Mail on Sunday

Fashion for Life ; Before You Take the Plunge...

Every now and then - though increasingly rarely as I enter the treacherous sartorial waters of mid-life - I experience a fashion revelation. It happened to me, for instance, when I realised that I couldn't wear the colour mustard. (And, hell, I didn't have to! I could flout the catwalk colour rules and give it the elbow if I so desired. Such a relief.) It happened again when I clocked myself going out in 'one of my hats'. It was a trilby, I believe, and I was off to Waitrose to pick up some b...

Contents

FASHION AND BEAUTY 6 Fashion forward Work that nine-to-five wardrobe with our four super-smart looks 9 Mimi Spencer on looking bikini-licious, whatever your size; plus, tops that tone 10 On staycation? Then it's time to indulge! And, in our experience, a fabulous frock can be as good for a girl as a foreign holiday 14 Style notes There's drama afoot with summer's must-have gladiator sandals 16 Beauty news How to get beach-goddess gorgeous 21 The Pounds 15 makeover Jemma Kidd's beautifully bud...

Masterclass Make-Up

Yours for For chic on the cheap, Pounds 15! check out this fabulous look

Cut It in the Country ; Who Says Brilliant Designs Always Go Hand-in-Hand with the Buzz of the City? For These Four Women, a Move to the Country Gave Their Lives and Their Labels a Breath of Fresh Air

FEE DRUMMOND (above), 29, is the founder of mama-la-mode.com, an online maternity shop, and creative director of luxury boutique Lotus London. She moved from London two years ago to a house she inherited on the edge of the New Forest, opposite the Isle of Wight, where she lives with her husband Aldred and their two dogs. WHAT MADE YOU MOVE?

Things You Don't Know About...

Weather forecasters BBC weather forecaster Susan Powell reveals what goes on behind the sunny spells and occasional downpours

Pussycat Droll ; How Nicole Scherzinger Makes Lewis Hamilton Purr Supplement of the Year You

ONSTAYCATION? JULY Glam it up with dreamy 2009 dresses and moveable feasts

Goodbye Love Handles...

Luke Pasqualino

The star of hit teen drama Skins has his sights set on Hollywood, and already boasts a host of swooning female fans Luke Pasqualino's lucky number is 5,282. That was what was on his sticker when he joined the queue for the London open auditions for the third series of E4's cult teen drama Skins. Surrounded by so many other rake-thin teens-with-dreams, he rang his mum and said he might as well just give up now. She told him to stick it out. Nine auditions later he was cast as skateboarder Fred...

Gently Does It ; Beauty News Ease Yourself Into a Simply Gorgeous July

1 All the moisturising benefits of the iconic and unctuous Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream have been popped into a great -- and considerably lighter -- summer face cream in this new Intensive Daily Moisturiser SPF15, which guards against UVA and UVB damage. And it still has the distinctive Eight Hour scent. Pounds 22, available nationwide 2 Bobbi Brown Protective Face Lotion SPF15 provides a great base for make-up and helps keep the skin calm and protected with vitamin E and camomile. Pounds...

In Which the Weather Breaks, Along with My Resolve

LIZ JONES'S DIARY This is ridiculous, I thought.I cannot be having these feelings for a married man.I am not Samantha in Sex and the City

Your Problems Answered

I'M LOSING MY BEST FRIEND TO HER CONTROLLING BOYFRIEND My best friend's boyfriend is extremely possessive and he increasingly controls what she does. We were a close group of friends but now we rarely see her. At weekends she is always with him. He is at university and he has manipulated her into applying to a college near him. When she is with us, he is constantly texting and calling her. Sometimes she is happy with him, although she frequently says she wants to end the relationship but then...

This Life

Summer 1980. Margaret Thatcher is newly in office, Blondie are riding high in the charts and I'm halfway through year one at a rough Inner London primary school, trying to fit in. As I approach the school gates, I seriously think about hiding out in the classroom. There's my mum, proud and defiant, in her 'Nuclear Power? No Thanks' T-shirt. 'Stephanie,' I mutter, mortified, 'do you have to wear that?' But in a sense she did. To my parents, their politics were everything. No cause was too smal...

Demented

Reading Group

This month's choice AMERICAN WIFE by CURTIS SITTENFELD (Black Swan, Pounds 7.99) It is a cornerstone of the American dream that anyone can rise to become President of the United States, as Barack Obama's election emphatically confirmed. By the same token, any woman can end up as First Lady, a highly scrutinised role that few would aspire to - certainly not Alice Lindgren, the likable heroine and narrator of this epic novel. But Alice, a dutiful and reserved only child with modest ambitions, m...

Health Notes

Calling time on sunbeds In February, 14-year-old Kirsty McRae was rushed to hospital with first-degree burns. She'd spent 19 minutes on a coin-operated sunbed in Barry, South Wales, where a sign advertised four minutes' use for Pounds 1. When Kirsty had asked about getting a spray tan because she felt pale, her mum had said no: 'I wish now I'd said yes,' she said. Two months later, Kelly Thompson, just ten, sustained burns over 70 per cent of her body after 16 minutes on an unmanned sunbed; t...

Horoscopes

CANCER 22 JUNE-23 JULY Even if you are one of those Cancerians who does not wear their heart on their sleeve something that happens over the next few days will bring a display of emotion which could surprise even you. It is nothing to be ashamed of - and could positively benefit a close relationship at home or work. With Tuesday's Lunar Eclipse focusing on the people who play the most important roles in your life, it seems that a certain person is anxious to prove their independence - and it ...

You're Hired! ; Fashion Forward for a Working Wardrobe That Ensures You Look the Business, Take Inspiration From Four of Our Favourite Career Girls

Intern HAIRBAND, Pounds 25, Anna Lou of London, tel: 020 7287 6975

Home and Away ; Fashion

Home With the staycation the new and away jetting off, conjure up a touch of Riviera chic in the comfort of your own garden with big, bold hair, Bardot eyeliner and a darling frock. A sultry pout will seal the deal THIS PAGE

There's Room Outdoors ; Living Solutions Turn Your Garden or Patio Into an Outdoor Living Space with the Latest Pieces - Cleverly Treated to Make Them Weather- Resistant - That Wouldn't Look Out of Place Indoors

VOLTAIRE RUBBER-COATED CHAIR, Pounds 995, the Conran Shop, tel: 0844 848 4000, theconranshop.co.uk. CUSHION made from WATER- RESISTANT PELADA LEAF FABRIC, Pounds 47 a metre, Osborne & Little, tel: 020 7352 1456, osborneandlittle.com. SLATE BLUE EXTERIOR MASONRY PAINT, Pounds 39 for 2.5 litres, Marston & Langinger, tel: 020 7881 5768, marston-and-langinger.com ROXO CHAIR (with removable and washable covers), Pounds 99, Ikea, as before

Gladiators Ready! ; Style Notes Fight Your Style Corner with Our Pick of Summer's Killer Flats

Pounds 180, Kurt Geiger, tel: 0845 257 2571 Pounds 139, Ash, from my-wardobe.com