The Scottish Mail on Sunday - You
My New Year revelations
No night of the year is more controversial. New Year’s Eve, planned with great intentions, too often fails to live up to expectations. I have friends who dread it because it signals that another year has whizzed past.
Then there’s the eternal dilemma: to go out or not go out? Dress up or stay on the sofa in something comfy?
When I was younger, the anticipation of the night’s celebrations was huge. There was also an unreal expectation, as if something magical was going to happen and we’d wake up on 1 January slightly different people. Of course, the reality was long queues, packed bars, the impossibility of finding a taxi home.
Thankfully, I’ve grown wiser and learnt that New Year’s Eve may glitter but it’s not always golden. Now I prefer to have a meal out with loved ones and be home in bed early. Or to toast the New Year from the sofa with a glass of champagne. However, no matter what I’m doing, I always dress up because it makes me feel good. And surviving another year on this planet is worth the effort.
New Year’s Eve is also the perfect time, not for unrealistic, quickly abandoned resolutions but for sober, more meaningful reflections. As we sit on the cusp of 2024, here are some of my fashion ones…
The death of style icon Jane Birkin in July had a profound effect on fashion. I was privileged to do her very last UK interview and I found her in a pensive mood as she looked back on her extraordinary career as an actress and singer. After she passed, we saw handbags decorated with trinkets in homage to her signature look: many were overstuffed, the way she carried her own. Fashion It-girls such as Irina Shayk and Dua Lipa also started dressing like Birkin in cool baggy trousers and black trainers.
2023 was a good year for self-acceptance and women fighting against age barriers. Pamela Anderson, the queen of more, became the empress of less, showing up to several awards ceremonies make-up free. ‘You have to challenge beauty sometimes,’ she said. ‘If we all chase youth or our idea of what beauty is… we’re only going to be disappointed and maybe a little bit sad.’ And, joyously, Dame Maggie Smith became the face of Loewe at 88 years of age.
Equally happily, Barbiecore and everyone’s obsession with pink died a death once summer ended. Was I the only one who thought the movie was disappointing and promoted strange and unhealthy female body stereotypes?
Looking forward, 2024 will be huge for one of my favourite cities, Paris. Netflix hit Emily in Paris is back filming in January ahead of the Olympic Games in summer.