Cate Blanchett Says Her Husband Likes Her to 'Dress Like a High School Librarian'

Cate Blanchett may be known for her avant-garde style, but her husband, 51-year-old playwright Andrew Upton, prefers a more studious look.

“My husband likes it best when I wear a cardigan, a tweed skirt and a pair of spectacles,” the Oscar-winning actress, 47, tells PeopleStyle in an interview featured in this week’s issue, on newsstands now. “I would dress like a high school librarian if he had his way. He’s old-fashioned in that way.”

Unfortunately for him, the star skews toward the more creative high-fashion styles, and she doesn’t care what anyone thinks of them. “I wear what I like, and I don’t dress for anyone’s approval,” she says. “I’m sure there have been some doozies of choices that people have or haven’t liked. Though, you should really see me at 6 a.m. It’s not pretty.”

Blanchett and Upton, who have been married for nearly 20 years and are parents to Dashiell, 15, Roman, 13, Ignatius, 9, and Edith, 2, rarely get date night out together because of their busy schedules, she says. But when they do, “it’s usually somewhere where we can go and talk. I keep saying I’d like to go away for the weekend or something. We always have a grand plan and then it gets whittled down to going out for dinner.”

As for her date night beauty, the SK-II ambassador says she likes to make an effort. “But I wear so much makeup for work that I just like to have my skin breathe,” she says. “I usually apply SK-II’s Facial Treatment Essence twice a day. I’ve been using it for over 15 years. It makes me feel fresh.” (Pictured below, $229 for 7.7 oz.; sk-ii.com.)

“And if I have 20 minutes to spare, I’ll stick on an SK-II mask.” (Facial Treatment Mask pictured below, $135 for 10 sheets; sk-ii.com.)

Her go-to lipstick? “A beautiful nude, like the ones by Hourglass. I don’t quite like wearing gloss. It gets too sticky.” (Pictured below, Hourglass GIRL Lip Stylo in Peacemaker, $32; sephora.com.)

The so-in-love pair recently collaborated on more than parenting — Blanchett starred in Upton’s Broadway play The Present earlier this year.

“We always talked about work and we always collaborated, so it felt like a natural progression,” she said of working with her husband of nearly 20 years. “We, as much as possible, didn’t bring work home. And when you have children, you have to become much more economical in the way one works — I did, anyway. It was a relief to come home and just be partners.”

Now that she’s growing older, she says she’s focusing more on the important things in life. “Because I’m not in my 30s anymore, you get asked all the time how do you feel about getting older,” she says. “I don’t hate the question. I don’t sweat the small stuff as much as I used to. I’m all about attempting to do less.”

“My husband and three sons are always saying, ‘Let’s just stay in our pajamas today,’ and I really understand what they’re saying. We’ve had a lot of adventure, and I think the next chapter is perhaps about being a little bit more still.”

For more of our new interview with Cate Blanchett, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.