In the past five years, the rise of social media has brought with it increasing fears about the effect that constant Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat use could have on our mental health. But can how you use those platforms offer deeper insight into your mental state?
That's what researchers from Harvard and the University of Vermont sought to find when they observed the Instagram accounts of 166 individuals. They found a link between the certain colours, filters and subjects in participants’ Instagram photos and depression. The results were significant enough that the researchers think Instagram photos might be a future means of screening for the mental illness, which affects more than 15 million American adults. This means that analysis of Instagram photos could assist someone in getting help sooner.
At the start of the study, researchers had participants fill out a standardised clinical depression survey. Each participant shared their Instagram username and the researchers analysed over 43,000 photos from their combined accounts.
Photo: Madeline Buxton.
What researchers found was that photos that were bluer, darker, and greyer predicted depression. Individuals with depression also had fewer faces per posted photo and were less likely to use filters. Those who did use filters often used Inkwell, the black-and-white filter. This filter most closely corresponds with the researchers' finding about colours.
Why did the researchers choose to focus on Instagram for health screening rather than Facebook or Twitter? "Instagram members currently contribute almost 100 million new posts per day, and Instagram’s rate of new users joining has recently outpaced Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and even Facebook," the researchers say in the study.
Of course, just because someone posts a dark photo doesn't directly imply that they're depressed. The researchers make sure to point out that far more analysis is needed. Some photos just look better in black and white and getting the Inkwell treatment can highlight certain aspects of an image.
But since so much of our lives do take place online, it's important not to discount the findings. Further research into how and why we post what we do can provide important mental health indicators and hopefully, help someone seek treatment if they need it.
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Last month, GIRLI played one of her first headline gigs at an intimate 150-capacity venue in north London. It was a confident, infectious and eventually pretty raucous performance which saw the pink-haired singer deliver a succession of brash, bolshy pop-tracks with titles like "Girls Get Angry Too" and "So You Think You Can Fuck With Me, Do Ya?" before the audience, almost entirely teenage and mainly female, stormed the stage. "I'm used to, like, 10 people storming the stage," GIRLI tells me a few days later, still kind of taken aback. "But I didn't expect more people to storm the stage than actually stay in the crowd. When I looked out at the venue, I realised there was almost no one left in the crowd watching, because they were all on stage!"
In person, 18-year-old GIRLI is calmer and less combative than her music could suggest. Her real name is Milly and she grew up in suburban north London, where she attended a comprehensive school that wasn't as "open" as she wanted. "If a boy had come to school wearing a skirt, he would have got beaten up," she recalls sadly. "I remember starting to feel like it was quite a hostile environment because there was me and my group of friends who were really open, but then there was everyone else [who wasn't]. I was like, ‘Fuck, this is really poisonous, this is toxic,’ so I left after my GCSEs. I was like, 'Im getting out of here, I’m going to music college.'"
If someone says to you, 'You look really girly today,' what does that even mean? It's like, are you saying I look like I have a vagina?
Around the same time, the band she'd been gigging with disintegrated and Milly decided to go it alone, adopting a new, more electronic sound and a fresh persona. "I wanted to come up with a name that represented a female icon and a female person making music," she explains. "I read this interview with Debbie Harry where she said that Blondie's name came from the way she used to get shouted at by builders on the streets in New York. They'd be like 'Oi, Blondie!' because she had peroxide blonde hair. I liked the idea that she took that and made it a ‘fuck you!'. I was also playing on the idea of gender and what it evens means to be ‘girly.’ Because if someone says to you, 'You look really girly today,' what does that even mean? It's like, are you saying I look like I have a vagina? People might think I’m called GIRLI because I wear lots of pink or whatever, but when I came up with the name, which was a year and a bit ago, I was pretty androgynous and wearing black all the time."
GIRLI’s distinctive dress sense is actually an “anything goes” amalgam of various diverse influences. "I have friends who are into punk and get their clothes from thrift stores. I love The Slits and Debbie Harry. But I'm also into Japanese fashion and Avril Lavigne. And I love all that early noughties fashion: pedal pushers, off-the-shoulder tops and Paris Hilton's beret! And like, those really glossy lips that are so tacky but just so great. And Juicy Couture tracksuits. I love all that shit."
The way she looks will inevitably get her noticed by an increasingly large audience, but GIRLI says her ultimate aim is to reassure her fans that they're not alone. "I don’t feel guilty if I write a song about, like, having a crush on someone, but I feel like I can also write songs about things like gender equality and politics and young people being messed around by the older generation," she says. "I want to create music that makes people feel like they're not the only one thinking that. I know there are a lot of people who listen to my music who don't like going by binary gender constructs or whatever. If at least one person walked away from my gig and thought, 'Yeah, I’m gonna actually be more independent,' or 'I’m gonna be myself now and not be scared to do things,’ then I’ll feel like I’ve been successful.”
GIRLI says she's accepted the fact that some people won’t like her frank, fun and punky music, which she describes as "pop with something to say." On "Girls Get Angry Too," she exposes the outdated nonsense of gendered sections in toy shops by rapping, "I don't want Hamleys to decide / If my kid's a fireman or a bride." She's also acutely aware that her persona is being interpreted in a certain way because of her gender. "I think it's easier for guys to be outspoken," she says. "Boys just have this rep of being, like, crazy and running around causing mischief. When a boy does that, people say he's such a little rebel. When a girl does that, they say she's a fucking brat, or she's spoiled, or she needs to shut up. That's why I have an issue when people describe my music as "brat-pop.” I'm like, you wouldn't describe a guy's music as that, would you? Mike Skinner was never called bratty. He was just described as someone who was really observant."
As much as I enjoyed last month's GIRLI gig, I left conscious of the fact I was nearly 15 years older than most of the crowd, and couldn't help thinking, “If only she'd been around when I was a teenager…” But does GIRLI think people can still enjoy her music when they're 25, or 35, or older? "Yeah!" she says empathically. "I think I write songs that are relatable to anyone at any age. If I'm singing about being a teenager, well, everyone can remember being a teenager. Or if I'm singing about something even more universal like getting dumped, everyone knows what that feels like. I fucking love Beyoncé's album when she sings about being a black woman in America, and I'm obviously not a black woman in America, but it still makes me feel something.”
I'm reasonably convinced, though I'm not sure I'd want to get caught on the bus to work accidentally mouthing along to GIRLI's ”It Was My Party" lyrics: "It was my party last night / Had Corky's mixed with Tesco Sprite…” But either way, I'm glad GIRLI's around to call bullshit on casual sexism and binary gender constructs, and generally make people feel like it's OK to be a bit different.
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Abyan* was 15 years old when a rocket destroyed her home in Somalia in 2007, killing her family. The teenager fled the country and eventually arrived on Christmas Island off the coast of Australia in October 2013. She was found by authorities and, two days later, she was transported to Nauru – a tiny island in the South Pacific which houses one of Australia’s many offshore immigration detention facilities.
Though it was determined that Abyan was an official refugee – having been forced to leave her country in order to escape persecution – under Australian law she was refused entry to the country. Instead she was moved from the detention centre on Nauru to the "community" space just outside of it, alone, isolated and scared. It was here that, on July 2015, Abyan says was raped and became pregnant.
According to a recent spate of leaked reports from detention staff on Nauru, Abyan was not alone in suffering abuse there. The files, kept on a database by caseworkers on the island, were released and published in the Guardian earlier this month, and detailed widespread abuse and threats against female refugees on the island, many of whom were children.
One instance of misconduct detailed a guard requesting sexual favours in return for allowing a girl to have a longer shower; another involved a young woman being told she was on ‘a list’ compiled by local Nauruan guards of women they were ‘waiting for’; and report noted that bus drivers had taken voyeuristic photos of the women in the camp.
The leak has lead to a public outcry, including protests held outside parliament buildings in Australia earlier this month. The Refugee Council of Australia called the reports “sickening”, while Save the Children staff quoted in the Guardian warned that the files were just the “tip of the iceberg” of the extent of abuse inflicted on refugees on Nauru.
Nauru is the world’s smallest island state, a barren country the same size as Melbourne airport. Home to just 10,000 people, intensive phosphate mining and widespread environmental damage on the island means that 75% of it is uninhabitable and the population is heavily reliant on imports due to the lack of natural resources. Despite the poverty and terrible living conditions, it was chosen as a site for one of Australia’s controversial offshore detention facilities, and in 2001, the centre was opened.
For Abyan, being raped was just the beginning of her ordeal. Abortion is illegal on Nauru and despite her continual pleas, Abyan was forced to wait until the authorities arranged for her to fly to Australia. By this point she had become deeply distressed and her physical health had deteriorated rapidly. On arrival in Australia she asked for some more time to ready herself for the abortion and for an explanation of how exactly it would be carried out. Instead she was secretly flown back to Nauru with Australia’s Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, publicly proclaiming that she had decided not to proceed with the abortion.
Abyan’s story was one of those included in a recent report, published by the Australian Women in Support of Women on Nauru (AWSWN), titled “Protection Denied, Abuse Condoned: Women on Nauru at Risk”. The AWSWN organisation was set up last year, after Julie Macken, an Australian journalist and activist, became aware of what was happening on the island.
