According to news this week, Sindies are taking over. A Sindie – in case you’re dangerously unaware and unarmed – is a newly divorced woman usually in her forties, with her own (abundant) income: a Single INcome Divorcee.

Sindies are sisters doing it for themselves (presumably after realising that the person they married to do it for them wasn’t up to the job, after all). What’s more, these mischievous Sindies are singlehandedly fuelling a boom in the risqué lingerie business.

Some quarters celebrate these woman and their situations, happy that they’re revitalising the economy (particularly the economy of underwear outlets) and the good-time-gal feeling that flirts with the memory of Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones.

On the other hand, others seem to be on the offensive, warning the rest of the nation that Sindies are on the rise and must be identified at all costs: They could be dating several men! One headline screamed this week. They’re enjoying their “naughty forties”’ with several children in tow! They’re into bondage-themed lingerie parties! And yoga!

She could be living on a street near you. She could be your mother. She could be YOU.

There’s no stopping them and with divorce rates consistently rising, and women looking ever younger they show no sign of abatement.

According to lingerie retail figures, there has been a 45 per cent increase in sales for newly single women between the ages of 35 and 50. I’m not entirely sure how they’re getting this information but, then again, since these places know your bra and knicker elastic size, they may as well know your age and relationship status.

And this demographic are not just buying any old undies – they’re purchasing the most provocative styles, the most flamboyant shades – in short, they are unashamedly purchasing underwear usually swiped by the twentysomethings.

Many people attribute this new-found naughtiness to books like Fifty Shades of Grey. But I imagine it’s got as much to do with young looking celebs, like divorcees Liz Hurley and Melanie Sykes – who in their forties have never looked better – that encourages women who have been mothers or wives to really push themselves and try something different: to experiment with different experiences.

Am I terrified of this new phenomenon? Should I worrying that just next door my neighbour could be turning into a Sindie, resplendent in pink nylon and bringing home unnamed men?

Funnily enough, I’m not. I can only hope that I enter my forties with a generous helping of pizzazz, my own (sizable) income and a great figure to boot. Just without the divorce, preferably.