-
DEMPSTER: THE DIARY OF A ROGUE
7th October 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Talking of Tony Curtis – that should get me some hits – did you know that he was the first guest on Nigel Dempster’s failed pilot for a chat show? Or do you think that sort of tittle-tattle is completely useless information?
Well, I’m afraid the net is not the best forum for you to question the role of gossip in media. If you're like me, on... -
Tie By Night
25th February 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
I think I must be a relic. When I get a 'black tie' invitation, I dig out the old dicky bow and prepare to fumble in the mirror, knowing that whatever the final effect, skew-wiff and hand-done is better than clip-on and naff - and in my opinion, always looks terrifically smart when tucked under the collar, Harold Macmillan-style.
But what do I see at the Baftas last night, but scores... -
The gifting show’s over
11th January 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
With the Globes imminent and the Oscars only weeks away, I hear from a Los Angeles acquaintance that there is consternation in the gifting suite industry.
The what? Well, it turns out that one of the awards' satellite businesses is the letting of hotel suites by middle men, who then turn them into Santa's grottoes, full of nice stuff donated by swanky brands (from whom they also take a fee).... -
HU’S WHO (or: Meeting God in a New York cab)
9th November 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
‘Good morning, sir,’ beamed the taxi driver, ‘and isn’t it beautiful in New York City?’ Where, I wondered, had all the misanthropic Russians who used to run this trade gone? This guy was from Benin, and so full of joie de vivre, he was surely high on drugs or Jesus? ‘Who,’ he said. Jesus, I said. ‘No, no, sir,’ he replied. ‘Aitch you. Hu.’ What, I asked? And he answered... -
Paint It Black
2nd November 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Every so often, you read about an unfortunate youth who has burnt his or her head to a crisp by the application of some patent beauty product. There was one the other day, who’d frazzled half her face with Boot’s hair dye. Of course, the probable cause was an allergic reaction, rather than any failing by the esteemed chemist - but it just goes to show. You should be careful... -
Going ape over Saint Therese
16th October 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Did you go to Frieze this year? No, me neither. The relationship between art and money always makes me a bit queasy, so I was content to pass on the chance to walk round several pavilions full of dealers talking twaddle, while calculating their percentage. (Actually that might be a good collective noun for them: a percentage of dealers.) Anyway, the art was free to appreciate - and I'm told,... -
Rocking from cradle to grave
6th October 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Although I dye my hair black – except for my God-given grey streak - that’s for style reasons, not to disguise my advancing years. So in all conscience, I can maintain that nothing is sadder than a middle-aged groover clinging to his youth.
However, that doesn’t mean we crumblies shouldn’t rage, rage against the dying of the light. And if I had the energy, I’d definitely be down the Tabernacle in... -
NAOMI’S OUT ON A LIMB
30th September 2009 | 2 comments | 1 person likes this
Paris fashion week beckons, and I expect I’ll be runway fodder at one or two defilée– another of those mystified-looking men being jostled by sharp-elbowed female reporters and bewildered by the various exotics that follow the circus. And for what? For clothes, just clothes. I’ve done a fair few shows in my time, and never noticed any great departures from what can be daily seen on the street. But why would... -
Portrait of an artist
21st September 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
It’s too easy to say that the age of Botox and Photoshop has breathed new life into ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. The fact is, Oscar Wilde wrote a timeless fable that will always bear reinterpretation. In 2002, Will Self faithfully, masterfully - and druggily - updated it in ‘Dorian’. Last year, Matthew Bourne brought it back as dance, finally revealing serial murder as Gray’s dark secret. (Feeling hasty, it... -
SIMON SHUNS THE SMALL PRINT
15th September 2009 | 3 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
You see the world and his wife at the Baker & Spice café on Elizabeth Street. I was walking past the other day, when out popped Simon Astaire, renaissance man of the media age. Formerly a talent agent, PR and rock’n’roll manager – not to mention being the public face of Princess Michael – he has now reinvented himself as a fiction author. Admittedly, his books have a strong autobiographical...
CONTRIBUTOR
Tim Willis
Tim Willis has worked for most of Britain's national papers and some of its glossier magazines. He has written three books: Madcap: The Half-life of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's Lost Genius; Torn Apart, a study of child-custody disputes; and Nigel Dempster and the Death of Discretion
POST ARCHIVE
MY REVIEWS
RELATED HUBS ON t5m
- 01
-
- 02
-
- 03
-
- 04
-
- 05
-
