Table of contents for Issue 745 in Grazia

IN 2014, GRAZIA launched a petition calling for the Government to pass legislation that would mean businesses employing more than 250 people would have to publish details about the pay gap of their male and female employees. Thanks to you all – our brilliant audience – galvanising behind that campaign, it became a reality. But, as the BBC’s former China editor, Carrie Gracie, so powerfully articulates on page 42 – the fight is far from won. She writes about why it’s a conversation we all should be having. Meanwhile, we’ve also spoken to Chiara Ferragni about the highs and lows of social media – and life behind the Instagram grid. @hattie_brett / feedback@graziamagazine.co.uk…

The power of standing up for what’s right Boris Johnson’s first Prime Minister’s Questions was always going to be lively, but last week’s session was notable for something unrelated to Brexit (for once). Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi stood up and delivered an impassioned speech, in which he called for Johnson to apologise for his comments comparing burka-wearing Muslim women to ‘letterboxes’ and ‘bank robbers’. As a turban-wearing Sikh man, Dhesi spoke with startling clarity about the pain caused by the Prime Minister’s words. It’s a reminder that we should never let derogatory remarks slide – if we’re serious about solidarity, we have to challenge racism.…

KATYA ADLER IS BUSY. So busy, in fact, that over the course of the day on which I’m due to meet her – in one of the most frenetic political weeks since the Brexit vote, and that’s saying something – I receive three apologetic calls changing the time and location of our interview. Finally, 20 minutes before we meet in North London, I’m told that she’s now urgently required in Westminster. The only way to conduct our interview is to hop in a taxi with her. Every week is mad for those reporting on Brexit, but last week was madder than most. When 21 Tory MPs voted against the party line, helping pass a bill that could block a no-deal Brexit, Boris Johnson kicked them out of the party. Some…

‘LUCY AND RAMI BRING INSTANT GLAMOUR WHEREVER THEY GO’ SINCE MEETING on the set of Oscar-winning movie Bohemian Rhapsody, Lucy Boynton, 25, and Rami Malek, 38, have barely left one another’s sides. Last week, the pair looked more loved up than ever as they arrived at the 76th Venice Film Festival – and quickly became the most photographed couple of the whole event, thanks, in part, to matching Miu Miu outfits. There is a sense in Hollywood that anything Rami and Lucy choose to touch right now will turn to gold. And their shared presence at any event is highly coveted. ‘Separately they are in demand. But as a couple, everyone wants them on their guest list,’ said an insider. ‘They bring instant glamour.’ Rami had taken a break from…

Fall girl Cali girl Kaia Gerber has September’s ‘is it summer? Is it autumn?’ uniform nailed in a silky short-sleeved shirt and classic straight-leg jeans. The cool finishing touches? Slimline shades and snakeskin shoes, obvs. PHOTOS: GETTY, THE MEGA AGENCY Jenny from the block (heel!) Only on planet J-Lo – where the laws of gravity do not apply – do towering wedges not sink in the sand. Her white swimsuit bears the words ‘Forever Young’, and we don’t beg to differ. Go J-Lo, we bow down. Very Bold How to stand out in a sea of suits? Make yours optic white and just a tad oversized like VB’s at the GQ Men of the Year Awards. Va-va-Venice Give the A-list a go on the Venice Film Festival red carpet and…

‘We need to stop sexual liberation being used as a defence for men killing women’ Labour’s Harriet Harman – the longest-serving female MP – reveals her frustration with both the fight for equality and, of course, Brexit PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES ‘It’s troubling there are still many equality battles to be won’ “I’ve just discovered that NHS South East London has banned single women from getting IVF on the basis that their children will be a ‘burden’ to society. It’s such an insult to all the women bringing up children on their own. The decision was made behind closed doors and has only just come to light. It shows real prejudice towards single women. It assumes they will suffer less from infertility than a married woman. This is the only NHS…

