Dolce & Gabbana sure know how to whip up an Instagram frenzy. Running an hour behind schedule for its AW18 show, named 'Fashion Devotion' at Milan Fashion Week yesterday, when the first pieces finally came onto the catwalk, every phone in the house lit up. There were no models to be seen, but in their place: drones. The flying tech emerged from Dolce & Gabbana 'gates of heaven' (a fitting set for the show's religious message) showcasing a new range of top-handled chain-detailed bags in red, black, and white, with jewel-encrusted heart clasps.
Normality resumed once the levitating robots made their way down the catwalk, with the collection's devout theme becoming clear as the first model stepped out. Intricate black lace veils and papal hats covered models' heads, while sumptuous brocade dresses and regal purple velvet sweatshirts read 'Fashion Sinner', 'Fashion Is Beautiful' and 'Royal Love'. "We’re playing with our religion," Stefano Gabbana said to Vogue before the show, "but our religion is also fashion.”
With no religious iconography left unexplored, from clerical collars turned into shirt detailing and ornate crosses reimagined as extravagant earrings, to cherubs embroidered onto skirts and socks, the show was a love letter to fashion expressed via archetypal spiritual and reverent symbols. “It’s our life,” Domenico Dolce said of fashion, “the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning is to make something.”
Photo: Victor Virgile/Getty ImagesPhoto: Victor Virgile/Getty Images
The show comes just a few months before this year's Met Ball, which, on the first Monday in May, will explore religion further. The theme, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, will delve into the complex relationship between fashion's leading creative directors, devotion and divinity. No doubt celebrity attendees will mine the Italian brand's AW18 collection for their looks.
The night before their prêt-à-porter show in Milan, rather than have an early evening in preparation, designers Domenico and Stefano hosted 'Secrets & Diamonds', an eveningwear-only show modelled entirely by Brits. Not just any Brits, of course. Dolce & Gabbana brought together the English elite by way of aristocracy, London's upper crust, and bona fide royals.
Names included Lady Kitty Spencer (Princess Diana's niece, and cousin of Princes William and Harry), Ladies Violet, Alice and Eliza Manners (according to Vogue, “the real-life Crawley sisters of London”), model Bee Beardsworth and her musician girlfriend Daisy Maybe, and Suki Waterhouse's younger sister, Maddi.
Photo: Victor Virgile/Getty Images
Wearing sparkling tiaras, souped-up dinner jackets, and embellished ruched dresses, Dolce & Gabbana's models for the evening looked at home amid the luxury and extravagance of it all – it could have easily been a debutantes' ball. The brand has made clear its fixation with the Insta-worthy faces of 'millennials' and Gen Z, with its SS18 campaign featuring Jude Law's son Rafferty, YouTuber Cameron Dallas (who has a cool 20.8m Instagram following), and Bea Fresson. The campaign also included their Instagram handles, because what's the point of being shot by one of the world's biggest fashion houses if people can't give you a follow afterwards?
Our mothers and grandmothers typically handled the household finances. They paid the bills, managed the shopping and haggled for the best deals. Yet when it comes to personal finances and investment, women are still not as likely to take the lead.
Massive generalisation? The research tells us it’s true. According to a 2016 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, women have lower levels of financial literacy than men and are less confident in money matters. A 2012 YouGov survey also found that 58% of women claimed a good understanding of financial products, compared to 72% of men.
For millennial women, financial education wasn’t on the school curriculum. But we can’t always rely on our partners, our parents or our workplace pensions. We need to be in the know and, luckily, it’s never too late to take those first steps to managing your money properly without living a life of misery and solitude. At least, that’s what several women financial advisers told us.
Regardless of your pay bracket, there are steps you can take. First, pay off your debt as soon as you can, prioritising the loans with the highest interest rates. (Student debt interest rates depend on the year you graduate. Log in to your Student Loans Company account to check.)
The second step is to build up a cash buffer, and preferably not in your current account, so you won’t be tempted to spend it.
And if you’re in a relationship, now is the time to talk to your partner about money. Research from Relate found that one in 10 people argue with their partner about money at least once a fortnight.
“Start talking about it as early as you can, rather than wait for it to become a problem,” advises Stephanie Hayter, acting chief executive at The Money Charity. “It links to our long-term goals and what we want to get out of life. It’s surprising how often people in relationships have different priorities in terms of their spending and don’t know how much their partner earns.”
Once you’ve done the first three steps, check out the below salary brackets and the top tips from financial experts.
20k
It may sound boring, but budgeting is key for lower earners. Iona Bain, creator of the award-winning Young Money Blog and author of Spare Change, advises women to take a snapshot of their finances over one week and work out exactly what is coming in and what is going out.
“The very basic things that we need every day, like food, are the things we are probably paying too much for,” she says. “Deal with those things first. Plan your ingredients, for example, mix and match from your cupboard, freeze extra portions and take a packed lunch to work. You can make massive savings there alone.”
Carry out the same analysis for everything you buy on a regular basis. Do you need your own Netflix account? Could you cycle to work? Do you really need that gym membership?
“It’s all about choice and there is no right or wrong answer, it’s about your priorities,” adds Hayter.
As soon as you start working, start saving. Bain recommends transferring these cut costs via direct debit to a savings account. The aim is to build up an emergency pot of at least three months’ worth of expenditures.
30k
Savings don’t have to stop at an emergency fund.
Hayter says: “I’d recommend having different pots of savings, like one for emergencies, one for a more specific goal like a holiday, and one for the longer term, so you can keep track of how close you are to each goal and are not tempted to dip into the wrong one.”
If you have a large cash buffer, a cash ISA is a good idea as the interest is tax-free for a maximum of £20,000 per tax year. You can use the £20,000 annual limit to mix and match different kinds of ISAs.
Yvonne Goodwin, a chartered financial planner at Yvonne Goodwin Wealth Management, recommends investing in premium bonds – it’s money that can be accessed instantly, but with a slightly higher interest rate than a bank account. “It’s tax-free and a handy place to park your money,” she says, adding the bonds can be bought from a minimum of £100.
40k
Thanks to the relatively new auto-enrolment pension schemes, you and your employer are both contributing to your retirement. As of April, your employer’s minimum contribution is doubling to 2%, and employees will pay in 3% of their salary. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to work out what pension money you have where, and how much you and your employer are contributing, if it’s above the minimum rate.
Millennial women may have already worked for several employers since leaving school or university, resulting in a small trail of money with different providers.
Goodwin says the pension industry and the government are still working on a pension dashboard – where you can see everything in one place – but until that happens, she recommends phoning each provider to keep track.
“Keep a spreadsheet with your plan numbers and if you don’t get a statement each year, write to the providers and ask for one,” she says. “If you move to a new house, let them know. They can locate you through your national insurance contributions, too.”
Julie Lord, chief executive of Magenta Financial Planning, has a slightly different approach. She recommends setting up your own pension with a company of your choice.
“I call it a spine pension, as it runs down the back of your working life,” she says. “Choose a cheap one, so when you move jobs you can move that pension into it and consolidate funds. These days, most pensions are cheaper and can be moved around.”
Make sure you take advice before consolidating pensions so as to avoid penalty fees.
50k
Saving for a house? Consider a Lifetime ISA, or LISA. You can invest up to £4,000 per year until you’re 50, and the government matches your savings by 25%, which is essentially free money, according to Goodwin. If you don’t use the savings to buy a house, they become long-term savings and you can access the money at retirement.
If you already own a house, Goodwin says you could consider overpaying on mortgage payments while interest rates are low.
“If you pay maybe a couple of hundred pounds extra on your current mortgage, you could save thousands of pounds and pay it all off a few years early,” she says. “But make sure there are no early repayment penalties. Most mortgage providers allow you to pay up to 10% early.”
60k
Another possibility is to invest some of your cash in the stock market.
“If you don’t need money for three to five years, put it in a long-term investment but keep it flexible so you can dip into it,” says Lord.
You don’t need to be a high net worth individual to have skin in the game. You can invest spare change via apps like Moneybox, and you can invest with Wealthify for just £1. These online companies will invest your money into a diversified portfolio that suits your risk profile. If you’re feeling brave, you could invest directly in companies.
General rules include avoiding panic-selling if the market tumbles – you want to keep that money invested for as long as possible – and add to your investments in smaller, regular amounts. That way, you can benefit from the wonder of compound growth, rather than putting in a lump sum and risking that the market crashes the next day.
“If you’re scared of the stock market, just invest £10 and see what it does,” says Lord. “It will give a great education either way.”
HMRC data shows that 20% fewer women open stocks and shares ISAs compared to men. Yet Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the company’s female client investors beat men by an average 0.81% over three years to August 2017.
“Women who invest overwhelmingly have the knowledge they need to make sound investment decisions,” she says. “And rather than working against them, their determination not to take excessive risks with their investments is one of the things that makes them such good investors.”
Read more money-focused content (minus the boring bits) atOn The Money.
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"The Kurtan curtain is back? That's mental!" says Daisy May Cooper. I have just told her that the infamous Ben-from-A1 hairdo, which her brother Charlie sports on their comedy show This Country, is experiencing something of a renaissance. And she is, quite frankly, thrilled.
"I mean, I remember in the '90s, I thought it was the coolest thing of all time. Christ, next people will be wearing Swindon Town T-shirts with their hair back in greasy buns." Despite giving birth just two weeks earlier, Daisy is in marvellous spirits. And why not? Season two of BBC Three's This Country is here and people are super excited.
If you have yet to watch any of This Country, then hoo boy, have you got a treat in store. It is – and I don't say this lightly – my favourite British comedy since Peep Show. It is one of the only television shows ever that has made me laugh actually out loud. I've watched all six episodes about six times over. I quote it about once a day (yes, I'm that dick). I'm snorting at my computer right now just remembering the "Peeping Tom" episode.
Like The Office, This Country is a spoof documentary. The purpose of this well-intended documentary was to highlight the plight of the marginalised youth of rural Britain in the Cotswolds. Unfortunately for the documentary team, they chose to film Kerry and Kurtan.
Daisy plays Kerry, while her brother Charlie plays Kerry's cousin, Kurtan. Living in a fictional Costwolds town, the countryside around them is picturesque; mansions owned by London weekenders dot the horizon, Alex James is eating cheese in the back of a Land Rover driven by Jeremy Clarkson while David Cameron sits shotgun.
The Cotswolds is lovely if you're middle-aged and you've got a second home down here but if you're young and you've got no job, there's absolutely fuck all to do.
