Curators are “delighted” to have secured a little black dress designed by Chanel in 1926 to open an exhibition on the success of the garment over almost a century. Beyond The Little Black Dress, which launches at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh next month, will bring together more than 60 looks from collections and designers around the world. It opens with a long-sleeved black day dress designed by Gabrielle Coco Chanel in 1926, which was hailed by US Vogue as “the frock that all the world will wear”. The silk crepe dress is on loan from the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) in Berlin. Georgina Ripley, principal curator of modern and contemporary design at National Museums Scotland, said: “The dress is incredibly significant for its own merit anyway, but for our exhibition it’s really pivotal because we are opening the exhibition with the idea that this is kind of the birth of the little black dress. “The well-known story within fashion history is of Chanel being the inventor of the little black dress and 1926 being the date, and that’s because a very simple long-sleeved day dress of silk crepe de Chine was featured in US Vogue in the October edition and it called this dress the ‘frock that all the world will wear’. “The dress that we have on loan from the museum in Berlin is not the exact dress that featured in that Vogue article, but it is the exact same style, made from the same sort of fabric, and it’s incredibly rare to actually find little black day dresses from that date in collections. “It’s been amazing for us to be able to locate one, to be able to tell this really important story within the history of the little black dress.” Vogue compared the dress to Henry Ford’s model T motor car, linking it to the idea of the democratisation of fashion, although it would still have been very expensive and only affordable to the wealthy. The dress drew on the functionality of menswear and of clothes worn by those working in the service industry, such as maids and shop workers. Chanel’s contemporary Paul Poiret described the style as “poverty de luxe” – things that have humble origins elevated to couture-style clothing. While black was already in fashion before 1926 and other little black dresses had been created, something about Chanel’s design was seen as being an important moment in the modernisation of women’s fashion. The exhibition was originally due to open in 2020 but was pushed back due to Covid, and curators were “thrilled” they could still borrow the dress from the museum in Berlin this year. Ripley said: “This is such a natural place to start this story because it’s known in fashion history and we also wanted to confront head on that it really is just a moment that has been picked upon as the origin of the little black dress, but it would be really strange to tell that story without having that dress. “We had our heart set on telling the story in that way and opening with this dress, so we’re delighted we’ve been able to see that mission through.” The exhibition looks at fashions through the decades, from early pieces by Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior and Jean Muir to contemporary designers and brands such as Gareth Pugh, Simone Rocha and Off-White. Areas of the exhibition are dedicated to highlighting black British designers whose work explores both blackness in terms of identity and the role the colour plays in crafting a futuristic, sci-fi aesthetic. It also considers how perceptions of the colour black differ in a global context. The exhibition runs from 1 July until 29 October. Read More Jennifer Lawrence steps in to clarify theory about her Cannes footwear Qantas ditches mandatory heels and embraces make-up for flight attendants of all genders Love Island line up: Meet the contestants and couples of the 2023 summer edition Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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Despite holding the record for the second-fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began, Kate and Kay Allinson – the brains behind Pinch of Nom – are relatively private people. They don’t do many interviews and you won’t see them whipping up a storm on daytime cooking shows, yet the duo seem remarkably comfortable fielding questions about their latest cookbook, Pinch Of Nom: Budget. Kate, 52, is the softer-spoken of the two – she’s a trained chef – while Kay, 37, is more outgoing and talkative. The two have been together for 18 years and married for two. Their clashing personalities might come as a surprise, but they make it work – for example, by having two freezers. “One is my freezer, one is Kate’s – there’s a big difference between the two of them,” Kay says matter-of-factly. “I’ve got ADHD, so she has to put up with a lot. Kate’s the tidy, organised one – if I put it this way, if I’m putting the food shopping away, she’s like, ‘You’re not putting the food shopping away, I’m putting it away, because it’ll go away in some sort of order’.” Kay works with “lots of noise, lots of mess, lots of creativity, disorganisation”, she admits. “And Kate is the polar opposite – everything has to be quiet, everything has to be neat and tidy. I think it works because we complement each other in different ways. “You [she says to Kate] make sure I actually get through the day without harming myself, and I give you the ideas – so it works.” The two have made an empire with their healthy cookbooks. The first Pinch Of Nom cookbook came out in 2019 and sold 210,506 copies in the first week – the only non-fiction title to outstrip that is Spare by the Duke of Sussex. Their fanbase is loyal, and they have 1.2 million followers on Instagram – but don’t call them diet books (Kay doesn’t use the D-word, saying: “I hate it”.) Now, the duo are releasing their