i'll run my stick along the public railings and make up for the sobriety of my youth.

Women all over the world seem increasingly obsessed with ageing. We buy creams and lotions, botox and boobs in an attempt to postpone the arrival of wrinkles, and the start of our slippery descent into oldness. I like to think that when the time comes for me to get a bit fat and grey, I'll embrace it good-naturedly and be one of those cool old ladies who seem to model themselves on that poem about purple. Ageing is inevitable, and I think the following six ladies have done it very well indeed.

Number one - Anjelica Huston. I've been watching lots of Wes Anderson films lately with Miss Job, and I have decided that in order to be fabulous in life, I must dye my hair black, wear shit-loads of eyeliner, and somehow grow some incredible cheekbones. I'm not willing to do it quite yet, but as soon as I find grey hair, the whole lot is going jet black, Morticia Addams style. And if children run away from me in the streets, that's probably all to the good.

Number two - Anna Ford. Incidentally, I was named after this woman. The Guardian has dubbed her "glad to be grey, and still full of fire", and in spite of some of her indiscretions, I still think she has a lot of class.

Number three - Margaret Atwood. Because she writes like a dream, and she has such a cool voice. Her sense of humour is so dry and her hair is everything cool old lady hair should be.

Number four - Janet. Of Great British Bake-off fame. It's just finished, but if you didn't watch it, you should definitely find a way to watch it all illegally. This programme made my summer fly by with both its entertainment value and its ability to make me get in the kitchen and try new things. Undoubtedly, the star of the show was Janet - a sixty-something woman with the best facial expressions I think I have ever seen. Her haphazard, cheery attitude to baking (and to life) was nothing short of inspirational. I think if we were all a little more like Janet, the world would be all the better for it.

Number five - Joan Rivers. Because if the whole 'growing old gracefully' thing doesn't work for you, there is always the option of growing old disgracefully. And if Joan is anything to go by, that is just as much (if not more) fun.

Number six - Her Majesty the Queen. She is minted.