Inhoudsopgave van Issue 714 - Grazia

1 CORE CLASSICS UNIqLO U by Christophe Lemaire is the style set’s secret weapon. Coat, £89.90, shirt, £34.90, trousers, £34.90, all Uniqlo U, from 31 Jan (uniqlo.com) 2 ALL TIED UP THIS CHIC SHIRT with an oversized bow at the waist will elevate your office workwear. £69.95, Massimo Dutti (massimodutti.com) 3 POWERFUL PRINTS FLORALS AREN’T just for summer – wear this punchy print with knee-high boots. £395, LK Bennett (lkbennett.com) 4 BIG SOFTIE WATERMELON AND gingko biloba leaf in SX-MDQ’V RHfiQLQJ Facial Polish, £38, gently exfoliate dry skin away without the need for harsh rubbing and scrubbing. 5 TOTE ADORBS ADD A JOLT of colour to your outfit with this croc-effect shopper – the perfect way to carry around your everyday essentials. £370, Nanushka (net-a-porter.com) 6 DREAMY CURVES SWAP CLASSIC…

‘His profile pics are contrived so you can’t tell how tall he is,’ she says, ‘Which means he’s definitely short. They wear a hat? They’re bald. They pose in circumstances which don’t give a sense of scale? They’re short.’ And short is… ‘Bad.’ Because…? ‘I’m heightist,’ R says. Oh, but we all are, wouldn’t you say? Us women? Us brave, forward-thinking, empowered feminist women, who rage against any man who expresses a physical preference in a lady-mate? Who screamed ‘Deluded misogynist!’ at that 50-year-old French author from a couple of weeks back who said he’d never sleep with a woman his own age (he preferred them 20-something and blemish-free)? How righteous we are about diversity in female beauty, about the underappreciated sexiness of stretch marks ’n’ cellulite, jiggle ’n’ flab……

SHOPPING: FENELLA WEBB. PHOTOS: GETTY, SHUTTERSTOCK THE SPICE GIRLS are back (well, 80% of them), Friends is playing on repeat (just us?) and jeans are low-slung again (visible thong optional). There’s no doubt about it, ’90s nostalgia is still in full Britpop swing. The latest throwback to the decade comes courtesy of the bucket hat. But rather than belonging to Gen Z #TBT-ers, rave’s fave headgear is being co-opted by a more elevated audience. Indeed, the winter bucket hat was out in force in a snowy Paris during last week’s couture shows. The fash pack’s go-tos? Burberry check and Prada geometric intarsias. Possessing just the right amount of statement-making charm, the bucket adds an unexpected, tomboyish twist to any look. It’s a 10-second outfit update befitting truly Baltic days. ‘I…

SOUTH KOREAN SKINCARE may be world-famous, championed by everyone from Drew Barrymore to Kim Kardashian – but the rumbling battle between feminists and the country’s multibillion-dollar beauty industry is now threatening a serious rebellion. In the latest step of the #escapethecorset movement, a monthly protest has taken hold: on the first Sunday of every month, women are refusing to buy clothes or beauty products, cut their hair, put on make-up or contribute to any industry that participates in their oppression. The movement began in June last year when blogger Bae Eun-jeong posted a video – called ‘I am not pretty’ – in which she took off her make-up while sharing vindictive comments she had received about her appearance. The video has since been viewed almost seven million times. In the…

EXPECTATIONS REALITY TWO YEARS AGO, when the British influencer CC Clarke received an email from an agent asking if she would like to attend a luxury festival in the Bahamas, she jumped at the chance. A quick Google search threw up a sleek advert for what promised to be ‘the most insane festival the world has ever seen’. It starred Bella Hadid, Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski and Kendall Jenner partying on a boat off a private island in the Bahamas that once belonged to drug lord Pablo Escobar. Rapper Ja Rule was a co-founder and the event, Fyre Festival, promised luxury accommodation – for $250k (£190k) you could stay on a private yacht with your own chef, world-class food and headline acts like Major Lazer. In short, it made Coachella…

I AM AN ONLY child, but I have one sister. Well, one that I know of. There are probably more. Confusing, I know. Yet my situation is one shared by tens of thousands of donor-conceived people in the UK alone. According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the number of women using egg donors has risen sharply to just under 4,000 a year. Meanwhile, around 2,000 children are conceived annually in the UK with the help of donor sperm. And I, unknowingly, was one of them. I grew up happy, imaginative, and content with my own company. While other friends had siblings, I had a tight-knit unit of three: me, my mum and my dad. But when I was 13, my parents sat me down across our small kitchen…

