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Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Times
I can't wait to get my arms out this summer
Have you ever shapeshifted, wardrobe-wise? Transformed from one type of dresser into another? Perhaps without even realising it? It's suddenly become clear to me that I have and I honestly had no idea. I have been packing for the kind of villa holiday I haven't gone on in years, a relaxed, doing-nothing affair. In doing so — creating neat(ish) piles of options on my spare bed — I have come face to face with the fact that something has changed in the way I dress come summer. Suddenly it's all about my arms — arms that, thanks to the cumulative impact of years of pretty full-throttle yoga and very full-throttle handstand training, look different to how they used to. First I got biceps. Then I got triceps. Now, as of a few months ago, I have deltoids, by which I mean the sort that stick out in front like the fender flares on a car. I didn't plan for this but I can't pretend I am not happy about it. So behold a line-up of frocks and tops that have straps rather than sleeves, including a silk slip Serena Bute dress from a couple of summers back, which was about the time when I (for which read: my arms) really went up a notch. (The latest gathered neck iteration, in bright blue, pink or red is £295, And there's also a dress with just the one strap, Mondo Corsini's raspberry linen midi (£365, • Read more fashion advice and style inspiration from our experts I also love Jigsaw's chocolate cotton with distinctive flower appliqué (£165, while Mint Velvet's burgundy floral slip dress is another stunner (£130, and Mango's black or camel with a white-edged zigzag hem is very stealth wealth (£59.99, New Look's black gingham bodice number scores pretty points (£34.99, Sézane's button-through cream Fabiola siren points (£115, Although what I probably need to add to my arsenal now is one with no straps, such as Nobody's Child's brown Gayle (£79, This is quite the move-on for a woman who used to dress for summer as if she were in The Flame Trees of Thika, who didn't knowingly flash any flesh at all away from a pool or beach for, er, the first 45 years of her life. But I am not going to hide these deltoids under a bushel. There may still be a couple of Tilly Grant-appropriate numbers in pile No 3 on my bed but I am not sure any more whether that pile is going to make it into my suitcase. Did I mention my deltoids already? So my sartorial shapeshifting has come about as a result of an actual shift in body shape. How very humdrum of me. Turns out if you work hard enough and long enough you can get yourself good arms whatever your age, as evidenced by my yoga friends in their fifties and sixties (I am 53), not to mention a particularly impressive seventysomething I met recently who had flown in from Vienna for a weekend of yoga to techno music, as you do. She was nonchalantly knocking out handstands despite having had a hip replacement. Who needs a mere It bag when you can get yourself It arms? So much more impressive to, ahem, engender something yourself than merely to buy it, surely? That designer tote might be fake but good arms are, perforce, the real and usually hard-won deal. Even weight-loss jabs won't help you with this one. Indeed, maybe muscle definition will become yet more coveted now that skinniness is available on subscription. Great arms have become, for a woman of a certain age, the ultimate status symbol. They powered the rise of the sleeveless office-targeted sheath dress in the Nineties and have now moved out of the boardroom into, well, everywhere. Among the celebrity upper arms recently out on manoeuvres have been those of Heidi Klum (52), Jennifer Aniston (56) and — naturellement — Gwyneth Paltrow (also 52). Somehow, getting your arms out — if you have the right arms — rarely looks muttony in the way that getting your legs out can at a certain point. It looks cool, not try-hard. It semaphores youthfulness and also power, very much including the literal variety. Is this another example of a subconscious desire on the part of the modern woman to ape the physicality of her male counterpart, the better to compete in what is still, for the moment, a man's world? Another sartorial phenomenon to put in the same category as trouser suits and shoulder pads? These arms — or, to be more precise, my arms — are the kind that only men used to have. Is it also, to proffer some more analysis, one more example of our collective resistance to ageing? To this I would answer, yes, definitely, and also that — like so much else related to the topic of ageing — there is a healthy level of resistance and one that equates not just to denial but to delusion. I have yoga friends who are ageing brilliantly, arms and all, and others who are definitely