A most horrific story in the news today reminded me to follow up on my abandoned attempts at self-defence (I did one class but felt terribly awkward, as we practised in the same room as black-belt karate people: basic judo accompanied by yells is humiliating at the best of times, worse when surrounded by professionals)...
A 29-yr old bushwalker (how did such a boring activity become so dangerous?!)feared for her life as she had the crap bashed out of her by a resident nutter who uttered the fear-inducing words: "If you struggle then I will kill you." Jeepers!
She said - after her 5 hours of surgery to repair tendons in her hands, an artery in her neck and a fractured eye socket - her self-defence training from school kicked in, as it became immediately apparent to her that he was "probably going to kill me".
The man reportedly attacked as she gave him directions. "He punched me in the face a couple of times; I saw lights. He had me round the throat on the ground." She screamed and fought back, and the man ran away. She then called her parents (wow - she had reception??) and dialled 000.
Not surprisingly, waiting for help to arrive, not knowing if her attacker was coming back, was one of the scariest moments in her life.
Blue Mountains crime manager, Inspector Mick Bostock, refused to comment on reports that police were seeking a known person with a record of sexual assault. The plot thickens... That type of thing really needs to be public knowledge, no? I sure as hell wouldn't bushwalk (actually, insert a full-stop there) alone if I knew that little fact...
Love her or loathe her, this woman is hot. Interviewed to fairly personal depths by Vanity Fair magazine, here are some extracts:
More kids? “No, I’m not pregnant [but] we’re not opposed to it. We want to make sure we can give everybody special time. They’re kids now, and can play together, but they’re going to need a lot more talking in the middle of the night, like I did with my mom for hours. We want to make sure we don’t build a family so big that we don’t have absolutely enough time to raise them each really well.” On tying the knot with Brad Pitt: “[We're not] against getting married [but] it’s just like we already are. Children are clearly a commitment, a bigger commitment [than marriage]. It’s for life.”
On her brood: “Mad’s a real intellectual, which I can take no credit for genetically. He’s great at school, great at history. He feels like he could be a writer or travel the world and learn about places and things. Zahara’s got an extraordinary voice and is just so elegant and well spoken. Shiloh’s hysterically funny, one of the goofiest, most playful people you’ll ever meet. Knox and Viv are classic boy and girl. She’s really female. And he’s really a little dude.”
On Shiloh's sense of style: “Like a little dude. Shiloh, we feel, has Montenegro style. It’s how people dress there. She likes tracksuits, she likes (regular) suits. She likes to dress like a boy. She wants to be a boy. So we had to cut her hair. She likes to wear boys’ everything. She thinks she’s one of the brothers.”
On her similarities with Shiloh as a child: “Goofy and verbal, the early signs of a performer…. I used to get dressed up in costumes and jump around. But at some point, I got closed off, darker. I don’t remember anything happening. I think you just get hit with the realities of certain things in life, think too much, start to realize the world isn’t as you wished it would be, so you deepen. Then, as I had kids and got older—being goofy, lighter—it all came back.”
About her hot husband: “I love Brad in every state… He sculpts and designs. He makes furniture, sculpts things related to houses. Traditional male.”
A sequel to Mr. & Mrs. Smith?: “People have tried. And it’s strange: do we have kids in the movie? We’ve thought about that, but it becomes personal now that we actually have kids. And if we work on it, we pull from our own life, which is funny to us, but you feel strange sharing too much. We did ask somebody to look into Mr. & Mrs. to see if they could crack a sequel, but there wasn’t anything original. It was just, Well, they’re going to get married, or they’ve got kids, or they get separated. Never great.”
On co-starring again with Brad: “I’d love to. We’ve talked about it. We’d have to figure out who’s going to watch the kids, but it’s really about finding the right thing, because we’ve looked. When you’re a couple, there are certain things people don’t want to see you do. It becomes too indulgent, too personal. I don’t think people want to see people who are really together intimate on-screen. Maybe we have to play bad guys that try to kill each other, so it’s just fun and aggressive, not dealing with some man-woman deal.”