Kerry and Kurtan, though, a million miles away from the middle-class Waitrose clichés of the Cotswolds, are bored af. There are no jobs (not that they're looking very hard), there's nothing to do (save throw plums at people's houses) and the only adult guidance that doesn't come from the well-meaning but useless village vicar is from Kerry's mostly absent father, who is a convicted "peeper". This is not the Cotswolds of Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (although Kerry and Kurtan did see him in the Co-op once).
"We didn't write it with the intention to show a different side, we wrote it because that was all we knew," says Daisy. "It was a fluke, but I suppose that's what's interesting. The Cotswolds is lovely if you're middle-aged and you've got a second home down here but if you're young and you've got no job, there's absolutely fuck all to do."
My obsession with the show probably stems from the fact that I grew up a stone's throw away from Daisy and Charlie's hometown of Cirencester but to be honest, This Country will resonate with anyone who's been even momentarily exposed to the realities of being a kid in the British countryside: commandeering kids' playgrounds, robbing pointless stuff and getting wasted in a field on whatever cheap alcohol you can get your hands on.
For Daisy, her reality was slightly more sophisticated. "All I ever had were boyfriends that drove done-up cars, and I had one boyfriend who would pick me up from his house and I’d get in the car, we’d drive to McDonald’s, wind the windows down, and we’d be in a line and then we’d talk to each other through the windows." She laughs. "I wouldn’t actually talk, I’d just put CDs on and then we’d just drive home. It was absolutely mental, that’s all we’d do and I was perfectly happy with that. I was just a really miserable girlfriend who sat with her arms crossed in the front on McDonald’s car park in Cirencester."
I ask Daisy whether Cirencester had a local legend; a villlage-famous oddball who ends up at the centre of most stories told at the one pub in town. My town had Dancing Ken, my mate's village had Smackhead Pete. "We had a guy called Sausage Man," says Daisy, remembering. "He was forever flashing at people. I remember seeing him in Waitrose by the deli counter and he stood next to Charlie, sparked up a fag and said 'I shouldn't be doing this' and it's like of course not, you're smoking in Waitrose at the deli counter, it was mental. But there's always one."
Much of the show draws directly on people Daisy and Charlie grew up with and, now they live back at home following a stint in London, still come into contact with. Weirdly, though, rather than being insulted, people seem keen to be featured. "Loads of people, especially people I went to school with, say things like 'Omg you wrote that about me, didn't you?' and I think 'I've not seen you for 20 fucking years, no!'" she laughs. "But it's great, because it shows that people can relate to it."
In fact, most local people (except my mum, who thought it was real and felt sorry for Kerry and Kurtan) have been entirely positive about the show. "I thought people would be upset and think we were taking the piss out of them and Cirencester... But it's been amazing," she says. You can't please everyone though. "There was this one guy who was working at the Tesco till and he said to Charlie, 'You're that bloke off that show, aren't you?' then he goes, 'Yeah, it's not my cup of tea'." She laughs.
Kerry (Daisy May Cooper), Kurtan (Charlie Cooper)Courtesy of BBC.
Daisy came to London to train at RADA before appearing in a few bit parts on TV. Ultimately though, she decided the city wasn't for her and she moved back home and started writing. Eventually (no thanks to a quite frankly criminal-sounding attempt to turn her work into something that was meant to be like The OC set in the Cotswolds), This Country was commissioned.
Not that it came easily, though. She was working for a long time first, and it was hard. "Don't, whatever you do, compare yourself to your peers," she advises those trying to make similar things work for themselves. "For me and Charlie, when everyone was moving to London and making a go of it, we were still cleaning in some shitty offices, that was an absolute killer. I had to come off Facebook because I just got so jealous of everyone else's life, it's crippling and awful."
Kerry will never get glammed up. We have had producers try and push that on us before. Like, she can’t be a good female character unless she becomes feminine? That's so wrong.
The best way to go after success, in Daisy's opinion, is to make sure you're working at something you love. "I think the biggest thing my parents ever taught me is make sure you do something you enjoy for a living and don't put a timeframe on it and that is where happiness lies."
This mentality is what has allowed Daisy to create Kerry, one of the best female TV characters we've had in years. One who delivers straight-faced hilarities while wearing a shitty old tracksuit. One who has absolutely no plans to change, get "glammed up" or pursue a relationship. "We have had producers try and push that on us before," says Daisy, "like trying to make her into something else, like, she can’t be a good female character unless she becomes feminine? It is so wrong and I think that would be my absolute biggest no."
"She is like an asexual Smurf, you will never be able to pigeonhole her."
Hell yes.
Season 2, episode 1 of This Country is on iPlayer now. And oh my god just watch it.
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As the third stretch of the month-long fashion circuit draws to a close, we've picked out some of our favourite looks from the streets of Milan. Naturally, Gucci, the main event on the Milan show schedule, was a key fixture in the fashion set's outfits, from Marmont bags to head-to-toe maximalist looks. However, the stylish jet set were also sporting a lot of Fendi (the brand's interlocking F logo was seen everywhere), Prada, Moschino and Moncler.
Click on to see the best dressed in Milan, before we head off to Paris...
Supermodel Joan Smalls braves the cold in a leather skirt, mesh top and leopard print coat.
British Vogue 's publishing director, Vanessa Kingori, wears a canary yellow look under a Coach suede trench coat.
Lisa Aiken wears a white suit over a T-shirt with black accessories.
Vogue China's editor-in-chief, Angelica Cheung wears a statement coat while Farfetch's buying and merchandise director, Candice Fragis amps up a black ensemble with a statement sleeve Deborah Lyons shirt and gold Céline sandals.
A Gucci crystal headband is a bold way to dress up a black outfit.
Swooning over that Prada belt bag, not to mention the coordinated Gucci blazer and socks.
Caroline Daur wears full look Fendi.
Stylist Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert goes head-to-toe green in a Fendi suit.
Veronika Heilbrunner carries a Prada bag outside the show.
Model Selena Forrest wears a blue ribbed polo neck as she leaves Fendi.
Adwoa Aboah wears a Burberry jacket with rainbow-striped tracksuit bottoms.
Susie Lau wears a black-and-white check coat over eye-catching red pieces.
The Italian street style set don't do understated.
We're not sure what we love more: the pink raincoat, the Louis Vuitton phone case or the tan bag.
Tiffany Hsu wears a camo Preen by Thornton Brehazzi jacket over a grey Ader hoodie with black trousers, white court shoes and the new J.W.Anderson disc bag.
More proof that the fashion crowd can't get enough of Le Specs.
Aya Suzuki and Ami Suzuki wear multicoloured Missoni with Gucci Modern Future backpacks.
More A* twin style.
Linda Tol wears an oversized grey coat with dad trainers and a pink bag.
Olivia Palermo pairs leather trousers with patent mules and a black fur coat.
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In 2018, skincare is a serious business. Long gone are the days when women blindly bought whatever product someone behind a counter told them to, and instead, a new era of intelligence, transparency and information has arrived. While makeup has become more democratic – think Rihanna founding the hugely successful Fenty, or Into The Gloss’ Emily Weiss creating Glossier, a brand that’s just received $52 million more investment capital – skincare has become more expert-led.
Now, it’s not just diehard skincare fanatics who know their vitamin C from their cannabinoids, their AHAs from their vitamin A; customers are savvier than ever. As Alexia Inge of Cult Beauty explains: “We are entering an age of ‘skintellectualism’ whereby consumers are adopting a much more investigative approach to their routines, and educating themselves about the best ingredients for every stage.” With consumers no longer content with generalisations and indefinite promises, they’re looking for solutions to specific skincare issues – acne, anti-ageing, dehydration – which require the knowledge, research and science of experts.
Not only are those buying and using skincare products swotting up on the latest buzzworthy ingredient (like algae, hyaluronic acid or moringa), but the brands creating said products are marketing their own doctor-backed, lab-formulated ethos more than ever. You won’t find the vague sentiment ‘dermatologist-approved’ on the bottle containing the most hyped serum these days, but rather a detailed ingredients list, the time spent formulating the product in a high-tech lab, and where the ingredients were individually sourced.
One such brand taking this approach to skincare is world-renowned aesthetic doctor Barbara Sturm, whose uncomplicated yet potent offering has attracted the likes of Kim Kardashian West. “Today’s customer is deeply educated, and long past vague promises in a jar,” she explains. “They have tried a lifetime of products already and are mostly unsatisfied with the results. They want to find products that work, and before trying them, they want to understand why, which is a scientific inquiry.” Sturm began her career as a practising orthopaedic doctor focused on anti-inflammatory research. Once she made the connection between inflammation and the ageing process, she applied her knowledge to the skin and used it as a foundation for her skincare line. “I spent years developing my skincare in close consultation with my professors from Pittsburgh and Harvard; I think it is important to have a very deep understanding of ingredient science, as well as of the functions and scientific processes of skin.”
Daniel Isaacs, formulation and development director at Medik8, agrees: “The skin is the body’s largest organ and it needs to be looked after just as you would the rest of your internal organs. It is vital to understand the biology of the skin and chemistry of its functions to establish the mechanisms by which skincare works.” Medik8, fast becoming the authority on vitamin A thanks to its 'time-released, low-irritation retinols', has science at its core – hence the brand name. With before and after photographs from clinical studies and patented, professional-strength products, it’s established itself as a skincare authority that people can trust. “We have a rigorous approach to our formularies and products, which are critically evaluated prior to launch.”
‘Skintellectualism’ has another name for Dr. Phillip Levy: 'Medi-Luxe'. “Medical-grade ingredients and results, combined with a delightful luxurious experience, are what I envisioned for my products,” Levy tells Refinery29. An example of this is the brand’s Booster Serum; it went through 30 formula overhauls to finalise the texture and scent before becoming the product we now know. Its Stem Cell line? Levy developed it over three decades of working as a dermatologist. “My laboratories have spent years developing patented and powerful formulas,” he explains. “You will rarely find such a level of successful improvement for skincare using totally independent clinical data.”
If you’re inclined to believe that this is all well and good within the bubble of doctors and dermatologists, with little impact on what your average woman is putting on her skin, think again. The ‘skintellectual’ output of these brands is without a doubt impacting customer behaviour. Dr. Dennis Gross explained that customers coming to his brand had “literally doubled in the last 12 months” while Previse’s Sean Patrick Harrington said: “Our customers, whether patients in a clinical setting or shoppers in-store and online, consistently share their preference for a brand anchored in dermatology.” Perhaps this is because the internet has turned skincare from recommended-by-friends or passed-down-from-mum into a playground of inquisitive exploration run by consumers with high, industry-level standards.
