❙1955… strap strap ❙ Grace Kelly The princessto-be wore $4,000 of French satin
1961… Elizabeth Taylor Showing off her tiny waist in Christian Dior
1969… Barbra Streisand Sequins and bell-bottoms – very on trend!
And the w By Alex Frisby
With the 87th Academy Awards just around the corner, we hand out our ‘Best Dressed’ accolades to leading ladies across the years
orget who wins or who doesn’t at this year’s Oscars. What really gets us all talking is who is wearing what on the red carpet! But today’s stars have some hard acts to follow on the fashion front. Take the unforgettable Grace Kelly. She dazzled at the awards in 1955 in a stunning, ice-blue satin gown (pictured left) – and picked up a statuette too, for Best Actress in The Country Girl. Grace also wore the Edith
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PICS: GETTY IMAGES, REX FEATURES, CORBIS, ALAMY, PHOTOSHOT, PHILIPPE HALSMAN / MAGNUM PHOTOS
FASHION FAUX-PAS?
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We’ve seen our ‘Cher’ of unusual outfits, too... Left to right: performer Cher in her1986 cabaret getup; Diane Keaton embracing the masculine trend in 2004; and Meryl Streep in a strangelyfitted Lanvin dress, just three years ago
DID YOU KNOW?
1989… Jodie Foster An Italian, off-the-peg number
1999… Gwyneth Paltrow in a petal pink, Ralph Lauren gown
2007… Helen Mirren in an exquisite Christian Lacroix frock
Oscar winners don’t really own their statues. Recipients must first sign an agreement that if they want to sell their award they must offer it back to the Academy for $1. If they refuse they can’t keep the statue. Despite the ruling some statues have been sold. In 2001 Steven Spielberg bought Bette Davis’s Oscar for $578,000.
Head creation on the cover of Life magazine and to the premiere of The Country Girl. Just a few years later Elizabeth Taylor took centre stage in a very different style. She arrived to collect her Oscar for Butterfield 8 in a sleeveless yellow and white ballgown with intricate embroidery by Christian Dior, a label as timeless as herself. Barbra Streisand, however, took the opportunity to shine in a very different way – with a quirky blouse and flared trousers that nicely offset her Sixties haircut. And a young
Jodie Foster wore a waterfallstyle dress that she found while shopping in Rome! Talk about controversial... a modern-day entourage of stylists would never let such a famous actress pick her own red-carpet number while indulging in a moment of retail therapy. Reactions to Gwyneth Paltrow’s ballgown were mixed, when she won Best Actress for her performance in Shakespeare in Love in 1999. She made her speech through tears of happiness and afterwards said of the spaghetti-strapped ballgown, “I just wanted to look very sweet.” So who takes our Oscar fashion queen ✢ Do you have a title? Our winner favourite Oscar dress? is... Grace Kelly. Write and let us know at But we must admit the address on p3. that Helen Mirren’s The Oscars take figure-hugging place on Sunday, Christian Lacroix gown February 22 (top, right) in 2007 was also a serious contender, with its beautiful beadwork and lace.
