Party On: it's the Oscars

That's Not My Age may not have been invited to the Oscars but back in the olden days when I worked on women's magazines, I organised and styled this photo shoot at one of the location houses used in the King's Speech. Lionel Logue's office is number 33 Portland Place, an old eighteenth century London townhouse hired out for films, events and fashion shoots. And as anyone who's seen the film knows it's quite dark and distressed inside...




We didn't have a huge amount of lighting and had to shoot in the doorways and by the windows in order to see the model's face.

Anyway, that's more than enough trumpet-blowing for one day, That's Not My Age is excited to see what the fabulous Tilda Swinton wears this evening. She looked brilliant in Jil Sander at the Golden Globes and Haider Ackermann at the Baftas:





The director of one of Mr TNMA's favourite films, Debra Granik/Winter's Bone has not been nominated for an Academy Award which is a disgrace, but I'm not going to bang on about sexism in the film industry right now. When asked what she'd be wearing, Granik replied, ' I was hoping to get some non-designer, one-size, burka-style outfit that I could climb inside. Then I could watch the whole thing through the peepholes.'



What would you wear to the Oscars?


Photos
Tilda Swinton: Harper's Bazaar and Grazia
Debra Granik: Life.com. Quote from The Sunday Telegraph

I have a dream

One of my favourite photographs, ever, is this 1975 Helmut Newton shot of le smoking for French Vogue. I love the androgynous model, the mood, the composition and the ambiguity of this picture - a quiet Parisienne street after dark, what/who is she waiting for? And it captures a moment in the seventies when Yves Saint Laurent's revolutionary vision collided with Newton's powerful photography. In The Beautiful Fall, Alicia Drake says, 'Newton provided a link in the creation of the Saint Laurent visual world; thanks to Newton's imagination you could actually 'see' the Saint Laurent woman in action and witness the decadence and adventure of her life.'

At the time, the image caused a sensation, as the fabulous Colin McDowell points out in Fashion Today, 'Nice women did not wear the ambiguous smokings of Yves Saint Laurent.... And yet, both suit and image were an homage to the new female elegance - years before their time.'

This is the kind of elegance That's Not My Age aspires to. Grown-up and edgy, I've always longed for a YSL tuxedo. Unfortunately, I'm not a sixteenth arrondisement bourgeoise woman with too much money and time on my hands (how Helmut Newton described the way his ideal YSL-clad woman dressed). Though I have visited the Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent Foundation in Paris, where on a behind the scenes tour of the archives I actually got to see the original le smoking, a very special fashion moment indeed, almost as exciting as meeting Mary Portas. But that's as close as it gets. Or is it?

I've spotted this YSL wool-blend tuxedo on The Outnet (yes, yes, I know I've become completely obsessed with that birthday deal but imagine it, two quid for a tuxedo!)



And in homage to my middle-age crush - that's Tilda Swinton, not Mary Portas (though Mary in a tux - now that would be Portas-tic!) - I might actually opt for a cream pants suit:





Tuxedo love: Yves Saint Laurent with Catherine Deneuve in 2002.


PS If you haven't read The Beautiful Fall - a book about the rivalry between YSL and Karl Lagerfeld, about 'Fashion, genius and glorious excess in 1970s Paris' - I can highly recommend it. Brilliant stuff.



And don't forget....TheOutnet.com is throwing a very special birthday party, for one day only on April 16th the online fashion outlet will host a pop-up sale where all items will be available at the giveaway price of $1/£1/€1. For more information, www.theoutnet/birthday.com

Photos
Yves Saint Laurent and Catherine Deneuve: The Beautiful Fall
Tilda Swinton: ES Magazine

Middle aged crush

This week That's Not My Age has discovered that you're never too old for a teenage crush. Friends say I should get out more, Mr That's Not My Age rightly points out that this kind of behaviour is bad form when you're going steady, but he's in the other room watching telly - and anyway, this is important research. I may be a school girl at heart, but I can multi-task like a grown-up. And to prove it, I have not one, but two crushes on the go at the same time:

1. Tilda Swinton
Joining the ranks of Mary Portas and Jane Birkin on That's Not My Age's best-dressed list, the Scottish actor has got style in spades. Her red carpet outfits are inspired, her beauty other-worldly and she knows how to rock the androgynous look. I can't wait for I Am Love, directed by Luca Guadagnino and featuring Tilda Swinton, 49, (who learned Italian for the part) looking super-chic in Raf Simons for Jil Sander. The film's out on April 9, so until then some stylish snaps to keep me going....



Looking lovely in Lanvin at the 2009 Oscars (Swinton wore Lanvin and won an Oscar in 2008).



Dressed-down chic at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. That's Not My Age loves this combination of silky neutrals.


Click here for a short preview


2. Professor Brian Cox

The 42 year old 'rock star physicist' and presenter of the BBC's fabulous new series, Wonders of the Solar System has to be the happiest man on the planet. Prof Brian Cox is so enthusiastic about his subject matter, he makes physics seem interesting, honest.



Last night, the ex-keyboard player from D:Ream (remember New Labour and Things Can Only Get Better?) even managed a smile whilst dodging a twister in Oklahoma, 'Apparently we've got five minutes till the end of the world,' he laughed, jumping into his car for cover. According to the Daily Mail, Prof Brian spent the night before his A level maths exam at the Hacienda, he got a D but went on to gain a first class honours degree and a PhD in physics. PBC has worked on the Large Hadron Collider, famously saying (in his lovely northern accent), 'Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat.'

A star is born.

And if Mr TNMA is reading this, I'd just like to point out that the Facebook group 'Professor Brian Cox can collide with me anytime' has nothing to do with me.

Watch the starry wonder on BBCiPlayer



Have you got a middled age crush, or two?



Photos

I Am Love: The Guardian

Tilda Swinton: nymag.com

Brian Cox www.edge.org