It all started with an invitation to a “Casino Royale” party for a friend’s wedding anniversary in March. “Dress like a Bond Girl,” her text urged, and I took it at face value. I had a suitable long blue dress, and so I asked my hairdresser to style my straight dark hair into a French knot to comply with the theme. When she was done, I gaped in the mirror, because I saw myself in a whole new light. Of course, I was the only one who followed the theme, but I felt an almost intoxicating sense of poise, and not embarrassment, as I received many compliments. And so began this 50-year-old’s fashion renaissance. I had always thought of myself as too serious-minded to take fashion seriously. Not quite Anne Hathaway with her “lumpy blue sweater” in The Devil Wears Prada , but definitely not close to cutting-edge fashion either. My clothes were generally pretty, vibrant – and safe — a way to draw attention to my words and ideas, and not my appearance.…