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2005… Hilary Swank The Million Dollar Baby winner in Guy Laroche 2014… Cate Blanchett in Armani YOURS
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‘I wish Pat hadn’t been killed off’ Pam St Clement, who played Pat in EastEnders for 25 years, chats about her difficult early childhood and her shock at being written out of the show By Alison James t’s as if we’re all living in Albert Square at the moment. EastEnders is marking its 30th anniversary with TV specials, several semi-live episodes and one totally live one. A few former residents of Walford have returned for the big birthday episodes but sadly not big-earringed, pink-lippied, Pat Butcher. That’s because, unless EastEnders suddenly decide on a Dallasesque Bobby-Ewingemerging-from-the-shower type resurrection, it’s just not possible. Pat died on screen in late 2012 – and we don’t half miss her larger-than-life persona on the Square. It was so sad to see such an iconic character killed off. Pam St Clement, whose autobiography, The End of an Earring has recently been published, feels the same too. “Pat is the only character who could link so many
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I’m not the type of person who strands of the show and the harbours regrets. My attitude families of EastEnders is that you’re dealt together – she was certain cards in life unique in this respect,” and you’ve just got she says, as we chat over to get on with it. Be a coffee. “I never wanted survivor rather than a to be killed off and victim, if you like. The requested, when I said victim mentality we I wanted to take some have now isn’t good, in time out, that I wouldn’t my opinion. It simply be. I was assured more breeds more victims.” than once that this This philosophy wouldn’t be the case. certainly comes But...” She shrugs and through in Pam’s smiles. “That’s what compelling and happened. It was a Pam’s father, who wonderfully warm big shock and I felt couldn’t engage emotionally with anyone book in which she let down. However
shares her life story, including the unorthodox upbringing that was to have a profound influence on the rest of her Iconic role: From life. Her mother died when left, clockwise, Pam in1986 she was just 18 months old as fresh-faced and her father, a Mayfair landlady Pat in businessman who went on The Queen Vic, to marry a further three with on-screen times, was ill-equipped to hubby Frank Butcher (played bring up a child. by the late Mike “My father, Reginald, Reid) and the sad found it difficult to cope as his moment when Pat lifestyle didn’t embrace being finally bowed out a parent, so throughout my of the Square childhood I was foisted on others,” Pam explains matterof-factly. “I was looked after by a nanny, then friends’ of my father’s and then sent away to various boarding schools which I loved. During the holidays, I’d be dispatched to strangers who took in paying guests. My father didn’t involve himself once he was satisfied I was fed, watered and not cruelly treated. become. She and Courty absorbed “When I was 11, I was sent me into their lives, and made me to a farm in Dartmoor in the realise that blood isn’t thicker holidays where two middle-aged than water. You can’t choose your ladies – who I came to know as parents but I feel very, very lucky Sylvia and ‘Courty’ – took in these ladies came into my life.” boarders. Packed off on a train True enough, but Pam’s father’s from Paddington, all I had was lack of responsibility towards a piece of paper in my blazer his daughter is astounding. pocket with the address. I was “I’m not excusing him, but as a more like a parcel than a person. young child he’d been sent to an But arriving at that thatched orphanage because his widowed farmhouse, a happiness mother couldn’t support her five and feeling of belonging children,” Pam explains. engulfed me.” “I’m sure the sense of Pam was so happy with abandonment affected him for the the ladies in Dartmoor, it was rest of his life. He was incapable arranged she would spend every of engaging emotionally with holiday with them. “They were anyone. As regards to the way he extraordinary people and it’s farmed me out, well, I’m not so not too dramatic to say they sure it doesn’t still happen. There saved me,” says Pam. “Especially are some very wealthy people out Sylvia. She gave me direction and there who off-load their children handed me the tools and basic in various ways.” knowledge to be who I wanted to Pam says she’s thoroughly be and become what I wanted to enjoyed the creative process of ary 20 there will be ary 16 to Friday, Febru ✢ From Monday, Febru nders to mark the i-live episodes of EastE a special series of sem pearance by Barbara ap ary including a guest ers niv an th 30 w’s sho iPlayer. sed episodes on BBC Windsor. Catch any mis
writing her autobiography. “As I started to write things down, other things – people, places, events – would come back to me. It was like recalling old photos in your mind and then remembering what was said at the time. The book took me about 18 months to write. Occasionally I’d hit a barrier and someone would prompt me and put a question in my mind. That would engender more thoughts and memories. “Having it published and ‘out there’ is both thrilling and scary. I’ve always been a very private person; now my writing and my life is open to criticism. I’ve created the book but hopefully I’m big enough and old enough to cope if it gets rubbished.” I tell Pam she has nothing to worry about on that score and she smiles. “My life has, and continues to be, fulfilling despite its adverse beginnings. If my story gives hope to those who feel that their beginnings cannot be overcome, good. If it entertains, well that’s good, too.”
