From the category archives:

Icons, Interviews & Features

A girl needs a little organic satin, lace and pearls… Take some fluttering, sensual flights of fantasy gowns in organic silk, satin and lace; a Hollywood dream girl called Rachel McDowall, star of Mama Mia, The Producers and Chicago – and an extraordinary location steeped in movie history – The Old Cinema Museum in Kennington, [...]

{ 2 comments }

 Natural Retreat

The Recycled Tree House

by Alison Jane Reid on June 1, 2011

Tucked into an ancient wood and just a stroll from the beach, Lisa and LincoLn’s new home on the Isle of Wight sits perfectly in its environment. It’s hard to believe it was once a tired old bungalow. On one of those halcyon, late-summer afternoons, the solent resembles an Impressionist painting. there’s a solitary yacht sail fluttering in [...]

{ 0 comments }

Post image for Marianne Faithfull : A Modern Helen of Troy

Marianne Faithfull : A Modern Helen of Troy

by Alison Jane Reid on March 31, 2011

She was the First Lady of rock’n’roll and has been described as the kind of woman ‘men once went to war for’. But could Marianne Faithfull finally be settling down? Alison Jane Reid talks to her about Carla Bruni, Mick Jagger – and why she’s giving up on romance… Baroness Marianne Evelyn Faithfull – singer, [...]

{ 0 comments }

Margo Marrone, founder of the Organic Pharmacy, isn’t your average green revolutionary. She adores ‘glamour and glitter and heels’, and wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without putting on her makeup first.  In This feature for The Times, Alison Jane Reid talks to the green entrepeneur regarded as a modern alchemist. We also have an exclusive [...]

{ 4 comments }

Post image for Did You Know That…?

Did You Know That…?

by Alison Jane Reid on March 2, 2011

Did you know that Jane Seymour, Bond girl, accomplished painter, and green gardener, is the original vintage queen? When Jane was a struggling actress, and had very little money, she would scour London’s flea markets and junk shops for interesting and exquisite second-hand clothes. ‘We didn’t call them vintage back then’ she laughs. Later, when [...]

{ 0 comments }

Post image for Simon Callow : Don’t Call Me Gareth

Simon Callow : Don’t Call Me Gareth

by Alison Jane Reid on February 24, 2011

He is best loved as the ebullient bon viveur of Four Weddings and a Funeral. But, as Alison Jane Reid discovers in this exclusive interview, the real Simon Callow is an even greater force of nature… Simon Callow is a very popular man. Alas, when I tell him that at 61, he is more of a [...]

{ 1 comment }

Post image for Ashley Jensen : The First Lady of Funny

Ashley Jensen : The First Lady of Funny

by Alison Jane Reid on February 11, 2011

She was Ricky Gervais’s scatty sidekick and now has Hollywood in stitches, too. Alison Jane Reid speaks to Ashley Jensen about feminism, fish ’n’ chips and… er… the invention of the vibrator…    Ashley Jensen, Princess of British Comedy, makes the art of comic timing look simple. Of course, it isn’t at all. It is rather [...]

{ 1 comment }

Post image for Mel Howse : The Eyes Of The World Are Watching

Mel Howse : The Eyes Of The World Are Watching

by Alison Jane Reid on January 17, 2011

Can incendiary thought-provoking art bring an end to poverty, from the dust towns of Afghanistan to the forgotten tenements of Liverpool and London’s East End? If Mel Howse has anything to do with it, the answer is yes. A master glass painter and Queen Elizabeth Scholar from Chichester, Howse looks spookily like a young Elizabeth [...]

{ 14 comments }

Post image for Did You Know That… ?

Did You Know That… ?

by Alison Jane Reid on January 6, 2011

Did you know that Ted Danson, film icon and thoughtful environmentalist loves to tap dance? He also has a weakness for raw organic chocolate, the darker the better. Take a look at the campaigning organisation he helped to set up to protect the world’s oceans  www.oceana.org . . . . . . .

{ 0 comments }

Post image for Sir David Attenborough : A Man For All Seasons

Sir David Attenborough : A Man For All Seasons

by Alison Jane Reid on December 25, 2010

He may be 82, but David Attenborough has lost none of his enthusiasm and passion for the natural world. In an exclusive interview, he tells Alison Jane Reid why he will never retire…    Rain has begun to fall as I arrive at Sir David Attenborough’s 19th-century cottage in Richmond. ‘Come in, come in,’ he says, [...]

{ 2 comments }