The Sunday Times Style - February 6, 2022

6 FEBRUARY 2022
Sex!
Glamour!
Shots!
DOLLY ALDERTON
GOES TO THE
PUB WITH
Self Esteem
(YOUR NEW
FAVOURITE
POP STAR)
Plus
SEE YOU
IN PUERTO
ESCONDIDO
INSIDE THE
A-LIST PARTY
HOTSPOT
BE MY GUEST
WHAT TO
WEAR TO A
WINTER
WEDDING
The Barometer Edited by Louisa McGillicuddy
Fashion! Beauty! People! Things! Welcome to your weekly guide

to the stuff everyone will be talking about. Do keep up
Boing! Why we all want This picture Amber

a curly-girl fringe and Barnett.
The new ironic millennial haircut Right Lauren and
du jour? A 1980s-style perm fringe. Cameron
CHANEL
Ella Emhoff — Kamala Harris’s

stepdaughter and current Proenza
Schouler campaign star — kicked off
the trend with her turbo-preppy street
style. See also Alia Shawkat, star of the
criminally underrated hipster
whodunnit Search Party (the fifth and
final season, currently on HBO Max,
should be your next binge-watch).
How to DIY? If your hair is naturally
straight, Jonny Long, cofounder of
Lockonego hair salon, says to grab
the old-school Velcro rollers: “Put
them in damp hair and heat with a
hairdryer for a lovely wave.” For those
looking to tame existing curls, “try
scrunching the hair using a diffuser and
leave the hair ever so slightly damp so it TV’s best dating show returns
won’t go fluffy. Whatever you do, don’t It has been two years since the debut of one of the most unhinged reality
overdry the hair.” Or take screen grabs of TV concepts in recent times and now, praise Cupid, Love Is Blind returns to
the models who do it best, Mica Argañaraz Netflix for a second series on Friday. A reminder of the premise: 30 men
and Alix Bouthors, to the hairdresser’s. and women speed-date in “pods” where they can talk to their prospective
match, but not see them. After ten days they have the option to break up
or … get married. As our own Camilla Long put it, it is “wrong, and
gripping”. More than 30 million households watched the series in the first
two months after its arrival on Netflix, and there are already international
LOUIS VUITTON
spin-offs in the works for Brazil and Japan. So what happened to the fates of
the six betrothed couples we met in 2020? The one-off reunion special that
aired in July was as deliciously excruciating as hoped. Only two couples are
still married: fan favourites Lauren and Cameron and the divisive Amber
and Barnett. The former now have their own YouTube show, Hanging with
the Hamiltons, and have just released their own book, Leap of Faith (not to
be confused with Frankie Dettori’s autobiography of the same name). Best
of all, Jessica — who was embroiled in a dramatic romantic subplot and got
trolled for her passion for pinot grigio — is now engaged to a very
handsome surgeon. Details about this year’s contestants are still under
wraps, but expect hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey to be as entirely
Left, from top Mica Argañaraz and Alix Bouthors. superfluous as before. Unless you count repeating the catchphrase in
Getty Images
Above Ella Emhoff and Alia Shawkat different intonations a job. “Is love blind?” “Is love blind?” “Is. Love. Blind?”
ON THE COVER SELF ESTEEM PHOTOGRAPH TUNG WALSH STYLING LUKE DAY. CORSET, £725, SKIRT, £445, AND SHOES, £450, VIVIENNE WESTWOOD. VINTAGE VIVIENNE WESTWOOD HEART BELT, £295, RELLIK.
GOLD SIGNET RING, £280, ALIGHIERI. SILVER SIGNET RING WITH SAPPHIRES, £550, BLEUE BURNHAM. SLEEVES, STYLIST’S OWN
EDITOR LAURA ATKINSON DEPUTY EDITOR CHARLOTTE WILLIAMSON ART DIRECTOR ANDREW BARLOW FASHION DIRECTOR JANE MCFARLAND BEAUTY DIRECTOR SARAH JOSSEL FEATURES EDITOR LOUISA MCGILLICUDDY
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR SCARLETT RUSSELL ACTING ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR OLIVER GRADY JEWELLERY DIRECTOR JESSICA DIAMOND ASSOCIATE FASHION DIRECTOR VERITY PARKER FASHION AND MERCHANDISE EDITOR FLOSSIE SAUNDERS
BOOKINGS DIRECTOR AND CREATIVE PRODUCER LEILA HARTLEY PICTURE EDITOR CATHERINE PYKETT-COMBES ACTING PICTURE EDITOR LORI LEFTEROVA SENIOR DESIGNER ANDY TAYLOR JUNIOR FASHION EDITOR HENRIK LISCHKE
STAFF WRITER AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ROISIN KELLY CONTRIBUTING BEAUTY EDITOR LAURA KENNEDY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ALICE KEMP-HABIB CHIEF SUB-EDITOR SOPHIE FAVELL SENIOR SUB-EDITOR JANE MCDONALD
© Times Newspapers Ltd, 2022. Published and licensed by Times Newspapers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF (020 7782 5000). Printed by Prinovis UK Ltd, Liverpool. Not to be sold separately
The Sunday Times Style • 3

Your So wrong it’s right?
Valentine’s Day Gold leaf food
It looks like subtlety is out when it
reading list comes to the foodie trends of 2022:
Our pick of the best new books on love, accessorising with gold leaf is
sex, dating and all the messiness in becoming a thing. It started with last
between. No self-help rubbish allowed year’s opening of the Nusr-Et
Steakhouse, from internet sensation
Block, Delete, Move On: Salt Bae, which had a £1,450 gold-leaf-
It’s Not You, It’s Them topped tomahawk steak on the menu.
by LalalaLetMeExplain The Bombay Borough restaurant in
A no-nonsense “anti-f**kperson Dubai has a 23-carat gold-leaf biryani
guidebook” from the agony aunt (above right); Paris Hilton served
behind the cult @LalalaLetMeExplain potatoes with sour cream, caviar and
Instagram account. A mix of gold leaf at her wedding (right); and
dispatches from the front line of then there’s the private chef who has
dating plus expert advice: expect previously worked for Kanye West,
everything from how to understand known as “MrZ”, whose Chelsea-
your attachment type to why based sandwich delivery business
“conscious celibacy” could be the includes a “billionaire beef sandwich”
best thing you try this year. (below right) made with wagyu beef,
Published by Bantam Press on caviar and gold leaf — yours for £250.
Thursday at £12.99 Warning: if you’re trying it at home,
you need to go for a 23-24 carat gold
Anonymous Sex
leaf/flakes/powder for it to be
edited by Hillary Jordan and
safe to eat. Additional warning:
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
the restaurant manager at Nusr-Et
For this collection of short stories,
has confirmed it adds absolutely
novelists including the Pulitzer
nothing to the taste.
prizewinning Louise Erdrich were
asked to submit an erotic tale based
on their sexual fantasies. Look out for
niche literary kinks: one story
involves sex with a hologram set in
Meet the brop
2098. Beam me up, Scotty! top. Yes, the
JW ANDERSON
Published by the Borough Press at £14.99

bro crop top
Unattached: Essays on Singlehood Spotted: midriff-flashing
edited by Angelica Malin jackets, knits and tees on
A compilation of 30 essays by the the menswear catwalks.
likes of Love Island’s Megan Barton Mark Owen in the Relight
Hanson, the body-image campaigner My Fire vid (below) still
Stephanie Yeboah and LGBT activist wears it best.
Shon Faye on the power of being
single. One chapter title: A Single
Woman Is the Closest Living Thing to a
Goddess. Why yes, yes she is.
Published by Square Peg at £14.99
The Lonely Hunter: How Our

Search for Love Is Broken
by Aimée Lutkin
A part-memoir, part-investigation by
the LA-based writer, director and
performer Aimée Lutkin, 32. After six
years of being single, she throws
herself into the dating pool, going on
two dates a week and documenting
PALOMO SPAIN
her experiences. The result? A funny,

honest and confronting account that
challenges views about being single
FENDI
in a world built for couples.

Published by Scribe at £14.99
6 • The Sunday Times Style

The Barometer
Heating up
▲ BEL-AIR
The reboot of Fresh Prince
finally arrives on
Valentine’s Day. Please be
good, please be good,
please be good
▲ DUO THE OWL

The Duolingo mascot is
suddenly a TikTok star
thanks to its bonkers
social content (eg, a Everyone’s talking about:
running joke about being
confused for Dua Lipa). Bridget Everett
Genuinely one of the Although she has been a much-loved
best follows eccentric fixture on the New York comedy
circuit for years, UK audiences may only recognise
Bridget Everett from her cameos on the likes of Girls,
Trainwreck and Inside Amy Schumer (the duo have been
friends for more than a decade). Now the 49-year-old
▲ PARIS FILTER is having her crossover moment, with a new HBO
The low-key drama-comedy loosely based on her own life landing on Sky
Instagram Comedy next month. Somebody Somewhere (above) is a
filter that “coming-of-middle-age” story about a woman (Everett) who
makes moves back to her Midwestern home town following the death
▲ COFFLE SHOPS everyone of her sister. Indie kings Mark and Jay Duplass are executive
Coffee-slash-bottle-shops look about producers and the critics are already banging on about it, no doubt
on every hipster street ten years less in part because it’s such a pivot for Everett, who is known for her
corner. Flat white and a tired. Use OTT cabaret shows — think half-empty bottles of chardonnay,
malbec to go, please responsibly songs about boobs and the occasional motorboating of an
@bombayborough_uae, @mrz.luxurysandwiches, Shutterstock, Avalon.Red, Backgrid, Getty Images, Alamy, Sky, @durandbottleshop, @coldpicnic
audience member. Where do we buy tickets?

Cooling down
COLD PICNIC
▼ WALL HANGINGS
The latest hardcore
homeware: commissioning
your own stained-glass
panel. Goodness
▼ HAIR TINSEL
Think 1990s hair mascara
but make it more stupid
▼ LETTUCE WATER Island bathmat,
Woo-woo crew claiming £80; probahome.
▼ JOOTS that boiled lettuce-leaf com. Clover
Jean tea can help with sleep. bathmat,
boots. Just sounds soggy £54; studio
Stop cyl.com
trying
to make
them
Do I need … a bouji bathmat?
Yes, even the rag you dry your feet on is getting an Instagram
happen
revamp. Blame it on the booming #bathscaping industry or our
post-lockdown obsession with all things “towelling”, but a wave of
indie brands are giving the humble bathmat their full attention.
See the artsy creations by labels such as Proba and Studio Cyl;
there’s even a waiting list for the bathmats by Cold Picnic. Yes, we
live in a bathmat waiting list world now.