She actually sounds kinda sensible & lovely... I'm glad they left the save-the-world guff out for this interview.
We love your body. If we’re in love with you, we love your body. Your potbelly, everything. Even if you’re insecure about something, we love your body. You feel like you’re not this or that? We love your body. We embrace everything. Because it’s you.
Speaking of your body, you don’t understand the power of your own smell. Any woman who is currently with a man is with him partly because she loves the way he smells. And if we haven’t smelled you for a day or two and then we suddenly are within inches of you, we swoon. We get light-headed. It’s intoxicating. It’s heady.
We remember forever what you say about the bodies of other women. When you mention in passing that a certain woman is attractive — could be someone in the office, a woman on the street, a celebrity, any woman in the world, really — your comment goes into a steel box and it stays there forever. We will file the comment under “Women He Finds Attractive.” It’s not about whether or not we approve of the comment. It’s about learning what you think is sexy and how we might be able to convey it. It’s about keeping our man by knowing what he likes.
We also remember everything you say about our bodies, be it good or bad. Doesn’t matter if it’s a compliment. Could be just a comment. Those things you say are stored away in the steel box, and we remember these things verbatim. We remember what you were wearing and the street corner you were standing on when you said it.
Never complain about our friends — even if we do. No matter how many times we say a friend of ours is driving us crazy, you are not to pile on. Not because it offends us. But because it adds to the weight that we carry around about her.
Remember what we like. When I first started dating my husband, I had this weird fascination with the circus and clowns and old carnival things and sideshow freaks and all that. About a month after we started dating, he bought me this amazing black-and-white photo book on the circus in the 1930s, and I started sobbing. Which freaked him out. I thought, Oh, my God, I mentioned this three or four weeks ago and talked about it briefly, but he was really listening to me. And he actually went out and researched and found this thing for me. It was amazing.
We want you to order Scotch. It’s the most impressive drink order. It’s classic. It’s sexy. Such a rich color. The glass, the smell. It’s not watered down with fruit juice. It’s Scotch. And you ordered it.
Stand up, open a door, offer a jacket. We talk about it with our friends after you do it. We say, “Can you believe he stood up when I approached the table?” It makes us feel important. And it makes you important because we talk about it.
No shorts that go below the knee. The ones almost like capri pants, the ones that hover somewhere between the kneecap and the calf? Enough with those shorts. They are the most embarrassing pants in the world. They should never be worn. No woman likes those.
Also, no tank tops. In public at least. A tank top is underwear. You’re walking around in your underwear. Too much.
No man should be on Facebook. It’s an invasion of everyone’s privacy. I really cannot stand it.
You don’t know this, but when we come back from a date, we feel awkward about that transition from our cute outfit into sexy lingerie. We don’t know how to do this gracefully. It’s embarrassing. We have to find a way to slip into another room, put on the outfit as if it all happened very easily, and then come out and it’s: Look at me! Look at the sexy thing I’ve done! For you, it’s the blink of an eye. It’s all very embarrassing. Just so you know.
Panties is a wonderful word. When did you stop saying “panties”? It’s sexy. It’s girlie. It’s naughty. Say it more.
About ogling: The men who look, they really look. It doesn’t insult us. It doesn’t faze us, really. It’s just — well, it’s a little infantile. Which is ironic, isn’t it? The men who constantly stare at our breasts are never the men we’re attracted to.
There are better words than beautiful. Radiant, for instance. It’s an underused word. It’s a very special word. “You are radiant.” Also, enchanting, smoldering, intoxicating, charming, fetching.
Marriage changes very little. The only things that will get a married man laid that won’t get a single man laid are adultery and whores. Intelligence and humor (and your smell) are what get you laid. That’s what got you laid when you were single. That’s what gets you laid when you’re married. Everything still works in marriage: especially intelligence and humor. Because the sexiest thing is to know you."
I overheard a very wise sales assistant utter these precious words at lunch, and my heart raced a little. Thank god. It is bloody cold here at the moment - I don't care if people with real winters think it's lame. You people have real heating!
