Grazia Issue 815

welcome to the issue

IT SHOULDN’T BE as much as of a thrill as it still is when a friend remarks that she likes something I’m wearing. Even more so when it’s an affordable, slightly off-radar brand I’ve discovered scrolling through Instagram (@thesummeredit_ being my new favourite). We’re calling these the new sweet-spot labels and the fashion team has rounded up the best names to know on page 86 for our first Affordable Fashion Issue. The team has also scoured the high-street stalwarts (think M&S, Zara and Arket) to edit down the buys that are guaranteed to be sell-outs. I hope you find something you love – and which others do, too! @hattie_brett / feedback@graziamagazine.co.uk…

over to you...

Have your say… Email us at feedback@graziamagazine.co.uk Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GraziaUK CHILDCARE CHANGE I read More hope for a childcare revolution (18 Oct) and was one of the 112,000 people who signed your petition. More affordable, accessible childcare is needed for the sake of mothers and their children. Childcare has a major impact on a child’s life, affecting future education outcomes and job prospects. But access to early years provision varies so much and Government support for it hasn’t kept pace with fees. I took to Twitter to lobby my MP. Thank you for all you are doing to help. SJ Lloyd It was great to hear about affordable childcare being discussed in Parliament, but the focus is always on preschool and primary-aged children. I have two kids in…

star letter

BODY POSITIVE ‘I feel uncomfortable about my pandemic weight gain – and I hate admitting that’ (18 Oct) struck a chord. I’ve gained over a stone since March 2020 and have sweatpants that I feel far too comfortable in. What upsets me is that I bragged that I would use quarantine to get fit. But I’ve done nothing in the way of fitness or healthy eating. However, I’ve decided that my body is well enough and I have lots of positives in my life. I’ve just survived a traumatic year; I’ve got my body to thank for that. I should stop being so critical of myself. Geri…

we must protect mps – and our democracy

“When the tragic news broke that Sir David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West, had been killed in a knife attack while holding a constituency surgery in Essex, it reignited a vital conversation about MPs’ safety. Amess, 69, has been described by one MP as ‘decency personified’; our hearts go out to those who knew him. Devastatingly, we’ve been here before. Stephen Timms a Labour MP, was stabbed in 2010, while Labour’s Jo Cox was murdered in 2016. Whatever their politics, those who step up to represent us shouldn’t be putting their lives or safety on the line. Protecting them is essential for the sake of democracy.”…

when you’ve got all the big hits: why self-defence is defensible

AS THE COUNTRY RAGED, mourned and despaired in the wake of Wayne Couzens’ conviction for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, I got an email from Sports Direct telling me about Sisters Club, a women-only boxing initiative set up by the Olympian, model and first-ever Somali pro boxer Ramla Ali. Ali established the club on Ladbroke Grove in 2018, originally as a space in which Muslim women could train – but Sisters Club subsequently evolved into a venue where any woman who’d suffered domestic violence or sexual assault will be taught self-defence for free. Sports Direct is helping support Sisters Club financially, dosh which has allowed it to expand to three other venues across London, and formulate plans for classes outside the capital. Funny we live in times when something…

chart of lust

1. Up SHIV ROY Succession is back, we can hardly contain ourselves. We are particularly eager to know where Shiv’s look will take her – and by extension, us – this season. 2. Up JAY-Z AND BEYONCÉ Whose recent tour of London engendered some top-notch Instagram content. The capital is very full of itself as a consequence; the London Eye in particular becoming quite intolerable. 3. New in SNOOP DOGG FT HARRY AND WILLS The Windsors are ‘his boys’; have been ever since he ‘heard they were fans’ and ‘reached out to them’. 4. Up MEGAN THEE STALLION With reference to this stage outfit, worn at the Austin City Limits festival, which incorporates rhinestones, belted pants and a fringed one-arm body accoutrement. 5. New in ALMA Of Alma’s Not Normal (BBC), performed with comic-heartbreaking perfection by Sophie Willan, who also wrote it. Honourable mention…