Social media’s role in the beauty industry has been fundamental to the rise of 'skintellectualism', which has been seen firsthand by beauty leader Caroline Hirons. “I’ve changed the depth of my product reviews from ‘this is really nice, it’ll be out next week’ to me listing whether something is vegan, if it’s appropriate for certain allergies, who the ingredients would be suitable for,” she told Refinery29. “It’s because of the readers’ demands – they give me my best questions.” Dr. Sturm also recognises a rise in her customers' standards: “I’ve seen a significant rise in consumers coming to me as an expert, which can also be attributed to the rise of social media. I spend at least an hour every day answering questions sent via social media – I love doing so as I get to receive real feedback and questions, plus an insight into their skin concerns.”
At a recent Cult Beauty panel on adult acne, Alexia Inge said: “Our customers are now really, really well-researched and -read. For them, it’s not about being green or not, it’s how the formulas are put together. They catch me out sometimes and I have to put them in touch with the brand founders.”
‘Skintellectualism’ shows no sign of waning. “Our dermatology and sustainability credentials aid a dynamic audience of women and men pursuing worry-free, highly efficacious skincare products,” Harrington states. Savvy, switched-on customers are more clued-up about skincare than ever, whether it’s regarding everyday SPF application or the type of acid suitable for oily skin. As Levy says: “If they’re investing in a treatment or product, they expect the best, and will not compromise on quality or value for money.” Long live the ‘skintellectuals’, making our evening skincare regime more credible – and therefore effective – than ever before.
Is it just me, or do you find those people on Instagram who spend their Sundays laboriously batch-cooking their weekly meals into perfectly aesthetic, identical portions, slightly panic-inducing? How on earth do people manage that level of organisation in their lives?
For me, there's barely enough time in the week to stay on top of what’s new on Netflix, let alone cook dinner every night. I know, deep down, that having every meal prepped would help me enormously, but realistically, that's just not how I'm going to spend my spare time.
And so I figured out a solution to my weeknight dinner woes. And that is to have a few cheap, easy meals in your back pocket, usually shortcuts of classic dishes, that are ready to eat in the time it takes for a bottle of supermarket red to breathe.
Click through to see a few that I've made up over the years.
Veggie Fried Rice Serves 1
Ingredients
1 large egg Light cooking oil 250g pouch microwave rice 4 spring onions 1 large handful frozen peas 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Instructions
Lightly beat the egg. In a large non-stick frying pan or wok, dry scramble it until it is just cooked through and broken up into pieces. Remove from the pan and set aside. Heat a splash of light cooking oil (light olive oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil and groundnut oil are all fine here) and squish the microwave rice inside the pouch so it is broken up as much as possible and there are no lumps. Add it to the pan, and fry until it is glossy with oil and starting to sizzle.
Add the spring onions, topped, tailed and sliced, and the frozen peas. Cook until the peas have cooked through. You can also add any leftover cooked veg you need to clear out of the fridge like asparagus, green beans, mushrooms and kale. Add the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and the cooked egg to the pan, and mix until all the rice is coloured with the soy sauce before piling into a warm bowl.
Chickpea Tikka Masala Serves 1-2
Ingredients
1 small white onion 1 large garlic clove Light cooking oil 1 tsp ground cumin 3/4 tsp chilli powder 1/2 tsp turmeric 400g tin chickpeas 225g tin chopped tomatoes Sea salt 250g pouch microwave rice Fresh coriander (optional, to serve)
Instructions
Peel and finely chop the onion and peel the garlic clove ready for the garlic press. Heat a generous splash of light cooking oil over a medium high heat (you can use vegetable, sunflower, rapeseed, olive or groundnut) and add the onion. Cook quickly at a slightly higher temperature than you usually would when following a recipe, and stir in the crushed garlic as the onion just starts to brown. Stir in the spices, and cook until they start to smell delicious.
Drain the chickpeas and add them to the pan, stirring until they are well coated. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt, and allow to bubble away, still at a medium high heat while you microwave the rice. Serve the chickpea curry spooned over the rice, sprinkled with chopped fresh coriander if you happen to have some that needs finishing at the bottom of the fridge.
Mussels with Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes Serves 1
Ingredients
400g live mussels 10 cherry tomatoes 4 tsp pesto Freshly ground salt and pepper Fresh bread
Instructions
Fill the kitchen sink with cold water and add the mussels. Throw away any that are broken. Fill another bowl with cold water, and sort the mussels one by one into the bowl. Pull off any bits attached to the mussels. If any of them are open, hold them closed for five seconds. If they stay closed they’re good to eat; if not, throw them away. Heat a large, lidded, non-stick frying pan or casserole dish over a high heat and cook the tomatoes until they’re starting to blister.
Drain the mussels, add them to the pan, clamp on the lid and turn the heat down to low. Allow the mussels to steam open. Drain any excess liquid out of the pan, and add the pesto and season with salt and pepper. Put the lid back on and shake until the pesto has coated the mussels and got inside the shells. Throw away any mussels that have not opened, and serve with fresh crusty bread to mop up the pesto sauce.
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"Touring fucked my skin up on a whole 'nother level," SZA says (or, rather, shouts) to me backstage at a noisy NYFW party for the launch of Proenza Schouler's Arizona fragrance. In between cracking jokes with her crew and puffing on a blunt, the performer describes how the damage was done. "200 meet-and-greets a day. Cheek to cheek. Sweating, hair on my face, mic on my face..."
In a world where media-trained celebrities usually keep things buttoned up (and credit everything to a steady diet of bottled water), SZA is refreshingly candid — especially when it comes to her beauty routine. What most people don't know is that before all of the accolades and album sales, Solána Rowe was your neighbourhood skin consultant at Sephora. And when you ask her about beauty, you forget you're talking to an award-winning recording artist. Instead, it's like you're asking advice from your savvy homegirl with a Jersey accent posted up at her 9-to-5 in the mall.
Ahead, SZA spills her unfiltered knowledge (and a little tea) about her curls, her five-minute face, and how she's prepping her skin for the end of the world.
Her Down-To-Earth Acne Routine
"I have this weird feeling that the apocalypse is upon us, so I have to choose products that I can find in nature. I have cystic acne, so I use a Manuka honey mask to combat it and hemp oil to smooth out the surface of my skin. I also use a Vitamin C serum and black soap, and that's it. If I go to the dermatologist and get a peel, she prescribes me shit after, but I don't use it. My skin goes crazy, and I break out."
How She Reached Skin Zen
"I used to work in the skin-care department [at Sephora], so I know for a fact that everyone's skin is different. Consistency and simplification is key. I can't try a whole bunch of different shit that I've seen, like Huda Beauty doing six experiments in a week — imma look crazy. Her skin is invincible. I don't have that gene pool, so I do what I know. Every now and again, if I see something really cool, I'll be like, 'let me try this little turmeric mask.'"
Don't get discouraged with your skin when it doesn't do what you want it to do.
Her 4C Chronicles
"I don’t fuck with the Internet, because the Internet will steer you somewhere crazy. The Internet had me fucking with coconut oil, which honestly dries my hair out. Castor oil is the only thing that gets me right. I have 4c hair, so my shit is porous. As long as you put on some type of water-based cream and lock it in with an oil, it honestly doesn’t matter what you use.
"If I have to shampoo, I do it twice. And then I️ condition hard as fuck for the rest of the day. Protein leaves my hair hella dry, so egg is my weird thing to do. I use a lot of Manuka honey on my hair, too. And I put [hemp oil] and castor oil on my scalp any time I do a protective style."
"I wear a gang of lip gloss. I love MAC. Pat McGrath? Come on, son. She’s Black and killing it. She’s never lost once. For foundation, I like Hourglass. It’s vegan and cruelty free, and it works for Black skin. I️t vanishes everything, and it’s buildable. I sleep in this shit, and I got bad skin."
Her Best Beauty Advice
"Don't get discouraged with your skin when it doesn't do what you want it to do and you feel like, fuck this product. Give it some time. Some of that shit takes a month to break through. And calm down and relax your face. I spent so much time screwing my face into mad different shapes because I was nervous to take a picture as is. I would make all these weird ass faces to where I wouldn't even recognise myself. I've learned to just sit still and be in yourself. That's the only way to get to know yourself."
The prime minister of New Zealand was described as "attractive" and asked about the conception of her baby during a widely criticised interview on an Australian current affairs show.
60 Minutes journalist Charles Wooley has come under fire for his sexist line of questioning during the interview, in which he said he was "smitten" with Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's youngest leader since the 19th century, who is pregnant with her first child.
Wooley referenced Ardern's appearance during the show's introduction, which aired on Sunday night, saying he had "met a lot of prime ministers in [his] time," before adding: "But none so young, not too many so smart, and never one so attractive.” He also said that, like the rest of New Zealand, he was "smitten" with her.
With an unexpected - but very exciting - pregnancy, when @jacindaardern gives birth in June, she’ll become the first elected female western leader to have a child in office. #60Minspic.twitter.com/mCB9rxeT81
Even more cringe-inducing were Wooley's questions about her pregnancy, which she announced in January, three months after taking office. (Ardern will become only the second female world leader to give birth while in power – Benazir Bhutto gave birth to her daughter while she was Pakistan's PM almost 30 years ago.)
“One really important political question that I want to ask you,” Wooley said to Ardern, who was accompanied by her partner, Clarke Gayford, during the interview. “And that is, what exactly is the date that the baby’s due?”
When Ardern responded with 17th June, Wooley said it was "interesting how many people have been counting back to the conception ... as it were." The pair both laughed awkwardly but Gayford looked particularly uncomfortable, blushing and asking, “Really?”
Wooley then, somewhat incongruously, referred to his own experience of conception: “Having produced six children it doesn’t amaze me that people can have children; why shouldn’t a child be conceived during an election campaign?”
To which Ardern replied while rolling her eyes: “The election was done. Not that we need to get into those details.”
Viewers around the world have watched the interview online in shock, with Wooley's questioning widely lambasted as "creepy", "cringeworthy", "sexist" and "pathetic" on social media, particularly by New Zealanders, who swooped to their PM's defence.
That's gross -,what a sexist and pathetic and distinctly uncomfortable piece of "journalism"
Dear New Zealand 🇳🇿, our best mate, you know how everyone has a creepy Uncle you need to avoid at Xmas parties? Sorry we got him to interview your PM. Please tell @jacindaardern we reckon it was gross.
This is cringeworthy. Of course, such interviews are common with male politicians when their partners are expecting a child, so it's all fair. Oh wait. Such weird ass crap has never been inflicted on a male politician.