Be mine!
Souped-up stilettos and silk pyjamas?
Spread the love with some stylish gifts
1 Edit Flossie Saunders
4
2
3
12
10 11
7 8
14
13
17
16
15
1 Poppies, £67.50 for 25 stems (vase not included), order by 10am on Friday; bybloom.co.uk. 2 Enamel ring, £195; hotlipsbysolange.co.uk.
3 Egg cup, £15, Popolo; libertylondon.com. 4 Red heels, £750; jimmychoo.com. 5 Digital radio, £99, Roberts; johnlewis.com. 6 Cushion, £145;
allerdorset.com. 7 Rose Bath & Shower Oil, £49; aromatherapyassociates.com. 8 Underwired bra, £65, and 9 high-waisted knickers, £42;
doralarsen.com. 10 Alphabet gemstone charm, £1,100; dolcegabbana.com. 11 Giorgio Armani My Way, £78 for 50ml EDP; armanibeauty.co.uk.
12 Stripy pyjamas, £276; railsclothing.com. 13 Nylon tote, £28; zara.com. 14 Notebook, £55; smythson.com. 15 Artisan stand mixer, £499,
KitchenAid; fenwick.co.uk. 16 Silk eye mask, £85, Araks; matchesfashion.com. 17 Scented candle, £115, Balmain x Trudon; balmain.com

3
4
1
10
11 8
12
14
13
16
15
17
Edit Henrik Lischke
1 Pyjama shorts, £85, and 2 shirt, £135, Tekla; brownsfashion.com. 3 Stainless-steel espresso cups, £115 for four, Tom Dixon; johnlewis.com.
4 Razor and brush set, £255, Pankhurst London; mrporter.com. 5 Phone pouch, £445; celine.com. 6 Pro-Collagen Marine Cream for Men, £58,
Elemis; johnlewis.com. 7 Cardholder, £225; loewe.com. 8 Gold-plated ring, £135, Dear Letterman; printemps.co.uk. 9 Tartan wallet, £130,
Comme des Garçons; goodhoodstore.com. 10 Sauvage shower gel, £30, Dior; johnlewis.com. 11 Basquiat: a Portrait limited-edition book, £250;
njgstudio.com. 12 Modern Muse candle, £75; flannels.com. 13 Hoodie, £135, and 14 tracksuit bottoms, £110; thepangaia.com. 15 Rum, £40,
Diplomatico; fenwick.co.uk. 16 Bandana rug, £65, Candy Design; couvertureandthegarbstore.com. 17 Double hip flask, £85; aspinaloflondon.com

Love
1
me do
From luxe lockets to ‘moi et toi’
4
3 rings, this is Valentine’s

jewellery you’ll really, really want
Edit Jessica Diamond
8
LOQUET LONDON
11
10
LOCKED UP
1 Prayers locket in gold and enamel with diamonds, £3,560; marielichtenberg.com. 2 Heart locket pendant, £500; loquetlondon.com. 3 Celestial
Compass locket in yellow gold vermeil with white sapphire, £195; astleyclarke.com. 4 Every Cloud locket in gold, silver and diamonds, £4,950;
jessieve.com. 5 Deia locket pendant in gold vermeil, £100; monicavinader.com. 6 Mythology champagne bottle locket charm in yellow gold with
diamonds, £3,900; annoushka.com. 7 My World locket and Moon charm pendant in gold vermeil and mother of pearl, £410; dinnyhall.com.
8 Ladybird locket in yellow gold and enamel, £12,750; theofennell.com. 9 Heart locket in gold with sapphires and mother of pearl, £4,555,
Sorellina; net-a-porter.com. 10 Rocket locket in gold plate, £255; alexmonroe.com. 11 Sea Shell locket in yellow gold, £335; sigwardjewelry.com

2
6
7
TIFFANY & CO
8
5
SEEING RED
1 Diva’s Dream necklace in rose gold with mother of pearl and rubies, £3,610; bulgari.com. 2 Small Raspberry Ruby huggie in
yellow gold, £170; otiumberg.com. 3 Hammered gold-plated ruby ring, £275, Pacharee; net-a-porter.com. 4 Sonate solitaire ring in
platinum with ruby and diamonds, POA; vancleefarpels.com. 5 Ruby Cluster ring in yellow gold, £1,920; ruthtomlinson.com.
6 Fluid Rubies bracelet in rose gold, £2,900; fernandojorge.co.uk. 7 Karen’s ruby heart bracelet in rose gold, £975; roxannefirst.com.
8 Rose gold earrings with rubies and diamonds, £645, Suzanne Kalan; net-a-porter.com
MESSIKA
1 2
3 4
ME AND YOU
1 Joséphine Duo Éternel ring in white gold with sapphire and diamonds, £55,200; chaumet.com. 2 1980s yellow gold Bulgari ring with diamonds,
£32,000; pragnell.co.uk. 3 Callisto ring in yellow gold with Akoya pearl and diamond, £6,220; tasaki.co.uk. 4 Platinum ring with sapphire, emerald
and diamonds, POA, Cartier. 5 Irawo ring in yellow gold with emerald and diamond, £1,500; aureliaandpierre.com. 6 Rose Dior Bagatelle ring in
white gold with diamonds, £30,200, Dior Joaillerie. 7 Two Stone Diamond Claw ring in yellow gold, £3,425; anitako.com

Men are really

scared of me...
Gold dress, £675,
Her music tackles everything
and recycled satin from orgasms to anxiety – and
shoes, £445,
Vivienne Westwood. her thirtysomething female fans
Satin stole, £90,
Miscreants. Gold can’t get enough of it. Over a
signet ring, £280,
Alighieri, and signet
few whiskies, Dolly Alderton
ring with sapphires, meets Self Esteem, the pop star
£550, Bleue
Burnham, worn everybody’s talking about
throughout
Photographs Tung Walsh Styling Luke Day
In spring last year, as we began to

emerge from a long winter of isola-
tion, there was one song I played
on repeat. It was sent to me count-
less times, I sent it on countless
times, always with a plea to listen
to it as soon as possible. I Do This
All the Time by Self Esteem is part
soaring vocals, part spoken-word
piece that tells the story of a woman facing the truth of
herself — someone who has fallen short of society’s
traditional expectations of her — and learning to accept
and love who she is in spite of that. It is both confessional
(“When I’m buried in the ground/ I won’t be able to
make your birthday drinks but I will still feel guilty”) and
reassuring (“Getting married isn’t the biggest day of
your life./ All the days that you get to have are big”). It is
one of those songs that so profoundly articulates what it
is to feel abnormal that ironically it ends up representing
every single person who listens to it.
It was the first single from the second solo album,
Prioritise Pleasure, by the 35-year-old Rotherham-born
Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem. As her stage name
suggests, her music (a hybrid of pop, poetry and perfor-
mance art) encourages women to ask for more — to ques-
tion the norm, take up more space, stop obsessing over
keeping everyone happy and, crucially, recentre their own
needs and desires. She has become a pin-up and an oracle
for millennial women, and has, perhaps lazily, been
compared to Phoebe Waller-Bridge on account of her wit
and frankness. They certainly both possess that rare skill
of capturing the bittersweet balance of life; of being able
to make you laugh, before slapping you hard in the face
with profundity. In her song F***ing Wizardry, Taylor
states: “Part of being funny is having some sincerity/ And
using both of them wisely.” Her lyrics are bejewelled with
relatable references to digital anxiety — unfollowing exes,
leaving lovers on read and feeling enslaved to your phone
(“Sexting you at the mental health talk seems counterpro-
ductive”). Perhaps that’s why her songs feel like deep
insights from a therapy session and tipsy thoughts from a
long night bus home.
Her album received five-star reviews from the broad-
sheets, as did her accompanying live shows. She was

Bodysuit, £610,
Hervé Léger;
selfridges.com.
Vintage Jean Paul
Gaultier jacket,
£300, and vintage
Dolce & Gabbana
skirt, £70, Found &
Vision. Vintage Terry
de Havilland boots,
from a selection,
Rellik. Bow (worn
as belt), £695,
Clo de Vila
awarded The Sunday Times Culture’s
record of the year last year, was named
‘I just haven’t enjoy her work, with the patronising
caveat that they don’t think they’re the
BBC Music’s Introducing Artist of 2021 got time to not target market.
and is up for best new artist at the Brits
this week. Her personal appeal is potent have great sex. She often talks about the Trojan horse
strategy she has taken with her music —
— an irresistible combination of camp
glamour and everywoman likeability.
When girls are packaging herself up with gloss and
glamour to deliver a feminist message
She wears power suits and leopard print like, “Oh, I fake furtively. In her video for How Can I Help
at her gigs, but she also wore a dress
made entirely of Boots Advantage cards it,” I’m like, You she plays the drums in a black bra
and shorts, while roaring lyrics about
for her performance at Glastonbury what? No way!’ female subservience: “I did that video
in 2019. She supports Sheffield because the men who want to click on it
Wednesday. She goes on podcasts about for my jiggling boobs won’t like what I’m
pubs to enthuse about her favourite pint (Foster’s) and saying, but they’ll have to hear it if they want to look at my
pop culture podcasts to analyse RuPaul’s Drag Race with boobs.” She tells me that it feels like “the biggest win”
academic authority. She is, indisputably, the woman when she gets DMs from men who tell her that her lyrics
you’d want to be your best mate. have made them think about how they treat women, but
We meet on a Friday evening at a London whisky bar she never wants to chastise them. “Men are really scared
and she arrives from the photoshoot in her own clothes — of me,” she sighs. “I don’t want that. I don’t hate men at all
a bombshell in high-waisted blue denim jeans and — I fancy loads of them. It has been weird. It’s still weird.
matching jacket — and with her sleepy Monroe eyes, the I don’t know. Men are really frightened of me.”
cheekbones of Diana Dors and the mouth of a gobby The culprit for their fear, she thinks, is her message of
friend who gets you thrown out of the club queue. female nonconformance. We’re on our second whisky
“Look!” she shouts, sticking her hand out to show me when we get into the same conversation I have with
her long, fake red nails from the shoot, one of which has nearly every thirtysomething friend over and over again
already fallen off. “It looks like I’ve had a finger up my arse. at the moment: the question of whether to have children
Why did I get a brown shellac!?” We order whisky and she and why we have children. “Whether I do want kids or I
tells me that she’s well aware of her particular brand of don’t want kids, I don’t want it to be a decision my body
relatability. “I think the sort of ‘I could be your mate is making for me before I can,” she says. “That’s not
down the pub’-ness of me is just a way to handle loads fair, my career is only just starting.” Fairness is a
of compliments,” she observes. “It’s a coping mecha- word she brings up repeatedly in relation to female
nism or a safety net or something.” biology, and the lack of it obviously frustrates her.
In her music and in interviews she often speaks “I feel like we’ve been given this task to do. But
of her persistent anxieties about keeping life isn’t long enough, in my opinion. It doesn’t
everyone happy other than herself. Celebrity is, feel fair that I’ve got a finite amount of time to
surely, a gruelling form of immersion therapy to decide to do this thing.” She identifies as
erase chronic people-pleasing. Now with pansexual (attracted to people regardless of
44,000-plus followers on Instagram, how has their sex or gender identity) and her longest
she coped with knowing that there are people relationship was with a woman. “I made my
she doesn’t know who have an opinion about peace a long time ago with the idea of having a
her? “Not very well,” she says. “Although I’ve baby and science being involved. So that was
been so lucky. So far everything has been very kind of great,” she says, before uttering the
positive. Even online, it’s all positive, apart from sentence nearly every friend of mine without
men.” Men, she says, have always been confused children says: “It still hangs over me, though.”
by her, which has been made all the more apparent Sexuality features heavily in her work — bold,
by how some have reacted to her work. Some send unashamed and gorgeously silly. She credits her
messages or write comments on her posts calling long relationship with a woman for helping her
her a “slag” and asking what she thinks she’s doing realise what her “needs and wants” were: “I just
for feminism (“You’re proving my point, my haven’t got time to not have great sex. When girls
friend,” she deadpans). Others reluctantly say they are like, ‘Oh, I fake it,’ I’m like, ‘What? No way!’”
Alexandra Cameron, Getty Images
From left Rebecca Lucy Taylor on stage with Slow Club in 2014; performing as Self Esteem last November

But as well as celebrating her sexual self, her album deals
with her experience of sexual assault. “When you live Vintage Vivienne Westwood corset, Rocking
your life as proudly/ And as sexually as I like to be/ You Horse shoes and long pearl necklace, from
took that from me and you used it/ But I’ll never lose it,” Mr Stephen Philip, @mrstevenphilip. Knit
she sings on the opening track, I’m Fine. For her, having dress, £415, David Koma; selfridges.com.
both the fun of sex and the trauma of sexual assault on Twinset and Screws pearl necklace, £525,
this album was important: “Because we still remain — it Motley x Frances Wadsworth Jones
doesn’t seem fair that it gets taken away from you, the
joy.” She wants to be open about it because she endured
initial feelings of self-blame in the aftermath of “very bad
experiences” and, more than anything, wants people to
know: “It’s not your fault.”
She is now in a relationship with a man but has long let
go of traditional ideas of a domestic life. Single women feel
understood by her, particularly those who think of them-
selves as complicated or messy. Does she feel pressure to
be messy to stay connected to those fans? “Sometimes
I think I always will be,” she says. “But I feel, more than
ever, that you only get to be alive once, and I really want to
feel it all. And I don’t want to be guilty about it.”
As a teenager growing up in a Christian household in
Rotherham with one brother, she was an unusual combi-
nation of a keen cricketer and musical theatre enthusiast.
Her father is a retired steelworker and her mother
a secretary. She discovered her own sexuality young:
“Damien Rice on the boom box. Lava lamp on. Between
shifts at waitressing at the pub, I’d have this quiet three
hours at home,” she says, hooting with laughter. “The
second I figured out what my clit did, I was like, ‘Oh, this
is what life’s about.’ ” But she didn’t share her discovery
with anyone else for a while, losing her virginity aged 20.
“I was scared. I’m such a weird mix of painfully shy and
strange and scared and, like, Christian shit and small-town
shit, versus all this,” she says, gesturing at herself.
She was in bands from the age of 18, and in 2006, aged
20, formed the indie-folk duo Slow Club with Charles
Watson in Sheffield. They were critically acclaimed and
performed at Glastonbury and supported the likes of
Florence + the Machine and Mumford & Sons on tour,
but disbanded in 2017 after five albums together. She
released Compliments Please, her first solo album under the
name of Self Esteem, in 2019, but it was Prioritise Pleasure
that firmly established her as a much-loved solo artist.
For a while she lied about her age, aware of how
ruthlessly ageist the music industry is when it comes to
women. But now it is something she’s proud of: “The Brit
nomination is hilarious because I think it’s brilliant getting
best newcomer at 35. How good?” she beams.
In a recent trend for millennials to post throwback
photos online of mid-Noughties try-hard fashion, dubbed
“Indie Sleaze”, she shared old photos of herself looking
both twee and withdrawn. In them she is almost unrecog-
nisable. “All the indie stuff, those dresses, I’ve never felt
comfy like that,” she says. “I love menswear more than
I love womenswear, but then I want to celebrate the fact
that my body is inherently f***ing female. I don’t want to
feel sad about it any more or hide it. I was born with the
most amazing ‘barmaid on Coronation Street’ body.”
“You know, my biggest terror is my nudes,” she says.
“I’ve taken a lot of nudes in my life. I’ve taken some
beautiful, beautiful pieces of work. And I once had a guy
sort of threaten me with it.” She tells me that she looked to
how Madonna reclaimed the nude pictures she had posed
for before she became famous after they were sold to
Playboy and Penthouse without her consent: her response

