While having brunch with Quinn Shephard, the 22-year-old writer, director, and star of Tribeca Film Festival standout film Blame, I saw something I’d never seen before in over a decade of covering entertainers. I saw an actress ask for more bread.

That’s just one of the many reasons why Shephard has my attention. Her award-winning movie, which she started writing as a 15-year-old high school student in New Jersey and directed at the age of 20, is the main one. She stars as Abigail, a theatre-obsessed teenage outcast whose teacher Jeremy (Chris Messina) takes a liking to her. Too much of a liking? That’s how it looks to the popular, black-eyeliner-wearing Melissa (Nadia Alexander), who pretends not to care — but soon cares about nothing else.

The film is uncomfortable to watch, especially if you’ve ever been a teenage girl. When Melissa asks a high, horny guy in her class if he thinks she’s pretty, it’s as though her life depends on it. When Abigail gets a ride home from Jeremy, her hair soaked in rain, I could practically smell his Old Spice deodorant. And when we finally find out the source of Melissa’s anger, the trauma behind the tough exterior, we wonder how we even made it out of high school alive.

“It’s a story about girls,” Shephard tells me, before asking for that extra plate of carbohydrates. “The damage that can be done to young girls when they’re pushed into their sexuality too young, and in a way that isn’t in their control.”

Ahead, a few of the signs that this young woman is most likely the next big name in female filmmakers. Scratch that: the next big name in filmmakers.

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Soon, the world will get a deeper look into the mind and politics of Vladimir Putin. The Russian president occasionally grants interviews to the American media, but not very often, so it's interesting that we'll see two interviews with Putin next month. Regardless of how you feel about the Russian leader, he's a complicated, mysterious, and powerful player in global politics. Any insight into how he thinks or operates is sure to be fascinating.

One of these interviews will be with Megyn Kelly, who recently started her new gig at NBC. Page Six reports Kelly will travel to Russia for the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum scheduled for June 1 to 3.

An NBC spokesperson told Page Six Kelly will moderate a session of the Russian conference on stage with President Putin, the exact time and date of which will be announced later. They also revealed the conversation will "cover a wide range of global political and economic topics, including international trade agreements, cyber-security, and the impact of rising military tensions."

Then, Showtime will air a four-part interview special between filmmaker Oliver Stone and Putin. Simply titled The Putin Interviews, each episode will be one hour long, and the first will air June 12. In a tweet announcing the series Monday, Showtime said, "No topic is off limits."

No topic is off limits. The Putin Interviews, a revealing series of interviews between @TheOliverStone & Putin premieres 6/12. #Showtime pic.twitter.com/DUdiswypd0

— Showtime Doc Films (@SHO_Docs) May 1, 2017

Oliver told The Sydney Morning Herald, "It's not a documentary as much as a question and answer session. Mr. Putin is one of the most important leaders in the world and in so far as the United States has declared him an enemy – a great enemy – I think it's very important we hear what he has to say."

He was, of course, referring to the U.S. investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. In the promotional video Showtime tweeted, Stone asks Putin flat out, "Why did Russia hack the election?" Putin laughs in response. (On Tuesday, Putin said in a news conference that Russia didn't interfere in the U.S. election.)

On top of hacking, Stone's documentary will also touch on Putin's relationship with U.S. presidents and Edward Snowden.

Obviously, both these interviews will be must-see TV moments.

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Hillary Clinton is back in the spotlight, and she's not holding back any punches.

On Tuesday, the former presidential candidate made an appearance at the Women for Women International's annual luncheon in New York City. Women for Women International is a non-profit dedicated to supporting women worldwide who have survived war, poverty, and injustice. For this year's event, they invited Clinton and CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour to discuss the topic of "women, peace, and security." But naturally, their conversation drifted a little towards some of the more expected topics: foreign policy, sexism in the United States, and the 2016 presidential election.

Clinton was fierce in her responses, looked relaxed, and even threw around one or two sarcastic jokes. Refinery29 was at the luncheon, and we rounded up the most important takeaways from Clinton's live interview.

She knows it's her fault she lost the election — but she doesn't only blame herself

For the first time since the 2016 election, Clinton spoke extensively about her crushing defeat.

She joked repeatedly about her upcoming memoir and said the process of writing the book has been "cathartic," but also "excruciating" and "painful."

When asked point-blank by Amanpour whether she blamed herself for losing the race, Clinton was frank.

"I take absolute personal responsibility," she said. "I was the candidate, I was the person who was on the ballot. I am very aware of the challenges, the problems, the shortfalls that we had."

But, she always pointed at the letter FBI Director James Comey sent to congressional leaders in late October, saying the agency was reopening an investigation into the emails she sent using her private email server during her time as secretary of state. (Two days later, he said there wasn't anything incriminating in the FBI's new information.)

Hillary Clinton: I was on the way to winning, until Comey's letter and Russian Wikileaks raised doubts in minds of voters who got scared off pic.twitter.com/jJq0MFDuV7

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 2, 2017

"[I was] on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me and got scared off," Clinton said at the luncheon.

She added, "If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president."

She addressed important women's issues, such as equal pay and gender equality

Clinton was emphatic on the importance of including women's issues when shaping U.S. foreign policy, and she called women's rights the "unfinished business of the 21st century."

After all, just yesterday there were reports that the White House would eliminate a core girls' education initiative championed by former First Lady Michelle Obama. (The administration later denied it was getting rid of the program.)

"I publicly request that this administration not end our efforts making women's rights and opportunities central to our foreign policy," Clinton said.

She also breached the subject of sexism and misogyny in the modern day United States. She believes it played a role in her defeat, but also that it permeates the everyday life of all women.

"It’s real — very much a part of the landscape politically, socially and economically," she said, before tackling the issue of equal pay.

Hillary Clinton talks about the impact of misogyny and sexism on the 2016 election. pic.twitter.com/ymvS2IqoEL

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 2, 2017

"We know it's a problem in our country," she said. "It's not something that exists far away. It exists right here. And it's really troubling to me that we are still grappling with how to deal in a economy to ensure that people who do the work that is expected of them get paid fairly and equally."

She cited a recent federal court ruling that said employers can take into account what women got paid in their previous jobs, which sets up women to be paid less than their male counterparts for the same role.

In the end, she highlighted that we are a time where women's rights have taken a backseat. But it's on everyone to fight against the possibility of rolling back the clock on gender equality.

Clinton said, "Whatever your political party, whatever your ideological bent, you got a stake as a woman and a man...in ensuring that the promise of equality that we hold out, and the efforts that so many men and women made over decades to secure it, don’t go backwards."

She also called out President Trump's Twitter habits

After mentioning the election, Amanpour joked that maybe the president would tweet about what Clinton had just said. Clinton didn't hold back.

"If he wants to tweet about me, I'm happy to be the diversion because we've got lots of other things to worry about," she said. "And he should worry less about the election, and my winning the popular vote, than doing some other things that would be important to the country."

She plans on being an "activist citizen"

Even though she addressed many thorny issues, Clinton's camp has emphasised she is not thinking of resuscitating her own political career. In fact, she says she is now part of the "resistance."

"I can't be anything other than who I am," Clinton said. "And I spent decades learning about what it would take to move our country forward — including people who clearly didn't vote for me — to try to make sure we dealt with a lot of these hard issues that are right around the corner like robotics and artificial intelligence and things that are really going to be upending the economy for the vast majority of Americans, to say nothing of the rest of the world."

She added, "So I'm now back to being an activist citizen and part of the resistance."

“I’m now back to being an activist citizen and part of the resistance,” @HillaryClinton says pic.twitter.com/V8s7ZEN5wR

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 2, 2017

You can watch the full interviewhere.

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For months now, we’ve seen unprecedented turnout for protests, marches, and rallies against the decisions of the Trump administration, from the Women’s March the day after his inauguration to the People’s Climate March which took place this past weekend. However, his next decision ignite the biggest anti-Trump demonstration ever.

According to multiple Politico sources, president Donald Trump will sign a religious liberty executive order on Thursday. Two senior administration officials have confirmed the forthcoming action, while one has noted that the plan is still under review. If this is to happen, the order would be signed on Thursday May 4, which is also the National Day of Prayer, a day in which the administration has already made plans to honour faith leaders.

Over the last several months, many conservative lawmakers have requested that Trump keep a promise made during the run of his campaign. Under this order, employers and other businesses would be granted the freedom to enforce discriminatory hiring practices if it conflicts with their religious beliefs and or associations.

