FROM Renée Zellweger’s candy-coloured shift dresses in this month’s blockbuster Down With Love to the zippy Mini Coopers in the remake of the classic film The Italian Job, 60s style is BIG BIG BIG …
Marc Jacobs sent the look swinging onto the catwalk with bold colours, sharp A-line, thigh-skimming skirts and (mercifully) heavy opaque tights, while Brigitte Bardot dark eyes, loaded lashes and pale lips are de rigueur for the party season.
Can’t face the whole look? Introduce a hint of the 60s using loads of thickening mascara (try Revlon’s ColourStay Overtime Lash Tint mascara £8.99) and a buttery opaque lip-gloss (my fave is YSL Lisse Gloss in Skin Caress No 6 £14.50 ).
Make mine a brandy and Babycham, then!
On the art scene in London
If you’re in London tomorrow (the only realistic likelihood of that is if you’re reading this on the plane to London …) it is officially the last day of bad boy of British art Damien Hirst’s an old art school chum of mine) latest controversial solo work at the White Cube gallery.
Damien who became pretty famous for his pickled dead sheep, has included his new and radical treatment of The Last Supper — Jesus and his 12 Disciples as ping pong balls held aloft by spurting fountains of wine … (Obviously all artists are complete fruitcakes. Ahem …) For more info contact the White Cube at 48 Hoxton Square, London N1. www.whitecube.com
Come-to-Bed Glamour
I have always hated unisex dressing (especially to go ‘out’ in) so I bid a great welcome to the seductive advances of boudoir style. Just when we’d almost forgotten how, dressing up returns to centre stage again.
Boudoir Style
The boudoir trend divides into two: romantic goddess or sexy siren. The first turns to 1940s Hollywood for inspiration, reminding us how to wear diaphanous dresses that skim over curves with vintage trimmings of lace, ribbons or beading.
The second sees sirens emerge in full-blown corsetry, evoking the same period but looking more tightly dressed tigress than sex kitten. That’s not to say that the softer look isn’t as sexy; there’s no mistaking the message when licks of pretty lingerie peep through a sheer fabric dress, it’s just a different approach.
Achieving this look takes a little longer than pulling on a pair of jeans and a top. Yes, you can mix casual wear in with these ultra-feminine pieces, but to do so would be missing the point. This is evening wear with ooh-la-la! and it should be worn with undiluted aplomb.
Curvacious corsets
If you’ve never worn a corset, now is the time to try! The seamless silhouette of a dress is the easiest form to start with, eradicating the issue of any possible overspill if the stomach is a soft spot.
In comes the waist, out go the curves. Corsets conceal and reveal a body to perfection; they showcase the female form. And you don’t need a big bust to wear one, either, since corsets that cut straight across (like those by Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen) maximise a low profile, while bustiers (the strapless version) do it even better.
In reverse, plenty of care has been taken to ensure that many of the tops and dresses in this trend can be worn with well-structured underwear.
Colours and fabrics
In both versions of boudoir fashion, revealing arms may be a concern if they aren’t your best asset. This is where embellished knitwear, feather boas, tailored or faux-fur jackets, capes and wraps come into their own, being both practical (almost) and upping the glamour stakes by a mile.
Even long evening gloves (okay, not many places in Nicosia to wear them, but what the hell, wear them to bed!) reappear to help out damsels in distress, while shoes get raunchy with lace detailing. Co-ordinating the look is made simple with a limited colour palette of cream, pink, brown, black and gold. Mix shiny satin fabrics that mimic sex-hungry skin with demure velvet and pretty knits for balance, and trim with pearls or diamante jewels to get boudoir style all buttoned up — or in this case ‘unbuttoned’ when your partner sets his eyes on you!
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