Wooley: I'm here today with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her domestic partner Clarke Gayford. *Turns to Gayford* Wooley: So mate when did you knock her up?#60Minutes#OfShite
PM Jacinda Ardern should have walked from the so-called interview on 60mins. Not an interview. It was demeaning. PM give yourself permission to remove yourself from such abuse.
60 Minutes is outdated, superficial tosh. Expecting an in-depth, respectful interview of Jacinda Ardern was naive. What actually happened was revolting.#auspolhttps://t.co/HWpOBTGjvX
Is Charles Wooley past it? Seems a very sexist interview, even creepy can't imagine him asking a male PM these questions. Get with the times. https://t.co/OXumHkTIVv
Ardern has since said she was unfazed by the interview and wasn't offended, adding that she was used to such lines of questioning from media. "You're assuming that I haven't been asked that question before by New Zealand media as well," she said in a press conference on Monday.
"At the time certainly... that question threw me a little bit, but it would be going a bit far to say I was somehow offended by it. I wasn't. It's one I think put under the heading of too much information," she continued.
"I haven't spent a lot of time analysing it. Maybe I've lost all of my sensitivity, maybe it's just that I'm from Morrinsville, I don't know, but I just wasn't particularly fazed by any of it," she added.
Gayford's take on the interview, meanwhile, was more in line with the reaction on social media. He alluded to the programme in a cryptic tweet containing picturesque photos of New Zealand: "A perfect place to escape for 60 Minutes or longer where required."
Hey NZ this is you. A perfect place to escape for 60 Minutes or longer where required. Yesterday, Mokohinau Islands. Bloody magic bro. pic.twitter.com/mtHenrrXNB
Wooley described the criticism of his interview as "Orwellian" and defended his questions by saying Australian audiences wouldn't have been interested in domestic policy questions. Speaking to New Zealand's Newstalk ZB, he said there were "so many different meanings" to the word attractive, "from good looking to gorgeous to likeable," but he admitted his wife had accused him of "gushing" over Ardern.
Referring to the uproar, he said: “It’s a bit Orwellian you know I think you got to be so careful with newspeak and thought crime and everything else, we suffer the same thing in Australia.”
Looking to move abroad but don't have a specific destination in mind? You'll want to consider the results of a new survey, which asked 27,000 expats around the world to rate their cities based on factors including culture, lifestyle, health and leisure, and job opportunities.
Depending on your priorities, these are some cities in which to consider building your new life.
Berlin – Culture and nightlife
The German capital is the best city in the world for culture, according to the survey by HSBC. Thanks to its abundance of techno music, world-famous nightlife and more than 700 art galleries, 70% of expats rated it as having the most vibrant cultural scene of the 52 cities surveyed, followed by Buenos Aires, 'the Paris of South America', and London.
More than half (55%) of expats also agreed that Berlin welcomes diversity, which no doubt contributes to the variety of culture on offer. Abby Young-Powell, a freelance journalist who left London for Berlin in 2016, said she wasn't surprised by the result given its world-famous nightclubs, four opera houses and the Berlinale international film festival.
"It also has a lot of open air cinemas showing all sorts of films in summer, which is cool," she told Refinery29, but added that there are drawbacks when it comes to accessibility. "Museums and galleries aren't free as they are in London, which is one of the things that makes London a great city for culture as well. Of course, the cost of living in Berlin is cheaper though."
Sydney – Health and leisure
If you're more into #wellness and staying active or want to improve your fitness levels, Australia's most populous city could be for you. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of expats said they were more physically active since moving there, while an impressive 90% said their physical health had either improved or stayed the same. This could be down to its Instagram-worthy beaches, of which there are more than a hundred, its citizens' active lifestyle and the leisure facilities on offer.
For those seeking a happier and more relaxed quality of life, Madrid is worth considering. The city, dubbed the "health hotspot of Spain", affords expats a more relaxed lunchtime routine than their home countries, with 54% of Madrid-based expats feeling happier (compared to 40% worldwide), and 50% having a more positive outlook on life since relocating there (compared to 41% worldwide). The famous Spanish siesta has a lot to answer for, even if it is declining in popularity.
Madrid's expats also reported being more physically active in their new lives (45%), which could be explained by the city’s abundance of parks and sunny climate, with 97 days of sunshine each year.
If you prefer colder climes though, the survey suggests it's still possible to lead an active, fun-filled lifestyle abroad. The coastal Canadian city ranked second to Sydney for its leisure facilities, with 37% of expats praising the city for this reason. Stanley Park and the ski resort Whistler Blackcomb make the city a favourite among outdoor sports fans. Half of its expats (49%) moved there specifically for a better quality of life and a huge percentage (91%) said their physical health is better or the same since moving.
San Francisco – Jobs
If finding a job is at the top of your priorities list and you work in tech, San Francisco may be the place to go. Home to Silicon Valley, the majority (57%) of its expats rated it as having fantastic job opportunities – well above the 25% global average – thanks to its booming economy and world-leading position in the tech industry.
The city may be expensive, but having the world's second-highest average income means expats can maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Indeed, half (50%) said they were living in better accommodation than they were previously and 42% said they drove a better car than they did at home.
The term "gender gap" is most often used in the context of pay inequality, but new statistics show we should also be using it when discussing anxiety levels, too.
There is a significant "anxiety gap" between men and women in the UK and it has been widening in recent years, according to new figures on national wellbeing from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which questioned people over the age of 16.
In the year to September 2017, men gave themselves an average rating of 2.75 for anxiety, while for women the figure was 3.07. This disparity has increased in just half a decade; in the year 2011-12 the figures for men and women were 2.94 and 3.16 respectively. So in a nutshell, while everyone is less anxious, the gap between men and women has widened.
Previous research supports the idea that women are more likely to experience anxiety disorders than men. Scientists have explained this with both biological and psychological reasons, including differences between men and women's brain chemistry and hormone fluctuations, as well as the different way we react to stress, with women more likely to ruminate on their problems than men.
It's not all bad news for women, however. In the UK at least, they are happier and more satisfied with their lives than men. When asked to rate their lives out of 10, women gave themselves higher scores for life satisfaction (7.72), feelings of it being worthwhile (7.99) and happiness (7.54).
Meanwhile, men scored themselves 7.67 for life satisfaction, 7.76 for feelings of it being worthwhile and 7.5 for happiness.
In general, personal wellbeing is on the up in England – despite the wider socioeconomic and political uncertainty of Brexit and increased pressure on household budgets thanks to inflation and stagnant wages. Happiness levels in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland remain unchanged since last year, however.
"Factors such as people’s social connections and health status play an important part in personal wellbeing," said Silvia Manclossi, the head of the quality of life team at the ONS. "However, some economic factors are also important, so perhaps this trend over time is not surprising as the country came out of the economic downturn."
Importantly, she said the team would be looking into the inequalities between social groups, including the sexes, that have emerged from the data. "Will be exploring these further, looking at factors that may contribute to some groups of society having lower personal wellbeing.”
A group of 45 music festivals, organised by Keychange under the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and PRS, announced that they are committing to achieve 50/50 gender balance by 2022. They will place 50% women on their festival line-ups, on their conference panels and as speakers, and on their commissions. Sadly, very few of the festivals on their list are American.
However, I wouldn't be surprised to see this decision influence the booking practices we see at festivals in America, like Coachella, Lollapalooza, South by Southwest, and Governor's Ball. Not only will this initiative offer, in short order, proof that women can sell tickets just as well as men for festivals, but it will give women who may previously not have been invited a voice on panels and at conferences where the international music community can hear them speak.
And, it will push the rest of the industry forward. By not waiting for record labels to sign more women before they get booked for festivals, sending the message that more women are not just needed but required for spots can change the conversation between festival bookers, artist managers, and labels.
“I remain utterly outraged by the depressing statistics surrounding female representation in every aspect of the global music business," Shirley Manson, singer in Garbage and ambassador for PRS. "I am exceedingly grateful to the PRS Foundation for their initiative in trying to put this to rights for we absolutely and urgently MUST put it to rights. We are doing a great disservice, not only to women of all races and socio-economic backgrounds but to all genders, culture, and society in general by allowing the status quo to continue."
European music fans see a lot of festivals they might attend on the list, many of which bolster the careers of up and coming artists. The By:Larm music festival in Oslo, Norway, for example, is one I have been to and spoken about the American music industry. While I was there, so were representatives for many American labels and music festivals, looking for the next great thing to add to their line-ups. There is a trickle-down effect that can only help female artists.
A slew of male music execs, from Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun to Metallica and Muse's manager Cliff Burnstein to some of the most powerful tour bookers in the game, recently signed an open letter to the Recording Academy that was created by Tom Windish of Paradigm Talent Agency, who books tours (including festival appearances) for Lorde, Coldplay, and Diplo, among many others. "We are writing to stand alongside and in solidarity with the women who penned letters to you regarding gender disparity and ask that more significant and robust action be taken by The Recording Academy to answer their call," it read. Something those men are in a position to influence even more directly, as it is their livelihood, is festival culture. Imagine if they took their open letter to Coachella.
Looking back at Coachella line-ups from the past, it's obvious the festival has heard the years of complaints about gender equality and has stepped up its bookings for females. This year is its most female-friendly line-up yet, and the past two years, including Lady Gaga's turn as the fest's second female headliner in 2017, have shown steady progress in gender equity. Coachella sets the tone for every other festival. There are numerous bands who go from it to playing Governor's Ball to Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza and every small festival in between, and that's the backbone of their summer touring plan. It's no stretch to say they created and lead the festival industry as we know it in America. If they come on board with an initiative like Keychange, it would not only send a signal that they want to be leaders in the push for equality for women in music, but it would completely change the livelihoods of many women in bands.
I'd love to see each and every one of the operating companies for the biggest American festivals (who are all men) join this initiative. It will hold them accountable in the strides they're already taking and send the message loud and clear that women have worth in the music business.
Last week, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu became the first in the world to offer free, publicly-funded breast implants to men and women, The Guardian reports.
The state health department launched the service at a clinic in the capital, Chennai, on Wednesday, with the full support of its state health minister, C Vijaya Baskar. “Why should beauty treatments not be available to the poor?” he asked. “If we don’t offer [the procedure for free], they may opt for dangerous methods or take huge loans for it.”
Previously, the clinic had already been providing reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients, but this is the first time it's offered services to people who wanted to change the size or appearance of their breasts for health or other cosmetics reasons. Going forward, the clinic will also be providing free cleft-lip surgeries for children, and hand transplants, among other procedures.
