DRESSED TO KILL
When I was growing up I never once felt pretty
CHOREOGRAPHER Arlene Phillips, 73, lives in London with her partner, Angus Ion. She has two grown-up daughters, Alana and Abi. She reveals her style secrets to ROSANNA GREENSTREET.
Body loves — and hates?
I am short and stocky and have always wanted long, slim legs and a high bum. When I was growing up, I never felt pretty. Now, when I look at old photographs, I see full cheeks and nice lips. I didn’t particularly like them then, but now they are holding my face up!
I still feel best when I am going to an event and my make-up artist daughter, alana, has done my hair and make-up. as I’m petite, I look best in a formfitting dress — anything from a Fifties frock like this one to a stylish cocktail dress by alexander mcQueen.
Heels or flats?
For almost a year, I couldn’t wear high heels because I had torn the meniscus in my left knee. Now it’s repaired, I am back towering (or, being just over 5 ft 2 in, almost towering).
High heels have to be comfortable. I can’t believe the years I suffered. my feet are broad and distorted from wearing dance shoes. I have squeezed into narrow shoes that meant every step was agony and, when I got home, I couldn’t even get them off. I don’t do that now.
I love and hate Louboutin: the low platforms with rounded toes are like slippers for a broad foot but the pointed ones are torture.
Fashion faux pas?
a purpLe leather jumpsuit with wide shoulders — to this day, I cringe. It was the era of Hot Gossip (the TV dance troupe I choreographed). I wanted to look outrageous and be outrageous.
We were reacting against the prevailing dance routines that were all ‘step, kick and smiles’. I thought I looked hot, but the sweat was pouring.
Hot Gossip first appeared on The Kenny everett Video Show in 1978. mary Whitehouse was outraged — we received so much publicity and went from strength to strength.
High Street or designer?
I’Ve started raiding my Seventies and eighties wardrobes. recently, I found a stunning khaki jacket with beaded patches that I wear with a vest top and a navy pleated skirt from Zara. I am never shy of wearing clothes from Topshop or Zara. people say: ‘What, at your age?’ But I love those two shops.
Dress up or dress down?
aLWayS dress up! The ‘living dress’ I wore to the 2016 National Television awards was amazing.
I am a fan of arnica, so the British Homeopathic association got in touch and asked if I would wear a dress made with flowers used in homeopathic remedies.
It was quite weighty: heavy silk with a layer of fine silk on which the floral artist Joseph massie stitched flowers such as clematis, roses and hydrangeas. They had been freeze-dried, so didn’t wilt, but there were rules — I wasn’t allowed to sit or my bum would have squashed them flat!
Nip and tuck?
I WouLD love to have my neck tightened and my chin done, but you can’t do that without going all the way up the face and I don’t want an unnecessary operation. So, I’ll live with my face as it is.
Feast or famine?
I eaT a salad every day — to the basics I’ll add endive, chicory, pomegranate seeds, tangerine, grapefruit or kohlrabi and make different kinds of dressing.
my partner pulls a face and eats a few leaves to please me. But he’s very slim and never has a problem with weight, whereas what I eat shows on my body. It’s always been like that, even when I was dancing eight hours a day.
my need for cheese has to be controlled. Triple-fat cream cheese, blue cheese, any cheese — that’s the thing I find hardest to resist! I always think if I just eat this small piece, it will never show, but it always does.
I am a big vegetable eater. I still eat meat, but nowhere near as much as I used to. I have red meat once a week and, if I have spaghetti bolognese, it will mostly be tomatoes and mushrooms.
I love peanut butter. If I have that on wholewheat toast in the morning, I don’t snack.
Gym bunny or lazybones?
IT VarIeS. If I’m choreographing a show, I’m dancing all day. I like to keep moving: I warm up every morning and do exercises and run up and down the stairs.
I love walking and keep track of my steps using my phone.
Guilty pleasures?
I’LL have nothing but water, then suddenly leap to vodka. The Tipsy Tart company does a rose vodka — I’m afraid I can drink that neat! I also like being in bed on Sunday morning with a poached egg on toast, a double espresso and all the newspapers.
Style icon?
I am a huge fan of the american fashion icon Iris apfel — she wears big, round glasses and I love the colours she wears and her daring style. She’s 95!
Wardrobe treasure?
a purpLe satin Biba dress — the first I bought when I came to London.
It symbolises the life I took on after I left behind my old life in manchester as a serious dancing teacher in a plaid skirt and buttoned-up cardigan.
It had been my ambition to go to dance school in London, but sadly, my mother passed away when I was 15 and my father was very sick and couldn’t work. I had a younger sister, so I studied dance in manchester for four years, then became a teacher.
When I was 22, the head, muriel Tweedy, said: ‘I’ve heard about a place in London called The Dance Centre where they teach every kind of dance . . . Take classes for a week and bring back all you’ve learnt to inspire the students.’
I danced all day, every day and, just before I was due to go home, I took an american jazz class and fell in love. I spoke to the teacher about how I loved the style and she said: ‘I’ve never seen anyone adapt so quickly — I can offer you a scholarship.’ That weekend, I called my family and told them I wasn’t coming home. They were shocked and the head was angry, but time and love are great healers. I just knew that if I went back to manchester, I’d never return to London again.
What is in your handbag?
my NoTeBooK and pen, makeup bag (brushes in a separate bag), wallet, keys, hairbrush, cinnamon chewing gum, tissues, glasses, phone, hair scrunchie, and a sweet notebook given to me by abi. It says ‘my mummy is the best mummy’ and it’s such a treasure that I don’t write in it.
I love aspinal bags and have them in pastel-pink, lilac, coral and leopard-skin. Their new collection with actress michelle Dockery is like pieces of art.
Favourite scent?
CHaNeL No 5 perfume.