Because you can't have depths without surfaces.
Linda Grant, thinking about clothes, books and other matters.
Pure Collection Ltd.
Net-a-porter UK

Sunday 20 January 2008

Long to reign over us

(This is what 62 can look like)
Within one second I am totally in awe of her. She is so confident and so beautiful that the thought of it flies out of my head. She is, to be honest, dazzling. She is wearing a black, strappy, knee-length linen dress with a red belt, a black shrug, black high heels and a bunch of pearls. Her hair is dyed the palest ash blonde and so expertly cut I want to ask her who did it. But it's her eyes that are so amazing. They are deep, deep greeny-grey-blue.Usually it's men who go into raptures about Helen Mirren. In the past I have been told she's a man's woman, but I say phooey to all that because she is as about as charming to me as she could possibly be. Not that there isn't a hint of steel in her. But how on earth could she have survived the past 40 or so years in her profession without developing a pretty tough skin?

read on

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing more depressing than waking up to this picture of Helen Mirren with the knowledge that even at 62, she still looks younger than did at 50. Genes - it's all in the genes.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Helen Mirren is something special. Though, I must say I preferred her Oscar's haircut to this one. I just love that she dresses so stylishly and impeccably without seeming to either ignore or worry about her age.

Anonymous said...

As much as I envy her gene pool, Dame Helen fully understands a fashion truth that Jackie Kennedy, Wallis Simpson, and Diana Vreeland also understood: figure out what looks good on you, and stick with it. Trends come and go, and even if our personal styles go against current trends we are better off doing that as opposed to chasing a trend that looks ridiculous on us.

So I too am patiently awaiting the return of tailored clothing. I have high hopes for Isabel Toledo over at Anne Klein.

Anonymous said...

Jane Birkin is about the same age, and looks fabulous in a very different way - more offbeat, though of course Helen was quite the rebel in her youth as well.

But a look at photos of Birkin's parents - her mum was an actress and her dad an RAF Commander and war hero - once again reminds one of the importance of choosing your parents well.

Phyllis, you are right, just so tailored clothing does not become the only option. I'd feel like someone dressing up in my mum's clothes, and I'm in my early 50s.

Your blog is great too, by the way. I wish I hadn't rejected sewing and tailoring as a teen. I didn't think it was kitschy or girly, I just wanted to concentrate on painting and other fine arts - I was so sad to see that my mum had studied at art college and given it up.

But it is so useful for people (women or men) who love beautiful things and fine fabrics to know how to sew, and not be enslaved by the offerings of the fashion industry that year.

Anonymous said...

I'm fairly certain that MY 62 will not look like that!

dana said...

Shameless bragging...at right is my mom at 62, at the end of a long workday and an evening of caring for my boys, with her makeup worn off and no hair color. I think she looks fantastic, even without the professional primping. Although I have to admit, she's another great example of picking the right parents.