Because it’s ‘forbidden’, I can’t help myself Fiona*, 28, is an accountant from Birmingham Admittedly, I’ve never been the quietest in bed. I moan, I squeal, I cry out when I’m climaxing. For me, it’s all part of losing my inhibitions and getting caught up in the moment. Plus, I want to show my partner I’m enjoying sex with him, and he’s pretty vocal too. We’re a fairly raucous pair between the sheets (apologies to my neighbours!). But when we stay at my parents’ house, we have to zip it. As devout Christians, they’re very conservative when it comes to sex. They didn’t have sex until their wedding night, and were both virgins when they married. I was brought up being told that sex was between a husband and a…

Fashion assistantEmma CarlesHair Tomoko OhamaMake-up Sarah Wandee…

Diamonds are forever ’80s style wasn’t just about big hair and bigger shoulder pads. Case in point: Pringle’s Reissued collection of punky-meets-preppy Argyle pieces, re-released from the knitwear label’s archives. Autumn, sorted. Available from 14 September, pringlescotland.com DUA’S DENIM Dua Lipa’s debut Pepe Jeans collaboration, inspired by ‘off-duty supermodels, grunge club scene and festival vibes’ of the ’90s, according to the singer, includes party-ready chainmail, slinky slips, tank tops and, naturally, plenty of denim. From £27, pepejeans. com. To read our chat with Dua about the collab, visit graziadaily.co.uk/fashion. RAINBOW ROCKS Publisher, CEO and street-style star Caroline Issa has one of the happiest wardrobes in the biz. Give your own closet a dose of dopamine with her new Monica Vinader collaboration, featuring handfuls of candy-hued natural gemstones. From £125, monicavinader.com…

so you’re back from your holiday feeling rested and ready for whatever the new season throws at you. But how’s your hair? A summer of sun, chlorine, sea salt and holiday indulgence may have taken its toll, switching your lengths from sun-kissed and carefree to sun-frazzled and freaking out now you’re home. ‘Sun, sea and chlorinated water are individually damaging but, when they’re combined together, they can make hair dry, riddled with split ends and prone to breakage,’ explains Philip Kingsley trichologist, Anabel Kingsley. You may also be experiencing colour fade and a flaky scalp thanks to the same summer hazards. The good news is that damage grows out. But what happens in the meantime? Try a new season, post-holiday hair detox. JUST ADD MOISTURE The main culprit for summer…

THERE IS AN especially wry set-piece in the second episode of Top Boy, the East End drugs and gangs drama which returns this week after a five-year absence. Former Summerhall Estate kingpin Dushane (Ashley Walters) has returned to his old neighbourhood after an enforced sabbatical in Jamaica. Everything’s changed. He happens upon a fancy Hackney coffee shop. The barista tells him that customers queue around the block for his advanced blends every Saturday. Dushane sighs. Stimulants are everywhere. Same as it ever was. When it lived for two brief, incendiary seasons in the early half of this decade, Top Boy felt several steps ahead of its game. Now, its primary concerns – institutional racism, gangland violence and the astringent hit that black British youth culture took as the penalty for…

KRISTINE HALL and her husband Dan spent six years renovating their three-bedroom Victorian house in London. It was liveable initially but, says Kristine – whose successful Instagram @restoringlansdowne prompted her to become an interior designer – ‘below the surface, it needed a lot of fixing’. The couple began work with the bedrooms ‘so we had a nice space to retreat to’, followed by the kitchen. They then saved up for the next phase, which included a loft extension and lounge. ‘We did as much work as possible ourselves, because we were on a tight budget,’ she says. Here’s how they created their elegant living room... SET THE MOOD Kristine and Dan wanted a ‘moody and cosy feel’ to the room. ‘We use it a lot in the evenings and, with…