According to Laura Durso of the progressive Center for American Progress and vice president of the LGBT Research Communications Project at CAP, such an order would provide "a license to discriminate across a wide range of federal programs." In an April interview with USA Today, Durso said, "You can’t have it both ways in this administration as much as they try to say 'we’re going to be a friend of the LGBT community, but give people the right to discriminate against them.”

This order would also be a victory for Vice President Mike Pence. Pushing for religious freedom was a major touchpoint during his time spent as governor in Indiana.

In February, The Nation 's Sarah Posner reported on a leaked draft of the forthcoming executive order. Posner noted, “The draft order seeks to create wholesale exemptions for people and organisations who claim religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity.” She also said it “seeks to curtail women’s access to contraception and abortion through the Affordable Care Act.”

This decision could be the most controversial order we’ve seen thus far.

If Trump signs a "Religious Freedom" exec order on Thurs, authorizing nationwide discrimination, we'll bring a protest like he's never seen.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 2, 2017

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As any self-identified worrier will tell you, our stress levels can peak at any given moment. A paper cut can bring on a wave of anxiety about whether or not our health care coverage is adequate. A spilled coffee on our laptops can instantly remind us that we’re unprepared for life’s many surprises. Surprises that include unrelated events like hurricanes and you know, alien invasions.

Basically we stress about being stressed. And while this habit is generally looked down on, one study has has another perspective.

According to a new scientific paper published in Social and Personality Psychology Compass, worrywarts need hide their true selves no more. Those who worry are far more likely to prepare for the future. Worriers prepare for worst case scenarios and tend to make healthier lifestyle decisions. It’s basically what we worriers have known all along.

“I think there’s a lack of understanding when people are made to feel bad for worrying, or told to ‘just stop worrying about it,’” said author Kate Sweeny Ph.D., an author of the study, to Health magazine. Sweeny is also a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside.

Health also noted that those who tend to fuss about the future also make better problem solvers and perform better in school and at work. Which makes sense, who hasn’t experienced that decidedly chill friend who assumes you’ll be the one to make brunch plans? Or that team member who never seems to pitch in during a group effort?

Though, like anything, there is a fine line: you can absolutely worry too much. If your prepared-for-everything mindset send you into a tailspin of depression or consistently triggers a fit of anxiety, then you’re not reaping the benefits.

“I think the primary message is that when you’re feeling worried, take a minute to think about whether those thoughts are productive — maybe there are things you should be doing and preparing for to prevent bad things from happening — and in that case it’s a good thing,” Sweeny said.

Therefore: productive worrying is good; poring over details about an important event or preparing for things that are in your control is a great thing. Consistently worrying about every worse-case scenario every hour of each day, of course, is not.

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Welcome to It’s Lit – a series of discussions about books. Join us every month to find out who’s reading what.

Picked as one of The Observer ’s ‘New Faces of Fiction’, Olivia Sudjic’s highly praised debut Sympathy has been described as “The first great Instagram novel.” “My narrator’s journey is partly based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Through the Looking Glass,” says Olivia, who started writing Sympathy in 2014. An ultra-modern thriller, Sudjic’s book explores intimacy and identity in the age of the internet. It tells the tale of 23-year-old millennial Alice and the object of her online affection, Mizuko, who she obsessively studies and subsequently stalks via social media. Smart, funny and provoking, this warped love story is every bit as addictive as your ex’s Instagram account.

Currently at work on her second novel, we visited Olivia at the flat in southeast London's Peckham she calls home to sneak a peek at her very precisely organised shelves. “For some reason, I prefer to keep fiction books in a private space, whereas non-fiction feels less revealing,” Olivia says. “I have cookery books too, but mainly for decoration.”

Who taught you to read?
I imagine it was my mum. And I remember Biff and Chip books at school and sitting on a big toy rabbit – the ‘reading rabbit’. I need one now as I’m so bad at finishing books I start. My attention span is getting really short.

What were your favourite books as a child?
Dr Seuss, Where The Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon, Five Minutes' Peace, The Velveteen Rabbit … I could go on but I might cry. When I got older, it was all about Roald Dahl. I was an only child who carried a large Sony tape player everywhere (no headphones) and I had a little briefcase full of books on tape. I still remember the creepy music from The Minpins.

What are you reading right now?
Close To The Knives by David Wojnarowicz. I went to a night of readings and performances organised by the brilliant writer Olivia Laing in honour of him and wanted to read his memoir right away. Also, Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole. I loved his novel Open City, and I follow him on Instagram, which is life-affirming. The first is a slim paperback that fits inside any bag so I read it when I’m out of the house. Cole’s is a sizeable hardback I keep by my bed – they’re essays.

When and where do you read?
Mainly on the underground to avoid eye contact.

Where do you buy your books? Do you have a favourite bookshop?
Burley Fisher Books in Haggerston, the London Review Bookshop by the British Museum and Daunt’s on Marylebone High Street. My local is the Review Bookshop in Peckham, which is a little gem.

How do you choose what to read next?
Well-read friends and The New Yorker 's Hilton Als' Instagram.

Have you ever belonged to a book club?
No. I would like to. A friend runs an informal poetry night where we each bring two poems and anonymously put them in a ‘poetry pot’ to pick from, read out and discuss. It’s great as I need a spur to read poetry sometimes.

Favourite poem?
the lesson of the moth by Don Marquis.

How do you organise your bookshelves?
Literary criticism and academic books I collected at university stay up in my attic, where I have a little desk and shelves. In my bedroom I keep fiction, short stories and poetry. I try to organise chronologically but the shelves are at random heights so some won’t fit where they need to. In the kitchen I have nine shelves of non-fiction, organised as: art, politics, history, philosophy, memoir, etc. I don’t have toilet books. I keep magazines stacked by my sofa because it makes me feel like a grown-up.

Are there any magazines you read regularly?
The New Yorker and the London Review of Books. I buy Granta, n+1 and The White Review whenever I can. I’ve also been known to buy New Scientist, AnOther and The Gentlewoman, but I try not to as I have hoarder instincts.

What do you use as a bookmark?
I fold! I’m sorry, I’m a terrible person.

Is there a book you’ve read more than once?
So many. I enjoy re-reading. I would have to, as I studied literature at university! The text I’ve probably read more than any other, for better or worse, is King Lear.

Which three books would you recommend to a stranger?
The New Odyssey by Patrick Kingsley. He’s a friend who now works as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times. Here he writes about the refugee crisis and everyone should buy it ASAP. It’s brilliant, brave reporting and very moving. I’m currently re-reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood for an event I’m speaking at about literature and resistance under Trump. I’m really looking forward to watching the TV version starring Elisabeth Moss. If you have anxiety or insomnia – and who doesn’t, given the news – Little History of the World by Ernst Gombrich is the most charming and calming book to read a chapter of before bed. The famous art historian wrote it in 1935, aged 26, over the course of just six weeks. Technically it’s for children, but it’s probably more comforting for adults. It’s full of little jokes and the Nazis banned it for being too pacifist. Reading it – or better yet, being read to from it – is like having a very soothing grandparent setting the world to rights.

Were there any books in particular that influenced Sympathy?
One was The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present by Shumon Basar, Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist. It was from there that I got the idea of the internet helping you to find someone identical to you. I reference it a few times in the book. I also tried to channel the paranoia of that text.

Another was James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, which was first published in 1824. It’s a psychological thriller, and my student copy has the word ‘meta’ written in pretty much every margin.

Then there’s Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass – the sequel and in many ways opposite to Alice in Wonderland. Alice finds this world not down a rabbit hole but by passing through a mirror into a house (Looking Glass House) that’s just like hers but in reflection.

After I finished my first draft I read Chris Kraus’ I Love Dick, Lydia Davis’ The End of The Story, and, though I’d seen the film version already, Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley. They didn’t influence as such, but editing the final version I had them in mind, giving me permission. I also had the surreal experience while reading Lydia Davis’ novel of encountering a thought in there that was almost identical to one I’d had in mine. I love it when that happens – when something specific occurs in two texts by accident, and it makes you feel connected to that writer. It happened recently with Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh. It’s like a flirty wink.

Olivia’s Reading List
The Twits by Roald Dahl
Close To The Knives by David Wojnarowicz
Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole
Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis
King Lear by William Shakespeare
The New Odyssey by Patrick Kingsley
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Little History of the World by Ernst Gombrich
The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present by Shumon Basar, Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
I Love Dick by Chris Kraus
The End of The Story by Lydia Davis
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

Sympathy by Olivia Sudjic is published by ONE/Pushkin Press and is also available on audible.co.uk.

