Grazia

welcome to the issue

I CAN’T be alone in being able to recall the clothes I’ve worn on significant occasions. Diesel jeans I saved up for as a teenager, believing they’d make me feel like a grownup. A COS shirt I wore when I interviewed the PM. And the Chanel shoes I treated myself to when I got my dream job, editing Grazia. For me, those items were transformative – and it’s that very effect that clothes can have that we’re celebrating in this week’s Big Fashion Issue. On page 84, Laura Antonia Jordan writes about the restorative power of clothes to help her through grief. Meanwhile, on page 70, Labour MP Tracy Brabin talks about the criticism she got for wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in the House of Commons – and the double…

over to you...

Have your say… Email us at feedback@graziamagazine.co.uk Post comments on graziadaily.co.uk Tweet us at @GraziaUK Find us on Facebook at Grazia UK Follow us on Instagram @GraziaUK FLY THE RAINBOW FLAG It felt poignant that Coming out across the decades (10 Feb) was published the same week that Phillip Schofield announced he was gay. I was touched to learn his family had been supportive, but saddened to read so many comments on social media simply accusing him of having lied to his wife for 27 years. It was only in 2000 that section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 – which banned local authorities from ‘promoting’ homosexuality – was repealed, so it doesn’t surprise me that many grew up with little understanding of the difficulties the LGBT+ community has faced. Sharing…

letter of the week

THE PERFECT BLEND Stepfamilies are the fastest growing type of household in the UK, so It’s time to banish the cliché of the wicked stepmother (17 Feb) was good advice. Blended families are usually formed after a painful event, like divorce or death. The important thing is not to rush the healing process. Pushing children to embrace new family members may lead them to do the opposite. Allow time for the transition to happen naturally. And don’t abolish the original family. There is no need to destroy one family to build another. Good luck to Rio and Kate. They sound as if they’ve got the process right. Alice…

grazia uk

EDITOR HATTIE BRETT PA/Editorial assistant MELISSA HENRY 020 3879 2294 Deputy editor ROSAMUND DEAN Assistant editor CHARLOTTE WILLIAMSON Digital director REBECCA HOLMAN Acting digital director LYNN ENRIGHT Head of production JENNY CROALL Celebrity director GUY PEWSEY Copy Production editor MARIA O’CONNOR Features 020 3879 2313 Deputy features editor ANNA SILVERMAN Digital writer GEORGIA ASPINALL News & Entertainment Junior news editor HARRIET KEAN Digital showbusiness and culture writer BONNIE McLAREN Lifestyle grazialifestyle@graziamagazine.co.uk Lifestyle editor RACHEL LOOS Website graziadaily.co.uk Digital editor REBECCA REID Social media editor PHOEBE PARKE Digital assistant LILLIAN SESIGUZEL Ipad Digital sub editor MELISSA HENRY Editor-at-large POLLY VERNON Contributing editor (investigations) STACEY DOOLEY Contributing editor (US) JANE MULKERRINS Contributing editors JESSICA BARRETT, FIONA COWOOD, HATTIE CRISELL, POLLY DUNBAR, LOUISE GANNON Advertising 020 7295 5000 Group MD, advertising ABBY CARVOSSO Group commercial director SIMON KILBY Head of magazine media CLARE CHAMBERLAIN International fashion director SINDY WALKER 020 7295 5599 Partnerships director REBECCA DUGGAN Partnerships director, beauty CHARLOTTE FOORD…

grazia view

A sexual consent form is not going to protect women “Last week, Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer brought back a debate that has been bubbling ominously since #MeToo, about whether sexual content contracts are a good idea. Attorney Donna Rotunno said if she were a man today, she’d ask a woman to sign a consent form before ‘engaging in sexual behaviour’. The idea is not exactly romantic, but that’s not the issue here. It’s the shadowy promise that a man could be legally protected if any dispute arose afterwards, even though a person can retract consent or be coerced into it. Instead, let’s hope this debate encourages men to think more carefully about boundaries and how their sexual partner is feeling.”…

what’s new now!

’70S Think big collars, cork sandals and suede fringing, which all came out swinging on the spring catwalks. DENIM Our favourite true blues got the high-fashion treatment; say hello to grown-up denim, à la Givenchy. HIGHLIGHTER At Valentino, less-than-punchy pigments simply didn’t cut the mustard. If it warrants sunglasses, it’s working. NATURE Retro daisies, tropical palm fronds, summery sunflowers – whatever your taste, spring has a floral for you. PASTEL The new-season pastels are anything but saccharine. Case in point? The sherbet-sweet shades at Emilia Wickstead. ZEBRA Can a leopard change its spots? Perhaps not, but don’t let that stop you switching to zebra stripes this season. EDITED BY FENELLA WEBB. WORDS: NATALIE HAMMOND. SOMETIMES THINGS SELL OUT FASTER THANYOU CAN SAY ‘GET THEM BEFORE THEY GO’. IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS, PLEASE CONTACT THE BRANDDIRECTLY OR LET US KNOW AT FEEDBACK@GRAZIAMAGAZINE.CO.UK…