In an unexpected turn of events, brooches have escaped from Granny’s jewellery box, climbed out the window and gone clubbingI have arrived in my brooch era about two decades ahead of schedule. I had brooches earmarked for a later life stage, accessories that would chime with The Archers, gardening, possibly solving the odd crime in the village, that sort of thing.But in an unexpected turn of events, I am already the correct age to wear a brooch. Not because I’m old, but because brooches have changed. They have cast off their church fete vibe and become cool. Zendaya wore a diamond serpent brooch pinned to the back of her white jacket to last year’s Met Gala. At a press conference before the recent Mexico City premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2, Meryl Streep added no fewer than six brooches to the lapel of her pillarbox red Dolce & Gabbana suit. Pedro Pascal wore a silk Chanel camellia the size of a sunflower to the Oscars. The brooch has escaped from Granny’s jewellery box, climbed out the window and gone clubbing. Continue reading...

13 May 2026 13:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

In the age of Botox, Ozempic and injectables, some women want to spend less on bridal beauty – and just be themselvesI got engaged last summer. Immediately, I started imagining how I would look at my wedding. The woman who appeared in my mind had different hair, different teeth and a completely different body than me. “I will transform my arms by the time of my wedding,” I kept thinking, though I did not take any action to transform my arms. It was inconceivable that I would show up to my wedding looking like myself.Each social media app fed me wedding prep recommendations, including dieting (rebranded as “eating clean”), working out five times a week, regular laser treatments and facials, red light therapy, lymphatic drainage massage, teeth whitening, Russian manicures, eyelash extensions and multi-step hair routines. I saw an essay by a woman who wrote about spending $30,000 on her physical appearance. “In the lead-up to my wedding I treated my body like a design project and gave myself full [rein] to indulge in every and anything I had ever remotely considered,” she explained. Continue reading...

12 May 2026 16:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Duo Whitaker Malem worked with pop art sculptor Allen Jones and a car bodyshop in Kent to create gala’s biggest joltAt Monday’s Met Gala, it inevitably fell to Kim Kardashian to deliver the evening’s biggest jolt. One of the few celebrities to straightforwardly interpret the “fashion is art” dress code – which focused on how the dressed and undressed human body is the through-line in most works of art – she decided to forgo her usual role as a walking billboard for a major fashion house and instead arrived in an orange fibreglass breastplate created by a small east London art duo and a car bodyshop in Kent.“Good art should start conversation, and Kim did exactly that,” says 61-year-old Patrick Whitaker, half of the design practice Whitaker Malem, who made the breastplate just weeks before the gala. “She was very clear on wanting a breastplate, very clear on the car body finish. And I think she was nervous really. She understands the competition.” Continue reading...

08 May 2026 16:54 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Fresh out of wedlock and in the mood for some fun? Join your newly single sisters in the glow-up to end all glow-ups‘Sorry babe I’m a divorced mum on a buffet of magnesium glycinate, ashwagandha, peptides, and sertraline, covering a mortgage alone during late stage capitalism, idgaf about your opinion anymore,” wrote Meghan McTavish, an Australian divorce-fluencer, who went viral a couple of years ago because, even after her split, her parents refused to take down her wedding photos.This might be the core of hot divorcee energy: an unvarnished devil-may-care spirit that seems to have captured the cultural moment this summer. So, of course, you’re wondering how this differs from the brat, last year’s aspirational muse – who also, emphatically, did not care what the world thought (though if you’re still confused about the difference between that and 2024’s hot girl summer, I suggest you go back in time and take last year’s module again). Continue reading...

12 May 2026 04:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

In the US, 60% of young men are single and sex is at a record low. Despite endless opportunities to meet the right person, it feels like dating in the US has become more fraught than ever. As political divides deepen and the #MeToo backlash grows, we meet the people navigating ‘heterofatalism’ and those ditching modern dating for 1950s values. From the unlimited choice of NYC dating apps to a Christian retreat in the south, reporter Carter Sherman explores a nation struggling to connect. Continue reading...

11 May 2026 10:15 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

A tiny bird with a giant ego, Crispin was a remarkable singer – especially if you told him how talented, intelligent and gracious he wasI was around four years old when my parents bought me Crispin, my first pet. A handsome yellow canary, Crispin was bad-tempered and behaved like an alpha male. He would spend hours preening. I thought he was enchanting.A gentle female canary, Mariflor, arrived soon after. She became Crispin’s other half and the mother of their chicks, Maribel and Quintin. Having a canary family compensated for my lack of siblings and extended family. It gave me a sense of responsibility and filled my life with joy. Continue reading...

11 May 2026 10:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

I was isolated and nervous when I decided to roll up my sleeves and start volunteering. But I shouldn’t have been intimidated. It’s brought so much happiness and community into my lifeI live in a fairly average town in Oxfordshire, and despite having friends and family nearby, I never felt as if I was properly a part of the community. I didn’t feel rooted, or that I knew my neighbours beyond a quick hello. I moved here in my late 20s with my partner and spent a lot of time at home. In my 30s, I got a dog, had children and started working from home.As a result, I spent a lot more time in my local area, but I still felt like an outsider. At this point in my life, where I was focused on building a family and setting down my own roots, this lack of connection made me feel isolated – until I started volunteering. Continue reading...

11 May 2026 09:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN