What the guru wears

The woman who taught McQueen

And while Wilson is undoubtedly a daunting presence, it's not because of the chic glossiness you might expect from someone so revered in the fashion world. Dressed in her uniform of plain black top and skirt (she refuses to mention designer names), she is matter-of-fact and decidedly unshowy: 'I wear black, because I'm a large lady, and I have many exact replicas of the same black outfit. I'm normally so dismissive and bitchy about my students' work, so if I always wear the same thing I kind of dissolve. I'm not putting myself in the firing line,' she booms, her comments loud, quick and fiery with expletives.

To Canada

I'm off on a book tour of Canada later today. See here for details.

Some liked it

Last night Harry and I accepted a couple of complimentary tickets to hear Tony Curtis talk about his new autobiography with Joan Bakewell at the Criterion Theatre.

Curtis, who once looked like this

Now looks like this
(and is bald as a boiled egg under the hat.)

Still, what a moving an memorable evening! Joan Bakwell was continuously prompting the quite deaf Curtis to talk about Marilyn, and eventually he did recounting the brief affair they had when both had just arrived in Hollywood after the war. He was 20, she was 18; both were unknowns who had not yet made a movie.

But Harry and I agreed that of far greater resonance were his recollections of his childhood in the Bronx, of extreme poverty and anti-semitism, of speaking Hungarian at home until he learned English at the age of five, of the tragic death of his brother in a street accident when he was nine just after they were released from a month in an orphanage because their parents were too poor to buy food.

What Curtis really wanted to talk about was the Navy, the great institution which he described as his mother and his father, which gave him equality and an escape from poverty and racism. And under the GI Bill sent him to acting school. You felt that he loved the Nany more than all his years in Hollywood.

Though rather deaf and unable now to walk, his wit was as fast as ever. A male member of the audience asked him: 'What was it like to be as handsome as Elvis and as charismatic as Steve McQueen?' Quick as a flash he answered, 'You'd love it.'

Curtis is only really famous for one film, Some Like It Hot, his career had nothing like the highs of Jack Lemmon's - but what a film that was. Like having a starring role in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

In which I am bankrupted by Mary Greenwell

But I just do what she tells me do.

Lock stock and two silk barrels

It has been almost a week since Madonna wore these - how did I miss it? They're Chanel by the way and cost £900.

British style genius: the rebels

I have just spent an hour without moving a muscle watching a riveting programme about British style focusing on Westwood, Galliaono and McQueen. If you didn't catch it, you can see it again from tomorrow, I think on BBC iplayer

Men sit around talking about each others' clothes

From the Times, like eating sweets, reading this:

Jason Nicholas: I try to wear a suit as rarely as possible; I’m most comfortable in jeans and T-shirts. As an Australian, that’s kind of what I’m used to.

MW: Yeah, you look like you’re dressing out of a backpack.

JN: Well, you have to trust your instincts. We’ve been around long enough to see some trends come and go, so you know what works for you. You can’t pull off trying to dress too young, especially when you’re having to shave your head as we are.

MW: I do sometimes worry that I dress too young. Because I’m from Altrincham, you either have to go for the Land-Rovers-and-green-wellies county look, or a more urban, Manchester style, which I do like.

DK: Urban? He normally wears sandals with white socks…

MW: Have you tried it? It’s very comfortable. But look at John’s shoes, they’re far too pointy – where do your toes go?

John Askew: I really like them! I think you know, deep down, if you’re wearing something that you’re not totally confident in.

AB: I won’t spend money on designer casual clothes any more, though. I’ll buy jeans and T-shirts I like the look of, not because I’m seduced by the label.

DK: What about that awful yellow and brown Armani shirt you were going to wear on that first date with your missus? I made him not wear it. When I showed it to her, she said she wouldn’t have married him if he’d worn it.

MW: The reason we don’t go for labels now is because we have mortgages, wives, cars, children, insurance, holidays… You can’t spend £150 on one shirt. But sometimes you’ll still spend so much money on something that you have to keep quiet about it, and sneak it through the back door when your wife’s asleep. I’ve found a good independent shop for tall blokes that’ll order everything in for me...

DK: Asda’s great, isn’t it?

MW: You like Harvey Nicks, don’t you Dave?

DK: Well, they’ve got everything you need under one roof.

MW: Yeah. For a girl.

Still banging on about Jaeger

It was Hilary Alexander who first persuaded me to go and take a look, 18 months ago, and now half my wardrobe is full of the stuff (in the group portrait in the V&A Library, I'm wearing their snake skin print fringed top)

Jaeger has established itself as one of Mrs Brown's favourite brands, and in wearing it she has placed herself in fashion-savvy company. Alexa Chung, Fearne Cotton and Erin O'Connor all have pieces from Jaeger London's current collection.There is a delicious irony in the fact that this once-moribund brand can simultaneously transmit to the fashion antennae of a rock star's teenage daughters, the Prime Minister's wife and a septuagenarian diva. It is proof that when a brand gets it right, it can bestride the generation gap as if it were a supermodel in spike-heeled, seven-league boots.

There was a waiting list for the long-hair shearling coat, which anticipates next spring's passion for fringing, and which Meg Mathews has bagged, as well as for the gilt-buttoned coat-dress snapped up by Lisa Snowdon.

At the Jaeger London catwalk show earlier that week, Shirley Bassey sat front row in a black lace dress by the label. Perched a few seats down were Lizzie Jagger and her sister, Georgia May - both perfect contenders for its clubby, stretch snake-print leggings.

It has done this by pinpointing different attitudes to dressing and creating attuned collections. Jaeger London is the fashion-forward collection. Jaeger Black has semi-couture hand-finished pieces, with quality trims such as mother-of-pearl buttons. Jaeger Collection falls between the two, with contemporary looks that update the brand's classic DNA.

Large woman + Puccini

Hilary Alexander at the Telegraph has a piece and video about Marina Rinaldi, the larger size label of MaxMara. They have a shop on Bond Street and go from UK size 12 - 26, but as this shoot demonstrates, and as I have noted whenever I have tried anything on, they tend to design for the tall and voluptuous rather than the narrow shouldered, and big-hipped.

Where are the photos?

Where indeed? No press photographers were allowed at the ceremony at the Guildhall, that's why you had the frankly terrifying photo call that lunchtime, with 50 snappers shouting at you, 'over 'ere, no, 'ere.'

Responsibility for recording the event fell then to my nephew who had been given his girlfriend's camera. Unfortunately she had forgotten to charge the battery.

Champagne reception from 7 pm. Best dressed woman beyond a doubt was the wife of fellow shortlisted author Steve Toltz who looked as though she should be pacing the catwalk in Sydney. Slightly, to say the least, younger, taller and thinner than me, she looked sensational. What a dress! Long-sleeved, bias cut, and an Oz designer too, she told me. But best dressed person was Hardip Singh Koli, the Glaswegian Sikh Booker judge who wore a pink turban with a kilt.

The food was fantastic, though I couldn't eat much, and the table two along was the one I really wanted to be at, former winners and shortlisted authors, who hasd all the fun and none of the tension. Congratulations to Aravind Adiga who did won. I have read his novel The White Tiger, and I can strongly recommend it as a shocking portrait of contemporary India done with both wit and rage.

Then we all scrambled into cars and hit the Groucho Club for the after parties.

Some thank yous: to Avsh Alom Gur at Ossie Clark for the dress, Mary Greenwell for the make-up, Anya Hindmarch (personally, for the emails of support,) and her staff for the evening bag, Susie Boyt for the diamond bracelet (!) George Szirtes and Clarissa Upchurch for the flowers and Yan and Rosita also for the flowers.

And to my fellow shortlisted authors, particularly Sebastian Barry who knows it was a close thing.

And to my readers here for cheering me on.

A Swell Party

Harry would once again like to congratulate The Thoughtful Dresser . Getting to the shortlist was fantastic. Getting the USA publishing deal is obviously a great outcome.
And the party was pretty good too ( English understatement). So I’d like to say a big thankyou for that.
Of course the star of the party was elsewhere until the awards ceremony was over. But when Linda finally arrived there was spontaneous applause. Although I suppose it could have been for the frock.