overcooking things and looking a bit like Ryvita. Back to my togs. Added into my suitcase are an array of vests, the newest and the quirkiest by some margin an iteration with eyes from the Uniqlo x Anya Hindmarch collaboration (£7.90, reduced from £14.90, Though such is the potency of designer arms that designer vests — very expensive designer vests — have become a phenomenon too, as per the Prada number I am wearing in this photo. (That will be £720, thank you very much.) • How to do summer like a French woman What I won't be emulating is a second vest-related flex that definitely isn't in my, er, wheelhouse, which is to wear said vest without a bra. I am leaving that to the twentysomething daughter of a friend, with whose nipple profile I feel myself to have become far too well acquainted in the past couple of months. Nope, no amount of handstands is going to help me with the — how best to put this? — suspension requirements of braless vest-wearing. So thank goodness, as always, for Selfridges's bra whisperer, Clare Basche, and her recommendation of Chantelle's strapless smooth Norah in golden beige for its comfort and minimal visibility under cotton jersey (£59, For an option with a lower centre bridge that would work under a V-neck dress or top, she rates Simone Pérèle's Essentiel strapless (£75, I love a feminine top too, such as Boden's linen Sophie, in a range of brights and prints (£65, Mabe's blue and white boho Viti (£87.50, reduced from £125, and Mint Velvet's more minimalist ivory satin style (£99, A waistcoat — such as Nobody's Child's in black, or in black or brown gingham — is one final way to go (£79, That's quite enough of that. I may have earned the right to bare arms but not to bore on about them. @annagmurphy
Daily Mail
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Lady Lola Bute's princess party! Model aristocrat dances the night away in a tiara as she's chauffeured around London in a glitzy bus for her 26th - after THAT debauched 25th bash
Her 25th was certainly one for the books, involving a weekend-long celebration at her family seat, surrounded by A-listers in daring sheer outfits, dining on lobster, oysters and local beef before watching a grand fireworks display. But proving she's the Queen of birthday bashes, Lady Lola Bute celebrated her 26th in equal style this year, enjoying a fun-filled night of dancing while being chauffeured around London in a glitzy double decker party bus. Celebrating her latest milestone, the daughter of the late John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute and fashion designer Serena Bute paraded around Claridge's in a tiara before putting on an evening of disco-filled fun for her loved ones. Deciding to stay closer to home this year, she threw a big birthday bash in Central London, inviting her closest family and friends onto a plush double decker party bus kitted out with a bar, dancefloor and comfy sofas. The aristocratic model certainly turned heads as she strutted around in a shimmery blue mini dress which featured a low back and showed off her toned physique. She paired her ensemble with strappy silver heels and a matching bag. Lola spent her evening dancing away to classic hits such as Whitney Houston 's I Wanna Dance with Somebody and Don't Phunk with My Heart by the Black Eyed Peas, as the bus toured around famous landmarks such as the London Eye, where Lola hopped out to get a snap in all of her finery. Champagne, beers and cocktails appeared to be endlessly flowing for guests, although not for Lola, who is sober and has been since 2020 after losing her boyfriend Kai Schachter, to suicide in 2019, and her best friend IIa Scheckter to a suspected accidental overdose just six months later. Meanwhile, four years ago, Lola's father died of cancer and she said at the time that she 'wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy'. She spent time raising awareness of mental health and raising money for charities, while continuing to post the occasional snap of the pair together, ensuring that his memory continues to live on. Lola captioned her birthday Instagram upload: 'I'm usually quite shy, don't really like attention and realllyyy hate my birthday, but this year thought I'd change it up… I feel so loved, I love my friends and family more than I could ever describe. 