“I had covered the refugee and human rights situation whilst working as a features writer during the 90s and early 00s,” she tells Refinery29. “But then I read this article [in The Saturday Paper] last summer and it dawned on me that the situation was more awful than before. It was clear that it was worse than it’s ever been in terms of the hopelessness, the rape, the abuse, the humiliation, the insanity.”
the Nauru files revealed the extent of suffering for children being held in the detention centres
Julie explains that the abuse is two-fold: women are suffering humiliation and harassment from those working in the camp itself, but those who have been released and live in the community are in even more danger. Included in AWSWN’s report is the case of one unnamed woman who, having been moved out of the detention centre, says she was raped while unconscious, having suffered a seizure, and another of a young African woman who has not come out of her room since being raped.
“No one has been prosecuted for these crimes,” explains Julie. “There’s not accountability, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s a hopeless situation.”
As well as the sexual harassment detailed in the recently leaked reports, the Nauru files revealed the extent of suffering for children being held in the detention centres; more than half of the reports (51.3%) involved children, many of whom were clearly extremely traumatised, as are their mothers. Julie comments: “The women who have children are so angry that they can’t protect their kids. I am a mother and I can think of no greater ill than not being able to protect my child. They are just so paralysed by fear and despair.”
Protestors hold a vigil for Hodan Yasin at Sydney Town Hall on the 4th of May 4, 2016. Yasin, a 21-year-old Somali refugee who was treated in a Brisbane hospital after setting herself alight in detention on Nauru. Photo: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images.
The Guardian ’s publication of the Nauru files has reignited outrage about Australia’s overly harsh immigration policies, but as of yet, no official enquiry has been launched. While the opposition party Labor has called for a Senate inquiry, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s response has been to downplay the reports, suggesting that many were not “substantiated” and announcing that he would not “be defamed” by the story.
Meanwhile, campaigners, charities and the politicians support the idea of shutting down Nauru and allowing those interned there to live in Australia, but the recent closure of Papua New Guinea’s Manus centre (another of Australia’s offshore detention facilities) sets a depressing precedent. Peter Dutton ruled out the prospect of the detainees settling in Australia, instead announcing that they could either remain on PNG or return to their country of origin.
Julie is realistic about the obstacles that AWSWN face in finding better treatment and support for women and children refugees on Nauru:
“I don’t know what we can do next. We’ve got to make it that it becomes more imperative for the government to declare an amnesty and shut these places down than to continue them, but I don’t know how. The only way is to allow the public sense of outrage and scandal to affect the way the political parties position themselves.”
It’s time for Australia to reflect on the actions of its government and decide what it stands for, she says. “I adore this country, I love this place, but I am utterly ashamed of what has happened here on so many levels.”
*A fake name has been used to protect the girl's identity
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I have a friend who has successfully quit cigarettes. She used to smoke a few a day, nothing too crazy; she was hardly giving Patty and Selma a run for their money. She eventually managed to sack off her Marlboro Lights habit with the help of an e-cigarette. While the risks of using these new contraptions are fully yet to be realised, generally health experts agree that they are preferable to smoking tobacco. So, good for her, right?
The thing is, she is now completely and utterly addicted to the e-cig. Whereas she used to smoke about four cigarettes a day, she now goes through at least an entire e-cig, which releases 40 cigarette's worth of nicotine, in 24 hours. She might not actually be smoking but her nicotine addiction is through the roof.
She has baths with the thing, cooks with it dangling out of her mouth, and sneakily puffs it on the Tube. She greets the day with a long draw on it and later says goodnight the same way. And while an empty pack of fags would have left her unbothered, she now develops a cold sweat and goes visibly white if her e-cig’s blue tip starts to flicker. In short, she is nicotine’s bitch.
Having witnessed such scenes for the best part of two years, it was with a deep trepidation that I decided to try out an e-cig. Well, there’s my friend’s experience and the fact that we all know they look stupid. Out of all of Leo DiCaprio’s favoured accessories – VS model, hire bike, flat cap – the e-cig might actually be the most ridiculous looking one. And that’s some strong competition. So what changed my mind?
After successfully navigating a few days completely fag-free, I went on holiday with some pals, three of whom are heavy smokers. We were in Mallorca, where their marvellous tax rates mean you can enjoy 20 Camel blues for 4.5 Euros. It was like it was 1996 again. It would have been practically rude to abstain from such a bargain.
Still, I could not prepare myself for the onslaught of puffing that would take place. It was like we were doing Allen Carr’s aversion therapy in which he advises you to chuff thousands of cigarettes while you read his bestselling book and by the end of it you apparently feel so ill that you never want to see another cigarette again. Except none of us were reading the book.
Anyway, since coming home I have managed to avoid cigarettes. And while I was cleaning up my flat the other day I came across a rechargeable e-cigarette that I’d received a couple of years ago in a party’s goodie bag, probably along with some rosemary and vanilla flavoured popcorn and green nail varnish. After my nicotine vacation I’d been having some serious pangs so I figured I’d fire up the e-cig (figuratively speaking of course) and give it a go.
The e-cig is a divisive thing. Allen Carr (the stop-smoking organisation as opposed to the deceased man who gave the company its name) is not particularly a fan of them. Here’s a statement from them:
“Allen Carr’s Easyway To Stop Smoking organisation favour anything that enables a smoker to become free from their addiction and it’s tragic that rather than helping smokers to quit – smokers are being funnelled into behaviour that will ensure they remain addicted, continue to suffer the mental and financial hardship caused by that, and continue to do tremendous harm to their health.”
Hmmm. They have a point. So, in an attempt to not become even more in thrall to nicotine I am only allowing myself a few puffs a day and I am making sure they are never at the same time or when I'm doing the same thing. As mentioned in previous columns, that is when you start to associate the nicotine hit with that action – e.g. lunchtime or driving – and it will be even harder to stop it further down the line.
It seems a bit odd taking a product that burns and smells and is by and large natural, and replacing it with something that you can charge on a laptop and looks like it belongs to the Terminator but at this point I'm willing to try anything.
But if you ever see me chuffing on it while I navigate a Boris bike, then feel free to rip it out of my hands. I will have clearly gone too far.
Read the previous instalments of The Smoking Diaries:
Summer can take its toll on our skin and our spirit after one too many festivals, boozy BBQs or sun-drenched and action-packed holidays. Yes, we're thankful for the good times and the golden memories but we're less appreciative of the damage done to our bodies.
If you're now in need of a little rest, recovery and relaxation while summer winds down and before we brace ourselves for the bleak British winter, we've done the rounds of the leading spas and treatments in London (what a chore that was) to recommend the best places to recuperate after the sunny season.
Kick back and relax in one of the palatial spas ahead...
The Landmark London
Before we talk about the spa, we have to mention the Winter Garden at the Landmark London. In the middle of this central London hotel is a gigantic glass-roofed atrium with sky-scraping palm trees that gives the whole building a tropical twist. If you're into interiors, you'll love this.
The spa itself is located in the basement of the five-star red-brick hotel and has partnered with skin care brand Germaine de Capuccini, to launch an exclusive range of luxury Efficy face therapies and body treatments, including an intensive wrinkle and lift facial, contouring, complete revitalisation, clarifying anti-pigmentation and intensive correction for acne or rosacea.
If you're after a really shiny overhaul and supermodel glow, the Diamond Noir which uses stones, crystals and minerals rich in iron and zinc has your name all over it. The treatment restores the skin’s youthfulness, increases luminosity and combats the signs of ageing.
Make sure you also try out the gym, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi too.
After a summer of sandals, pool slides and slippers, chances are your feet are looking a little worse for wear. Banish Hobbit-y hoofs with a trip to Margaret Dabbs and her team of trained podiatrists on the Lower Ground Floor at Liberty.
There's a long list of treatments available including Margaret Dabbs' renowned medical pedicures with O2 therapy, as well as polishing and shaping manicures and pedicures. Chipped polish, callouses and corns be gone!
Described by the Elemis experts as "the perfect place for people who are serious about looking after their skin" this Mayfair townhouse spa is a haven for anyone on the quest to find the finest facial.
Each treatment is specifically tailored to your individual needs, using powerful massage and the most potent ingredients. From pro-collagen to anti-blemish facials and precise peels, there's something for all of your skin concerns. Make sure you shotgun the penthouse treatment room for the most luxury experience possible. And for the time poor, there's the Speed Spa which delivers a condensed and curated session of Elemis expertise.
You've seen the pics all over Instagram of Babington House and Soho Farmhouse but for a much less pretentious and much more accessible spa experience (brought to you by the same umbrella group, sure) head to Cowshed in Shoreditch.
This Cowshed spa is the place to go to for party prep and subsequent recovery treatments. They can sort out everything from hair, hands, feet, facials and hair removal to bridal packages. Put your feet up while watching Sex & The City with a glass of Champers. Bliss.
If you're not interested in lying down for 90 minutes, listening to whale sounds while someone pummels and blasts your face then the Light Salon is right up your street.
This affordable walk-in treatment in the new ground floor beauty hall at Harvey Nichols lasts just 11 minutes and will make your skin look good as new, using near-infrared and blue light. The revolutionary technology reinvigorates and repairs the skin’s cells while encouraging the body’s own production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid.
