By Bella Blissett
Creating a character out of Sarah Burtons beekeeping brief was not the easiest of tasks facing Guido and Peter Philips. So what did they do? They created a woman that was anonymous.
The McQueen woman this season is very statuesque but you only get a hint of her face, said Peter Philips backstage as models went the through the rehearsal to the strains of Sweet Like Candy.
Beneath an enormous black headpiece (Guido thought it was one part hat, the rest a visor-come-veil) the features all but disappeared and were designed to do so. Philips erased every trace of a blemish with a full coverage using Chanels Vitalumière Foundation, skipped mascara and used the pearly beige shade from the Prelude Eyeshadow Quad to line the insides of eyes. From afar, the only real hint of a face through the cage-like veil was the strengthened brow and subtle sheen on the lip.
With Guido hiding hair beneath a black cap, even Marian Newman left the seasons of fantastical McQueen nail art behind her. Creating gorgeously healthy nails, she used her own White Nail Pencil to brighten but not colour block - the underside of tips then slicked on Chanels Flamme Rose or Essies Ballet Slippers to achieve a new invisible French that was tailored to each girls skin tone.
There is definitely a backlash against nail art going on this season, she said. Were letting clothes take centre stage once again. Its chicer, more sophisticated less is now officially more.
Trust us when we tell you that what Marian says near as hell always dammit goes.
