Stylist

“Thin is in.” It is always hard to comprehend how powerful three words can be. Yet in this order, these tiny little words have the power to hurt, control and, I hate to say it, even kill. Together they undo decades of work attempting to liberate women from the oppression of diet culture and body shaming and with it the reduction of mental health disorders associated with appearance. So, to see these words strung out in news headlines across the world, summing up the ‘big trends’ from fashion month last autumn, was devastating. Instead of celebrating fashion’s world-leading creativity, the suggestion was, once again, it was women’s bodies that needed policing. That to be on trend we had to starve or mutate ourselves to fit in. It is fair to…

stylist advertorial From precious metals to stacking rings, Pandora’s amazing collection features everything we love about the minimal jewellery trend… Moments Studded Chain Necklace, £115, Treated Freshwater Cultured Baroque Pearl Hoop Earrings, £90 Signature I-D Open Bangle, £150, Crossover Pavé Triple Band Ring, £100, Sparkling Overlapping Ring, £80, Polished Wishbone Ring, £40 Pavé Link Earring, £35, Pavé Double Styling Link, £40 Moments Studded Chain Bracelet, £60, Sparkling Slider Tennis Bracelet, £55 To shop the collection and explore all things minimal, visit pandora.co.uk…

career As the multi-hyphenate joins forces with BMW to mentor new filmmakers, Stylist’s Helen Bownass gets a creative masterclass “Do not be afraid to disappear – from it, from us – for a while, and see what comes to you in the silence.” I often think about this quote from Michaela Coel’s rousing 2021 Emmy acceptance speech. The actor, writer and director, best known for I May Destroy You and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is one of the most driven, successful and innovative voices of our generation with an unparalleled power to communicate the feeling of being a woman and to force audiences to question the world. So when I learnt she was becoming a mentor, officially, I wanted to get in line. Coel, who will co-chair this year’s Met…

travel Stylist’s Susan Riley visits the blueprint for cool country house hotels – and the birthplace of Cowshed – as Babington House rings in a quarter century 1998. The year Titanic won best picture at the Oscars, Lewinsky and Clinton got found out and Britney Spears released her very first single Hit Me Baby One More Time. It was also the year UK country house hotels got a major shake-up, with the arrival of Babington House – Soho House’s second outpost (its first, in London’s Soho, opened three years prior) which broke the mould for what discerning weekenders came to expect from an out-of-town retreat and paved the way for every Limewood, The Pig and The Newt that have wowed us since. Twenty five years later, and I’m crunching up…

books Ugly, the revolutionary new book by former Stylist beauty director Anita Bhagwandas, has made us question everything we’ve learnt about beauty ideals. Here, she explains why a rethink is so vital 1. Attraction con “It’s always stuck with me that Lisa, the one character of colour in Saved By The Bell, was the only person without a love interest. Writing a timeline of beauty influences helps identify where your ideals come from (and how subjective they are), but learning that appearance isn’t the basis of my appeal helped me the most.” 2. Rethinking ageing “As soon as you hit adulthood, you’re conditioned to believe that everything’s about preserving your youth. It’s why I freaked out about ageing when I hit 30. The best way to reframe this is to…

interiors From mirrored cubicles to extravagant Grecian basins and disco lights a plenty, there’s only one place for your next mid-dinner selfie. Team Stylist visited the most stylish loos in London to prove why you should always judge a restaurant by its bathroom… THE disco dream: jacuzzi, kensington Meena Alexander, Features Editor At the table: No one does maximalism like Big Mamma, the restaurateurs behind Gloria, Ave Mario and now Jacuzzi, a townhouse plucked straight from The White Lotus. Expect the usual showstoppers – spaghetti al tartufo served in a wheel of parmigiano – alongside fresh oysters and lobster risotto. The loo-down: Bedecked with disco balls, neon signs and flashing lights, you’ll find more people dancing in the toilets than reapplying their Fenty Icon. The two-way mirrors that double…