Table of contents for Issue 901 in Grazia

Email us at feedback@graziamagazine.co.uk Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GraziaUK I WAS TRULY touched to read Catherine Gray’s experience of breastfeeding (‘I’m still breastfeeding my nearly three-year old – so what?’, 3 Feb), which was almost identical to mine – second time around that is. I had my first child at 19 and my second at 39. The first time, I was too young and not brave enough to continue breastfeeding, when I really wanted to. However, as an older mum, I was all-in, but saddened to experience the same disapproving comments, unsuccessfully disguised as humour. My experiences, negative and positive, inspired me to become a breastfeeding peer support worker. Alison…

GUYS: I’M WEARING SKINNY JEANS AGAIN! I know. It all started because of my inability to not click on any link promising to make me look More French, despite knowing damn well this is a) borderline racist and b) can’t possibly deliver, I am resoundingly English, I do not carry le genes. Although – I am now 100% wearing le jeans, the skinny ones, which (according to this link), though technically ‘dated’ French women adorent. I’m wearing ’em, cos – having clicked, consumed, then studied multiple street style images of French Women Loving This Dated Trend – I retired to the depths of my wardrobe, fished out my one remaining pair of skinny(ish) jeans – Agoldes, technically straights, but very slim – slipped them on (plus 1 long sleeved tee,…

AN ‘IT’ BAG – a classic that’s sleek not showy, functional not frivolous – has the ability to raise the game of any outfit. The only problem is that you often have to pay for the privilege. No longer, however. This season, the high street has outdone itself with a host of hero bags, many of which look premium enough to command an extra zero on their price tags. The work tote has been reinterpreted at & Other Stories, with deliciously fun options in suede, nappa and embossed leather and prices starting from a palatable £67. The cow-print version, a slouchy hobo style in 100% leather, sold out almost immediately. Luckily, its fringed, studded and leopardspotted cousins, all with the same easy silhouette, are still available. For something more suited…

MICHELLE KEEGAN surveys the snacks on offer at Grazia’s photo shoot. Her team had requested ‘a few different flavours of crisps’ but, she says, her tastes have changed recently. ‘I’m usually a savoury girl, but I’m craving sugary stuff,’ she says, reaching for a pain au chocolat. ‘I’ll eat a chocolate bar walking around the supermarket and just give them the wrapper at the checkout.’ The reason for this change? As Keegan announced on Instagram at the end of December – to the tune of 1.2m likes – she’s expecting her first baby with husband Mark Wright. And, while it’s an unbearable cliché to describe a pregnant woman as glowing, she does appear to have some kind of internal lighting system as she shrugs off her coat to reveal a…

WEAR TRIED-AND-TESTED COLOURS Grey or beige with white works well, it’s effortless and classy. A regular go-to is a beige or warm grey knit with white jeans. I also love an all-white look with a beige coat, which I’d switch out for a trench coat in milder weather as it’s the same neutral tone. ALWAYS ACCESSORISE - CAREFULLY I tend to invest in black shoes and bags as they work with pretty much any neutral outfit. I love loafers; my current favourites are from The Row. My Maison Margiela Tabis – ballet flats with the signature split toe – add a nice twist to a simple outfit. I style most of my looks with either a leather crossbody or tote bag, my most-used style being Loewe’s Hammock Mini, as well…

THE ONE TO GET YOU GLOWING VIEVE Chances are you will have spied the chic black and gold packaging of Scottish make-up artist slash content creator Jamie Genevieve’s namesake beauty range on your social feed. Having started out working on beauty counters, Genevieve knows what women want their make-up to do and so her performance-driven, made-for-fingers products (many of which are made in labs in South Korea) do just that. Case in point, Genevieve tests every product under a flash to see how it reflects. How to pronounce it? ‘Veeve’ (as in ‘Genevieve’). What’s it known for? Radiance-revealing products in juicy, blendable textures and universally flattering ’90s-esque monochrome palettes. Who is it aimed at? At the risk of sounding banal, everyone. Those who worship at the altar of glow will…