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Frankie Says Relax, Nirvana's smiley face, Choose Life... a simple T-shirt can quickly become iconic. From the '70s, when the band tee you wore defined your subculture, to the '80s, when activist sentiments came through in AIDS awareness slogans, to the '90s, when tongue-in-cheek rave smileys filled dance floors, T-shirts have always been wearable art, a loud and proud way to assert your personal and political beliefs.

The wardrobe basic has undergone a renaissance in recent seasons: an army of street style stars stepped out in Vetements' SS16 £185 'DHL' T-shirt, Gucci's £320 logo tee fast became a must-have for every fashion influencer, while Dior's £490 (!) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie-inspired 'We Should All Be Feminists' number proved controversial.

These T-shirts are often a divisive subject, with many arguing that hundreds of pounds for a cotton T-shirt is simply not the same as saving up for a hand-crafted Italian leather handbag, and that these buzz-worthy trends are perfect examples of buyers mindlessly following the crowd. There have been raised eyebrows, too, about who could and should wear a statement T-shirt – can you don a Metallica tee if you’ve not listened to the band beyond their top three Spotify hits? Should political and ideological beliefs, like feminism, be co-opted by brands to sell product, or is wearing said product a statement in itself (albeit a very expensive one)?

One thing is for sure: The T-shirt isn’t going anywhere, so whether you sport an irreverent message, show your love for your favourite metalheads or invest in a cult favourite, here’s some inspiration for your threads. Click through to see the best T-shirts we’ve spotted on our feeds.

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As the days get lighter and the weather gets warmer, we're looking ahead to spring's balmy days spent in parks and at rooftop bars, and making sure our wardrobe follows suit. Think mules, lightweight jackets, pretty dresses, ruffles, and statement sleeves. But what about our work wardrobes?

There's something tricky about mastering your 9-5 attire come spring: it's no longer coat weather but not necessarily warm enough to go bare-legged; we're ready to shed autumnal tones but not quite there with summer's full-on colour clash.

When you've got ideas to pitch, international Skype calls to dial-in on, and snooze-worthy catch-ups with Jeff from accounts (sorry Jeff), the last thing you want to think about is an uncomfortable knit or dodgy hemline. Well, whether you're freelance, earn your keep at a creative agency, or bring it in the boardroom, we've picked the best pieces to reinvigorate your working week.

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It’s no understatement to say that the Met Gala is the single most important event on the annual fashion calendar. Not only does the soirée signal the opening night of a new exhibition at New York’s Costume Institute, it attracts an unprecedented number of celebrity guests and provides valuable funding needed to keep the Institute alive.

The purpose of the event means that there’s an intrinsic responsibility to balance art and commerce. This explains the eye-watering cost of an entrance ticket, which ranges from $30,000 to $50,000, the numerous high-profile sponsors and the reported minimum charge for a table, which starts at $275,000.

Still, guests are encouraged to express themselves creatively with a dress code linked to the theme of the upcoming exhibition. This year, the Institute pays tribute to the legendary Rei Kawakubo, a revered visionary whose label, Comme des Garçons, has indisputably changed the landscape of high fashion. Unlike her contemporaries, Kawakubo designs clothing which barely resembles clothing at all; fabrics are shredded, tattered and deconstructed; silhouettes are wildly exaggerated, padded, almost monstrous – to the point that models look barely human. It’s the antithesis of fashion as commerce, and that’s precisely why her vision is endlessly praised and achingly necessary.

The potential of this dress code was almost unlimited, so fans worldwide stayed up to see the looks from what promised to be the most avant-garde Met Gala ever. Needless to say, they were disappointed. As celebrity after celebrity made their entrance on the red carpet, it became increasingly clear that the brief had been, in almost every case, completely ignored.

Bloggers, editors, fashion aficionados and critics took to their social media accounts, simultaneously bemoaning a lack of originality and praising those who stuck to the theme. Some posted archive Comme des Garçons collections, highlighting the radical potential that failed to manifest. The skintight gowns, layers of chiffon and embellished trains on show were undeniably beautiful, but that wasn’t the point – they weren’t forward-thinking, they weren’t remotely inspiring and they definitely did not embody the radical spirit of Rei Kawakubo.

So what went wrong? The first – most obvious – problem is that barely anyone actually wore Comme des Garçons. Versace, Prada and Valentino all had a heavy presence on the red carpet, whereas some stars instead turned to Chanel or, in some cases, brands with a high street presence, like Topshop and H&M. The reasons for this vary; it may be that Comme des Garçons had simply chosen not to lend many looks for the Gala, which would be unsurprising considering Kawakubo’s famous reluctance to engage with press interviews and engagements.

The more likely reason, however, is brand sponsorship. As The Fashion Law pointed out, celebrities often have their tickets paid for by designers and are dressed by the label as part of the deal. This acts as valuable promotion for the label, as it seems to be a genuine endorsement of the brand as opposed to a business partnership. Although the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is increasingly cracking down on social media sponsorship, enforcing certain hashtags and encouraging transparency, the rules are blurred at events like this. Sometimes the relationship between brand and designer is obvious – a good example is Gigi Hadid, who wore Tommy Hilfiger, for whom she recently created a capsule collection. Still, the point of a dress code – especially one themed around a designer –is lost slightly when this is taken into account.

It’s hardly news that this happens, but it does impose severe limitations on this dress code in particular, which is rooted in avant-garde aesthetics and forward-thinking styling. Some stars proved that the problem wasn’t insurmountable, wearing other brands yet still paying homage to Kawakubo’s left-field vision. Cara Delevingne ’s metallic shaved head, for example, was both chic and unexpected, whereas Solange ’s deconstructed Thom Browne puffer coat was brilliantly anomalous on a red carpet filled with floor-length gowns. The problem wasn’t that guests couldn’t access the Comme des Garçons archive; it was a general lack of willingness to push the envelope that resulted in a never-ending procession of pretty yet safe looks.

The second problem is that, put simply, almost no other designer – at least, no other established designer – is doing what Rei Kawakubo continues to do so impeccably. Her ethos is to create the new, and every season she delivers on that promise; last season she radically redefined the silhouette, building amorphous garments that warped the human figure. These individual works of innovation obviously aren’t made to be worn on a daily basis, and it’s worth noting that this limitless creative freedom is only made possible by the various diffusion ranges, perfumes and accessories that bankroll Kawakubo’s singular vision. Still, they create a blueprint for radical new approaches to clothing; they expand the possibilities of what fashion – and, more generally, garments – could be. Celebrities were unable to recreate this vision without going directly to the source because Kawakubo continues to operate in a different realm from her contemporaries.

Despite this, it wasn’t all bad. Rihanna stole the show as usual, in a sculptural look which almost engulfed her entirely; created from individual petals and a few strategic cut-outs, the gown – lifted from Comme des Garçons’ AW16 collection – was a show-stopper for all the right reasons. Tracee Ellis Ross, Michèle Lamy and Helen Lasichanh also delved into the house archive, living up to the radical promise of the exhibition dress code by paying tribute to Kawakubo herself. Honorary chairwoman Caroline Kennedy stood out in a three-tiered floral creation – also part of the AW16 collection – which one paper hilariously dubbed “unflattering ”. Elsewhere, Céline Dion wore an off-kilter custom gown by Versace (and seemingly had the world’s best time on the red carpet), Grace Hartzel wore a black Dior skirt suit with pale, doll-like makeup and Lily Aldridge mixed up a white Ralph Lauren gown with a sheet of pink tulle and red Balenciaga boots.

Even with these flourishes of aesthetic brilliance, the message was clear – in this case, commerce had triumphed over art. Brand interference in all elements of the fashion industry is becoming overwhelmingly obvious and, as a result, it’s now impossible to distinguish between sponsored looks and genuine endorsements. There are ways around this, as certain stars proved, but the problem was particularly evident in the context of a dress code dedicated to one of fashion’s most unconventional minds. Even Kawakubo isn’t perfect – as many have pointed out, the designer hasn’t cast a single black model in over a decade, a problem that cannot be ignored. Still, her contribution to the industry has laid the foundations for a host of graduate students and young innovators to push the boundaries of fashion. As Monday night inadvertently showed us, it remains largely impossible to recreate the spirit of her singular vision without actually diving into the archives themselves.

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This week on Channel 4’s new documentary series Confessions of a Junior Doctor, we’re in the paediatric unit of Northampton General A&E and the noise levels are off the charts.

If you haven’t caught the fly-on-the-wall series yet, it’s pretty essential viewing in this uncertain time for the NHS. Each week, camera crews follow young men and women at the beginning of their careers as they try their best to navigate the stressful world of a busy hospital. This week, we’re with Neeta, who has just been indoctrinated as a registrar, and Fahim, a third-year junior doctor.