Win Pam’s book We have five copies of The End of An Earring, by Pam St Clement, published by Headline at £16.99, to give away. All you have to do to enter is send a postcard marked Pam St Clement /Yours to PO Box 57, Coates PE7 2FF by March 6, 2015. ✢ If you don’t wish to receive further information from Yours, write No Further Contact on your postcard YOURS
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PICS: ALAMY; REX FEATURES; BBC
❙ star chat ❙
Style notes
ways with
5
DENIM
You can wear denim – and look grown-up and stylish to boot!
By Acting Fashion Editor Jo Winch
HOW TO WEAR
...a denim dress
FASHION EDITOR’S CHOICE
HOW TO WEAR
...bootcut jeans
A flattering dark denim dress is so versatile, it can be worn at any time of year with opaque tights and boots for winter, or your favourite sandals in summer. We love it teamed with this stylish mac for spring. Mac, £85, 10-22, M&S; dress, £16, 10-18, necklace, £5, both George at Asda; opaque tights, £5, F&F at Tesco
Dark denim jeans are the most flattering colour. Opt for a subtle bootcut shape and make sure they’re long enough by checking that the hem touches the floor when you’re barefoot – this length helps elongate your legs. Jacket, £65, top, £12, 10-22, both Next; jeans, £14, 8-20, George at Asda; shoes, £15, 3-8, Bhs; bag, £45, J by Jasper Conran at Debenhams
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Knit, £18, 10-20, F&F at Tesco; denim shirt, £29.50, 1022, M&S Collection; jeans, £14, 8-20, George at Asda; necklace, £12, Next
HOW TO WEAR
...a denim jacket
This is a really handy wardrobe staple that will go with almost everything and is an ideal choice for pairing with brightlycoloured trousers.
FRESH LOOK
Denim jacket, £30, 6-22, Next; top, £29, 10-20, Boutique at M&Co; ankle-grazer trousers, £29, 10-20, M&Co
...a denim shirt It’s fine to wear double denim, just make sure you pair dark and light together and break up the fabric with clever layering, such as a bright knit.
Top, £26, 10-22, M&Co; skirt, £35, 8-22, Jon Rocha at Debenhams; shoes, £20, 3-8, Tu at Sainsburys; opaque tights, £5, F&F at Tesco; necklace, £12, M&Co
HOW TO WEAR
...a denim skirt Denim looks great with colour. Yellow is very popular this season and is excellent teamed with denim. Red, white and blue are always a classic choice, too. STOCKISTS: Bonmarchè 01924 700100 www.bonmarche.co.uk; Debenhams 0844 561 6161 www.debenhams.com; Fashion World 0871 231 4000 www. fashionworld.co.uk; George at Asda 0800 952 3003 www.direct. asda.com; F&F at Tesco 0800 505 555 www.clothingattesco.com; Isme 0844 811 8112 www.isme. com; JDWilliams 0871 231 2000 www.jdwilliams.co.uk; M&Co 0800 031 7200 www.mandco. com; Marks & Spencer 0845 609 0200 www.marksandspencer. com; Next 0333 777 8000 www. next.co.uk; Tu at Sainsburys 0800 636 262 www.sainsburys.co.uk Details are correct at time of going to press
Find your perfect jeans Bootcut styles help balance heavy hips. Jeans, £22, 10-32, Bonmarché
Highwaist jeans help hold in your tummy! Jeans, £45, 1232, Claire Richards for Fashion World
Jeans with stretch and support, offer all-over control. Confident curves high-waist jeans, £35, 12-32, Isme
Slim-leg highwaist jeans help contour your shape. Jeans, £25, 1232, JD Williams
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PHOTOS: ANGELA SPAIN. STYLIST: JO WINCH; HAIR AND MAKE-UP: SARAH JANE GREEN
HOW TO WEAR
EX Y CL ou U rs SI VE
Good to KNOW...
