Mary Berry's dazzlingly elegant appearance at the TV awards proves she is rewriting the fashion recipe for older women

By Liz Jones

Published: 17:23 EST, 24 January 2013 | Updated: 03:53 EST, 25 January 2013

Mary Berry shone in blue on the red carpet at the National Television Awards

The blue brought out the sapphire of her eyes. The high waist and chiffon bodice showed off a figure that is still enviably slight, despite a talent for baking the perfect Victoria sponge. The pearls gave her skin a certain sheen.

No wonder then that at the National Television Awards on Wednesday night, Mary Berry managed to outshine — in her own understated, subtle, polite way — every other female star on the red carpet.

She broke some rules, too: you know, the ones that say older women — and Mary is 77 — should never show their arms, wear colour or anything with a sheen.

Presumably, they should instead just stay at home, preferably knitting and wearing only embroidered, pastel twin sets from the Classic department of Marks & Spencer (Mary even uses fake tan, almost as improbable as being told she eats Tesco bargain basement burgers).

Last year, following her appearances on The Great British Bake Off, Mary became an unlikely fashion icon. She single- handedly caused a spike in sales of floral bomber jackets at Zara, likewise rose- covered blazers at Whistles.

The shock was not so much that a woman in her 70s was shopping for trends at such fashion-forward stores, but that she was blatantly unafraid to be noticed. That she looked pretty.

That she was vital, passionate and hard- working when we are always being told older women are invisible, or belong in a care home, or at the very least out of sight.

Here was Mary, not just flying the flag for colour and print, but for the superannuated everywhere.

And, unlike most women on the red carpet, who dress only to show off how many hours they have spent in Pilates classes, Mary’s reason for dressing so jauntily and jazzily is very different: ‘On the baking show, I wanted to look summery, positive and encouraging. The summer was so wet and cold, I wanted to be warm, too. Above all, I always like to look approachable.’

I spent a day with Mary recently, finding out exactly from where she gets her style chutzpah.

She opened her wardrobe doors to reveal rows of neat shoes and boots, all kept in shape by wooden shoe trees (even Sex And The City’s Carrie Bradshaw never did that), and a small but eclectic collection of clothes dating back to the Sixties bought in bulk from John Lewis and suspended on waffle cotton hangers.

Mary has long, black suede boots that are older than most of the other stars we saw out in their finery on Wednesday night. She keeps them looking new by steaming them with her kettle.

Her secret to being a style icon is that she shops in small, independent boutiques (Wednesday night’s £229 gown came from the Damsel In A Dress label stocked by John Lewis among others), where the shop managers know what she likes.

Style icon: Mary got hundreds of compliments for the Zara floral bomber jacket she wore on The Great British Break Off and sporting one of her favourite colourful scarves, right

She employs a dressmaker to alter just about everything so it fits perfectly (sleeves are invariably shortened to avoid them ‘getting covered in flour’).

Favourite chain stores, apart from Zara and Whistles, are Phase Eight, Jaeger and M&S, where she will always choose a skirt that’s a size too big so it sits low on the hip, meaning it will cover her knees. Mary has never been a fan of the mini.

And she shops carefully. Mary favours an upcycling brand called Nettles, which uses old cashmere to fashion pretty, colourful cardigans embellished with lace.

There’s a Frank Usher strapless gown hanging in her wardrobe that she first wore to a ball when she was 24, and can’t wait to wear again.

Despite her profession as the nation’s favourite cook, she is exactly the same size she was then — despite the fact she detests the gym, fitness classes and jogging (Mary has never owned a pair of trainers: ‘They make you sloppy,’ she told me).

Her shoes, including the ones worn on Wednesday night, always have a sturdy low heel. They are invariably black, and are by Peter Kaiser, bought in her local Buckinghamshire boutique, Primrose Oliver.

Mary Berry, pictured with Paul Hollywood at the awards ceremony, looked stunning in the dress that 'broke the rules' of what older women should wear

The necklace she wore to the awards was a gift from her daughter, Annabel, and was handmade in Greece.

‘It distracts from my neck, which has developed cavernous holes!’ she says.

There are surprises in her wardrobe, too. There are bootcut jeans from M&S (‘They have the best fit’), which she wears to tend the garden, and a striped rugby shirt. Fake Uggs for comfort.

A leopard-print skirt with stretch and an exposed zip she wears for lunch with the girls. She loves anything that can be scrunched into a ball and still emerge pristine.

Her only concession to her years is that clothes must be easy to pull on and fasten, but she also insists that with age has come sartorial confidence: ‘I never wore colour or prints when I was young.’

Mary does have one rule, though, and it is nothing to do with age.

‘I never wear trousers when out to lunch or dinner, and, above all, I dress to please my husband, Paul. He does love a dress on a woman.’

The Great British Bake Off has been one of the BBC's most popular shows since its launch in 2010

I imagine he was ecstatic on Wednesday night. But do you know what I think really made Mary stand out on that red carpet? Her joie de vivre.

During the entire day I spent rummaging through her closet, pulling things out and throwing them messily on the bed, asking Mary to model outfit after outfit, with different shoes, ooh, and a scarf (she does love a soft, colourful scarf), to stand for six hours in her pretty Per Una underwear while the female photographer and I um’d and ah’d about the lighting, she did not complain once.

The most beautiful thing about Mary is that she has shown women everywhere that life doesn’t stop when you are older.

That all does not have to be miserable and that if you feel like wearing a Zara bomber jacket or floor-length royal blue satin column, then you should darn well do so.

Life can still be fashionable, frivolous, even floral. And, above all, life can be fun.

Oh, how I wish that Mary, with her unironed face and sense of mischief was nominated for an Oscar — just so she could force-feed the starlets fondant fancies.