
Amanda Holden is radiant in linen co-ord that solves summer officewear dilemma
Amanda Holden has graced fans with another stunning summer look, showing off a vibrant red co-ord that's sure to turn heads for any occasion. Showing off her glorious legs, Amanda looked radiant and ready for the sun in a linen top and shorts combo that seamlessly blends officewear chic and summer-ready style. And the good news? Both the vest and shorts from Amanda's exact co-ord are still up for grabs in most sizes.
Available from Theory, this co-ord comes in your choice of cherry red, as worn by Amanda, or a more versatile and understated black. The Trucker Vest can be worn as a top on its own or as an outside layer. Featuring a tailored design for a relaxed silhouette, this top is decorated with a crew neckline and flap pockets that add a utility flair that's become popular this year. The single-breasted, button-front design is crafted from Theory's signature stretch Good Linen fabric, offering plenty of breathability and manoeuvrability to ensure a flattering and comfortable fit on all body types.
Meanwhile, the Pleated Shorts boast pristine pleats that define the front of the wide-leg shorts. The design is supported by belt loops and fastened with a zip fly for a secure and figure-hugging fit around the waistline that doesn't sacrifice the loose and breezy style throughout. These are also crafted from Theory's signature stretch Good Linen fabric.
Promising to be the perfect style for when the warm weather arrives, Amanda's look compromises on formality for an office setting with the versatility to be worn to any summertime occasion. Keeping you looking and feeling cool, this co-ord can seamlessly transition from a morning meeting to an evening date, without sacrificing comfort for style.
Amanda's Trucker Vest from Theory retails for £127 and is available in sizes 2 to 18. Meanwhile, the shorts sell for £117 and are available in sizes 6 through 18.
If you're looking for alternative linen co-ords, check out these Ecru Elastic Back Tailored Shorts and White Short Sleeve Jacket with Linen from Rochelle Humes' Next collection for £26 and £50 respectively. Elsewhere you can find this Vero Moda linen touch tailored shorts co-ord at ASOS for £21. If you're after something a bit more casual, Nobody's Child is offering this White Linen-blend Shorts (£42) and White Linen-blend Swing Top (£42) co-ord.
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The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
The thong bikini boom: why the skimpiest swimwear is back
There are plenty of places where no one would bat an eyelid at the sight of a thong bikini; on a beach in Brazil or around the Love Island fire pit, visible butt cheeks are practically de rigueur. But my first sighting this year was not while surfing in Australia or sunbathing in the Caribbean, but at an open-water swimming spot, on a rainy day in Scotland. I should not have been surprised. Tiny swimwear is huge news this summer. It is no longer confined to sunny climes, but cropping up everywhere from lidos to leisure centres – and lochs, apparently. The trickle down from catwalks and influencers to holidaymakers and shoppers is notable. A search for 'thong bikini' on Asos yields 187 results, ranging from high-leg styles, to side-tie, to tanga (somewhere between a thong and a standard brief), while high-street outlets including H&M, Calzedonia and Zara all have thong bikini bottoms in their collections. And, as with any trend, there are plenty of celebrity forerunners, including gymnast Simone Biles, model Heidi Klum, actor Sofía Vergara and singer Nicole Scherzinger. Rapper Lizzo is a longtime fan. 'I won't lie, it was nerve-racking initially,' says Victoria, 29, who wore a thong bikini for the first time on a recent solo trip to Naples. As for many new converts, part of the appeal lay in the fact that she would be able to avoid the significant tan lines created by fuller coverage swimwear. 'I saw thong bikinis everywhere and wished I could wear one. But then I thought about it and was like, it's just a bum. Men wear those teeny-tiny trunks where you see everything, so why can't I wear this? Plus, it was really comfy.' The itsy-bitsy bikini revolution may have come to the fore this summer, but it has been rumbling for some time. In 2023, the New York Times declared that 'more women are adopting the 'less is more' philosophy' when it comes to beachwear; the same year, fashion site Who What Wear called thong bikinis the 'controversial swimwear trend you'll see on every beach this summer'. In 2024, New Zealand site The Spinoff asked: 'Why is every bikini bottom a thong now?' 'I think we've moved into another age of body consciousness – a much more expressive moment,' says Shaun Cole, associate professor in fashion at the University of Southampton. 'People are saying: 'It's my body and I can show it off in ways that I choose to, and if that involves wearing clothing that is sometimes deemed socially unacceptable then I'm going to do that.'' Gen Z, in particular, are less inclined to restrict themselves to clothes deemed to be 'flattering' – a term that has fallen spectacularly out of favour. Thong bikinis, once the preserve of those who conformed to a particular body type, are now being manufactured in a more inclusive range of sizes and marketed more diversely. 