Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Alright kiddies - the big day is here. Ireland's patron saint's day has arrived and across the world, beer will be being dyed green. Except, ironically, in many parts of Ireland, where we don't enjoy tampering with alcohol unnecessarily. It's not there to be played with!

So to everyone Irish - southern, northern, nationalist, unionist, Protestant, Catholic, neither, other, don't care, all of the above - have a glorious Saint Patrick's Day and enjoy the day off Lent! And to everyone else, a very happy saint's day too. I hope you're wearing your "Kiss me, I'm Irish" t-shirts.

Kate Middleton: Style Icon

Anne Boleyn, Marie-Antoinette, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Princess Grace of Monaco were four royal women well-known for being style icons in their day. Now, with the exception of Vivienne Westwood, most people seem to think that Kate Middleton will be joining their ranks.

The Burberry trench coat which Kate Middleton wore on her recent visit to Belfast (above) sold out twenty-four hours after she and her fiancé, Prince William, visited Northern Ireland. The tour, which completed their pre-marriage tour of the four parts of the United Kingdom, took place last Tuesday and I thought Prince William's pancake tossing lessons to the young girl outside Belfast City Hall were very entertaining. 

The Burberry coat worn by the future Princess Catherine retails at £650 (just over $1,000) and Burberry reported that the online supplies of the coat were gone by the time Lent started, the day after the royal visit to Belfast, which was publicised across the UK and in international media, too. A cheaper coat in a very similar design, offered by ASDA (the UK division of Walmart) increased its sales by 300% in the same period. It sells for about £22 (about $35).

When she attended a wedding back in December, in a black velvet Dulwich coat by Libelula, interest from American fashionistas in brand was particularly high, apparently. And the dress she wore for her engagement interview has ignited great interest in the Issa dresses, which it should, because it was a great choice. 

On a side note, it really irritates me when people start complaining and whining about the royal wedding. What do you want the future king to do? Get married in Gretna Green? Big days like this are good for the country. It's a holiday, it's a spectacle, and to be honest, I think that the world would be a much more boring place if we didn't do things like this. Plus, if Popular has taught me anything, it's that parties are always a good thing! Okay, some people have a "moral" objection to it because they don't agree with the monarchy, but they seem to be acting really surprised that the Prince of Wales's son is getting a wedding at all. I mean, you did know it wasn't a republic, didn't you? You must therefore have assumed when the second in line to the throne got married, it was probably going to be quite a big event. Monarchies aren't really known for running on minimalist chic! If you're a republican, fine, just don't start bitching about it to anyone who shows any amount of enthusiasm for what will be a really fun day. It's not like monarchists go round posting on your wall on normal days of the year, "Ha ha, guess what? We're not a republic. Fyl!" 

The Daily Mail reports that the future princess is more and more being seen as a fashion icon, because her personal style is "elegant and regal, yet age-appropriate to boot." I'm a big, big fan of the way she dresses. It's weirdly like the look and style I tried to capture for Meredith in Popular. Although, I would say Kate is a much, much nicer person! To quote from the article, which you can read in full here: -

"Ever since Kate appeared on the scene as Prince William’s girlfriend at St Andrews University, interest in her has been feverish — and that includes her sartorial selections. Kate’s fashion influence became clear as far back as 2007 when a dress she wore for her 25th birthday (a £40 Topshop tunic) sold out within 24 hours. ... fitted, nipped-in jackets, silhouette-hugging dresses and timeless accessories that are elegant and regal, yet age-appropriate to boot. 

Now, her style is much coveted — Kate has the power to spark a fashion stampede simply by wearing something once. 

She often plumps for British designers such as Temperley, Mulberry and Burberry, meaning her choices have been a good blend of patriotic and classic. But Kate’s fondness for the High Street stores Reiss, Jigsaw and Topshop also show she’s a girl who’s not afraid to mix and match affordable pieces with designer labels." 

Jennifer Aniston's new ad

Really like this new ad for Smart Water.


I always think it's so funny/bizarre when the media try to paint Jennifer Aniston's life as a tragedy and that she's really unhappy. I don't get that vibe from her at all, in any interviews or anything she ever does. 


