The Sunday Times - UK (2021-12-19)

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▲ RUPAUL DECOR

Wall hangings of the

main stage from Drag Race

now available. Zoom

background eleganza

extravaganza!

Cooling down

Reclaim the

‘tramp stamp’!

There’s a long list of insulting labels

associated with the lower-back tattoo.

But no more! In 2021 the tatt is finally

getting exonerated as Y2K-obsessed

Gen Zers rebrand it for a sex-positive

generation. Every paparazzi magnet of

the 1990s and 2000s seemed to have

one: Jessica Alba (bow), Britney Spears

(fairy), Drew Barrymore (cherubs),

Nicole Ritchie (cross), Lindsay

Lohan (“la bella vita”). Earlier this

year the knitwear label Paloma

Wool launched a capsule collection

inspired by the tribal-style tattoo

motifs of the era. The Collina Strada

designer Hillary Taymour told The

Cut that the belts for her most recent

show were “not only a nod to Y2K

trends, but also a cheeky gesture to a

lot of my friends, some of whom are

embracing the tattoos they got as teens,

and others who are revisiting the idea

now”. As for putting on those low-rise

jeans again? Still to be convinced.

Rice pudding,

tragic no more

Yes, there’s another retro pudding comeback to

add to the list. Step forward, rice pudding. We

don’t mean the sloppy stuff of your school years —

the elegant reimaginations on dessert menus today will make you

forget that. Think saffron rice pudding with blood orange ice cream

at Carmel, the hot new opening from the team behind Berber & Q.

Or rice pud served with a damson puree and yoghurt sorbet from

eco-restaurant Warehouse, on the ground floor of the Conduit

members’ club. Want to give it a go at home? “Try adding a splash of

rose-water right at the last minute to give it a fragrant life. Finish

with a spoonful of rhubarb and vanilla jam,” says the chef Skye

Gyngell, who sells takeaway rice pudding at her Notting Hill deli,

Spring to Go. For extra indulgence, the pastry chef Fanny Svensson

at Warehouse recommends folding your pudding, cold, through

whipped cream. “It makes it light and fluffy.” Yum.

Heating up

The Barometer

▲ POMELOS

The alt-citrus fruit

suddenly cropping up on

every menu. Edgy

▲ A-LIST MYOPIA

Every celeb d’un certain

âge suddenly wearing the

same frames. Did Oprah

send out a memo?

▲ INVISIBLE

MAN

COUTURE

Vetements

meets HG

Wells

meets ...

weird

▼ MONO-RESTAURANTS

Restaurants devoted to

one thing (avocados,

cereal, baked beans etc):

cease and desist

▼ COMFORT TV

Now all about ‘comfort

creators’ who live stream

themselves cleaning,

journalling, food shopping

... whatever does it for ya

▼ CORPORATE NOSE RINGS

Bye-bye Jack Dorsey and

bye-bye the tech bro

piercing, please

▼ WINDOWSILL HERBS

New doomed-to-fail

kitchen project: mushroom

growing kits. Looks good

for a week

Additional words: Hannah Evans. Photographs: Getty Images, Focus Features/Entertainment Pictures, @gwynethpaltrow/Instagram, @palomawool/Instagram

The Sunday Times Style • 5