'Women of all shapes and sizes are leaning into bolder cuts with real confidence as part of a wider cultural shift towards body positivity and self-expression, which is great to see,' says Aliya Wilkinson, founder of luxury swimwear label Ôsalé. Her brand doesn't yet offer thong styles, but she plans to introduce them in the future. 'In the west, fashion has long found ways to augment the butt, to make it look bigger and put emphasis on this part of the female body,' says Roberta Sassatelli, professor of sociology at the University of Bologna and co-author of Body and Gender. 'This is perhaps because the butt is deemed to be very sensual but is not related to reproduction. Because it is totally related to pleasure, it feels more liberated.' The trend is reflected in the popularity of potentially dangerous cosmetic procedures, such as Brazilian butt lifts. Sculpting the perfect behind has also become something of a fitness obsession. In 2018, sports writer Anna Kessel noted that 'the emphasis on a firm, or 'juicy', bottom has now overtaken the flat stomach as the fitness holy grail in mainstream women's health magazines', with an increasing number of gym classes dedicated exclusively to the posterior. Seven years later, could it be that gym-goers are keen to display the results? 'I think the popularity of thong bikinis exists at the convergence of a focus on building glutes in the gym, a kind of exhibitionist creep in which the butt is one of the last frontiers that had remained mostly covered in public, and a greater cultural acceptance of a range of different body types,' says historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, author of Fit Nation. 'The low-slung jeans of the early 2000s were certainly correlated with the age when flat abs workouts were all the rage.' Cole suggests there may be another reason why more people are choosing to wear less. 'It could be linked to what's been called the 'pornification' of culture and style,' he says, citing an idea put forward by fashion historian Pamela Church Gibson. '[It is] modelled on a style that has come out of pornography – at the points where pornography stars are dressed – which involves garments such as tiny bikinis or thong-style underwear. There's an acceptance of that style without people really realising where it originated. The popularity of shows such as Love Island, where people are there to show off their bodies as a way of attracting a partner, again ties to that pornification of style.' After years of falling audience figures, Love Island is also experiencing a boom this summer: increased numbers tuned in to watch the UK and US versions, with the New York Times attributing the popularity of the latter to its ability to offer reprieve during 'times of societal and economic hardship'. As dress and design historian Amber Butchart put it when curating Splash!, a recent exhibition on swimming and style at the Design Museum in London: 'Swimwear's close relationship with the body means it reflects changing attitudes to modesty, morality and public display. From the 18th century, bathing machines were used to protect sea dippers from prying eyes. But throughout the 20th century, a number of boundary-pushing designs challenged previous ideas of decency while also courting controversy. For the last century, what we wear while swimming has been used as an excuse to police bodies.' While it is predominantly women who are opting for poolside thongs today, this wasn't always the case. The earliest iteration of the style is thought to be the ancient loincloth, worn by men. Modern thongs are said to have been adopted in 1939, when the mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia, ordered that showgirls must cover themselves rather than perform nude at the city's World's Fair. When it comes to swimwear specifically, Austrian-American Rudi Gernreich – the fashion designer behind the monokini, or 'topless bikini' – is most often credited with creating the thong bikini, in response to Los Angeles city council banning public nudity, including naked sunbathing, in 1974. The thong bikini has prompted similar bans more recently. In January, a council in Greater Sydney, Australia, banned thong and (even skimpier) G-string bikinis at its public pools. A number of women have also been arrested for wearing thong bikinis in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where the style is banned. In the UK, Greenwich Leisure Ltd, which operates 240 leisure centres under the brand Better, requires swimmers to wear 'full-coverage bikinis', which a spokesperson previously indicated did imply 'that thongs wouldn't be acceptable'. But even when thong styles are not prohibited, many bikini-wearers remain nervous. 'I do own one, but it's only been worn once, when my partner and I had a private villa in Portugal,' says Rebecca, 33. Even then, she says, she felt a little too exposed. 'I don't understand why someone would wear one on a family holiday, for example. Thong bikinis feel quite sexualised, so to me it seems inappropriate. Give me high-waisted bikini bottoms that cover your cheeks any day.' For Sassatelli, the reason thong bikinis are in vogue is not so surprising. 'The thong has never gone away completely,' she says. 'But for people who are in their teens and 20s, they haven't really been 'in fashion'. Once [the fashion industry] has forgotten something, then it can be recuperated – and it makes for a little sense of novelty.'