"I actually like the sound of crying children!" Neeta laughs when we question her about the noise. "It's the ones that don't cry that worry me. If your child is making a noise, I'm happy."

Neeta is at the senior end of the junior doctor cycle. She has just become a registrar and, when she’s on shift, is in charge of the entire paediatric team. Sure, there are consultants above her but, essentially, she is the touchpoint. She is the person that junior junior doctors are meant to come to when they don’t know what to do, in order to make sure the children that come to them leave happy and healthy. How’s that for a big job?

Being a registrar is the second part of an eight-year junior doctor journey. After that (providing you didn't head down the GP route), you’ll become a consultant. When you’re a very junior doctor, Neeta explains to us, you rotate around different parts of the hospital. At that point, she says, the emphasis is just to “survive”. By the next stage, you’ve decided on which area to focus.

When you become a registrar, the workload goes up a notch. “The night before I started,” says Neeta, “I had this whole realisation that I was going to be in charge of every child that came into the Northampton hospital that day and that’s a really scary, overwhelming responsibility. It’s a big step up.”

The support network between the junior junior doctors and the senior junior doctors (to use non-technical terms) is essential. At one point in the documentary, Neeta is paged and called to a very sick child. It's terrifying. “When I get crashed it basically means a baby is very, very sick," she explains to me. "And the person who crashed me cannot keep that baby alive without me getting there. So I run. Because every single step that I do slower, that baby doesn’t breathe.” She isn't just running for the baby, though. Neeta is also running for that junior doctor because, when someone is that junior, she can only imagine how scared they must be.

Junior doctors must make decisions speedily, and with confidence, all the while knowing that their decision could impact whether a child lives or dies. Watching the series, it’s easy to see why doctors regularly rank among the most stressed people in the workplace. That level of pressure, day in, day out, must take its toll.

So I run. Because every single step that I do slower, that baby doesn’t breathe.

The key, Neeta says, is learning to trust yourself, but also learning to be humble, and realising when you might be wrong. “What’s instilled in you at medical school is confidence,” she explains. “You have to ooze it. A lot of the decisions I make, I probably look like I’m very confident and calm but actually my heart is racing and I quite often doubt myself.” Not that that’s a bad thing, she adds. “I think that’s the sign of a good doctor because if you don’t doubt yourself you’re never going to learn from that situation, and you’re never going to ask that question that might improve the patient’s care. I hope I always doubt myself.”

The Paediatric Assessment Unit is a sort of A&E for children. Around 20 to 30 children will come into the PAU each day, and Neeta will see at least half of them. Watching her prioritise and manage the patients and their families is stressful, even for a viewer. At one point during the episode she sends a boy home overnight (there are no beds) before he sees the specialist the next day. She tells the parents that he is still technically “in hospital” and can come back if his condition worsens during the night. She assures me that in this case, the boy was perfectly safe at home and that she has never let the bed crisis or the troubles facing the NHS impinge on her decision-making. “When I see a child and I think that child needs to stay in hospital then I will do my utmost to make sure that child stays in hospital,” she says firmly. “Someone will find a bed for me.”

“I don’t envy the bed managers’ jobs at all,” she says. “It’s a horrible place to be... I just make the decision about whether the child needs to stay in or not. The fact that I didn’t have enough beds in this case was a factor, but not the rationale for sending children home.”

Because the elephant in the room is, of course, the struggling NHS. The paediatric unit in Northampton hasn't upped its bed count in 20 years. Funding is getting tighter. Activist group Patients4NHS claims that, taking inflation into account, annual spending on the NHS has only been increasing by 0.9% in recent years, compared to the 3.7% it has been used to. Waiting lists are at their longest since 2007, and there've even been reports of hospitals "temporarily closing their doors owing to extreme pressure on beds and staff." At the moment, 24 A&E units are under threat of closure or downgrading.

Our boat is being rocked... they’ve chipped away so far that the core is being affected. That saddens and worries me immensely.

Added to this is the junior doctor crisis, which came to a head last year when junior doctors went on strike after health secretary Jeremy Hunt attempted to scrap overtime rates except on Sundays, while increasing doctors' basic pay. The union argued this could mean pay cuts of up to 40% in some cases. After further strikes, the dispute is still ongoing.

Neeta is heartfelt in stressing the importance of junior doctors when it comes to the ongoing survival of the NHS. “They are absolutely crucial,” she says firmly. “That is the be all and end all of that answer.” The reason she is able to do her job, she says, is because of the team, because of the support. “I physically couldn’t work without my juniors," she says, “I could not function without them. I would give an arm for them – literally – I couldn’t work without them.”

“It saddens me what’s happened and what’s happening,” she continues. “When I was very, very junior it was probably the end of a very different time in the NHS, when funding wasn’t as much as an issue and we were a stable unit. Now things have become a little rocky. Our boat is being rocked and with all the cuts it feels like we’re being chipped away at, and they’ve chipped so far that the core is being affected. That saddens and worries me immensely.”

The morale of her colleagues, although tested, will take much more to break, but she's keen to stress that it is struggling. “The morale within the team was based upon that time and energy we had to team-build and now, because of how stretched we are, we’re losing that morale and you need it. It’s the goodwill of the people that are working within the NHS that keeps the NHS going.”

Being a doctor is not always easy, she says. Everyone she works with will have missed out on some big life event – a wedding, a birth – because they were at work. Neeta planned her own wedding around the on-call rotas of both her and her husband, and her husband’s entire family. Her family moved Christmas Day so she could join them. “I can assure you that every single doctor you will see in this series has given umpteen hours of work where they haven’t been paid, or they’ve missed something.”

“It’s not just a job,” Neeta says. “It’s a way of life. They always ask you at medical school why you want to be a doctor and the bog standard answer is because you want to care for people, but you have to realise it’s not just about wanting to be a good doctor – it’s about what you are prepared to sacrifice in order to be a good doctor. Because everyone puts their heart and soul into their jobs. The humanity you see in this place is surreal.”

“We don’t want recognition," she says. "We don’t even want appreciation. We just want people to be aware of what we’re actually doing and how hard we’re working to keep other people safe.”

Confessions of a Junior Doctor is on Wednesdays, Channel 4 at 9pm. Watch past episodes on All 4

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Shout-out to 18-year-old engineering student Julian Rios Cantu for scooping top prize at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards for his invention that can help detect breast cancer.

Julian was inspired to create the EVA bra after his own mother's fight against breast cancer, with which she struggled several times before eventually having both breasts removed. Breast cancer is a leading cause of death for women in Mexico, ditto for the UK, where around 11,400 people die every year from the disease – mainly those aged between 35 and 49.

The EVA bra is made using hundreds of biosensors which record what the surface of the breast looks and feels like and, over time, can track any changes in shape or temperature or weight.

According to Julian, the data would then be fed back to a computer which would monitor the changes for potential increased blood flow. "As soon as there is a malformation in the breast or a tumour, there is an over-vascularization," he told El Universal. "So the more blood, the higher the temperature."

Julian chose the concept of a bra because it makes sure the breasts are in the same place and, even better, it only has to be worn for an hour a week. It is hoped that EVA will provide a "less aggressive and painful alternative to mammograms."

He developed the invention primarily for women who have a genetic predisposition to the disease. His company is named Higia Technologies, after Hygieia, the goddess of health, prevention and hygiene. It is positioned as a company "devoted to boosting women's quality of life by attaining a professionalisation of the self-exploration method for the early and effective detection of breast cancer."

The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards give away $20,000 for the top prize, which Julian can now use to further develop his invention. He said on his Instagram that his next challenge is Silicon Valley, California. Here's hoping he gets there.

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Whether you’re a driver with a full licence, or you applied for a provisional licence mostly just to use it as a cheap form of ID (guilty!), chances are – if you're a woman – you may not have noticed a glaring example of everyday sexism to be found right at the top of it.

On the first line sits your surname – no problems there. The second line, on the other hand, contains your title. Mine is “Ms”, which I chose as a feminist protest, believing I was outsmarting the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by withholding my marital status. (What is it to them, anyway? I thought.)

But it turns out my protest was fruitless, because the DVLA doesn’t include men’s titles on their licences at all. Women’s titles are automatically included, with most opting for Miss, Mrs or Ms, while only honorific titles are included on men’s licences, such as Doctor or Reverend.

The utmost importance is placed on a woman's marital status, it seems, but a man’s isn’t even worth asking about. Not only does this suggest our gender affects our ability to drive (nope, those sexist driving jokes still aren’t funny), it also arguably breaches section 19 of the Equalities Act 2010, as The Guardian pointed out.