to the New York Post of “So what!” was turned into works I’m not that clever. I’m just telling you what life is.” What
of art by Andy Warhol and Keith Haring in 1985. Years was Fleabag doing? It was just a woman enjoying sex and
later she published erotic photos on her own terms in her being funny and a bit of a mess. The fact that Fleabag was
1992 book Sex. “That ethos is why I am like I am,” she says radical TV is kind of depressing. That’s what we’re healing
of her sexual reclamation.“I’ll do it before you can.” from,” she says. “I think we’re healing from the fact that it’s
Now, four drinks in, it seems like the right time to ask only just started.”
her the question I’ve wanted to ask since I first listened I ask her, hopefully, if this just makes her want to keep
to I Do This All the Time with tears running down making music. “F*** yeah, I’ve got to now. That’s me
my cheeks. It feels like Self Esteem — with this open- done. By the time my next album comes out I’ll be nearly
hearted album of 13 miniature memoirs — is confronting 40, probably. And that’s a whole new thing isn’t it? The
her past, looking it in the eye and healing right in front of drum I’ve got to f***ing bang about that,” she smiles and
us. Her music make us want to join her. What does she takes a gulp of whisky.“I don’t want to but I’m going to.” ■
think we’re healing from? “I don’t think equality was even
a thing for us, at all,” she says almost immediately. She is Self Esteem’s album Prioritise Pleasure is out now, and her
disheartened by how revolutionary she is made to feel by UK tour begins on February 28. Self Esteem is nominated for
simply documenting who she is. “I shouldn’t be radical. best new artist at the Brit awards, Tuesday, at 8pm on ITV

This page Vintage Vivienne
‘I want to celebrate Westwood corset and
the fact that my skirt, Mr Stephen Philip,
@mrstevenphilip. Sleeves,
body is inherently stylist’s own
female, and I don’t Opposite Bra, £375, zipped
want to feel sad blazer, £2,400, and skirt,
£775, Dolce & Gabbana.
about it any more’ Vintage Vivienne Westwood
pearl necklace, from Mr
Stephen Philip,
@mrstevenphilip
Hair Daniel Martin

using Oribe. Hair colour
Reiss Alexander. Make-up
Sharon Dowsett at Of
Substance. Nails Michelle
Humphrey at LMC
Worldwide using Essie.
Prop styling
Phoebe Shakespeare
at Saint Luke. Local
production Mayor
Productions
‘Burnout
hit me hard’
Abigail Bergstrom had a high-flying career in publishing and an enviable
lifestyle. So how come, at 32, she suddenly found herself unable to get out
of bed? She explains why burnout among young women is on the rise
I squeezed my legs closer together, tightening my the minority within that structure — be it through class,
pelvis. These Kegel exercises were not a conscious affec- gender, race, disability or religion — you have to fight
tation, rather a reflex developed to keep going. “You need and push harder for your seat at the table, to even be
to go to the toilet,” my assistant pressed for the second heard, and are therefore more likely to burn out.
time that morning, running a perplexed gaze over the Alison Fitzgerald, 39, is an architect who has been
private little dance I was doing in front of my screen. But hospitalised for burnout twice, once in her sixth year of
it was hard to find the time, you know? What with a day studying and again when she was at the top of her
of back-to-back meetings, followed by an author’s book career working for a leading, male-dominated practice:
launch before heading to a friend’s birthday dinner and “It was a cycle that I couldn’t seem to get out of
then straight into drinks with some guy I was desper- because we live in a patriarchy where women are taught
ately trying to find interesting. “You’re failing; being lazy; to live their lives from a place of fear and not from a
it’s not good enough; you can do better” — these varying place of value,” she says. “We have an exhausting and
phrases would ricochet through my head the next labour-intensive relationship with insecurity. We’re
morning, propelling me into my 8am therapy session told we aren’t good enough, successful enough, beau-
before a 9.15am Pilates class. tiful enough or intelligent enough.”
It was positively brilliant to be busy, though, wasn’t it? It was the same for me: I worked for everything I had,
The ultimate lifestyle accessory. Like those teeny-tiny and yet I lived in constant fear of it being taken away. As
designer bags you can’t fit your tampon in, let alone your my career developed, working hours and leisure time
phone — glorious in their uselessness. A sweet lie placed merged — I gulped down the “work/life-blend” shakes
on the tongue and swallowed. If you weren’t busy before and disregarded the nine-to-five. I was my job. The last
Covid hit, then what the hell weren’t you doing? I was person I spoke to before bed and the first in the morning
shaming myself into being the person I needed to be: bril- was a client. I was striving for perfection, a non-existent
liant at my job, admired by my friends and desirable to a standard I’d set for myself, stuck in a stress cycle, driven
possible significant other. But by the end I couldn’t even by the panic of not delivering and the shame of never
walk my dog or water my house plants, I was that unwell. quite being enough.
In my old life every ticking minute was accounted for Then about two years ago my weekends started getting
from the moment I opened my eyes. I’d combine a walk quieter and quieter until the thought of making plans
to the Tube with a client call, and a trip to get a bikini caused too much anxiety. I withdrew. I was just too tired. I
wax with an opportunity to order those Mother’s Day needed to rest, just one more slow weekend and I’d feel
flowers and book a table. Each action was multitasked, better. I was too ashamed to say I couldn’t do it any more.
every half-hour slot blocked out in my diary. I’d get Too proud to say it was too much. I fell head over heels for
urinary infections regularly; I stopped noticing my the “fix you” industry, throwing my money at supple-
swollen bladder — I was distracted. ments, health foods and remedies just to sustain myself. I
I started working in publishing 11 years ago, where, as a bought into the false script that women can have it all,
comprehensive-school-educated girl from Newport that being successful takes hard work, requires all of your
with police officers for parents, I was day. But in the end all that was left was an
regarded with confusion. A precocious anxiety-riddled and very sick woman who
youngster (apparently) with an accent
I was striving was too ashamed to say there wasn’t more
who had stumbled in off the National for perfection, of herself she could give.
Express, and who was a little too The turning point happened last January
outspoken for this demure ecosystem. a non-existent when I woke up and didn’t have the energy
This is the defining trait in conversations
I have with women about burnout: when
standard I’d to get out of bed. It’s hard to put into
words the panic that sets in when your
you’re in a system of power and you’re in set for myself body grinds to a halt, a long, drawn-out
Mark Arrigo

‘I worked for everything I had, yet lived in constant fear of it being taken away’ Abigail’s work and leisure time merged into one
heaviness and fatigue that doesn’t lift for months. The life — hey, I even had abs! But it felt like nothing. I was
slow realisation that you can’t do it any more, can’t numb to joy, and little did I know I was slowly tearing at
continue living this way. My boss encouraged me to have my own seams.
time off. I took a few weeks, then tried to go back. I ended I’m lucky that I wasn’t also raising a family. Amy
up being signed off by a doctor. It was deathly quiet when I Cassidy, 36, is an HR director who burnt out after trying
was put on sick leave. I’d gone from the noise and false to balance a demanding job with her marriage and
importance that comes from being busy to a broken shell raising two children. “Women are socially conditioned
of myself, unable to walk further than the end of my street. to self-sacrifice,” she says. “But suddenly I didn’t have
I thought I’d go back to the office. I didn’t foresee having anything to offer: I didn’t have a job, I couldn’t cook a
to take off half a year. In the end I never went back. meal, I wasn’t fun to be around, I didn’t even have the
At the end of last year Google search data revealed a capacity to hold space for the children. I just needed to
221 per cent increase in searches for signs of burnout. be loved and looked after without being able to offer
Statistics show that burnout is on the increase for women, anything in return. I was deeply ashamed of this, of
while US research shows mothers in employment are needing people without being able to give back.”
28 per cent more likely to burn out than fathers. Research Burnout hit me hard too. It hit me suddenly and left
also links lower incomes to higher stress levels and worse me physically unable to do or produce anything. And the
mental health. This modern-day exhaustion is endemic reason it happened is that I couldn’t think of anything
and we have to question how we got here. “We’re in a capi- more shameful than telling the world I couldn’t do it.
talist society that benefits from people not feeling good More work. More clients. More weekend trips away.
enough,” says Selina Barker. A life-design coach and More hen-party planning. More accolades stacked up
author of the book Burnt Out, she is someone who has perilously in my bio. More, more, more. The Pope blames
experienced mild burnout several times and has coached pets for hindering modern-day procreation; I’d argue it’s
hundreds of women through it. “It encourages us to find down to an exhaustion endemic that has led to women
our sense of self-worth in status, outward achievement, giving up everything they possess. We’re burnt out, how
money, possessions and popularity. We’re always going to could we possibly consider adding children into the mix?
have an underlying feeling of shame. We’re told we can It’s a year on from my burnout and I still tread the path
have it all, we imagine everyone else does and that it’s just lightly, acute to those dangerous patterns creeping back
us who can’t seem to keep up, and that forces us on in a in. I battled my perfectionism in therapy and I’ve trans-
sense of panic and urgency.” formed where I place my value. I’ve launched my own
My aim was to be remarkable, and I’m not alone. publishing consultancy, helping published and unpub-
“I wanted to appear effortless, never showing the lished authors find their voice, and I’ve renovated my
cracks,” says Lydia Pang, 33. She worked in advertising working life. I stop when I feel tired, I’ve learnt to take
for more than a decade before founding her own crea- breaks and to be present in my body when it gets trig-
tive agency, Morning Studio. “After burning out and gered. I’ve discovered you don’t need to give 100 per cent
emigrating back from the States, shame was the feeling to every task you do. I’ve cut back on friends, keeping ties
I felt the most and it was the reason it took me so with those who share my values.
long to recognise I wasn’t coping,” she continues. I overcame my burnout by doing what, for me, was the
“There’s this design theory about seams and how we unthinkable. I came clean. I told everyone I knew about
push for an experience to be ‘seamless’, but in my exhaustion, starting a lively conversation
fact it’s in the mini frictions and tensions that online as many others like me gathered to
the beauty and connection happens — the share their stories. I let go of the unreachable
seams are a sign of humanity, craft and resil- expectations of society and instead met with
ience. I think about that a lot and how the compassion and softness of a community
I wanted to be infallible.” of women. That’s the thing about shame: it’s
I had the same desperate urge for flawless- insidious when kept in the dark but burns to
@abigailbergstrom
ness, and the sad thing is it paid off at first. The dust when brought out into the light. ■
literary agency I set up was thriving and I was
nominated for literary agent of the year, I got What a Shame by Abigail Bergstrom is published
a book deal for my novel, I had a great social by Hodder & Stoughton at £14.99

