Your Girl’s Got A New Column!
And lots of gorgeous new shoes to tell you about.
This month’s newsletter is sponsored by H&M Studio.
Greetings Spendthrifts,
Those of you who follow me on Instagram probably already know this but for everyone else, I am SO pleased to announce that (as of a couple of weeks ago) - I am Grazia’s new columnist! My new column Culture Debrief will be a smorgasbord of cultural commentary, covering everything from books and TV to politics and the latest insane celebrity lawsuits (rest assured I will be reporting on the Lively v Baldoni trial come 2026). You can read it in every issue of Grazia from here on out, and usually online too - here’s the first one, on the resurgence of girlboss culture.
Now usually the done thing when you have an announcement in my industry is to apologetically sort of cough it out while downplaying how much it actually means to you (millennial culture = tweeting ‘I did a thing’ and then linking to a seven-figure book deal announcement. Spare me). So allow me to be very fucking earnest here: I’ve wanted a column - a proper column, where I’m given leeway to hold forth on the things I find interesting and am actually asked for an opinion (rather than given someone else’s and asked to write 600 words on it); one that’s printed in a newspaper or magazine your parents have actually heard of - for years. To have landed one at one of my favourite glossies, not to mention a magazine I’ve been reading since I was a teenager, is honestly a dream gig.
And to be frank, it feels especially gratifying given that across the British media landscape, there are so few columnists at established publications who look like me - that is Black, and female. I can think of maybe three Black women off the top of my head who have regular, ongoing columns (Nesrine Malik for the Guardian, Enuma Okoro for the FT Weekend and, newly, Liv Little for the Observer if you’re curious). The ‘columnist class’ in the UK is overwhelmingly, almost breathtakingly white - and very often to attain a column as a woman (irrespective of your race), one has to be willing to divulge staggeringly intimate details from your personal life, something that culturally, many Black (and brown) women simply aren’t in a position to do… I often wonder if editors even think about who they’re unintentionally excluding when they dish out those sorts of assignments. Or, you get assigned ‘the race beat’, given that as a Black person race and identity are the only things you’re considered an authority on.
All of which to say, I had very much assumed that A Column wasn’t in my destiny, so I find myself rather pleasantly surprised by this development - and given how many of you said you wanted more writing from me in my subscriber survey last Christmas, hopefully you will be too! On that note - I’ll endeavour to share links from the past month of columns in this newsletter, but if you want my hot takes while they’re still piping hot, best to pick up an issue of Grazia (which comes out every other week) or follow me on Instagram.
Behind the paywall this month: some new shoe brands I’m very excited by; a Scandi brand that feels like a Khaite/The Row hybrid (but far cheaper); five great interiors buys, from affordable pick-me-ups to massive splurges; the art world satire I galloped through on my recent holiday (and the Women’s Prize-winning novel I took to calling ‘my boring book’ and abandoned halfway through).
First up though - let’s take a spin through H&M Studio’s excellent AW25 drop, shall we?
H&M’s Studio line is one of my favourite high street collections, one I’ve been buying from for many, many years. For the unfamiliar - this is H&M’s more directional, fashion-forward collection (references for the AW25 drop include Brutalist design), released in limited drops every season.
The latest Studio collection is full of pin-sharp tailoring and classic wardrobe staples that’ve been sprinkled with a little je ne sais quoi - this oversized blue shirt for example, which has been tailored to make it extra slouchy at the back (très chic), or a wool midi skirt finished with raw seams at the waist. The kind of pieces that are as good for running around the city in during the day as they are for dressing up at night - I plan to wear that midi skirt with a slinky bodysuit expeditiously.
I am also OBSESSED with this slouchy burgundy leather bag, possibly the standout piece from the collection for me. Now it does actually have straps, so you can carry it like a regular tote - but I loved how it looked when I tucked it under my arm, so that’s how I’m styling it here.
And I’m pretty sure this bomber jacket is going to be surgically attached to my body all autumn, not least because it’s padded (ergo - surprisingly warm), waterproof (as I discovered when it started drizzling as I was walking home), and because it strikes juuust the right balance between oversized and cropped. I’d actually been on the hunt for an autumn-appropriate bomber jacket and found most of them went too far one way or the other, so very pleased to now have this one in my arsenal.
A word of warning: H&M’s Studio collection tends to sell out incredibly fast (I’ve actually had to resort to eBay to get my hands on sold out pieces on multiple occasions), so if something catches your eye I’d advise you to move quickly! (Also - I’m finding that their in-store availability is still good for a few pieces that have already sold out online, so use the ‘check availability’ function where necessary).
Thank you so much to H&M Studio for sponsoring this month’s newsletter!
A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO CHOOS
Shoes are my kryptonite. Call it Carrie Bradshaw Syndrome, the curse afflicting every millennial-aged woman forged in the fires of Pat Field’s sartorial whims - but an incredible pair of shoes just does something to my brain. They’re the item most likely to evoke unfettered envy; the discovery of an especially breathtaking pair enough to make my fingers tremble and heart beat a little faster as I send a link to friends saying simply ‘thoughts?’ (knowing full well I’ve already made up my mind).
And yet I don’t think I’ve been properly excited by a new shoe brand for... well quite a while now, come to think of it! Everything’s just felt a bit samey - but that’s all changed with the discovery of two recently launched shoe brands, one of which is helmed by a footwear designer whose priors include The Row, Khaite and Tory Burch.