VERSACE Mega mixed power flowers: clashing, colourful and cool LOUIS VUITTON Retro futurism vibes come courtesy of metallic floral jacquards CHANEL A masterclass in the grown-up way to do logos. Très chic CELINE BY HEDI SLIMANE Turn up the music. Stay out all night. The rebel is back EMPORIO ARMANI Grey on grey on grey is spring’s brightest idea BURBERRY Riccardo Tisci’s debut collection is a reason to smile FENDI The luxe bike short is here to stay. Do you dare? DOLCE & GABBANA Up-for-anything khaki co-ords show off their romantic side PRADA Sophistication meets subversion. Prada’s LBD is anything but safe CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC The final chapter of Raf Simons’ cinematic ode to Americana GUCCI Exaggerated marigold ruffles are a jolt of pure sunshine MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION Cali girl…

Think about the answers to the following questions before seeing your colourist to help them get the perfect colour-vs-commitment blonde for you. 1. How often can you manage maintenance appointments? 2. Do you feel strongly about roots? 3. How much time can you commit per colour appointment? 4. Do you like your hair best when you come back from holiday, or after a three-hour colour? 5. Are you happy to wear more make-up/fake tan or do you want something that suits your skin tone? 6. Do you struggle with dry hair?…

No-excuses jacket This ASOS 4505 jacket not only looks amazing, but folds up so small you can take it everywhere – which leaves you fresh out of ‘bad weather’ excuses. £42, asos.com The natural nibble With raw cacao and 100% natural ingredients, vegan Nutty Cacao Peanut Butter Cups are almost healthy, right? £3 for two, contentbeautywellbeing.com Sound inspo Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay E8 headphones are the most sophisticated ones you’ll meet – wireless, supersonic sound, chargeable in their own case, and controlled by tapping your ear. £269, bang-olufsen.com PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES…

SWEET POTATO, VINE TOMATO, HALLOUMI & KALE TRAY BAKE Serves 2 INGREDIENTS 2 small/medium sweet potatoes, halved and cut into wedges 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp ground sumac 60g pitted Kalamata olives 50g kale leaves, trimmed as necessary 2-3 stems vine-ripened cherry tomatoes 200g halloumi cheese, cut into slices METHOD 1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan180°C/Gas Mark 6. 2 Place the sweet potato wedges in a mixing bowl, drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the sumac. Toss to combine, then place in a large roasting tray and scatter over the olives. 3 Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the sweet potato wedges are just beginning to soften, then add the kale, cherry tomatoes and halloumi slices. 4 Roast for a further 20 minutes…

The Hunting Party Lucy Foley (£12.99, HARPERCOLLINS) A gang of friends heads to the Highlands for New Year, hoping for wilderness walks, exclusive malts and treasured time together. Instead, a decade’s worth of secrets and resentments unravel and 2019 opens with a dead body, a fractured group and a police helicopter heading their way. With a nimble back-and-forth structure that leaves you guessing who has been murdered until over halfway, an epic location and characters who feel all-too-real as London’s most entitled, this is a modern whodunnit.…

TAKING A Grande stand ARIANA GRANDE HAS responded to the backlash concerning her latest single, 7 Rings. Ariana, who was accused of plagiarism and the appropriation of Japanese and black culture, told her fans: ‘It was never my intention to offend anybody.’ NO JUNK in this trunk IF YOU LIKE discovering breaking talent then you need to know about Moda Operandi’s new monthly trunk show series, Moda Selects. Shining the spotlight on emerging designers and curated by fashion director Lisa Aiken, the debut offering includes pared-back bag brand Rylan Studio and luxe New Zealand label Georgia Alice. modaoperandi.com GUESS WHO’S another Hana fan IS HANA CROSS becoming Victoria Beckham’s new muse? Last week, Brooklyn’s model girlfriend was dressed head-to-toe in VB’s new Reebok collection at her New York launch party.…

When we heard that two companies in China are giving their single female employees over the age of 30 an extra eight days of annual ‘dating leave’ (purely to find a partner), we thought... wait. We’d love the time off, but what if we have more pressing things to do with it? As romantic as a production line of dates sounds, we’d quite like to schedule that dream holiday, or visit those friends in Scotland, finally – or learn a language and make a dent in the tower of books in our living room. This has a whiff of that stigmatising attitude society still has towards single women – thinking it’s OK to urge us to date, when we’d like to choose how we spend our time, thank you.…

