She’s broken every rule be it with her film roles or her red-carpet ensembles. Now, Cate Blanchett is reaping the rewards as she stands apart with her own signature style. Cate Blanchett turns everything we’ve taught about beauty and style on its own. Sure, with her creamy ivory and gold skin tone, she can wear any color from deep scarlet to high shine silver without being overwhelmed. But, she has a nose that doesn’t always seem to fit and eyes that are narrow and set too wide apart. However, taken together, Cate has a face that is utterly unforgettable, sexy and knowing.
Part of the secret is because she prefers a natural approach to beauty. Plus, she wears her clothes and isn’t worn by them. That’s not to say that she hasn’t made the odd fashion misstep – who hasn’t? But even then she acts as if she’s worn the slightly weird even for her outfit on purpose, just to wake us up 
Cate, who is also global ambassador for Japanese skincare brand SK-II, looks perfectly polished in sharply tailored clothes, even the military boilersuit and sharp shina doll bob she wore in Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull had many of us thinking about heading to the nearest Army-Navy surplus store not that we could pull the look off with such elan as her!
SK-II
At home, the 39-year-old mother of three boys, aged seven, five and a year old, is relaxed but still stylish. During her last pregnancy, she looked comfortable but pretty in china blue and white printed dresses and a sunhat. To prove that you are never too young for style, she even has her boys join her in the front row at fashion shows.
But where La Blanchett really shines is full regalia… the red carpet gowns. She has sailed past the crowds in a one-shouldered draped gown with a long swirl of train like a ship in sail and she has slinked past the photographers in a skin-tight black lame number that few mothers of three would dare to wear.
In October 2007, she arrived at the premiere of Elizebeth: The Golden Age in a brilliant turquoise toga gown, the graceful folds trimmed with a deep black metallic stripe hid the early stages of her third pregnancy.
At the golden Globes in 2005, she pulled off a lavender blue one-shouldered gown complete with ruching, fabric flowers and a swirling train. Even so, her approach to fashion is very intellectual. “You spend half an hour with Karl Lagerfeld and he’s so keyed into current movements and he is always expanding himself. He gives you 20 books to read and you’re enriched.” And what draws her eye in fashion mags? “I certainly think that when I flick through all the magazines at the hairdresser’s, I like to see and am drawn to images of models that have an intelligence and mind at work behind them.
Watch her details. Her mouth is always beautifully done up, often a warm nude pink or brilliant red. And her hair is never overdone. In fact, when she said, “Look, it’s one of the great mysteries of the world. I cannot answer that question. I think I am vaguely blonde.”
Pulled back and up, or loose and wavy and a little messy, Cate always looks as if she’s just gotten up and pulled on her gorgeous gown to stroll off a movie premiere. Now that’s effortless style!
