By ALISON CONNOLLY

I often feel that the word “couture” is overused by designers to describe their work. After all, it means “the design of fashionable clothes to a client’s specific requirements and measurements” and we know that is frequently not the case. The word alludes to luxury and exclusivity, which explains why it is too often used to elevate the perceived quality of a brand. However, there are … Read More










No one does dramatic romance quite like Leo Tolstoy. Yesterday I went to see the cinematic version of his literary masterpiece, Anna Karenina, hailed by his peers as a “flawless work of art”. I read this book when I was 19 and pining for a boyfriend who was always elusive. Caught up in the moment, I imagined myself the next great American novelist whose emotional theatrics would also stun the … 