Do you know which colour is making you look ten years older? Our fashion expert SHANE WATSON reveals the shades the over-50s should be wearing and the one they should NEVER touch

Of all the fashion regrets I have, the big one is all the black I wore. For years, if I bought a coat it would automatically be black. A trouser suit, a roll-neck sweater, a party dress, black, black and really dense inky black. I don’t think I’m alone in having spent the 1990s in Victorian mourning.

Now, of course, I wouldn’t dream of wearing all black; my complexion can’t take it and what was once edgy and sophisticated looks ordinary and flat. Besides, fashion is no longer in thrall to black: it’s there, chic as ever, but it’s no longer the first choice or the obvious fallback.

That award goes to navy or grey or camel which – as luck would have it – are a lot more forgiving on us 50-plusers. But the really big change, and what has got me wearing colour every single day, is the way we wear colour now.

The fashion term for it is ‘tonal dressing’: wearing different shades of one colour or colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel – brown and caramel and camel, say. And boy, is it a revelation.

Colour used to be something you dropped into the mix – a red sweater, a cobalt blue top – and hoped for the best. Now you build your outfit in grades of one colour that all automatically work together (bingo! Zero effort) and the effect is subtler and more wearable.

A tonal outfit looks smart, but not matchy-matchy. It’s versatile, and less of a statement than head-to-toe block colour.

And because it’s all about a spectrum of shades, the colours themselves are more interesting. No more ‘brown is the colour of Autumn 2024’, there are six or seven shades to choose from this season – and wear together.

In Me+Em – a case in point – you will find dozens of items on the brown spectrum from caramel to camel via conker and maple, and they all look delicious combined.

One bit of brown clothing is hard to get excited about, but a medley of golden tans and chocolates looks rich and gorgeous. It’s also worth noting their black velvet jacket you’d expect to find at this time of year is a dark, dark brown called double espresso. And guess what? It’s that much warmer, more interesting – Autumn 2024.

You don’t have to spend Me+Em prices to embrace the new colour mood. Start with a colour in the current autumn batch – all the dark reds, all the browns, any shade of blue, winter pinks – and then pick a couple of pieces to start you off.

A sweater is a good place to begin: quality wool carries colour so well. Head to Marks & Spencer for a cashmere crew neck (£89, marksandspencer.com) in any colour from fuchsia to camel.

I’m sold on this brown moment having bought a cinnamon skirt in the summer that everyone remarked on (all the browns work well with off-whites and creams in winter too). Kick things off with a plain-knit sleeveless chocolate jumper (£22.99, zara.com) or a nutmeg vest from M&S (£19.50), worn alone or over a cream shirt. Or Zara has a mustard alpaca and wool short sleeve sweater (£45.99, zara.com).

You could wear any of them with Me+Em’s velvet trousers (£195, meandem.com) or M&S’s leather look A-line midi (£39.50, marksandspencer.com) both in bitter chocolate. The key is not to stop at your waist (most of us gravitate to wearing colours on top) and carry the colour through.

There are lots of chocolate A-line leather midis around for autumn (£69, monsoon.co.uk) or a pair of tailored wool (£85, johnlewis.com) or tweedy trousers would work.

Bright greens and olives are big for autumn too. Some greens you could play around with include M&S’ s roll-neck in bright green (£35), their single-breasted relaxed two-button coat in forest green (£69) and wide-leg deep mossy green trousers (£29.50).

Or do it with all the shades of wine, starting with John Lewis’s own label wrap coat in burgundy (£159, johnlewis.com), berry satin jacket (£125) and matching trousers (£85).

This is also a moment for unexpected colour combinations such as pea green and pink (again, it’s M&S or John Lewis for a mismatching twinset) and unlikely bright but icy colours including iris and winter citrus – the palest sharp lemon looks lovely as an accent styled with blue or mixed in with off-whites.

Colour has rarely looked so desirable.