During the party I took the air on Dean Street and I chanced upon a short chap with a leggy young woman on each arm ambling along the pavement. I thought for a brief moment that it might be Wayne Rooney ( extremely gifted , but not the most handsome footballer on the planet), but as he got closer I realised it was Alexander McQueen. Harry didn’t think he was particularly well turned out. I think your average footballer would have made more effort.



The high point of the evening for me was being asked by someone if I was Antony Beevor. Shortly after that I was asked by someone else if I was Harry Fenton.
I was , of course, entirely delighted to meet her, and several other charming readers of this blog.

Apologies are due for me not posting this earlier.
Last night I was MC for an evening of words and music celebrating the wit, wisdom, and sheer genius of Robert Zimmerman. And , as one of the co-organisers of the show, had my work cut out during the day . But the polka dot shirt made all the difference on the night. Not worn by me you understand.
I was trying to look like Tyler Brulee.

The Clothes On Their Backs US publication update

Published 26 November. Amazon pre-order here

How it all panned out

Still no party dress shot

Thanks to all of you who offered your best wishes for last night. I didn't win, it was always a one in six chance, but on one index, I was the outright winner. I was the only shortlisted author to have walked away with a free Ossie Clark dress. Oh, and we all got a cheque for £2500 just for being shortlisted

In the afternoon Mary Greenwell did my make-up, and obviously I now understand that there's a bit more to it than I'd thought. Do you want red carpet makeup she asked me? No, I said. Yes, you do, she replied firmly.

She emails me to say that she would like to recommend to readers some products which she used on me:

Radiant Immediate Lift by Sisley. The foundation was Suqqu cream foundation in colour 02 available from Selfridges .This is my new fave product of ALL TIME Under eye lift by Dior skinflash in colour 1 .
Powder Armarni pressed powder in transperant

At the after party, Harry was very amused to find several people accosting him and asking him if he was Harry Fenton. Though one regular reader said she had imagined him more like Tyer Brulee.

UPDATE It now turns out Harry thinks he does look like Tyler Brulee. He does in the same way that I bear a close resemblance to Gwyneth Paltrow (see picture above)

Tonight I will be wearing

The shortlisted authors, yesterday at the V&A Library

This dress, (thank you, Avsh Alom), with a gold, labradorite and jade necklace, a gold python clutch from SS09 loaned by Anya Hindmarch, and jewelled Christian Louboutin shoes.

I'd love to show you pics of all the accessories but I can't find the cable that connects the camera to the computer

All the shortlisted authors spent quite a bit of time together yesterday and I shall be happy if any of them take the prize (Man PLC which sponsors it and coughs up the £50k is a hedge fund, so we might want it in gold bullion, to be on the safe side.) But all things being equal, based on the readings we did last night at the South Bank, I'd give it to Steve Toltz for one of the best descriptions of Jewish hypochondria I've ever heard.

And to all of you who have sent good wishes and good luck for tonight, thank you. We'll be partying until the small hours at the Groucho Club afterwards, so don't expect reports on the event too early tomorrow.

Man in a grey suit says don't panic!

comments

stephenmoss

Oct 10 08, 12:08pm (48 minutes ago)
Staff Staff writer

Freepoland's suggestion that we forget money and think about poetry was, presumably, a joke, so it's wonderfully synchronous that, in the UBS clip posted above, the bank's basso profundo economics spokesman Paul Donovan does exactly that – with the UBS global economics department's own version of Rudyard Kipling's "If".

Shares in Kipling have soared following the UBS podcast, reaching $12 a simile in Far Eastern markets. Rupert Brooke is looking strong in the light of many likely casualties in foreign fields. Philip Larkin is selling well in the belief that we will all be utterly depressed and living in Mr Bleaney-style bedsits in a month or two. A lot of investors are putting their faith in poetic gold – Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, Marvell – whose values are unlikely to be shaken in these testing times. But Victorian derivatives are doing badly, and stock in Tennyson is now reckoned to be almost worthless. Henry Paulson is expected to make a statement on iambic pentameters later in the day.