One former public health director for the state, Dr. S Elango, isn’t crazy about the new program. “[It] sounds populist, but it is not an ideal public health program,” he told the Times of India, per The Guardian. “State funds are required for emerging non-communicable diseases and communicable diseases. It is sad that we are now focusing on beauty instead of life-saving surgeries.”
Dr. V Ramadevi, the head of plastic surgery at the clinic, argued otherwise. “There is a psychological benefit,” she said of her patients, some of whom have sought breast reductions to alleviate back and shoulder pain, and others who’ve pursued the surgeries for a boost in confidence. “Many girls who have larger breasts don’t like to go out. There is no reason this surgery should be restricted from the poor.” And if it'll help protect those same people from the dangers of cheap black-market plastic surgery, then it does become a viable public health program by association.
BeautywithMi, hosted by Refinery29's beauty writerMi-Anne Chan, explores the coolest new trends, treatments, products, and subcultures in thebeautyworld. Follow along on her wild beauty adventureshere.
Chiu doesn't wear a stitch of makeup (save for a little Kjaer Weiss lip pencil in Mauve), and she doesn't need to; her skin is crystal-clear and naturally dewy. I wouldn't have guessed she's a day over 32. She's 43.
Some attribute Chiu's skin to genetics, she says, but there's no denying a strict skin-care routine has something to do with it, too. A licensed acupuncturist, herbalist, and expert in Chinese medicine for over a decade, Chiu has made a name for herself in the holistic beauty world.
Recently, facial acupuncture has gone from fringe beauty technique to relatively common practice, namely for its ability to significantly lift and brighten the face. I found myself not only on her table, but attending one of her gua sha classes earlier this month. Two weeks later, I'm floored by the results: clear, dewy skin and next to no redness.
For those of you who are new to acupuncture, here's a quick crash course: Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medicine practice that involves placing ultra-fine needles on systematic points to improve tone and increase the circulation of blood and lymph. The practice has been shown to help with a host of issues, from depression to arthritis to carpal tunnel. On the face, it can help clear congestion, minimise acne, and reduce redness and inflammation.
Unlike most facials, Chiu's treatment doesn't involve masking or extractions — instead, she focuses on needling the neck and face (with a few needles placed in strategic points on the body) catering her technique to each client's skin concerns. In all honesty, facial acupuncture isn't relaxing during the procedure. According to Chiu, this is completely normal. She says it's common for people to experience discomfort during the treatment, but intense relaxation after. She finishes each treatment with an ultra-soothing 15-minute session of gua sha and cupping.
Still, facial acupuncture isn't for everyone, but gua sha is an easy way to contour and lift the face from the comfort of your own home once you understand how to correctly do it (although I highly recommend booking a professional treatment to see maximum results). Chiu conducts monthly classes to teach clients how to maintain their results at home with gua sha and even has a video explaining the entire process and an online shop where you can buy a jade tool.
I've been using gua sha almost daily since learning about it and I can attest to its ability to tone the face. Sure, it's not like I can skip contour powder, but it does wonders to reduce inflammation — especially after a long night of tequila sodas. Curious to see acupuncture and gua sha in action? Check out the video above and subscribe to Refinery29 's YouTube channel for more videos like this.
The actress and activist shared that she'd love to help create a Time's Up hotline so that new and lesser-known actresses would have a support system should they experience harassment or assault.
"One of the conversations we had was, 'How do I use this power that I have now?'" Lawrence said while discussing RedSparrow at The Wing in New York on Friday. "Nobody fucks with me now, but they did — how do I use that to help people that are not as 'big' in the world as me? So that's when the idea of a hotline (that wasn't my idea) came up."
"I know every head of the studio," she continued. "I can call them and say, 'I heard about this treatment. What’s going on?'"
The idea isn't just phenomenal; it's somewhat revolutionary. The Time's Up hotline would move beyond hashtags and spreadsheets — though, both can still be powerful in their own ways — and would create a tangible network in which women help each other get justice. It'd also be dangerous.
Despite Lawrence's claim that "nobody fucks with" her, it's entirely possible that calling out high-profile men could land her on a "no-cast" list with certain directors and producers. She'd literally be putting her career on the line to help other women she may have never met. If done in tandem with other powerful women in her industry, this is exactly the kind of action and solidarity that could make lasting change and create a safer future for people of all genders both in and out of Hollywood.
"What he did was criminal and deplorable, and when it came out and I heard about it, I wanted to kill him," she said, according to Variety. "The way that he destroyed so many women's lives. I want to see him in jail."
Lawrence calls accusations Harvey Weinstein, who produced her Oscar-winning movie, “Silver Linings Playbook,” criminal and deplorable. She was also one of the first actresses in Hollywood to speak publicly about gender pay inequity.
Lawrence recently called out Weinstein for using one of her past quotes "out of context" with the intention of discrediting and, ultimately, dismissing a sexual harassment lawsuit levied against him.
"Harvey Weinstein and his company are continuing to do what they have always done which is to take things out of context and use them for their own benefit. This is what predators do, and it must stop," she told TMZ. "For the record, while I was not victimised personally by Harvey Weinstein, I stand behind the women who have survived his terrible abuse and I applaud them in using all means necessary to bring him to justice whether through criminal or civil actions. Time's up."
Weinstein has since apologised, but after all of the horrible atrocities he's committed, it's unlikely Lawrence will accept. Lawrence doesn't need apologies; she needs change. And, she, and every other woman demanding "Time's up" won't stop until she gets just that.
If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.
President Trump confidently said Monday that if he ever finds himself on school grounds when a shooting breaks out, he would run into the building — even if he didn't have a gun.
But White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during a press briefing Monday afternoon that what the president meant was that he would "be a leader" — not that he would heroically storm a building where there is an active shooter.
"You don't know until you test it, but I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon,” Trump told the governors. "And I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too."
"They weren’t exactly Medal of Honour winners, alright?" Trump added, signalling that he believed the Broward County Sheriff's deputies who didn't go into the school were at fault for not reacting quickly to the shooting. "The way they performed was frankly disgusting."
The White House changed its tune in the afternoon, when Sanders was asked about the presidents's comments earlier in the day. According to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Sanders told reporters that "[Trump] would be a leader and would want to take a courageous action. A lot of the individuals that helped protect others that day weren't carrying firearms, which shows you can be helpful in that process."
Sarah Sander says Trump wasn't saying he would use a firearm, but "that he would be a leader and would want to take a courageous action. A lot of the individuals that helped protect others that day weren't carrying firearms, which shows you can be helpful in that process." https://t.co/TmeZoZP9kX
Social media users were less than impressed at the president's comments. Folks were quick to remind everyone that in his early 20s Trump dodged being drafted during the Vietnam war a total of five times — four times because of college and one because he was diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels.
Trump in his head: “I really believe I’d run in there, even if I didn't have a weapon. And I think most of the people in this room would've done that, too.”
During the meeting, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told Trump the idea of being armed around children and teenagers had left his constituents alarmed. He said that he spoken with everyone from biology teachers to law enforcement, and they have rejected the proposition.
"We need to listen that educators should educate and they shouldn't be foisted upon this responsibility of packing heat in first grade classes," Inslee told Trump, before continuing, "I just suggest we need a little less tweeting here, a little more listening. Let’s just take that off the table and move forward."
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
It's not just you — when your head is pounding with the remnants of last night's alcohol-soaked adventures, the people around you can suddenly seem 100% more annoying. Of course, when you're already miserable with a hangover, being around other people can make it even worse.
George F. Koob, PhD, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), says that a hangover is essentially "alcohol withdrawal syndrome," and going through withdrawal isn't fun.
"When you drink, you feel good, you're releasing neurotransmitters that make you feel good and suppressing neurotransmitters that make you feel bad," he says. "When the alcohol wears off, you’re dipping your pleasure transmitters and increasing your stress transmitters."
As a result, you can get irritable and cranky. After all, you're probably dehydrated, your stomach feels funny, and you're likely in some form of pain.
"Another thing that gets disrupted is sleep," Dr. Koob says. "People will drink too much, and it’ll help them sleep and they’ll go to sleep right away, but four hours later you wake up, often because you have to go to the bathroom."
And once you're awake, he says, it can be hard to go back to sleep, because your brain is now in hyperactive mode — which, oddly enough, occurs as a result of your brain getting out of the less active mode that comes with drinking alcohol.
All of this, clearly, is not a recipe for your cheeriest self. Hence, everyone seems extra annoying when you're hungover.
When the alcohol wears off, you’re dipping your pleasure transmitters and increasing your stress transmitters.
Physical symptoms aside, Dr. Koob says that feeling embarrassed or sensitive about hangovers can also make you more of a grouch around other people. After all, dealing with a massive headache can be even more painful when everyone starts asking why you look so ill and you're not exactly in the mood to share.
The good news? More than likely, everyone in your life didn't just suddenly become the worst. So, the best way to get over feeling annoyed is to start treating the physical symptoms of your hangover. Unfortunately, there isn't much proof that anything will cure your hangover (though if you need some unofficial advice, we have your back).
"The best solution for a hangover is not to drink so much," Dr. Koob says. "And the second best solution is that if you do drink, stay very hydrated, and during the next day, continue to hydrate yourself. If you can manage, get up and get some exercise, and try to get some food in your stomach."
If your stomach is still queasy, he recommends bland foods that will be mild on your stomach, like bananas, rice, toast, or apples. You might still have to wait it out for your hangover to get better, but hopefully some of those remedies will help make it easier to deal with being around other people.
And if they don't? You may just have to fake it 'til you make it, as cliché as that sounds.
"You feel the feelings you project," Dr. Koob says. "Once you get over the barrier of feeling miserable, if you can project that you're feeling good, then you will feel good because you'll get good responses from other people."
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If you’ve worked in the fashion industry, you’ve either heard the stories, or been in them. Interns (sometimes called 'assistants') working for free in full-time positions. Interns expected to work until 2am and then be on set by 7am for the next gruelling day. Interns charged with any number of impossible tasks – parodied in The Devil Wears Prada when Miranda Priestly asks her assistant to get hold of J.K. Rowling’s unpublished manuscripts of Harry Potter for her children to read on the train that afternoon because "they want to know what happens next".
Then there are the less common stories – of interns being told not to make eye contact with anyone on set and told not to eat in front of people.
Anonymous Instagram account ‘Intern 1 no name’ @fashionassistants is posting people’s real-life Devil Wears Prada experiences as fashion interns and assistants, which range from having Christian Louboutin stilettos thrown at them to being called fat, ugly, stupid, and yes, banned from eating.