Eight Dates To Keep Your Relationship Happy, Thriving And Lasting Ey JRKQ GRWWPDQ & JXOLH SFKZDUWz GRWWPDQ (£9.99, WRUNPDQ) CRQflLFW KDSSHQV in every relationship and marriage – it’s a myth that in a happy relationship you’ll get along all the time. IQ D FRPPLWWHG UHODWLRQVKLS, you will both try to understand and ease each other’s pain. CRXSOHV ZKR FDQ WDON RSHQOy about sex have more sex and the women have more orgasms. WRUN LV WKH RWKHU ELJ commitment in your life besides your marriage and family. DLVFRYHULQJ ZKDW PRQHy means to both of you will go a long way. TUXVW LV FKHULVKLQJ each other and showing your partner that you can be counted on.…

LET’S HAVE A REFILL! Is this glass half empty or half full? (9 Sep) was very well-written and gave me a lot to ponder on. I always thought the nice part of being a pessimist was that you were constantly being either proved right or pleasantly surprised. But reading on, I realised that unlike their less positive counterparts, optimists will at least try to find the good in even the most difficult of people and are much more willing to place their faith in others. And although this doesn’t mean that you should trust the good intentions of everyone you meet, a leap of faith every once in a while can’t hurt. I will definitely give this a go from now on. Adriana LEARNING CURVE I have been reading Grazia…

PHOTOS: GETTY KIM KARDASHIAN WEST’S casting of Alice Marie Johnson in the campaign for her new shapewear brand Skims is, by my calculation, the most sublimely, preposterously Kim Kardashian West manoeuvre of all time. On the one hand: how wonderful! Alice Marie Johnson is the woman whose 2018 release from a life-plus-25-years jail sentence – on first-time, non-violent drug charges – Kim Kardashian West guaranteed. KKW went to bat for a woman she’d never met, hiring lawyers and taking a trip to the White House to secure Trump’s signature on the pardon. ‘She went to war for me,’ said Johnson; and golly! She did, didn’t she? Like Boudica in body-con, she was! On the other hand: making an ad campaign of one’s most noble, selfless act, somewhat dents the original…

HANDS UP IF you feel like London Fashion Week is strictly for the A-list, insiders and VIPs only? Fair enough – except the duo behind Rixo, Henrietta Rix and Orlagh McCloskey, have made it their mission to change all that this weekend. At exactly the same time as their LFW presentation on Saturday, a pop-up shop at 94 King’s Road will open its doors so that fans can shop the collection straight away. No waiting six months for the perfect dress and no seeing it on influencers without a cat in hell’s chance of ever being able to buy it. ‘We want our customers to feel really close to us,’ says Henrietta. ‘The message is very much, “You can be a part of it.”’ They’ll undoubtedly want a piece of…

WHEN I WON equal pay after nearly a year of fighting, I felt ‘survivor’s guilt’. I knew it was partly my own dogged determination that drove my employer to give in, but it was also my public profile and the solidarity of the women at my back. And by the time I won, I was acutely aware that in workplaces up and down the country, other women were not so lucky. I was both shocked and moved by the hundreds of letters and emails I received from women in workplaces of every kind. Some had fought battles that ended in resignation or the sack – but most had struggled to make a pay case to an unyielding boss and eventually given up, afraid that insisting would jeopardise their livelihood, their…

BEFORE THE BIG conversation around mental health kicked off a few years ago, thinking about what made you feel mentally better or worse wasn’t even really a thing. It certainly didn’t feature while deciding how much and how often to go out for drinks, which is funny when you think how alcohol can make your mental state go from happy to horrible in a 24-hour window. What was the deep spiral of anxiety compared to the joy of Aperol Spritz in the sun? The mentally destructive undercurrent of self-loathing could wait until the morning after. These days, however, the mental angst seems to be a price we are less willing to pay. A recent study by the University of Hong Kong following more than 10,000 people over five years has…

hair and make-up: fiona moore at terri manduca using bareminerals. thank you to the engineer pub, primro XX s X e hill WHEN, IN 2015, I broke up with my boyfriend of seven years, I considered getting a drastic haircut. The only problem is that I’m fond of my long, scraggly mane. So instead, I packed my life into a whopping great suitcase and moved to the other side of the world. I was born in Sydney, where I was living at the time, but my mother is from a little English village, meaning I have a British passport. It was over a roast chicken dinner, just a few months after the break-up – the most significant of my life – that Mum had casually suggested I put that passport…

