The Womens Room

We love: Lady Gaga

There was a time when musicians created new looks and started trends. There was also a time (before the high streets obsession with catwalk trends) when vintage/high top wearing girl singers didn't sell out and start wearing Chanel as soon as they became successful. Maybe we are living in the past and are nostalgic for Polystyrene and Siouxie Sioux and the like? Remember Madonna in her Desperately Seeking Susan days, when she was all fingerless gloves, second hand ra ra skirts and bits of lace tied round her back combed hair?

Watching last nights Brit Awards we were struck by how lots of the female musicians were either head to toe in designer labels or pretty indistinguishable from your average girl on the high street. All except of course, the truly fabulous and totally original Lady Gaga. 

Not only does she write her own music and create a wonderfully unique sound, she also looks like no one else anywhere in the world (well, except maybe a few NYC drag queens!). She is a walking work of art in every sense of the word and her uncompromising style is an inspiration and an great example to women and young girls everywhere. We also like that we know very little about her and she doesn't flaunt her celebrity or expose her private life in gossip magazines. 

We loved last nights all white outfit, face decoration, Pompadour style wig and tea cup as an accessory, and while we are sure there are a whole host of stylists on hand to help her create her looks, we get the impression she is her art. 

Lady Gaga swept up a whole host of awards last night, which goes to show that originality, creativity and strange outfits, still triumph over bland commercial branded pop.

We just hope she stays true to her style and isn't sucked into the world of big brands, designer labels and extreme cosmetic surgery. We still want to see her wearing outrageous OTT outifts when she is 60!

BTW if you have any gay friends/teen daughters who are big fans, check out these fabulous Lady Gaga Barbie dolls from Chinese designer Weikang Lu.

Something to look forward to: Mad Men and A Single Man

Series 3 of the truely fabulous Mad Men is set to start next Wednesday on BBC 4 and we feel more than ready to re-enter the world of 1960's advertising to drool over Don Draper and Joan Holloway. If you are not already a fan (have you been on a desert island?), we sugest you go out and buy the box sets of Series 1 and 2 right now and watch them back to back.

 Apart from the great characters and compelling story lines, one of the things we love about Mad Men is the way it manages to visually capture the aesthetic of the time. The costumes, the interiors and the colours are beautifully shot, with an almost obsessive attention to detail. Production designer Dan Bishop has worked on all three series of Mad Men and has recently worked with first time film director (and ex Gucci creative director) Tom Ford, on his debut film, A Single Man. 

Starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Nicholas Hoult, the film tells the story of the day in the life of a middle aged college professor George (Colin Firth) and how after the death of his long time lover, he plans to end his life. Despite the potentially bleak subject matter, critics have praised the film for its humour and warmth and of course it is visually stunning.
A Single Man is out on the 12th of February. 

We love: Stephanie Beacham

 

You may remember Stephanie Beacham as Sable Colby in The Colby's, but we prefer to think of her as Connie in the 1980's rag trade drama of the same name. She has most recently appeared as Ken Barlow's girlfriend in Coronation St. 

So far, so camp, but now our favourite drama queen is appearing in the 7th series of Celebrity Big Brother. I could pretend it's the teens that make me watch it, or that I just happen to keep walking into the room when it's on, but call me trashy, I love reality TV and I especially love CBB. 

I thought nothing could top Jackie Stallone, but I am totally loving 'Dame' Stephanie's airs and graces. At 62, she is dignified, articulate and ever so slightly, barking mad. She knocks spots off the stupid WAG's and wannabes and has so far entertained us with her exercise/teeth cleaning routine while wearing sunglasses, and her disgust at the quality of the sheets in the BB house. 

Connie to win!!

R.I.P Jill Munroe: the women who defined a generations hair

Farrah Fawcett, the star of Charlie's Angels, died yesterday after battling cancer. She was 62. Her long time partner Ryan O’Neil said.
"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away, Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."

For those of us brought up in the 1970’s Farah fawcett was the closest thing we ever got to a celebrity idol. A whole generation of girls would tune in once a week to watch Charlies Angels and drool over the glamour and sophistication of Jill Munroe, Sabrina Duncan and Kelly Garrett.
Ok the plots were predictable and the acting questionable, but did we care? Oh no, what we loved were the fashionable outfits (teens couldn't buy anything fashionable then, it was mini mum or kids clothes) and most of all the hair. Oh the hair, we had never seen hair like it, and Farrah Fawcetts character Jill Munroe, had the best hair. Big, blonde and fabulous.
To achieve hair that fabulous wasn’t easy, oh no. It required a lot of work, and we mean a lot. Heated rollers, followed by curling tongs and tin after tin of hairspray and all before school! Hair styling equipment was not sophisticated then and there were quite a few hair casualties. Tongs were left on all day, leaving a burnt hole in the bedroom carpet, hot tongs and lots of hair spray often meant singed hair (not a good smell or look) and God forbid you should get the tongs near your neck (no honestly mum its not a love bite, I burnt myself!!)

