ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: Olympians are winners in gold, silver - and purple By Alexandra Shulman for the Daily Mail Published: 23:36, 10 August 2024 | Updated: 23:45, 10 August 2024 e-mail View comments As pole vaulter Alysha Newman cleared the bar to win an Olympic bronze, I was fascinated just as much by her eye-catching ruby red lipstick as by her staggering athleticism. Ditto the deep plum lip colour worn by Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh. And while watching Brit Keely Hodgkinson celebrate her 800 metres gold, it was also her immaculate purple nails that caught my attention.
I can make these observations, I hope, without in any way detracting from their breathtaking physical achievements. But commenting on women's make-up is currently about as much of a no-go area as suggesting we were lucky the slave trade allowed Britain to build so many stately homes. Last week, a waitress at a Chinese restaurant in London 's Soho was awarded a several thousand pound payout because her boss told her she looked 'tired' and should wear more make-up on her next shift.
As pole vaulter Alysha Newman cleared the bar to win an Olympic bronze, I was fascinated just as much by her eye-catching ruby red lipstick as by her staggering athleticism Winning look: The deep plum lip colour worn by Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh was also eye-catching Nailed it: While watching Brit Keely Hodgkinson celebrate her 800 metres gold, it was also her immaculate purple nails that caught my attention A tribunal had upheld her claim of sex harassment because saying that 'an individual should wear make-up is a sex-specific comment'. Meanwhile, sports presenter Bob Ballard lost his job for suggesting Australia's Olympic 4x100m freestyle women's swimming team were hanging around putting on their make-up having just won the gold. Crass, but surely not a sackable offence.
The extraordinary thing is that this censorious attitude to make-up comes at a time when cosmetics have become more extreme and really rather fantastic. No longer are many women satisfied with a daub of blusher and a lick of mascara. Instead, maquillage has become an art form in itself, with nail salons offering extravagant art manicures on silicone talons, and beauty counters filled with eye shadows in brilliant colours such as tangerine and emerald – worn not only at the disco but in daily life.
Women wear fabulous make-up because it gives us pleasure. Adorning ourselves in this way is a part of pride in our bodies, as we have seen displayed by so many Olympians. We enjoy the ritual and ceremony of applying the colour and decoration.
It should be recognised as a sign of appreciation of ourselves rather than considered a trivialisation. Time to nationalise our hopeless railways 'Due to a computer malfunction, there are no carriage numbers or seat reservations on this train. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause' was the all too familiar announcement on our train to Chesterfield last week.
Inconvenience was not the right word to describe the pandemonium on this jam-packed train filled with families hoping to get off to holidays. In contrast, my son took a deliberately slow route home from southern Italy, changing trains in Naples, Milan, Verona, Basle, and Paris without a single hitch – at a fraction of the price of our hopeless railways. Nationalisation can't come too soon.
How table manners have subtly changed During our trip north, we visited Chatsworth House where one of the showpieces was the massive dining table in the Great Dining Room laid out with astonishing silverware, just as it would have been for a house party early last century. In years gone by, a figure was employed to enter the room each evening after the table was laid, and cover the candelabra and dishes with a substance that made it appear as if they had a layer of magical frosting. He magicked this away after the meal, secretly re-applying for the next banquet.
That frosting sadly was not on display last week but I was intrigued to see that the forks were laid out with the prongs face down, as was traditional, unlike our contemporary way of prongs face up. I haven't managed to find out when this placing of forks changed but even now the correct way of showing you have finished your meal is to place your fork prongs down on your plate. Table talk: On a visit to Chatsworth House, the forks were laid out with the prongs face down, as was traditional, unlike our contemporary way of prongs face up We don't want sappy, nice TV characters Undine Spragg is the memorably named, thoroughly unpleasant young woman at the centre of Edith Wharton's novel The Custom Of The Country.
This mendacious character is driven to all kinds of appalling behaviour by her ambition to rise up in society and accumulate wealth. She would have loved to be the Duchess of Devonshire, hostess at Chatsworth. Curious to know a bit more about the novel, I was excited to learn that Sofia Coppola was to film the book, casting Florence Pugh as Undine.
But the project has been cancelled by Apple TV who, on reflection, considered Undine too unlikeable for the show to be a hit. Surely unlikeable women are the most memorable best-selling characters around. Where would 101 Dalmatians be without Cruella de Vil, or TV's Succession without the scheming Shiv.
It's sappy, nice characters that bore us to tears. Cancelled: Florence Pugh was due to star as Undine Spragg, the memorably named, thoroughly unpleasant young woman at the centre of Edith Wharton's novel The Custom Of The Country, but Apple TV has pulled the plug Real drama was on stage, not in audience Last week I went to The Years, the Almeida Theatre's extraordinary adaptation of Annie Ernaux's book, a tale of her, but also Everywoman's life over 60 years. It has made headlines due to a graphic scene which sees Romola Garai covered in blood as she experiences the harrowing effects of a back street abortion in the Sixties.
Audience members have been fainting, needing to be escorted from the auditorium, which is what happened on our visit. We did wonder whether this was part of the play, when the stage manager came on the stage to say there was going to be a pause while they 'supported' audience members, but in the end concluded it was unlikely. Such contrived drama would be entirely unnecessary for this excellent production that will live in my memory for a long time.
The Years, running at The Almeida, has made headlines due to a graphic scene which sees Romola Garai covered in blood as she experiences the harrowing effects of a back street abortion in the Sixties Okey dokey life of my garden cushions There are several truths in life and one is that as soon as you put out any cushions in the garden, it rains. For this reason I have stacked ours indoors to try and urge some dry days..
. and it seems to have worked. High temperatures are forecast, so I'll risk moving the pile on the kitchen floor to the garden chairs they are intended for.
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