BUDGET BEATER Help is at hand if you want to find hotels at the best price. The awardwinning Top10 app recommends ten hotels for any location worldwide. You can filter results by budget, boutique, business and more. Get this free app from iTunes – an Android version will be available later this year. More at Top10. com
CASH IN THE ATTIC
Best buy
Your freezer can make tights last longer, talc can create false eyelashes and bananas shine shoes! These are some of the thrift tips from Super Scrimpers by Eithne Farry (Square Peg). The book usually costs £9.99 but we have ten to give away. ✢ For a chance to win, send a postcard marked Yours/Super Scrimpers to PO Box 57, Coates, Peterborough PE7 2FF by March 6. If you don’t wish to be contacted in future by Yours, state ‘No further contact’ on your postcard.
WATCHING THE
Paddington Bear is known for being accident-prone and partial to marmalade. He also proved to have enduring appeal after starring in his own movie, Paddington, last year. He arrived from Darkest Peru in 1958 in A Bear called Paddington, by Michael Bond, and has entertained generations ever since. He even has a statue at London’s Paddington Station where he was discovered by the Brown family with his suitcase. A 2001 limited-edition R John Wright plush Paddington 34cm (13½in) high was recently valued at £380£420. This Seventies Gabriel glove puppet with original label (below) is valued at £55. VALUE D
£55
PENNIES Cash saver
AT
| DID YOU KNOW? |
38 minutes is how long it takes us to make up our minds to buy a house! Nearly two-thirds of people view a property twice before making an offer says eMoov.co.uk YOURS
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If you pay off your credit card in full each month, look for a card that gives you something back such as the Santander123 card (0800 389 9905, www. santander. co.uk) which gives cashback on spending. If you don’t repay fully, reward cards are not for you as interest charges will wipe out any benefits.
Fre e bie s OF THE FORTNIGHT!
| IT’S A FACT | A slice of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding cake sold at auction for a staggering $7,500 – around £4,800! The original cake had eight tiers and was a fruit cake decorated with sugar flowers
Fre e DOG FOOD Calling all dog owners! Get a free sample of Purina One especially for small dogs. There are 30,000 samples at www.purinaonemydogis.co.uk/samplerequest
Banish damp and mould from your home with the help of two new products from Kilrock. Blast Away Mould (£3.99, spray or gel) rids bath and window sealant of black mould and Damp Clear Moisture Trap (£4.99, 500g) absorbs excess moisture and prevents mildew.
✢ Save 25 per cent off Blast Away and Damp Clear (each sold in packs of two). Visit www.kilrock.co.uk and use YRSDCBM at the checkout before April 30, 2015, plus £1 p&p per two-pack. ✢ We have ten Kilrock damp and mould bundles (two of each product), worth £15 each, to give away. Send a postcard marked Yours/ Kilrock to PO Box 57, Coates, Peterborough PE7 2FF by March 6. If you don’t wish to be contacted in future by Yours. please state ‘No further contact’ on your postcard.
HOW TO...
BUY PMI Private medical insurance (PMI) pays for you to be treated in a private hospital, avoiding NHS waiting lists. Brian Walters at RegencyHealth.co.uk explains how to get the best policy: 1 Buy on value rather than price – you get what you pay for! 2 Don’t pay for benefits you don’t need; limiting which hospitals you are covered for can save you money. 3 Opt for an excess, but weigh up the saving against what you pay if you have to claim. 4 Check if your employer offers a scheme – you’ll have to pay tax on the benefit in kind at your highest rate. 5 Be wary of high introductory no-claims discounts. 6 Review your policy periodically. Visit the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries (www.amii.org.uk)
✢ NEXT ISSUE Save on estate agents’ fees
£5.99 ROAST
& FREE ICE CREAM Tuck into an all-day roast at Toby Carvery for just £5.99. Sign up to their mailing list and enjoy a free ice cream! www. tobycarvery.co.uk
Fre e CLOTHES CONDITIONER This handy wash-in conditioner has a deodorising effect, leaving clothes feeling fresh all day. Visit www. nikwax.co.uk and click on ‘free samples’
Fre e CREAM CAKE Sign up for a Greggs Rewards account for a free cream cake, éclair or sweet treat on your birthday! Call 0191 281 7721, or visit www.greggs. co.uk ✢ This round-up is supplied by our friends at MagicFreebies, the UK’s most popular freebie website. Visit www.magicfreebies.co.uk for all the latest free stuff, offers, competitions, money-saving articles and more.