See you in
Puerto
Escondido?
From Kanye West to Sienna Miller, anyone who’s anyone right
now is partying in a small town on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Juliana Piskorz reports from the hippest holiday hotspot of 2022
It’s New Year’s Eve and I am two-stepping on a podium Welcome to Puerto Escondido, which, until recently, was
on Zipolite, Mexico’s only nudist beach, next to a man in a solely a refuge for surfers, backpackers and locals looking for
gimp mask in the shape of a rat’s head. From this vantage a quiet seaside getaway. Unlike Mexico’s Caribbean coast,
point I have an excellent view of the crowd, moving the Oaxacan coastline, with its multicoloured markets and
rhythmically to a remix of Born Slippy by Underworld, impregnable waves, has remained crystallised in time. But
bronzed and slightly sweaty flesh undulating in the light then Kanye West decamped here with his family in the
of a hundred fireworks. Out of the corner of my eye I can summer. And in the weeks since Omicron single-handedly
see Instagram comedian Jordan Firstman gesticulating ruined everyone’s Christmas like a viral Scrooge, it appears
animatedly at the bar, and in the distance the unmistak- that half of London and a roster of A-listers such as Cara
able blonde tresses of Sienna Miller dancing around a Delevingne and Douglas Booth have received the same
campfire blazing on the beach. Every now and again a head memo and sought sanctuary along these shores.
appears in the crowd belonging to someone I haven’t seen This is partly thanks to Mexico’s open-door travel policy,
since my primary-school days in west London, like a making it one of the few long-haul places Brits are allowed
bizarre game of Whac-A-Mole — if the moles used to do to fly to without any restrictions, hampered as we are by our
karate with you and now work in insurance. A couple of international superspreader status. At the moment the only
hours later the sun comes up over the rugged stretch requirements to get into Mexico are a valid passport and a
Getty Images
of sand along Oaxaca’s Pacific coast, and revellers nurse completed health questionnaire and border-control form.
bottles of warm Modelo beer to usher in a new year and an Despite this, infection rates remain low and in the cities and
off-the-charts hangover. beach towns locals take their own precautions, wearing

masks everywhere and keeping their distance from each
other. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the The ocean view
international holidaymakers, particularly in the wake of from Puerto
the infamous “party plane”, when last month a group Escondidio
of Canadian influencers were videoed drinking, smoking
and refusing to wear masks on a Sunwing Airlines flight to
Cancun, resulting in the airline cancelling their flights
home and leaving the group stranded in Mexico (I’ve heard
of worse punishments).
But unlike the established party destinations of Cancun
and Tulum, where the price of a margarita is equivalent to a
down payment on a small flat, Puerto Escondido retains its
affordability and small-town charm. With no chains or
resorts, Airbnbs and local guesthouses are the main accom-
modation, although in the Zicatela district you’ll find a
smattering of new boutique hotels. This all fosters a unique
sense of community that even if you’re stopping over for
a few days leaves you feeling properly enmeshed in the
place, rather than just observing from an ivory four-star architect Tadao Ando, a feat of exposed concrete and stark
tower. And yes, by enmeshed I mean often struck down geometric shapes that has become an artist’s retreat.
with food poisoning. In recent years the area has also become something of a
In Puerto, life is enacted on the beach. In the mornings gastronomic hotspot. The town has been hit by an explosion
the shoreline doubles as a gym, with runners zigzagging of new bars and restaurants, with the district of Brisas de
around yogis contorted in pigeon pose, while surfers sit Zicatela becoming an epicentre of culinary experimenta-
leisurely on boards looking out onto the tangerine horizon tion. After dark everyone heads to the main strip, known as
for the next big wave. Come midday temperatures hit 35C La Punta, and queues for up to an hour to get into Chicama,
and the deckchairs lining the water are steadily filled with a Peruvian restaurant where modelesque waiters serve
lithe bodies clothed in an assortment of dental floss, which ceviche and spicy margaritas to a soundtrack of raucous
in Puerto is deemed acceptable swimwear, while local banda music.
tradesmen wander down the beach shelling coconuts with However, the pearl in Puerto’s culinary crown is the
the speed and dexterity of artisan wood carvers. unassuming Fish Shack. Nestled in a narrow alleyway
The 5ft waves can be difficult to navigate with any between the beach and La Punta, it has only a handful of
modicum of dignity, so locals go swimming at nearby outdoor tables. But don’t be deceived: the chef-owner,
Carrizalillo beach. Obscured by palm trees at the bottom of Patricio Sandoval, worked his way around the restaurants
a steep hill and only accessible by a perilously long staircase, of New York before settling back in his native Mexico,
it’s worth the 150-step hike back up. Splayed out in a cres- serving a smorgasbord of succulent white fish, crisp
cent moon of white gold sand, the cove is lined on either calamari and tempura vegetables. George Williams, a chef
side by verdant trees and purple bougainvillea and over- at the River Café in west London, came to Puerto for a
looks a stretch of still, turquoise water. At 5pm when the three-day holiday in January and was completely enam-
sun begins to go down, locals and tourists alike congregate oured. “It’s the kind of meal you dream about once you’re
by the water’s edge with an ice-cold beer to watch as the sky back at home, cold and sitting on the Central Line. What-
turns gold, burnt orange, crimson and finally lilac. ever you do, order the aguachile.”
These breathtaking sunsets are one of the reasons The night is never over after dinner — regardless of
Londoner Becci Hempseed, 29, decided to extend the day of the week, everyone crams into a taxi to dance
her seven-day holiday to seven weeks. “I arrived with their tacos off on the beach at Cactus club,
the intention of just getting some rays and where revellers kicks off their shoes on
vitamin D for a week, but fell deeply in entry, or a trippy treehouse bar called Mar
love with the place and ended up staying & Wana, open until the early hours. Hang-
for almost two months,” she gushes. overs don’t seem to exist here — perhaps
“You get hooked watching the sunset it’s the sun, sea or popular electrolyte
every day and casually seeing whales drink sold in every shop; either way,
jumping out over the horizon.” everyone in Puerto always looks
Yet Puerto Escondido is not just suspiciously well rested.
sunsets and parties on nudist It’s easy to see why Puerto
beaches, although there’s a lot Escondido is so hard to leave. As
of that. Like most of Mexico, Hempseed says, and many others
Puerto is home to many artists experienced before her: “Once
and the town is awash with you’ve been in Puerto for just one
street murals and pop-up art day and fallen under its spell,
galleries. Just an hour’s drive you’ll be tempted to switch off
down the coast you’ll find Casa your phone, delete your emails
Wabi, designed by the Japanese and move here indefinitely.” ■
Clockwise, from top Puerto people: Douglas Booth, Cara Delevingne, Kanye West and Sienna Miller

The godfather
of goth Rebel. Provocateur. Lord of Darkness. Freak. Rick
Owens has been described as many things in his 30-year
career as a fashion designer, but let me add “witty” to the
list. He’s regaling me with an account of his recent stay at a
London hotel. When he stepped outside with a guest, the
doorman asked if they needed a car. “I said to him, ‘No,
it’s OK, we are just going to sit over here and take some
He wears head-to-toe black, is 60 heroin,’ ” says Owens in his languid Californian drawl.
“And the doorman replied, ‘I’ll fetch you a spoon, sir.’
but still goes clubbing – and I mean, isn’t that the cutest? So adorable.” Owens’s chis-
elled face remains deadpan but his eyes glitter.
everyone from Anna Wintour to Rihanna Owens, 60 years old — and to clarify, 30 years sober
adores him. Jane McFarland meets and drug-free — feels like one of fashion’s last
remaining legends. He’s the original purveyor of the
fashion’s provocateur, Rick Owens “glunge” (that’s grunge plus glamour) aesthetic, and his
cult-like status and legion of hardcore devotees — a
profile in The New Yorker magazine dubbed his female
Owens at his fans “Elegant Monsters” — mean he is often regarded
spring/summer as the original rebel. Owens has been name-checked by
2022 show in ASAP Rocky in his music, he had Kanye West round for
Paris last year dinner during fashion week, and Rihanna and Kim
Kardashian are fans. He and his wife and business
partner, Michèle Lamy, 77, with her gold teeth, tattoos
and ring-armoured fingers, happily operate outside the
realms of the polished fashion machine. Meaning, they
don’t mind upsetting the status quo. Personal expres-
sion is Owens’s raison d’être.
Born in Porterville, California, a small city north of Los
Angeles in the San Joaquin Valley, Owens moved to LA
after graduating from high school, originally studying
fine art, then dropping out after two years to study
pattern cutting at a trade college. His rebellious streak is
a symptom of a controlled childhood, he says. “I grew up
as a delicate, sensitive sissy in a very conservative town.
There was a moral attitude that was always judging me.
Everything I’ve done has been a reaction to that.” After a
stint working in knock-off houses — copying the work of
well-known designers — he landed a job at a Los Angeles
sportswear firm, owned by Lamy, who is also the owner
and hostess of Hollywood hotspot Les Deux Café. They
met, left their respective partners (Lamy was married
with a child; Owens, bisexual, had a boyfriend), moved in
together and later, in 2006, married.
When Owens launched his label in 1994, Courtney
Love was one of the first to adopt his rock’n’roll
wardrobe of machine-washed, tumbled-dried leather
jackets, ribbed tank tops and Creatch drop-crotch
trousers. Stars such as Helena Bonham Carter, Ange-
lina Jolie and the Olsen twins were pictured in his
clingy tees and draped asymmetrical dresses. After a
private audience with Anna Wintour, she insisted
Vogue sponsor his first catwalk show in 2002. A year
later Owens and Lamy moved to Paris, where they still
live and work in a five-storey mansion on the Place du
Palais-Bourbon, in the 7th arrondissement. (“I love
Getty Images
living in Paris but I don’t assimilate much,” Owens

says. “I don’t speak French and I never really need to —
I’m in a bubble.”)

Challenging the definition of conservative beauty and
good taste in a good-humoured way is Owens’s MO — he
has placed naked wax figures of his body in his stores and
describes his shoes as “Frankensteined”. His personal
appearance is a work of art: his curly hair, chemically
altered to be black, straight and long, is almost as famous
as his sinewy body, perfected after a fastidious, decades-
long approach to exercise and diet. He mostly dresses in
head-to-toe black and claims to wear his signature
monster platforms every day. (I can attest to this, having
once seen him board the Eurostar, with suitcase, wearing
them.) Now fully established as a cult fashion designer,
Owens is happy to uphold a sense of eccentricity: “I’m a
60-year-old designer in Paris — I have to commit. I have to
be who I am talking about. I have to be glam as f***.” He
still occasionally goes clubbing but only on his terms. “I Drkstar Chuck 70
like a dirty warehouse party in New York or Paris. Except high-tops, £160, Rick
I’ve been sober for 30 years, so now I do it in a controlled Owens x Converse
way — I have dinner and I take a disco nap. Then I wake up
at 2am and have an espresso. I get a car and someone calls
ahead to let them know I’m coming so I don’t have to ‘I do consider myself a rebellious
stand in line. I’m such a prima donna,” he says, laughing.
His label is an independently owned commercial
designer. There is a conservative
powerhouse. His crinkled leather jackets and trainers have moral majority that horrifies me’
banked him millions. “I was never satisfied with the
trainers I could find — I thought they were the most furniture line with Lamy. And thanks to the mainstream
banal, suburban thing. I was influenced by Run-DMC and revival of all things angst — according to the shopping
I made something as exaggerated as possible. I just did platform Lyst, searches for collections by Owens, which
it for me, but after I stuck them in a couple of collections, feature black leather and punk details such as rips and
that’s what became my thing. That’s what bought zips, grew by 200 per cent last year — it’s a good time to
my house.” He also runs a highly successful bespoke be a goth. A new collection for Converse marks the third
time they have collaborated. “Converse Chuck Taylors are
If in doubt, make it black The Rick Owens look as so iconic — iconic is such a dumb, predictable word, but
seen on the catwalk and the fashion crowd it’s a cartoon of a general post-adolescent rebellion. It just
is,” Owens says. “To this day there are 70-year-old artists
walking around in their Chuck Taylors. My heroes at that
time were the Ramones who wore them — they were
part of the CBGB underground rock-garage mood.” His
take on the wardrobe classic? Souped-up soles, an elon-
gated tongue and turbo toecaps.
Now, for the provocateur: when discussing his collabo-
ration with Converse, he notes the outrage at his use of a
pentagram in place of Converse’s signature stars. “When
we used it on the Converse Instagram, people freaked out.
They said they’d never buy another pair of Converse again
as Converse were endorsing Satanism. I was delighted of
course,” he pauses, chuckling. “I don’t believe in Satan. It’s
a symbol of rebellion for sure because it provokes people
who are very uptight, but it’s meant as a playful gesture.”
So, still no signs of playing by the rules. But behind his
severe appearance is a surprisingly sensitive soul. “I do
consider myself a rebellious designer. There is a conserva-
tive moral majority — like the people on Instagram —
which horrifies me. That was my biggest disappointment
with the internet. I’m looking at the comments on the
most benign, wholesome stories on The New York Times
and to see the conversation degenerate into bickering is
predictable. It’s inescapable. It’s horrifying that everyone
is so quick to point out other people’s flaws.”
Could it inhibit the next generation of creatives,
who may be too scared to be themselves?
“Maybe. Or it’ll enrage people like me to go
even further.” ■
The Rick Owens x Converse collaboration is