Jennifer Aniston's latest cover for Harper's Bazaar also makes my heart sing at the prospect of summer. Bring it on!
How gorgeous is all of this? That teacup is to die for... Kahlil Gibran is probably the wisest man ever... So thought-provoking.
I also recommend a squizz at Bespoke Press. I saw them at the (insanely busy, claustrophobia-inducing) Finder's Keepers markets and they have the most gorgeous stuff. There is just something so enchanting about letter press. A total bugger if you make a mistake, though!
I also recommend spending some time on their blog. As fellow Brisbanites, they have some lovely shots of the surrounding area - and of cross a unique insight into their business!
If you can't read it, it reads as follows: Hear me roar. Hear me issue stock-purchase orders from the Wall Street trading floor. I am woman; I am not girl. I do not emulate the pop-burlesque fashion stylings of Ke$ha or Katy Perry. I do not aspire to PASSÉ MORNING-AFTER CHIC, with bird’s-nest hair and shredded leather leggings. No. Of Lana Turner and Barbara Stanwyck — and Lena Horne — I sing.
(Have you felt the smooth, snug tug of fine leather gloves being pulled on? Have you considered the REBELLION, the nonconformity, inherent today in a Marnie Eisenhower knit suit? Have you worn a crinoline lately?)
Reader, if you’re older than fourteen, fashion for fall 2010 offers more WEARABLE OPTIONS than it has in eons. Skirts fall below mid-thigh. Designers are giving us dead-cool-but-still-practical STREETWEAR UNIFORMS for work or school. Black-with-black is totally back.
Can we get an “Amen” up in here?
Thoughts? I rather like it, however not entirely sure it's just Ke$ha and Katy Perry who are responsible for the bird's nest, torn leggings things... I wonder what one must do to attract the ire of Vogue?
The recession. What a bore. Not that long ago we were all living the vida loca. We wouldn't think twice about eating out or whisking our loved one for a weekend away. Now it's all home cooking and 'staycations'. Yawn. Whatever happened to life's little luxuries? Say hello to Swap My City Pad, an exciting new way of indulging your habit for city breaks without burning a hole in your wallet.
Swap My City Pad is a home exchange website that match makes like-minded people through our unique database. It couldn't be easier: just upload your property details, enter your preferred dates and find yourself a bolt hole in a completely different city.
We know how important a change of scene can be, and home exchange is a tried and tested way of travelling for less. Why max out your credit card on a boutique hotel when you can go native for free?
Swap My City Pad aims to put more money in your pocket for those all-important essentials, like a great night out or a guilt-free shopping spree. We'll encourage your spirit of adventure and enable you to visit parts of the country you wouldn't ordinarily see.
************
Would you travel in this way? I think it's an awesome idea! Sadly, I have flatmates who probably wouldn't agree.
Kylie Minogue is on the official promo tour before her new album, Aphrodite, launches on July 1. What better way than to guest star with the uber-camp Scissor Sisters at Glastonbury? Performing at Glastonbury is a first for Kylie, after she had to pull out in 2005 following her breast cancer diagnosis, devastating pop tragics and drag queens the world over.
Australia's first female Prime Minister will be welcomed to the top job by Australia's first female Governor-General (the uber well-dressed Quentin Bryce - a true Aussie style icon).
Brisbane has been coming over all crafty these last couple of months. Visitors (and locals) can expect to see statues and other permanent monuments around the city (think the Hopoate finger, light poles and other posts on bridges particularly the Goodwill Bridge) decked out in scarves, beanies and other knitted devices designed to keep our large metallic objects warm. The project is part of I Knit Brisbane, a community group of knitters, proudly wielding their knitting needles and balls of wool as they warm the world to knitting. The group has undertaken public knitting days in King George Square in order to bring knitting out of the aged care centres and direct to the masses.
