How did Fifty & les filles come about?

I was born the same year as Julia Roberts and Carla Bruni.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a passion for fashion, for style and for everything that makes up a woman’s elegant look. My maternal grandmother was a model of refined femininity and my grandfather was a tailor. With the scraps of fabric lying around his house, I’d spend whole days creating outfits for my Barbie dolls. 

As I grew up, my enthusiasm for fashion and design also grew and became more refined.  I dreamed of becoming a milliner (hat-maker), but my parents wanted me to do “real studies”. 

So I studied translation and interpreting at university and taught languages in Belgium and France. 

I then joined my parents’ company in the management of private nursing homes. For 27 years, I have thus been able to observe first hand the challenges linked to ageing and consequently also learnt a lot of lessons about “ageing well”. 

From 2011 to 2017, I was lucky enough to join a flexi course to make my dream of becoming a milliner come true. I continue to train with the greatest, every year, during the London Hat Week.  Hats are so exciting! 

My many travels and stays in cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Palermo or Tel Aviv have given me a very broad vision of the different ways that women express their femininity and elegance. I also noticed that the women in the countries and cities I visited not only did not dress in the same way at all, but also did not age in the same way.  

The way women do their hair and make-up to enhance their features and hide their flaws varies from one extreme to the other depending on whether you are in Brussels or London.  

I have always been passionate about these women’s issues, having been confronted with them myself since my teenage years due to skin problems and being overweight. I have also experienced weight variations at different times in my life, sometimes being almost too thin and sometimes too chubby. As I got older, I had to deal with some health issues and I was also struck by the loss of loved ones.  

These life-changing events often occur at the same time as menopause, causing even more upheaval in our lives. It is sometimes very difficult to get back on track. Those we love pass away, the children leave the nest and one day we finally decide to think about ourselves, but in the meantime, often, we have forgotten what we were like and got lost along the way.  

For me, quitting smoking in the middle of the Covid lockdown didn’t help my figure. I had to accept this temporary image of myself in the mirror in order to stop the weight gain. I had to relearn how to feel pretty in new clothes whilst I gave myself time to feel better, waiting for gyms to reopen and gradually finding myself again. I had no other choice but to accept my image. 

With my life experiences, my skills and my real desire to help other women feel feminine and confident again, regardless of their age, I decided to combine my passion for fashion and make-up with supporting women in the challenges related to physical ageing and to make it my new occupation. 

So it was only natural that I redirected myself to the best training courses that would lead me to reach my goal. 

I am an image consultant and coach and a certified personal shopper. 

I also trained as a certified make-up artist specialising in mature skin. 

My career is also underpinned by a bachelor’s degree in psycho-pedagogy. 

Being curious by nature and always eager to continue with my development, I continue to learn and improve my skills and tools so I aim to to add even more strings to my bow in the near future to serve you better, with kindness, compassion and humanity. 

My approach is holistic and tailor-made.