EMMA* BURST INTO TEARS when she saw the faint blue cross on the pregnancy test. Broke, unemployed and recently split from her cheating boyfriend, a baby was the last thing on her mind. ‘I was 19, still living at home, and on antidepressants. Having a baby would have pushed me over the edge.’ Emma, now 26, decided to have an abortion. But terminating her pregnancy was far from straightforward and she was forced to travel to a clinic in England. ‘Having to leave my home made me feel grubby and ashamed,’ she says. ‘I didn’t tell a soul where I was going. It was like I was being punished for making that choice.’ Despite being born in the UK and holding a British passport, Emma lives in a country where abortion…

PHOTOS:BACKGRID,INSTAGRAM/HAILEYBIEBER/JUSTINBIEBER AFTER THEIR QUICKIE secret wedding in New York last September, it appeared to be all systems go for Justin and Hailey Bieber’s ‘proper do’ at the start of March. But just days after the save-the-date cards had been sent out, the couple’s big plans came to a grinding halt last week. According to US sources, Justin and Hailey have postponed the celebration after ‘too many loved ones couldn’t make it’. ‘Justin and Hailey initially panicked, but it dawned on them – they’re already married, so there’s no rush.’ Indeed, with a new date currently being reorganised, what can we expect from Hollywood’s youngest A-list power couple? The ceremony will be a ‘traditional affair’ attended by friends including Scooter Braun, Ariana Grande, Tom Hanks and Carly Rae Jepsen, an insider…

NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. PHOTO (POSED BY MODEL): STOCKSY I FIRST MET Pete* in my local pub. I was 21 and a student; he was 28 and worked behind the bar. He’d give me free rounds and nicknamed me ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, while my friends cheekily referred to him as ‘the hot barman’ – Pete was good-looking, easy-going and funny. One night when I was out celebrating the end of term with friends, he asked me out. Upfront, flirty and fun – I felt as if Pete was just what I needed. After a few short boozy dates, we went official. He love-bombed me, said I was his ‘dream girl’ – and, within three weeks, told me he loved me. I remember feeling giddy with excitement. That wasn’t to last.…

Catherine Gray may be single, but that doesn’t mean she regrets her past loves and everything she’s learned along the way. After all, as the saying goes, ’tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all… Here’s the most common things a woman aged 27-plus says after a break-up. ‘I feel like I’ve wasted so much time. I have to start all over again.’ Pre-27, if a relationship ended we may well have spent a day crying until our face was double the size (to the soundtrack of Torn by Natalie Imbruglia or Hello by Adele), but we shook it off quickly. Then, expectations of ‘escalator relationships’ kick in, whereby if it doesn’t clunk upwards to the zenith of vows, dove-releasing, a covers band and…

Tuck in Victoria Beckham did it with silky camisoles and trousers, Givenchy with tough leather jackets and sleek pencil skirts – and Loewe half-tucked shirts into combat trousers. Style your top half a bit in, a bit out for an easy catwalk update. Style tip! Silks, jersey and fine knits are the easiest fabrics to tuck. Come undone From Alexa Chung to Aquazurra, Chloé to Chanel, the humble shirt and cardi were upgraded by ‘reverse’ buttoning. Start at the top and stop buttoning where your trousers start. It adds shape to boxy shirts and skims hips while showing off your waist. Style tip! High-waisted trousers and long-line shirts are the perfect pairing for this look. Tights with brights Once the definition of sensible (read: boring) dressing, black opaques are back…

MASCARA, OUR FOREVER ride-or-die, has competition. Competition which, last year, prompted a drop in ‘mascara’ Google searches and a 52% rise in searches for ‘natural lash lifts’ on Pinterest. What happened? We used to feel naked without a slick of the good stuff, but now, with Instagram popularising lash-less looks, big brands like Fenty and Huda Beauty (which sells 22 different types of falsies) not selling any kind of mascara, and the catwalks sporting bare lashes season after season, it might seem like our furry-tipped friends have fallen out of favour. Put that down to the extensions, tints and lifts responsible for stealing mascara’s crown… DO THE LASH LIFT All the eye-awakening, lifting and defining effects of mascara can be mimicked with a lash lift or perm. As low-maintenance as…