So why are men's and women’s licences printed differently? Zoe O’Connell, now a Lib Dem councillor for Cambridge, raised the issue with the DVLA seven years ago in a Freedom of Information request. “There is no reason for any form of gender identification on official documentation,” she said, adding: “When it comes to titles on driving licences, why should someone need to know if I’m married?” reported The Guardian. The response, however, was pretty unsatisfying in that the DVLA referred to its “recording” of titles rather than their inclusion on the licence in the first place.

More recently, in March 2017, another woman, Emma James of Guildford, reportedly wrote to the DVLA questioning the system. “The DVLA does not print Mr on licences but does print Miss, Mrs, Ms or other," the organisation confirmed, before clarifying that you can ask for your title to be removed from your licence by sending your current one back to the DVLA with a covering letter.

In response to questioning, the DVLA said anyone could opt for the "No Title" option on its online application form, but this is seventh on a list of eight options highlighted. ( The Guardian asked both the DVLA and the Department For Transport why men's and women's licences are printed differently, but both refused to comply.)

However, even if you plump for the "No Title" option, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that your licence will be printed correctly. In March, two women accused the DVLA of sexism after they received licences saying "Mrs", despite electing to have no title included.

Colleagues Ashley Kent and Elin Roberts, both of whom are scientists from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, complained about the mistake on Twitter, tweeting the DVLA's official account to ask if it could be corrected. And the DVLA's response was predictably disappointing.

@elinoroberts Hi, the purpose of the title is to allow the system to determine the male or female format of the driver number. (1/2)

— DVLA (@DVLAgovuk) March 2, 2017

The DVLA explained away the practice, adding, "I'm afraid it can't be removed." Roberts followed up by saying she wanted to issue a formal complaint, and the DVLA responded by linking her to the complaints procedure.

Kent said she was shocked when she initially noticed the difference between her and her husband's licences. "I would really hope that people wouldn't discriminate against me because my title is shown on my licence," she told MailOnline. "I would hope they'd treat me the same whether I am a married or unmarried man or woman.

"I can understand that there is a case for businesses or organisations knowing if they are complying with equality regulations or not, so they can say 'we know that we are employing people who fit into certain categories' but the fact is that the DVLA don't require this information for a man, leads me to question why they need it for a woman."

Roberts said the fact that men don't have titles on their licences while women "must" is an equality issue. "Why do they even need to know my gender? It doesn't affect my ability to drive. It is something that is, in my opinion, irrelevant," she told MailOnline.

If your title was incorrectly included on your licence, or you're as incensed as we are by the DVLA's apparent interest in our marital status (but not men's), you can write to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN. Pens at the ready.

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A Playboy model has angered a local Maori tribe by sharing a nude photo of herself at the top of a sacred mountain in New Zealand.

Jaylene Cook, 25, who has nearly 300,000 Instagram followers, posted the photo from Mount Taranaki a few days ago and has since been criticised by local Maori.

WE DID IT!! This was BY FAR the hardest thing I have ever done! Both mentally and physically. 2 minutes out of the car park I was already hurting, sweating and ready to turn back 😂 But it's amazing what you can accomplish with the encouragement and support of your partner! I could not have done this without you babe @thejoshshaw! • 🏔 Mount Taranaki Summit 🔭 9000ft ❄️ -11'C/35km winds 🏃🏻‍♀️ 12.6km (1.6km elevation) ⏰ 2am - 6.30pm (12hr hike time) 💪🏼 20kg pack (Josh had 40kg 😱) • This climb has forever changed me. I proved just how far I could push myself and I am truely proud of my accomplishment. This mountain was steep, rugged, ever changing and just pure brutal! Safe to say, I will never do it again 😅

A post shared by Jaylene Cook (@jaylenecook_) on Apr 28, 2017 at 4:48pm PDT

Cook, herself from New Zealand, was hiking with her partner, photographer Josh Shaw, when she decided to strip down. The photo was apparently taken in minus 11 degrees Celsius and 35 km winds, and has amassed over 10,000 likes.

But the top of the volcano is sacred for local Maori, who believe it's where one of the tribe’s ancestors was buried, and they consider the mountain itself as an ancestor, reported stuff.co.nz. Even climbing to the top of the peak is frowned upon and rarely done, save for ceremonial purpose, reported the BBC.

"It's like someone went into St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and took a nude photo," said Dennis Ngawhare, a spokesperson for the local Maori tribe. "It's a sacred place and something like this is just very inappropriate,” he told the BBC.

Addressing the criticism, Cook said the pair had researched the significance of the mountain before their trip and that she didn’t believe the image was offensive. Nudity, she said, is “natural and pure” and shouldn’t be considered disrespectful.

"[The photo's] not crude or explicit in any way,” Cook told stuff.co.nz. “We made ourselves knowledgeable on the history of the mountain. We were quite respectful. Being nude is not something that is offensive in any way. It's natural and pure and it's about freedom and empowerment."

The local Maori haven’t historically had much say over what happens on the mountain, which Captain Cook named Mount Egmont when the British colonised the country. "It's only recently that we can have some input on what goes on at the mountain," Ngawhare told the BBC.

"We simply ask people to please be respectful. This latest case is just another really annoying example where someone obviously didn't know how to behave here," he added, saying the incident highlighted "a clash between Western assumptions and indigenous values and beliefs."

Neil Volzke, mayor of the local Stratford district, agreed that Cook could have shown a greater awareness of the tribe's values. "I don't think the picture itself is offensive or obscene," he told the BBC. "It is just inappropriate to take on top of Mount Taranaki because it is a place with a great deal of importance for the Maori community."

The Maori have been offended in the past by a group of hikers taking a barbecue to the top of the peak and people leaving graffiti on the sacred mountain.

This is by no means the first time a naked photo taken from a mountain has been criticised as culturally insensitive. A group of Western tourists were jailed and fined in 2015 for posing on the sacred Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia.

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Messy. Impractical. Ineffective. These are just a few of the kinder adjectives I've used to describe sheet masks. And when I have, as you might imagine, I've haven't been met with many nods of agreement.

" Whaaat?! Sheet masks are my favourite!" is the common reaction, and I suppose I understand why. At some point over the past few years, sheet masks became a beauty status symbol on social media. It seemed anyone who knew a toner from an essence swore by them for bright, hydrated, soft skin.

How you documented your use of the mask said even more about you. Watching TV and sipping wine? You're a hardworking woman who knows how to treat herself at the end of a long day. Add a friend into the mix and your caption practically writes itself: "Sunday is lit." Of course, wearing one on a cross-country flight is the ultimate declaration of your love for beauty and luxury.

Still, every time I scroll by a sheet mask selfie, I want to ask the person: Do you really love these masks because they're doing something beneficial for your complexion, or do you just love that they make you feel like you're on the self-care train?

As a beauty editor with dry, sometimes dull skin, I have tried them all — and I always really wanted to like them. But I just can't get on board. First off, they rarely fit properly — the mouth hole is too narrow, or the eye slits too far apart. Plus, they're slimy, cold, prevent you from moving around or eating dinner, and drip into your hair and down your neck.

I could forgive all of that if I actually thought they were doing anything, though. Even if you're using a science-backed, prestige mask — which can ring in at well over $100 for a small supply — I firmly believe that you'll get more for your money with a traditional mask or serum. And the cheap ones? They're like playing the slots in Vegas: You're paying for the experience, not a big win.

There's one more thing: I have never had an aesthetician use a sheet mask in a treatment and a dermatologist has never recommended one. But hey, maybe I've been selectively blind? I sought out two pros for their takes.

Karyn Grossman, MD, a board certified dermatologist with a loyal celeb following, started by telling me that the concept behind sheet masks makes sense: "[The sheet] often [holds the] hyaluronic acid, or another viscous gel, on the skin. The solutions may help to hydrate the skin — depending upon what is actually used — but the sheet itself probably does very little other than contribute to more trash."

She warns against picking up any old mask, however. "It's kind of like saying 'moisturisers' are all the same," she says. "That doesn’t take into account active ingredients and bases, which are actually extremely important." So why the heck are sheet masks so popular? "Keeping a gel on your skin that doesn’t dry tends to 'feel' more hydrating to a person," she concludes.

...the sheet itself probably does very little other than contribute to more trash...

Aesthetician and skin expert Renee Rouleau feels similarly. "It’s fun, new, and different — and makes for a great pic," she says, although she doesn't discount possible efficacy — if you get it to fit. "The key with using a sheet mask successfully is to make sure that it’s actually touching the skin. With a gel mask (which gives gives a similar end result, as long as you’re applying a generous layer) can oftentimes be more effective because you can control the application."