NEWBORN TO 18 MONTHS Blossom patterns, leopard spots and llama prints are the stylish way to disguise any, er, leaks. 18 MONTHS TO 4 YEARS You can’t get much cuter than a gingham dress or a dinosaur sweatshirt. 4 TO 7 YEARS It’s off to school in playful knits, puffer jackets with personality and cool-kid trackpants. 8 TO 14 YEARS Should you wish to introduce your bright young things to designer pieces, Stella McCartney’s patchwork jeans will be their prize possession.…

FIND YOUR LOCAL TK MAXX STORE AT TKMAXX.COM/UK/EN/STORE-FINDER TODAY, more children and young people in the UK are surviving cancer than ever before. But cancer still claims the lives of around 510 children and young people every year in the UK. And of the survivors, many experience serious long-term side effects. So there’s still so much work to be done to help more children and young people survive cancer with a good quality of life. But you can help! Since 2004, TK Maxx’s Give Up Clothes For Good campaign has collected 7,518 tonnes of your pre-loved clothing, accessories and homeware. The campaign, along with cash donations, has raised over £32.5 million to support Cancer Research UK’s vital work into children’s and young people’s cancers. Around 4,500 children and young people…

Cleanse with care: Kérastase Scrub Apaisant, £43 (1), is a shampoo-scrub for sensitive scalps, with jojoba and sweet orange oils to hydrate. Soothe your scalp: Aesop Rose Hair & Scalp Moisturising Masque, £25 (2), helps relieve flaky, irritated scalps. Weekly booster: Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Therapies, £35 (3), is a cult deep-conditioning treatment. Fight the frazzle: Redken Extreme Play Safe 230°C, £21.50 (4), protects hair from further heat damage caused by styling. Knot now: Living Proof Restore Perfecting Spray, £27 (5), makes knots a doddle for a smooth comb-through. Brush better: The Manta, £25 (6), moulds to the shape of your hand and scalp to avoid over-pulling. Hydrate and repair: Toni & Guy Damage Repair Mask, £7.19 (7), helps rebuild damaged bonds. PHOTOS: MARCO VITTUR…

Catch up on… Untouchable This documentary on the routine culture of sexual abuse that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein built around his business, to satisfy his own weakness, is a terrifying reminder of the many flawed and grotesque reasons some men seek power. BBC IPLAYER Watch live… Better Things On the subject of which, Pamela Adlon was mostly known for the bulk of her career as the co-writer and star of Louis CK’s comic creations. Out of the ashes of his tattered reputation, another scalp cut from #MeToo’s incredible epiphany, she now stands tall, solo and at the helm of one of the sharpest comedies on TV. Wednesdays, 10pm, BBCTwo Wallow in… The Power Of Women As if to redress the balance, a clever extended discussion show in which two smart…

THE GRAZIA ACADEMY  Part of one of the world’s biggest media businesses, Bauer Media, The Bauer Academy is a Government-approved training provider with an exceptional track record in delivering training for both Bauer Media – publishers of Grazia – and clients including ITV, the7stars, Sue Ryder, JP Morgan and Immediate Media. The Bauer Academy is passionate about developing knowledge and skills, creativity and confidence in learners from a diverse range of backgrounds, from established professionals to under-represented and underprivileged groups. Programmes encompass digital skills, leadership, sales, content production and marketing. Course content was developed in consultation with De Montfort University. THE COURSES LEADERSHIP: WOMEN IN BUSINESS* (2 DAYS, 13–14 NOVEMBER) ◆ Explore the importance of diversity in building a successful business ◆ Learn techniques to challenge unconscious bias ◆ Examine…

