Fake the tree, ditch the tinsel - and ban bores from your Christmas party! Dame Joan's exquisitely arch guide to going stress-free this festive season
She’s
the most glamorous grandmother on the planet — and when it comes to
Christmas, Dame Joan Collins certainly knows how to do it in style.
The
award-winning actress and author is spending the festive season with
her husband Percy in Los Angeles, where the couple are hosting a
traditional British Christmas for their friends and family. But at a
time of year when most of us are feeling frazzled by last-minute
shopping, food orders and endless party invitations, Dame Joan has the
festive season all wrapped up.
With
her trademark wit and amusing anecdotes from family Christmases over
the years, she’s given us an exclusive peek into how she does it — so
you, too, can make it through the next few weeks stress-free!
From
not getting tipsy at the office drinks party to why you should never
put tinsel on your tree, we present Dame Joan’s Glamorous Guide to
Christmas . . .
PUT YOUR TREE UP EARLY AND BE READY TO FAKE IT
The
best part for me is the run-up to Christmas, and therefore it can’t
start too early. I put my tree up on November 27 this year; almost
exactly a month before the big day. I long ago gave up the idea of a
real Christmas tree and now I have a magnificent fake fir (however naff
that sounds).
I’ve
adopted this tradition because by Boxing Day my tree is still standing
proud and tall in all its glory and hasn’t shed its dead bits all over
the Christmas presents, which in turn invariably get stuck to your
slippers, which then get carted all around your house and show up in the
most unlikely of places: your pillow, your make-up, your morning
coffee. Anyway, I’ve found people can’t tell the difference between real
and fake as long as the tree is loaded with baubles and ornaments
STEER CLEAR OF TINSEL AND POINSETTIAS
I’ve
been making and collecting my own decorations since my children were
little. My tree is totally dripping with them — you can barely see any
green.
I’m not a fan of tinsel. I prefer plenty of twinkling white lights, sparkling balls and stars on my tree.
As
for colours, I tend to go for white and silver when we’re in Los
Angeles and a more traditional red and gold in London, but it all
depends on what I feel like doing in any given year.
I
love getting into the spirit of Christmas, so I fill our house to the
hilt with all manner of ornaments, fir garlands and ribbons.
My favourite floral decorations are white azaleas adorned with silver balls. They’re far chicer than poinsettias.
HAVE A PLAN FOR LEAVING PARTIES
Christmas
parties are never as much fun as the anticipation. There are office
parties, boss’s parties, friends’ parties, product-launching parties . .
. the pit is bottomless.
All
of these coalesce to make December into a blur of self-indulgence,
which is why you sorely need those New Year’s resolutions . . . just to
stay alive through January and February. I like parties where I know
most people and not ones that are filled with people you never want to
see again.
I
am very picky about which invitations I choose. I bin the ones that
celebrate the opening of an envelope, and I don’t attend events that are
full of people I don't know.
I save my strength for those intimate gatherings where I am sure to see plenty of friends.
If
it’s a drinks party, I make unbreakable dinner plans with friends at a
fixed time. Stay too long and everybody’s bound to get plastered, which
turns holiday cheer into a Grinch-like nightmare.
If
it’s a dinner party, I make sure to arrive 45 minutes into the
‘cocktail hour’, because it regularly turns into a ‘cocktail
hour-and-a-half’ and that can be fatal.
One of the
most over-the-top parties I ever attended was a ‘Christmas Extravaganza’
hosted by the late TV producer Aaron Spelling at his £120 million
mega-mansion — called The Manor — now owned by Petra Stunt, one of the
Ecclestone heiresses.
He
had shipped in mountains of fake snow that covered the five acres of
grounds and at night it glistened and glittered like the real thing.
That’s Hollywood for you!
BE RUTHLESS WITH YOUR INVITATIONS
I
love throwing a party when I’m in London for the Christmas season. I’ll
invite a core group of my closest friends and family along with a
sprinkling of new friends, as no one wants to see the same faces every
year.
Boring or dull people can cast a bad vibe over any gathering, so I’m ruthless about who I invite.
Never
invite work colleagues who aren’t also your friends — they might be fun
in the boardroom but nothing kills the holiday spirit faster than to be
reminded about the marketing plan for 2017.
One
of my most memorable Christmas parties was in 2001, the year Percy and I
announced our engagement. We hadn’t set a date and the plans were still
in a state of flux, so the party I hosted that December was meant to be
a holiday party — and nothing more.
However, as
the guests arrived — Andrew Lloyd Webber and his wife Madeleine, Roger
Moore, Michael Caine, the fashion designer Valentino — each wished us
congratulations.
