Category Archives: Life and style

How to make Bernie Sanders’ inauguration mittens

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Feel the Bern, not the cold, with your own pair of winter-proof hand warmers – here’s how to stitch them at home

While it was Michelle Obama’s hair that brought the glamour to Joe Biden’s inauguration day, it was Bernie Sanders’ mittens that delivered the memes. Sitting at the event in a winter coat and mittens, arms and legs crossed, he was the yin to the rest of the Capitol’s sharp-suited yang – and promptly Photoshopped into Edward Hopper paintings, scenes from Glee and the vice-presidential debate, replacing the fly atop Mike Pence’s head.

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Dr Martens bosses and backers set for huge windfall in £3.5bn float

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UK footwear brand expected to launch market listing on Monday, with CEO in line for stake worth £58m

The British footwear brand Dr Martens is expected to launch a stock market flotation on Monday that would value the Northamptonshire firm at £3.5bn and generate a huge windfall for its bosses and backers.

The company, known for its boots with chunky air-cushioned soles and distinctive yellow stitching, was owned until 2013 by the Griggs family, who sold to the private equity investment group Permira for £300m but retained a near-10% stake. Just seven years later the business has soared in value and when it lands on the stock market will create numerous multimillionaires.

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Permanent PJs and pivoting designers: how the pandemic hit the fashion world

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Our fashion editor on a year in which sweatpants soared, masks went designer, Topshop tumbled – and a pause fuelled hopes of a reset

I was on the Eurostar, somewhere between St Pancras and Paris, when a senior member of the Guardian team called and suggested that it might be a good idea for me to turn around at Gare du Nord and return to London.

It was 3 March 2020. This was not the plan. The plan had been to go to the Chanel show and report for the news pages. Instead, it was the beginning of all plans – work and otherwise – disintegrating.

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Lost touch: how a year without hugs affects our mental health

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Humans are designed to touch and be touched – which is why so many who live on their own have suffered during the pandemic. Will we ever fully recover?

There’s only so much a dog can do, even if that is a lot. I live alone with my staffy, and by week eight of the first lockdown she was rolling her eyes at my ever-tightening clutch. I had been sofa-bound with Covid and its after-effects before lockdown was announced, then spring and summer passed without any meaningful touch from another person. I missed the smell of my friends’ clothes and my nephew’s hair, but, more than anything, I missed the groundedness only another human body can bring. The ache in my solar plexus that married these thoughts often caught me off guard.

The need for touch exists below the horizon of consciousness. Before birth, when the amniotic fluid in the womb swirls around us and the foetal nervous system can distinguish our own body from our mother’s, our entire concept of self is rooted in touch. “The human body has built all its models based on touch received from caregivers,” says Dr Katerina Fotopoulou, a professor of psychodynamic neuroscience at University College London. “We’re utterly reliant on the caregiver to satisfy the body’s core needs. Little can be done without touch.”

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Who’s a good boy? The unbreakable bond between humans and dogs

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Our centuries old love of dogs has never been stronger. So what does a study of ‘man’s best friend’ say about us?

Why is he here? Why is my dog lying at my feet in the shape of a croissant as I write this? How have I come to cherish his warm but lightly offensive pungency? How has his fish breath become a topic of humour when friends call round for dinner? Why do I shell out more than £1,000 each year to pay for his insurance? And why do I love him so much?

Ludo is not a special dog. He’s just another labrador retriever, one of approximately 500,000 in the UK (he’d be one in a million in the United States, the most popular breed in both countries). Ludo has a lot in common with all these dogs. He loves to play ball; obviously he’s an expert retriever. He could eat all the food in the universe and leave nothing for the other dogs. He is prone to hip dysplasia. He looks particularly attractive on a plush bed in a centrally heated house very far from the Newfoundland home of his ancestors.

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Analgesic culture: can reframing pain make it go away?

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The way we think about pain could change how much we actually suffer

We’ve all got a story about pain. Maybe it’s that time you broke your arm skating, or the time you finished the game on a twisted ankle, or the 10 hours of labour without an epidural. Maybe your story of pain is a story of violence, the injury and trauma of an assault. Maybe it’s a story of terror. Or it’s heartbreak, the seemingly endless depths of grief and despair after a loss. Whatever it is, (almost) all of us have experienced what we call pain and we’re not in a hurry to experience it again.

But have you ever tried to define that pain? When you’re telling the story, how do you explain the pain? Do you try to quantify the injury – how many broken bones, the size of the bruise, the amount of blood? Or do you describe the cause – the type of cancerous cells, the crowning baby, the sharp knife? But what if there was no obvious cause? And how do you communicate the intensity? Is it a searing or scalding burn, a throbbing or dull pressure, a pounding or stabbing headache? Is it worse than a bee sting, but not as bad as a dog bite?

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Tim Dowling: the cat has plenty to say. But why should I listen?