available now; rickowens.eu, converse.com

Shop with Style
What our beauty director Sarah Jossel loves this week
KEEP IT SIMPLE
2
The new Uniqlo U
collection is neutral
wardrobe essentials
at their best. Roomy
shirts, oversized
silhouettes, loose-fit
trousers and crisp,
comfortable jackets
— and no tracksuit
bottoms in sight.
1
Shirt, £30, and
tailored trousers,
£40, from Thursday;
uniqlo.com
READY, SET, GO
HERITAGE
A good setting
HOMEWARE
powder knocks
Dior has released a
back shine; the
one-off edit of
downside is they
designer homeware
can leave a chalky
masterminded by
residue. Saie Airset
its creative director,
is talc-free, packed
Maria Grazia Chiuri.
with hydrating
Each piece of the
squalane and comes
ABCDior collection
in three shades. A
is adorned with a
quick swish kicks
reworking of the
greasiness to the
toile pattern used
kerb. £22;
to upholster the
cultbeauty.co.uk
fashion house’s first
boutique in 1947.
4
Dinner plates, £650
for four; dior.com
3
HOT LIPS
Hermès is on a winning
streak with its longwear
lipsticks in matte, satin and
sheer textures. The latest trio
are lightweight and glossy
in hot pink, muted coral
and acid orange. Spring
and summer lips, sorted.
Rouge Hermès lipsticks,
£62 each; hermes.com

6 SKIN R&R
Soothing cica creams had a long history treating
scars and skin conditions like eczema before they became
a K-beauty staple. This new one from Beauty Pie recently
gave my face some much-needed relief when I overdid the
acids. Happy Face Extreme Relief Cica Moisture Cream,
£60 for guests or £12 for members; beautypie.com
5
BAG OF TRICKS
One bag, three ways.
Patou has created its first
handbag out of deadstock
— or as it prefers to call it
“sleeping stock” — leather
7
in a bold spectrum of
colours. Now that we’re
out-out (again), style it up
PRECIOUS PEARLS according to the occasion:
Sneak peek: two of my favourite fashion designers a purse, a cross-body or a
with sustainability at their core have joined forces to long shoulder. Le Patou
create a 12-piece jewellery collection themed around bag, £890, from
imperfect pearls and diamonds and made with Wednesday; patou.com
100 per cent recycled gold vermeil. The Monica
Vinader x Mother of Pearl collaboration launches
on February 14, from £80
NEW FLAME
Dress up your
dining table with
the help of
Sydney-based
homeware brand
Maison Balzac.
Its collection
includes rainbow
8
vases, glassware
and this playful
bubbly
10
candlestick.
£60, Maison
Balzac; browns
fashion.com
9
HEAD FIRST
Celebrity stylist Adam Reed has
just launched his headcare line,
Arkive. Formulated for every hair
type, the 11-piece range runs HIT A CORD
from everyday cleansers to Floral print fatigue? The independent designer Johanna Sands
state-of-the-art stylers. His goal is is serving up uber-comfy, limited-edition handmade dresses in
to show the power of a good hair muted, block-colour corduroy styles. The ruffled-collar design
day. I’ll swish to that. From £10; works equally well with daytime chunky boots or something
arkiveheadcare.com more glitzy. Rosa dress in corduroy, £225; johannasands.com

Guest stars
Got an invitation to
a winter wedding?
Planning what to
wear isn’t as tricky
as it sounds, says
Jane McFarland
Photograph
Eilish McCormack

1
Wardrobe Mistress
6
11
2
7
12
LOOK 2
13
4
LOOK 1
LOOK 3
9
14
10
5
15
Backlog of wedding invites dated 2020? Me too. With cover-up. If you go for an actual coat (not one you would
numerous couples forced to abandon or adapt their wear to the office or on a Saturday walk, please), it should
wedding plans last year, there’s an unexpected silver lining be close to the same length as the dress underneath. For
to the post-Covid wedding world: the jam-packed summer the more adventurous, what about a cape? It charts high
“wedding season” is out, and year-round celebrations, on both the style and practicality factor. For me the maxi
small and large, are in. silhouette comes into its own for out-out events in the
Of course, when it comes to a winter wedding, outfit colder months. My fuchsia satin maxiskirt is so utterly
planning gets a little trickier. Staying warm in a draughty fabulous that no one cares if I have two thermal bodysuits
church and not shivering incessantly through outdoor and a pair of tights on. For a more casual do I would wear it
photographs is high on the list of considerations. Sadly, with an oversized cashmere jumper and pointed flats.
throwing your trusted puffer coat over a nice dress simply To give the appearance of someone who has made an
won’t do, and tights and pashminas can be ageing. Not effort and yet in reality has made no effort at all, the
the dress-wearing type? This is the time to pull out the simplest thing to wear is a statement accessory. Add
power suit — if you go for something in a thick enough sparkly slingbacks to any look (mine are years-old
fabric such as velvet, lined satin or corduroy, or a three- Manolos, but there are great pairs to be found at Boden
Hair and make-up: Annelie at HOJ Artists using Nars
piece (see Karen Millen’s cobalt blue set), you may not and Asos) or a colourful necklace (Swarovski is my current
need an additional layer. go-to for affordable fashion jewellery) and you will
Still, a blustery day spent shivering in silk sounds like a instantly look the part. And no one will even notice that
recipe for cold, wet disaster. What you require is a coaty you’re in a cosy knitted dress. ■ @jane_mcfarland
Jane wears Heattech turtleneck, £15; uniqlo.com. Maxiskirt, £325, Raey; matchesfashion.com. Curve bag, £750; alexandermcqueen.com.
Earrings, £135, and necklace, £530; swarovski.com. Shoes, Jane’s own. 1 Necklace, £280, Alighieri; matchesfashion.com. 2 Jacket, £148,
3 trousers, £116, and 4 waistcoat, £69; karenmillen.com. 5 Shoes, £55; charleskeith.co.uk. 6 Wool coat, £335, Musier Paris; selfridges.com.
7 Ring, £305; marcopanconesi.com. 8 Dress, £79; cosstores.com. 9 Chainmail bag, £470, Paco Rabanne; harveynichols.com.
10 Satin mules, £625; jimmychoo.com. 11 Cashmere jumper, £180; cosstores.com. 12 Necklace, £145, Laura Lombardi; net-a-porter.com.
13 Tulle skirt, £620, Molly Goddard; matchesfashion.com. 14 Bag, £95; stories.com. 15 Mules, £225; russellandbromley.co.uk

In the frame
Statement frames are having a moment – and can often be more
thrilling than the picture itself, says Pandora Sykes
One of my favourite things that I own is a huge print of A find she was, but the truth is that I’m often left
a Japanese lady in a kimono by the artist Haruyo Morita. breathless with pleasure over a picture frame. It doesn’t
She’s lovely: colourful and elegant and with a hint of a have to be particularly ornate, either. I love the
Victoria Adamson for Bed Threads
smile on her lips. But what made me choke on my own simplicity of a double white mount and white wooden
teeth with excitement when I saw her on the second- frame as much as I do Etalage’s rainbow-hued bobbin
hand platform Vinterior was the frame she was in: 12cm numbers, or Matilda Goad’s stripy lacquered ovals.
of carved yellow and gold wood, followed by a further “Framing is as important as the artwork itself and can
5cm wooden mount. The picture was £175 including completely redefine how the art is perceived,” says
delivery, which, as a picture framer later confirmed for Rosie Saunt, co-founder of the antique art and reprints
me, was less than the value of the wooden frame alone. business Petri Prints, which is known for its clever

mount and frame double acts. “Even the most ordinary
picture can be enhanced by a wonderful frame,” agrees Oval frames,
Adam Ellis, a graphic artist who collects antique frames. £135 each;
He has hundreds propped up in his giant, visual feast matildagoad.com
of a studio, where he also prints his own supersized
designs on printers the size of sunbeds.
I’m not alone in my love of frames. There has been a
huge surge in the number and variety of off-the-peg
frames available because of the growth in the affordable
online art market. Small businesses such as Wondering
People, Domenica Marland, Iota Edit, Petri Prints and
Partnership Editions offer affordable artwork from as
little as £40. “It’s also partly due to the growing accessi-
bility of art prints being available in standard sizes,”
Saunt says. Artists such as Ellis will let you order his
designs in any size, meaning you can fit it to your space,
while websites such as eFrame let you customise your
frame to the millimetre. Gone are the days when your
only option other than a professional picture framer
was an A4 clip frame from Snappy Snaps.
There are many brilliant options online, but it’s true
that there’s nothing quite like an hour spent shim-
mying your picture into 50 different frames, to find the
perfect — and not always obvious — fit. I save the
professional framer for my most special pictures, like a
photograph of me with my mum. “Come with an open
mind,” advises David Lacy, owner of the Lacy Gallery
on Westbourne Grove in west London, widely known
in interiors circles for sourcing unusual frames. After
all what is perfectly hideous to some might be utterly
charming to you. “Frames can also be used to express
our personal aesthetic,” says Kate Bryan, head of collec-
tions at the Soho House Group. “I remember seeing
an exhibition of Sir Elton John and David
photography collection at the Tate Modern — room
after room of quiet black-and-white imagery with the
wildest kinds of gold frames.” Not for everyone, sure —
but so on brand.
Below A gallery wall mixing picture and

frame styles. Opposite Pandora’s picture WELL HUNG
is enhanced by its statement frame
How to frame like a pro
Scuffs don’t matter, but joints do “Charity shops can be a
treasure trove of beautiful picture frames, but always
check that the joints at the corners are tight,” Saunt says.
I’m a huge fan of framing posters You can buy brilliant

ones from the Royal Academy gift shop, the Tate and
King & McGaw. Ellis recommends “a bold frame choice
to ‘customise’ a piece that exists in multiple”. Try
eFrame’s lacquered numbers, which are a fraction of
the cost of lacquer from a picture framer.
Bigger is not always better “One of my favourite exam-

ples of this is when we frame teeny tiny antique litho-
graphs the size of playing cards,” Saunt says — these
are seriously impactful “when you float mount that
little print in a colourful box frame”.
Get painting If you have a steady hand, why not buy a

tester pot in a colour you love (I try and pick out a colour
that exists in the picture, even if it’s just a dot, or in the

1 2
wallpaper that it’s going to be hung on) and paint the
mount and frame yourself. It requires patience, as it takes
about four coats to get it right. A simple tip with second-
hand frames is to paint the backboard of your found
frame in a complimentary colour, Ellis says. Assuming
your picture is smaller than the backboard then it will
“float” within the frame and avoid the need for a mount.
Mounts matter Mounts are important, Bryan says:

“I have seen pieces with three of them!” They aren’t
expensive and you can get them in hundreds of
different colours. Try a simple oak frame from Abstract
House (my favourite online purveyor of frames,
because it makes them with glass and not Perspex) with
a colourful mount from eFrame.
3
Think about fabric The right fabric can add texture to a
frame, Saunt says, and it can also be useful as a backing 4
when framing objects such as shells in box frames,
notes Ellis. Try stretching and then stapling a piece of
inexpensive linen or even velvet (the Cloth House is a
good source) over the back of a deep frame, and then
place a tiny object you love in the foreground.
5
Use frames to separate a space The right frame can be
especially useful for open-plan spaces as “they zone
spaces within a room”, Saunt explains. You could try
a simple framed print above a sofa in one half of 6
your living space, with a series of colourful prints in
your dining area, to demarcate a shift in mood from
animated to calm.
7
And don’t forget the White Tack If you want to keep
your picture straight, use a tiny amount of White Tack,
not sticky tape or glue, which may damage the picture,
Bryan says. ■
10
The bigger picture