AS TOLD TO HARRIET KEAN I live on my own in Dalston, East London. Having grown up with three brothers and then living with friends for years, this is my first time having a sanctuary: a peaceful piece of London to myself. I love Hackney. You can get food from any part of the world. My mum’s Nigerian, and whenever she visits she goes to buy ingredients down the market. All my girlfriends live nearby. I’ve always got my headphones on when I come in. I can’t have too much of a gap between the headphones coming off and the music going on. My balcony faces west, so you get the sun as it’s going down, lighting the whole room pink. And then I’ll light candles. I used to cook…

Reading Things you only know if.... (2 Sep) on the boat from the Isle of Arran to Glasgow for my last month as partner at a large accountants was just what I needed to remind myself why I am leaving the firm I’ve spent 20 years with, 20 years I have loved. It is time to try a more relaxed life, spend more time with family and friends. I’m excited for the next chapter in my life, which will involve significantly less money but hopefully at least as much happiness. It’s great to read that so many others are taking the plunge too.…

1. Up JOAQUIN PHOENIX His portrayal of the Joker broke hearts and set Venice a-chatter. We’ve only seen a trailer of it, but we’re mesmerised by that alone. 2. New in COCO GRAUFF Knocked out of the US Open last week, which is a shame because she was delivering some fine, fine looks along with her serve. 3. Up INDIRA VARMA Herewith honoured variously for: her former work in Game Of Thrones, her current work in both Carnival Row (Amazon) and This Way Up (Channel 4), her cheekbones and her living near us. 4. Non-mover DAVE CHAPPELLE Whose new Netflix special is causing consternation and pearl-clutching on the internet. We adored it, and fancy him like we can’t remember fancying anyone else. 5. Non-mover LIZZO In double denim and fishnets…

SEPTEMBER’S A PRETTY big month in fashion land. It’s the start of a brand new season and the biannual fashion shows are already underway. What that means for your wardrobe is that there has never been a better time to ape the street stylers and work out what they’re investing in. Because, trust us, the amount of work a fashion editor puts into planning their fashion month wardrobe proves that their wish list items won’t be a flash-in-the-pan, but rather fabulous this season and beyond. THE BLD (BIG LONG DRESS) Forget the LBD, it’s all about the BLD this September. Prints or plain: it’s up to you, but sleeves and a high neck are mandatory. BLAZERS The blazer got a strong showing at last month’s Copenhagen Fashion Week – a…

Meanwhile, last week, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took a delighted (and adorable) Princess Charlotte to her first day at school, sparking much debate about Kate’s style. Laura Craik dissects the politics of dressing for the school run... If you don’t have kids, the idea of ‘school gate style’ is surely enough to make you boak. Even if you do have them, the notion that dropping off your sprogs at St Mogg’s School For The Entitled/Underclass Primary For Ye Of Little Hope is an occasion that warrants a specific Look is, for most sane women, completely bonkers. Who has the time, money or inclination to put a specific outfit together for an activity that will take less than three minutes, in the presence of a bunch of parents too…

The last time you considered a body chain, Paris Hilton was probably wearing one. But new-gen versions don’t belong in an early noughties club, worn with low-slung jeans. Rather, the rebooted body chains are seriously sophisticated. Case in point: Sienna Miller wore one to Ellie Goulding’s wedding, and nearly stole the show from the bride’s bespoke Chloé dress. That’s not to say she pitched up at York Minster in a crop top. No, Sienna wore the crystal version over her demure dress. The effect? Elegant, yet unexpected. The dress and the chain are from Alessandra Rich’s A/W ’19 ‘Dressing for Pleasure’ collection. ‘It’s a kind of light armour, part of a glamorous arsenal which gives a special sparkle to the dress, combining sex appeal with a quirky charm,’ the designer…

