T LOunge for March 21st, 2024

Pin

Pin

PinSix by Nico Restaurant – Cardiff, Wales

Moody elegance is the order of the day, darlings. Why? Because we’re moody and elegant, that’s why. Also because it’s THURSDAY and we’re feeling the need for candlelit conversation and grownup cocktails. Let’s do this.

‘Downton Abbey’ Sequel Movie Confirmed By Imelda Staunton; Actress Says It Will Be “Final” Chapter
Downton Abbey is getting a “final” chapter, according to Imelda Staunton.
The actress, who played Queen Mary’s lady-in-waiting Lady Maud Bagshaw in the first two films, has confirmed reports that a third movie is in the works.
Asked about Downton Abbey rumors by BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Zoe Ball, Staunton said: “There will be the final film – there you go.”
Ball joked that she hoped Staunton was not going to get into trouble for the revelation, to which the actress replied: “I don’t care.

Three Real Florida Society Scandals in Honor of Palm Royale
Though Apple TV+’s new comedy starring Kristen Wiig is based on a novel, Miami and Palm Beach have hosted enough salacious society scandals to fill several more series.
Apple TV+’s Palm Royale, now streaming, stars Kristen Wiig as a cartoonish social climber navigating a fictional 1969 Palm Beach society awash in Lilly Pulitzer pastels and soap-opera-ready plot twists. (Her husband was married to whom?! The resort bartender, played by Ricky Martin, is actually living where?!)
The sudsy series, which also features Allison Janney, Leslie Bibb, Laura Dern, and Carol Burnett, is based on Juliet McDaniel’s 2018 novel, Mr. and Mrs. American Pie, which is set in Palm Springs, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona. When it came to Apple TV+’s series, though, Palm Royale creator Abe Sylvia swapped out those locations for the most exclusive enclave in Florida—a more unique visual experience for viewers, with its own steep history of society scandal. In anticipation of Wiig’s desperate hijinks as Maxine, let’s look back at a few of the more outlandish and forgotten scandals from South Florida’s most colorful real-life socialites.

Bollywood beauty is going global – and it’s about time
What do you get when you cross Rihanna, a plethora of Bollywood stars and some mega glamping tents? Only the most lavish pre-wedding celebration uniting two of India’s richest families.
With Bollywood beauty looks galore, the extravagant affair took place over the first weekend in March – prompting endless TikToks. Of course, there was a lot of money at play at the Ambani pre-wedding party. Rihanna was reportedly paid $7 million for her mini concert in the rural town of Jamnagar in Western India. (Reading that back is quite astonishing. Rihanna. In Jamnagar. The town’s small airport was temporarily granted international status for the sheer amount of jets flying in.) Heck, even Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were there.
But high profile guests aside, the wedding was just the latest example of how Indian fashion and beauty has become a global talking point. It made headline news in national newspapers, propelling Indian celebration to a world stage.

In The Age Of Social Media, What’s Next For The Royal Family?
As ‘The Firm’ tries to put fires of Kate-gate out, the question on everybody’s lips is: what’s next for the Royal Family?
Whether you’re a Royalist or a Republican, the furore around the recent edited family photograph of the Waleses has seeped into every social interaction and fuelled a deluge of misinformation about The Firm, which, given the sharing and instantaneous communication model of social media, has only proliferated. […] With just a click of her finger – and a sweep of her airbrush – the Princess of Wales dismantled one of the core tenets of the Royals’ house of cards: that they are honest and transparent. In altering the appearance of her Mother’s Day image (which she has since apologised for), she proved that, as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been proclaiming for years, Princesses are just as fallible as their subjects, and plagued by the pursuit for perfection.

Here’s How You Can Grow Stronger, Longer Nails
Don’t worry, we won’t tell you to give up on your gel manis.
Opening parcels, improper removal of gels, certain medications and an unbalanced diet can all contribute to nails that refuse to grow and feel more than a little fragile.
But don’t fret, there are plenty of easy steps you can take to restore your nails to its healthiest state. Just like how make-up artists agree that make-up looks better on a well-hydrated complexion, a great manicure starts with moisturised, strong nails that remains in good shape even with consistent gel manis.

Apple Cider Vinegar Is Trending In The Wellness World – These Are The Health Benefits To Know
Separating fact from fad on the trending wellness term.
Between lemon water and liquid chlorophyll, there’s a growing appetite for health shots. Apple cider vinegar (ACV), for instance, was once an old wives tale for aiding digestion and is now on the lips of every wellness obsessive; it’s become an omnipresent term on TikTok and is gulped down daily by the likes of Victoria Beckham, Kourtney Kardashian and Hailey Bieber, who purportedly take a spoonful of the fermented drink every morning before breakfast.