I happened upon the knitters a few weeks ago at Brisbane's first set of brisStyle Indie Markets which is a community of Brisbane-dwelling, craft-minded folk who sell their wares on Etsy. And now they are bringing it to the streets. They sell amazing stuff, and they are having very regular twilight markets in the city's King George Square - upcoming dates: Friday July 30th, November 19th and December 17th from 5 to 9pm. There are also Mother & Child Markets and EcoMarkets at St Augustines Church in Hamilton. Definitely all worth a look.
Next up for Brisbane is the Finder's Keepers Markets, which will be on this weekend (i.e. 26th June) at the Old Brisbane Museum. It promises to be full of treasures, and it's the first time it has been to Brisbane (traditionally only on in Sydney and Melbourne). I think the growth of these types of markets is not only testament to the new trend towards home-made and recycled (i.e. pre-loved/vintage/second hand) as we continue to embrace eco-awareness and GFC-enforced purse-string tightening, but also testament to the growth we are seeing in Brisbane towards community-based events and activities. King George Square has moved leaps and bounds in terms of its use as a community facility since its renovation was unveiled late last year (to much criticism). Whether it is architecturally brilliant or not, it's a great space and it is being used abundantly and generously.
Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French had the clever idea of cutting off the middle finger of all English soldiers so they couldn't use their bows and arrows. The famous weapon (the bow and arrow, not the finger-cutter)was made using the Yew tree. Firing the bow was called “plucking the yew,” or “pluck yew.” To the horror of the French, when England won they waved their middle fingers, saying, “Pluck yew!” (Thanks to Frankie for this excellent trivia).
This here is a rather amazing story. I think the movie buffs - or simply the lovers of Jon Hughes - will be touched.
Remember when you were a teenager? Are you living your teenaged-you's dreams, or has life taken a dramatically different course?
I'm on the course (career-wise) I had always wanted to be - even if I am slowly plodding towards the absolute climax I envisioned (yep, that would be the cliched "save the world/make a positive impact" thing). But the travel I have done and the people I have met - well, 15 year old Rachel had no idea about that kind of thing, but if she had, she would have wanted it for her grown-up self. Teen-Rachel's 10 year plan* has not panned out at all. For that I am glad.
* Teen-Rachel's 10 Year Plan 21-24 yr old: Achieve incredible career success
24 yr old: Meet man of dreams
27: Marry man of dreams
29: Have first child. Probably get a dog.
....And so on, until I had three good-looking, athletic, intelligent, charming children.
35: Resume career success. Possibly write best-seller.
So much pressure! Gotta have a dream though, right?
I am planning to backpack through South America for 3 months. January, February, March. All before the inevitable mid-life crisis that will be instigated by my 30th birthday.
I am staring at a map of South America, and I am so excited!
I'm also planning on spending some time in Cuba. Because I can.
Ali has asked for feedback on this strange phenomena we call love - i.e. what is it, how do you know it is love and not just a stomach bug and when should you "I love you" - some of the scariest damn words in the world. Particularly if you're left on a limb, in a world of silence with just crickets chirping for company after you've blurted them out.
I am trying to think back to the times I've been in love... It's a good long while ago now, but I must admit - there is truly no greater feeling, especially those early stages when your beloved can do no wrong, is the perfect person of your dreams who seems to have been placed on earth just for you - and you for him (or her). I believe the universe delivers quite a lot of synchronicity and there is so much harmony in partnership. Yin and yang, light and day, man and woman and so on.
So. What are the symptoms of love-sickedness? * Inability to eat. Caused by butterflies or distractedness. Food. Who needs it? (Until you go on a date together... And even then, the food goes cold because you are so busy staring into each other's eyes, giggling at their perfect comic timing and generally being mush-burgers together. Embrace this feeling! Bugger all the other diners - this is the best time of your life! You're probably reminding them of how it feels ot be in love too!)
* You suddenly become uber-productive at work - not only are you a workplace star, you also manage to type out hundreds of emails per day to friends and your beloved raving about how fantastic Beloved is. Time seems to fly. In fact - you are probably flying too! Love is like a magic carpet... Just don't take this time to sing Disney melodies. Never appropriate.
* Decision-making becomes a breeze. Probably because you are uber-productive. It's weird, but true. And if you can't make a decision, it's probably because every option seems so magical ....
