Dionne Warwick,
queen of Twitter
If you think all of Twitter is a toxic cesspool,
follow the joyful stylings of @dionnewarwick. The
81-year-old soul legend has become a cult follow
over the pandemic thanks to her endless stream
of no-nonsense grandma-energy tweets. “Google
me if you are curious about my life. I am not writing
all of that.” “I am always tweeting while wearing a
black, vintage, sequin gown ... as divas do.”
(Her account was even the subject of an art
exhibition in the US earlier this year.) Coming
soon is Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, a
documentary about her life that deep dives into her
pre-Twitter glory days. Expect seriously good
outfits — Warwick was friends with the likes of
Pierre Cardin, Oscar de la Renta and Yves Saint
Laurent. The doc is currently making the rounds
on the film festival circuit, and features
contributions from Elton John, Stevie Wonder,
Snoop Dogg and Bill Clinton alongside archive
footage of Whitney Houston, Warwick’s cousin.
Next on the agenda is a TV biopic series, with
Teyana Taylor potentially playing the star. Oh, and
she has now joined TikTok, obviously.Everyone’s talking about...
Licorice Pizza
No, it’s not some weird new hipster cocktail bar, but the
next indie flick that we’re all going to be obsessed with.
Written and directed by Boogie Nights’s Paul Thomas
Anderson, Licorice Pizza is a feelgood nostalgia-fest
about two misfits falling in love in 1970s Los Angeles.
While it boasts a gloriously old-school soundtrack
(Bowie! Nina Simone! Sonny & Cher!) and A-list cameos
from the likes of Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn, the true
revelations are the movie’s leads, Cooper Hoffman
(above, son of the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman)
and Alana Haim (top, of alt sibling girl band Haim fame).
The pair’s awkwardly magnetic chemistry has won raves
since opening last month in the States (a not too shabby
92 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes), and the film has
broken the box-office record for the best pandemic-era
debut for an indie film. Get thee to the cinema as soon as
it arrives in the UK, on New Year’s Day.Yes, hotel merch is a thing now
Guilty of “accidentally” bringing back the robe and slippers
from your hotel? Help is at hand. Claridge’s has released its
own limited-edition embroidered pyjamas. The Ritz Paris has
a logo-stamped collection with Frame, while the Mandarin
Oriental has tapped Aquazzura to put a sexy spin on its in-suite
slippers. Over at the Palm Heights hotel in Grand Cayman,
rising star designer Emily Bode has repurposed the classic
yellow and white stripy towels into jackets. And Tombolo
Collection, maker of fashion’s favourite Hawaiian shirts, has
designed pieces for the A-lister hotspot Le Sirenuse, Positano.
Add to cart, pronto. Jumper, £480, Frame x Ritz Paris;
frame-store.com. Slippers, £251, Aquazzura x Mandarin
Oriental; shopmo.com. Pyjamas, £225; claridges.co.ukFRAMEX RITZ PARIS CLARIDGE’S4 • The Sunday Times Style