On screen, I am often playing super-glamorous, highly made-up women who have everything well planned, but in real life everything is left to the last minute. If I am heading out on the school run, I take seven and a half minutes. If it’s a high-octane event, I need 32 and a half minutes.
It usually starts with me beating myself up thinking, “Why didn’t I check all this beforehand? Why didn’t I realise that the dress I had been planning on wearing was at the dry cleaners? Where did I put those shoes? And where did I put the clutch bag last time when I came in drunk? Oh God, oh God.” So I have three to four minutes of self-recrimination before pulling myself together enough to dig an alternative out of the wardrobe.
These days I am into a jumpsuit. I never would have thought it would be such a good wardrobe staple. They are comfortable but elongate and show off a waist and cleavage. For me, when it comes to both clothes and makeup, it is all about contouring and creating definition. I like to make sure whatever I put on gives me a good silhouette. In the past, I had a cracking cleavage, which I used to great effect, but now I reveal it in a cleverer way. I have a lace shirt with a high neck that I wear with a camisole underneath. It’s not about shoving it in people’s faces.
When I go out, I am channelling Anna Magnani of Mamma Roma, the sexy Italian mama. For the school run, I like to be comfortable but still look a bit hip (it’s a pressurised environment). I wear baggy combat trousers with high tops. I look like the fifth member of All Saints – the mum version.
• Toast Of London is on Channel 4, Wednesdays at 10.30pm.