The account, which started as a meme account in December 2017, has a modest 4,000 followers at the time of writing, but these followers include many fashion editors, stylists, creative directors and PRs.
Replying to our Instagram DM asking what they hoped to achieve by posting these anonymous stories, the account said: "Other movements got the conversation started and quite rapidly saw change within the industries. We've got people – sadly, but appropriately – referencing The Devil Wears Prada, discussing what needs to change. So many messages of support and questions about how we can work together to unionise have arisen, or how we can set up a platform where agencies can help with problems, abuse, late payments etc."
At the end of last year, when Weinstein was in full swing, models started coming forward about their experiences of abuse under the hashtag #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse, spearheaded by model and activist Cameron Russell. Since then, heavyweight photographers and creatives such as Terry Richardson, Patrick Demarchelier, Karl Templer, Mario Testino and Bruce Weber have all come under fire. The ball is rolling, perpetrators are being exposed, and social media continues to be a catalyst for cultural change – if not actual legal prosecution.
The accounts posted on @fashionassistants are not about sexual harassment or sexual assault, but they are part of a wider movement to expose those abusing their power and taking advantage of young, eager-to-impress individuals in the industry. As fashion editor Jo Ellison described it in The Financial Times this weekend, “Few of the stories [on @fashionassistants] involve sexual harassment. And few involve men. The perpetrators tend to be women and the abuse is usually verbal or physical. There are stylists throwing shoes and clothes hangers in a temper. Or forbidding staff from eating. There is petty unpleasantness. The list demonstrates quite pointedly that women with power can be just as monstrous as men.”
One assistant told Refinery29 about her experiences over the phone, but wished to remain anonymous. “I was an assistant for a number of years before I started working for a well-known stylist, whose work I adored,” she says. “I was a really good assistant too, I had a good reputation, but working for this person shattered my confidence. I became the sort of person that was afraid of my own shadow. The experience taught me to be really strong, and maybe I needed that… but I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through it.”
“There’s one person I know, who assisted a stylist many years ago, and is still in therapy because of it,” she continued.
When people have to psychologically recover from a job which they started as a bright spark, full of promise, there is cause for concern.
Fashion activist, writer and editor Caryn Franklin told us that she never witnessed the shoe-throwing type of behaviour on set in her fashion career – which spans three decades – but that "no intern should have to deal with someone like that". Caryn has written about the fashion industry’s complicity with abuse in relation to the photographers mentioned above for Refinery29, and says complicity is relevant here, too: “If someone higher up the food chain is on a shoot and witnessing that sort of behaviour, they should speak up. What happens of course, is that everybody is fearful for their position, but I find it very hard to hear that nobody stands up for the young inexperienced intern when somebody who ought to know better is throwing their weight around.”
The stories on @fashionassistants are accusing stylists specifically, and most of the stories take place on shoots, which, admittedly, are high-pressured situations. “On shoots there’s very limited time, and quite often things that look very high production are done on very limited budgets,” Caryn explains, “so it’s a very precarious situation that puts people under a lot of stress, and that can bring out the worst in someone who is so fixed on the end result that they are bullying people in order to achieve it.”
“Some powerful people are corrupted by their own status and have this sense that they are so unique and so special that they can overstep all professional boundaries,” Caryn continues. “That is not a good leader or an inspirational creative."
Another stylist’s assistant, who also wishes to remain anonymous, told us about her experiences working for a “big name stylist who worked on shoots for all the household names”. On one occasion, she says, “I was sent to China Town to retrieve a certain type of shoe, which I couldn't find anywhere. When I returned to the office at 10pm, after crying and panicking that I couldn’t find this shoe, I was told I should leave my job if I couldn't do the work. I never got paid, which meant all those weeks I’d spent working for this woman, running around from borough to borough – which I was told would be expensed – ended up coming out of my pocket. I chased her three times for payment. My emails were ignored.”
“Maybe those stories aren’t so bad?” this assistant concluded, like most of the former or current assistants we spoke to, who haven’t been hit by shoes but have been treated unfairly, and have come to expect it as part of their ‘initiation’ into the fashion industry. Earning your stripes by burning yourself out trying to meet impossible demands from impossible people is, unfortunately, a fairly common experience, and not just in fashion. But while long hours, poor pay and little thanks is one thing, physical and verbal abuse which causes lasting emotional damage is entirely another.
The good news is that there are, realistically, only a few handfuls of these people among a sea of kind, supportive, encouraging creatives. And as evidence and testimonies mount on social media, and publications like TheNew York Times continue to investigate the individuals who have abused their power for too long, fashion’s nasty outer layer of skin may well be shed for good.
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The author, Cathy Newman, investigates FGM in The FGM Detectives shown at 10pm on Channel 4, Tuesday 27th February. Despite being banned, it is thought that 20,000 girls in the UK are at risk each year.
Detective Chief Inspector Leanne Pook has spent her entire career putting criminals in the dock. Now she has to defend herself in the court of public opinion after the collapse last week of a trial accusing a father of mutilating his daughter. The judge ordered a non-guilty verdict.
It’s been a turbulent week for DCI Pook. But she insists she remains just as determined to help stop the scourge of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain as she was six years ago, when she had what she describes as a life-changing encounter with one of the Bristol Somali community, with whom she has since forged close links.
After dedicating much of her career to child protection in Avon & Somerset, she’d been tasked with leading work in the region not only to prevent British women and girls being cut but also to bring the perpetrators to justice.
She’d attended an event at Bristol University, along with 400 other people, where a 15-year-old boy, Mukhtar Hassan, stood up and addressed the audience passionately. Why, he asked, was he, as a boy, concerned about FGM? His answer, DCI Pook recalls, was simple: “He said, ‘I may be a man, but I’m somebody’s son, I’m somebody’s brother, I’m somebody’s friend, and one day I will be somebody’s father.’”
This seasoned police officer says it moved her to tears. “It blew my mind,” she remembers. If 15-year-old Mukhtar had the guts to stand up in front of an audience of hundreds and tell them FGM needed to end, DCI Pook felt she owed it to him – and all the thousands of women and girls mutilated up and down the country – to do everything she possibly could to put a halt to the practice.
For more than three decades, FGM has been illegal in the UK, but no one has ever been successfully prosecuted. One spring day in 2016, DCI Pook took a call which might have changed the course of history.
A Bristol-based charity, Integrate – of which DCI Pook is a trustee – informed her that one of their activists had witnessed a local taxi driver apparently admitting that he’d had his daughter cut.
DCI Pook and her team swung into action with an investigation, which was to prove highly controversial. They identified the taxi driver and discovered he had several children, including a 6-year-old girl. A medical examination carried out by a Bristol-based paediatrician revealed an injury to her clitoris. But it’s so small – a 2-3mm lesion, described as a possible “type 4 ” cut – that there are immediate question marks over whether, legally, it amounts to mutilation.
It’s the first of many setbacks in the case.
Some have claimed that type 4 FGM should be permitted as a cultural practice. DCI Pook has little patience with that argument, suggesting that because many of the victims of FGM are from black and minority ethnic communities, a subtle kind of racism is at play here. “I just think...if we had a little white girl here and we took off the very tip of her finger, there would be bloody outrage!” she says.
Her colleague Dave Evry agrees: “People need to know that these girls are held down by, often, their mothers and their aunts and their grandmothers. Just because something can be minor, a minor nick or a pinprick or a cut to the clitoris or, you know, parts of the vagina – any cut is painful.”
Muna Hassan, Mukhtar’s sister, a passionate anti-FGM campaigner working for Integrate, highlights the controversy of FGM within the Somali community.
Not all men in the Bristol area are as supportive as her brother. “Men can somehow find a way to be a collective when it comes to talking about the vaginas,” she says, adding that if people feel targeted by the police, they need to start the kind of dialogue she and her family have with DCI Pook. “We have to be really honest to ourselves, FGM is still something that is happening in the UK, and if communities feel like they are being targeted and attacked, have those conversations with the police. Sit down with each other.”
The longer the investigation continued, the harder DCI Pook had to work to keep the community onside, and the police and other agencies were to face questions about the delays.
Then there was a development which the police officer would later describe as a “hammer blow” to the case.
A senior doctor, the UK’s leading FGM specialist, consulted about the photographs from the medical examination of the little girl, thought there was a suggestion of a small lesion but said the images were simply too blurry to be sure.
She carried out her own investigation several weeks later. And this time the doctor couldn’t see the injury.
Evry tears up as he reflects on what they all knew was “a big knock-back”.
“I thought we’d lost it all. I thought the case was out of the water then... And also then you start to question, you know, what have we done? You know, have we unnecessarily disrupted this family, have we unnecessarily put this girl through something she didn’t need to go through?”
Should DCI Pook at this point have given up? Her detractors in the community believe so. But remembering Mukhtar Hassan, and all the activists she’s come to know and love, she pressed on.
The second medical expert’s full report said if there was an injury, it was possible it may have simply healed.
So the case proceeded. After investigating for nearly a year, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) agreed with DCI Pook and her team that there was enough evidence for criminal charges. The CPS advised the police that the limited nature of the potential injury meant that instead of using the dedicated FGM legislation, they should charge the girl’s father with child cruelty, for allowing or arranging for her to be mutilated.
On the first day of the trial, 19th February, nearly two years after she first started investigating the case, DCI Pook felt the burden of what she believed would prove to be a historic moment. “We’ve had 30-something years of FGM legislation and nobody had been prosecuted successfully, and so there’s this kind of overwhelming sense of ‘Oh my word, we’re here now, this has happened. The next four days are really, really massively important'.”
It would turn out to be a prophetic comment.
As the prosecution outlined the evidence, the judge soon made clear he was concerned that the account relied on was "internally inconsistent". Sami Ullah, the key witness said that the taxi driver and father of the little girl had described FGM more broadly as “very wrong” and had suggested to Mr Ullah that his daughter had only had the “small” cut. The judge said there was a risk of misunderstanding as the defendant's "English was broken". While the judge accepted that Mr Ullah gave his evidence honestly, he stated that he had been “influenced” by his views as an activist at Integrate.
The case began to unravel.
The judge directed the jury to acquit the taxi driver, saying he found the case against him “deeply troubling”. The medical evidence, he said, was “wholly inconclusive at its highest”. The equipment used in the first examination was 15 years old, and the photographs so blurry they were “of no value clinically or forensically”.
