This past week it’s been fashion central in London. Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, accompanied by their entourages, all swooped in for the fashion and music extravaganza of Fashion Rocks.
Sir Philip Green gave a dinner at Annabel’s to herald Kate Moss’s Christmas collection for Topshop, which followed on from the opening of Matthew Williamson’s ten-year retrospective at the Design Museum.
The following night we launched our Vogue Covers book with a party at the Chanel store, which spanned generations of Vogue personalities from Mary Quant and photographer Barry Lategan, through lous sight as the team transformed to Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Bruce Oldfield, and new London stars such as designers Richard Nicoll and Giles Deacon.
An hour before party kick-off, the ladies’ loo at Vogue house was a marvel- lous sight as the team transformed themselves from daily workhorses (albeit rather fashionably dressed ones) into their cocktail-hour finery. The room was silent with concentration as make-up was applied, dresses tried and discarded, and heady perfumes dabbed.
It was excellent evidence that for most people the notion that you can adapt your day look for an evening out simply by a switch of earrings and a higher heel is an urban-style myth. This was serious stuff, involving time and a complete change of clothes.
I met a woman the other day who runs a major financial corporation and travels abroad at least once a week. She takes only carry-on luggage and relies upon jewellery and scarves (where would the scarf market be without women bankers?) to take her from the board meeting through to dinner.
But since she is often the only female in a room of men, whose change of dress for dinner would at most have been their shirt, it’s a different ball game.
If you are leaving work to go to a party with friends or attending some celebratory professional event, most of us want to up the glamour ante and shed our work skin. Sequins and glitter, the easy staples of evening dressing, are hard to put on without a major overhaul, so don’t use them when you’re trying to do a quick change in the office. It’s better to get your sheen from some heavy silk or satin.
This is where the tuxedo earns its points. A superbly cut black jacket with thin lapels and either narrow, or if you are supremely fashionable huge, boxy shoulders always adds an evening touch. It can be teamed with wide-legged or straight black trousers or a pencil skirt.
This season look for some great diamante brooch to pin on to it something really ostentatious. Underneath you can put a silk camisole (but only if you are small-busted) or take the opposite route and wear it with a strict high-necked, Victorian-style shirt.
It’s tempting to stick to black and white on these occasions, but everybody loves a spot of brilliant colour. Look out for rich grape mauves and bright pinks this autumn.
Something like an oversized V-neck sweater or one of the many long cardigans in a thin material, cinched with a wide patent belt, and a neat clutch bag can also do the trick.
Don’t carry large bags into the evening with large sweaters you risk looking too bulky. Make sure the clutch is big enough to take everything home that you need until the next day. I’m always finding I’ve left something crucial at work, such as door keys.
A change of shoes makes a huge difference more for comfort than appearance, and personally I find a fresh pair of tights helps you to feel renewed when you aren’t able to take a bath or shower.
You probably don’t want to wear incredibly high heels after a day at work, so look out for something that has a touch of glamour but is comfortable, too.
No matter how well-dressed you are, you won’t look good at a party if you look tired and are hobbling around the room..
STAYING WARM AT WINTER’S COOLEST PARTIES
An event that demanded a substantial amount more sprucing up than a quick stint in the ladies was Fashion Rocks at the Albert Hall.
When you’ve got 12 international designers all vying to have their guests look as glamorous as possible, as well as a rock music contingent, the bar is raised pretty high.
At evenings like this, the red carpet has debatably become the most important part of the evening for the designers. Timing is twotier.
One time is given for the slow parade up the red carpet, one for the event to start.
Armies of clipboard Nazis ensure that nobody who’s name is not on the list gets near the waiting hoard of television crew and paparazzi, whose images generate thousands of pounds’ worth of publicity for designers. Some celebrity guests have been known to do the red carpet and then instantly leave.
One of the great unsolvables is the problem of a cold night. You will notice that red carpet arrivals are rarely clad in a nice warm coat, since that would hide the gowns there to be displayed, and despite the nip in the air, Thursday evening was no exception.
I did my bit (sleeveless, turquoise Versace, since you ask) between Lady Gabriella Windsor and actress Noelle Reno, both in full-length gala gowns, with not a shawl between us, although the amount of flashbulbs and filming lights did take the chill off.
When I first saw the stiff, pleated skating skirts being stomped down the catwalk at last year’s Christopher Kane show, they seemed like wonderful fashion pieces that would never translate into real life. Wrong. Although they were an extreme version, the trapeze mini appears to be one of this season’s popular evening looks.
If you are thinking of adopting this, and there are versions that hover a few inches above the knee rather than upper thigh, it’s essential that the top you wear with it is tightly fitted, even corseted. As an alternative to a plunging bodice, think about something very high-necked, working on the basis that it’s best to expose either legs or bosoms but not both..
The quickest, cheapest fashion accessory of the moment is a fringe. The blunt cut heavy fringe is pretty easy to cut yourself word on the street is that the fringe Kate Moss revealed at her Topshop dinner was a DIY job.
On the catwalks, half the models sported fringes which owe more than a nod to the long fringes of the Sixties, and share the same dense appearance.
There’s nothing feathery about the fringe of the moment. The only requisite is that the rest of the head has to be smooth. This look doesn’t work with the tousled, Hollywood-babe locks of last summer, and it looks best on solid colour rather than rampant streaks..
I never thought I’d write this, but now is the time to consider the all-in-one. Back in my schooldays, the coolest girl in school arrived on her first day wearing striped OshKosh dungarees, but since then the all-in-one has been very far back on the style burner. More Greenham Common than Philip Green, they disappeared for some years, reappearing as a fleeting boilersuit trend in the Eighties.
But suddenly they are everywhere again. There are slinky, halterneck evening versions with flowing widelegged pants that pay homage to sleek Studio 54 glam, and short playsuits with showgirl chutzpah.
This winter you could team a boilersuit with high ankle boots. Looking forward, Stella McCartney’s spring collection showed joyous floral all-in-ones, while Mulberry’s spring offering has a tempting pair of denim dungarees with a rolled, cropped leg.
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