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‘Your English is poor,’ I tell him. ‘Your accent is atrocious’

My phone says it’s 7.50am, but the sky outside looks more like 4.15. Rain is striking the window in handfuls, like flung gravel. It has been raining all night, and it promises to rain all day, possibly for the rest of the month. I dress by the light of a reading lamp and close the bedroom door behind me.

“Hello?” says the cat from somewhere in the darkness below.

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The teenage taekwondo trainer fighting child marriage in Zimbabwe – photo essay

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Natsiraishe Maritsa saw so many friends being forced into marriage that she started a campaign to drive out the practice.

It is 11am on a Sunday and Natsiraishe Maritsa, 17, is running through some workout drills with a group of sweating teenage girls from her neighbourhood in Epworth, a poor township nine miles (15km) south-east of the capital, Harare.

On a normal Sunday, Maritsa and her friends would be attending church, but the strict 30-day lockdown imposed by the government earlier this month has banned religious gatherings – so it’s time to catch up on a taekwondo training session.

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‘In Paris, we are terrified of vulgarity’: lessons in French style from Call My Agent!

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The costume designer from the hit French show on how the clothes make the characters – and how you can channel their effortless chic

In France, the hit Netflix series Call My Agent! is called Dix Pour Cent in reference to the fee charged by French cinema agents. For those in the know, the name says it all. For others, like me, the reference was opaque at first, but it sent the message that this is a show – unlike others representing a cliched take on French life, such as Emily in Paris – that positions itself as an insider’s peek into the capital and its movie business.

The many cameos from A-list actors playing themselves – with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Sigourney Weaver lined up to appear in season four; Weaver called the series “a love letter to the business” – similarly underlines the show’s proximity to the authentic professional world, something that is subtly shown, too, through its clothes.

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Top chefs’ favourite homemade soups – from curried carrot to creamy sweet potato

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Making a hearty bowlful is easier than you might think. Here are 10 warming recipes from Michael Caines, Ollie Dabbous, Jessica Rosval and more

It is cold, there is nothing to do – and you may want to hang on to all your tinned food in case things get even worse. This points towards one thing: getting really good at making soup. Although it can seem complicated and time-consuming, soup-making is immensely satisfying and much easier than you think. We asked 10 chefs to share their best recipes for the simple soups they make at home.

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10 inspiring hobbies taken up by readers during lockdown

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Using Shakespeare plays, mum’s cooking and even Lego as inspiration, our tipsters – and their kids – have discovered ingenious ways not just of de-stressing, but of feeling more alive

This is about my autistic daughter’s hobby. She’s nine, and since last March has become an avid birdspotter and photographer. It’s been great to be outside finding nature in the city, and to see her thrive and grow, walking to and exploring local parks. She’s now got an amazing mentor – wildlife artist and photographer Alfie Bowen – and has been winning competitions and had her photos published. She told me: “2020 was the best year ever … less stress because of less school, and I could be the person I am meant to be.” What more could a parent ask for?
Emma

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‘Never conduct any business naked’: how to work from bed without getting sacked

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From warming up your voice to avoiding spillages, here are some tips for keeping up professional appearances

I have been pretending not to be in bed while working for more than 20 years, but never got around to codifying my moves until lockdown, when they became useful to others. Before we drill down into specifics, there are some cardinal rules.

First, never let a work call be your first conversation of the day. Your voice is like your face: it takes a while to lose that distinctive, muffled squash of the pillow and oblivion. If you live with others, you can have a general “How did you sleep?” conversation, then an argument; this way you will use the full range of your voicebox, like an opera singer. If you live alone, call your mum or turn on the radio and shout at Nick Robinson – whichever you find the least draining.

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Working from bed? Here’s how you can still look professional

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From airline pants to the all-day dressing gown, these outfits are just the thing for those duvet-based video calls

Dressing for work, if lockdown is forcing you to work from bed, is a dance between comfort and mindset. A nightie suggests you’ve given up, but lip gloss is too much (plus it’s a nightmare if you get it on your sheets). So, how to dress when you don’t want to get dressed? Can you get away with a dressing gown, and what about a hoodie? Follow these tips for bed-based video-call dressing, and you can hunker down in your chrysalis and emerge from it warm, transformed and, hopefully, still employed.

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Head, shoulders, knees and toes: the best stretches to see off aches and pains

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Soft mattresses and pillows are great for lounging, but after a full day’s work your back and shoulders will start to complain. These gentle exercises should help

Working on a laptop in bed all day can be ruinous for your shoulders, back and overall wellbeing. “Your back won’t be supported very well,” says Fiona Houston, a physiotherapist and the founder of Physio Inverness. “It will be slumped. Plus, if your legs are stretched out in front of you, you’ll be putting strain through your nervous system.” She explains that this runs from your brain to your spinal cord, all the way to your toes. “By sitting in bed with your legs out in front of you, and your head tilting downwards, at a laptop screen, you’re stretching that system continuously. It’s actually one of the things we would ask our clients about, to see if people are likely to have issues with their nerves.”

