13 Flat White (#litres_trial_promo)
14 Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels (#litres_trial_promo)
15 Is It My Go on the iPad Now? (#litres_trial_promo)
16 Amy Winehouse, RIP (#litres_trial_promo)
17 Going Green, Finally (#litres_trial_promo)
18 Will House Prices Ever Stop Going Up? (#litres_trial_promo)
19 The Speed of Things (#litres_trial_promo)
20 Where We Are Headed (#litres_trial_promo)
Appendix (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Going Up, Going Down (#u83ea2665-dfc5-55b9-b89d-a5b454d29081)
When I edited the Sunday Times Style magazine, the ‘Going Up, Going Down’ column became something of a cult read. Readers furiously measured themselves against it: were they still wearing one of the trends we would cruelly consign to ‘Going Down’? Were they already ordering the cocktail that we would crown in ‘Going Up’? A shortcut to everything that is in and out of favour, like the best journalism the column was born of instinct, wit and inside knowledge. Or just how ravaging our hangovers were on a Thursday morning.
This is my version of what it’s like being in your forties.
UP
Boden
Strangely good these days
Zoopla and Rightmove
Better than sex
Food
OBSESSED. When your buckwheat risotto says more about you than your vintage Prada
Witness the fitness
The Iron Man entry form is the new trophy wife; sleeveless dresses the status symbol of acceptable upper-arm tone
Paaarty!
The skills are honed
Our kids
A confetti canon of love on permanent explosion
Home economics
What you used to spend on shoes, you now spend on mid-century modern furniture
Wise, but not smug
Yep – we know stuff now. But we still want to know more
Cool
Still like it. Love it actually
DOWN
Hangovers
Crucifying. And getting worse
Luxury labels
So new money. Unless it’s Gucci. Or Balenciaga. Do keep up
Having it all
Overrated
Smartphones
Remember that time when we used to go places with people and do things? Walk along the street without bumping into people? No, me neither
Botox denial
Don’t get left behind, pruneface
God
Who?
Parenting
Torturous, difficult, exhausting, boring, life-limiting, endless
Money
Suddenly, irritatingly, an issue