Pretty Shopping

Christmas is nearly upon us again, and so I found myself wandering around Brighton's Lanes yesterday, trying to find cute little gifts for family and friends.
One of my housemates loves Lush Cosmetics, and while I have to say I didn't know much about them until I started living with her, the array of gorgeous bath bombs, soaps, shampoos and lotions lined up in the bathroom made me rather inquisitive. I ventured in there yesterday, and fell in love! Everything from this shop - especially the bath bombs - are just so pretty, and smell gorgeous. Completely natural and organic as well, which appeals to the inner hippy in me!

Saatchi, Gormley, and all that

I've become slightly addicted recently to a BBC3 programme called School of Saatchi. 6 young aspiring contemporary artists compete for Saatchi's attention and some incredible prizes. The series has got me hooked, despite my general dislike for contemporary art. I'd love to make out like I'm really cultured here, but unmade beds, a shark in a tank - I get it, but just don't like it.

That said, I adore Antony Gormley's work.







He's well known for the Angel of the North, but he's done so much more than that. I went to an exhibition of his at the Hayward gallery in London a couple of years ago with my ex, who was heavily into art. I was skeptical going, but of all the exhibitions I've seen, it's the one that probably sticks in my mind the most. What appeals to me is how a lot of his work is public - surely every London resident has seen one of his statues on a rooftop at least once.

My favourite part of his 2007 exhibition at the Hayward gallery was Blind Light, a large transparent glass box filled with what can only be described as cloud, and vivid, bright white light. Visitors were invited to venture into the box, through the one opening which functions as both an entrance and exit. Inside, it was immediately apparent why those with nervous dispositions or heart conditions are not allowed to experience it - it was incredibly disorientating, scary, bizarre - and quite wonderful. With visibility so poor that you could barely see your hands in front of you, people walked around blinded by bright white light, somewhat struggling to breath as the cool white cloud seemingly engulfed each person. I wandered around for ages in wonder - it felt like I was the only person in the world and as though I was literally walking inside a cloud - I can only describe it as euphoric.


Antony Gormley is one of 30 contemporary artists displaying work in an exhibition at the Royal Academy, which runs until the end of January. Is my wonder at Gormley enough to lure me to a whole contemporary art exhibition - me, a complete contemporary art skeptic? I'm beginning to think it might well be.

Ballet beautiful

As a ballet dancer myself, this shoot really appeals to me. Whimsical dresses paired with legwarmers and leotards and captured beautifully with some perfect pas de deux poses. Ballet is, to me, one of the most wonderful forms of art, and it completely inspires me to see it merged so effectively with inspired fashion and stunning, simple photography. A lovely work of crossover art.

Where I want to be today

In my procrasination from third year university work, I've been daydreaming of holidaying in far-away places. Icelandair have a fantastic offer on at the moment for a 4 day, 3 night break to Reykjavik, staying in a 3 star hotel with a trip to the Blue Lagoon included. £269 - if only I didn't have over 5,000 words to write over Christmas and an empty bank account, I'd be on the next plane out there.

Eats

Lovely chicken escalope with a twist.
I've been trying to perfect my cooking skills lately, and am pleased to report that this is a dish I've managed to cook well on a few occasions now. Get chicken breast fillets, dust them with homemade breadcrumbs mixed with a dash of sage, and fry them gently on both sides until they start to brown. Separately, fry cherry tomatoes, garlic and sweet onions, and add some mixed herbs. Spoon the cherry tomatoes, garlic and sweet onion mixture onto the chicken and cook in the oven for fifteen minutes or so, adding slices of buffalo mozzarella on top of the chicken halfway through cooking, so it melts on top. Serve with sautéed potatoes and some green beans or spinach. Easy.

"Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels!"

"Kate Moss motto: Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels".

As I sit here at my computer and browse through my facebook friend list, I can pick out, straight away, eight girls who I know have eating disorders, and are painfully thin. Eight - and that's only counting those who have admitted in the past to being anorexic or bullimic. I very much suspect that at least ten more have some kind of eating problem, just by looking at their pictures and knowing their attitude to food.

Sure, I know it's ok to be slim. One of my best friends is tall, thin and eats like a horse - I've known her to eat a whole multi-pack of biscuits as one half of an afternoon snack, and yet she never puts on weight. Some people's metabolisms are built like that, I get it, and that's fine. But to be so thin that your spine sticks out, to be so mentally warped that you think a single apple for lunch is excessive, to be so set in this mental attitude that you have to be hospitalised and force-fed - that could not be justified as normal by anyone with half an ounce of common sense.

Really, you have to wonder therefore at the great juxtaposition of views that the media portray. I am an avid magazine reader, and it's always great to read about anorexia treatment, "why curvy is back in fashion", about the horror of pro-eating disorder websites and forums, and see pictures of normal women just like you in a "real-life special". I read articles like that, and think that the media is finally being pro-active in trying to tackle girls and womens' attitudes to weight. Good on them.
But here's the huge glaring problem: in the same magazines, I find four photoshoots, all featuring women who are, at most, a UK size 6-8; I find photos of skeletal celebrities labelled "gorgeous" and normal sized celebrities labelled "fat"; and I find a feature where a group of people are asked to talk about a size 10-12 woman's appearance, where they call her "overweight" and say she "could do with losing a few pounds".

And then, perhaps most disturbing of all, this morning I found the aforementioned article on Marie Claire's website, in which Kate Moss exclaims that her life motto is "nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels". The best bit is that the Marie Claire writer then added: "But before you recoil in total horror, the model mum did then redeem herself by, adding: ‘You try and remember, but it never works.'"

Oh, so it's all ok then. As long as it doesn't always work, but that she still does try to abide by the motto that starving yourself is the best way to live, then there's no need to be horrified, dear readers. It's all ok.

The thing is, Marie Claire is my favourite magazine. I've always applauded Marie Claire on being the only magazine who actually talk about curves in a positive way and seem mostly grounded in the real world. But by them posting this article, I feel somewhat let-down. I suppose they'd justify it by saying that it highlights how ridiculous Kate Moss' attitude to food is, and for me it has done just that, granted. But for one of my recovering anorexic friends, who idolises Kate Moss? Let's just say, I hope she doesn't find the time to browse marieclaire.co.uk any time soon.

Kate Moss is a beautiful woman, but I wish that her and the rest of society would learn that being skinny is not anything to aspire to. There is not a black and white line between being size zero and "fat", and I find it truly sad that anyone would actually think there is. I worked at a well-known UK fashion magazine for a few weeks, and it was only after the experience of seeing painfully thin, depressed-looking models come in for castings every day that I truly realised how warped the media attitude to this whole debate really is. They say that models are healthy and happy and don't have any problems, but in the flesh they paint a very different picture.

Curves are great and back in fashion, but only skinny people are allowed to be photographed in magazines? Sort it out, UK media, before you help create generations of paranoid, starving women.

Frugal Styling

Minimalist and classy with a hint of vintage - and all for under £1000.

This is the beautiful West London home of stylist Milly Goodwin, who transformed her £400,000 maisonette after moving in a little over two years ago. She may have changed the wallpaper in her bathroom five times a year and repainted the walls over and over, but it's obviously been worth it, as she's created a simple, stylish and homely space. And what great proof that beautiful living doesn't have to come with an extortionate price tag - picking up bargains from markets and reinventing tired furniture instead of buying new means that renovations have cost the Easy Living stylist less than a £1,000.

Truly inspiring.