Lipstick Jungle

Another programme that I am looking forward to seeing is Lipstick Jungle. This is yet another book adaptation which is written by Candace Bushnell, she who bought us Sex and the City - a programme that needs no introduction. Lipstick Jungle, like S&TC is set in NYC and chronicles the lives of a group of successful women who are friends but unlike S&TC the characters in this show are slightly older and hell of a lot more richer and instead of looking for Mr Big, they frankly are Mr Big. There is thriving fashion designer, Victory Ford, high powered movie exec, Wendy Healy and sassy magazine editor, Nico O'Neilly. These women are placed 8, 12, and 17 on The New York Post's list of "New York's 50 Most Powerful Women. I will admit that I have not been a fan of Bushnell's writing in the past, I thought the Sex and the City book was very poor and she only got lucky because of Darren Star's midas touch in producing the show. However she really redeems herself with this book and it really is a riveting read. Plus I love all the characters which is always a big bonus. The show is set to broadcast in the US in the new year and hopefully it should be picked up over here. Also do you remember when I was going on about Dallas and how it should be repeated? Well someone must have been reading this because the series is being show on UKTV Gold everyday at 5.00pm and if you miss it you can catch the omnibus on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I knew there was a God.

Mary Queen of Shops

I am really excited about a fabulous new fashion series that is coming on TV. It is called Mary Queen of Shops and it is a four part documentary that follows fashionista, Mary Portas as she revamps boutique shops around the country. In case you are wondering who the hell Mary is, she is the human dynamo who is responsible for turning chic department store, Harvey Nichols into the new lush haven that it is now. She also pens a column in the Telegraph appropriately titled, Shop. Basically Mary does a Gordon Ramsey on the show but hopefully without all the swearing. The programme is aired on 31st May on BBC Two.

Maga-holic

There was a time a few years back when I used to buy every magazine out there. Cosmopolitan, Company, Marie Claire, InStyle, New Woman - they all came home with me. Now I have toned it down a bit and only buy a couple of titles. There is Glamour which I took out a subscription to a few years ago and never got round to cancelling. Glamour is famous for being the publication that had the balls to be different from all the other mags out there. While its rivals were A4 sized, Glamour came in a A5 format that was designed to fit in your handbag. Clever eh? How could any respecting woman resist that? Unfortunately, Glamour has not maintained the standards of its earlier years and the articles are looking old and a bit samey so it will be goodbye to them soon. I also like Elle and Marie Claire - well what I mean is I like the look of them till an hour later when I have ploughed through and realised how crap and totally useless both magazines are.

I don't touch Cosmopolitan because the poor old thing reminds me of an out of date pub that is in desperate need of a lick of paint. In the 70s Cosmo was the voice of post modernist women and published articles on career and marriage while cajoling women that they could have it all. The publication was also a pioneer in awakening women's sexuality and held bold articles. In fact Cosmo was seen as the magazine that you bought if you wanted to know how to cook a three course meal and perform a blow job. Sadly Cosmo's circulation is no longer what it was in the 70s and 80s and is now just seen as just another magazine while other titles like Marie Claire, Glamour and now Grazia have surpassed it. Ah, Grazia; described by a media honcho as a woman's guilty pleasure. It is like bad men and alcohol, fantastic at first till you realise that it is simply not good for you. Upper class fancy magazines like Vogue, Tatler and Harpers do nothing for me. All fur coat and no knickers with very few articles of interest. The magazines that I do have time for are Psychologies, Easy Living and Happy. Also magazines that come free with the Sunday newspapers are pure class; Stella with The Sunday Telegraph, YOU with The Mail on Sunday, Style with The Sunday Times and Observer Woman are all gorgeous publications that remain in my collection. Yes, sometimes the best things are for free. What magazines do you guys read? Picture from The Observer website