Ageless style
This week, Anna Mason, founder of her eponymous London label, lets us inside her wardrobe
Q What’s your personal uniform?
A Practically all my adult life I’ve worn a white or cream vintage blouse with jeans and boots or shoes with a walkable heel. In winter I layer up with jumpers and coats and in summer in the UK I’m good to go in just this. My second formula is a dress or a jumpsuit, which is the ultimate one-step dressing: I make it formal or casual by changing my shoes.
Q
At what age did you find it?
A I think I was about 20. As a student I used to wear vintage blouses because they were unique, beautiful and cheaper than new things, and similarly I wore vintage dresses. Now I wear my own versions and this is just an evolution of that.
Q
Which pieces do you spend the most on?
A Shoes, boots, handbags, knitwear, jeans – basically anything I can’t make!
I’m quite short so I’m always on the lookout for the perfect sexy-not-frumpy mid-heel shoe or boot. I’m also really fussy about jeans. I always like wide leg and I just bought some with a cut hem from Mother Denim – I think they’re meant to be cropped, but on me they aren’t! They just show enough shoe/boot and I can wear them with trainers or flats and they don’t drag.
Q
And which do you spend the least on?
A Boring essentials or staples – I can’t see the point of spending lots of money on them – but in reality there is nothing exclusively cheap or exclusively expensive in my wardrobe. I’ve bought lots of cheap vintage over the years and it’s been the best, and I’ve bought expensive mistakes! I may buy cheap socks but I seem to spend a lot on interesting tights from the likes of Falke, Tabio and Wolford.
Q
Do you shop on the high street?
A I go to M&S for really simple, seamless, nude knickers, Uniqlo for cashmere or practical items, like their lightweight down. I also like their collaborations with designers.
Q
Do you have a signature handbag?
A When it comes to handbags I’m really conservative. I like to buy things that I think are classic, and I ponder over the purchase of them.
I like really Chanel, APC bags and Ferian’s Penzance – and the new Chloé Roy Bag,
but I’m watching it from afar still. I have a Lanvin bag from when Alber Elbaz was creative director there. I covet old Céline [the Phoebe Philo years], and my friend has a really plain simple Yves Saint Laurent bag from a few years ago that I admire as it’s so classic – the clasp is simple and unadorned. When I spend a lot of money on a bag I want it to last me a long time.
In the summer, especially on holiday, I like baskets or something less precious – I’m eyeing up a Mehry Mu at the moment.
Q
What item in your wardrobe have you had the longest?
A A pair of vintage burgundy knee-high boots from the Seventies. I’ve had them for about 17 years and I’ve worn them every year since.
They have a 6cm heel and a curved top, which is flattering on the leg, and they’re not tight in the ankle. Q What’s the last thing you bought? A More vintage boots – this time Eighties black leather. I bought them in Palm Desert, California – and I upgraded my gym kit in LA. Lots of pretty colours from Alo Yoga, Beyond Yoga, and Carbon38. Before that I was wearing very perfunctory gym kit that I neither looked after nor had any qualms about throwing away. I might feel differently about my new kit!
Q
What’s your make-up routine?
A I’m always trying to narrow down my make-up so that it’s really easy and quick but still looks like I’ve made an effort (it gets harder as you get older!). I like sticks of make-up because they’re easy to use – I have a really nice cream blusher stick that you can also use as a lipstick from Milk Makeup. I recently bought Charlotte Tilbury unisex healthy glow summer tint moisturiser – it’s very dewy – and I’ve used Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser forever. Then Chanel concealer, By Terry lip balm, and Lancôme Ombré Hypnose stylo eyeshadow stick in the shade brun. I would have said mascara was my essential years ago but the eyeshadow has taken over now.
Q
Do you have any beauty secrets?
A No secrets! But I do all the following sporadically: dry body brushing, salt baths, coconut oil into my scalp and hair and a cold blast at the end of a shower. Recently I tried micro needling, and now I do it once a week – I bought my own at-home roller from Nannette de Gaspe. And I love Nuxe oil. Say I couldn’t have anything else, I’d use it as a face wash and a moisturiser, in my hair and on my body.