This is 50
When its sub zero in the UK I find awards movie awards season predominately held in Hollywood where the temperatures is hovering around a comfortable 12 centigrade (mid 50s for those who like me still prefer Fahrenheit) make a refreshing change from beanies and bubble coats, star walk the red carpet with bare arms without turning blue and with no need for the umbrella wielding lackeys.
The Emmy Awards, delayed due to the 2023 actors / writers strike finally went ahead, while the Paparazzi went mad for Suki Waterhouse and her pregnancy bump it was break-out star Ayo Edebiri from The Bear who wowed me in her custom made Louis Vuitton leather dress, ultra simple but ultra modern while Aubrey Plaza who was nominated for her turn in White Lotus turned heads in her Spring Summer 2024 Loewe dress complete with giant pin, which spawned a thousand memes, I’m still undecided if that’s a mark of success or failure?
Another fashion moment that had to be chronicled is Fashion Icon Kate Moss turning 50, as a die hard Moss fan I’m struggling to comprehend its 20 years since her “Beautiful & The Damned” themed 30th when she wore a vintage midnight-blue sequinned dress & cape, bit of fashion trivia for you, that dress was originally worn by Britt Ekland to the premiere of Bond movie The Man With The Golden Gun.
For her 50th the supermodel plumped for a night out in Paris that re-sealed her place on my best dressed list, sweeping out of the Ritz Hotel in a sheer floor length dress with only a body suit underneath and a black fringed opera coat draped dramatically over her shoulders, later swapping her coat for a fur trimmed Bob Mackie Coat looking as rock n roll as ever.
I tried to unpick what it was about the model that has kept me fawning over her style from my teens until now, I can’t think of any other celebrity whose looks have not only stuck in my mind but also inspired so much of my own wardrobe. You can rarely rush out to buy the things Kate Moss is wearing, except on this occasion you can buy velvet tote bag she was carrying to her 50th party an initialled tote bag from cult brand The Vampires Wife, her style is so nuanced and rarely if ever includes anything from current season, instead its a curated mix of vintage and old season which makes even more delectable to me.
As an example while the rest of us have ploughed through a dozen denim styles in the past 3 decades, Moss has stayed true to her skinnies, with the odd pair of kick flares thrown in for good measure, that’s her appeal and her fashion super power, she unapologetically wears what ever she wants, regardless of trends, its also the reason pictures of her don’t date, you can look back 5, 10, 15, even 20 years and her signature styles is the same, but not antiquated.
What’s obvious is that while I’m sure her wardrobe is vast and filled with treasures, she wears the things she loves and wears her clothes on repeat, there are running themes, such as leopard print, polka dots and subtle nods to all things celestial, she mixes texture, fur, velvet, silk and denim which keeps even her most simple looks interesting, and her jewellery, antique gold and diamonds which always has an heirloom quality to it that adds to the mystery of how she came to own it.
Will her sheer dress spawn a thousand copy-cats? no doubt, but there is only one Kate Moss.