PHOTOGRAPHS DAVID YEO STYLING STEPH WILSON IF YOU DON’T KNOW Tuppence Middleton’s name, you’ve certainly seen her face. Whether playing an incestuous society beauty in acclaimed BBC drama War & Peace or a bleach-haired Icelandic DJ in Netflix’s sci-fi epic Sense8, she has been all over our screens, even if you haven’t realised it yet. This week, though, her fame is set to reach a whole new level, with the long-awaited release of the Downton Abbey film. A cosily beloved institution at home in Britain, the aristos-and-servants drama was also a smash hit in the US during its six seasons, which ended in 2015. Buzz for the film has been frenzied: advance ticket sales have broken records. Tuppence – named after her grandmother’s childhood nickname for her mother – stars…

*NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. PHOTO: STOCKSY EARLIER THIS YEAR two of my closest friends got fantastic new jobs; one as deputy editor on a prestigious publication and one as… to be honest, I’m still not entirely sure, but it’s in fashion tech, highly paid and sounds seriously impressive. As we all started out as lowly assistants on glossy magazines in the mid-00s, this was the culmination of years of hard work by two of my favourite people and I was thrilled for them. But as they told me about their new roles and salaries, I felt that telltale clench in my stomach. Envy. Even writing that down makes me squirm because I love them both, but yes, I was envious of two of my best friends. In the current landscape…

PHOTOS: JASON LLOYD-EVANS, GETTY, © PETER LINDBERGH (COURTESY PETER LINDBERGH, PARIS). GABRIELA HEARST, 59 BROOK ST, LONDON W1 Pray for rain. The fashion welly is happening, trust us. Upgrade your high street haul. The new Topshop Boutique collection feels seriously luxe. Invest in your forever wardrobe. Gabriela Hearst – queen of quiet, conscious luxury – opens her first UK store this week. Embrace that new term feeling. Pleated skirts and boxy blazers get an A+. Get lost… in Anya Hindmarch’s Post Box Maze this London Fashion Week, in celebration of the new Postbox bag. Admire the work of a true fashion great. Legendary photographer Peter Lindbergh has passed away at 74. The world is a duller place for it.…

A big ‘natural’ backlash is brewing… FRIENDS OFTEN ASK ME, ‘Sus, have you used this product? It’s totally natural.’ ‘Natural?’ I reply. ‘That brand is no more natural than industrial loo cleaner.’ This week is Organic Beauty and Wellbeing Week, a sector that’s grown 14% in the last year. Without doubt, 2019 has been the year of climate change emergency, and any beauty and health brand worth their environmentally friendly reputation is jumping on the bandwagon, emblazoning the words ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ on their products. But don’t be fooled by wording – not many brands are ‘natural’, let alone 100% organic. This is ‘greenwashing’. I recently co-hosted a talk on this at Daylesford organic farm in Gloucestershire with Georgia Barnes, senior business manager at the Soil Association. The issue we…

PHOTO: GIANANDREA TRAINA EVER PICK A bucketful of blackberries because it seemed like the thing to do, and then bundle them into a bag or a Tupperware container and freeze them until the never never? If you’re the type of person who actually remembers what’s in your freezer (or indeed catalogues it somehow), then carry on, you seem to know what you’re doing, you deserve all the crumbles. As for the rest of us, eating our blackberries is the very least we can do – particularly if we’ve had the pleasure of hanging around brambles in a sunny, juicy stupor, but even if we’ve just bought them from Tesco on a whim. Blackberries might not occupy the same space in our hearts as strawberries or raspberries, but they’re dark, tart,…

ASK THE EXPERT How to beat insomnia The Dalai Lama once said that sleep is the best form of meditation. Modern life means we no longer live according to natural circadian rhythms, the internal pattern that regulates our sleep/wake cycle. Longer working hours and artificial light from our devices confuse the brain and upset the body clock. Many people don’t realise that getting a good night’s sleep starts during the day. Absorbing enough natural light during the day helps your body to produce melatonin – the natural hormone that aids sleep during twilight hours. At lunchtime, try sitting on a bench with your face towards the sun, even if it’s a cloudy day. Regularity is also vital for the body. If you’ve got a pattern of waking up in the…