Woman in a pink suit gets a few things off her chest

Judgement call

Inevitably, I am drawn to study this interview with one of the Man Booker Prize judges about her fashion life:

If you could steal the wardrobe of anyone - past or present, fictional or real - whose would it be?
Would it be boring to say Audrey Hepburn? But I would also have to steal her cheekbones.

If you could change one part of your body, which would it be?
My legs. I can't wear knee-length skirts unless I'm wearing knee-high boots.

What are your five desert island staples?
Apart from wrap dresses; knee-high boots, lipsticks, body scrub, a sense of humour and my hairdresser.

A Fragrance For Our Times?

(perhaps not this one)

Harry ponders perfumery.
Some years ago I used to visit a client with headquarters just outside Geneva. They shared their location with a sister company who were , and still are, in the business of flavours and fragrances.
In the reception area were a number of glass display cases. And in some of these were giant flagons of perfume. With names even I recognised. Over lunch one day in the director’s dining room ( very fresh and healthy Swiss cuisine and only Swiss wines) I enquired about this side of the business. I was fascinated to learn that in this huge plant fine perfumes were indeed created in large volumes.
I have scanned their current annual report and have found the following list of new products: L’Oreal: Ralph Wild by Ralph Lauren
LVMH: Vivara by Pucci• My Insolence by Guerlain
P&G: Rock’n Rose by Valentino
Puig: Infusion d’Iris by Prada
Men’s Fragrances
Coty: Pure Energy by Adidas
Estee Lauder: Unforgivable Multi Platinum by Sean John
LVMH: Fahrenheit 32 by Christian Dior
Liz Claiborne: Juicy Couture




But I was also told that the majority of the company’s fragrance business was in a far less glamorous sector. All those pine –fresh and alpine and lemony and citrussy and whatever smells that go into so many domestic products. Each one would be separately commissioned and sourced for any number of global companies.
But I was then told , much to my amusement ,that one fragrance the company was particularly proud of was ‘new car smell’. That unmistakeable (and actually quite exciting ) aroma you get from a pristine vehicle had in fact been synthesised and was now marketed successfully to used car dealers around the world.
Who says business lacks imagination and creativity?
Anyhow, I think this product of theirs will be going from strength to strength in the foreseeable future.

( The Citroen DS. When the future looked stylish. And fragrant. )

Fashion: The end (for the moment)

Sarah Mower in the Telegraph

Amazingly, the one thing almost no one in Paris and Milan had applied themselves to is how to make pragmatic, smart, uplifting daywear for someone who goes about her business in a city. Dries van Noten, with his accessible, silky, graphically rational system of dressing, was the only designer in Paris to win universal applause from both press and buyers on that score - and he's a Belgian.

And now I've limped home and reviewed the 148 shows I've seen for next spring/summer, it strikes me that I want nothing to do with anything that's going to be touted as a mainstream fashion trend. In that sense, yep, fashion's over.

If I'm going to spend, it will be on things whose value I calculate in terms of love+price+longevity; stuff I know will still be valid two or three years hence. I would much rather spend money on something that is not an obvious part of a big-brand operation. Oh, and I won't be bothering with passing novelties that turn out to be one-wear disasters: jumpsuits, that means you.

I'm convinced that's the mentality most women will be applying to fashion next year, if not already. I'm only likely to be tempted now by fantastically well-thought-out elements of urban elegance, or things that deliver surprise and delight in a delicious package of usefulness. And when I check back over the season, I find that it's London's designers - usually marginalised as infant crazies or unrealistic fantasists - who have had the clarity to come up with all that.

In the confusion that's reigned over the season, our British-based community of designers (and I include people who show in New York and Paris) pitched things so excellently that their collections stand up incredibly well against much bigger international labels whose shows lurched all over the place.

Chocolate: a short announcement

One of my regular readers sells chocolate for a living. A hard, hard life. And in a recession do you want to see this poor working woman lose her livelihood? No!

Well go and sign up to her newsletter and buy some mail order chocolate. We've all got to do our bit to keep the economy going.

And here is a short educational film on the subject of choconomics.

Support the economy during British Chocolate Week