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THE NEW X EACTOR JUDGES

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:13:42 +0000

There were questions on everyone’s lips before this year’s X Factor. Is it becoming a freak show? Is this the year it will go pear-shaped? But mostly: can the new judges pull it off? Twenty minutes into the first show and Kelly Rowlands’s kindness teamed with Tulisa Contostavlos’s tough street smarts and Gary Barlow‘s new pin-up status confirmed that, yes, it was indeed a case of Simon who? Hot moment: Gary’s tweed Viv Westwood two-piece – a heritage-chic bull’s-eye.

THE DUKAN DIET

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:37:31 +0000

Mother-of-the-bride Carole Middleton may have wowed everyone in her ice-blue Catherine Walker coat dress at Westminster Abbey, but it was her neat greyhound pins that really got us whispering, “How did she do it?” The answer was the Dukan diet – or, this year’s Atkins – with everyone from Jennifer Lopez to Gisele Bundchen following its protein-rich doctrine, which declared bananas as the enemy and invented the weekly “celebration meal”. The diet beloved by 1.5 million French women (it had us at French) meant the phrase “grilled chicken, hold everything else” was frequently heard in restaurants all over Britain. Hot moment: when we found out that The Duchess of Cambridge was also a Dukaniste – those hips certainly don’t lie.

PLEATED SKIRTS

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:26:09 +0000

Once the preserve of schoolgirls and staid grannies, the ballet-inspired buy (just pair your Chloe homage with a flat pump and you’re good to go) made us feel appropriately ladylike, girlie and skip-down-the-street chic. When Whistles unveiled its aptly named Carrie version (there was something of the early SATC/SJP styling about it), we – along with Keira Knightley, Fearne Cotton and The Duchess of Cambridge – were on it. Hot moment: The Duchess rocking Whistles’s white knee-length version as she wrapped up her Canadian tour.

LANA DEL REY

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:22:15 +0000

The voice behind London Fashion Week anthem “Video Games”: check out her video, sigh. Then we discovered that, yes, her name is far too good to be true and, pre-poutalicious hipster makeover, she was the slightly more cheerleader- esque Lizzy Grant. FASCINATING. But who cares what she looks/looked like! She sounds amazing and we’re obsessed.

Hot moment: reducing the fash pack to tears at the Emilio de la Moreno and Christopher Kane shows.

PETER PAN COLLARS

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:06:43 +0000

Call it the Alexa Chung effect or a nod to the new demure, but we rushed in our droves to invest in dresses-and blouses with the chic Peter Pan collar.

It’s a bit Sixties, a smidge spoilt Victorian child (it takes its name from the one originally sported by JM Barrie’s fairy-tale hero), but we liked how its coy school- prefect vibe gave us licence to go mental with make-up – we’ll be the ones with the fierce red lip and a ton of mascara. Hot moment: walking into Topshop on a manic fash hunt and realising with joy that it was wall-to- wall Pans.

THE KILLING

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:58:09 +0000

This year was all about Scandinavian crime thrillers – and taut Danish TV series The Killing he came our national obsession, as did its lead character detective inspector Sarah Lund, with her inscrutable expression, dubious parenting skills and fab knitwear. Naturally, it has already been remade in the US for those intolerant of subtitles. Hot moment: that shock ending. You watched it, right?

THE 15-MINUTE WORKOUT

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:03:10 +0000

For lazy bods everywhere, the 15-minute workout (thus meaning you spend longer in the shower than the gym) is manna from heaven. Sure, you have to do it every day to get results, but only for 900 seconds. Honestly, it takes longer for your nails to dry.

Hot moment: that lovely 16th minute… You know what we’re saying!

HIGH-VOLUME FEMINISM

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:59:09 +0000

This was the year that women became loud and proud. First, we had Caitlin Moran’s hilarious polemic/memoir How to Be a Woman – and it isn’t all about waxing, by the way. Add in Rihanna’s in-your-face sexual confidence and Beyonce‘s frankly astounding performance at Glastonbury. Watching Ms B own that sound stage this summer was nothing short of emotional. Let’s hear it for the (ever-so-special) girls… Hot moment: reading out Moran’s book to any available man. Priceless.

MILA’S ASCENT

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:53:33 +0000

This is the thing with Mila Kunis: she crept up on us. Despite being an industry veteran – she’s been non-stop acting for 15 years, starring opposite Ashton Kutcher in US sitcom That ’70s Show, voicing Meg in Family Guy and popping up in Forgetting Sarah Marshall – it was 2011 that proved to be her breakout year. Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan earned her nominations and awards aplenty and an overnight global profile, while she became a leading lady opposite Justin Timberlake in Friends with Benefits. Here’s to at least 15 more years. Hot moment: um, when she gripped Justin’s crotch at the MTV Movie Awards, perhaps?

ADELE

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:39:30 +0000

A mere 24 days into 2011 and Adele became the official pop queen of the year. Her second album 21 debuted at number one both here and in the States and went on to go platinum ten times over. Then, after performing her ballad “Someone Like You” at the Brit Awards, she bagged two top five hits in both the single and album charts, the very first artist to do so since The Beatles in 1964. Are you keeping up at the back? Hot moment: winning over the entire female population by dissing her ex on Jonathan Ross: “No WAY is that boy getting a record about him”. And she has a cackle to rival Barbara Windsor‘s. Swoon.