If you're looking for the ultimate luxury, you can't really beat the Bulgari spa. The award-winning urban retreat is 21,500 square feet and features the largest swimming pool in the capital as well as a vitality pool, 11 treatment rooms, a relaxation room and a high-tech gym.
There's a private Onyx SpaSuite with two treatment beds, a dressing room with private bath, steam shower, private relaxation room plus a hydro massage tub if you're feeling fruity.
There's also a Trend Room where you can try the latest treatments, with rotating specialists to create unique experiences.
If you’re dreaming of a trip to a far-flung destination but can't get the time off work let alone afford the flight, then Ushvani is the next best thing. Inspired by Asian practices, Ushvani’s massages, scrubs and wraps fuse Balinese, Malay, Thai and Shiatsu massage and reflexology.
Try out the Asmara suite for two people, where you'll have your own private room, complete with double massage tables, a giant bath, shower and day bed, and enjoy three hours of extravagant pampering.
So you want to become a wine connoisseur — or just how to navigate the drink menu when you go out to dinner — but you don't know where to start. We're here to help.
With all of the unrecognisable words that are used to describe wine, things can get confusing, fast. What the heck are notes and how do you describe a beverage as dry? When did all of your friends learn how to speak the secret language of grapes?
Luckily, you don't have to spend a lot of money to know how to choose a good glass. Once you know the basics of what you prefer, a good sommelier will be able to help you find something you love that still fits your budget.
To help explain some of the more common wine terms, we enlisted the help of Joe Campanale, managing director at Alta Linea in New York. Read on to learn what those all wine-related words really mean — you'll be an expert (or at least sound like one) in no time.
The Basics
You don't have to learn every term to be able to read a wine menu. If you can figure out whether you like dry wines, for example, you're already on your way to a more educated order. Start out with one or two qualities — like how to determine a wine's body — and you won't be overwhelmed.
Photographed by Molly DeCoudreaux.
"Crisp" refers to wines with acid — but don't call them acidic.
"Generally, we'll use the term 'crisp,'" Campanale says. "'Acidic,' to me, means that there's too much acid, but acid is generally a good thing. It brightens up wines, it makes your mouth water...a lot of sommeliers really like wines that have a lot of acidity, again, because they're so good with food."
"Dry" wines contain low amounts of residual sugar — no more than 0.2%, to be exact.
"Technically, a dry wine is just a wine that doesn’t have residual sugar," Campanale says. "So it's basically the opposite of a sweet wine."
Tannins are compounds in wine that are derived from plants, usually grape stems and skins. They can be more prominent in red wines and also affect food pairings. "Tannic red is going to be weird with a fish," Campanale says. Tannins can also affect how dry a wine feels on your palate.
"You can have wines that express themselves as being drier than others," Campanale explains. "For instance, in a red wine, one that has a lot of tannins, it won't only be devoid of sugar, but the tannins will actually physically dry out your mouth, and so it will seem even drier than another wine that has no residual sugar and doesn't have as much tannins."
Campanale describes body as "the weight of the wine on your palette."
"Lightweight [wine] is similar to skim milk, which seems a little watery, less concentrated. A medium-bodied wine might be 2% milk and a full-bodied wine might be something like whole milk or heavy cream," Campanale says. "Each one of those feels fuller, richer, and heavier."
Alcohol level tends to go hand in hand with the wine's body. "A lot of times, the body's informed by the alcohol level," Campanale says. "So if you see a wine that has 14.5% alcohol, you can assume that it’s probably going to be a full-bodied wine. If you see another one that has 12%, that should be a pretty light-bodied wine."
"Any wine that has a date on it is a vintage," says Campanale. The wine's vintage date refers to when the grapes were harvested to create the wine.
Campanale also notes that climactic conditions affect the taste of wine, so the year isn't the only factor to look out for. "Since you can only harvest grapes once per year, all of the climatic conditions throughout the year affect how the wine is eventually going to taste," he says. "So if you see a 2015, that means the grapes were harvested in 2015. In the northern hemisphere, [harvest occurs] toward the end of 2015. So all of the weather during that year has an effect as to how that wine will eventually taste [and] how those grapes react."
Your sommelier is your wine expert — a.k.a. a lifesaver when you're looking over a wine menu. A restaurant's sommelier will help recommend a wine that you'll love if you can tell them a little bit about the body and tone you're looking for.
The Specifics
Knowing what region each type of wine is from can seem overwhelming, but you don't need to know everything about vintners to find a wine that's right for you. Once you can combine basic wine notes with what you've already learned about wine body, you're on your way to finding the perfect go-to wine at your favourite restaurant.
Photographed by Molly DeCoudreaux.
"The Old World is considered Europe," Campanale explains. "The New World is considered everywhere else."
A wine that's described as oxidised has been overexposed to air. Oxygen isn't always bad for wine, but "oxidised" isn't usually a positive descriptor.
"Generally, when people say a wine's been oxidised, it means that the wine's gone bad and that the oxygen is not preferred. They didn't want the oxygen to be there," Campanale explains. "But there are some wines that are intentionally oxidised as part of the winemaking. So that's something a little different...it can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing, depending on what your goal is."
"Tones" and "notes" are two terms used to describe wine flavour, Campanale explains. And picking up distinct flavours within different wine varieties isn't as difficult as you might think. Campanale recommends using flavours you already know from other foods as a starting point.
"You can pick up the flavours in wine that you experience in other foods in other parts of your life," he explains. "During alcohol fermentation, a bunch of esters, which are flavour compounds, are released. They are similar to esters that are in other things. So how can you tell? You pay attention to the way things smell and taste. Then, look for them in the wines. Those flavours could resemble, or frequently resemble, flavours in other things."
"Fermentation is the conversion of sugar into alcohol using yeast," Campanale explains. "Yeast metabolises sugar and turns it into alcohol."
Simply put, maturation refers to the ageing of a wine. "A mature wine is a well-aged one that would not benefit from additional ageing," Campanale says.
This one is pretty straightforward. Wines made from a single type of grape are varietals, while wines made from multiple types of grapes are blends.
Common Types Of Wine
This isn't every type of wine out there, but knowing even a few of these will get you a long way at the bar. Do you like Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay? Sampling a couple of different options will go a long way — and it will help you find a go-to wine order for when you're getting drinks with friends or coworkers.
Photographed by Rockie Nolan.
"Sauvignon Blanc is a white grape, originally from the Noir Valley in France," Campanale says. He describes it as an "aromatic wine."
Campanale describes Zinfandel as "a full-bodied, juicy red wine that can be high in alcohol."
And as for the "white Zinfandel" you've seen around? "Most white zinfandel is of dubious quality, but there are a couple of producers who are using it in a tongue-in-cheek way, making high-quality white Zinfandels," Campanale explains, adding that so-called white Zinfandel is closer to rosé.
A.k.a your summertime best friend. "I think everyone knows the colour of rosé," says Campanale. "It's generally made from red grapes, with a short skin contact on the red grapes. Most people like to drink them in the summer."
"Chardonnay is a white grape. It's a pretty neutral-flavoured white grape, originally from France. It grows pretty much all over the world," says Campanale. "It's a wine that showcases either the earthiness or the winemaking really well, because the grape itself is very flavourful."
Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Gris, is a white wine. But instead of being made from green grapes, the grapes used to make pinot grigio take on a bluish colour.
It's more than just an amazing song. Pinot noir is a red-grape wine, often from Burgundy, Champagne, New Zealand, or Oregon. Many Pinot Noirs have light or medium bodies with fruity or earthy tones, according to Wine Enthusiast.
Campanale explains that Cabernet Franc is most commonly a red wine, though it can also be made into rosé. It's grown worldwide, but it's originally from the Loire Valley in France. "It has dark-berried fruit and can have an herbaceous or vegetal character," Campanale says.
This wine is also grown worldwide, but is originally from Bordeaux. "It can be full, dark, and rich or medium-bodied, but still with dark fruit," Campanale says. "It is known for its tannic character and, when made well, [its] ability to age."
Campanale describes Merlot as "a soft, plummy red wine." He notes that Merlot grapes tend to be blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot grapes are planted worldwide, but it was originally grown in France.
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Five men died in the sea at Camber Sands beach in East Sussex yesterday, the hottest day of the year, and the investigation into their deaths is ongoing.
The bodies of three men were pulled from the sea at around 2pm in the afternoon, but they later died at the scene. Two more were later found at 8pm and another person is still missing, The Guardian reported.
The five men, in their late teens and early twenties, were on a day trip from London and had taken a trip to the beach together, reported the BBC.
They have not yet been formally identified and it's not yet clear how they died.
Chief superintendent Di Roskilly of Sussex Police said in a statement: "We believe we now know who the men are and that they came to the beach together for the day."
She said the men "were not fully clothed when they were pulled from the sea", but were wearing beach-appropriate attire.
"We have no further reports of anyone else missing from Camber and there are no ongoing searches related to this incident," she added.
"This has been an incredibly tragic incident and we are offering their next of kin support at this difficult time."
The five deaths have prompted fresh calls for a lifeguard to be stationed at Camber Sands during the summer. More than 4,000 people have signed a Change.org petition so far, which was started last month after a 19-year-old man also died in the sea.