I was lucky enough to see a preview of the new Bridget Jones movie and can report it’s v v good. It’s poignant watching Bridget take on the challenges of midlife with her usual chaos and verve. What is it about her that has moved so many women since the character was first introduced in a newspaper column in the mid-’90s? On page 42, Helen Fielding – the writer who created Bridget based on her own experience – reflects on the appeal of her ‘perfectly imperfect’ heroine. ‘Let’s show respect for the wisdom, compassion, multitasking kindness, badass capability – and sexiness – that comes from years of surfing the ups and downs of a woman’s life,’ she writes. In the run-up to Oscar season, it’s been powerful to see Demi…

1. Up TAYLOR KITSCH Formerly Tim Riggins of Friday Night Lights, now, finally – wondrously! – returned to the bosom of our lust as Isaac in American Primeval. How we missed him! 2. New in HENRY GÜNTHER ADEMOLA DASHTU SAMUEL Child of Heidi Klum and Seal, walking Paris Haute Couture, quite literally an excellent new name in fashion. 3. Non-mover CYNTHIA ERIVO Written off, she says, as ‘lazy’ by drama school RADA – but we’re guessing they’re rethinking that assessment now they’re faced with the glaring white hotness of her subsequent career. 4. New in WILL FERRELL’S STRANGEST EVER GIG He was apparently summoned to do a sketch show for bored, sequestered jurors on the OJ Simpson trial. ‘They seemed mildly entertained, but it was very bizarre,’ he told Graham…

THE MERRY - GO - ROUND of fashion weeks is once again in motion – and, with the roster of shows, the fashion set’s main character outfits are back. While a lot of catwalk looks don’t work in the real world, the streets have emerged as the place to look for inspiration when it comes to how fashion editors style the same old clothes in new ways, making them look fresh, season after season. We’ve seen new ways to wear a belt – try knotting it around your waist instead of bothering with the buckle – and juxtaposing party heels with sensible tailoring. However, these are the four (all seen at the menswear shows in Paris) that will translate into your wardrobe ahead of spring. Happy styling! Wear a trio…

YOU MIGHT EXPECT the BBC drama Miss Austen to be all about the famous Jane. Born 250 years ago this year, her eight novels have inspired homages from Clueless (a riff on Emma) to Bridget Jones’s Diary (Pride & Prejudice). But the Austen taking centre stage here is Cassandra, Jane’s sister, played by Keeley Hawes. For years, Cassandra was considered a villain because she burnt Jane’s letters after her death, depriving historians from knowing as much as they’d like. The new drama, based on a novel by Gill Hornby, imagines Cassandra’s side of the story. ‘I think she was incredibly brave,’ says Hawes. ‘Her devotion to Jane was extraordinary.’ Neither of the sisters married, and they were each other’s closest friends; after Jane’s death, Cassandra described her as ‘the sun…

MARY, 36*, TOOK the contraceptive pill throughout her early twenties because it felt like the ‘easiest’ option. When she turned 29, she swapped to a cycle-tracking app. ‘I’d just been promoted and had a wedding planned, so I really didn’t want to get pregnant yet. But I was seriously considering what being on the Pill for so long does to your body. I wanted to check everything was OK with my cycle,’ she says. But just two months into monitoring her cycle naturally – to predict her fertile period as a mode of contraception – Mary became pregnant. ‘I really struggled getting my head around it, as I wasn’t mentally in the place for a baby,’ she says. Despite this, she’s still adamant she would never go back to hormonal…

NATURE IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL - EVEN BETTER CAST IN GOLD ALWAYS A FASHION FAVOURITE, PEARLS GET A 2025 UPDATE A CLASSIC WATCH IS A TIMELESS ACQUISITION UP THE ANTE ON GOLD WITH A FLASH OF COLOUR, COURTESY OF BRIGHT GEMSTONES BE BOWLED OVER BY THE BOLO TIE NECKLACE, AKA THE LARIAT…