The CPS said they accepted the decision but argued that this was “an unusual and unprecedented case”. They insisted there was sufficient evidence to prosecute, and the case was in the public interest.
Just days after the acquittal, the links with the community, which DCI Pook had spent years nurturing, exposed her to scrutiny. Questions were asked about why she’d been allowed to lead the case and interview the only witness, despite their mutual involvement with Integrate. The local MP suggested there was a conflict of interest – an allegation DCI Pook denies. Her appointment as a trustee for Integrate was cleared by Avon & Somerset Police.
DCI Pook is bitterly disappointed with the outcome of the case. But this isn’t the end of the story, which began with that speech by 15-year-old Mukhtar Hassan.
“Very soon after I got involved in this work, I knew that my commitment to ending FGM would last a lifetime. While this issue continues to affect women and girls, I will get out of bed every single day determined to do everything I possibly can to stop it,” she says.
Thirty-three years after FGM was first outlawed in the UK, a successful prosecution will have to wait. Just how long depends on the determination and trust of people like Mr Hassan, and the dedication of officers like DCI Pook.
Within weeks, a London man will face trial, accused of inflicting FGM. DCI Pook and her colleagues will be watching that case with interest.
The FGM Detectives airs on Tuesday 27thFebruary at 10pm on Channel 4.
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There’s a bonus to having friends who help other people for a living: they can use their skills to help their mates, too. And just think of the tips that would be dropped into a chat with your BFF if they specialised in sex? Exactly. Sex therapists help clients with everything from wanting more sex, less sex or better sex to serious sexual dysfunction. They’ve seen, heard and learned what really works – and what doesn’t. So what do they tell their friends who come to them with a problem? We asked six pros that very question…
The issue: When my friend first started having sex with her husband, she could reach orgasm easily because of (her words) “luck and excitement”. But she’d never really told him what she really liked during sex and, over time, she struggled to climax. When her orgasms stopped, so did her desire towards her husband and eventually I saw her shut down.
The advice: Firstly, I suggested she explain to him what was going on in this way: It's like two people going to a party, if only one person is going to have fun at the party, the other won't want to go. The metaphor confronts any partner’s misunderstanding that female orgasms are ‘just not a regular thing’, which is what her husband had shrugged off their issue as – and why he stopped ‘waiting’ for her during sex. Secondly, I bought her an Acuvibe vibrator (side note: I’ve given all my friends vibrators), which reaches the pleasurable nerves, the clitoral legs, deep in the pelvis.
Six months later, her husband called me complaining that she was only using the vibrator, and not interested in pleasing him. I nearly shrieked at him for being so selfish, but I told him to be patient, as I believed she was regaining confidence in her body. She was: The vibrator reminded my friend that she needed clitoral stimulation, and the more she used it, the more it triggered, and fed, her desire. But she also needed an emotional connection from her husband: he had to want to take the time to pleasure her. They started incorporating the vibrator into their love play, and even though it shouldn’t really be news, he learned that the clitoris – not the vagina – was the centre of her sexual universe.
The issue: The one thing my single male and female friends always ask me is how to stop worrying what a new partner is thinking about them during sex. One friend obsessed about it so much, someone stopped mid-session to ask if she was okay because she looked stressed.
The advice: I tell them it's totally normal to feel vulnerable and have thoughts that prevent us from feeling it during sex. But when it spirals, and they’re worrying whether the person they’ve hooked up with is having fun, at the expense of their own, they should practise 'turning the mind'. It’s a technique I teach my patients from dialectical behaviour therapy. So when something unhelpful pops up, like ‘Am I pleasing him/her well enough?’ or ‘Was his/her last Tinder date better than me?' instead of blocking the thought out, you acknowledge it but then ‘pivot’ and focus on something happening in that moment, for example, that their hands are on your body.
When we try and force negative thoughts out of our mind, they usually come back with momentum. Accepting and refocusing as often as you need to trains the brain to return to the present, and helps you focus on how sex actually feels for you.
Kate Moyle is a psychosexual and relationship therapist and partner at Pillow app for couples
The issue: I had a friend who struggled to maintain an erection with his girlfriend. They’d been together a year and the second time it happened, they ended up arguing. She was convinced he didn’t find her attractive, but that wasn’t the reason. He’d been through a stressful time at work, which had knocked his confidence and left him worrying about things in an irrational way – including keeping an erection. After the row, he was too nervous to initiate sex, and a month later he called me thinking his girlfriend was 'probably right'.
The advice: I broke it down for him, logically: Did he still fancy his girlfriend? Yes. Has it only ever happened twice? Yes. Could he get an erection when he wasn't thinking about it, say, in the morning? Yes. I explained that many sexual problems are rooted in anxiety, and unfortunately the brain will prioritise anxiety over arousal as it thinks something is about to go wrong. The key was to work out the pressure point, which, for my friend, was intercourse. I suggested they ban it for a month and get creative with touch and play because skin-on-skin contact releases oxytocin – the hormone that helps us feel connected and intimate.
My friend said talking to his girlfriend about how he was feeling was a huge relief. She apologised for overreacting and they introduced sensual experiences to temporarily take the focus off intercourse, including undressing each other and lying naked together with their legs entwined before going to sleep. After doing this several times, they were so turned on by not having sex, that’s exactly what they ended up having.
Dr Debra Lainois a certified sexologist, therapist and national speaker on topics of human sexuality and health
The issue: A couple of months ago my friend farted loudly during sex. It had never happened to her before and she was mortified for days.
The advice: “It happens!” I told her. I also said that if her partner was turned off by this totally NATURAL bodily occurrence, then they were living in a fantasy and not worth her time. I also pointed out that if she continued to put pressure on herself never to pass gas ever again during sex, then sex would become awkward for her.
It might sound simple but the best thing to do in situations like this is to laugh about them. Embarrassment comes from taking ourselves too seriously, or setting expectations that aren’t always attainable or realistic. Sex gets hit hard when it comes to concepts of perfection but no one is perfect: we’re human. And we fart. Having a sense of humour about our eruptions, and ourselves, takes the edge off and can bring you and your partner closer together.
Dr Tanisha M. Ranger is a licensed psychologist, certified sex addiction therapist and owner of Insight to Action LLC
The issue: One area I frequently get asked about from my friends, probably because I specialise in helping people with a sexual addiction, is whether masturbating every day, watching porn or engaging in consensual BDSM makes them a sex addict.
The advice: I tell them that when it comes to sexual addiction, it's not about what you do – it's about what those consensual sexual activities are doing to you. So if they’re not preventing you from maintaining and nurturing your relationships, fulfilling your obligations at work or feeling good about yourself then, no, you’re probably not dealing with sex addiction.
I also remind them that masturbation isn’t a negative thing – it’s a fabulous way to explore and satisfy your body and your sexuality on your own terms. But if you notice a negative pattern in your sexual behaviour, such as masturbating because you’re avoiding dealing with an emotion, watching so much porn that you’re missing out on important things, or not being able to engage sexually without a dominant/submissive aspect like spanking or binding – that’s when it can be problematic, and it's best to see a therapist. They can help you manage your emotions and provide strategies to overcome any negative associations to do with sex.
Dr Jennifer Gunsaullus is a sociologist, sexologist and relationship, intimacy and sex coach
The issue: I’ve had girlfriends come to me about pain during sex, which unfortunately is really common. In one national study, a third of women said they experienced pain during their last sexual encounter.
The advice: After reassuring them that they’re not alone, I tell my friends there can be many reasons for sexual pain, and if it’s happening every time they have sex, or is particularly painful, they should see a doctor. Sometimes it’s a medical condition like vaginismus (when the vaginal muscles contract or tighten when you try to insert something into it) or vulvodynia (a burning sensation on the vulva). But one of the most common causes is friction and tension from lack of lubrication and arousal.
I asked one friend if things ‘moved quickly’ when she and her husband had sex? She said they went straight to intercourse within a few minutes. Ouch! Even if we think we’re raring to go, mental arousal can happen before blood flow to the genitals and production of natural lube. If you haven't warmed up for sex – and it can take 20 minutes for vaginal tissues to get sufficiently lubricated – penetration is going to be a pain.
It sounds simple but the solution can be slowing down and enjoying non-intercourse sexual play first. I reminded her that foreplay shouldn’t be an optional add-on to sex; it’s essential for female pleasure. I then asked what got her excited, and how she liked to be touched? She said she liked knowing her husband’s hopes for sex in advance, so she could shift gears into thinking about sex. She also liked it when he slowly kissed her neck and breasts, while sharing why he was attracted to her. It made her feel sexy and relaxed. I told her to share this with her husband so that they could approach this as a team. The next time we met, she said they were moving more at her body’s pace, noticing her breathing and being aware of whether she was aroused or tense – and after a few months, pleasure had replaced the pain.
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Welcome to the Refinery29 Book Club! Each month, members of the team will read a book that has everyone talking, before sharing our thoughts and feelings with you. Join in the conversation or recommend a book for next month in the comments below.
We know what you're thinking. George Saunders: white, middle-aged, male. The winner of 2017's Man Booker prize, which isn't exactly known for championing young, female, diverse voices (a woman has walked away victorious just 17 times in almost 50 years). When you google his name, the internet elves who like to pre-empt your next move suggest you also look up David Foster Wallace, John Updike, Thomas Pynchon: highbrow, high-concept, 'bro ' authors with a habit of popping up on the bookshelves of a certain sort of man. What can this book possibly have to do with my life? And what's a 'bardo' anyway?
Well, prepare to change your mind because Lincoln in the Bardo is something else. Undeniably experimental in form – Saunders calls on history and fiction, the living and the dead – it is, nonetheless, breathtakingly human. In Saunders' hands, the death of Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son becomes an exploration of life, love, and loss; of grief and regret; of what happens when we die, and that all-too-common feeling: if only we had a little more time...
So don't be put off by that title ('bardo', by the way, is a Buddhist term for the state of the soul between death and rebirth); this is not a book for bros, it's a book for us all. Click on for more thoughts from the team at Refinery29 UK, or head below the line – we'd love to hear your opinion, too!
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders is out now in paperback, published by Bloomsbury.
Sadhbh O'Sullivan, Social Media Assistant
What were your initial thoughts? The narrative conceit (split between told history of the day and a murky purgatory filled with the souls of those who refuse to believe they are dead) is... discombobulating at first. It's not hard to read necessarily, but it's not a traditional narrative by any means. It took me a while to get into it but then I never actually wanted to stop reading it.