More than 25,000 people use the beach every day, according to Rother District Council, and the beach gets particularly busy during the summer months.
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They both stripped down to their smalls and were the epitome of body confidence in Girls. Now, Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke are the new faces of a body positive lingerie brand.
In a photoshoot for New Zealand-based company Lonely, which never uses Photoshop in its campaigns, the writer and actress appears alongside her co-star in her underwear.
The photos are part of the company's Lonely Girls Project, a series of "candid portraits of inspiring women in their own spaces wearing Lonely, their way". The brand says it caters to "women who wear lingerie as a love letter to themselves".
In one of the photos, Lena casually reclines on the edge of a bath in an apartment in Brooklyn, New York, wearing seafoam green lingerie. Kirke sits beside her on a chair with her head on her hands, with her enviable IDGAF attitude, in a light blue lingerie set.
In another image, the pair wear black lingerie while Kirke puts red lipstick on Dunham.
The two women have long practiced what their preach when it comes to being comfortable in their own skin.
Dunham is reportedly a fan of the body positive brand and has worn its lingerie on Instagram in the past, the Daily Mail reported.
A photo posted by Lonely Lingerie (@lonelylingerie) on
She also caused a stir earlier this year when she mistakenly called out the Spanish magazine Tentaciones for photoshopping her body in a cover shoot. “This is NOT what my body has ever looked like or will ever look like,” Dunham said in an Instagram post. “The magazine has done more than the average photoshop”.
Photo: Courtesy of Lonely Girls Project.
She was then forced to backtrack after the magazine released the original shots as proof that they hadn't used Photoshop. “I don’t recognise my own fucking body anymore,” she wrote in an essay for Lenny. “And that’s a problem.”
She then announced that she would never allow any subsequent images of her to be retouched. The Lonely campaign shows she's sticking to her word, and we can't be more grateful.
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For as long as I can remember, my mum has been a big proponent of baths. Morning, night, doesn't matter, she's taking a bath unless the setup absolutely does not allow for her to sit down. I never thought to question her love of baths until I got older, and once I opened myself up to the idea that perhaps her behaviour was a bit strange, the questions came rolling in: First of all, who has the time? Do daily baths make your fingers permanently prune-y? Isn't it just, like, sitting in a vat of one's own dirt? Shouldn't a long soak be enjoyed sparingly so you can appreciate its luxuriousness?
Needless to say, I'm a shower gal. They're quick, they're easy, they're convenient. Not to mention, have you ever seen a typical twentysomething's London houseshare? You'd need to spend hours cleaning to get the tub to the point where you can sit down without worrying about contracting some weird infection.
This debate — bath versus shower — is one that many folks on the internet, especially #TeamBath members, feel strongly about (the debate over which wastes more water is just as fraught), so I decided to speak with two dermatologists and see if I could definitively declare one the winner. Below, the pros and cons of each.
Illustrated by Anna Sudit.
#TeamBath
Of the two options, baths are, without a doubt, the more relaxing, which dermatologist Doris Day, MD, says can be great for your skin in the long run. "You can add ingredients into the bathwater to help treat the skin, which doesn't work in the shower," she says. "If you have aches and pains, you can add epsom salt. If you have eczema, dry, irritated skin, or a sunburn, you can add oatmeal, whole milk, and honey."
Dermatologist Whitney Bowe, MD, adds that baths can lower cortisone levels, which in turn helps delay premature ageing and reduce acne. She recommends using the soak-and-smear technique (soak for 10 minutes, then pat on moisturiser or oil as soon as you step out), especially if you have skin that tends to get dry. "If you forget the smear part, you will be worse off than before the bath because all the water evaporates out of the skin and leaves your skin dehydrated," she says.
Dr. Bowe also recommends avoiding bubbles and any other products that foam. That's typically a sign that they contain detergents, which can strip the skin of natural, good-for-you oils. Keep body washes to showering, says Dr. Bowe. Soaking in them for too long will dry out your skin. Another aspect of baths that can put your skin in danger? The heat level. If your bath is too hot, you're at risk of parching your skin in the long run.
And finally, put aside your worries about baths being unhygienic. Dr. Day says sitting in bathwater is far from filthy, as I had assumed. "The dirt tends to settle away from the skin and body. It gets diluted in the entirety of the bathwater," she says. "Most people aren't rolling around in mud, so we're not very dirty."
But, say you're competing in a Tough Mudder soon? You're going to want to read on.
Illustrated by Anna Sudit.
#TeamShower
Aw, the good old shower. Dr. Bowe says that if you work out regularly — or wear a lot of makeup — you should definitely opt for one over a bath. "Showers are more hygienic [in these cases] because you are rinsing all those particles down the drain, rather than bathing in them," she says.
Another time when a shower is preferable? Shampoo-and-conditioner days. "Not only is it difficult to fully rinse shampoo out in a bath, but sitting in a bath full of shampoo can strip skin of natural oils," says Dr. Bowe.
Like with baths, the temperature of your shower is crucial for determining just how beneficial it will be, Dr. Bowe says. "If you are prone to dry skin, keep showers lukewarm and short. Long, hot showers can really dry out the skin," she says. This also applies to your hair: "A cool rinse will help seal hair cuticles, resulting in shine and locking in moisture," she adds.
The Verdict
Well, it's not as cut-and-dry as I had hoped it would be. Dr. Day says the choice mostly comes down to personal preference and location. "In New York City, it's really a space issue!" We feel that.
Dr. Bowe, on the other hand, is in my camp. "I think daily showers are better than baths, but save a bath for a special night (once or twice a week) when you really want to unwind," she says. But if you're like my mother and don't want to give up your beloved bath time, she has a workaround. "You can continue to bathe daily if you prefer that, but if you are still unsure and like the idea of taking a bath to relax, you can always shower first to get yourself clean before enjoying the time to relax." In other words: Have your cake and eat it, too.
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Fashion has lost another legend: Sonia Rykiel, the French designer best known for her colourful striped sweaters and sparkling knits, passed away today, The New York Times reports. She was 86.
Rykiel hasn't held a designer role at her eponymous label for decades, according to Business of Fashion. Her daughter Natalie took over as artistic director in 1995; Julie de Libran was named the brand's lead designer in 2014, Vogue reported. Still, Rykiel maintained a presence at the fashion house she founded on Paris' Left Bank in 1968. (She took a bow at the brand's SS09 Paris Fashion Week show.)
The Parisian-born creative first gained recognition long before Sonia Rykiel the Brand came to be: One of her 1962 knit styles, which would go on to be dubbed the "poor-boy sweater" by WWD in the 1970s, found its way onto the cover of French Elle(on then-19-year-old Françoise Hardy, no less) in 1963, and from there onto the radar of such stars of Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot, according to The Guardian.
Once Rykiel opened up her own label, the sweater's star power kept growing, eventually becoming one of the defining clothing items of Parisian fashion in the 1970s. Beyond that, the designer's early influence came from her progressive stance on women's dressing. She believed fashion could be liberating, smart, and celebratory — a mission called "rykielism " on the brand's website. Indeed, Rykiel championed a type of sophisticated, sensual, easygoing style that was French at its core, but heaped on the kind of whimsy, imagination, and joy that's largely missing from the blazer-and-skinny-jeans set.
Aside from her clear vision, the designer was easily recognisable with her fiery orange hair. And though Rykiel herself favoured an almost exclusively black wardrobe (according to TheTimes, Rykiel once told an editor: "My colour is black. And black, if it's worn right, is a scandal."), her runways were a kaleidoscope of colour, textures, patterns, and finishes. They were clothes for magpies — magpies who have now lost their queen.
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Update: The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) finally reached a peace deal after four years of negotiation.
The historic agreement means that the 52-year-old conflict that killed over 220,000 and displaced more than 5 million is finally over, Reuters reported. FARC fighters will disarm and reintegrate to civilian life.
But history was made on Thursday when a cease-fire agreement was signed in Havana, Cuba, after almost four years of negotiations between the armed group and the government. Women played a crucial role throughout the negotiation process, according to the U.N. Women's organisation.
"As we celebrate this new step and look forward to the journey ahead, let us not forget the sacrifice and effort of Colombian women, and the importance that their leadership and participation must have in the final stage of this peace process and the implementation of all agreements," Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of U.N. Women, said in a statement.
Colombian photographer Federico Rios spent time documenting the life of the women in the FARC, who compose about 30% of the armed group’s forces. The FARC is the single largest leftist guerrilla group in the country.
The most interesting thing to Rios was that gender seemed to play less of a role in how fighters spent their days.
"I feel that in [the] FARC, they are seen and treated as equals. Men and women cook, wash clothes, and fight in the front line, just as equals," he said.
Ahead, Rios shares his photos and the stories of these female fighters with Refinery29.
Editor's note: Captions were provided by Rios and have been edited for clarity. Some of the fighters Rios interviewed use pseudonyms.
"Edward," one of the commanders of the FARC's 57th Front helps his partner "Fany" to properly wear the camouflage uniform. Edward and Fany met each other in the ranks of the FARC, and now they are couple.
Photo: Federico Rios.
