5 d. ago ‘Chic’ is dead, says Vogue. Is it time to revive ‘jazzy’, ‘snazzy’ and ‘swish’? | Emma Beddington

The word has lost all meaning, we are told. Could my favourite dad-jectives replace it?Vogue has spoken: chic is dead. Not being it, but the word. Chic has, Lauren O’Neill argues, lost its essence, co-opted to cover whatever glazed-doughnut-skinned influencers on TikTok decide it should, from monogrammed lip balm to iced matchas. “Chic has come to be mistaken for certain monied strains of taste, rather than the sort of unique je ne sais quoi that I think the word at its purest actually means.”Baudelaire – the 19th century’s Nicky Haslam, given how many things he disapproved of: photography, Belgium, Victor Hugo – would have agreed. He called chic an “awful and bizarre word”. Are he and Vogue right? Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Yes, Monty Python lampooned it and it smells like cheap cat food... but Mrs T loved it and even my son's a fan! No wonder Spam is back on the menu: TOM PARKER BOWLES

Well, I've heard it all now. Spam, that tinned, meaty monolith is officially back in vogue. Sales have soared 48 per cent compared to this time last year, much of it down to the 80th VE Day anniversary.

Politics

6 d. ago Working from home? It’s so much nicer if you’re a man | Emma Beddington

Ever since lockdown we’ve supposedly all been in it together, doing conference calls in our slippers. But in straight couples, guess who gets the spare bedroom and the proper desk?I’m wary of gendered generalisations. They rightly raise hackles: we are unique, not defined by gender, not all men! But I was struck by one I read from Ella Risbridger in her review of Jessica Stanley’s recent novel, Consider Yourself Kissed. Exploring one of its themes, Risbridger wrote: “I have long noticed that in a house with one spare room and a heterosexual couple who both work from home, the spare room is where he works – with a door that shuts and perhaps even a designated desk – and she works somewhere else. (Always for good reasons, but always.)”This stopped me in my tracks. Not because it’s my experience: my husband and I are lucky enough to have an office each, and mine is bigger and objectively nicer. I get the garden view; he has the ballet of Openreach and Amazon vans. (See – not all men.) ...

Politics

1 week ago Could the right question bring some magic to your meetings? | Emma Beddington

Do you die a little every time you sit down with your workmates? Try asking them about their first ever concert, or the last time they blew up a balloonIs there enough magic in your meetings? I can hear the hollow laughter from here. Research from the London School of Economics found that more than a third of meetings are considered unproductive, which seems awfully low to anyone who has been to a meeting, ever.“People throw meetings at problems,” Priya Parker, meeting specialist and author of The Art of Gathering, lamented on the Fixable podcast recently, before offering her solution. Asked for a quick fix, she suggested kicking off with “a magical question”: one that everyone would be interested in answering and in hearing others answer. Her suggestion: “What was your first ever concert, and who took you?” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Justin Bieber's gushing reply to Kendall Jenner's Vogue cover resurfaces after scathing comments about Hailey

The 31-year-old is raising eyebrows once again - this time for his sweet message to friend Kendall Jenner of her Vogue cover.

Politics

2 w. ago Hailey Bieber fans slam Justin's history of 'unsupportive behavior' following his Vogue comments

Despite making the cover of Vogue for the first time ever, Hailey Bieber does not appear to be having the best week - and that's because fans keep pointing out husband Justin Bieber's behavior.

Politics

2 w. ago I’ve been living each day as if it were my first – and the results amazed me | Emma Beddington

From a disobedient dishwasher to a letter from the taxman, it turns out everything is more palatable with a sprinkling of childlike wonderReading about ways to foster joy last week (I know, most of us would settle for waking without lingering dread, but why not dream big occasionally?), I was captivated by the memoirist and cancer survivor Suleika Jaouad’s suggestion: live each day like it’s your first. When Jaouad’s leukaemia returned last year, well-wishers urged her to live each day like it was her last, but the pressure to carpe each second of every damn diem left her feeling panicked and exhausted. Instead, she cultivated a sense of freshly hatched curiosity and playfulness, which she says helped.I loved this, but doubted the feasibility – can you really convince your tired, cynical self to feel joyful astonishment? I tried living yesterday as if it were my first; not like an actual newborn (red-faced, frequently crying, utterly incompetent – I’m all that already), but with chi...

Politics

3 w. ago What’s better than a cafe, wilderness retreat or spa? A silent cafe, wilderness retreat or spa | Emma Beddington

Imagine going somewhere and not having to hear all about a stranger’s toxic boyfriend, pitch deck or hernia opDemand for silent experiences is on the rise: apparently silent book clubs, a concept launched in San Francisco in 2012, are spreading like quiet wildfire, with “1,600 chapters in 54 countries”, according to the BBC, including about 100 in the UK. In the same article, Eventbrite reported a 460% increase in silent book events organised at the beginning of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.Silent cafes – sacred safe spaces where you won’t have to hear about anyone’s transversal skill set, toxic boyfriend, pitch deck or hernia op – are proliferating, too. The algorithm thinks, correctly, that I would enjoy a silent reading cafe in Tokyo and there are silent cafes in Osaka, China and Turkey. Silent travel was decreed a “top travel trend” last year by Condé Nast Traveller, spanning everything from full-on week-long retreats and a certified “wilderness quiet park” in Ecua...

Politics