SEEING THE WORLD through symbols is surely innate for Greek native Mary Katrantzou, but one senses that the pioneering fashion designer’s approach is much more deep-rooted – perhaps even destined. Appointed Bulgari’s first-ever creative director for leather goods and accessories last year – a role she holds alongside her eponymous label – Katrantzou says that Bulgari has always been part of her life. Her mother wore Bulgari’s vintage interlocking Parentesi jewels, her father gave her a Bulgari watch when she graduated from high school and she was gifted a Bulgari Tubogas timepiece when her son was born three years ago. Bulgari, meanwhile, was founded by the Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari, an émigré to Rome who opened his first boutique in the Italian capital in 1884. ‘My mother owned Bulgari pieces.…

PASS OVER TRAD wives cooing into vats of curdling cream, flick past #getreadywithme and instead give in to the content you didn’t know you needed: multi-step hand care. You’re actually already late to the (well-hydrated) hand party. On TikTok, a video of influencer Sylvia Geng’s seven-step hand care routine is the viewing fodder du jour (70 million views and counting). The ASMR-style video sees Geng exfoliate, moisturise and even shave her precious mitts before applying a mask and massaging with facial tools. And she’s not alone. Fellow metacarpus cheerleader @elysian.living goes eight steps further with a 15-point hand care plan that includes steaming, oiling, retinol and even something involving paraffin wax in her quest for well-looked-after hands. So, are lengthy hand routines just a desperate attempt to stand out in…

WHEN WE MOVED into our terraced home almost 10 years ago, the only thing I really cared about was whether the garden was overlooked. As an alcoholic in active addiction, I spent a lot of my time outside chain smoking as I knocked back bottles of wine each evening, and I didn’t want the new neighbours to think badly of me. (I didn’t seem to care what my husband and toddler daughter thought, such is the madness of addiction.) My obsession with the garden was such that I cared not one jot about the hole in the kitchen ceiling, the damp dripping from the attic or the fact that the boiler only seemed to work about 30% of the time. ‘It needs a bit of TLC,’ was how the estate…

The last book I read.. Richard Osman’s The Last Devil To Die, from the Thursday Murder Club mystery series about old people solving crimes. I love fiction that can make me laugh and keep me guessing. The last song I listened to… The Sweetest Taboo by Sade. The last boxset I binged… I’ve just finished Silo. The last beauty product I finished… Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate serum. The last podcast I listened to… The Receipts with Tolly T and Audrey. The last meal I cooked… was scallop fried rice. The last app I downloaded… RedNote, when everyone thought TikTok was shutting down. The last photo I took… was a mid-makeup selfie – I’m jealous of how flawlessly my make-up artist does my make-up! The last day off I had… I…

Life is hectic and, when time is scarce, our friendships are often the first thing to fall by the wayside. We all know trying to get a group together can take three Doodle polls and six months of WhatsApping. A 2021 study revealed that nearly 60% of young women had lost touch with at least a few friends in recent years. So while it’s easy to dismiss Galentine’s Day as a marketing gimmick, we know what can happen when we don’t make time for friends: they can drift away and suddenly we find ourselves without our village support network – or at least our light relief. With that in mind, perhaps a day dedicated to nurturing some of the most important relationships you’ll have is worth honouring after all.…

SHE’S IN HER loud luxury era. Taylor Swift showed up to support boyfriend Travis Kelce at recent Kansas City Chiefs games in full looks from a slew of super-brands. For the game between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills last month – which saw Kelce’s team reach the Super Bowl for the third year running – the singer wore Louis Vuitton’s oversized monogram jacquard knit jacket (£3,700), flared knit skirt (£2,260) and logo beanie. She piled on the LV love with the brand’s Trunk chain wallet, Star Trail ankle boots and Le Damier de Louis bracelet and ring. Previously, she rocked up to the playoffs in head-to-toe Chanel Cruise (romper, tweed jacket, pearl logo belt) with a combined price tag of more than £18,000. For a November game she wore…