Instructions are given to troops throughout the day. The guerrillas come from a mix of races, social classes, and genders. It is easy to find a mix of academics from the universities, farmers from different regions, and indigenous people in the same group, speaking, sharing, laughing, and working together.
Photo: Federico Rios.
After a morning bath, "Emerald" combs her hair while seated on her makeshift bed.
Photo: Federico Rios.
During the weekly cleaning of weapons, "Mariana" looks through her machine gun tube to check that it's free of impurities.
Photo: Federico Rios.
"Fany" cleans her weapon using a toothbrush to remove all the mud collected in the long walks through the dirt paths.
Photo: Federico Rios.
The FARC sleep in makeshift beds. Their camps are assembled in minutes, and they typically stay in them for a maximum of two nights before moving to another location. This mobility is crucial to their safety and survival.
Photo: Federico Rios.
FARC members bathe in the river to clean themselves from the sweat from working, and the heat and humidity of the jungle. They travel to the nearest river in small groups and wash their clothing there, too.
Photo: Federico Rios.
Mariana has been in the ranks of the FARC for more than five years. She walks from the river where she was taking a bath wearing only her bra. As a woman, she feels there is a deep respect for sexual individuality.
Photo: Federico Rios.
Much of the land utilised by the FARC is inaccessible to anyone else because of the danger associated with being a combat zone. For years, the FARC have travelled in what might be considered the most impressive landscapes of Colombia. They are areas rich with natural wealth and mineral resources.
Photo: Federico Rios.
After many hours of walking in the rain forest, the guerrillas arrive at an indigenous community. They were asked to review complaints from the community about the paramilitary presence in this territory.
Photo: Federico Rios.
Most of the time FARC members use camouflage clothing, but when they are closer to towns or villages, they change into casual outfits to minimise the impact on other people.
Photo: Federico Rios.
Brenda is one of the leaders of the front. She rests in civilian clothes in a small room in the village. She says she feels secure knowing that she has the protection of the small farming community in Chocó.
Photo: Federico Rios.
After a long day of walking in the rain, guerrilla members rest. They speak about their dreams of how life will be after the negotiation with the government.
Photo: Federico Rios.
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Vogue Brazil has come under heavy criticism for photos in which able-bodied actors were digitally altered to look like they have disabilities.
The photos are part of a publicity campaign for the Rio 2016 Paralympics that appeared in the magazine, The Telegraph reported.
The images feature Brazilian actors Cleo Pires and Paulo Vilhena, both of whom are ambassadors for the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), beneath the words, “We are all Paralympians”.
Controversially, both Pires and Vilhena were photoshopped to make it look like they were disabled. Pires had her right arm digitally amputated to look like Brazilian Paralympic table tennis player Bruna Alexandre, whose arm was amputated when she was three months old.
Meanwhile, Vilhena's leg was digitally amputated to make him look like the Brazilian sitting volleyball player Renato Leite, who has a prosthetic leg.
Unsurprisingly, the campaign has come under fire for using able-bodied stars as the face of the Paralympic Games, which has long fought for recognition equal to the Olympics.
Natália Belizario, writing on the feminist website Lado M, pointed out that there are many disabled people who could have featured in the campaign instead, The Telegraph reported.
“There’s no shortage of disabled people to take the place of spokesperson in these adverts and show society that yes, they exist and they deserve as much space in the media as us,” she said.
“No, we are not all Paralympians. We still do not understand the reality of people with disabilities."
She added: “We can all be supporters of the Paralympic movement, but it is always good to remember that the role, more than ever, is not ours.”
It was Pires' idea to depict able-bodied actors as disabled, according to Clayton Carneiro, V ogue Brazil's art director, and the campaign was created by PR agency Africa. The intention was to drum up publicity for the Paralympics.
Carneiro said: “We knew it would be a punch in the gut, but we were there for a good cause, after all, almost no one bought tickets to see the Paralympic games,” reported The Telegraph.
Pires took to Instagram to defend the campaign, saying in a video: “We lent our image to generate visibility. And that’s what we’re doing. My God.”
Ticket sales for the Rio Paralympics have been slow so far. Last week a spokesperson said just 12% of tickets had been sold for the event, which is due to start on the 7th of September.
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Lily-Rose Depp's latest drama, Planetarium, is a far cry from the off-beat comedy Yoga Hosers.
Planetarium takes place in another city on another continent, and essentially, another world.
Depp plays Natalie Portman's younger sister. Together, they're the Barlow sisters — an American medium duo that travels around Europe using psychic abilities to become famous. They begin working with a wealthy French producer and try to mystify audiences with their paranormal gifts. The 1930s setting itself is magical and the two actresses make a great pair of siblings (with the exception of a few troubling scenes in the trailer).
The film is directed and written by Rebecca Zlotowski. In 2014, Variety dubbed her "a leading light of France’s new generation of auteurs."
Watch the first trailer for the film, below. And yes, it is in French — but you'll get the gist.
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Tucked away in Siberia, there's a community led by a former traffic cop who believes that he is Jesus Christ reincarnated.
Some call him the "Jesus of Siberia." But Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop prefers to be called Vissarion.
He leads the Church of the Last Testament, a movement based in the Siberian taiga. Photojournalist Kate Brooks visited Vissarion's community in 2008 to learn more about him and his followers, and to document their way of life.
In her description of the project, Brooks explains that Vissarion's philosophy includes inspiration from "elements of the Russian Orthodox Church and Buddhism to Islam."
The community was "very welcoming," Brooks told Refinery29.
"They're vegetarian — I don't eat meat, so that was automatically something that connected me to them, even if I’m not following what they believe in, per se," she explained.
She stayed in the community for about two weeks while capturing the photo series.
Vissarion's following isn't a small one — roughly 4,000 people live in his community, according to Vice 's former editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro, who reported on his visit to the settlement in 2011. About 250 of his closest followers live in an area called the Abode of Dawn.
Vissarion holds a weekly gathering, similar to a sermon, with his followers. "They had contact with him, but very limited contact with him," Brooks explained.
She observed that Vissarion's community was "more about living on the land, eating from the land, and being vegetarian, praying a number of times a day."
In other words, it was about the mindset, and not just Vissarion's teachings. Brooks said she observed "a disassociation with a number of aspects of modern life" in many members of the community.
Ahead, a look at what life is like for Vissarion and his followers.
Caption: Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, proselytisers flocked to Russia, and dozens of cults were born, filling the ideological vacuum left by the death of communism. Today, an estimated 1 million Russians belong to these various sects.
In 1990, former Siberian traffic cop Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop had a revelation that he was the reincarnation of Christ, and founded a religious movement known as the Church of the Last Testament. The head church is located in the Siberian taiga, east of the city of Abakan. The settlement, Tiberkul, was established in 1994, and has nearly 5,000 inhabitants.
Vissarion looks out at the "Abode of Dawn," a small settlement where 250 of Vissarion's most devout followers live.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Several times a day, bells ring to signify prayer time. Believers pray in the direction of the mountain where Vissarion lives, even though they say they are not worshipping him. Most followers, however, believe him to be Christ.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Believers must be invited to be residents in the "Abode of Dawn."
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Most residents of the Abode of Dawn give up their personal possessions before moving to the settlement. They then build their own homes by hand and live off of the land. Every morning, they gather to pray before starting their day.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption:Vissarion's religious teachings combine elements of various religions, including those of the Russian Orthodox Church, Buddhism and Islam.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Every Sunday, Vissarion meets with believers, who are given a chance to ask him personal and spiritual questions.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Vissarion's house is perched on a hill overlooking the Abode of Dawn.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Pictures of Vissarion can be found in every home, and adorn public spaces, from the dentist's office to classrooms.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Vissarion's followers are vegetarian and do not smoke or drink alcohol. Their way of life is based on ecological principals.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Children attend a community school in Petropavlovka.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Two young believers, Alexander Matish and Liza Sidorova, marry following the Sunday liturgy service. The priest, a former nuclear rocket scientist, Sergei Chevalkov, marries them.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Alexander Tsganko and his pregnant wife, Lucie, are two of the youngest residents of the Abode of Dawn. Lucie gave up her intentions to study in university once she moved to the community.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Birgitt Schlevog, a German citizen, believes Vissarion is Christ and travels to Siberia to be close to the teacher when she is not teaching elementary school in Germany.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
Caption: Mariya Onishenko, 28, cried for three days the first time she met Vissarion. She named her first son Jesus after having a dream that she would have a baby named Jesus. Her second son is named Vissarion after the teacher, who she believes to be Jesus.Onishenkonurses her daughter, Spring, at the crack of dawn.
Photo: Kate Brooks/Redux.
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Belly pooch, muffin top, food baby, roll, love handles, saddle bags...the world has a lot of cutesy and derogatory ways to describe body fat. And despite eating healthy, exercising regularly, and generally kicking ass at living, we all have so-called "trouble areas" on our bodies. In fact, some people are just genetically predisposed to carrying and storing pockets of fat in different areas, and those people are often as healthy (or sometimes healthier) than their thinner counterparts. That said, recent advancements in the cosmetic dermatology field have led to a slew of new, surgery-free treatments and machines that claim to eliminate stubborn, fatty areas using heat, ultrasound, radio frequency, and freezing. What are all these treatments? Do they even work? And if they do, are they worth it?