It
turned out that rumours had been circulating that we would officially
announce our engagement that evening. At one point, Percy went out on to
the balcony for a cigarette only to discover a large crowd of
paparazzi, reporters and well-wishers.
We
had no choice but to go outside and pose for photographs. We decided to
set a date that very evening — the following February at Claridge’s
Hotel in London. Talk about a ‘shotgun wedding’!
SEND XMAS CARDS — NEVER EMAILS
I start plotting our family Christmas card every October
We
always pick a photograph to be printed on hundreds of cards to send our
nearest and dearest. It’s always a picture from a special family
occasion.
In
the past we’ve had some fabulous photos: one of my youngest daughter,
Katy, posing in a pink tutu; me wearing a Christmas jumper; and one year
we had all the children sitting in their swimwear by a pool in the
Californian sun.
This
year it’s just Percy and me on the card: he’s looking handsome in his
dinner jacket and bow tie, and I’m in a white evening gown.
I know some people dread writing and sending Christmas cards, but I enjoy it — and I love receiving cards from friends.
It’s regretful that many people just send emails these days. That’s not the Christmas spirit at all.
Christmas
cards are a tangible memento that you can keep as a reminder, and also a
great resource for the next year to help you cut out whoever you
haven’t received a card from!
WEAR A STYLISH CHRISTMAS JUMPER
Though I love to dress up, when I’m around my family I’m quite casual.
On Christmas Day, I always wear something red and comfortable.
It
might not be my usual style, but you can get some really chic sweaters
with Christmassy patterns such as stars and snowflakes on them.
When
you’re going out to parties, don’t over-think what you’re going to
wear: a pretty necklace or earrings and some red lipstick can make even
the plainest outfit look festive.
DON’T SPEND TOO MUCH ON CHILDREN
As
a baby of the Blitz and a teenager of Austerity Britain, I grew up with
the tradition of one present at Christmas, with an orange or a
tangerine in my stocking. So the mass consumerism of today never fails
to amaze me.
Hundreds,
sometimes thousands are spent on children’s presents these days — far
more than in the past. I know of one cleaning lady who spent £2,000 on a
computer for her daughter and she only makes £12,000 a year.
I’m
guilty, too. Every year I make a resolution not to buy masses of
presents, but about a month before our Saviour’s birthday I start
thinking about what to buy for whom. Have they been naughty? Have they
been nice? More importantly, does it matter?
The
young ones all seem to want electronics these days, so I am a stranger
in a foreign land when it comes to asking my grandchildren what they
want for Christmas.
One
recent conversation went as follows: ‘A Surface Pro with one terabyte
drive and eight megs of RAM . . .anything less and there’s game lag . . .
with Photoshop Illustrator pre-installed . . . and don’t forget the
stylus.’
‘Um, OK . . . how about I send you a cheque?’ I stammered back.
But Christmas is a time for giving, after all, and I do like to be generous.
I buy presents for all my family and for people who work for me, and I give money to tradespeople.
STICK TO TURKEY AND TRIMMINGS
I
never vary from turkey with its traditional accompaniments such as
Brussels sprouts (which I love), roast potatoes, cranberry sauce and
bread sauce.
I
normally cook, but Percy has taken over at times. The first time he
made Christmas dinner, he misjudged the oven and it was ready too soon,
causing me to tell everyone to come over right away.
They
arrived in various states of confusion and undress! The second time he
over-compensated and we didn’t eat until 8pm, when the family fell upon
it like ravenous hordes.
One
memorable family Christmas dinner involved my then-fiance Anthony
Newley and a couple of close friends. One of them told a particularly
funny story and all of us literally doubled over in laughter, causing
Tony’s party hat to catch fire on one of the candles.
The
problem was that it made us laugh even harder, and we were unable to
voice our warnings to Tony, who in turn was in absolute paroxysms over
our strange contortions. The smell of singeing hair sobered him up quick!
PLAN A CHIC FESTIVE GETAWAY
Nothing
beats a classic Christmas in London: a wintery chill in the air while
the fire crackles inside and we all huddle around it with glasses of
mulled wine. But quite often Percy and I decide to go abroad for a
change.
Last
year, my beloved sister Jackie and I had planned to go to Hawaii with
both our families, but when she prematurely passed away, understandably
we all wanted to be together at home. We went to my sister-in-law
Hazel’s house in London: Jackie’s three children, six grandchildren, my
three children, three grandchildren, and all their partners and
boyfriends. There were dozens of us.
This year, Percy and I are in our apartment in Los Angeles.
It’s warmer than London, up to 20c some days, and the flat will be full of fun, laughter and Christmas cheer.
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