That’s Not My Age

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