Dylan Mulvaney doesn’t need your permission to sing about girlhood
While Dylan’s experience of girlhood may have come later, it’s still valid.
Dylan Mulvaney is nothing if not resilient. Having spent the better part of 2023 weathering the ‘Bud Light boycott’ (when the beer brand tried to re-energise itself through a doomed partnership with the influencer), Dylan has sparked fresh controversy with her song ‘Days of Girlhood’, which includes the lyrics, “Monday, can’t get out of bed / Tuesday morning, pick up meds / Wednesday, retail therapy / ‘Cash or credit?’ I say yes / Thursday, had a walk of shame / Didn’t even know his namе.” You get the idea.
Fundamentally, it’s a silly little pop song. But, as Dylan and her team must surely have anticipated, ‘Days of Girls’ has riled a lot of people up – and the people who have the most to say are invariably cisgender women, who believe that the song whittles down womanhood into reductive categories.

Kristen Stewart Says She’d Wear Bella’s ‘Twilight’ Wedding Dress for Her Own Wedding
She’s engaged to Dylan Meyer and planning a wedding.
“I love that dress so much,” Stewart said of the dress, which was designed by Carolina Herrera and featured French Chantilly lace and a scoop neckline. “I remember getting into it. It felt like getting into a real wedding dress because I was being hidden in some room with, like, heaters, and I was like, ‘It’s too hot in here, and my makeup’s melting off.’”

Everyone in Palm Royale Wears High Fashion—Except Kaia Gerber
The show’s costume designer explains why
What made this specific late-’60s moment interesting to work with?
“It was exciting, because there is so much documentation of that time in fashion, and the 1960s in general—but Palm Beach was kind of this bubble. We had the feminine uprising and counterculture and antiwar movements happening in L.A. and New York, whereas Palm Beach was this untouched bubble of people bothered by nothing other than their martinis and their golf game. They’re a fun and plastic society.”

Oreo Just Dropped a New Flavor That Could Low-Key Be Its Best Yet
What will you dip it in?
Oreo just gave us all one more reason to look forward to spring.
On Wednesday, the dessert giant announced it’s releasing a limited-release cookie that will make anyone who likes a cinnamon-sweet flavor happy with the introduction of the Oreo Churro flavor.
The cookie, Oreo shared in a statement with Food & Wine, features a “fried dough flavored cookie with churro flavor creme and delicious sugar inclusions.”

12 Next-Level French Fries You Need to Make at Home
Boil, fry, and top your favorite salty snack with these pro french fry preparations.
French fries, done well, are truly one of life’s greatest pleasures. Crispy on the outside, pillowy and potato-y on the inside, they can be eaten plain, with dipping sauces, or loaded with toppings. As an homage to what we recognize as the perfect side dish, we’ve rounded up some of our best recipes, including a currywurst poutine (yes, please) and oven fries dusted with fresh herbs and Pecorino Romano. Read on for our absolute favorite French fry riffs.

The Best Winter Honeymoon Destinations for an Off-Season Escape
While a wedding day is often described as the “best day of your life,” a honeymoon is an opportunity to go on the best vacation of your life. Not only do you get to bask in the afterglow of love and marriage with your new spouse, but it’s a socially acceptable time to take off work, go on an adventure, and be absolutely indulgent for a week or two. While couples would traditionally go on their honeymoons straight from their wedding reception, that’s not always the case today. Some couples now delay their vacation a few months so they can travel to a favorite destination at the optimum time, or take a mini-moon (aka a smaller, possibly more local trip) after the wedding and a larger honeymoon at their first anniversary.

Everything You Need to Know About Christian Dior’s New Look Silhouette
Fashion as entertainment has expanded from the runway to the big screen and now the smaller one. While clothes play important supporting roles in Feud: Capote vs. the Swans, it is the main plot line in The New Look. The series takes its name from a silhouette that emerged from Christian Dior’s debut collection. Presented on February 12, 1947, in the midst of a positively Arctic winter, his curvy silhouette was an unparalleled success both on a symbolic level (it represented the rebirth of the French couture after the German occupation of World War II), and on a commercial one. “At the time of the ‘New Look’ an American journalist wrote that “M. Dior is the man who can lower forty million hems by lowering his pencil,” noted The New York Times.

Shōgun Fashions Its Own Feudal Japan
When Carlos Rosario was first approached about costuming the FX show Shōgun, he was hesitant. He much preferred working on feature films, which, to him, present a narrative structure that’s more clear. But it was his parents—who fondly remembered the 1980s iteration of Shōgun—who changed his mind. Ultimately, Rosario decided he didn’t want to revisit the ’80s interpretation of the James Clavell novel. In fact, he didn’t want to revisit any Japanese films or TV at all.

