New age women are rarely dreary, dumpy and dowdy. Clothes and fashion are as much a part of their lifestyle, as husbands, children, school and mundane issues of home making. Ask 29-year old Bhavana, actor Chunkey Pandey’s wife and mother to a four year old Annaya. Completely in shape, Bhavana wears the best of Western and Indian. "The woman of today wants to enjoy life and not grow fat, frumpy or lethargic," she says.

There are several fashion choices for the New Age Wives whether they are 25 years old or 45! A well maintained body coupled with some beautiful clothes, chosen carefully according to your age, is what’s essential to make her look elegant.

25-35 years: Women between this age range have young children and can afford to indulge in clothes that define their bodies, provided they are well maintained. "Churidaars combined with long flowing kurtas, short kurtas in colors like lime green, powder blue, yellow, orange, white, mauve are perfect," says designer Azeem Khan. Young wives who are more adventurous can combine trouser-like-pyjamas with short kurtas and dupattas. Or even actual trousers with short khadi, cotton, Kota cotton and Bandhini kurtas. If you like wearing sarees, the option would be to wear either georgette or chiffon ones. "Since they are light fabrics, they don’t add bulk to a woman’s body," says Khan.

35-45 years: This is the time when your children are in their teens. No one wants to compete with their teenage daughters. But that doesn’t mean that they have to look dowdy. The kurtas get longer and look better teamed with salwars. "But women in this age group should not wear loose fitting kurtas or complete salwar kameez sets,” points out Priyadarshini Rao. The best bet would be to wear fitting kurtas with contrasting salwars and dupattas. The sarees and kurtas could be cotton or jute. Not only is jute light, but also comes in pretty colors like mauve, sea green and blue again. “Jute is also versatile and can be converted into anything — kurtas, tops, anything,” says Khan. The blouse could be high necked, or with a round neck and short, very short sleeves.

45 and above: This is an age when women move into another realm. So now they not only their daughters to compete with, some even their grand daughters. “This is the most relaxed time of a woman’s life,” claims designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosala. “It is a time when a woman should sit back and enjoy her life.” The colors that women in this age group can opt for includes most of earth colors like ochre, brown, burnt orange, rust or richer shades like mauve, purple, or lighter shades like creams and whites. “The sarees could be in silk, cotton or satin, all of which add grace to an older woman’s look,” says Abu Jani. A mom or grandma in this age group can opt for salwars kameezes too, but the kurtas should be long and flowing, in keeping with the body structure that now tends to be rounder. It’s better to wear blouses with half or full sleeves to hide the flesh that now begins to sag around the shoulders.