Her choice of thigh-high patent boots, mini skirt and above-the- knee red-and-gold bobble coat was certainly eyecatching. If Theresa May’s intention was to upstage Angelica Rivera, Mexico’s rather beautiful First Lady, then she succeeded — though unfortunately not for the right reasons. Rather, the Home Secretary looked a disturbing mix of one part dominatrix and one part Fifties housewife, with those gloves that put me in mind of a pair of Marigolds. Home Sexetary!Sporting S&M thigh boots, miniskirt and red and gold bobble coat this week, May goes into fashion meltdown on her way to meet the Queen and the President of Mexico . At 58, what May appears to be suffering from is a classic 50s fashion crisis. Having been there, I know the form this crisis takes. What happens is this. One day you survey yourself in the mirror and decide you’re looking like a middle-aged frump and that if you don’t watch out you’ll soon be morphing, before your time, into a little old lady. Your wardrobe is in a rut. You buy the same boring basics for weekends and the same smart suits or skirts and tops for work, year in year out. So, in an effort to update yourself, you rush out and start buying things that will make you feel fresher, flirtier, more youthful. Unless you have teenage children to put you in your fashion place (and May doesn’t have children), you may find yourself with a whole new wardrobe that just doesn’t chime with your looks, age or, in May’s case, profession. Husbands, being husbands, tend not to notice these things. Girlfriends don’t want to upset or undermine you, so they generally keep schtum. In May’s case, the trajectory was slightly different because it appears that for one brief year in her early 50s she did hit her fashion stride with a wardrobe of flatteringly cut separates in a stylish palette of navy, white, black and taupe. It’s not known whether she feared they made her invisible, however, but what’s certain is that since 2010 her style has been characterised by eccentric and flamboyant outfits. Her look has certainly changed over the years. In the early days after her election to Parliament in 1997, and the years from 2002 when she served in the Shadow Cabinet, her style evolved from ill-fitting suits in drab colours to garish: think of the voluminous orange mac she wore to the Tory conference in 2009. But once the Tories came into power and she was promoted to Home Secretary, she seemed to embark on a brief transformation after losing weight and finding her fashion feet. Shortly after, though, the crisis set in and has been growing worse, culminating in this week’s sartorial disaster. While her fetish for S&M style boots — she also wore them in 2013 for the South Korean president’s state visit — is Fifty Shades of Embarrassing, I can empathise. When my marriage broke up in my mid-50s, I bought a pair of similar boots in suede rather than patent or PVC, but after catching my reflection one day in a shop window, I thought: ‘Who am I trying to kid?’ Admittedly, my 50s fashion panic was partly about attracting men in the wake of my divorce, which is not an issue for the happily married May. But it reflects a loss of fashion confidence at this stage of our lives when the shops are full of temptations that look great on hangers and 25-year-olds, but not necessarily on us. The big difference between May and rest of us, of course, is that her fashion faux pas have to be played out in the full glare of the camera. If you play it safe, as the Duchess of Cambridge does, you get criticised for being bland. Go too trendy and you will be mocked for trying too hard. Perhaps, when it comes to fashion, May should take a leaf out of Sam Cam’s book. The Prime Minister’s wife always looks elegant and low-key, while promoting British fashion to an international audience. Theresa May is an attractive woman and has shapely and slender legs that are amazing for a woman of any age, but if when you think of the Home Secretary the first thing that springs to mind is her footwear and snazzy coats rather than her policies, she’s getting something wrong. FEBRUARY 2000 . MP May is a relative new girl, opting for sombre grey suit and pearls. But even then, the leopard-print bag and slit in her skirt hint at a wilder side . OCTOBER 2004 . Not just any old mac for the Tory party conference — but a Pepto-Bismol pink mac, with extra wide-legged trousers and clashing red shoes . DECEMBER 2005 . Black suede boots and a techni-colour nightmare coat at a party to celebrate David Cameron becoming Tory leader . OCTOBER 2009 . An unflattering bright orange raincoat, possibly made out of a hot air balloon, for the Tory Conference . JULY 2010 . Despite the creases, this is a flattering suit with stylish accessories. An outfit that says May means business . SEPTEMBER 2010 . On trend in an elegant floral cocoon coat. Just a shame about the mismatched bag and shoes . OCTOBER 2010 . Leaving a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street in a winning combo of ice-blue silk jacket and flattering palazzo pants, teamed with a stylish bag . MAY 2012 . Time to remind her that less is more? At No 10, the multi-coloured jacket overwhelms the skirt, which looks as if it is caught in her knickers . NOVEMBER 2013 . First outing of the Stuart Weizman kinky boots and another knock-’em-dead coat for a state visit. It’s hard to imagine what she has to smile about in this garish outfit . OCTOBER 2014 . Ditch the girly bow and inexplicable gauntlets and May would look wonderful for a visit by the President of Singapore. Over-icing the cake is never a good idea but it seems she can’t help herself .
Her choice of thigh-high patent boots this week was certainly eyecatching . For one brief year in her early 50s Theresa May hit her fashion stride . Her outfits now reflect a common loss of fashion confidence . Here, FEMAIL looks at Theresa May's fashion mistakes .