Houston advises a mixture of stretches for your back. “Sit on a chair and rotate your shoulders forwards and backwards,” she says. “Yoga poses such as the child’s pose (where you sit on your heels and push your shoulders to the ground, head facing the floor) or the cobra pose (where you lie on your front, hands and legs flat on the floor, and arch your head and shoulders off the ground) will help your joints move. These stretches are quick and easy to do, and easy to access online.”

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17 ways with whisky: from Burns Night drams and hot toddies to cranachan and ice-cream

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Celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns on 25 January with a traditional scotch. But there’s more you can do with whisky than drinking

Traditionally, Burns Night ,which takes place on 25 January, celebrates the life and work of the poet Robert Burns. With Covid restrictions in place, the usual gatherings full of poetry, revelry and haggis will have to be curtailed, but it is still a convenient excuse to drink whisky on a weeknight.

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The green cleaner: 15 natural ways to spruce up your home – from nettles to rainwater

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Former Bake Off winner Nancy Birtwhistle says we have been ‘brainwashed’ into believing we need harsh chemicals to clean our homes. Here’s how to take a more environmentally friendly approach

It was a filthy washing machine that prompted Nancy Birtwhistle to embrace the power of eco-friendly cleaning. “I was nearly at the point where I thought I needed a new washing machine, because it was a disgrace,” she says. “And that’s the sort of culture we’ve become: ‘I’ll replace it.’” Instead, she gave it a thorough clean and switched to homemade detergent. She says her machine no longer gets gunked up from chemical overload.

Birtwhistle, a no-nonsense retired GP practice manager and grandmother of nine, won the fifth series of The Great British Bake Off in 2014, but she has also become known on social media for her green cleaning tips. Once a fan of bleach and strongly perfumed products, she now makes everything herself. “We’ve been brainwashed into thinking that natural products are inferior to synthetic ones. I used to use bicarbonate of soda in the 1970s, but I stopped using it because there were products I thought would do a quicker job, but they’re causing such a lot of damage to the environment.” She has now written a book, Clean & Green: 101 Hints and Tips for a More Eco-friendly Home, which is packed with advice and ingenious tricks. Green cleaning, she says, is “accessible for everybody. I made the point of making it affordable.” Here are a few of her tips to get you started.

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How we met: ‘A fortune teller told me how I would meet my partner. She was right’

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Teachers Naomi and Huw Beynon, 41 and 49, met at a salsa class in 2005. They live with their children in Swansea

Naomi Lewis was nursing a broken heart at the start of 2005, after splitting up with her boyfriend a few months earlier. She had recently moved into a new flat in Swansea, alone, and befriended Saffron, a woman who lived above her in the building. “In January, Saffron went on a bad blind date to a salsa class,” she says. “Although there was no spark, she loved the dancing and begged me to go back with her. I’ve got two left feet and didn’t fancy it, but she persuaded me.”

When they arrived, Saffron’s date from the previous week was there – and he had brought a friend. “I’d not long broken up with someone and I went with my friend Julian because it seemed like something to do on a Wednesday night,” says Huw Lewis. While Saffron told Naomi that Julian’s friend “was cute”, Naomi insisted Huw wasn’t her type. But after the class they got chatting and realised they had a lot in common. “We discovered we were both teachers and that both our parents were from the Welsh valleys,” remembers Naomi. Their personalities clicked; when Huw went to the toilet, Naomi told her friend she was going to marry him. “I must have had a special power,” laughs Huw. “I don’t think she’d even had a drink. When I started talking to her, I really liked her. She was quirky and interesting.”

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The joy of steps: 20 ways to give purpose to your daily walk

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Has the novelty of a prescribed stroll long since worn off? From tracking animals to uncovering hidden history, here’s how to discover a new world in your neighbourhood

The weather is rubbish, there is nowhere to go and, bereft of the joys of spring, the daily lockdown walk can feel pointless. But, of course, it is not: the mental and physical health perks of exercise are immune to seasonal changes. We need to gallivant around outside in daylight so that our circadian rhythms can regulate sleep and alertness. (Yes, even when the sky is resolutely leaden, it is still technically daylight.) Walking warms you up, too; when you get back indoors, it will feel positively tropical.

But if meeting these basic needs isn’t enough to enthuse you, there are myriad ways to add purpose to your stride and draw your attention to the underappreciated joys of winter walking.

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Long johns for Prada as Milan fashion week goes online

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Collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, only the second for the designers, includes gloves and comfort-wear

At a time when the relevance of high fashion is being questioned, Prada’s menswear show in Milan addressed the criticism with an unusually practical item of clothing: a pair of long johns.

Speaking after an audience-free show at a largely virtual Milan fashion week, Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada, co-creative directors of the brand, described the item as symbolic of the current situation. Worn by every model, and intended as a second skin, they were inspired as much by pyjamas and babies as wetsuits and “rockers”, though Simons was quick to add: “We didn’t want it to look like activewear.”

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