'Birthdays can be weird, turning 26 without my dad but knowing he's somewhere watching over me, hopefully proud. He was the one who always allowed me to be myself.' The 26-year-old decided to bask in the spotlight and soaked up being the star of the show as she put on a leggy display in her glittering frock and twirled around as her closest pals who encouraged her to let her hair down after a tough five years. Lola - who was once described as the 'ultimate It-girl' by society bible Tatler - had two separate celebrations, as she also shared snaps of her wearing a pink tiara which said: 'Birthday princess'. It is believed she spent the morning of her birthday tucking into breakfast at Claridge's - a luxury five-star hotel located in Knightsbridge and loved by A-listers and royals, from Queen Victoria to Kylie Minogue. Dressed in a silky pink top, Lola sipped her tea as she tucked into an impressive spread of exotic fruits, pancakes, avocado, sourdough and boiled eggs - which she washed down with some freshly squeezed orange juice. Later, she was also seen riding as a passenger on a Lime bike, wrapping her arms around a man's back who is believed to be her Dutch model boyfriend Parker Van Noord, who she has been dating since 2023. Lola was showered in stunning bouquets of flowers which she placed inside her Claridge's hotel room, where a superior suite is priced at an eye-watering £1,560 a night. It is believed she spent the morning of her birthday tucking into breakfast at Claridge's - a luxury five-star hotel located in Knightsbridge She was given a birthday card and a cake from the hotel to add to her towering stack of gifts which included Charbonnel and Walker chocolate truffles, a Quasi face mask along with gift boxes filled with goodies. Lola was seen blowing out her candles on her buttercream heart-shaped cake adorned with pink flowers, as she appeared to keep her birthday celebrations relatively low-key in comparison to last year. Ever the party planner, the socialite she had been planning the impressive party since she was five years old. The star-studded guest list included Sienna Miller, Poppy Delevingne and Princess Olympia of Greece, who all joined Lola on the island. She wore a similar 90s-inspired silver micro-dress and was pictured dancing seductively with her boyfriend Parker. Lola told ELLE magazine: 'I've literally been planning this party since I was five. My mum would dread getting stuck on a ski lift with me because it's all I talk about. Most girls are thinking about their wedding. I was like, 'I don't want to share the attention with anyone'.' The theme was 'How Lola Can You Go?' and she must had had a vivid childhood imagination judging by the pictures Lady Lola later posted on social media which immediately caused a viral sensation. Giant inflatable mushrooms and tepees implausibly sprouted throughout the vast baronial mansion on the Isle of Bute. There was techno music and flashing lights, dining tables groaning with lobsters, oysters and local beef, a marching band of pipers and fireworks lighting up the skies above the Firth of Clyde. Hollywood stars mingled with fashion icons and royalty sipping champagne through straws straight from the bottle with the whole weekend extravaganza described as Ibiza colliding with Saltburn, the arch movie satire about the debauchery of the upper classes. 'I love an occasion,' she told the magazine, admitting that she has always loved to play a character rather than herself 'because I think I wasn't quite sure who I was, honestly, until recently'. She recalls telling her headmaster on her first day at school that she wanted to be Cinderella rather than Lola. Nevertheless, she was surprised with the media frenzy the bash received: 'My mum was like, 'I think we should say no Instagram or social media over the weekend'. I was like, 'Don't be ridiculous. No one cares'. I don't know what happened, but I went to sleep on Sunday night and woke up on Monday, and it was everywhere.' Her father, John Crichton-Stuart, spent much of his time on his namesake Scottish island at his ancestral home, Mount Stuart, and had chaired the Board of Mount Stuart Trust since 2005. The 7th Marquess, once ranked 616th in the Rich List, was also a Formula 1 driver in 1986 as he partnered Ayrton Senna and raced under the name Johnny Dumfries. At the time of his death his family issued a statement describing him as a 'devoted husband, father, brother, uncle, son and grandfather and loved by all'. It said: 'The indomitable spirit and energy which Johnny brought to his life will be greatly missed, and the immense warmth and love with which he embraced his family. 'His heart was firmly rooted on the Island of Bute where he spent much of his time. 'Johnny chaired the Board of Mount Stuart Trust from its active inauguration in 2005 when Mount Stuart and its gardens opened to the public, and its rural estate was vested into the charitable trust. 'He was a moderniser and an inspirational thinker, transitioning a family home to a progressive, working visitor facility and estate. 'His island projects include the internationally respected Bute Fabrics and, most recently, the Kerrylamont Centre for Rural Excellence and Bute Yard. He was a philanthropist through his foundation, particularly focusing on Scotland and the West Coast. His family request privacy at this time.'
