Page 47Cropped jacket,
£29.99, zara.comORANGE
IN EVERY row — vertical, horizontal and even diagonal
— you’ll find items that coordinate perfectlyStyle Sudoku
TOP ROW
Jumper, £225, chintiandparker.
com; Dress, £165, ghost.co.uk;
Bag, £28, oliverbonas.com
MIDDLE ROW
Shorts, £49, hobbs.co.uk;
Shoes, £99, kurtgeiger.com;Stripey top, £17.95,
seasaltcornwall.com
BOTTOM ROW
Swimsuit, £14.99, newlook.com;
Earrings, £75, pebblelondon.
com; Skirt, £119, whistles.com
AMY KESTERStyling: AMY KESTER1
LIGHTWEIGHT and soft,
this vintage-inspired
jacket (£89, hush-uk.
com) is a great piece for
your wardrobe. Thanks to
its cropped length and
zip front, it looks perfect
paired with floaty
dresses or thrown over
a T-shirt and trousers.2
MADE of 100 per cent
cotton, this indigo-dyed
jacket (£165, toa.st/uk) is
a chic alternative to the
typical styles. The pockets
and buttons add a touch of
fun to the simple cut. The
denim is sturdy but not stiff,
making it a durable option
for everyday wear.3
THIS utility-style jacket
(£69.95, gap.co.uk) is
made from a premium
non-stretch denim, which
saves water when it is
washed and is part of Gap’s
eco-friendly Washwell
programme. The flattering
style has a tie belt to
accentuate the waist.1 trend, 3 styles
DENIM JACKETS
Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 2019femailMAGAZINE 47
days. Just about every relation-
ship between young persons of
my acquaintance appears to have
been started on the internet
where sex comes first and, if it
works, friendship follows.
But things have changed for my
generation as we got older. After
years of marriage, you realise one
man in your life really isn’t enough
— especially when you don’t
share the same hobbies.
So you find someone who does,
and who’s married himself, and
he agrees to be your ‘walker’ for
watching rom-coms and all those
things your husband hates.
I don’t know if it’s just that I
can’t be bothered with fumbling
sexual encounters when there’s
someone at home who never dis-
appoints, or if people my age have
grown out of the need for romance
or jealousy, but it works.
MAYBE HARRY WAS
ON TO SOMETHING
BRIAN VINER
Long before
Billy Crystal said
it, Charlie Chap-
lin did. no man
can spend time
with a woman
without privately
measuring ‘thepotentiality of sex’ with her.
Mind you, he was a famous old
goat. We’re not all like that. or
are we?
When I spend an evening out
with a woman who’s not my wife,
even one of my sisters, I’m always
vaguely aware that other people
probably think we’re an item.
Do women think that way?
Probably not.
occasionally, as this paper’s
film critic, I also like to get a
female perspective on a movie
I’m seeing.
My wife Jane can’t always come,
so from time to time I ask one of
her dear friends.
They’re my dear friends
too, and so are their husbands,
but asking them directly
feels awkward.
I ask Jane to ask them on my
behalf... like being whisked back
to the school playground, circa
1969, and asking Alison English if
she’ll ask Helen Plumtree if she
likes me.
So maybe, while I wouldn’t go
nearly as far as Billy Crystal
and Charlie Chaplin, they were
on to something.
on the other hand, my two
sons have lots more close
female friends than I ever did — a
legacy of going to a co-educa-
tional school.
My old-fashioned, northerngrammar school for boys stunted
my emotional growth for no more
than about three decades.I’M GAY BUT A FEMALE
FRIEND FELL FOR ME
IAIN DALE
I SHouLD tell
you that I dance
on the other side
of the ballroom
from Harry.
In some ways
it’s easier for gay
men to have close
friends who are
female — the yucky side of things
will hopefully never intervene.
Having said that, I did have a
very good woman friend who I
was constantly warned was
deeply in love with me.
I pooh-poohed it, but it turned
out to be correct. Awkward.
In the gay world, sex doesn’t
complicate friendships so much.
In my younger days I had several
flings with people who then
became friends, and remain so to
this day.
And then there’s the other side
of the coin. I have a friend I’ve
known for close on 20 years.
I’m happily married, he’s been
with his partner for more than a
decade. But we both know there’s
something there.
We’ve never acted on it. If we
had, would our friendship
have been affected? I doubt it
very much.
O IaIn Dale is appearing at the
edinburgh Fringe from July 31-
august 11 in Iain Dale all Talk.ROMANCE COULD RUIN
OUR FRIENDSHIP
REBECCA
WALLERSTEINER
I HAvE lots of
male friends and
insist that pla-
tonic friendships
between the sexes
can flourish.
But things have
changed in recent
years, and men
are more careful
since #MeToo. It’s still perfectly
possible to be friends, or to be
lovers, but young people these
days insist on clarifying which is
the case.
A young man I know asked my
permission to kiss me in a taxi.
I declined — he wasn’t for me,
not to mention being around 15
years younger — and I couldn’t
help remembering how in my 20s
and 30s, men his age used to
pounce in taxis (or lifts) without
a word of warning.
ultimately, the core of male
and female friendships hasn’t
really changed.
I’d guess if I wanted to sleep
with my male mates, nearly all
would be willing, as men tend to
be more opportunistic (particu-
larly artists, who are invariably as
randy as bunnies).
Women are more cautious. A
dashing, well-known Tv pre-
senter has been a close friend of
mine for more than ten years —
like Harry and Sally, I’d say we
have a certain erotic tension, but
we have never slept together.
I value his friendship too much
to risk romance.Should friends become
lovers? Billy Crystal and
Meg Ryan star as Harry
and Sally in the classic
1989 rom-comPicture: CASTLE ROCK/NELSON/COLUMBIA / THE KOBAL COLLECTION