The hairstyle defined the 70’s so much, that it took us years to shake it off (a bit like the layered look of Jennifer Aniston now) and are fascinated to see some 40 something women still sporting that extreme flicked look.
So R.I.P Farrah and be happy in the knowledge that your legacy lives on. We will never ever find a hairstyle quite so fabulous again.

We love: Older women leading the Brazil carnival

   

Luma de Oliveira

Youth is almost a religion in Brazil, so it is truly a paradigm shift in attitude when the hotly contended position of carnival queen goes to not one but two women in their mid forties this year. (Sharp intake of breath from Brazilian media, who gossip on the selections for weeks beforehand).

 

The carnival, which begins in February, has 12 samba schools, each of which will position a ‘queen’ at the front of their drummers and dancers to lead them into merriment. It’s always the most gorgeous girl in the school who’s chosen, often it’s a celebrity or soap star, so to have two women in their forties chosen by the most famous samba schools in the parade, has caused a right old stir.

 

According to a report in The Times this week, Brazil’s elder stateswoman of fashion is Joyce Pascowitz, who said “It’s interesting that women over 40 are serving as examples of beauty”. About time, we say, perhaps they’ve been reading The Women’s Room in Brazil?

 

The chosen ladies are Luiza Brunet 46 and Luma de Oliveira, 44 who are both veteran carnival performers and as you can see from their pictures seem in excellent shape. Although we don’t envy them the job, look at the size of those headdresses and dancing, in very high heels, can go on for days.

Read the full report in  The Times

   Luiza Brunet

Growing old gracefully?

 

This photograph of Donatella Versace on holiday in todays Mail on Sunday, makes us realise why we will always remember to wear factor 30 and almost definately say no to cosmetic surgery.

It makes us wonder what she thinks when she looks in the mirror!

The Mail on Sunday

Something for the Weekend: National Buy Nothing Day

Today in America and tomorrow in the UK, it's National Buy Nothing Day, an annual protest against consumerism organised by a group called Adbusters.

Put simply...

'Saturday November 29th 2008 is Buy Nothing Day, It's a day where you challenge yourself to switch off from shopping and tune into life.

The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from consumerism and live without shopping. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!

Buy Nothing Day is the biggest 24-hour moratorium against consumerism. People around the world will make a pact to take a break from shopping as a personal experiment or public statement and the best thing is - IT'S FREE!!! '

 

Or alternatively, you could attend the fashion swap organised by Space Hijackers in Top Shop, Oxford Street.

The idea is to turn up on Saturday, wearing an outfit you wish to swap, meet on the lower ground floor by the red telephone box, pretend to shop until 2pm, then strike up conversations with the people around you and let the swapping begin!

Ofcourse the event is not in any way supported by Top Shop, but perhaps its something worth thinking about for the future?

 

We are not sure how easy its going to be not to spend a single penny all day, espescially when we are officially the Bank of Mum and Dad, but we are certainly going to give it a go!

 

National Buy Nothing Day

 

Reverend Billy the Church of Stop Shopping

We Love: Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins

We have to say we are not usually big fans of Brangelina, personally we think all those children just look like really hard work. But we are loving her look in her new film, The Changeling, due for release in the UK on the 26th of November.

We love the fur collar, fabulous brooch, 1920's hairstyle and most of all, the red lipstick. The film looks pretty good too.

BTW we think Russian Red by Mac is the best ever red lipstick colour.

The Changeling

Russian Red

Guilty Pleasures: Perez Hilton

Ok, so we realise the Uk's obsession with with celebrity is unhealthy and in danger of turning our teenage daughters into WAGabees. But, admit it, sometimes we just have to know what's going on with Madonna and Guy or David and Victoria.

We wouldnt dream of spending £3 on OK or the like, but have to admit to logging on almost daily to Perez Hilton. His blog is like a conversation with your gay best friend, witty and more than a little bit bitchy. Controversial for his outing of gay celebrities, you will either love him or hate him, but most likely  find yourelf hooked and able to wax lyrical on all manner of shallow yet fascinating topics.

Perez Hilton