CHOCOLATE BEARS

I'm sort of a little bit sick of making cakes whenever I want to give someone a homemade present. Don't get me wrong, baking is possibly the best thing in the world, but sometimes the amount of time it can take just isn't practical when you're busy, so when I saw this silicone mould for £1 (yes, you read that right) my prayers were answered. 

Now, I'm sure there's some fancy way to produce beautiful chocolate, but again, with time constraints the simplest thing to do is to buy a bar and simply melt it down, then just leave it at room temperature to set. Done. You could always wrap them in a little bag and tie with ribbon to give to someone - maybe even try adding raisins, nuts, popping candy, or even, for the more experienced, layering different chocolates once the previous layer has set. Plus you can always use the mould to make ice cubes when you're done.

(Make sure the chocolate has actually set before prising them out - as you can see my first few were still a bit soft!)

FERN

STOP TELLING WOMEN TO SMILE

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh’s street art project, ‘Stop Telling Women To Smile’, addresses gender based street harassment. This is something I can definitely relate to and something I unfortunately experience on a daily basis, along with many other women I have spoken to, from men angrily ordering me to ‘cheer up’, or ‘loosen up a bit’, to inappropriate staring and occasional sexual slurs. This kind of behaviour is never acceptable, no matter how you present yourself, or how you choose to dress, and it becomes the root of many women’s fear and insecurity when leaving the house. This project, through beautiful black and white portraits, sensitively, but with massive amounts of strength and power, addresses all of these issues that still never seem to be given enough time.

Fazlalizadeh explains in her own words below:

“Street harassment is a serious issue that affects women world wide. This project attempts to take women's voices, and faces, and put them in the street - creating a presence for women in an environment where women are a lot of times made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe - outside in the street.

The project is saying that street harassment is not okay. That feeling entitled to treat and speak to women any type of way, is not okay. That demanding a woman's attention is not okay. That intruding on a woman's space and thoughts is not okay. That women should be able to walk to the train, to the grocery store, to school - without having to cross the street to avoid the men that she sees already eyeing her as she approaches. That making women feel objectified, sexualized simply because they are women, is not okay. That grabbing a woman's wrist to force her to speak to you is not okay. That requesting for a woman to "smile for you" is not okay - because women are not outside on the street for the purpose of entertaining and pleasing men. That it's quite possible women are wonderful, happy, intelligent human beings that simply want to move through out the world comfortably and safely while wearing their face however the hell they want to.

A lot of people will not agree with this project. A lot of people, men AND women, will not understand it. And that's okay. This project is not asking for there to be zero interaction between men and women in public spaces - it's asking for the interaction to be respectful and safe. This project is not to persuade women to feel offended. Rather, this project is for those who do feel offended by unwelcome aggressive treatment from men.

It's my hope that some women will walk pass these wheat pastes and feel empowered. That men will at least take notice and consider what the posters are saying. And that the conversation about street harassment will continue to be enlivened and hopefully produce some sort of solution.”

ANNA

TO BE ADORED

I used to be completely in love with TBA, but it somehow kind of fell off my radar for the last year. Looking at their latest collection I have no idea why because it's even better than before. Designer Bin Bin McNiven is still using beautifully classic silhouettes, but giving them that TBA edge with cute pockets and collars and gorgeous prints. To me it is the attention to detail that makes the label that look a lot more expensive than it is, and it's worth every penny as it's a complete cut above any high street apparel. I'm in love all over again.

FERN

IT HURTS TO BE THIS BEAUTIFUL

Ji Yeo’s series of striking photographs entitled ‘Beauty Recovery Room’ tackle the very up-to-date issue of cosmetic surgery; is it right or wrong? Being a Caucasian female, I often associate this kind of surgery with celebrities among western media, however Ji Yeo’s portraits dispel this often-ignorant assumption and instead display Korean women, bruised and bandaged, in their most vulnerable state recovering from the surgery.

