News

Slacks! Blouses! Brooches!



David Sims for Vogue UK - model in vintage brooch

“I want slacks! I want blouses! I want brooches!”

My friend J tells me a hilarious story of his wranglings with ball-breaking Hollywood publicists in his days as a high flying entertainment editor. One shrieked the above styling order to him down her BlackBerry while organising a cover shoot for her mid-aughts A-lister.

That lady’s time has come again; the brooch is back. (more…)



Old Burberry



The Queen wearing Burberry at Windsor Great Park in 1985 by Tim Graham via Vogue

Having an #oldburberry moment and thinking about the signature check in a classic old money outdoorsy context.

Kinda nailed by this old school photo of The Queen at Windsor Great Park in 1985 by Tim Graham. This was in the days when Burberry was more of a traditional British brand rather than a luxury brand. Still quietly well regarded, but not ‘fashion’ and definitely not ‘hype’. (more…)



How personalised skincare schemes like Renude are reinventing the business of beauty subscriptions



 Renude skincare subscription service

A trend that was already on the up pre-Covid has exploded in the last year or so. Beauty subscription schemes have evolved beyond product edits and sampling boxes (although those are still going great guns – hello Liberty The Beauty Drop*) to genuinely useful services that save time and money. Specifically: skincare subscriptions.

Thanks to an overall trend in which skincare has become part of the self-care canon (one of the premises of my book, Face Values), start-up founders have spotted a market for people who are interested in the benefits of skincare, but overwhelmed by products and advice. (more…)



Gentlewoman style: Sofia Coppola living the Uniqlo life



Sofia Coppola Uniqlo magazine

I hate to say it, but Uniqlo really is the new Gap. (Yeah, I’m a tad late on this; I guess I’ve been in denial.) Its latest LifeWear magazine absolutely nails the Ametora* sweet spot between American Ivy dressing and Japanese gentlewoman style.

This issue features New Yorkers expressing the ‘joys of clothing’, including the likes of art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, Balcony magazine founders Vicente Muñoz and Audrey Rose Smith, musician Sophia Pastorius-Young and Sofia Coppola living their best lives in Uniqlo chinos, rain macs, high waist jeans and stripy pyjamas. (more…)