FACE OFF Ideal for sensitive skins, Votary Super Seed Cleansing Oil, £55, combines 22 oils, including apricot and jojoba, to gently lift make-up, pollution and daily grime for a deep, ultra-nourishing cleanse. DREAM DROPS At £110 this is a blow-the-budget facial oil, but Colbert MD Illumino Face Oil – loved by A-listers – tackles inflammation, boosts elasticity and hydrates like a dream. 40 WINKS A nightly massage with Beauty Pie Super Healthy Skin Amazing Sleep Oil, £75, will immediately soften skin, while algae extracts improve firmness in the long run. SKIN WIN 100% natural, Kate Somerville’s Dilo Oil, £55, promises to reduce the appearance of crow’s feet, fine lines and deep wrinkles with its omega oils and antioxidants. BRIGHT-EYED The skin around our eyes is the thinnest and most fragile…

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/ THETECHCREATIVE VIEW POINT Eixample, Barcelona Ranged around Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, the Eixample district’s striking grid-like pattern of wide boulevards and Catalan modernist buildings was created in the 19th and early 20th centuries to house the city’s rapidly swelling population. Today, it is one of Barcelona’s most lively areas, packed with restaurants, bars and boutiques. Head to the hip Sant Antoni neighbourhood and Passeig de Gràcia for super-luxe shopping.…

SANDI TOKSVIG Our favourite Bake Off presenter is touring and lands in Brighton this week. Sandi Toksvig Live! The National Trevor Tour is sharp, suggestive and will keep you in stitches all evening. Expect a punchy Q&A, bawdy jokes and a few quirky facts. 31 Jan; sanditoksvig.com THE BEAUFORT BAR AT THE SAVOY Feeling sophisticated? Spend the evening sampling the Beaufort Bar’s Music, Magic & Drama drinks menu. A glass of Light Bulb Moments will definitely brighten things up. thesavoylondon.com CHRISTIAN DIOR The V&A is celebrating Christian Dior’s legacy, with an exhibition that chronicles the fashion house’s journey from 1947 to the present day. Iconic sketches and designs are on display. Until 14 July; vam.ac.uk BLACK MARKET, LEEDS Anyone within a 50-mile radius of Leeds should visit Black Market, pronto.…

The Suspect Fiona Barton (£12.99, BANTAM PRESS) The Widow introduced journalist Kate Waters, and she pops up again here in the story of two ordinary girls who go missing on their gap year in Thailand – just as Waters’ son did a couple of years before. Barton creates a great mystery told from multiple viewpoints with plenty of delicious twists. Take Me In Sabine Durrant (£7.99, MULHOLLAND BOOKS) The author of Lie With Me has a ruthlessly sharp eye for the vanities of modern urbanites. A couple on holiday are momentarily distracted, leaving a stranger to save their toddler from drowning. A matter of seconds turns into months of terror as the kindly stranger transforms into something more menacing. Red Snow Will Dean (£14.99, POINT BLANK) Last year’s Dark Pines…

My mother warned me from a young age never to be financially dependent on a man, for my own happiness and self-worth. She was a working mum, which wasn’t the norm in the ’70s. I had a role model who I was proud to look up to – the first female manager in her business. Today, my husband and I keep separate bank accounts and I earn the six-figure salary. And yes, I’ve already had the conversation with my daughter. Carol SISTERLY SOLIDARITY Thank you Polly for your ‘Embarrassing Awakening’ column (21 Jan). We need global support to further the cause of free, safe, legal abortion in Northern Ireland – now the last area on these islands where a woman is breaking the law for ending an unwanted pregnancy. I…

PHOTOS: GETTY, SPLASH NEWS,TWITTER/COLDWAR_STEVE 1 NEW IN STEFANO TSITSIPAS 20-year-old Greek tennis player who, last week, came out of nowhere to beat Federer. It’s all about the hair. No! The headband. No! The prowess. One of them, anyway. 2 UP CELINE DION Freshly announced as headliner for the Hyde Park BST gig later this year: her one European date of 2019. We are really enjoying her renaissance. (Ce-naissance? No, sorry, we were trying a thing, but it doesn’t work.) 3. UP STEVE MCFADDEN In his current role as visual lynchpin to the immaculate Twitter feed McFadden’s Cold War ( @Coldwar_ Steve ) – political satire meets Photoshop with joyous/silly results. 4. NEW IN MARYANN ROLLE One of the very few people to come out of the Netflix Fyre doc looking…

