(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Dame Helen Mirren used to buy her shoes in stripper shops as it was the only place she could finds ones she liked.

The 65-year-old actress is a huge fan of platform shoes, saying they always make her feel good. She explained they give her a confidence boost and help her figure look more slender, adding she started wearing them long before they came into fashion.

Four-inch platforms give you great height and make your legs look unbelievably long, she told British magazine Women and Home.

I used only to be able to get them in stripper shops, but now you can buy them everywhere although, unfortunately, that means everyone else has discovered the trick too.

Helen revealed she is always keen to find new ways to make her body look better. She worries she isnt as toned as she should be, but tries not to obsess about her wobbly bits.

Bits of my body are all right, but bits of me are horrible, she confessed. To be honest, anything from the waist down I dont really like.

The star would love to find an outfit that is flattering to her arms, but has found her fruitless search frustrating. One of her biggest fashion-hates is the way most gowns are made.

My big complaint is, why arent more dresses made with sleeves? she said. I dont want to wear a frumpy jacket over a sleeveless dress and it enrages me that its so difficult to find anything beautiful with sleeves.

If you think of Elizabethan dresses or turn-of-the-century fashions, there are some amazing things you can do with sleeves, so why do so few designers put them on their dresses?

Helen will appear in the November edition of Women and Home, as one of its Top 40 Women over the age of 40. (C) Cover Media