Here come the Swofties... single women over 50 who dress to thrill

Ladies, if you’ve turned 50 and are more likely to pick up a pair of leopard-print leggings than a twin-set and pearls, it seems you are not alone.
Mature divorced women are dressing more provocatively than they did in  their teens to attract the opposite sex, research suggests.
Dubbed Swofties – single women over fifty – they are following the example set by celebrities such as Carol Vorderman and Nancy Dell’Olio, both 51.

 

 

Nifty in their fifties: Carol Vorderman (left) and Nancy Del'Ollio

These ‘flirtatious fiftysomethings’ are likely to be wearing designer clothes, drinking champagne cocktails and going to music festivals.
The research, commissioned by mature online retailer isme.com, found that a fifth of women who’ve reached their half century are wearing sexier outfits than when they were younger.

 

Around two thirds said being single meant they could wear what they wanted, rather than having to dress to please or appease a husband or partner. The poll of 1,000 women aged 50 to 65 found that more than half had enjoyed a date with the opposite sex over the past 12 months and one in ten had used internet dating sites to meet men.
A third said they were enjoying their freedom so much that they were unlikely to settle down again.
Dan Rubel, from isme.com, said the idea that a woman had to accept her age and settle down for a ‘life of babysitting and bingo’ was ‘a thing of the past’.