A rich history of labour, skill and innovation
By Rebekah Pickering Wood
Textiles shape British life in ways we often overlook – the clothes worn, the items inherited, and the patterns that quietly signal where people come from. Yet ...
Articles
Periodic Bitch: PMDD may be a ‘life curse’, but this memoir reveals its stigma as the real horror
By Kate Cantrell
“Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick,” writes Susan Sontag in the opening of ...
Are you exercising at the wrong time?
By Paul Hough
While some people can spring out of bed at six in the morning and go straight into their day, others prefer to wake up later as they’...
Indie sleaze: a brief fashion history, from messy rebellion to mainstream revival
By Catrin Cousins and Jo Wiltshire
Indie sleaze is back, but not as you remember it. The 00s scene’s revival taps into a growing backlash against hyper-polished influencer culture, ...
Loud signals and quiet codes
By Rebecca Scott
Fashion has always done more than keep us warm. It’s also a social language, quietly organising ideas of status, taste and belonging.
What made the first ...
Fashion is Art
By Jye Marshall and Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne
The 2026 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala has delivered, as per usual, the who’s who of Hollywood, decked out to the ...
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style
By Hannah Rumball-Croft
As Britain’s longest‑reigning monarch, and one rarely out of the public eye since childhood, Queen Elizabeth II left behind a wardrobe so extensive and meticulously ...
Is yo-yo dieting bad for you?
By Adam Collins
The only thing harder than losing weight is keeping it off. Many people who lose weight find themselves stuck in the cycle of ‘yo-yo dieting’ – losing weight ...
Hands off my hat!
By Bernard Capp
Around 8pm on a cold February evening in 1733, a gentleman named Francis Peters was returning to his home near Knightsbridge, London, in a hackney cab, when someone ...
A brief history of denim
By Rose Marroncelli
Denim is present in practically every country in the world and is widely adopted as one of the most common forms of everyday attire. Its appeal spans ...
How to enjoy Easter chocolate without wrecking your sleep
By Charlotte Gupta
But if you’ve been finding it harder to sleep recently, late-night Easter eggs could be part of the problem.
That’s because some chocolate ingredients, including ...
From gym to jawline
By Jillian Sunderland and Jordan Foster
Young men and teenage boys are learning to see their faces and bodies as projects to measure, rank and optimise.
On social media platforms ...
Fines alone won’t stop big tech behaving badly. Here’s what might work
By Lauren C. Hall, Christine Padgett, James Sauer, and María Yanotti
As countries around the world look to follow Australia’s lead and implement a social media ban for ...
Nicotine: the latest wellness hack
By Dipa Kamdar
If you spend any time on social media, you may have noticed a curious trend: wellness influencers singing the praises of nicotine. Not smoking or vaping but ...
‘Buy it nice or buy it twice’
By Lorinda Cramer
The “frugal chic” aesthetic is having its moment, however contradictory the concept may seem. Frugal suggests a focus on thriftiness, while “chic” oozes a sense of classic ...
The Biba Story
By Mal James
First conceived as a mail-order-only company in 1963, known as Biba’s Postal Boutique, the brand captured the revolutionary 1960s and 1970s attitude and style, offering trend-seekers affordable, ...
Are the costumes for Wuthering Heights accurate?
By Emily Brayshaw
Even before the film’s release, the costumes for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights caused controversy.
Wuthering Heights was first published in 1847 and the story switches back ...
Building with Lego can help teens talk about life’s big questions
By Martha Shaw and Alexis Stones
The endless creativity that Lego bricks present means they can be used for far more than following instructions to build the model on the ...
What are we preparing young people for?
By Lucy Gill-Simmen
The UK’s proposed post-16 education and skills policy promises a nation “where nobody is left behind”. The country’s modern industrial strategy 2025 talks of a workforce ...
Winter sports scream glamour
By Tamsin Johnson
Marks and Spencer is one of the latest UK high-street brands to launch a ski-wear collection. Even supermarket Lidl are in on the action, with their ski ...
Yes, men have a biological clock too
By Theresa Larkin
When we talk about a biological clock ticking, it usually means the pressure women feel to fall pregnant before a certain age. It’s linked to the ...
The sale of Russell & Bromley is a symbol of the challenges facing independent heritage brands
By Naomi Braithwaite
UK heritage shoemaker Russell & Bromley has been bought by high-street clothing giant Next. Despite the brand’s rescue from administration, dozens of jobs will be lost ...
Enhanced Games outrage ignores sporting risks many already accept
By Byron HydeTHE Enhanced Games, slated to commence in May 2026, has sparked outrage across the sporting world. This new competition is the first in history to openly permit performance-enhancing drugs, ...
Men are embracing beauty culture: many just refuse to call it that
By Jordan Foster
Just weeks after the premiere of popular gay hockey romance series Heated Rivalry, star Hudson Williams’ extensive skincare routine has gone viral. In a now-viral video for ...