Pamela Anderson made news in October when she attended the ready-to-wear shows in Paris, bare faced and make-up free, a big change from someone who has spent so much of her professional life in full hair and make-up.

The 56-year-old celebrity looked fresh and confident, and it was an undoubtably brave move, in an environment that normally champions over-the-top physical transformations, whether on the runway or in the front row.

Anderson is now the star of an advertising campaign from American label Proenza Schouler, photographed by Davit Giorgadze, in which she is again appearing without a scrap of make-up, hair brushed back very simply and with some frankly very ordinary lighting.

It is such a breath of fresh air to see this in a major campaign and it’s not entirely superficial.

Anderson recently shared her real and very lovely self to the world in the documentary, Pamela: A Love Story, so this authenticity makes perfect sense.

After a lifetime embodying the role of fantasy sex bomb, seeing Anderson let go of the glamour babe look is liberating not only for her, but for all of us.

Ageing is challenging enough, but what an exhausting treadmill it is, to have to be forever plumped and primped and injected in order to retain some semblance of media-dictated “sexiness”. Bravo to Pam.

I hesitate to suggest that fashion may be ushering in an era of reality, because over at V magazine, supermodel Linda Evangelista has just been shot by Steven Klein, covered in gold paint and looking like some slightly scary crone from Mars Attacks.

The problem with fashion (well, it’s not fashion’s problem, it’s ours, the unwitting consumer) is that it can’t seem to work somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t want to. That is considered too mainstream to sell or go viral.

So we get completely bare-faced Pam, ridiculous sci-fi nonsense with Linda, or a now visually interchangeable Kim Kardashian and Beyonce with their wasp waists and filtered, airbrushed faces, and not a lot in between.

A friend of mine in her late 60s has just finished a round of gruelling chemotherapy treatments, and her hair is growing back and the short look really suits her.

She has decided to keep the pixie cut, and she called to ask me what sort of changes she should make to her wardrobe and style to complement that.

It reminded me that there aren’t a lot of chic references around for older women if you don’t want to go the coloured frames and an interesting necklace route, or the Ozempic, big hair, big lips, turn-back-time vibe.

Like many women, my friend and I are out here in the uncharted wilds, trying to find some style inspiration between Kylie Jenner and Vera.

Because in the middle of all these wild oscillations, there is normal, run-of-the-mill, don’t-think-about-it-too-much reality.

There such a thing as minimal make-up, a flattering haircut and colour, a size 31-inch (79-centimetre) waist, a relaxing facial-not-a-facelift, chic, wearable clothes. It’s quite a nice space.