Daily Record
9 hours ago
- Daily Record
Meredith Kercher's family lawyer slams 'disrespectful' Amanda Knox after new series
Amanda Knox has executive-produced a new series based on her life and the aftermath of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, and the British student's family lawyer has hit out Meredith Kercher's family solicitor has delivered a scathing attack on Amanda Knox after the launch of a new series exploring the fallout from the 2007 killing and subsequent trial. The 38 year old has executive-produced K. J. Steinberg's eight-part Hulu series, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, which draws heavily from her autobiography. Grace Van Patten portrays Amanda in the drama. Following the programme's New York debut on Tuesday, where the cleared American was pictured beaming on the red carpet beside Monica Lewinsky, Kercher family barrister Francesco Maresca has struck back, telling The Mirror, "The important thing is that Amanda Knox clearly wants this case to continue. "It would be nice and dignified to watch a program or TV show where everything is reconstructed, remembering the life and smile of poor Meredith.", reports the Mirror US. Mr Maresca continued, "Instead, once again, we have to witness an attempt to reshuffle the cards, and where the trailer states, 'Amanda fights tirelessly to prove her innocence and regain her freedom.' Once again, the focus is on Knox." When the programme was initially revealed last year, Meredith's sister, Stephanie, remarked, "It is difficult to understand how this serves any purpose." At the time, Maresca described Amanda's ventures centring on Meredith's killing and the media frenzy that ensued as continuing to be "inappropriate and disrespectful towards the memory of Meredith," alleging the Perugia proceedings had become a means for her to profit from her infamy. "Ms. Knox, after so many years, should respect the silence and memory," he said, as filming took place in the same Italian town where the 21 year old was killed. In November 2007, Leeds University student Meredith was sexually assaulted, before having her throat slashed and stabbed 47 times while studying in Perugia. Meredith's flatmate, Amanda, and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were initially found guilty of her murder alongside Rudy Guede. The accusations sparked a media frenzy as she was branded 'Foxy Knoxy' by journalists. The pair were convicted in 2009 but were released following an appeal two years later. Their conviction was restored in 2014 but overturned by Italy's highest court in March 2015. The mum-of-two has since profited from her ordeal by penning a book, producing a Netflix documentary, hosting multiple podcasts, and delivering various speaking engagements, including some in Italy. Despite opposition from Perugia residents and those connected to Meredith, she continued with the series, with Monica Lewinsky serving as executive producer. Their bond began in 2017 at a speaking event two years after Amanda was cleared, and has since evolved into a working relationship. This week, ahead of the 20th August premiere, the Seattle native also discussed explaining the case to her 4 year old daughter, Eureka, telling her: "It's very simple. When Mommy was young, Mommy went to Italy, and she made friends and she had fun, but then someone hurt her friend, and the police thought Mommy hurt her friend, and so they put Mommy in jail. "Mommy was in jail for a long time, and she was very sad. But then one day, Mommy proved that she was innocent, and she got to go home, and then she met your daddy and had you and lived happily ever after." Critics argue the new series and Amanda's ongoing public accounts represent a relentless bid to profit from a tragedy in which she played a peripheral role, rather than genuine soul-searching. Others have questioned whether such programmes serve any function beyond self-promotion, highlighting the ongoing anguish for Meredith's family and the sensationalising of revisiting the extensively covered case. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is streaming on Hulu.


Daily Mirror
20 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Where is Brookside's Heather Huntington now? Actress Amanda Burton's glittering career revealed
Amanda Burton has become a staple of our television screens over the years, featuring in dozens of popular series Amanda Burton is one of many stars who have beloved soap Brookside to thank for launching her career. The series, shot in Liverpoool, is returning to our screens through a special crossover episode with Hollyoaks. It helped put the likes of Amanda on the map after she left her native Northern Ireland as a teen in hopes of pursuring an acting career. Since then, Burton has become a fixture on our television screens throughout the years, appearing in numerous series. She starred prominently in dramas such as Silent Witness and Waterloo Road, and has taken on roles in programmes including Midsomer Murders and more recently the crime series Marcella. Now 68, she has relished a diverse career and leads a peaceful existence by the seaside on England's south coast in Sussex. However, her life began with a humble start in a small town in Northern Ireland. Born in 1956 as the youngest of four daughters, Amanda was raised in Ballougry on the south-western edges of Derry City, where her family lived adjacent to Ballougry Primary School. Her father, Arthur Burton, worked as a headmaster at the school, which she attended throughout her youth. Her mother, of English heritage, was a descendant of Oscar Wilde. Being the youngest, she was constantly urged to embrace life's possibilities. "I had the most wonderful parents and the most idyllic childhood," she told the Express in 2016. "Both my mum and dad had an incredible zest for life and if that's your blueprint as you grow up, it's the way you tend to live your own life, too." At the tender age of 18, she relocated to England to pursue her studies at Manchester Polytechnic School of Film, TV and Theatre. Shortly after graduating, she joined the cast of Brookside, taking on the role of accountant Heather Huntington. Heather marked Amanda's debut in television, and she quickly became a fan favourite. The Northern Irish actress graced 143 episodes of the long-standing Channel 4 soap from 1982. Following the breakdown of her marriage, Heather was involved in unforgettable storylines including the death of her second husband Nicholas Black - prompting her to revert to her character's maiden name of Haversham. She bid farewell to the soap after a four-year run in 1986. After making guest appearances in shows like Inspector Morse and landing a leading role in Peak Practice over a decade, she assumed the main role of Professor Sam Ryan in the popular BBC drama Silent Witness. She remained on the show until 2004, but made a comeback in 2021. Much like her former Brookside co-star Anna Friel, Burton later featured on the detective series Marcella. The actress also played headteacher Karen Fisher in the school-based drama Waterloo Road for 28 episodes. In 1976, Burton tied the knot with theatre technician Jonathan Hartley, whom she met whilst studying at Manchester School of Theatre. They parted ways in 1982. In 1989, she wed professional photographer Sven Arnstein, with whom she had two daughters before their split in 2004. Burton now lives near Brighton - the filming location for her crime drama The Level.