Now, I interrupt your regularly scheduled article to address some very important points. Because I know many people are going to look at my headline, read the first paragraph (if I'm lucky), and then head to the comment section to tell me how I'm making women feel bad about themselves and setting back womankind with my superficiality. So, rather than wait until the end of the article, I'm just interjecting with my disclaimer now: I do not believe any woman needs to undergo the aforementioned treatments, nor do I think that your self-worth is defined by your waistline. I'm writing this simply as an informational piece for those who are curious. Okay, back to the story.
I spoke with three experts (Amy Wechsler, MD, Jessica Weiser, MD, and Laura Pietrzak, MSHS, PA-C) to get the lowdown on fat cells. The important thing to know, they explained, is that these cells are the underlying cause of weight loss and gain (I know, duh). Fat cells can expand due to things like a high-fat diet, caloric intake, and hormones, and this expansion causes weight gain. People are born with a certain amount of fat cells, and that number fluctuates until you hit puberty — after that point, the number stays constant. While some fat cells may die off naturally, they are replaced with new ones. Obesity is a whole different ball game, and researchers are still trying to pinpoint why some people generate extra fat cells, and how new fat cells are created.
As someone who has always been self-conscious about my stomach, the concept of body contouring has always sounded appealing to me.
Contouring treatments work by killing off a targeted group of fat cells. Since the cells are no longer there, and can therefore no longer expand, the idea is that the size and occurrence of those "trouble spots" will be reduced permanently. However, Pietrzak explains that each contouring treatment only reduces about 20 to 25% of fat cells. This means there are still around 75% of those cells left in that area. Yes, those that were treated are not going to grow back. But if you don't continue to eat well and exercise, you can still gain weight in that area, due to those remaining cells expanding.
According to the doctors I spoke with, the most promising treatment on the market is fat freezing, a.k.a. CoolSculpting. Unlike ultrasound- and heat-based fat-reducing treatments, which actually explode the fat cells, CoolSculpting works by freezing them — causing them to die and be removed from the body as waste. This has fewer side effects than other methods, which can cause bruising and soreness, and it's seen as more effective.
An important point about these treatments — and something every expert I spoke to really hammered home — is this: These are not weight-loss treatments. They are designed for people who live active lifestyles, experience minimal weight fluctuations, and are looking to target certain areas of the body that are resistant to exercise and healthy eating habits.
As someone who has always been a bit self-conscious about my stomach (and what my mother lovingly — and not-so-subtly — refers to as "child-bearing hips") the concept of body contouring has always sounded appealing to me. I'm in shape, active (although I prefer sweating on my bike to suffering in a gym), and I eat a mostly healthy diet. Yet I have, since puberty, carried some extra pockets of fat around my midsection. Clothes never fit me quite right around the waistband, which has led to more than a few instances of dressing-room meltdowns — and I was sick of always looking at myself critically in the mirror, wishing away my permanent burrito baby.
So when the opportunity presented itself to try out this supposedly side-effect-free contouring treatment (and at the hands of Pietrzak, one of its pioneers and foremost experts, at the Manhattan office of super-derm Dr. Wechsler), I didn't hesitate to take the chance.
When I went in for my appointment, I was nervous — I had visions of some Stepford Wives -esque glambot colouring all over my body with a Sharpie and telling me all the things that were wrong with it. Fortunately, Pietzrak put me right at ease. Instead of telling me what I needed to "fix," she asked me what areas concerned me and what I was hoping to get out of the treatment. And, while a Sharpie was involved, it was only on those areas I had pointed out — to help give Pietzrak a guide of where to place the applicators.
The CoolSculpting machine, says Pietrzak, features a vacuum-based applicator containing cooling panels. It brings fat cells to the ideal temperature: that which kills them off without harming the body's water-based cells. The entire procedure takes about 60 minutes per section. As I was having two parts of my body treated, this would normally require four hours — two treatments on the left side of my hips and stomach, two treatments on the right. But, as Dr. Wechsler is one of the few doctors with two CoolSculpting machines, I was able to get my treatment done in two hours, with one machine on my stomach and one my side.
As I sat back on the table, Pietrzak placed a very chilly gel pad over the area we were treating, to protect my skin from the freezing. Then, she attached the first handset on the right side of my abdomen. The sensation was akin to taking a large vacuum hose and pressing it against your skin. I heard an unpleasant sucking sound, felt a bit of dull pain, and then the handset was firmly attached to me. She repeated this process on my left hip, and I was hooked up. The cold sensation was a bit shocking, kind of like placing an ice pack on bare skin — an ice pack that was also simultaneously doing its best to give me a massive hickey. But as the treatment progressed, the sensation wasn't as intense, and I was able to email and do some work as I was being treated.
An important point about body-contouring procedures is that they are not weight-loss treatments.
After my first 60 minutes was up, Pietrzak detached me from the machines — another semi-uncomfortable process. I looked down at my stomach and was horrified to see a solid mass of hardened fat —almost like a stick of butter — underneath my skin, where the handset had been placed. Pietrzak kept me from hyperventilating by explaining that because the fat was crystallised, it assumed the shape of the applicator. This is why it's important for your technician to then manually massage the area: "Manual massage helps break up the crystallised fat cells," she explained. "What we hypothesise is that there are a number of fat cells that crystallise but don’t quite die, but by bouncing them around, it might essentially push them over the edge to cell death."
It also hurts like a mother. I gritted my teeth and let her massage my skin, pleased to note afterwards that the stick of hardened fat had disappeared. She then switched the handsets to the opposite side, and I settled in for another hour. After my treatment (and second round of torture — I mean, massage) was finished, Pietrzak cleared me to go forth with my usual daily routine, noting that I may experience some numbness and tenderness for a few days. I proceeded on my merry little way, making an appointment for six weeks later for a second treatment. That's right, a second round. While most people will see some change in their bodies after one treatment, it is recommended that you undergo two courses of for optimal results.
Since Pietrzak had explained the reality of the treatment, I knew I wasn't going to walk out of the office with a Victoria's Secret-model six-pack. It takes your body weeks to process the dead fat cells. Pietrzak says that over the course of the next three months, my body's macrophages (a.k.a. the "garbage collectors" of my body) see those dead cells, take a "bite" out of them, and convert the fat into triglycerides, which are then metabolised by the liver and ferried out of the body. Yes, you pee them out. Or, at least that's what scientists think. It's possible you poop them out. Everyone's still a bit unclear about that part.
But, don't worry — Pietrzak assured me I wouldn't suddenly become a pooping machine, evacuating my bowels uncontrollably for three months. (I know you were all interested in knowing the specifics of my digestive process post-treatment, so there you go.) She says the amount of dead fat cells getting processed on a daily basis is the equivalent of the fat content in four french fries — so, not a lot.
Because of this cumulative loss, it was hard for me to recognise that my body was, in fact, changing. It wasn't until just before my second appointment, where I measured my waistline, that I realised I had lost about an inch from my hips and stomach. I still had belly fat, but it was a bit less prominent than it had been.
My second treatment was relatively similar, although the suction process was a bit more uncomfortable; there was less pinch-able fat for the machine to grab onto, hence it pulled my skin a bit tighter than my first treatment. After the treatment was over, I only had a day of numbness, plus tenderness that went away in a few hours.
It's now been three months since my second treatment, and I've clocked another two inches off my waistline. Was it a dramatic, transformative, three-dress-size-dropping treatment? No — I'm still the same dress size. But, my clothes fit me better, and I no longer have a problem with waistbands digging into my sides. My body shape is the same, just with fewer bulges than I started out with.
We need to move away from making other women feel bad about the choices they make in order to feel good about ourselves.
And while the doctors I spoke to all raved that CoolSculpting is a marked improvement over liposuction (and less invasive than other sculpting methods), keep in mind that there are some things to be cautious of: specifically, the possibility of asymmetry or indentations from a misplaced applicator. "I've seen people who have gotten inexpensive CoolSculpting done, where the applicator wasn’t placed properly or not on the right area," says Dr. Weiser, a board-certified dermatologist. "I’ve also seen lopsided [placement] — where the panel was crooked and created a fat protrusion above and below on either side. It’s hard to fix once it’s asymmetric."
The takeaway is that you need to do your research, and you shouldn't go chasing a bargain. CoolSculpting is expensive; you can expect to pay anywhere between £550 to £1,200 per area treated — but the price of fixing a botched procedure is going to be much more costly, both to your wallet and your self-esteem.
At the end of the day, I'm glad I got CoolSculpting. I give zero fucks about what other people think of how I look; I made this choice for me. Because, choosing what you want to do with your body is just that — your choice. We need to move away from making other women feel bad about the choices they make in order to feel good about ourselves. Acceptance is always easier, and it's far less expensive, but does that have to mean those of us who choose to modify something that makes us unhappy should feel like traitors to the cause? I know many of you are going to disagree with me, and that's your right. However, no one is telling you that you have to do these types of things to be beautiful. In the end, the methods you choose to silence that inner critic are whatever works best for you. As for me, I like living in a world with options, whether I opt to take advantage of them or not.
