People are fascinated with celebrity these days with an ever increasing appetite for information about our favourites. And the best place to hear about them is from the horses mouth so to speak. Autobiographies use to be an end of career venture summing up their fabulous life but now it seems that celebrities are putting them out as soon as they find fame and ‘writing’ new volumes for each new chapter of their life.
There is nothing like a good book to while away the hours, have you contemplating a different perspective and take you on a journey into another person’s life. With The Man Booker prize being announced today, Belle About Town reviews the six works of fiction that made it onto the shortlist - and once the announcement is made – update you with the winner!
What is your recollection of Isabella Blow? Is it the stark contrast of pale English rose in bright red lipstick and the jet-black bob haircut? Or perhaps it is the array of striking hats that doubled as works of art that first comes to mind? Maybe it’s the names of one of the many fashion discoveries (Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy and Sophie Dahl to name a few) she unearthed and vehemently championed? But who was the real ‘Issie’ behind the show stopping hats, lipstick slicks and glamorous yet ethereal presence? If anyone is best placed to reveal this, it is Blow’s husband, Detmar. In this frank and snappily written biography, Detmar Blow sets out to reveal the woman behind the image.
It’s been almost three years since the last ‘Shopaholic’ novel hit the bookstores and Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) was unleashed upon a series of high streets and the designer stores that line them. The latest offering from prolific writer Sophie Kinsella follows Becky – now mum to a toddler daughter who is the mini shopaholic of the book’s title – as she becomes embroiled in a series of typical mishaps and misfortunes, which are only partly due to her renown shopping addiction.
Fashion guru and journalist Lynne McCrossan has just released her first book A Girl’s Guide To Vintage – and we LOVE it!
Could you think of anything more pleasurable than trekking round the country on the hunt for the best vintage clothing shops in the UK? No, we can’t either, apart from having a chauffeur and masseuse on hand to accompany you.
Theo Randall is the latest in a long line of celebrity chefs to release a book that allows us to cook at home the sumptuous recipes we pay a lot of money to have in their popular restaurants.
World-renowned photographer Alf Kumalo was the eyes and ears of Nelson Mandela during his 27-year incarceration. In a new book, he reveals to the world a moving collection of never-before-seen intimate photographs of the Mandela family surviving that heart-breaking era of apartheid, violence and corruption.
There is nothing like going away on summer holidays and having the time to indulge in reading a fabulous book – for hours! On the beach, in a park, in a field, or curled up on a chair with a beautiful aspect to stare out at, if you love books then you may look forward to this as much as seeing the sites and topping up your tan.
Like them or loathe them tabloid papers are part of the fabric of British society but what is it like behind the scenes? In her new book Tabloid Girl, former Red Top hack Sharon Marshall reveals how she left her morals at the door to become a journalist. Sharon is a great storyteller and regales us with stories such as how she snuck onto the set of Friends by acting as catering and did such a good job at infiltrating the film shoot that she can be seen in the Ross and Emily wedding scene – all to have her editor drop the story. Hiring a male escort, attending wife swapping parties and kidnapping Jade Goody’s mum were all in a days work for the girl who was only as good as her next story. Terrified of getting sacked and eager to show her family and friends that she was succeeding in the big smoke, she put romance and common sense aside to play with the big boys… until she realised that winning in the world of tabloids was losing in life.
I met Aussie Michele Di’Bartolo while she was working as a lawyer in the media world in London. With a Sicilian background it was only natural that she has a passion for food. After spending time in both Sicily and London, she returned to Australia where she continues to work as a lawyer but she has also published The Sicilian Kitchen, a delicious read about life in Sicily lavishly embellished with scrumptious Italian recipes.
Belle About Town is for the woman who is time deprived but style rich.
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” – Coco Chanel.
It is created by journalists who love to discover the latest lifestyle trends and are eager to interact with readers about their wants and desires.
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