Liz Jones of The Daily Mail U.K.) gives the British perspective on Fashion Week and in the process asks an interesting question:
why don't the top Vogue editors wear the fashions that they tell us to wear? The big three are Anna Wintour (U.S.), Carine Roitfeld (France) and
Harriet Quick (U.K.). Anna Wintour wears that same style of low-heeled sandal from spring through summer, then switches to a certain style of boots for the winter. Her hairstyle never changes, and she wears large sunglasses all the time, indoors and outdoors. Carine Roitfeld has said in many interviews how much she despises handbags and usually refuses to carry one. Carine changes up her style and outfits quite a bit, other than the generally enforced No Handbag Rule. We don't know as much about Harriet Quick, not yet having developed an obsession for reading her every utterance as we have with Anna and Carine, so cannot comment on her style. So, what is the answer? Why do those who have the most influence over fashion seem to ignore it completely when they dress themselves?
Well, Anna Wintour, for one.
While I vaguely admire the fact that the formidable editor-in- chief of American Vogue has found her own personal style - shiny bob ( professionally ironed each morning after her tennis lesson), Chanel shades, full print skirt belted at her tiny waist, pastel cardi and pointy kitten heels - and stuck to it, come winter or summer (in winter she just adds grey woollen tights), I have to say I find her look rather boring.
For a woman with the world's best and newest designers at her fingertips, there is no excuse to be stuck in a style rut, which is what I am afraid she is in.
Like many magazine editors - such as Franca Sozzani at Italian Vogue who has kept her long blonde tresses and black voluminous clothes for what seems like decades, or Ingrid Sischy of Interview magazine who only ever wears a tracksuit and trainers and never seems to wash her hair, let alone have it professionally blow-dried - having a signature style is Ms Wintour's way of opting out, of being above fashion somehow, and I suppose it sure as hell makes getting dressed in the morning easier.
*****
Who is the bestdressed woman in fashion?
It has to be the formidably tanned and sinewy Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue, who despite the fact she is well past 50 is still sexier than any model on the catwalk.
She's a woman who can make a jacket worn as a skirt look somehow right, and who can carry off wearing a corset, a pair of footless tights and absolutely nothing else.
Front row at Vera Wang on Friday, Carine was wearing a Balenciaga skirt with jewelled hem, Marc Jacobs heels, a Marc Jacobs clutch (although she famously hates carrying a handbag; she finds them vulgar) and an old grey tank-top.
When I asked her what makes a woman stylish, she said: "You 'ave to not care. The more expensive something is, the more recklessly you 'ave to wear it."
Wise words from Carine, that we should all strive to follow. Toss that Hermes Birkin around like it's the Devi Kroell faux lizard tote from Target. That's the spirit. See a photo of the Vogue ruling triumvirate here.