* Everything is beautiful, amazing, marvellous etc. Your dragon boss is suddenly tolerable - in fact, you want to hug Dragon Boss! (You might also be on ecstasy).
* Life suddenly seems to make sense. All those uphill battles you've struggled throug in the past? It was so you would end up here, in this moment, with this person. You are suddenly a philosopher who can wax lyrical for hours about fate. Even if you were a staunch anti-fate believer before, a switch has been flicked. The love flick.
* You do naff things you would never imagine yourself doing past puberty - matching your star signs together ("out of curiousity" of course), you catch yourself changing your surname to his ("to see how it sounds") and you have daydreams of your wedding day and his perfect speech and the table settings - all with a dopey grin on your face.
* Kissing suddenly becomes top priority over mundane activities that were once essential - the gym, cooking, eating.
* You chuck sickies together - not because one needs chicken soup, but because you're in love! What greater reason?
* You need less sleep. There are way better things to do in bed than sleep!
* All of a sudden, you feel whole. The thought of him not being there in your life takes your breath away, with the brutality of that thought.
* Baby talking. I don't know why people do this, but it is a symptom of some people being in love. It's kinda weird, but each to their own...
Any or all of this, and you are probably running a love fever. Good on you - you are one lucky, blessed person. This is something people aspire to, fight wars over and cry for hours on end over. It's huge!
Ok. You're in love. Are they in love? When should you tell them you love them?
Oh the agony! It's delicious, isn't it?
A lot of people I know say the words materialise around the 3-4 month mark. This may sound really early - in the words of one love-cynic I know: How could you possibly know someone in 3 months?. I think sometimes, you just know. I also think there's a lot to be said for drawing out the delicious agony of the moment. There is also something to be said about letting these feelings out to the person you adore. Who doesn't love to hear that someone loves them?
The only caveat on blurting out your feelings is whether you must be guaranteed of hearing the words back. It is a form of rejection to say the precious words and get nothing in return. So. If he seems to be exhibiting some of the same symptoms as you, I would probably go for it. If he's still playing mindgames and is a little difficult to pin down... Bide your time (I actually doubt you'll be feeling much love - unless it's desperate love which should be avoided at all costs - if this is the case).
I say go for it. Love is grand and special and beautiful. Immerse yourself in his love and immerse him in yours. You will be better people for it.
But wait. Who should say it first?
Read this article, and you decide. I believe we girls should.. Even if it's just a simple "I think I might be ... um... kinda .... falling a ... bit in .... love ... .with you". Exhale. Wide eyes. Blush. Wait. He'll probably say it back.
This first part is courtesy of Grazia: Her husband may be out of the squad and free from a strict regimen, but Victoria Beckham has been doing some extreme training of her own for the World Cup.
While some observers are saying the cult of the soccer WAG is over, VB is determined to outshine her rivals in South Africa. The 36-year-old has been avidly following a new diet that involves eating hard-boiled eggs with every meal and as a snack.
“She’s on this high-protein diet and takes a plastic tub of hard-boiled eggs with her everywhere she goes,” says a friend. “Apart from the eggs, it’s mainly salad leaves and protein shakes. Victoria is determined to be the best-looking WAG there.”
Her entourage estimate she has spent more than $500,000 on clothes, hair and beauty treatments ahead of her arrival in South Africa.
“The dresses are her own label but she’s splurged thousands on corsets, underwear and designer shoes and handbags,” the friend says. “She’s been taking polaroids of each outfit and labelling them with which date they’ll be worn and to which event.”
Mindful that the spending excesses of the English WAGS during the 2006 World Cup led to them being labelled vacuous and materialistic, VB also has a plan to win over cynics with a program of charity work while she’s there.
******************* Bless her. This woman is fantastic and hilarious at once.
In other news, following the purchase of my lovely car I am still pleasantly receiving after sales care via my mail box from the car dealership I purchased from. Who doesn't just love mail? Today's arrival in my (in)box was an invitation to attend the (gorgeous) showroom at 4am to watch the next Socceroos match and to share breakfast with all the other Mazda-loving, soccer tragics who have recently purchased a car. I love this idea.