first book specifically geared towards wallet-friendly recipes – which felt like a natural progression. “Most of the recipes we’ve ever come up with, one of the main goals – apart from it being actual food you want to eat, because that always helps when you’re making a recipe book – is they’re easy to make, but also that they don’t break the bank,” Kay says. Kate adds to that thought: “Given our audience from day one, our audience has always been very family orientated.” “And running a family is expensive enough, especially at the minute – thank you Brexit,” Kay sighs. “Food inflation is not fun for anyone at the minute – it’s ridiculous out there, it’s crazy. The amount of people that rely on food banks – food poverty is a really big issue.” While there are no price guarantees with their recipes, most dishes come to under £2 to make and many cost even less – busting the misconception that healthy eating is expensive. “Whatever it is, you can make it expensive – there’s ways and means to do things,” Kay says. “If you want to do healthy food organically, it’s not going to come cheap. If you want to go to Daylesford Organic for your food, that’s fine. But most real people that live on a day-to-day basis will shop at one of the big four supermarkets or the big two discounters. We all know who they are. And we want people to be able to buy all the recipes and the ingredients in one place and not have to traipse around everywhere. “We want to make it as easy as possible – people are time-poor. Maintaining a family and making sure everyone is fed and looked after is hard enough – the last thing you need is to traipse around the big posh supermarket trying to find weird ingredients.” This could be the couple’s secret to success – they’re refreshingly normal, and even talk about their own “bumpy journey” with healthy eating. “We said last week, we’re going to meal plan all week – what didn’t we do? We didn’t get round to cooking the meals, because we’re busy doing other stuff – because that always happens,” Kay says – but all wasn’t lost, because they used their number one tip for keeping healthy and saving money: the freezer. “It’s always handy to have something in the freezer or in the fridge that on that day when you come home from work and you cannot be arsed – everyone has that day or that week. To be fair, it’s usually a couple of days,” says Kay. “Getting something out of the freezer that you know is going to taste good, you only have to heat it up – you don’t have to make it. Just having that reassurance that you can fall back on it.” Kate and Kay estimate there are around 3,000 Pinch of Nom recipes, created by themselves and their team. With such a vast number, do they ever get writer’s block? “We do get stuck for inspiration, quite often,” Kate admits – and in those scenarios, their first port of call is going to the Facebook group “and look to see what people want”. Kay jumps in: “We’ll ask them what they want to see. I used to post every week in the Facebook group without fail, ‘OK, tell us what dishes you want. What do you want a Nom version of?’ “Don’t get me wrong, there were some ridiculous requests – there is no way the chocolate cake from Matilda was ever going to be Nommable, that is just not going to happen. As much as I would love to be a magician and I would love for that to be real.” Other suggestions are a bit more feasible – and they’ve seen a big rise in demand for veggie recipes. “A lot of people – we’re the same, it’s not that we don’t like meat, but we’ve made a conscious choice to eat less meat, mainly because of cost. Meat costs a fortune, and if you can get your protein from plants, then yay – it’s a good thing,” Kay says. “So we’ve had an awful lot of veggies recently, or people just wanting to cut down on meat – and I’m assuming it’s because it’s friggin’ expensive.” Another trend that will never go away? “We still get loads of fakeaway requests,” Kay says. “Fakeaways are never going to disappear, ever.” Kay adds: “We like to give people a decent amount of stuff that isn’t quite as calorific as it would ordinarily be, but enough so you have something to look forward to in the week. Everyone needs a bit of a treat, because it’s no fun – when people think of diets, they think of lettuce. I do, and I’m like – it’s a bit boring. Sod that.” ‘Pinch Of Nom: Budget’ by Kate and Kay Allinson (Bluebird, £17.99). Read More Get set for Wimbledon with top pastry chef’s strawberry recipes The Norwegian sparkling wine aged at the bottom of the sea I was an air fryer sceptic – now I can’t stop using it Ditch Deliveroo – make these healthy, 30-minute pizzas instead Three quick and easy vegan fakeaway recipes The dish that defines me: Eddie Huang’s Taiwanese beef noodle soup

As a very proud water sign, I will always find a way to be in, near, on, or around a body of water. It’s how I center myself to feel peaceful and invigorated, or when I feel like reenacting The Little Mermaid. Despite being chronically dehydrated, my connection to water is boundless. I always feel my best near a body of water, so when I can’t make it to the water’s edge, I’ve found perfume to be the next best thing. Various fragrance brands are trying to bottle that cleansing energy in all forms, whether its water from an ocean, rain after a monsoon, or even a large infinity pool. Wanting to smell ‘wet’ is the new wave; the sweet spot between a ‘skin scent’ and a water scent.

If you’ve clicked yourself to this page, then you’re here for all the need-to-know info on Nordstrom‘s biggest annual event — the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. This reader-favorite retailer’s highly anticipated shopping spree is back for 2023, meaning that a bevy of limited-time markdowns across premium brands in fashion, beauty, home, and beyond are just around the corner.