1 Flump frame, £80; hosthome.co.uk. 2 Washed oak frame, £15; bgastore.uk.
3 Block frame, £100, Facility x Gemma Tickle; glassette.com. 4 Vintage gilded
frame, £293; vinterior.co. 5 Gloss frame, from £16.50; eframe.co.uk. 6 Pink frame,
from £45; wearefacility.bigcartel.com. 7 Red frame, £35, PLTY; trouva.com.
8 Check frame, £12.50, & Klevering; madeindesign.co.uk. 9 Marquetry frame,
Above Petri Prints uses mounts to enhance its artworks £35; addisonross.com. 10 Walnut frame, £160, Facility; glassette.com

2 SEASON THE
NAIL FILE
Wondering what on earth “seasoning” your
file means? No, we’re not talking about salt
and pepper. Seasoning is what you need to
do to avoid any accidental skin cutting
around the nail, says Michelle Humphrey,
who counts Adele and Keira Knightley among
her clients. It’s extra important if you have
shorter nails as you’re often filing over the
fingertip. “Brand new files may be too sharp,
so run a buffer or another file around the
edges of the nail file you’re using to soften
them,” she explains. Try Brushworks Pastel
Nail Buffing Block (£6 for two).
3 THE TEABAG TRICK

News just in from the pros — you can do a
quick fix on a broken nail with a teabag.
Jenny Longworth, who created some of the
famous nail art seen on Harry Styles and
Rihanna, explains that the first step is to buff
the snag or break until it’s smooth, and then
Nailed it!
“cut a small piece off the paper teabag, big
enough to cover the break” and set aside.
Then, Goldstein says, you should apply a
drop of nail glue, placing the teabag cutting
on top and holding it down with a toothpick
or nail tool, saturating it with more glue.
“Once it’s completely dry, buff until it’s even
with the nail,” she says. To finish, apply
Invest in a proper nail file, use a base coat and polish on top or leave as is.
have a stash of teabags (yes, teabags) – here are
the A-list manicurists’ top tricks to know 4 BRUSH WITH
Words Roisin Kelly
PURPOSE
Wondering why your nail polish always
ends up looking gloopy? You might be
overloading your brush. Simone Cummings,
1 ONE-COAT WONDER the nail artist behind Emma Corrin’s
In a hurry? Chanel nail artist Betina show-stopping razor-sharp nails at the
Goldstein, whose designer nail art has earned Emmys last year, advises only loading polish
her 380,000 Instagram followers and A-list onto the tip of the brush for the first layer,
cool-girl clients including Zoë Kravitz and then slowly fanning out in a flat motion,
Dakota Johnson, says the number one allowing you to get closer to the cuticle. “For
hack for a speedy mani is using a highly each nail, start with the first stroke in the
pigmented polish.“This way, you can do one middle, followed by each side.” You should
coat and you’re done,” she says. Her go-to? be making three to four strokes per nail —
“The brush of Essie’s Gel Couture any more results in streaks. “Always make
collection [£10 each] makes it easy to apply sure you cap the edge of the nail by lightly
and the formula is incredible, and I love brushing over the end on each layer, base,
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat [£9].” colour and especially top coat,” she says.

NEW NAIL TRENDS FOR 2022
7
The most wanted
shades 10
8
The classic neutral 9
Wilson says neutral hues are perfect for
coming out of winter and heading towards
spring. Essie Original Nail Polish in
5 ALL ABOUT Boatloads of Love (1 £8) is an off-white,
pinkish polish that contains refined blue
THAT BASE pearls for a glossy finish.
Feel like base coat is just extra faff? The 11
experts all agree that it’s not a step you can Get gothic
skip.“It’s the most important element for The experts all agree that short, square
getting longevity out of your polish,” says nails look best with darker colours such
Longworth, who recommends CND Stickey as aubergine or burgundy, so opt for a
The ‘skinicure’
Anchoring Base Coat (£9), as “it anchors the shade like Emolyne Gel Effect Nail Thought your manicure stopped at nail
colour on to the nail and increases adhesion.” Polish in Nigeria (2 £13). polish? Think again. Diogo says the latest
To give your manicure an even longer trend the rich and famous are requesting is
lifespan, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s The most coveted “the skincare manicure”. The idea is simple,
manicurist Julia Diogo says dehydrating the Nails Inc Plant Power Vegan Nail if expensive: luxe skincare products usually
nails before applying any polish is the key to Polish in Soul Surfing (3 £9). Very Peri used on the face are applied to the hands.
preventing chipping or lifting.“You do this by blue is Pantone’s colour of 2022, and Diogo uses La Mer The Renewal Oil
wiping an acetone-based polish remover over the experts say it’s one of spring’s most (8 £98) on her clients’ cuticles and finishes
the nails. This helps to remove any dust from in-demand nail colours. Humphrey with a generous amount of Sisley Paris
filing and buffing, and gives a clean surface for says this periwinkle blue is great for a Black Rose Skin Infusion Cream (11 £150)
application.” Try Cutex Ultra-Powerful brighter manicure. to moisturise. Humphrey adds that using an
Nail Polish Remover (£2.50). exfoliant on your hands can also be beneficial
Earthy hues for supersmooth, soft skin. “AHAs tend to
“The demand for blues and greens work really well. I’m a huge fan of Susanne
lately has been mega,” Diogo says. Try Suqqu Kaufmann Hand Peel Rejuvenating
Nail Colour Polish in Uguisu (4 £18) for (9 £59). Scrub generously over the hands,
a greyish, muted take on green and Gucci paying attention to calluses and dry cuticles,”
Vernis à Ongles Nail Polish in Marcia she says. If you don’t have luxury skincare to
Cobalt (5 £24) for a bright ocean blue. spare — or the thought of scooping your
£150 face cream on to your hands makes your
The summery one stomach turn — Cummings says: “It’s
Brighter days are (almost) here, and absolutely fine to use foot scrub. The Body
Longworth says yellow is going to be Shop Peppermint Reviving Pumice Foot
the colour of summer. If you’re Scrub [10 £7.50] is great for leaving hands
hesitant about a bright yellow nail, try feeling soft and fresh.”
Chanel Le Vernis in Riviera (6 £24) — a
6 INVEST IN A soft, pastel shade — for a subtler option. It’s hip to be square
FANCY NAIL FILE There’s one thing the experts all agree on:
If you shape and shorten your nails with 1 this season’s must-have nail shape is the
the old, haggard file you found at the simple square. “Flat, square nails are really
Susan Bluth/Blaublut Edition, @betina_goldstein, @paintedbyjools_
bottom of your bag, you could be causing popular right now, and it’s a great option for
some damage. Humphrey advises short to mid-length nails,” says Rebecca
avoiding old-fashioned metal files and 3 Wilson, whose A-list clientele has included
poor-quality emery boards, as these “have 2 Beyoncé and Katy Perry. How to achieve the
the tendency to shred layers of the nail, look? Goldstein says the first step is to “clip
which can lead to splitting, flaking and your nails straight across, placing your nail
breakage”. According to the experts, a glass 4 clipper flat on the nail”. Next, she says to
file is your go-to as they allow for a smoother take a grit nail file such as the OPI Flex File
filing process and help to seal the keratin (7 £3.50) hold it parallel to your nail and file
layers together at the edge of the nail. flat across, in one direction. Take extra care if
Humphrey is a fan of the Leighton Denny 5 you have weaker nails, making sure to avoid a
Large Crystal Nail File (£15.50). Diogo sawing motion as this can cause tearing. Her
adds that you should file nails in one top tip for maintaining a square shape?
direction only “as this helps prevent the “Round the edges ever so slightly, as sharp
nail splitting or snagging”. 6 square edges tend to split easier.” ■

Rise of
From Billie Eilish to
Florence Pugh, the latest
celebrity hair trend is
to ditch the blonde.
What took them so long,
asks Polly Vernon
(mid-chestnut and proud)
the power
A brand new for ’22 thesis that brunette is
The Hair Colour of the Moment has set the
internet on fire, prompting The New York
Times to do a deep dive into the notion, and
inspiring Camille Charrière, Instagram
tastemaker and long-standing blonde, to
brunette
Photograph Lily Bertrand-Webb
tweet (alongside a picture of early 1990s Styling Flossie Saunders
Kate Moss, walking the catwalk with long,
untreated mid-brown hair) that “the return
of 90s bleach-free hair (like so) is the only
good thing to have come out of this
pandemic and the one resolution I’ll
realistically stick to because it requires less
maintenance on my part — not more!”
So: top marks to the internet for finally
catching on to a truth that comes as no
revelation to me, a lifelong brunette. I did
not need historically blonde, culturally
current beauty and style icons like Hailey
Bieber, Billie Eilish, Florence Pugh and Gigi
Hadid to go suddenly, dramatically dark so
that I might conclude I’d been right all
along. Nor did I need TikTok to pronounce
blonde hair “cheugy” (a word I know you
don’t need me to translate; you’re already
aware it’s a Generation Z diss, a mash-up of
“try-hard” and “basic”, with heavy over-
tones of “out of touch”) to reassure me —
my own mid-to-dark chestnut is far from
cheugy. I am a brunette to my core: proud,
shiny and infinitely more capable of
carrying off yellow than any of my unfortu-
nate blonde associates. Brown hair is woven
into my identity, formative of my person-
ality, essential to my look. Do I think it’s
The Hair Colour of the Moment? Nope.
I think it’s The Hair Colour of Always.
Yet there certainly is a lot of it around.
Bieber, Eilish, Pugh and Hadid, sure, but
also: Emily in Paris’s bouncing dark waves,
the French as f*** mid-tones of Sylvie, her
boss. And while we’re in Paris, a moment,
s’il vous plaît, for Call My Agent!’s Andréa
Martel and the perfect symbiosis between
her brown lob and the depth and definition
of her cheekbones. Might it be preposterous
to suggest there’s something inherently
French about the state of brunette? Maybe
not — the origins of the word itself are
clearly French (mid-16th-century, feminine
diminutive of brun, brown) after all, and the
enduring associations between brunette-
ness and chic equally French.