Eva Mendes is currently promoting her latest film - The Other Guys - in which she appears with Will Ferrell. I imagine it will either be really funny, or simply obnoxious bordering on misogynistic.
Eva appears on the cover of W, and the interview inside - which you can read here - is quite insightful, and she is certainly more than just the sex symbol you see splashed across billboards in NYC lathered in oil with a man straddling her Calvin Klein lingerie-clad body. Indeed, she is well aware she walks “a fine line between being a respected actor and being what they call a sex symbol. It’s a hard one to walk if you want to be known as a real, credible actor. But I’ve never felt objectified. Nothing you see me do is an accident. . . . I’m incredibly calculated when it comes to my career.” She has a dog called Hugo, is 35 (looking amazing), loves therapy, doesn't know if she will have kids and has been with her lover since shortly after she finished high school.
In terms of love, she notes that: “I’m a modern woman in the sense of I take care of myself, I’m fiercely independent and I’m really ambitious,yet I have these old-school thoughts ingrained in my mind. I do like to belong to a man. I love having a man in my life and being his woman at the end of the day. I know it’s a dichotomy.”
As for her Latin American heritage, Mendes states “I don’t consider myself a Latin American actress. I was born and raised here, and I have Cuban parents, but for me, I am the new American girl. It’s not only Drew Barrymore and the blond Midwestern girl. This, [pointing to her face] is also what we look like now.”
Style biter (also known as style cheat): (noun) One who appropriates someone else's personal style and attempts to claim it as their own. Often this person lacks originality and self-esteem. In extreme cases can assume personality traits of Single White Female. Word family: Frenemy.
According to Mrs Press: To cheat is low stuff indeed (just ask Sandra Bullock), and to style cheat no less so. To be on the receiving end is to suffer greatly at the hand of another, to skate perilously close to losing your identity, confidence and self esteem; to wonder “why me?” on a torturous loop; to doubt one’s uniqueness, value, nay one’s very sartorial soul. In short, to be the victim of a style cheat sucks, big time.
I had that outfit down, I made it my own, now my former BFF has gone and stolen it…where do I go now? What’s the point? What is the meaning of my fashion life? Yep. It’s existential crisis time.
Indeed some of those who have been cheated on never recover. Look at Rachel Zoe – face frozen like a Mint Magnum while all around her slebs half her age knock off her trademark look: maxi dress, tan twig arms, lollypop head and LA balayage. And, to add insult to injury, they are her former clients.
In conversation. Hints and tips for daily use: “That bitch totally style cheated me! I was wearing earmuffs as shoulder pads while she was still combing her hair trying to remember where the tumble drier was.”
“How hot are my new pink hair tips? I style cheated Abbey Lee from Aussie Vogue.”
“(Ex-)girfriend! You are one style cheatin’ harpy! I ain’t never gonna loan you my new Georgina Goodman boots from this day forth. You cannot be trusted not to crib my look from the toes up. Grrrr.”
****** Sure, every now and again you may buy a similar item as a friend (if your friends, you probably have some similar tastes), but once they step in to the realm of looking like you, being mistaken for you (ack!), or referred to as your "twin": Houston, we have a problem.
Facebook is the detective (read, stalking) tool of the Style Biter. It's a strange phenomena and once it goes from being annoying to uncomfortable, it's probably time to reduce their access to you, your Facebook page, wardrobe, and hairdresser.
While some countries prepare for the World Cup with sports scientists and computer-generated tactical schemes, Diego Maradona is getting his Argentina team in shape with some methods more familiar to bullies in the playground. The losers in a recent training game were forced to line up, bend over and endure their conquerors kicking shiny footballs at their arses.
This is, of course, the same Maradona who said to a roomful of journalists on qualifying for the finals "To those of you who didn't believe... and with apologies to the ladies, suck my cock! And keep on sucking!" Colourful, no?!
