David Miliband has admitted in a Vogue interview that he misses Britain and that absence has made his “heart grow fonder.” His words instantly struck a chord with me because it’s not until you go and live in another country that you appreciate the merits of the place you left behind. That’s exactly how I felt when we uprooted to the French city of Orléans, on the banks of the ...keep reading
It’s hard to believe that a whole ten years have flashed by since Lauren Weisberger wrote The Devil Wears Prada, the fictionalised account of her time as an editorial assistant at US Vogue. And it’s seven years since Meryl Streep immortalised glacial New York editor Miranda Priestly on the big screen. Now Weisberger has written the sequel. Revenge Wears Prada was published this week and on a warm summer’s night ...keep reading
Glossy magazines have always been a big part of my life. My mum started her career as a feature writer for Woman’s Mirror, a weekly magazine in the Sixties, and I can vividly remember the day she met me from primary school brandishing a tall retro coffee pot in her hand. She’d bought it with the proceeds of her first magazine commission and she was SO proud. So was I ...keep reading
With Great Pleasureis one of the best programmes on BBC Radio 4. If you haven’t discovered it, do give it a try. The series asks well-known names to pick prose and poetry they love – so it’s a fantastic way to discover new writers and hear old favourites. This week I got the chance to attend a recording of two forthcoming programmes at the BBC’s Broadcasting House. The shows featured ...keep reading
Alexandra Shulman, the brilliant Vogue editor-in-chief, has just written her first novel. Can We Still Be Friends is set in the 1980s and relates the lives and loves of three female friends. I’ve ordered the book from Amazon and can’t wait to see how her memories of the decade compare with mine. Shulman gave readers a vivid snapshot of her 80s in a first person piece for The Times Magazine ...keep reading
The February issue of Vogue lands on the doormat with a huge thump and it’s a corker. It boasts a fascinating tribute to the painter Lucian Freud by friends and acquaintances and a report on what happened when 17 Vogue editors met in Tokyo. But the most enthralling piece of all is an interview with Stella McCartney, who comes across as engaging, family-minded and refreshingly down-to-earth. One of the most ...keep reading