"The latest raw data compiled from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in 2010, confirms that South Korea is indeed the country with the world’s highest per capita rate of cosmetic plastic surgery. It is a culture where men are judged on their financial balance sheet and women by their beauty."
- Ji Yeo

Instead of glorifying the surgery and showing the women glammed up to the eyelids after weeks of arduous healing, these photographs show the real effects of altering yourself so dramatically, and I personally was left feeling pretty sorry for the women, saddened by the thought that they do not think enough of themselves. Yes, this could be seen as taking a rather patronising view, as many of the women who have undergone the surgery may feel happier and more confident once they have healed. Ultimately, it can be said that this cosmetic surgery craze isn’t going to stop any time soon, as long as the procedures are still being offered, and wherever you are in the world, the media continues to belittle our faces and bodies until we eventually give in. 'Beauty Recovery Room' comforts us in knowing there is definitely no getting away from the reality and importance of this subject, and it will continue to be addressed until we no longer feel we have to alter ourselves physically to become better people.

ANNA

ORLA KIELY SS13

Orla Kiely's new collection is beyond amazing, and the lookbook just serves to make the clothes look even better than they already do. I know I'm trying to get over my love of print, but garments like these really aren't helping. I also sort of love how they've put the clothes on a model with a straight up and down figure - I'm always a bit scared of wearing more 1950s shaped with nipped in waists, but this has served to show me I really needn't be that scared. And, I think there's more than a slight nod to Betty Francis/Draper in this collection.

FERN

MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION

Recently I came across a simple, yet fascinating series of self-portrait photographs by Scout Paré-Phillips. Within this series entitled ‘impressions’, she displays a female nude body, which has received physical impressions from clothing such as socks, bras and tights. I was so attracted to these photographs because of the idea of something once being there, and leaving a mark, but the objects are no longer present in the photographs. You are simply left with the impression of what once was, and of course in time, this impression will also fade. This cannot only be related to physical objects, but also the impressions we receive from people on a daily basis. Apart from the fact that everyone can relate to these photographs, especially women (I can’t count how many times I’ve been left with unsightly imprints from the tops of my tights), there is a much deeper meaning and important message behind Paré-Phillips work.

ANNA

VEGAN BROWNIES

Chocolate brownies are one of my guilty pleasures, but this recipe takes some of the guilt away with the knowledge that they are 100% cruelty free. I usually find vegan baking recipes use a lot of ‘obscure’ ingredients that I know I’ll rarely use and ultimately get wasted. After adapting a few more complicated vegan brownie recipes to use more staple cupboard ingredients this has become an absolute favourite, and having used it at a variety of functions and special occasions, I have had many requests to share my secrets. So here it is my recipe for the perfect gooey vegan brownies!

Makes 12

190g plain white flour

50 cocoa powder

200g white sugar*

1 teaspoon baking power

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

180ml soya milk**

180ml vegetable oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees, and oil baking tray.

2. Sift flour and cocoa powder and add all dry ingredients to bowl.

3. Add all wet ingredients and mix well until mixture is thick and there are no big lumps.

4. Pour mixture into baking tray and bake for 20-30 minutes, until a knife can be inserted into the middle and come out clean.

5. Leave to cool and then cut into 12.

JENNY

*Can add up to 300g if you have a very sweet tooth

** 180ml of water can be used instead of soya milk, or a mixture of the two can be used

MAD FOR IT

Only six months ago did I discover Mad Men. For me, there's been no other TV show that can match up to it - the story lines, the characters, the acting, but most of all the attention to detail, especially design detail, is outstanding. It's in the fashion in particular you see the subtle differences as the years pass. Many an occassion I've watched programmes and films set in a particular time and they always seem to go overboard with the clothes, it almost makes them seem false, as if they're costumes. 

Betty Francis is a particular favourite of mine, her dresses are beautiful regardless of the decade. But to look, at a glance, at the shift through from 1950s-60s there are glaring differences, but weirdly you barely realise as you're watching because the transition is so realistically slow. Meagan Draper is another character that, thanks to subtle raises and dips in hemlines, slight tweaks to hairstyles and giveaway accessories, has transitioned beautifully from year to year, all within keeping of the true fashions of the time. Bring on this Sunday for season 6.

FERN