I made my second visit to Somerset House to see The Rolling Stones: 50 exhibition, this time in the company of one of my favourite Great Beauties. We’d had a little chat before we got there: it turns out that she’s more of a Keith enthusiast, but for me it’s Mick and Charlie all the way.
Mick has his detractors. I can’t tell you just how bored I am listening to people (not very beautiful people, at that) sneering at the lines on his face and mocking his business acumen. These same people LUURVE Keith’s wrinkles and are enthralled by his ‘I just lie there and let coconuts fall on me’ rock ‘n’ roll attitude*.
In short, Keith seems to be a man’s man: Mick, not so much. And Charlie – Charlie is everyone’s man, no? From the photo that faces you as you come through the door, in which Charlie regards the other four with a ‘not quite sure this is going to work’ expression,
to the shots that close the exhibition, in which Charlie is 50 years older(!)** he ALWAYS looks wonderful. In the first colour shot showing four Stones in combinations of flares and bared midriffs, Charlie sits to one side in a parka and jeans with a grown out skinhead cut
. He is always the coolest, the most self-possessed. But there is one field in which Mick has him (and everyone else in the world, including that Sara Lund from The Killing) beaten. That field is KNITWEAR.
Truly, there should be a shuttle bus laid on from Somerset House to Uniqlo or Agnès b. (depending on your budget). I tested this theory on my Great Beauty of the second visit and on my One Generation Younger Beauty who accompanied me the first time and we were all firmly agreed: it is impossible to see Mick sporting his jumpers without being inspired to invest in new knitwear yourself. Whether it’s a 3-button fine-knit (sometimes with a stripe), a medium-weight crew-neck worn over a shirt, or the chunky hip length number with good solid ribbing required to keep warm in Ireland, Mick looks AMAZING in his jumpers. They are the perfect foil for that weary, child-like vulnerability that speaks of being too handsome for one’s own good as a grammar school boy.
Don’t finalise your autumn/winter wardrobe without checking out this exhibition! It’s been extended until September 2nd, and it’s FREE so you might even be able to afford some knackered ankle-length pointy boots to go with your lovely new jumper. The Stones work a scuffed-up boot like nobody’s business. But stay away from the jazz shoes – no-one looks good in them (not even Serge Gainsbourg – he looked good despite them).
I will conclude with iBeheld’s Memo To Self (not Turner) for Autumn/Winter 2012: hair: fringed and long/ jumper: always/ trouser: narrow/ boots: scuffed/ lips: pouting, parted or pursed in annoyance. If possible, arrange to have yourself seen ONLY in black and white – so much more flattering than colour.
Check this video for: Mick looking beautiful in a jacket that could be a cardigan if you squint, Charlie looking fabulous as always and a beautiful girl at 00:46 seconds showing just how to wear a roll-neck sweater and a houndstooth coat.
* FYI, when you read the words ‘rock ‘n’ roll attitude’ anywhere on this site, please remember to pronounce the phrase as it is meant to be read: with contempt.
**I know that’s the whole point of this exhibition but it is STILL pretty unbelievable.
p.s. I made these absolutely wonderful photos look bloody awful by snapping pages from the exhibition book with my iphone.