Of course, it's not all bad. "The upside of a sheet mask is that because it is viscous, it allows the solution that is soaked in the material to stay damp throughout the whole application, which ensures that the skin gets hydrated," Rouleau says. "Also, the material creates an occlusive, non-breathable barrier so the hydrating solution has no place to go but into the skin. It acts like a sealant, which is a good thing."

Rouleau also notes that, although it's not her favourite way to mask and she never uses them in her treatments, there can be benefits if you follow with moisturiser. "You’ll want to make sure you ensure the hydration stays in the skin by using some sort of emollient over it once removed, such as an oil or moisturiser," she says. "If you don’t put something on the skin after to prevent evaporation, the hydrating benefit will not last long."

So, do I feel vindicated? A little, but I want to hear your thoughts. Are you on my side? Or is the pull of zoning out with a jelly-infused bat or screaming emoji on your face just too strong? Let me know in the comments below.

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The average female mannequin used to model clothes on the British high street represents a severely underweight woman, helping to reinforce an unhealthy “ultra-thin” ideal, research has found.

The study from the University of Liverpool, published in the Journal Of Eating Disorders, looked at 17 national fashion retailers in two British cities and assessed the body size of male and female mannequins.

A higher proportion of female mannequins were underweight and the average male mannequin was significantly larger than the average female mannequin, the research found. This probably won’t surprise you, but the extent of the difference is both shocking and dispiriting.

Every single one of the 32 female mannequins assessed was underweight, while just 8% of the male mannequins represented an underweight body size.

Not only was there a lack of diversity of body size among the mannequins, but the body size would in fact be considered “medically unhealthy” in real people, the researchers concluded.

Dr Eric Robinson, who led the study by the university’s institute of psychology, health and society, said its results consistently found that: “the body size of female mannequins represented that of extremely underweight human women,” reported Science Daily.

Changing the size of the high street’s mannequins would not “solve” young people’s body image problems, Robinson admitted. But he said the underweight mannequins likely perpetuate society’s existing body ideals and should therefore be curbed.

"Because ultra-thin ideals encourage the development of body image problems in young people, we need to change the environment to reduce emphasis on the value of extreme thinness,” he said.

The “presentation of ultra-thin female bodies” in the form of mannequins, Robinson added, “is likely to reinforce inappropriate and unobtainable body ideals, so as a society we should be taking measures to stop this type of reinforcement.

"Given that the prevalence of body image problems and disordered eating in young people is worryingly high, positive action that challenges communication of an ultra-thin ideal may be of particular benefit to children, adolescents and young adult females."

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The premise of a destination wedding is exciting, but actually attending one can be a huge commitment. If you're giving up valuable vacation days — and shelling out the big bucks — to see someone you care about walk down the aisle, then you better make it worthwhile.

Being a guest at a far-flung wedding can be an immensely rewarding experience, since you're basically getting a "required" vacation to explore a new place. But, unlike at a local ceremony, there are quite a few things that should be on your checklist for this type of event — and we're not just talking about extra swimsuits. We've tapped etiquette expert Sharon Schweitzer, founder of Protocol & Etiquette Worldwide, to share her list of best practices for destination-wedding-goers. Click through to see how to make the most of your trip — and avoid potential faux pas(or desaciertos, or oshibki, or whatever the case may be where you are).

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When I first became self-employed I was worried about finding work, making money and meeting deadlines. But one thing I didn’t think about was my health – it just didn't occur to me that it might be affected.

But 10 months later, I know that starting out as a freelancer can impact on both your physical and mental wellbeing. My regular climbing and yoga sessions have fallen by the wayside, junk food has become my new best friend, and sometimes I’ve skipped proper meals altogether so that I can meet a deadline for a new editor. I’ve also found working alone difficult; without colleagues, I’ve sometimes felt lonely and lost confidence in my ideas.

So is it just me? Or can becoming self-employed affect your health? And if so, what can we do about it? Jade works in the hospitality industry and has been self-employed for six months. She says working from her sofa and not a desk affects her posture. “I end up completely hunched over for hours at a time, and the tension builds all around my neck and shoulders,” she says. “It got really bad at one point and I was getting muscle spasms.”

Her diet and exercise routine have also been affected. “I used to do yoga about six times a week, but haven’t been for about two months now,” she says. “I gained weight because I was picking up things as I went and eating a load of junk food in the evening.”

Luke, a self-employed business owner, says he’s struggled to adapt to working alone. “Before, I had that office banter. But then I did a lot of work by myself in my room and I’d feel very low,” he says. “It does get you down, there’s no question about it.”

On top of this, freelancers may be tempted to work when they're ill because they don’t get sick pay. “Yesterday I worked while I was sick,” says Jade. “I’m still new to it so I feel I can’t say no to things.” Luke, meanwhile, says there’s no such thing as an off-day or a holiday, “regardless of whether or not you’re in Barbados”.

However, it’s not all bad news – many report feeling healthier after they’ve adjusted to freelance life and found a routine that works for them. “I think being self-employed makes you healthier because you don't have to deal with office politics,” says Becky, a journalist. “There’s also more flexibility. If you want to go for a doctor's appointment or running in the middle of the day you don't need to ask anyone's permission.”

So how can new freelancers like me get to this point? It’s all about creating boundaries, says Gail Kinman, professor of occupational health psychology at the University of Bedfordshire.

“Even though it’s tempting to work all the hours you can, bear in mind it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she says. “You’re in it for the long haul and if you wear yourself out and exhaust yourself emotionally and physically, you won’t be able to keep it up.”

Without boundaries, work can take over. “Restrict it to a certain area of the house,” Kinman says. Meanwhile, Becky and Jade both advise getting out and working with other freelancers sometimes. “I’ve signed onto networking events and I’ll work with other people who are self-employed,” says Jade. “We’ll sit together and work, which is actually quite nice.”

It’s not unusual for your diet to be affected, says Daniel O’ Shaughnessy, director of nutrition at Bodhimaya. “Making healthy food can go out the window when you don’t have a set routine,” he says. “Plus, when you get stressed, your body reacts by craving sugar and salt.”

Plan meals and stick to exercise routines, he says. “Make it as easy as you can. Do some batch cooking and take time away from your desk to eat, because your digestion will feel better. Don’t rely on caffeine and sugar, and have a good amount of protein with each meal. It’s also a good idea to treat exercise like a doctor’s appointment you can’t miss.”

With more and more people becoming self-employed, guidance from a young age about what to expect and how to take care of yourself would be helpful, says Jordan Marshall, policy development manager at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed. “Most people aren’t going to have a job for life; they’re going to have lots of jobs and I’m not sure schools and universities are properly preparing us,” he says. “They should be giving advice on what freelancing means and what you have to consider.”

I now know how easily my exercise routine can slip, and that I feel lonely if I work by myself all day. So from now on I plan to work with other freelancers as often as I can, book in my climbing and yoga sessions, and prioritise my health as well as my deadlines.

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When I moved to London 10 years ago, Feist practically soundtracked my early days in the capital. If I listen to “1234” or “I Feel It All” from her 2007 album The Reminder then I am immediately transported to a dingy flat on Holloway Road, arguing over who finished the Tropicana. Like so many young women of an indie persuasion at the time, “Mushaboom” was my MySpace profile song (excuse me while I go and check if that thing’s still active).

But the 41-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter has been quiet of late. She hasn’t played a show in three years and there’s been no new music for six. Fortunately, the Grammy-nominated artist is now back with a killer new album, Pleasure, which is both wounded and confident, reflective and defiant, filled with the rawness we've come to know her for.

I sat down with Feist on her recent trip to the UK to talk about her new album, the key to getting more girls to pick up guitars, and what she really thinks about Justin Trudeau.

So, Feist, without accusing you of laziness, what have you been doing since your last album Metals came out in 2011?
Well I actually toured for about three years and then this record has been done for a year. So there were only about two or three years that I took off, which is still a long time but… I was just stumbling my way through life and then eventually wrote about it.

Why did you decide on the title Pleasure when so many of the songs are about quite the opposite?
The songs were exploring the flip side. I started to see that I was putting all of my experience through this filter of fatigue, and feeling a little depleted, and realising that I might be making things worse by naming it ‘difficulty’ in my head. I started to realise that if I flipped it, and named it something else, that I could give myself a little bit of ease. I had to stop investing in the experience I was going through as being hard. To name it ‘pleasure’, it felt like a head start in beginning to feel it. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Do you think having self-awareness is a requirement of being a musician?
To be a musician is an extension of whatever type of person you are, so whatever you put into your life is what will come out in your music. I was going through a particularly hard time and I was making it worse by feeling like I couldn’t let on how hard it was. I realised afterwards that I’d made it so much worse by feeling ashamed about what a hard time I was having. And if there’s anything to put out there in a song, it’s some of the clues I’ve learned along the way about maybe owning it and allowing that to pass.