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We don't do diets. But we still love to eat — and we want to eat well. In her column, How To Eat , Refinery29's favourite intuitive eating coach Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, will help you do just that by answering the food and nutrition questions that really matter. Send yours to heythere@refinery29.com.
How bad is it to eat a sugary breakfast? My acupuncturist once scolded me for having fruit and oatmeal for breakfast because she said it spikes my blood sugar first thing in the morning.
This is a great question, and I hear it a lot from my clients. The short answer is that a sugary breakfast isn’t "bad," but it just may not always make you feel your best.
While an acupuncturist isn’t the best person to take food advice from (for example, I wouldn’t call oatmeal and fruit “sugary,” actually, but more on that later), yours is right that eating a helping of carbohydrates alone does cause your blood sugar to rise more quickly than if you had something more balanced, with protein, fat, or fibre in addition to the carbs.
That’s because when you eat carbohydrates, your digestive system breaks them down into a type of sugar called glucose, which is the primary source of fuel for all your body’s needs. Sugar is a type of carbohydrate. In fact, all sugars are carbohydrates — but not all carbohydrates are sugars (the other main types of carbs are starches and fibre). In general, sugars are broken down into glucose more quickly than other types of carbs, which means they are absorbed into your bloodstream more quickly and can cause a blood-sugar “spike” followed by a dip, if eaten alone.
This means that if you have a truly sugary breakfast, you probably won’t feel energised for long. But, if you eat sugars with other foods that slow their absorption, that spike-and-crash pattern can be avoided. Take, for example, your oatmeal-and-fruit breakfast. Sure, fruit contains some natural sugars, but it also has a nice dose of fibre, which helps reduce the blood-sugar spike. Ditto the oatmeal, which in its plain form is mostly starches and fibre, with no sugars at all. And whether you sprinkle a little sugar on plain oatmeal, eat a packet of the pre-sweetened kind, or buy a bowl from your favourite cafe, your oatmeal still probably contains less sugar than cold cereal (which is still an okay breakfast choice, if that’s what you want).
In fact, you should eat some carbs with your first meal; your body needs and craves them in the morning, since your brain runs on glucose, and you’ve been deprived of it all night long. (This is why it’s no coincidence that aside from eggs, many of the most common breakfast foods are starchy or sugary — whether it’s oatmeal and fruit or pancakes, waffles, cereal, croissants, or sticky buns.)
So, the real question is: How does having oatmeal and fruit for breakfast make you feel? Try this for yourself: The next time you eat that oatmeal-and-fruit breakfast, try noticing how long it takes you to get hungry again and how your energy levels are throughout the morning. If you’re eating lunch a couple hours later, you may not even notice it, but if lunch isn’t for a while longer, what happens? What about if you add some peanut butter or walnuts to the oatmeal — how long does that last you?
You can try this with any of your other favourite breakfast carbs, too: If you just get the pancakes at brunch, how energised do you feel a couple hours later? What about if you add a side of eggs? Which has more “staying power,” the spinach-and-cheese croissant or the plain one? In this way, you can intuitively figure out what works best for you, and not have to label any of your favourite foods as “bad.”
Which reminds me: Not to be the semantics police, but I want to talk about the word “bad” really quick. It’s totally normal to use this kind of shorthand when talking about food; it’s endemic to the culture we live in. But I think it’s worth pointing out that the word is problematic because it implies some moral failing for eating in a certain way. This is important, maybe more important than a lot people realise, because one of the keys to a healthy relationship with food is not attaching any moral value to food choices. Otherwise, you can end up feeling self-critical when you eat “badly,” and self-criticism has been shown to raise the risk of disordered eating. Plus, it encourages others who might be at risk for an ED to talk about food in this way as well.
So, try to catch yourself when you start to describe certain foods or ways of eating as “bad” (unless you’re talking about a bad taste or spoiled food), and instead reframe the description in less-loaded terms.
And don’t let anyone scold you for your food choices, even if that person is sticking you with needles.
Christy Harrison is an NYC-based registered dietitian nutritionist specialising in intuitive eating, eating disorder recovery, and Health at Every Size. She writes about food and nutrition for various publications and hosts Food Psych, a podcast dedicated to improving your relationship with food.
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There are few sweeter words than, “We’d love to bring you onboard.” Even if you haven’t been actively looking for a new gig, knowing another company wants you is a huge ego boost. Plus, even if you don’t plan to accept the job, a new offer can serve as a valuable tool to leverage a raise or promotion at your current job. But in order to maximise the opportunity, you’ve got to be just as strategic as you were while acing your interview.
Step one, says career coach Heather Monahan, is to get the offer in writing so you know exactly what you’ve got. Second, know that this is just the beginning of a series of conversations with the potential new job, your old boss, and yourself.
Terrified? You shouldn’t be. You’re in the best possible place. You have a company that wants to hire you and one that would love to keep you. So take your time. Remember: You have the written job offer, and they won’t take that away just because you need a few days to think it through. And if you’re not sure it’s the right move, know that you can absolutely tell your boss you got a new job offer without offering your resignation. Consider this: Companies spend an average of £1,000 and 30 hours to train someone in a job. If you’re a good worker, your current boss would love to keep you on board. You have the upper hand. So use it for getting what you want and what you need.
Ahead, we went to the career experts for the questions you have to ask yourself before you accept an offer.
When you’re stuck at a job you don’t love, the urge to get out can be so strong, you may overlook that you might be landing in pretty much an identical situation, warns Catherine Fisher, a career expert for LinkedIn. First, make a list of the things you hate about your current job. Bogged down by admin tasks? Feel like you’re on call 24/7? Feel eh about the values and ethics of the corporation? The more specific you are about what you hate, the more you’ll get a sense of how great the new offer really is.
For example, if you realise the reason you can’t stand your job is the fact that you feel invisible, then maybe the gig at the huge corporation where the interviewer tells you you’ll be on a team of 20 may not be the right fit. After all, sometimes, the devil you do know (your boss who has a penchant for texting you on weekends) is better than the devil you don’t (the new boss who will potentially ask you to come into the office on weekends).
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
Never take the first offer, says Monahan. Consider the initial offer the one from which you can negotiate for a counter-offer. This is where it pays to compare the on-paper job offer with the one you got from your previous job. Yes, look at salary, but also compare bonus structure, vacation benefits, pension, and insurance benefits. All of these will give you a holistic view of how much more you’ll really be making.
Let’s say you make £45,000 at company A, which also offers a 5% pension matching contribution. That’s the equivalent of £2,300 of free money per year, which should be taken into consideration when comparing the offer from Company B, which may be offering more cash, but no match.
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
New research from job search site Sokanu found that six-figure careers may not be the ones that offer workers the most satisfaction. That said, an eyebrow-raising offer can be tempting…but think about what the company is asking for, in exchange for that high paycheque. You’ll likely have an initial sense of how the office functions from your interview, but ask your would-be boss if she can put you in touch with a few people who currently work in the office, or track down a few former employees via LinkedIn. A few candid conversations can help fill in the blanks on any questions of work-life balance. (We recommend you have these conversations over the phone, so there’s no paper trail that might be misinterpreted.)
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
To really suss out the answer, look beyond the offer letter, says Fisher. Ask to speak to an HR rep at the new company, since they’re often better versed in the ins and outs of insurance, family leave, and other benefits (such as education reimbursement) than a hiring manager may be. And if anything confuses you, make sure to ask. If the company guarantees 12 weeks of paid family leave, is there an option to take additional, unpaid leave, should it become a necessity?
At the same time, now’s a good time to brush up on what benefits your own company offers. Crack open the employee handbook you got from orientation and, again, if you’re confused about anything, make an appointment to talk the Q out with the HR rep. And this sounds obvious, but we speak from experience: It’s easy to get dazzled by “soft” benefits, like free lunch. Yes, those perks absolutely contribute to a happier office life and can absolutely tip the balance in favour of one office over the other, but knowing the full picture of all the non-compensation benefits will lead to a much better-informed decision.
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
The more your boss knows, the better it is for you when weighing a new offer, says Monahan. This is especially true if you like the industry and like the company you’re with, but want a salary bump or title change. It’s smart to always make it a habit to touch base with your manager beyond your annual review to talk wins, long-term projects, and the future even if you’re not actively looking for a new gig. The more she knows before you get an offer, the more she can help you tweak your current job description (and hopefully pay grade) to more closely align with what you really want. If your current manager doesn’t seem to care? Then it’s even more important to get a read on how a new potential boss will invest in you.
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
It’s essential to have some rock-solid numbers and requests written down before you talk to your manager. Are you looking for a title change? A salary bump of a certain percentage? More flexibility? Whatever it is, know that if you have a good working relationship with your boss, your boss wants you to stay, Monahan explains. But don’t ambush your manager or set an ultimatum, since she likely has her own boss, with whom she will have to talk before any new offers can be made. State your requests; then, set up a time to speak in a few days.
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
Time to do a little mental vision-boarding. Experts agree that even at a new company, it pays to talk about the future. Do your potential employers see the new role as a growth position? How will they invest in your career? Would there be a possibility for them to pay for your graduate degree down the line?
Also, it’s smart to think about what’s going on in your own life. If you’re planning on starting a family, choosing a gig that has flexible work options, amazing family leave, or a really great work-life balance can be key. Make sure you have answers to questions about these kinds of non-monetary benefits before you accept the offer.