‘I WANT TO give you a big cuddle,’ Kate told Holocaust survivor Steven Frank at the London service honouring Holocaust Memorial Day. The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau liberation. It was Kate’s first public engagement since announcing that she is in remission from cancer, and her tactility and warmth did not go unnoticed. The same was true when she visited Tŷ Hafan children’s hospice, near Cardiff, where she met with bereaved families and had a little girl paint her hand red so she could replicate King Charles’s artwork (a handprint next to his signature), to mark her taking over as patron of the hospice. Her warmth also shone through when she visited The Royal Marsden in Chelsea last month,…

IT IS A TRUTH UNIVERSALLY acknowledged,’ Bridget noted back in the mid-’90s, ‘that when one part of your life starts going really well, another falls spectacularly apart.’ When Bridget last ended a movie – Bridget Jones’s Baby – she seemed to have it all: a baby, a profession and a husband in the form of the Mark Darcy/Colin Firth/Mr Darcy hybrid (a delicious hybrid I have never wanted to separate into its parts). But happy endings are all about where you choose to stop the story. In this new – now fourth – Bridget movie, Mad About The Boy (emotional for me and the cast after more than 20 years – who knew?) Bridget’s life has spectacularly fallen apart. Bridget is still the same Bridget/Renée (I can’t separate those two…

NOSTALGIA COMES IN many forms – from the revival of point-and-shoot cameras to Instagram pages dedicated to Jane Birkin’s style. But there is one decade that we return to more than most: the ’80s. Ten years packed with mood board-worthy moments – from the ultra-glam of Joan Collins on Dynasty to the downtown cool of Debbie Harry (who now is the face of Gucci) and Jilly Cooper – it’s rich with references that continue to fuel life in 2025. Fashion first, of course: the ’80s are back on the catwalk for spring – in silhouettes and styles at brands ranging from Saint Laurent to All-In, Stella McCartney and Louis Vuitton, wide ties and even wider shoulders promise the return of the working girl. What’s more, the look has already been…

IMPROVE SKIN TEXTURE Joonbyrd Confetti Sky Hand Treatment, £50, is a non-greasy formula packed with marshmallow root, liquorice root and rice brand to brighten skin and fade imperfections. BOOST HYDRATION Inspired by facial skincare, Orveda Youth Glove Protocol Hand Care Trio, £165, includes a highly concentrated weekly serum and bi-daily cream. The silicone glove drives active ingredients deep into skin for hydration that is said to last for three hand washes. AN LED MASK FOR YOUR HANDS Designed to be worn for 10 minutes a day, the Currentbody LED Hand Perfector, £189, uses red and near-infrared wavelengths to target the familiar signs of ageing. TREAT YOUR HANDS LIKE YOUR FACE A serum for your hands? Yes, really. Iceland-based skincare brand BioEffect uses Epidermal Growth Factors (big news in skin rejuvenation)…

HERE’S THE THING about romance: anything that explicitly purports to be romantic is usually anything but. Exhibit A? Valentine’s Day. Exhibit B? The Valentine’s dinner. Inflated set menus, strained conversation, heart-shaped anything; it’s all too stiff to make your heart soar. What romance should really be is uncontained, spontaneous, and not limited to a table for two. Which is why - whether you find yourself long-term settled, carefree and single or ‘it’s complicated’ - now is the perfect time to consider the relaxed, more-the-merrier, posh picky-bits dinner as the definition of modern romance. What are we talking about then? ‘Buffet’ is too ‘mid-range hotel breakfast’ to convey how luxurious it should feel, although the variety they offer is similar. ‘Banquet’ gets across some of the overflowing nature of it but…