Anyway, apparently Jennifer recently got hit with a viral sex tape, allegedly showing her, but in fact showing a porn star that looks like her and in her new ad for Smart Water, she pokes fun at that. This is a great ad.

True Love in Mississippi

I love this story!

A local newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, has profiled the love story of one of my best friend's grandparents! Courtney ("Coco") Pannell is currently a Senior at Yale and one of my favourite partners for cocktails.

Pete and Mary Tate (above) were set-up on a blind date together when she was studying at Ole Mis, back in 1957.  They were married in 1958 and have three sons - Mike, Mark and Jeff. Mary Tate says, "I don't remember the first date, but he came to my door and had on gray pants and a pink shirt, and I thought he was awfully stylish. Oh, and white buck shoes!"

You can read the whole story, here.

Congratulations!

"The Other Boleyn Girl" (review)

In 2008, my housemate Beth returned to our house in Oxford late one evening from a trip to see the new movie, The Other Boleyn Girl. I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to see it, and wasn’t even sure I was going to – I’d read the book and that was traumatic enough. I could still remember the perfectly-arched eyebrow of savage incredulity which my high school friend Patricia reserved for anyone who suggested she read it... Anyway, Beth knocked on my bedroom door and I opened expecting to see her with her customary can of hairspray in her hands, maniacally spraying all around her. (It was the only way we had figured out how to repel the nuclear-sized spiders which seemed to inexplicably infest our college house.) As I opened the door, I was greeted by a shell-shocked Beth. Naturally, I assumed that we were once again under siege from Arachneus, King of the Spiders, and his eight-legged army and I quickly reached for my deodorant. This time, however, I was wrong. “Oh it’s bad...," she said, "The Other Boleyn Girl... it’s so, so bad... it’s.... it’s bad, Gareth. It’s just really bad. I can't even... I'm never getting those two hours back.”

A breathlessly gleeful phone-call from my friend Emerald a few days later confirmed Beth's review: “Gaz, you’ve got to get down to the nearest cinema and see it immediately. It’s the worst thing in the history of cinema! It’s the most gloriously stupid thing you’ll ever see! I mean, it’s just... no, I mean, oh my god, you have got to see it!” When I did go to see it, with another friend, Emily, it was reassuringly every bit as ghastly as I had been promised. Half-way through, Emily leant over to me and whispered, both confused and contemptuous: “Is this a joke?”

Sadly, Emily, no, it wasn’t. Or, at least, it wasn’t an intentional one.

An interview with Christopher Gortner, author of "The Tudor Secret"

Early this week, I reviewed Christopher Gortner's novel The Tudor Secret, which you can read here, and I'm delighted to post this interview between Christopher and I discussing his new book and its inspirations. My thanks to the author.

"The Tudor Secret" by Christopher Gortner

“There are moments that define our existence, moments that, if we recognize them, become pivotal turning points in our life. Like pearls on a strand, the accumulation of such moments will in time become the essence of our life, providing solace when our ends draw near. For me, meeting Elizabeth Tudor was one of those moments.” 

I received a review copy of The Tudor Secret on a Friday morning and I had it finished by Saturday evening. I also had a lot to do that weekend, almost none of which got done.

The Tudor Secret is Christopher Gortner’s third novel and like his previous two works, it is set in the sixteenth century. His first, The Last Queen, was set in Spain; his second, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, in France. This time round, Gortner turns his attention to England in the sweltering summer of 1553 when the teenage King Edward the Sixth has disappeared from public view, amidst rumours that his chief minister, the Duke of Northumberland, is hiding the young king away from the public’s gaze in the hope of clinging onto power for himself. The king’s two sisters – thirty-seven year-old Mary and nineteen year-old Elizabeth – are understandably suspicious, particularly Mary, a devout Roman Catholic who is next in line to inherit the crown if Edward dies without children. Taking it upon herself to discover the truth, Princess Elizabeth journeys to London and it is here, in the sprawling Palace of Whitehall, a palace once built for her executed mother, that she first meets Brendan Prescott, a young equestrian working for the duke of Northumberland, the princesses’ apparent arch-enemy. From this fateful meeting, The Tudor Secret spins a truly addictive adventure story around the mystery of Brendan’s own identity and Elizabeth’s attempts to outwit whatever it is the duke is planning to do.