“I Wish I Didn’t Miss You” sounds like it is destined to become a song for the brokenhearted. How does that make you feel, knowing that people might turn to your music for comfort in those situations?
That gives me comfort too because writing is a pretty private enterprise, so I always imagine the song going into people through headphones and into their private world – not to presume that that’ll happen but that’s kind of my intention. I don’t picture it playing at the restaurant, it’s from one mind to one mind. I’m singing it ultimately to give myself some comfort so I’d be glad to think that could be the case.

Are you comfortable with letting go of your music to be interpreted in any way that people might?
YES. I actually really enjoy that. If someone has a crazy theory about my work then they’re right because it’s what they thought. That’s the collaboration of creating and listening.

Do you find it difficult when people try to draw parallels between your work and your private life?
It doesn’t happen that often and it would be impossible for them to be right because they don’t know me but it doesn’t bother me.

Jarvis Cocker appears on the track “Century” with a brilliant out-the-blue spoken-word part. How did that come about?
We actually met on a boat in the Arctic 10 years ago [laughs]. It was this climate change-meets-art kind of symposium that happened on a Russian tanker near Greenland. We became friends on the boat and then had 10 years of running into each other.

Are you looking forward to performing live again and what is your relationship with being on stage like?
I guess I don’t quite remember, it’s been a while. But I like the truth of everyone being in a room together. It’s a part of it I enjoy going back to.

Do you think much about what you wear on stage?
I recently went to a vintage store in LA, well, it’s a woman who has a collection in her beautiful home which is by appointment only – by the way, it’s called Rachel Zabar Vintage because I know Refinery29 readers might like to know these things. She didn’t know me but it came to light that I’m a musician and was looking for some totemic stuff to wear on stage and she was like, ‘Oh well tell me, what’s your fashion?’ And I was like, ‘Oh no no, you’re misunderstanding, I consider myself a worker and I need to be able to move and I need the fabrics to be natural and things can’t be synthetic’. It’s like there is a task to do and I need clothes to cover my body while I do it. Which isn’t to say I don’t enjoy the mythological creation of a character but if I’m thinking about the clothes more than how I feel in them, then something is wrong. If I’m made body-conscious or self-conscious about the clothes then I’m in trouble and I can’t do what I’m there to do. So often it feels like I’m just trying to find my uniform to get the job done.

Lots of your videos in the past have been very musical-like, do you have any big plans for videos for this album?
I think the key is to never try to make a large-scale dance video again [laughs]. I did make a sort of accidental video for this, though. I was doing a photoshoot with Mary Rozzi, who has taken a lot of my photographs in the past, and we started making a video for “Pleasure” on her camera even though she was complaining that it wasn’t the right camera or the right light. I liked how truly guerrilla it was. There wasn’t the big writing of a treatment or 8,000 people there. It wasn’t this long, protracted, high-production scenario. It was just two friends with the intention to just get it done.

I love the album cover...
Thank you! It was shot by Cass Bird, who’s based in New York, and an old friend of mine. I was living in Venice [California] at that point and I kept driving past this building every day and it was very industrial, not at all pretty, but it had been taken over by these flowers and it was extraordinary. One day I was like, this is the album. This is the embodiment of the album; turning ugly into beauty. Taking difficulty and letting it become wild again and getting air back in its lungs.

Your guitar playing on the record is next level. You only started playing when you were 20, do you think girls and young women are still intimidated to pick up a guitar?
Probably less and less. There are these girl rock camps going on. A friend of mine’s daughter, when she was 12, went to girls’ rock camp and now she’s 19 and one of the most killer drummers you’ll ever meet. They're encouraged to be more in their bodies and take up more space and get more discordant and get messy, get loud, which is how it should be.

Are there any female musicians you’re particularly enjoying at the moment?
I like Charlotte Day Wilson, she’s a young, self-produced Canadian. She’s ballsy. There’s a song called “Work” which is one of my favourite songs of the last year.

What is your relationship like with some of your older songs, which have become classics? I’m thinking songs like “1234”, “Mushaboom” and “Limit To Your Love”.
I still remember how I wrote them, or who I wrote them as, so in a way it’s a bit like looking at an old Polaroid. I feel a lot of tenderness for them. Some more than others!

And finally, what are your thoughts about Justin Trudeau and do you find it amusing that your Prime Minister is now a massive pin-up?
I know, he’s a sweater model! [laughs] He’s so handsome, how could he be the leader of a nation? But we don’t really know anything about him yet; he is yet to prove himself. I like that he did a lot of progressive things as soon as he was elected, like making his cabinet equally male and female, and he went to Pride. But handsomeness does not a leader make, so we will find out…

Feist's album Pleasure is out now on Polydor Records. Sheplays Shepherd's Bush Empire on 27th & 28th July.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Cydney Helsdown, 24, hit crisis point last year when she split abruptly from her 4-year-old son’s father.

Her partner was arrested for assaulting her and handed a restraining order, which meant he became suddenly, entirely absent from Cydney and her son’s life. Lumbered with sole responsibility for outgoings that had been shared, and which exceeded her wages, Cydney had to skip meals in order to feed her son, Corben.

“Looking back, it’s all a bit of a blur,” she said. “I had my blinkers on for so long, but then it all got too much for me. On one occasion I just broke down at work crying. It was just really difficult.”

Unfortunately, Cydney’s story is not that unusual; a recent survey indicated that a staggering 46% of mothers under the age of 25 in the UK regularly don’t eat so their children can. A quarter said they had used a food bank.

Loneliness, anxiety, and workplace discrimination were also reported on an enormous scale by the 300-strong sample surveyed for the Young Women’s Trust (YWT).

According to the YWT, the barriers young mothers face in finding work can put a strain on the family budget. Meanwhile, low wages for under-25-year-olds — who are not legally entitled to the national living wage — inflexible working conditions, and inadequate support from the state mean that even for mothers in employment, earnings are often completely gobbled up by expensive childcare costs.

Cydney says this is what happened to her. “My outgoings were more than my wages, so I had to kind of weigh up, 'Do I pay my rent? Do I pay for childcare? Or do I feed myself and my son?'” she told me.

“I had to make certain decisions and sacrifices, like I won’t eat or I can only pay X amount of rent. Every day the landlord was contacting me, and I just didn’t know what to do. I was so stressed at the time that I had a doctor suggest I take a couple of weeks off work because I was suffering panic attacks and anxiety.”

If she had been allowed to work from home, Cydney said, things might have been different, but she wasn’t offered the option.

Eventually, Cydney was forced to move home to live with her parents in a different part of the country. Although she was initially reluctant to give up her independence, she says she doesn’t know what she would have done without the support of her mother.

Sophie Kathir, 29, says she experienced loneliness, poverty, debt and discrimination as a young mother.

A lack of support and advice on what help she was entitled to receive, in addition to poor treatment by prospective employers, left her struggling to make ends meet over and over again after she had her first child, a daughter, at 21, followed by a son at 24.

Unlike Cydney, Sophie didn’t have a supportive family to fall back on.

“I didn’t plan to have kids so young, but things happen,” she told me, over the phone. “I’m still not speaking to my family. My husband’s family were not that supportive [either], because I was just about to go to university [when I fell pregnant] and they were just saying how going to university with a baby was not possible. We were pretty much on our own.”

These circumstances left her without a safety net when she struggled to find work. On one occasion, she said, a job interview turned sour when she admitted her proudest achievement was attaining a degree while caring for her first child. The employer later told her that although she was a perfect fit for the job, they felt she had "too much baggage". Because she couldn’t find work, she was forced to rely on payday loans to buy basic necessities for her family — she is still struggling to pay these back, four years later.

Three months after giving birth, Sophie started university. But again she felt out of place, and struggled to get by financially. “The university didn’t really know how to support me,” she said. “When I asked about childcare and things they didn’t have any idea how to help me with it.”

Sophie relied heavily on the promise of a student loan but, when this was delayed for six months, she was forced to struggle by on housing benefit and dwindling statutory maternity pay. “The childcare costs were so high we were either paying the rent or paying the childminder,” she said. “It was difficult to buy books and feed a baby and all those other things as well.”