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WORDS: SARAH JAGGER. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, IT’S ALWAYS WISE TO CONSULT AN AUTHORISED PROFESSIONAL ADVISER. PICS: GETTY IMAGES; WENN; REX FEATURES
s E ur SIV Yo LU C EX
Damp deal
Want to save money and enjoy something for free? Every fortnight we’ll share our top freebies and money-saving offers.
Pretty
reversible bag
Create a summer and a winter tote bag in one, using contrasting fabrics Compiled by Claire Williams
TEMPLATE (Enlarge the template on a photocopier to the size you’d like your bag to be. Note: bag must not be larger than 60cm tall to accommodate seam allowance)
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HOME
& craft Materials
✢ Template (below left) ✢ Tracing paper ✢ Pencil ✢ Scissors ✢ Masking tape ✢ Four pieces of contrasting fabric (2 with a summery pattern, two with a wintry pattern), each measuring 50x65cm (19½x25½in) ✢ Four pieces of lightweight fusible interfacing, each measuring 50x65cm (19½x25½in) ✢ Pins ✢ Small scrap of patterned fabric ✢ Sewing machine ✢ Iron
JUST VISIT
.co.uk
Trace out the pattern for the bag and use a photocopier to enlarge it to the required size. You will need to do this in sections, which you can then stick together. Cut this out to make your template.
1
4
To make a label, cut a piece of fabric 7x7cm (2¾x2¾in). With wrong sides facing, fold the fabric in half and sew a seam down each short side, leaving the bottom edge open. Turn the right way out and press.
6
Taking one side at a time lay the unsewn, top section of the handles flat on your work surface. Turn under a 1cm (½in) hem on both sides of this strap – pressing and pinning as you go – to get a neat edge. Repeat with the other side of the bag.
With right sides facing, place two sections of the same fabric together, positioning the label approximately 2.5cm (1in) down from the bag’s opening. Sandwich the label between the two pieces of fabric (with the label inside the bag) and all raw edges aligned, as shown. Pin around the curved lower part of the bag, stopping approximately 1 cm (½in) down from the bottom of the bag’s opening. Sew a 1cm (½in) seam. Repeat this step with the other two pieces of fabric.
With right sides facing, and taking one side at a time, pin the two matching ends of one handle together and sew across. Repeat with the other three handle pieces.
Turn one of the bags right sides out. Then, with right sides facing, place one bag inside the other, making sure it is pushed in all the way in and that the side seams match up. On one side of the bag, pin and sew around the curved front opening and up the inside of the handles. Stop approximately 12cm (4¾in) short at the top of the handles. Repeat on the other side of the bag. Snip around the curved opening, within approximately 3mm (1/8in) of the stitching.
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Finally, topsew along the strap hems and around the front opening of the bag, close to the edges. Press.
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✢ Project from A Year in Crafts by Clare Youngs, published by CICO Books (£14.99)
✢ NEXT ISSUE A pretty doorstop YOURS
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PHOTOS © JOANNA HENDERSON.
Fold one piece of fabric in half and pin the template to it, aligning the straight section of the template along the fold in the fabric. Cut this out and repeat for the remaining three pieces of fabric.
PIC:
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y your stars y
horoscopes ght
Astrologer Lynne Ewart predicts what’s in store for you
this fortni
Between February 17 and March 2 An Aquarius new Moon shines on the 18th, then immediately ushers in the Pisces Sun. It also brings with it the Chinese New Year, which is marvellous for originality, science and for opening your mind to new ways of dealing with old dilemmas. This will be a great ‘get up and go do things’ fortnight!