Melanie Bromley, chief news correspondent, E! News One thing that’s guaranteed to send a wave of excitement through Tinseltown is the buzz of a new Hollywood hook-up. And so it was when news broke that Brad Pitt and Charlize Theron were together. But no sooner had we started thinking up their new moniker (Chad, Bralize…), we discovered it wasn’t as serious as first thought. That’s perhaps a shame for the pair, because the odds of finding Mr or Mrs Right are actually hard if you’re an A-lister. Thanks to an unwelcome entourage of paparazzi and social media-savvy observers, they can’t just rock up to their local bar and hope to catch the eye of a stranger. And how can they be certain their potential partner likes them for the right…

‘I’M JUST GOING to put it out there now,’ Victoria Beckham warns. ‘We had a big night. We had a really, really big night.’ Such candour from a celebrity is refreshing, of course, but actually, I already know, because I was there too – in a hip bar on New York’s Lower East Side, where she partied until the small hours with David and eldest son Brooklyn to celebrate the launch of her latest collection. This morning, though, you honestly wouldn’t know – she’s perky, upbeat and not a bit bleary-eyed. The only departure from the groomed, glossy VB of red carpets and runway shows is that she’s dressed head-to-toe in athleisure. ‘I never thought that I would want to go out in leggings and a jumper,’ she freely admits.…

VEGAN PAINT , gender-neutral tones and decor inspired by private members’ club Soho House: welcome to the nursery in Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor home the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are due to move into as they welcome their first baby in April. Last week, we learned that Meghan had opted for ‘non-toxic’ paint for the baby’s room, after enlisting the help of Vicky Charles, the interior designer who counts the Clooneys as clients and is responsible for Meghan’s favourite Cotswolds hotspot, Soho Farmhouse. (The duchess was photographed at the Soho House branch with Millie Mackintosh in 2017 and spent her three-day hen party there last May.) While it was once thought that Meghan would prefer a home birth, sources have now said she has opted for Frimley Park Hospital,…

SATC 1998 THE TEASER ON Sarah Jessica Parker’s Instagram was unbearable. As Sex And The City’s beloved, jaunty theme tune played, we saw a tulle skirt paired with a gold lamé jacket and kooky accessories. The camera panned to lacy, white kitten-heel sock boots. Finally, there was Carrie Bradshaw, frizzy blonde locks flowing, looking hardly a day older than when she first teetered into our lives in 1998. ‘My old friend,’ read SJP’s caption. ‘She is making a brief reappearance.’ Could it really be true? After the second SATC movie nine years ago, was Carrie back? Our inner, cynical Miranda warned us it was impossible, since Kim Cattrall (Samantha) has long nixed a third film. Sure enough, a couple of days later a longer video was released: this time finishing,…

PHOTOS: GETTY. THE MODIST: THEMODIST.COM. PALLAS X CLAIRETHOMSON-JONVILLE: MATCHESFASHION.COM. ALEXACHUNG X JUJU,LAUNCHING 31 JANUARY: ALEXACHUNG.COM Don’t save colour ’til spring. Marina Moscone’s capsule for The Modist is all about fresh, feelgood tones. Smarten up. Pallas x Claire Thomson-Jonville makes the case for 24/7 tailoring. Know this name: Bruno Sialelli. The Loewe and Acne alumnus is newly appointed at Lanvin. Dial up the drama. See Miss Fame at last week’s couture shows for a masterclass in more-is-more. Missed the Catherine Deneuve & YSL Christie’s sale? Watch Belle Du Jour for serious style inspo. Get ready for some jelly (shoes). Your childhood fave is back courtesy of ALEXACHUNG X JuJu.…

FENDI S/S ’19 THERE IS A moment in the third season of Sex And The City when Carrie Bradshaw, lost after leaving a restaurant, is robbed at gunpoint and forced to hand over her jewellery and Manolo Blahniks. ‘And the bag,’ grunts her assailant. ‘It’s a Bag-uette,’ she corrects him as she forlornly departs with the dinky purple sequinned handbag. While we advise you save the sass if you ever find yourself in such a situation, there is a nugget of realism to be found in this exchange – namely that Fendi’s Baguette has always been so much more than just a bag. Introduced to the world in 1997, the Baguette quickly came to exemplify all that was hot at the turn of the millennium. There it was, hanging from…