Sophie believes a lack of support from universities — and society at large — and the high incidence of discrimination in the workplace can be put down to underlying negative attitudes towards young mothers. “There’s definitely a stigma… [an idea that] we had children just to get on benefits and get a house, to do nothing with our lives, you know…” she said.

This bleeds into every aspect of some women’s lives, compounding the often challenging impact of new motherhood and leaving them isolated and struggling. According to Young Women’s Trust research, 19% of women under 25 with babies report feeling lonely all the time. Some said they barely left the house.

“I didn’t want to go to any playgroups and meet other mums because I felt like the first time I went to a playgroup they just looked down on me,” Sophie said. “I just wanted to speak to someone to see if what I did was right, but I had no one to talk to and that affected my mental health.”

Laura Davies, 26, believes sexism is also part of the problem. She says she was bullied out of her male-dominated sales job after having a baby at 19; during her pregnancy her employer refused to accommodate her needs, even when they were flagged as a health and safety concern, and after maternity leave, she was told she wasn’t welcome back.

“I was made well aware that they weren’t going to welcome me back with open arms, with one manager stating that I should ‘stay at home with my child on benefits like all other teen mums’,” she said. “For someone that was already suffering with postnatal depression, this made me feel numb. I felt belittled and undermined as a person because I had chosen to have a child.”

Like Sophie, Laura was also studying at the time and found her university to be unsupportive, too — it had absolutely no protocol in place, she said, to help students who were also mothers.

But her boyfriend, who was studying at a different institution, encountered more supportive attitudes both at university and at work — being a teenage father didn’t appear to carry the same stigma as being a young mother.

“Despite having my child with me all the time, I felt very lonely,” Laura said. “While all my friends were off forging a future for themselves, I was under a mountain of baby clothes trying to navigate my new life. Our schedules were different and it became hard to find the time.”

Like Sophie, she said she found it difficult to befriend older women who had babies — they seemed to judge her. “I had this sinking feeling in my stomach each time I walked into a mother and baby group,” she said. “The sudden looks and stares when you knew that everyone was trying to calculate in their head how young you actually were. The awareness that all the mums had formed cliques, while you were sat in the middle with your baby on your own.”

Cydney, Laura and Sophie mentioned several things that could have helped them: more support from universities; more help and less bureaucracy in accessing tax credits and other benefits; cheaper or free childcare; flexible working; and stronger rules against workplace discrimination, to make it easier and cheaper to prosecute discriminatory employers.

But the negative attitude to young mothers that underpins the way some women are treated needs to shift, too. “Being a young mum shouldn’t be a pass to be judged and walked over,” Laura said. “We need to challenge what society tells us. Young mums are driven and determined, we have ambition and we are worthy.”

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Whether it’s the cult Secret Camouflage concealer, hero Translucent Loose Setting Powder or award-winning Tinted Moisturiser, chances are you’re familiar with Laura Mercier products and rely on them as part of your daily makeup routine. But you're probably less familiar with Laura Mercier, the legendary woman behind the international beauty brand, launched 21 years ago.

The pioneer of the 'Flawless Face', a world-renowned makeup artist and international businesswoman, Mercier was raised in Provence and began her training at 17 at a painting school in Paris. Mercier soon shifted her focus from the canvas to the face, specialising in skincare and makeup, before becoming a freelance makeup artist and moving to New York in 1985 to work with some of the most esteemed fashion and beauty magazines in the business.

Just over a decade later, Laura Mercier Cosmetics was launched, grounded in Mercier’s philosophy of creating a naturally flawless complexion, designed to benefit women of all ages and skin types. Now, the brand is one of the most loved and respected beauty lines in the market, adored by women in countless countries. (I can vividly remember the first time I tried Secret Camouflage, six years ago; it has become one of the most frequently purchased products in my makeup bag.)

To coincide with the announcement of Suki Waterhouse as a new Mercier Muse, we caught up with Laura Mercier herself (and yes, she’s just as inspiring, knowledgeable, vivacious and beautiful as you might imagine) to discuss building her brand and her must-have makeup products.

What first inspired you to pursue beauty as a profession, not just a passion?
I went to art school and was obsessed with doing something artistic. That was my primary love and aesthetic was my second love so by associating both I became an aesthetician. Combining the two was the perfect scenario to get into the beauty industry, which I basically did without knowing where I was going. It just happened. After the aesthetics school I was asked to be a makeup artist for a company called Carita. After that I became a freelance makeup artist and my career… it was one shoot, after another shoot, after another! You learn and work with different people and the next thing you know is that you have a career in that field. You think, “Oh actually, I like it!" It’s art and it’s skin. It just fit me. Now we’re here, 35 years later!

Social media has really impacted the industry over the past few years. Which of the other ways it has evolved excite you?
The last 10 years have been quite quick at changing. Social media is definitely the big deal. People taking videos, becoming vloggers and bloggers and influencers, which is wonderful because you have this impartiality that didn’t exist before ­– now it belongs to everyone. Everybody is entitled to speak for it, sometimes not in the most expert way, which is the bad side of the story. But sometimes with a very candid and objective look which is very interesting, giving different interpretations that a brand might not think of. This is real people talking about it. It will never go back. That for me is the biggest change. Even people who want to pay an enormous amount on advertising campaigns, that’s not going to make the thing become successful, just because of that.

Technology is now so advanced on every single ingredient. It’s getting better and better. Every single day we discover that one ingredient is less or more good for you. People take it more seriously. Products are way more stable than before and they’re also not bad for you, which is a big deal, too. Back in the ‘70s that was not a concern.

Apart from campaign star Suki Waterhouse, do you have any other beauty icons, past or present?
Loads! It would be the iconic actresses of the time. This is an era that is very inspirational for makeup artists in general. I’m not the only one who has this answer. The glamour of Hollywood has always been inspiring. I love individuality, that is why I keep talking about it in my philosophies. Beauty is everywhere. Everyone has the potential of looking better so that’s what is interesting and fascinating in the beauty world.

Speaking of transformation, is there one product that makes you feel the best? There are different products that could give an immediate transformation. An illuminating primer that gives you an instant glow or a tinted moisturiser that immediately makes you look like you’ve come back from a weekend in the sun. Bronzers in general – it’s very French by the way, looking very tan. We’re obsessed! A colourful lipstick adds an instant oomph to your face. The magic of makeup is endless. When you know what to do that is priority for you… if I do dark pencil in my lash line (with my allergy I don’t have so many lashes anymore), then it immediately gives you a va va voom. It wakes up the eye and you look more confident.

What do you do/use if you have five minutes to get ready?
Even if I don’t do any mascara, lash line, brows and I would say a little bit of colour, brown, reddish on the cheeks. As a matter of fact, I have a kit of priority products that I get for the weekend. It’s a very small bag that has one black pencil, mascara (but I don’t even put on mascara all the time), brow pencil and a reddish lipstick. That’s it. And Secret Camouflage of course!

What about your routine for an event? That’s a different story! You have an hour ahead of you. You do the whole nine yards! I will choose whether I do my eyes or my lips. I will not do a red lips and a smoky eye. Either way it’s going to be a statement. The eyes are going to be smoky with kohl inside with defined brows, or it’s going to be subdued [eyes] with a matte, red lipstick.

Is there a product you discovered years ago that you still use now?
Camouflage! It is trendless. Endless. It’s the best kept secret, truly.

Of all the products you’ve ever created, is that the one you’re most proud of?
Yes, I would say so. There are others, primers and a tinted moisturiser, but this one is definitely my baby. It’s the reason why I did this brand. I thought it was needed on the market. I thought it would be something that would not be so popular because it’s challenging to sell, challenging to demonstrate and challenging for people to understand. However, it’s such a great, magical touch.

Products aside, are there any other career highlights that you’re really proud of?
Making my brand was a big turn for me, it was harder than I expected in terms of workload. For many years, I continued being a freelance makeup artist and doing the product, and doing the promotion of the brand. However, I don’t regret it and looking back I am so lucky and privileged that I have been able to create my own product. I’m more proud of the actual work done rather than just having my name on a product. If it had been another name, I would have not cared. The most important thing is that I was involved in the making of it, which was a different learning experience and a different way to express myself.

When do you feel your most beautiful?
Feeling healthy, tranquil and confident. That’s when I feel the most together and therefore beautiful.

Your beauty empire is massive. But is there anything else you'd like to achieve?
I think I've done everything I wish for with the brand. The versions and textures of colours you could do is a lot of fun. The next step in life would be to do something that's good for the environment, good for the planet and good for the people. Through charity we are able to give back and I think every brand should do that. Then it's being innovative and creative to do something good. We'll see!

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