PIC: CORbIS
If it’s your birthday this fortnight…
… you are Pisces, like iconic film star Sir Sidney Poitier. Now a US ambassador, Sidney was born on February 20, 1927 in the US to parents residing in the (then) british colony of bahamas, hence his unique status as US citizen with a UK knighthood. Interestingly, Pisces is called a ‘dual’ sign, with two fishes swimming in opposite directions. Pisceans are reflective, sensitive and great dreamers, yet they have inner steel when they need it. It’s a landmark year for Sidney Poitier, so he could feature in international news this spring.
PISCES
CANCER
SCORPIO
Feb 19-Mar 20 You are about to do something that you probably thought you couldn’t, to find fresh vitality and enthusiasm that you will put to good use. Thought for the fortnight: Write down what you hope to succeed in achieving. B For a weekly update call 09044 705711
June 22-July 22 The image conjured up by the current cosmic pattern is one of a newborn butterfly about to spread its wings and seek adventure. Time to widen your horizons, then, Cancer? Thought for the fortnight: A mystery could be solved. B For a weekly update call 09044 705703
Oct 24-Nov 22 It’s a great time to be creative at work or at home. Watch for new happenings on the family front. The patter of tiny feet may feature! Thought for the fortnight: An ongoing domestic issue is finally laid to rest. B For a weekly update call 09044 705707
ARIES
LEO
SAGITTARIUS
Mar 21-Apr20 With a new Moon urging you to have a good old sort out of ‘unfinished business’ and fabulous Venus and fiery Mars arriving in Aries from the 20th, you could achieve a lot! Thought for the fortnight: Your charm factor skyrockets! B For a weekly update call 09044 705700
July 23-Aug 23 With Venus and Mars in your horoscope house of matters international, legal and educational, you could be about to do rather well. Thought for the fortnight: A romantic plan could have a far-flung connection. B For a weekly update call 09044 705704
Nov 23-Dec 21 You might be looking at a different neighbourhood, or thinking of ways to alter the old homestead, as new Moon rays stir you to think about fresh possibilities. Thought for the fortnight: Papers are finally signed. B For a weekly update call 09044 705708
TAURUS
VIRGO
CAPRICORN
Apr 21-May 21 You might find yourself wanting to quietly test the water with an intriguing idea that’s bold and just a bit daring. Circle the 24th as a ‘go for it’ day. Thought for the fortnight: Your support of another aids their success. B For a weekly update call 09044 705701
Aug 24-Sept 22 The spotlight is on significant partnerships, not just the personal sort, but on working ties too, with change on the cards that could see a twosome feeling a real sense of achievement. Thought for the fortnight: There’s excitement in the air. B For a weekly update call 09044 705705
December 22-Jan20 There’s a magnificent whirl of creativity about to sweep through your abode, or maybe you’ll have visitors who’ll energise you to make long-wanted improvements! Thought for the fortnight: After the 23rd, a stumbling block could be sorted out. B For a weekly update call 09044 705709
GEMINI
LIBRA
AQUARIUS
May 22-June 21 Everything about the cosmos seems to be saying ‘get ready for a new chapter’. It’s time to declutter, tend paperwork, and tackle that ‘to-do’ list. Thought for the fortnight: You benefit from what you get clear of. B For a weekly update call 09044 705702
Sept 23-Oct 23 You’ll get certain details finalised at last. This might concern a travel plan, or an official arrangement that’s been ‘pending’ since January. Thought for the fortnight: Reconnections with special friends will now happen! B For a weekly update call 09044 705706
Jan 21-Feb18 The second of two new Aquarius Moons forms on the 18th, linked to January 20, so there could be news that adds a slant to your routines. Thought for the fortnight: What seemed impossible, may now not be. B For a weekly update call 09044 705710
Calls cost 66p per minute from a BT landline. Calls from other operators and mobiles may vary. Weekly readings last approx five minutes, monthly readings approx nine minutes, year ahead readings approx 13 minutes. For entertainment purposes only. Users must be over 18. Service provider: Spoke. Customer services helpline: 0845 270 8302 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm). www.lynneewart.com YOURS
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