Salma Hayek – here’s how to steal her style

Honestly, to see how Graham Norton reacted on his show when the gorgeous Salma Hayek said she had recently celebrated her 50^th birthday, you might have thought this stunning Mexican-American actress had revealed a penchant for eating babies or hanging upside down by her toes.

Good to know that Hayek, a film actress, producer, and former model has joined the pantheon of sensational 50somethings. As she does so, we take a look at her style and see what we can learn…

Probably best known for her portrayal of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in the 2002 film, Frida, her latest film Beatriz at Dinner was released in the USA in early June and was screened in the UK at London’s Sundance Festival.

Hayek is known in Hollywood for not fitting the model-actress stereotype of tall and willowy. At 1.57m (5’2”) she is petite, and she has a fuller bust  – so all of us who also don’t fit the description “tall and willowy” should be able to learn some style tricks.

On the Red Carpet and for similar events, she invariably wears ultra-low necklines which, erm, showcase her assets. But for other occasions, she wears clothing that is far more covered up, and not always with huge success, which is why this is both a Style Steal and a Style Steer. And that is somewhat ironic considering that her husband is French businessman François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering which owns a huge number of the world’s luxury clothing brands, including Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney.

With her pick of all those amazing designers, it is surprising she often gets it wrong. But should give encouragement to all of us with more limited budgets that picking the right piece for our shape, is more important than the price tag!

Hayek is exceedingly beautiful, so tends to look fabulous despite sometimes getting her attire wrong… But for those of us who are 50-plus and less outstandingly beautiful (but also with a fuller bust, fewer very high necklines are a good plan. And definitely avoiding very high necklines combined with long sleeves is also the way to go. V-necklines, scoop or U-shape necklines are preferable; and short sleeves or bracelet-length/three-quarter-length sleeves are all more flattering with a fuller bust.

With her dramatically, rich colouring, dark hair suits her. We have no idea and frankly, we don’t care, whether that rich brown gets a little boost from a colourist. We are all in favour of keeping one’s original/chosen hair colour if one wants to, rather than going grey. For us, that remains true even if we need great products and/or great skills to avoid going grey. We also love the jaw-length cut with just a hint of a wave – very chic and elegant while still looking like hair and not a helmet!

The strong, bright lippy suits her, too. And whatever lip-colour suits us, we can all wear a smile!

See below a selection of 6 of the best PETITE gowns, perfect for bigger busted ladies:

What do you think of Salma’s petite style? Tell us below..