My Fashion Life

Collective muses of the season seem to be “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” of “Grey Gardens” fame. The cult documentary, which followed the squalar, isolation and faded eccentricities of Jackie O’s aunt and cousin in East Hampton, directly inspired Galliano’s S/S show and is currently being remade into a feature film starring Drew Barrymore.

The accompanying ‘crazy old lady’ style certainly captures the zeitgeist of the season with its eccentric clashing, nonsensical styling and deconstructed elegance.

This surreal sophistication gives the impression of a little girl raiding the wardrobe of her aristocratic Grandmother; half dressed, clashing and happy in her own little world. Or of an old lady who has kept her designer clothes and heirlooms, but thrown the rulebook away. Just look at the heads swathed in cardigans at Galliano, lingerie as outerwear at Marc Jacobs or the quirky elegance and forgotten skirts at Louis Vuitton.

All of which make for entertaining shows; all of which may be a little over the top for real life. Get the look without abandoning your sanity with clashing prints, costume jewellery, ladylike accessories and paintbox lips. Just don’t forget your skirt….