And final thoughts? I loved it! Never read anything quite like it – it was simultaneously a raucous and painful and touching look at grief. Big fan of the 'ghosts'. On a less flippant note, I really enjoy anything that can draw attention to the way that history is so rarely objective – to get the full picture you have to assemble it through fragments and the many, many eyes and memories of those who were there (or imagine them to be there). Not to get too 'I have an English degree' but it's such an interesting contrast to grief and how memory works when someone has gone. What is a person when they have died? An assembly of memories, anything 'final' has disappeared and is unknowable.
Was it an enjoyable read? Definitely. It's not a difficult read like I was anticipating, where you have to work to understand the language. Once I got into the rhythm I looked forward to reading it a lot.
What was your favourite part? I loved the Reverend's whole journey. It reminded me in a way of The Good Place but obviously not as funny. Nothing is.
What one thing will you take away from reading this book? History is not objective, grief is hard, accepting death is, in some ways, harder.
Who (if anyone) would you pass this on to? Probably my old university tutor, though she's no doubt read it. I want to talk about it with her.
Will you be reading Saunders' other books now? Probably.
Sass Webber, Senior Project Manager
What were your initial thoughts? My initial thoughts were, 'Oh my, am I reading this right?' The first page really pulls you in, then the plot stops and jumps abruptly to something else. A few pages in and I understood why it is referred to as an experimental novel, a few more and I was perplexed. By the end of the first chapter I thought I’d figured it out but I don’t mind admitting, I did jump onto Wiki to check that I was reading it correctly. I was (insert smug tone).
And final thoughts? It actually wasn’t as hard going as I’d thought it would be. Once I’d got into the swing of the prose and cacophony of characters (all 166 of them) it really did become addictive and I found myself reaching for the book every time I had even 30 seconds to spare. The ending was a little consciously worthy for my liking, and a bit of a leap from the experimental, innovative nature of the rest of the book but not to the extent that the book was ruined for me.
Was it an enjoyable read? Yes! I loved it way more than I‘d expected, it hooked me to the point that I was walking through Tube stations reading as I went, much to the annoyance of my fellow commuters.
What was your favourite part? I loved how historic quotes and references were woven through the text. The often conflicting citations and commentary on factual events felt uncannily similar to scrolling through an 1860s Twitter thread, a technique that brought otherwise banal facts vividly to life. Also the avoidance language used to describe the perilous situation and surroundings most of the characters found themselves in, which was a smart shortcut to revealing their inner turmoil.
And least favourite part? I loved the character Elise Traynor but despite having an overactive imagination, my brain just couldn’t pull together the imagery used to describe her. I didn’t like having a character that I just couldn’t picture in my head, especially when she was described in such vivid, harrowing detail. Also. What did the Reverend do? Anyone??
What one thing will you take away from reading this book? That not all experimental novels are impossible to enjoy.
Who (if anyone) would you pass this on to? All my friends are total bookworms and I’ve been raving about this book non-stop so there’s already a long waiting list. First on that list is my friend Annie, mostly because she likes any book I like and vice versa. Also she is smarter than me so I’m hoping she can tell me what the Reverend did. What did he do, Annie?
Will you be reading Saunders' other books now? I don’t love short stories so probably not. Strong words I know, but I get so deeply immersed and then they just finish way before I’m ready, it’s like being literarily dumped over and over in 250 pages. That said, if George writes another novel, experimental or otherwise, I will definitely indulge.
Nina Joyce, PR Director Europe
What were your initial thoughts? The first few pages serve you quite a curveball: the layout and flow of narrative is far from your standard novel. Part play script, part poem, part jigsaw citation from various writers capturing historical events, Lincoln in the Bardo tests its reader's attention and imaginative capacity from the off. Once you've settled into the flow of the book, you see Saunders is an exceptional storyteller, drawing a cast of the undead together to tell an array of very human stories, each one developing at a confident and intriguing pace.
Throughout the book, you see Lincoln's imagined turmoil around his son's death in some amazing passages of inner monologue, which traverses both grief and resolution in a way that'll touch a nerve with anyone who has dealt with the death of a loved one.
And final thoughts? This book is absolutely amazing. Don't let the off-kilter layout put you off and do persevere if you initially struggle to sink your teeth into the various stories Saunders layers together – the thread binding them becomes stronger with each page. It's also laugh out loud funny; a grown-up ghost story featuring, among other things, a trouserless man bounding around with a wobbling dick the size of a baseball bat, and a troupe of ghouls pelting the graveyard's occupants with different styles of hats depending on their mood. It's absurd, warm and heartbreaking all at the same time, making it a perfect eulogy for human life told by the stark orator that is death.
What was your favourite part? There's an extended party scene I particularly liked that chronicles the night of Willie Lincoln's death, told from the patchwork perspective of the party's attendees, White House staff and other witnesses who catalogued the detail of the Lincolns's soiree while their son was gravely ill upstairs. The various accounts of the President and the First Lady come together in a chattering chorus of opinion, sometimes even contradicting each other, pointing to the difficulty of telling a reliable story when the protagonists are so ripe for public dissection. While you can make some canny comparisons to the public's relationship to politicians today, it makes for a much more intimate experience when Saunders lets those voices die down and you're left alone with the unadulterated thoughts of Lincoln himself.
Also, the clever breadcrumbs Saunders leaves throughout the book – what are those 'sick-boxes' that keep getting mentioned? – have an immensely satisfying payoff by the end.
And least favourite part? The Civil War looms large and gathers some decisive pace towards the end, but I would've liked to have seen the implications of that war – the fallen soldiers on all sides, the slaves buried in mass graves beyond the confines of the respectable cemetery – worked in sooner than they are.
That said, it's only through the process of properly grieving for his son that Lincoln can begin to imagine how he might move towards victory in the hitherto deadlocked conflict, paving the way for some of the most significant cultural shifts in American history.
Who (if anyone) would you pass this on to? Anyone! Everyone! Come to my house right now because I've photocopied the entire book and will be handing it out!
You do have to suspend your disbelief for a lot of this book – the bulk of the story is set in the bustling minutiae of a village that is really a dreary 19th century graveyard – but the charming array of characters makes it worth it.
Will you be reading Saunders' other books now? Yes. Would be a bit weird if I bashed out all that and didn't, right?
Katy Thompsett, Sub Editor
What were your initial thoughts? I have not got the faintest idea what's going on here. Who are all these characters? Why is it set out like a play? I couldn't figure out how Saunders was going to weave all these seemingly unrelated stories into one coherent narrative, and spent the first few chapters second-guessing what I was reading. Disconcerting, I think, was my initial impression.
And final thoughts? I've not experienced anything as tragic as the death of a young child so I can't speak firsthand but this feels like such an accurate depiction of grief. There's a moment where Lincoln lets himself into the crypt, opens his son's casket and takes his corpse into his arms. What could have been shocking becomes an incredibly moving, human action. That may be the best way to describe this book, in fact: human. There's a lot to do with spirituality, yes – faith, the afterlife, the idea that we all have a soul – but more than anything, I think it's about empathy; how we understand and can be kind to one another.
Was it an enjoyable read? Oh my goodness, yes. Hilarious at times (wait 'til you get to Willie's description of Hans Vollman's, er, 'member'); devastating at others. And so much easier to read than I had anticipated – the play-like format worked beautifully. I can imagine it being adapted for the stage, actually.
What was your favourite part? Probably when the 'ghosts' inhabit Lincoln's body and begin to think his thoughts and feel his feelings. And each others' thoughts and feelings, in turn. It sort of shatters the horrible solipsism of human existence. The last chapter – I won't spoil it – is particularly poignant.
And least favourite part? Nitpicking, really, but whenever it switched to the historical sources I wanted to get back to the 'ghosts'. But only because they're so vivid and compelling, I couldn't get enough.
What one thing will you take away from reading this book? That there should be more empathy in the world. Maybe then we wouldn't be in this mess.
Who (if anyone) would you pass this on to? My friend Polis, although he works in a bookshop and doesn't so much read as inhale books, so I suspect he may have whizzed through this one already.
Will you be reading Saunders' other books now? On this evidence, absolutely.
Sian O'Flaherty, Senior Branded Content Manager
What were your initial thoughts? I have to say my initial thoughts weren’t *great*. Firstly, I have next to no knowledge of American history; secondly, the genre didn’t really seem like my cup of tea (half historical, half set in the afterlife, over 100 characters and heavily based around grief… I mean?!). Thirdly, after a quick flick through, the formatting looked strange, obscure and well, a bit pretentious. And finally, I didn’t know what a 'bardo' was. Please say I’m not the only one...
And final thoughts? I take it all back. What an experience! This was unlike anything I've ever read and I have to say I got so much from this book. It was strange and sprawling and enchanting, and while not always the easiest read, it was so worth persevering with for its beautiful depictions of love and loss and its unique narrative.
Was it an enjoyable read? I would say the word ‘strange’ is apt here. I did enjoy it but I found the odd form of this book really hard to get the hang of until at least a third of the way in. Saunders pieces together historical facts, eyewitness accounts, gossip and hearsay to tell the tale of the loss of Lincoln’s son. This is then interwoven with the strange ghosts (?!) in the bardo – and all set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. There’s a lot going on and I found myself reading and rereading pages constantly, trying to figure out who was saying what and whether it was real, imaginary or rumours. Having said all that, this book really affected me; it made me think so much about life, love and loss. It's hugely moving and will stay with you long after you finish it.
What was your favourite part? One of my favourite things was the way Saunders managed to depict the way different people perceive events. This felt so relevant and so incredibly contemporary: so often we totally exaggerate or misinterpret the way things really happened and Saunders managed to tell his unique tale via this common thing we all do. While intense and quite distressing, Saunders' descriptions of loss felt so real and visceral – you can almost feel Lincoln’s pain when he loses his son Willie, it’s overwhelming in a way I’ve never felt through literature before.
And least favourite part? What did the Reverend do?! The Reverend Thomas is a core character who has supposedly done something terrible but we never find out what. This was one of the biggest unanswered questions – unless it was answered, in which case it went above me.
What one thing will you take away from reading this book? A couple of things. 1) Not to judge a book by its cover. I NEVER would have chosen a novel of this genre but I really did feel moved by it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so original and unique, I would never have read anything like it if it hadn’t been for book club. 2) It raised a lot of interesting questions about what happens after you die; even for non-believers of the afterlife, I feel this would be powerful and affecting.
Who (if anyone) would you pass this on to? I’m going to pass this on to my lovely friend Grace, she loves a good historical novel so this will be right up her street.
Will you be reading Saunders' other books now? I’d definitely give them a try… are they all as unusual as this though?!
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