10 Best Light Beers for Summer
Pack your cooler with these easy-drinking, refreshing beers for the warm weather ahead.
Summertime’s long days and warm nights make it the ideal season for knocking back some cold ones. Generally, the summer period between Memorial Day and Labor Day marks peak season for alcohol consumption, and beer is often the drink du jour for holidays like the Fourth of July and summer barbecues.
With nearly 10,000 breweries operating in the U.S. today, there are more choices on store shelves and restaurant menus than ever before.

Luke Evans on Foray Into Fashion, Travel Must-Haves and Why Men Should Never Skip Leg Day
The actor’s latest endeavor is BDXY, an apparel and lifestyle brand which debuts this month with a collection of T-shirts, swim trunks and accessories
When Luke Evans goes on vacation, there are only two things he needs: a good beach and a good T-shirt (okay, and maybe a few other things too, but more on that later).
That’s the inspiration behind the actor’s latest endeavor, an apparel and lifestyle brand dubbed BDXY, which debuted this month with a capsule collection of figure-flattering T-shirts, swim trunks, underwear, candles and seaside-inspired accessories. Playing off the words “bold” and “sexy,” BDXY (pronounced “B-D-X-Y”) launches with a unisex tee as its hero product, inspired by classic Hollywood style.

Palm Royale: The key differences between the book and the new TV show
Palm Royale seems to blend Slim Aarons glamour and 60s interiors, pastel costumes of dreams by Alix Friedberg and the glossy aesthetic we’ve come to expect from Apple TV
The series, which has so far been wowing viewers with it’s pastel aesthetic and ’60s scenes, is loosely based on Juliet McDaniel’s novel Mr and Mrs Pie (2018). Similarly to the show, the plot is set in 1970, when boozy society dame Maxine is suddenly free and single after her husband walks out on her.
However while in the series Maxine is a former beauty queen who is fixated on social climbing in the Palm Beach society, the book follows a different plot.

A British Woman Bought a Brooch for 20 Pounds. It Sold for Nearly £10,000.
Flora Steel, an art historian living in Rome, bought the brooch 36 years ago at an antiques fair. She realized its value only last year while watching YouTube.
Flora Steel, an art historian, bought a silver brooch more than three decades ago at an antique fair in the English Midlands for about 20 pounds, or about $35 at the time. After wearing it on the lapel of one of her favorite coats for several years, she put it away in a closet, where it went untouched for two decades.
That was until last year, when Ms. Steel was scrolling through YouTube on her phone and came across a 2011 BBC story about a brooch being presented on the television show “Antiques Roadshow.”

The Dinner Party That Started the Harlem Renaissance
A century ago, a dinner party in New York set in motion one of the most influential cultural movements of the 20th century.
It was an interracial soirée that included intellectual and artistic luminaries.
It was barely covered at the time. But we explored archival material and have reconstructed much of it.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice… Beetlejuice returns in first look at Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder
Also see Catherine O’Hara reprising her role from the cult classic alongside Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux.
It’s been 36 years, but once again, the juice is loose.
After reprising Batman in last year’s The Flash, Michael Keaton returns to another iconic role in Entertainment Weekly’s exclusive first look at Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to director Tim Burton’s cult hit.
Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara also reprise their roles as Lydia and Delia Deetz, respectively, while Burton’s Wednesday star Jenna Ortega plays Lydia’s daughter Astrid, and The Leftovers star Justin Theroux plays Rory. Further details on Rory remain under wraps for now — unlike the titular “bio-exorcist.”

6 Kitchen Backsplash Trends Designers Are Loving This Year
The latest backsplash trends prove that this kitchen design staple is anything but boring.
Few elements of your home pull double duty quite as effectively as a kitchen backsplash. Not only does a backsplash protect your walls, but it also serves as a focal point of kitchen décor. A backsplash has the power to completely transform the look and feel of your kitchen, and there are a few emerging backsplash styles that are giving classic white subway tiles a run for their money. We asked interior designers to weigh in on the latest backsplash trends that are bound to inspire your next kitchen renovation.

Everything to Know Before Visiting Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park is a must-visit — here’s what you need to know before you go.
There are few natural wonders that can challenge the great jaw-dropping size and beauty of the Grand Canyon. It is a mile deep and 10 miles across, showcasing an eye-catching array of layered red rock that reveals millions of years of geological history in a single glance. It is a wonder that is so bold, big, and beautiful that it marks planet Earth in a scar that can be seen from space.
To see the 277-mile canyon, you should visit Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona, a protected area that contains most of the canyon and the Colorado River that runs through it.

[Photo Credit: studio-two.co.uk]

• T LOunge