Category: Women

Jane’s first clue that her new boyfriend was rich was the swimming pool at his family home. Her second clue was the other pool indoors. Jane met Tim at university in the mid-80s. She had heard whispers that his father was a celebrity, but she didn’t recognise the name. “I was completely oblivious,” says Jane, […]

Mithridate was founded by Demon Zhang, a graduate of Central Saint Martins, London, who previously assisted Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. For their first season on the official London schedule, Zhang paid tribute to Yunnan, the southwestern province of China, known for its beautiful landscapes and rich cultural traditions. Known as the Flower Kingdom, many […]

In the first flush of my post-menopausal years, I didn’t exactly experience the energy surge that Dr Christine Northrup mentions in her breakthrough book The Wisdom of Menopause. She refers to menopause as “the mind-body revolution that brings the greatest opportunity for growth since adolescence”. Talk about a positive spin. On one level, I was […]

In a couple of weeks I’ll be 47, and I’ve been surveying the emotional and physical landscape of my year. But in many ways, taking stock of myself has taken a backseat to thinking about my older child, who will turn 10 in a month. When I squint and angle my head just so, I […]

More than 130 Afghan women have gathered in Albania at an All Afghan Women summit, in an attempt to develop a united voice representing the women and girls of Afghanistan in the fight against the ongoing assault on human rights by the Taliban. Some women who attempted to reach the summit from inside Afghanistan were […]

One of my favourite moments from Doon Mackichan’s memoir is the day she auditions for a part in a hit sitcom. Waiting for her turn in a church hall in central London, she was already annoyed at the way the role was written – a “cougar”, an older woman trying to ensnare a younger man, […]

I was a young housewife in the early 1970s when I heard about the National Housewives’ Register – now the National Women’s Register – founded by Maureen Nicol (Obituary, 3 September). It was a lifeline. My husband’s job required us to move around the country, and finding myself in a new location with two infants […]

The art versus craft debate is almost as old as the question: “What is art?” Boiled down to its gnarly, still disputable essence, art is created to make us think and feel, while craft is made to be used. A painting on a wall makes us ponder, whereas knitted scarves keep us warm, ceramic vases […]

It’s a greyish Saturday afternoon in late August, and alongside other street party attenders, I’m watching two flamboyantly dressed women, one clutching a flute, backed by three male musicians while they shout out the lyrics to their new song, Kiddy Ska Party. “I told you about my stitches / I told you about my stitches […]

A small wooden beach hut. Not your usual pitch-side corporate hospitality suite. But this is Lewes FC and the four beach huts are its equivalent of glass-encased executive boxes. “You can rent them out,” says Karen Dobres, the club’s special project lead. I have a quick look in one: clean, functional, also chilly, I should think, […]