The world can be a cruel place to women of a certain age who wear clothing that has been daubed with that ambiguous but damning moniker: age-inappropriate.

Even more absurd than the notion that any clothing, beyond size 000 smock dresses and child-sized dungarees, are suitable for only a certain period of a woman’s life, is that this ageist, sexist, misogynistic ‘rule’ of dressing has no rules at all. There exists no definitive set of items that are barred after menopause – depending on which dullard you ask, it could range from skinny jeans to chiffon blouses, knee-high boots and Doc Martens. Chances are, form-fitting polo necks are fine, leather leggings are not. And bodycon dresses? Don’t even think about it.

Which is why a photograph of 49-year-old Jennifer Lopez, naked save for a shimmering Valentino cape draped over half her sculpted modesty, published last week as part of her cover story for the December issue of Instyle, was poised for a savage trolling. I waited with bated breath for the Piers Morgans of the world to snippily pass a remark on her age, her motherhood, her sheer audacity to think that her nearly 50-year-old body is worthy of a nude photoshoot. All I found was breathless admiration; half-naked JLo “wows” and “stuns”, looks “incredible”, “amazing at 49”, “stunning”, and “better than ever!”

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