It was 9AM when I came through the door. I had started by meeting a friend for brunch the day before, then gone on to an afternoon pub session with some pals. That turned into a cheap Italian dinner out, followed a sweaty club night, all concluding with me catching the tube home on a misty, Autumn morning. Continue reading “When you love going out and your partner loves staying in”
Category: Features
The great hippie hijack: how consumerism devoured the counterculture dream
Might 2015 be the year the hippies finally won? Five decades since the emergence of the flower-power counterculture, the hippie dream has at last gone mainstream. Admittedly, peace and love haven’t quite saved the world, but when it comes to lifestyle, we’ve never been more right on (man). Continue reading “The great hippie hijack: how consumerism devoured the counterculture dream”
Mildreds and Vanilla Black give vegetarian food a makeover
Being a vegetarian is no longer a big deal, with many of us somewhere on the spectrum: cutting out red meat, being veggie during the week, going vegan for health reasons. But many restaurants and gastropubs have yet to catch up, all too often offering the same old mushroom risotto or goat’s cheese tart. Continue reading “Mildreds and Vanilla Black give vegetarian food a makeover”
Gizzi Erskine is taking on the ‘clean eating’ fanatics
“People don’t know how to eat any more.” It’s a bold statement – but, then, that’s typical of Gizzi Erskine. The food writer, TV presenter and trained chef doesn’t mince her words. She credits this tendency for being a bit “gobby” as having helped launch her career more than a decade ago, when she was picked up for Channel 4’s Cook Yourself Thin TV series. Several hit recipe books followed, all with the basic premise that good food, cooked well, can be healthy and delicious. Continue reading “Gizzi Erskine is taking on the ‘clean eating’ fanatics”
Why I’m Over Audrey Hepburn as a Female Icon
If anyone deserves to have a show at the National Portrait Gallery dedicated to photographs of their face, it’s beautiful, doe-eyed Audrey Hepburn, right? If anyone deserves to have their exhibition subtitled ‘Portraits of an Icon’, it’s Audrey Hepburn, right? She has become an icon: evoked in fashion editorials for her ‘timeless’ and ‘classic’ style; that Breakfast at Tiffany’s poster a student halls cliche; her gamine presence even posthumously inserted into adverts for chocolate. This show of 150 pictures of her neat, sweet face, her pretty pastel frocks and signature Little Black Dresses is bound to be a ticket-shifter. Continue reading “Why I’m Over Audrey Hepburn as a Female Icon”
Why do (some) guys turn into pervs the minute the sun comes out?
It may be hotter than Hawaii in Britain this week, but life isn’t exactly a beach: most of us still have to navigate public transport, replete with strangers’ dripping armpits, before slaving away in an office that’s either stuffy as your nan’s airing cupboard or arctic with aircon. Continue reading “Why do (some) guys turn into pervs the minute the sun comes out?”
Fear of missing out may be a latter-day anxiety, but we all need to embrace it
The acronym Fomo (it stands for Fear of Missing Out, in case you have, um, missed out) entered the lexicon back in 2011 – and it’s showing little sign of abating.
Continue reading “Fear of missing out may be a latter-day anxiety, but we all need to embrace it”
Remember #TheDress? Brain scientists now see the internet meme as invaluable research tool
Internet memes: here today, gone tomorrow, replaced by whatever new comedy pet antics, political gaffes or celebrity hubris are tweeting up a storm by lunchtime.
Not so, however, The Dress. You remember #thedress – in February, a snap of a lacy frock appeared online that divided the population vehemently over what colour it was. Offices rang to the sound “black and blue!”, “white and gold!” Social media convulsed. We fretted that our perception of the world was wonky. Then science explained it was all a trick of the light, and we moved on. Well – some of us. Continue reading “Remember #TheDress? Brain scientists now see the internet meme as invaluable research tool”
Lauren Laverne and Sam Baker: too busy to surf? Head to The Pool
One has enjoyed a distinguished career editing women’s magazines including Cosmopolitan and Red, the other is the hip presenter of a long-running Radio 6 Music show. Combine the talents of Sam Baker and Lauren Laverne and the end product was always likely to make a splash.
So it has proved, with the arrival of The Pool. For the uninitiated, it’s a website for women: smart, funny, down to earth, written by a “pool” of female writers providing appealingly varied content. Both Baker and Laverne take it as read that the modern woman is as keen to read about the leadership debates as she is about lipstick. Which shouldn’t exactly be controversial in 2015.… Continue reading “Lauren Laverne and Sam Baker: too busy to surf? Head to The Pool”
The family behind the Tyrrells crisps has found a new use for potatoes – artisan vodka
Humble as it may be, the potato is a versatile vegetable. And it’s fair to say that its foodie potential has been thoroughly exploited by one Herefordshire farmer.
William Chase, whose parents were farmers themselves, began his career in potato trading before hitting on the idea of posh crisps – and so Tyrrells was born in 2002. The brand was a huge success, reconnecting snack foods with home-grown produce, and in 2008 William sold it for £30m. But he wasn’t done with spuds. Next up: potato vodka. Continue reading “The family behind the Tyrrells crisps has found a new use for potatoes – artisan vodka”