I would argue there’s something inherently unaffected, unprocessed naturalness] feels blondes for being a tad on the pallid side or
Netflix about brunette. Almost all the aligned with the climate movement.” bottle blondes their “pick me” urge for atten-
streaming channel’s current crop of leading Zoë Irwin, the colour-trend expert, crea- tion. By the late 1990s, even though I was
ladies lean that way: Sex Education’s Maeve tive director and award-winning colourist, technically too old to “pick” a Spice Girl,
(blonde until the latest season), The Witcher’s has recommendations for blondes who are I picked Posh anyway, because of her attitude
Yennefer of Vengerberg, The Maid’s Alex, aching to get in on the brunette trend: “Go (chic, for a Spice Girl) and her hair, which
Squid Game’s Han Mi-nyeo, Stranger Things’ for a dark blonde, then into a mid-brown. If were pretty much the same thing, no?
Eleven and Nancy, Behind Her Eyes’ Adele. you suddenly go to a really, really dark In the early 2000s, as a gainfully employed
Might it be that brunette corresponds more brown, then on some days it’s fabulous — journalist, I was dispatched by a newspaper
completely with current TV sensibilities, with and on some days it’s going to be dreadful.” editor to walk around central London in
the mystery, fantasy, intensity and horror- Back to me, though, back to my life as a a long blonde wig and see if “people
tinged darkness that dominates the telly natural-born brunette. As a brown-haired responded differently” (by which I’m pretty
schedules right now. youngster in Devon in the 1980s I was sure she meant “men fancied me more”),
And it would make sense; like any unaware of the way blondeness was prized which I did, only to feel less noticeable, less
current trend this one is profoundly influ- by society in general. I was utterly fancied: washed out and insignificant.
enced — dictated even — by the rigours of convinced brunettes had all the luck, that A few years later one adventurous and
the past two years. If we allow that histori- our faces were better defined by the hair creative colourist bleached half of my fringe
cally there is a decadence, a literal and curtains framing them and our brows were white blonde, leaving the rest of it dark.
metaphorical lightness to blonde hair, a dramatic by definition. This wasn’t born of I enjoyed the statement — even though it
high-maintenance glamour, from Marilyn anything like high self-esteem — I had meant I spent the afternoon of my
to Madonna, Diana to Paris Hilton. Then, absolutely none of that, nor did anyone else goddaughter’s seventh birthday encircled
clearly, these dark, serious, “pull yourself — but more of my honest appraisal of phys- by her mates, all chanting, “You’re Lady
back up by your own bootstraps” times are ical facts, my high esteem for the actress Gaga! You’re Lady Gaga!” at me, like some
better suited to the brunettes. Brown hair Phoebe Cates who played Lili in the film kind of nightmare directed by David Lynch
is — at least for some — the rejection of version of Lace, the guitar-toting models in — so I kept it for a bit, all the while aware it
frivolity in the interest of appearing the video for Robert Palmer’s Addicted to was a “dress-up” ’do.
powerful, forceful, strong. Love, and Helena Christensen, “my” super- I got a little older, grey slivers appeared
Plus, there are Covid-related logistics at model (in the late 1980s girls picked a around my temples, so another colourist did
play in the rise of brunette. As Charrière supermodel to be “their one”, just as they’d balayage to soften the impact. I enjoyed that
tweeted, darker “requires less maintenance”, pick a Spice Girl a decade on). too, it was extremely, obviously glamorous
while Sophie MacCorquodale, celebrity It wasn’t until I went to university and and expensive-looking, and it made navy less
colourist and the woman I trust entirely to my social parameters extended to embrace dowdy on me — but I was appalled to learn
keep my brunette in check at west London’s people who came from places more sophisti- that someone who didn’t know me had casu-
glorious Salon Sloane, explains that cated than Exeter and my ideas of the world ally referred to me as “that blonde chick” to a
brunette’s dominance might well be the shifted with them that I began to understand mutual friend. The idea that people might
product of restrictions. “People got used blondes were widely perceived as more desir- label me “a blonde” ruffled me deeply.
to seeing their natural hair in lockdown. able. Although I have to say, if I gradually When I finally landed a precious appoint-
Originally they dashed back into salons for accepted intellectually this might be the case ment with MacCorquodale, she took one
the experience and to feel like themselves (having initially taken it for some sort of cler- look at me — the colour of my eyes,
Hair and make-up: Alice Theobald at Arlington Artists using Murad, Benefit and Living Proof. Pictures: Getty Images, Netflix
again. However, on doing that they realised ical error), I never entirely got on board with brows, tone of my skin — and took me
Polly wears: ribbed top, £15; arket.com. Blazer, £905, the Attico; mytheresa.com. Trousers and jewellery, Polly’s own.
they had changed and wanted their look to it, never stopped quietly pitying natural straight back to the brunette I was born
change accordingly. People are bored! They with. And maybe it was because her colour
want action, excitement, change.” At the was the first I had out of lockdown, which
same time she thinks the rise of brunette Brown hair is was emotional in itself, or maybe because
plays into other emerging trends, political
preoccupations — things not necessarily
woven into my I’d underestimated how much I had
missed being truly, undeniably, completely
related to Covid. “The move to start
rehashing the Noughties, people wanting to
identity, formative brunette, or maybe it was because, as Irwin
says, “Your natural colour is there for a
look natural and healthy, and also [that of my personality reason,” but it felt like coming home. ■
From left Camille Cottin as

Andréa Martel in Call My
Agent!, Hailey Bieber, Billie
Eilish, Florence Pugh, Gigi
Hadid, and Lily Collins in
Emily in Paris

Rosie Kinchen became
hooked on hammams ten
years ago in Istanbul – but
back home in the UK she
struggled to find anything
similar. So where are the
affordable, communal
spas she craves? Canning
Town, apparently …
Steam
and
the CITY
The list of things I yearn for and cannot find
in this country is not a long one. But there is
one thing I really miss. I’m also aware that my
efforts to describe it sound a little … strange, THERMAE
BATH SPA
but here goes: on a basic level what I crave is
communal washing. The sort of thing that
happens in so many other cultures around the
world, be it the Middle Eastern hammam, the
Japanese onsen or the Russian banya.
There are national differences of course: hammams Thermae Bath Spa
involve steam, onsens are built around hot springs. The
Russians use ice and bundles of twigs to bring a little I decided to start with the Romans and went to Bath,
pain into the mix. But the underlying ethos is the same: where people have been flocking to experience the
a recognition that cleansing the body — and the mind thermal waters for millennia. Today the Roman baths are
— is an important part of our health. I don’t know a tourist attraction, but you can access water from the
exactly when I became hooked on this, but I think it same source from two places: the luxurious surround-
might have been a decade ago, sitting on the floor of a ings of the Gainsborough hotel or the cheaper Thermae
hammam in Istanbul as a stout Turkish woman washed spa. I booked in for a two-hour slot at the latter.
my hair. Not even the fact that my then boyfriend’s The building has recently benefited from a multimillion-
mother was somewhere else in the steam could disrupt pound renovation and now boasts state-of-the-art facili-
the enjoyment of it. ties. It feels a lot like a European sanatorium; everything
The feeling of being scrubbed by a stranger is infanti- is shining and white. You are handed towels, slippers and
lising in the very best way. It is the essence of childhood; a bathrobe at the entrance and left to your own devices.
a psychologist would have a field day. I appreciate that Inside there is a wellness floor with an infrared sauna,
the combination of nudity, strangers and sweat is not two steam rooms and an ice chamber. There is also a café.
everyone’s cup of tea. There is something deeply But the real highlights are the thermal pools. The water
un-English about the whole messy business of bodies in them fell as rain about 10,000 years ago before sinking
that makes us want to keep them safely locked away to 2km below the earth’s surface, where it was heated
behind the bathroom door. But I love the honesty of it, by high-temperature rocks before rising up again at a
the anonymity of being just another body on a bench. comfortable 45C. Prized by the Romans for its health
Sex does not feature in the sort of places I am talking benefits, the water contains more than 42 minerals
about, though I appreciate that in certain cultures and including sulphur, calcium and sodium. I certainly felt
communities the two do intertwine. In fact my quest for relaxed bobbing around in it for a couple of hours. There
an authentic experience has landed me in a brothel more is a large pool at the bottom of the building, but the real
than once. Disconcerting? Yes. Embarrassing? You bet. highlight is the rooftop pool with its awesome views of
But it has never put me off. over Bath. Intrepid as ever, I braved Storm Arwen in a
Of course banyas and hammams exist in this country, bikini and it was well worth it to look over the city at
but I am not talking about the luxury ones that have night. There is no nudity here — the sessions are all
popped up in Mayfair and the West End. I’m looking for mixed. Treatments are available but they are more of the
something egalitarian, somewhere where normal people pampering kind. The price tag makes it accessible to
can go to unwind. The English did once flock to bath- local residents and tourists, which makes for a buzzing
houses and “take the waters”, so I set off to see how atmosphere but less intimacy than I was hoping to find.
much of this I could still find. £38 for two hours Monday to Friday and £43 on
Saturday and Sunday; thermaebathspa.com
TURKISH BATHS
Turkish Baths Harrogate
HARROGATE
Amazing is an understatement when describing the
Turkish Baths at Harrogate. Bathhouses were built in
Victorian England to provide the working classes with
somewhere to wash, but this one is something special.
Stefano Moro Van Wyk/Blaublut Edition
Of the seven Victorian bathhouses still in existence, it is

the most fully restored and is in excellent condition
thanks to a £300,000 refurbishment partly funded by
the national lottery. It is also spectacular, dating back to
1897, when a local businessman, Richard Ellis, was trying
to turn this Yorkshire city into the health capital of
Britain. There are Moorish designs on the domed ceil-
ings, glazed wall tiles and terrazzo floors laid by the best
Italian experts. It feels like walking into a time warp —

there are even Thomas Crapper loos. I expected to find
Hercule Poirot seated in the sauna next to me.
The rooms are compact and contain a frigidarium or
relaxation room, a steam room and three heated cham-
bers: the tepidarium or warm room, the caldarium or hot
room, and the laconium or hottest room, each one sepa-
rated from the next by a thick curtain. The concept is New Docklands Steam Baths
similar to that of a Swedish sauna, it is the materials that
differ. The changing rooms are built from dark wood; you Once the guilt — and the smell of roses — had worn off
lie on a thick sandstone slab and rest your head on a small I decided to refocus on the original plan, and after exten-
wooden block with a groove in it. There are plenty of sive searching (lurking in Reddit forums) I found the
showers and a beautifully designed ice-cold plunge pool. New Docklands Russian Banya & Steam Baths, which
The cost makes it accessible to everyone. I loved eaves- people either raved about or claimed was for swingers.
dropping on the chatter of the local nurses and joking I hedged my bets and gave it a try. I can’t really convey
around with the wonderfully no-nonsense staff. I just my creeping dread as I crossed the A13 next to Canning
wish I lived close enough to pop in more often. Town, east London, snaked my way down the side of a
From £19 for two and a half hours, single-sex sessions are railway line and then walked through a large dump to get
available. A take on the authentic hammam treatment can to the front door. Nor did I feel any better when I saw the
be booked, £20; turkishbathsharrogate.co.uk large signs saying no booze and no knives.
Yet I persevered and I’m very glad that I did. This place
is one of the city’s best-kept secrets. It was established in
1977 with strong links to east London’s boxing commu-
nity. Today it is run as a charitable trust. On the inside
DOLPHIN
SQUARE SPA the building looks like a rundown gym. You put your
clothes in a locker upstairs and head down to the four
steam rooms, which range in temperature from 30C to
110C. I can’t tell you much more about them because
I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of my face. There
is also an ice-cold plunge pool and a sauna. An obvious
newbie, I was adopted by a group of south Asian women,
who encouraged me by only laughing a little bit when
I had to keep nipping outside for air. At the other end of
the scale were the Russians, who had settled into the
sauna with twig bundles, woolly hats and, most impres-
sively, a can of Kronenbourg. In non-Covid times you
can come here to be schmeissed — the Yiddish word for
whip — which involves being rubbed down with a
The Spa in Dolphin Square heated raffia brush, or a Russian venik treatment, when
you are struck by a bundle of silver birch or oak twigs
When it comes to copycat hammams and banyas we are (which is supposed to improve the metabolism and
spoilt for choice in the capital, but finding one that feels prevent premature ageing of the skin). There is also a
authentic and affordable is not an easy task. The Spa in small restaurant that serves peri peri chicken and lamb
Dolphin Square does well on both fronts. When he set it koftas, so you can make a night of it.
up, the general manager, Neil Miller-Chalk, wanted to This place will not appeal to everyone — it really is
recreate the experiences he had had in Morocco but basic, and my advice is to bring shoes, towels and all the
adapt them for a busy urban environment. The result is products you want to use (one lady had brought along a
impressive. Dolphin Square’s mineral-rich water is home hair dye kit). But if you like getting sweaty with
drawn from the only working artesian well in the city of strangers, this is a lot of fun. ■
Westminster. There is a Moroccan hammam, a rhassoul From £14. Places are limited so you will need to book,
chamber and a salt-infused steam room. I confess that especially for the men’s and the mixed sessions;
I digressed a little from my brief and had a luxury newdocklands.co.uk
hammam. I was doused in warm water by my tellak (the
masseuse) and lathered in savon noir to wash away impu-
rities. I was then scrubbed with an exfoliating kessa glove
(which I was given at the end and am now fiercely
attached to) and rubbed with rhassoul clay and shea
butter. To finish it all I had a bucket of rosewater tipped
over my head. I don’t think I have ever smelt better. Yes,
it was expensive, but there is a pared-down version avail-
able, or you can opt for the rhassoul, which leaves you to
NEW DOCKLANDS
apply the lotions and potions yourself. STEAM BATHS
Standard hammam, £55 for 25 minutes, luxury
hammam, £90 for 55 minutes, and rhassoul, £70 for
55 minutes; spa.dolphinsquare.co.uk