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
Either way, they want you. But when they want you so much that they recruited you, it may give you a tiny bit more leverage — especially if you want to stay in your current gig. “No boss wants to know their employee was interviewing, so letting your manager know that they came to you and that you want to stay (if it’s true) can be the magic words to ensuring you receive a bigger comp package,” says Monahan.
Another reason to ask yourself this question is psychological. Since it can be hard to say “no,” when you’re being courted, it’s even more important to make sure the new job is one you want.
Illustrated by Natalia Spotts.
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The judge that presided over the infamous sexual assault case involving Stanford swimmer Brock Turner 's attack on an unconscious survivor will now no longer hear criminal cases at his own request, according to The Mercury News.
Judge Aaron Persky was subject to a recall campaign and a public outcry after he sentenced Turner to only a six-month jail sentence. Now, he's asked only to hear civil cases.
"While I firmly believe in Judge Persky's ability to serve in his current assignment, he has requested to be assigned to the civil division, in which he previously served," Santa Clara County Presiding Judge Rise Pichon said in a statement. "Judge Persky believes the change will aid the public and the court by reducing the distractions that threaten to interfere with his ability to effectively discharge the duties of his current criminal assignment."
The move will take effect September 6 and will be subject to an annual review, so it could very well be a temporary reassignment.
Stanford law professor Michelle Dauber, who led the recall effort against Judge Persky, said that she approved of the move, but it wouldn't stop their campaign. That's chiefly because he could move back to hearing criminal cases at will. Dauber argues that Persky still carries significant bias against sexual assault survivors.
Stanford, in response to the sexual assault, has banned hard alcohol from on-campus parties. People have decried the ban as missing the point.
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In case you've missed the tabloid headlines: Mila Kunis is a mother now, nearly two times over. But unfortunately, that rite of passage doesn't appear to have prepared her to play a parent on the silver screen. Bad Moms isn't just a bad movie: Its leading lady also seems to have been severely miscast in her role. ( Warning: Spoilers to follow.)
Kunis plays Amy, a thinly-stretched thirtysomething mother with two kids — one a highly anxious overachiever and the other a stereotypical slacker in the making — who also happens to be married to an overgrown man-child who doesn't seem to notice that she's managing the entirety of their family affairs.
Bad Moms begins with Amy running around like a crazy person, trying to get her kids to school on time, and winding up with spaghetti all over her trouser suit before ultimately dragging herself to a PTA meeting.
The PTA — which, in this film, is painted as a sort of fascist regime run by a single mean girl mum, Gwendolyn (portrayed by the fabulously funny Christina Applegate), and her two harpies — is getting schooled on all the things that can't be a part of the upcoming bake sale (namely: sugar, gluten, GMOs, fun, etc.) when Amy finally decides that damn it, she's had enough. She won't be taking this shit anymore. Amy stands up to Gwendolyn and walks out of the meeting, with the pasta sauce in her hair somehow looking more like smoothing serum than dried tomato paste. She manages to gain an acolyte in the process: Kiki, played by Kristen Bell, a stay-at-home mum of four whose whole life revolves around her kids and her micro-managing husband who, we fast find out, can't get hard but toes a hard line.
After spending all this time trying to make being a mom look hard, it wraps up by showing us that it can be so easy, if only women would just calm down.
Bell manages to glow even in the midst of a consistently crappy script, but it is Kathryn Hahn who steals the show and somehow makes shit shine. As Carla, Hahn is the crass comic relief to Kunis' hollow performance, and her portrayal is the only one with any real heart. Clad in bargain bin-type apparel, she's already at the bar tossing back shots when Kiki and Amy bail on the PTA meeting and walk in. The three women wind up getting wasted together and decide that they're going to fully indulge "bad mom" mode. For them that means shooting whiskey, staying out late, and generally letting the things they would normally obsess over slide.
By the end of the evening, Amy is transformed, and their little drunk trio has become a tight-knit clique. Amy — who becomes single after finding out her husband has been having an affair on the internet — decides that she's going fully rogue, allowing her kids to make breakfast for themselves (ooh!) and forcing them to do their own homework instead of doing it for them (ahh!). And of course, herein lies one of the huge problem with Bad Moms: what it assumes about good mothers and how they micromanage family life.
"Good moms", in this film, which was written and produced by the male duo behind such films as Wedding Crashers and The Hangover, plays into an imaginary dichotomy where "good moms" are women who don't have sex, don't have fun, and put their children's needs at the centre of their existence at all times. In contrast, "bad moms" are those who go out, let loose sometimes, allow their kids to sink or swim and experience the consequences, and stand up for themselves. It's an insulting portrait of motherhood — of parenthood in general — that amplifies the general mum-shaming trend that has beset us in recent years.
To make matters worse, the low-hanging laughs that Bad Moms reaches for are barely titter-worthy. The scene in the trailer where Amy's friends are shocked that her "sexy bra" is boringly functional? That's about as funny as the film gets. Dialogue alternates between lowbrow humour and platitudes about the perils of helicopter parenting, with intercuts of Kunis hugging her deeply awkward kids, looking more like their beautiful babysitter than a woman who birthed them.
It's an insulting portrait of motherhood — of parenthood in general — that amplifies the general mom-shaming trend that has beset us in recent years.
But the lowest point is when Amy — clad in sheer nylons and a self-referred "slutty" dress she once wore for Halloween — hits the town with Carla and Kiki so that she can wipe the taste of her cheating ex from her palette and get laid. She mothers the men at the bar, scaring them off one after the next, until — lo and behold — a hot dad from school walks in and sweeps her off her feet.
Jessie (Jay Hernandez) is a sexy widower who is apparently ready to get back out there, and all it takes is for him to tell Amy that she's a "good mom" before she pounces on him at the bar. They get busy, which I think we're supposed to interpret as Amy officially reclaiming her mojo. That ultimately translates to her running against Gwendolyn for the PTA presidency — and to liberating the other women from the tyranny of trying to be a perfect mother.
In the end, a considerably more relaxed Amy — less one loser husband and plus a major dose of self-confidence — drops her kids off at school, leisurely waves at her former nemesis, and huddles up with her new besties, who have learned their own mum lessons along the way. The moral of this story, it would seem, is that there are no "good moms" or "bad moms": There are just mothers, striving to do the best with what they have, and still trying to retain a sense of self beyond the realm of parenthood. There is some truth to that cliché, but not even that message can save Bad Moms from ringing overwhelmingly inauthentic to modern parenthood. After spending all this time trying to make being a mum look difficult, it wraps up by showing us that it can be so easy, if only women would just calm down and realise what's really important. It's oversimplification at best, and a patronising moral that modern mothers definitely don't need, even in comedic form, at its very worst.
Bad Moms is in UK cinemas now.
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It's a chicken and egg debate with regards to what became cult first: the rather dubious, anti-feminist romcom plot-line, or the crinkle-stretch fabric, body-con dress, thigh-high patent boots and bleach blonde wig outfit that introduced us to Julia Roberts' Pretty Woman character, Vivian Ward. The costumes, designed by Marilyn Vance, have become as beloved as the film.
By now, you should know the storyline like the back of your hand (unless you call the underside of a rock 'home'.) Vivian, while out working, is picked up by multi-millionaire, silver-haired financier Edward, played by Richard Gere, who's looking for a date to tag along with him to corporate events and dinners. Lo and behold, the plot thickens when Richard falls for Vivian.
Ok, ok, not exactly forward-thinking stuff, but we were bewitched by the film growing up and with two good reasons – firstly Vivian (hello, she's the reason we still sing "Kiss" every time we have a bubble bath) and secondly Vivian's outfits. There's no one film that so definitively captures early '90s uptown girl style better. Think shoulder pads, perms, polka-dots and denim hot-pants. Then toss in some hair mousse and you're a third of the way to channelling Vivian Ward.
Here for your delectation are some film stills to inspire your style. It is time once more to make way for the shoulder pad...
A classic and timeless Julia moment. This, indeed, is how to wear a boyfriend shirt: undone, rolled up, knotted.
Photo: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock.
Ok, so not strictly an outfit, but a Walkman is a fashion statement in itself.
Photo: Everett/REX/Shutterstock.
The cookies 'n' cream day-at-the-polo dress with snowy white gloves and matching straw hat. Swoon.
Photo: Everett/REX/Shutterstock.
The single pearl-drop earrings and black sun hat almost make us want to try out this shoulder-pad blazer. Almost.
Photo: Everett/REX/Shutterstock.
The famed wig and crinkle stretch-fabric dress. Never has a bouffant, ash-blonde, bobbed wig looked so chic. Oh, Julia!
Photo: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock.
That is one heck of a blow dry. We're digging the red and white combo too.
Photo: Snap/REX/Shutterstock.
Again with the mum-pearls and Tom Cruise white tee and blazer co-ording. Yes, please.
Photo: Snap/REX/Shutterstock.
That. Dress. The eighties prom Queen dream of a gown, in red-red-red. The off-the-shoulder cut and knotted-at-the-hip design still feels Jessica Rabbit in the best way, now. Loving the opera gloves too.
Photo: Everett/REX/Shutterstock.
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