The Style Begins At Forty Awards (SBAFtAs) 2013

The 2013 Style Begins At Forty Awards celebrate those beyond a certain vintage who have inspired with their sartorial sense and superb talent this year. And the winners are:


1. Performance of the Year Award goes to 53-yet-old Nigella Lawson. In a Rebecca Brooks-style monochrome dress the Domestic Goddess stormed Isleworth like Good Queen Bess seeing off the Armada. Majestic. Having worked with her on a cover shoot for a glossy magazine, I can confirm that Nigella is lovely and professional and definitely not off her head on drugs. #TeamNigella

2.  Idris Elba is the worthy recipient of this year's Best Actor gong, and I don't think we need a crystal ball to predict that this will be the first of many awards for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. In the January issue of American Vogue, the 41-year-old Brit actor declares, 'I've been told I have presence, I've been told I'm charismatic but I'm not Nelson Mandela. Those were big shoes to fill.' Elba looks pretty dapper in the accompanying photos by Anton Corbijn (above) and can rock a pimp coat on the red carpet  - though to me he will always be Stringer Bell.

3. Style Inspiration of the Year 2013 Award goes to J.Crew's creative director Jenna Lyons. The woman who dresses America (and now Europe), has brought casual glamour to the masses with her inspirational take on dressed-up daywear. And, she was dead nice when I met her at the J. Crew pop-up shop in London, earlier this year.

4. And so to this year's Soul Survivors prize, which is a dead heat. It's not the first time I've mentioned Keith Richards' dress sense (Richards was the winner of the Time Is On My Side award for Immortality in the inaugural SBAFtAs) but 2013 was the year against all odds, Keef made it to 70, and joined the Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List. And, the Stones in the Park gig (part deux) this summer was bloody brilliant. We all thought he'd retired but David Bowie cleverly released an under-the-radar single to celebrate his 66th birthday in January and was the subject of a superb retrospective at the V&A. The Thin White Duke is so special, I'm even prepared to forget about that naff Louis Vuitton ad. 

5. The Best Director Award goes to the incredibly talented Sue Bourne for tuning into the zeitgeist and bringing us the Fabulous Fashionistas documentary. A show filled with warmth, compassion and stylish older women - of which, we need to see more of on TV. Bourne admitted to me in an interview that the project was partly motivated by self-learning, 'I'm fascinated. I'm looking for role models for the next stage of my life - and these women are pioneers, they're redefining old age. Christ their average age is 80, I want to be like that!' 

6. And finally, The Only Grown-Up in the Stadium prize for that fantastic Funeral Selfie Stare goes to three time award-winner Michelle Obama.







Wishing you a happy and stylish New Year.