Sarah Jossel
It’s February – time to get out of hibernation and give
your make-up bag a makeover
Woohoo, it’s make-up bag refresh time! I know, I know — a

refresh has January written all over it, but actually that
month is more for the “be the best version of you” mantras.
You’ve got to get through 24 hours of Blue Monday, 31 days
of Dry January — whereas February is when the fun begins.
The sales are over, the high street has finally dismantled the
glitter-bomb mannequins and you could technically, sort of
— if you mumble it — say it’s almost spring. Which means
it’s time to give your make-up bag a makeover.
For me that starts with a new foundation. As you know,
I review them for a living. Some are lovely in the moment but have vanished by lunchtime;
some look great in my bedroom lighting but too made-up and cakey when I catch myself in
the mirror at work; but some garner compliments from the moment you apply them. 1
“You’re glowing — what is that? Have you done something to your skin?” Over time I’ve
realised that’s the secret of a good foundation: when people compliment your skin rather
than your make-up. That is exactly what I get with Nars Light Reflecting Foundation
(1 £37.50). It conceals all my acne scars and little burst capillaries, the creamy consistency
doesn’t turn chalky and the overall finish is still radiant and bouncy and fresh.
Next, something to layer over my new skin canvas is Suqqu Melting Powder Blush
(2 £39). However many years in the industry and I’m still a sucker for words like “melting”
in a name, especially when the product lives up to it. So many blushes sit on top of the skin
à la Krusty the Clown. In fact more do than don’t. It’s rare to find one that blurs and blends
seamlessly into “picture of health” second skin. This one has a translucent, almost fluffy
texture to it that, when applied, looks part of you rather than something you’ve added on
top. My tip for those feeling weary is to apply it high on the cheekbones and keep it on the
outer plains of the face. I sweep my blush upwards towards my hairline for a lifting effect. It
makes all the difference. 2
I’ve discovered a vegan brand called Deck of Scarlet, which has proceeded directly to my
make-up bag. The new entry is its Threeway Solid Lip Oil (3 £25), which is exactly what
we need now that so many of us are up and out again. A speedy on-the-go swipe gives a
balmy high-shine finish with pigment that packs a punch. If you wear a red lip every day
(I’m jealous — it has always been more of a special occasion look for me), then this formula 3
is what you’d whack on top throughout the day to keep your red fresh and balmy. Or like
me, opt for Buff Rose, which is a mauve nude that reminds me of blush for lips.
Mishel Makeup Liquid Concealer (4 £19.50) is the secret to my bright-eyed make-up
when I’m on This Morning. I think people always imagine TV make-up to be heavy and
caked, but this is one of those buttery textures that I especially love because it glides over
the bruised tones around the inner corners of my eyes without creeping into lines. As each 4
presenter has their make-up done at This Morning, you can see their reactions to their own
eye transformations. I love this product so much that I now keep it with me and dab over
any make-up wear and tear throughout the day too.
Finally, Kosas Air Brow Clear Lifting Treatment Gel (5 £21). This is a fabulous low-
maintenance brush-and-go wand. There is a slight tint, so it subtly fills in gaps as well
as keeping brows in place, and it works on all styles, from thin and barely there to thicker
5
and fluffy.
I’ve just realised that all today’s products are less “Zoom make-up” and more about lasting
for a long time and looking great in real life, which brings an instant smile to my face.
Cat Garcia
Make-up bag refresh sorted. Next stop it’s a skincare shelfie overhaul. See you next week
for the skincare special. ■ @sarahjossel

India Knight
As I’ve got older, my hair has got thinner – but this product
magically makes it look three times thicker
I really resent how much time I spend thinking about my hair.

Having had a giant mane all my life and never given it a second
thought apart from to moan about how annoying it was to have
too much hair, the post-menopausal thinning of my once-lavish
thatch bothers me constantly. I should qualify that statement,
before you start thinking that menopause makes you bald (it
doesn’t) — I also blame stress and a predisposition to alopecia,
which I had in two 50p-sized spots, for quite a long time in my
twenties. But, anyway, a friend took a picture from above the
other day and I nearly died — I could see bits of scalp. My roots
badly needed doing, which didn’t help because white-grey hair next to the skin looks like
baldness even when it isn’t, but still, it wasn’t at all nice.
My solution to this problem is extensions (for volume), but they’re not for everyone and
I also have prolonged breaks from them. As I’ve written before, Toppik is a brilliant product if
you do actually have bits of scalp showing — it’s sort of like hair dust and sticks to whatever
fluffy minihair is there, padding things out nicely. Don’t go too dark or it looks weird; go for
very slightly lighter than your actual hair shade. For volume, though, extensions aside, it has
traditionally been thin pickings. Texturising sprays work up to a point but aren’t long-lasting.
Dry shampoo, with or without colour in it, is a friend, because it adds texture and body, but it
makes hair quite matte and, anyway, nobody wants to dry-shampoo every day. One of my
friends deliberately bleaches her short hair to the point where it’s so fried that it looks like
there’s a lot more of it than there actually is but, again, it’s not a look that suits everyone, even
if they don’t mind the frying.
But now salvation, or as close to salvation as it’s going to get. I always rate the product
I write about on this page, but I really, really rate this week’s. It’s by Living Proof (whom I
love), it’s new this month and it’s called Full Dry Volume & Texture Spray (£28). You need
this in your life if you have fine or thin or sparse hair, though obviously it also works if you
don’t and just want more of whatever kind of hair you have. You will have come across textur-
ising sprays before, but this is a whole new beast. Living Proof has a new patented “volumin-
zing + texturizing molecule”, and what’s new about it is that rather than bulking out existing
hair by sticking to it, it instead creates space between hair fibres. This makes for big hair, but
also, crucially, for volume that lasts. It’s also very light, so that feeling of your hair flattening
and getting dragged down with product as the day goes on doesn’t happen. And it resists a
certain amount of humidity too. It has got loads of grip. No residue, either.
You spray it on in sections at the roots, rub it in a bit with your fingers, as with dry shampoo,
and then muss up your hair as needed (shake the can between each spray or it doesn’t work as
well). Seriously — three times as much hair. I couldn’t quite believe it. Still nowhere near as
much hair as I used to have, but enough hair to have solved a situation that has been bothering
me for ages. Utterly genius product. ■ @indiaknight
INDIA LOVES That feeling of

TAKE As far as I can see there is a lot of noise but little evidence that collagen supplements your hair
actually work, and they’re not cheap. But I was still curious and have now been taking Ingenious
flattening as
Victoria Adamson
Beauty capsules (£60 for 90) — made from marine collagen, not the stuff from battery chicken
cartilage — for two months. It may be the most excellent placebo effect, and obviously I try a ton
of beauty products every week so it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly is responsible, but I do think
the day goes on
my skin has improved noticeably. Hair apparently takes longer. I’ll report back. doesn’t happen

Dear Dolly
Your love, life and friendship dilemmas answered
by Dolly Alderton
I have finally met a brilliant man. He is funny, kind, caring and ambitious, and we have been
dating for about four months. The only problem is that he lives a far unhealthier lifestyle
than me. He drinks fizzy drinks — at least three cans of Coke a day — and frequently eats
chocolates and doughnuts for breakfast. He once had three Domino’s pizzas in a week.
He doesn’t do any exercise and doesn’t feel it is necessary when I gently suggest the idea
of running or going to the gym. I was brought up in a really healthy household and when
I was child I was not allowed any sweets or junk food. As a result I make a conscious effort to
follow a healthy lifestyle, eat lots of fruit and vegetables and exercise regularly. Luckily he is
not overweight and still has a slim physique, but I find his diet and habits really unattractive.
Is this a reason to break up? Or can I change his unhealthy habits in time?
I have two very strong opinions on this, measuring it with nutritional intake is
and I know the first won’t be popular. I am quite a limited view. This man’s diet
going to defend your boyfriend. And I’m and lifestyle may feel to you like it is slov-
also going to insist that you inform him of enly and immature, but what is more
Domino’s Two for Tuesday (buy one get important is whether he is slovenly and
one free on medium and large pizzas). immature. Is he a good partner, friend,
If he’s ordering three a week, he might as worker, family member and citizen? Does
well get one of those on the house. And he have an enthusiasm for life and an
it’s nice cold, anyway. Preferably in a sand- understanding of who he is and his own
wich, or my ex housemate used to fry left- values? Can he look after himself and look
over slices in butter. out for the people he loves? If the answer
If your boyfriend is happy with the way to all the above is yes, I really don’t think
he eats and lives, I don’t think you have a right to tell what he eats means anything more than what he eats.
him to change. While I think it is great that you have My second strong opinion is this: you do not have to be
found a routine that works for your body, you cannot with him if his lifestyle doesn’t work for you and your
push those habits onto other people. Everyone is built lifestyle. That’s completely OK. This may not have been
differently. Metabolisms and appetites and circadian something you ever anticipated as being a deal-breaker in
rhythms are varied, and while the thought of eating love, but maybe it turns out that it is a deal-breaker.
doughnuts for breakfast might make you imagine We only learn what is important to us in relationships
discomfort and poor health, that might not be the case by being in relationships. And your question of whether
for him. Or maybe it is the case for him, but he doesn’t or not it’s enough of a reason to warrant a break-up is
mind because the pleasure of eating a doughnut for too subjective for me to answer. We are all irritated,
breakfast is worth any sluggishness. If he’s regularly saddened or, dare I say, “triggered” by different things.
making these choices and not complaining about how I could never be with someone who is angry and shouty,
he feels subsequently, it seems like he knows himself or snobby about Wagamama, or who records long videos
well enough to know it works for him. on their phone during a gig. That’s just me. For some
Maybe he does complain about it, which I can imagine people drinking three cans of Coke a day wouldn’t be
is frustrating for you. But even so I still don’t think the something they’d even notice in a partner. But then they
right way to deal with it is to tell him to change. People probably have other personal deal-breakers that might be
who are imprisoned in cycles of shame don’t need to be things that wouldn’t bother you at all.
given a list of do’s and don’ts, they need to talk. And they When we merge lives with another person, it’s
need a kind and nonjudgmental person to help them normal to merge lifestyles too. So it’s definitely worth
work out why they make decisions that ultimately lead to inviting him in on the routines that make you happiest,
unhappiness and therefore self-sabotage. whether it’s long walks or running in the park or
I understand why you might find it unattractive — cooking meals together. But if he really doesn’t enjoy
Alexandra Cameron
you have been brought up to equate restraint with good those activities, don’t force them on him. If you can
health or possibly even goodness. It feels like you believe only see a future where he continues to live in a way you
that exercise and calorie-controlled eating denotes find unattractive and you grow increasingly resentful of
self-respect. You are right that self-respect is sexy, but him, it’s best you end it. For both of you. ■
To get your life dilemma answered by Dolly, email or send a voice note
to deardolly@sundaytimes.co.uk or DM @theststyle
50 • The Sunday Times Style*

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6 FEBRUARY 2022

Fashion! Beauty! People! Things! Welcome to your weekly guide

Boing! Why we all want This picture Amber

Ella Emhoff — Kamala Harris’s

The Sunday Times Style • 3

Published by the Borough Press at £14.99

The Lonely Hunter: How Our

her experiences. The result? A funny,

in a world built for couples.

6 • The Sunday Times Style

▲ DUO THE OWL

audience member. Where do we buy tickets?

The Sunday Times Style • 7

The Sunday Times Style • 9

Edit Henrik Lischke

10 • The Sunday Times Style

3 rings, this is Valentine’s

12 • The Sunday Times Style

The Sunday Times Style • 13

14 • The Sunday Times Style

In spring last year, as we began to

The Sunday Times Style • 15

The Sunday Times Style • 17

18 • The Sunday Times Style

20 • The Sunday Times Style

Hair Daniel Martin

The Sunday Times Style • 23

The Sunday Times Style • 25

26 • The Sunday Times Style

The Sunday Times Style • 27

living in Paris but I don’t assimilate much,” Owens

28 • The Sunday Times Style

The Rick Owens x Converse collaboration is

The Sunday Times Style • 29

30 • The Sunday Times Style

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32 • The Sunday Times Style

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34 • The Sunday Times Style

Below A gallery wall mixing picture and

I’m a huge fan of framing posters You can buy brilliant

Bigger is not always better “One of my favourite exam-

Get painting If you have a steady hand, why not buy a

The Sunday Times Style • 35

Mounts matter Mounts are important, Bryan says:

The bigger picture

The Sunday Times Style • 37

3 THE TEABAG TRICK

38 • The Sunday Times Style

The Sunday Times Style • 39

40 • The Sunday Times Style

From left Camille Cottin as

The Sunday Times Style • 41

Of the seven Victorian bathhouses still in existence, it is

The Sunday Times Style • 43

The Sunday Times Style • 45

Woohoo, it’s make-up bag refresh time! I know, I know — a

The Sunday Times Style • 47

I really resent how much time I spend thinking about my hair.

INDIA LOVES That feeling of