While I cringed a number of times - mainly due to Carrie being a cantankerous, spoilt brat for most of the film, and Miranda being the most annoying tourist imaginable and the opulent wealth being a little hard to handle given New York's GFC troubles - I still felt the film was true to its origins. More so than the first, which seriously had me quaking in my boots that the second film would be anything like the first. While it was quite long, SATC2 bounced along jauntily enough, with enough clever one-liners and individual storylines to maintain interest (I noticed that Miranda barely got a guernsey in terms of her character's life-dramas).
I loved: * Carrie's crown at Stanford and Anthony's wedding. Actually, I pretty much loved the whole wedding, even if I did feel pangs of sadness for Liza. I thought it was great, and fun and a fabulous entree to the rest of the film. The characters were instantly located in our psyche: we knew where they were at instantly. Especially loved the "the baby will tire" line. Gold! * The retrospective of the girls first becoming friends in NYC. I loved the various outfits - both on the girls (esp Carrie's Madonna outfit) and in the background.
* Seeing Aidan again - and Carrie's statement of how much he had meant to her in terms of her emotional development. * Samantha. I honestly believe she saved this film from itself. She was so on form, so well-dressed, so funny and so proudly defiant. Some people have criticised her character for not "acting her age" which is bizarre, given I think the reasons for not acting her age are pretty explicitly dealt with in the movie. I was a tad annoyed by the presence of Miley Cyrus, but if it had been any other teen star, I would have enjoyed that scene of age vs youth. I also loved her at the end of the karaoke scene. - this woman is tireless and insatiable. Not as bad a role model as some would suggest.
* The outfits. Obviously. * The character flaws and the wrinkles. Charlotte looked particularly old, I thought and SJP was a bit of an advertisement for sun damage on your decolletage. But they didn't try to hide any of this. I thought that was great. The film was not selling us a lie from that perspective. Sure, these women look ridiculously perfect in their outfits but they are undeniably older. But with this age has come wisdom, grace and a knowledge of what works for them. I remember thinking at one point in the film that Carrie was really flashing the boobs. But then I remembered that in the TV series, it was pretty much all about her abs. She dresses to suit her best asset as that changes over time - a great message to anyone to take away from the film. * Carrie's hair. Actually, all of them had great hair. But Carrie's hair was gorgeous - I loved the colour, and how the curls were bouncier the more fun she was having, and straighter when she was in trouble or upset. * The writing. Still good, even after all these years. The Jude Law. haha!
There are probably more things I loved, but I've forgotten already - it's just that kind of film.
I had a few gripes with the film of course, and I did find Carrie a little annoying with her self-created dramas with Big. But if I'm honest, half of those types of things I occasionally do myself in a relationship when I feel myself getting bored or restless. I liked how everyone's different issues were teased out - Samantha's menopause, Miranda's career, Charlotte's motherhood and Carrie's career/relationship etc. I also liked how they didn't see the need to overexplain the decision not to have children - that type of thing is very personal, and I would have found it unrealistic if Carrie and Big had felt the need to explain to complete strangers their decision.
The thing I really liked the most however, was the friendship message that still ran strong through the film - very true to the TV series. They had ups and downs in their friendships, careers and relationships and yet these women were still always there for each other. They didn't ditch their friend at the spice market when she wandered off or got into trouble with authorities, they knew when one of them needed space, they got each other boozed when it was clear that was exactly what she needed, and they celebrated each other's strengths. Most of all, they knew each characters inside and out. They were still each other's soul mate, and it was clear from the film and the writing that that was what really mattered in this film. There were no alliances or ganging up on one, or excluding another. This foursome's friendship is inclusive, generous, accepting and caring. I believe that is the message that should be taken from the film. The outfits, the wealth, the men: they are all just the backdrop to this sweet story of unlikely friendship between four very different people.
I spoke to a few people after the film, and they all liked it too! It was fun - we cooed over the outfits, laughed about Samantha, and smiled at the thought of having rich people's problems for a while. It was pleasant escapism, and I wouldn't be surprised if I see it again to absorb the outfits.
