A Life in the Day: Yasmin Le Bon
The model and fashion designer, 44, on husband Simon, late nights and eating leftovers
October 18, 2009
When I get up, I see to the animals first. We’ve got two cats, Dusty and Chooch, and two dogs, Tinker, the chihuahua, and Luigi, the pug. Luigi’s only 11 months old and he chews everything. Him and Simon get on great; in fact, I think the pug wants to become Simon and Simon wants to become the pug. It’s a little bit worrying! Then I’ll sit down and have green tea and a couple of seeded Ryvita with Benecol spread. They’re great heated, but they burn really easily, so you have to watch they don’t set the toaster on fire. If Simon’s in the kitchen, he’ll make something like porridge, scrambled eggs and cooked tomatoes.
Now our three daughters are older, I have a bit more time to myself. When I gave birth to my first child, Amber, I was 24, and I was back on the catwalk within weeks. My twenties and thirties were pretty full-on, trying to juggle motherhood and modelling, but now life’s easier, and I only get involved in projects that I know I will really enjoy.
And I love nothing better than fannying around in the morning when I’m getting ready. I’m a real product queen. I try everything. I’ve always been good at slapping creams on. Whether they make a difference to my face is another matter. Simon’s into them as well — he always goes for my expensive ones. And if he sees me using a particular one over and over again, he knows I’m onto something good and starts using it too.
More stressful is getting dressed. My wardrobe’s hell. There’s so much stuff it’s a battle to get into it. It drives me mad, it drives my housekeeper mad. In fact, it’s so bad that I’m now doing the thing that used to drive me crazy about the girls, and that’s wear the same three things over and over again. The youngest two, Tallulah and Saffron, are still at boarding school — they’re 15 and 18. Amber’s 20 and back home. She’s done a bit of modelling, but she doesn’t know what she wants to do yet. Hey, she’s got plenty of time to make up her mind. I’m the one who should be worrying! I’m nearly 45. What am I going to do with the rest of my life?
But I suppose I’ve been lucky. It’s amazing that I’m this age and still being asked to model for fashion and beauty campaigns. Now I’m fronting Avon’s new anti-ageing skincare range, Reversalist, which, with my wrinkles, is right up my street — I definitely need help in that department. I’ve also just designed a small autumn/winter fashion range for Wallis. It’s my first time designing anything, so it’s been a huge learning curve for me. But it’s a challenge, it’s great fun, and I love being around creative people.
If lunch is at home then I tend to eat up leftovers from the fridge. I’m the leftover queen. I can’t help it. I might mix them into an omelette or throw them all into a soup. One of the children won’t eat soups any more because she’s worried what old food I’ve put in it. Simon’s mother, Ann Marie, often comes round with homemade bread and cakes. Her house and garden back onto ours — we’re like the Waltons really — and the animals love it. When they’re bored with us, they go and watch afternoon TV with her.
Our house is a bit higgledy-piggledy. I call it bohemian; some would call it unfinished. I can potter for hours. I like to think I’m getting things done, but most of the time I’m not. I don’t beat myself up about it, though. At the end of the day you get no thanks for being too tidy, do you? Nobody gives you a medal for cleaning out three cupboards. But Simon’s pretty hands-on when it comes to a bit of DIY. And if he’s doing a job, it has to be perfect — probably a bit too perfect. But I won’t let him use a power tool. Once, he was trying to put a portable phone on the wall and drilled through a load of cables. He was lucky he didn’t kill himself.
The house is quiet when the kids are away, but Simon makes up for it. He’s got the lungs of an opera singer, so you can hear him all over the house. If it gets too much I tell him to shut up. But then, if he’s not singing, he’s got one of his guitars out — I mean, he’s not even a bloody guitarist! His noise is the reason we moved to a detached house on a main road. I’d love to be on a quiet road, but I know the council would be round and we’d get thrown out. I wouldn’t mind if we were having wild parties, but it’s just him!
I’m not a great cook, so I don’t tend to do things that require too much scrubbing and peeling and chopping. Apart from anything else, I’m in danger of consuming too much wine in the process. So I keep meals short and sweet. In the evenings I’m a bit of a home bird, so if we’ve been invited out somewhere I often have to be dragged by the hair. But then I’ll end up having such a great time I’ll need to be dragged by the hair back in again.
I never get to bed early, though. It’s probably the result of marrying into rock’n’roll in the early days. And even if I do want an early night, Simon’s such an avid bookworm I know the light will still be on for ages. But we always end up having a laugh about something that’s happened. I guess I’m at a stage in my life where it’s often the simple things that make my day, make me realise how fortunate I am. If my life just carries on as it is now, then I’ll be more than happy.
