put her toddler on the toilet because the little one squirmed and fussed and Mom might break a nail. Give me a break!”

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