What a relief to see that Tom Jones has finally decided to stop dying his hair unnaturally dark and let his more natural silvery-grey be seen. The dye, in my opinion, was doing him no favours. With his new colouring, his eyes seem to sparkle brighter, his skin looks healthier and when you look at his face you see it as a whole rather than just being drawn to the previously harsh hair and beard.

Sometimes when men try too hard to hide their age or signs of aging, they draw more attention to it and can even make themselves the object of ridicule. So here are some tips to growing old gracefully:

Hair

If it’s going, let it go! In other words if your hair is thinning get it cut as short and neat as possible. Don’t be tempted to grow one side and comb it over. Only go for a toupee if you can afford to invest a serious amount of money! Your woman would much prefer to be seen out with a bald man than one who looks as if he has a dead animal on his head. If you really can’t stand the thought of going grey, get your hair dyed professionally in a salon. It will look far more natural than the DIY products you can buy at the chemist. Donal McIntyre has managed quite a natural effect for most of his weeks on Dancing on Ice but even in his first week the colourist had got it wrong and the effect was "orangey" and warm fighting his natural cool colouring.

Clothes

Your waistline is likely to expand as you get older. Avoid the urge to wear the same size trousers as you did in your twenties if you know you are larger. They will just get lower and lower and your tummy will hang over the top! Increase the size you buy and wear them at your natural waist.

Beware of wearing clothes that are too young for you or you will look as if you are having a mid-life crisis (similar to the "mutton dressed as lamb" effect on women). Tight shirts and trousers with skinny ties and fine knit cardigans may look fine on fit, young pop stars but will look a little tragic on the average over 40 male. Choose clothes that suit your age, body shape, proportions and lifestyle and if you find this difficult, consider treating yourself to a style consultation.

Colours

As you get older, your colouring will change. Tom Jones has gone from being a "clear", with much contrast between his hair and skin tone, to a "cool" with his silvery grey hair. Don’t think that growing old gracefully means you need to wear large amounts of beige and camel as some more mature men do. This can be aging in itself. Colour will help to keep you looking young. Try purples, navy, bright blues, pinks, greys and bright reds as your colouring cools. If in doubt about your colouring (there are 6 dominant types) why not book a colour analysis with an image consultant?

In general, it’s a lot more acceptable for men to grow old gracefully than it is for women. Just look at the amount of older male TV presenters teamed with younger women. Men often look much better (and dare I say sexier) in their 40s, 50s 60s and 70s than they did when they were younger. So, don’t try too hard to conceal your age, embrace it and enjoy the changes it brings!