ASK ANY DYE-HARD blonde whether they actually have more fun and you’ll get a resounding: ‘Are you kidding me?’ The truth is, maintaining bleach has a reputation for a relentless series of salon visits, root regrowth and frazzled ends, not to mention tackling brassiness on a daily basis. Yet, according to Mintel research, over 42% of women in the UK still choose to colour their hair blonde. Meaning, despite the associated damage, blonde hair is currently coveted more than any other shade out there. Luckily, this means the world’s biggest beauty brands have taken note and acted on our blonde ambition – developing a new wave of pro-blonde products, treatments and colourants that get the job done without the former damage. Blondies, take note… OUT WITH THE OLD Historically far…

Clinique Naturally Glossy Mascara, £19.50 A bushy brush helps define lashes. Those fair of lash will love the ‘jet brown’ shade. Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara, £25 This is the best all-rounder for length and volume. It’s also vegan. Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Classico Mascara, £30 A single sweep of this soft formula delivers a jet-black flutter. Glossier Lash Slick Mascara, £14 The ultimate everyday mascara, this formula is as light as they come. No7 The Full 360 Mascara, £14 This is packed with volumising particles that build up for a fatter lash. PHOTOS: JASON LLOYD-EVANS. CLINIQUE: BOOTS.COM. EYLURE: ASOS.COM. GIORGIOARMANI: JOHNLEWIS.COM. GLOSSIER: GLOSSIER.COM. HOURGLASS: JOHNLEWIS.COM.NO7: BOOTS.COM. L’ORÉAL: BOOTS.COM. REVITALASH: CULTBEAUTY.CO.UK…

IF YOU STARTED some sort of fitness/sugar-free/lower alcohol/ coffee cut-back regime in January, then it’s around now that you might find you’re clinging on for dear life. ‘We only live once, Goddamnit,’ you murmur as you eye up the KitKats in the biscuit aisle. I urge you to hang in there – experts say it takes six weeks to break a habit, so if you stick with it now you may have just broken your unwanted ways forever. But how to hang in there when the going gets tough? Health expert Louise Parker, whose new book, The 6 Week Programme, aims to kick-start a sustainable healthy regime, explains that the initial boost of motivation will always fade. ‘Motivation is a temporary swell,’ she says. ‘No matter how much fire there…

THE STREETS OF London are littered with broken dreams. For lovely, troubled Marnie, Dick Whittington’s old fable takes on a Millennial twist. She wants the city to help her shed her outer skin, unravel her core. She wants it to rid her of the arresting sexual imagery that disorders her thoughts during the anxiety attacks she’s suffered since the age of 14. She’s now 24, unemployed, with one friend in the big city. She has wit and a fabulous smile on her side, despite it all. Might London take her in its promiscuous arms and love her for who she is? Marnie is played with fresh realism by TV newcomer Charly Clive in Pure, a sensational exposition of a very particular mental health disorder. Pure is a comedy only in…

People Fixing The World This podcast chats to people who want to make the world a better place and investigates whether their ideas work. Sex Ed A revelatory podcast that explores sex and health in an open and analytical way. Expect discussions about ‘kink’, clinical sexology and sexual medicine. Committed Jo Piazza delves into the hilarious and often heartbreaking stories of couples who’ve gone through unimaginable circumstances. DOWNLOAD THE GRAZIA LIFE ADVICE PODCAST FOR BRILLIANT ADVICE FROM WOMEN WORTH LISTENING TO BOOKS: ALEXANDRA HEMINSLEY. PODCASTS: HARRIET KEAN. PHOTO: GETTY…

THE PARENT TRAP I’ve just read ‘I used to earn six figures, now I have to ask my husband if I want to buy a dress’ (21 Jan). This rings true for me. I spent many years building up my career, went to university twice, and worked hard to get to where I wanted to be. After having two children, something had to give. My husband is successful in his own right and encouraged me to go back to work, but finding childcare in the countryside wasn’t easy. I became jealous that I was stuck at home changing nappies while he got to go to work. It’s only now, when my eldest has started school, that I’ve begun to work more, but then the mum guilt kicks in that you’re…

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK YOU KNOW A POLITICIAN is the winner of the week when they have the awareness to judge when it’s time to step aside and make room for someone else. Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, quit last week after four years running the party, a year before her term is officially due to end. In a statement, she pointed to the debate that political movements have not been inclusive enough, writing that she’s ‘frustrated by the limits of my own work to ensure that women of colour, working-class women and disabled women see themselves reflected in this party and know they can lead this movement’. At a time when Parliament is still largely made up of white, middle-class, non-disabled (male) MPs, and as we hear news…