Denim really is our best friend. We all have that perfectly worn-in pair of jeans to pull on for a lazy Sunday walk; that denim jacket that has seen us through music festivals, to the beach and back; a trusty denim mini that's great for a night out.

The fashion industry's dire impact on the environment is well known and a recent Greenpeace report revealed that it takes 7,000 litres of water to produce just one pair of jeans. Much of this wastewater is full of hazardous chemicals and coloured dyes, and once regurgitated back into our rivers and oceans, these substances have a permanent destructive impact on ecosystems and local communities.

Thankfully it's easier than ever to find sustainable denim brands that satisfy our jeans cravings and negate our eco-guilt. Read on to learn about 10 of our favourites, from ABLE and Outland Denim, who provide supportive, sustainable and fair work, to MUD Jeans and Everlane, who are working to minimise their use of natural resources.

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‘Tis the season of flower tourism. Soon, seas of sunflowers will bloom in Tuscany, while Provence will soon be radiant with lavender fields. The cherry blossoms are already falling like rain in Washington D.C., while wispy wisterias sway like Spanish moss in Japan. From late March to mid-May, travellers everywhere make a beeline to the flower fields with the most buzz, sometimes to a detrimental effect.

“Enjoy the flowers, respect our pride,” read many of the signs that meet tourists visiting the impressive tulip fields that are currently blooming in Creil, northwest of Amsterdam. And, local tulip farmers are already feeling the impact of their flower fields’ instagrammabilty. Tourists are apparently stomping on (and around) the tulips to get the perfect shot, according to a report by Reuters, destroying what they came to see in the process.

This Easter weekend, more than 17 million tourists are expected to swarm “Boolenstreek” a “Tulip Belt” that extends along the Dutch coast from Haarlem to Leiden. The Hague’s April tourists are mostly there to see the Keukenhof flower show, one of the biggest most impressive flower shows in the world.

Fields of tulips aren’t the only blooms that have been destroyed by tourists this year. Earlier this spring, when hundreds of bright orange and yellow poppies bloomed in Southern California’s arid Walker Canyon in late March, thirsty Instagrammers and disrespectful travellers left a field of “crushed flowers and overflowing toilets” in their wake.

Nature’s annual flamboyant display of blooms reminds us of that scene in Alice In Wonderland where the flowers brag about how they’re the most popular girls in school. With a bat of an eyelash, a beautiful flower can get us to board a train or catch a flight to all kinds of far-flung destinations. And because these blooms are so ephemeral, they’re often gone in a blink. But we shouldn’t let our zeal get the best of us. So, like the sign says, “enjoy the flowers, respect our pride.”

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Long weekends are the perfect time to host the type of summer lunch that you can talk over for hours and hours, relaxing into each other's company as the sun slowly moves across the sky.

One person who knows a thing or two about feasts like this is Georgina Hayden, a food writer who grew up above her grandparents' traditional Cypriot taverna in London, helping her yiayia make dips and stews and flaounes. Georgina and her sister would spend Saturdays after Greek school shelling peas and laying tables, filling salt and pepper shakers and getting under their grandmother's feet. The house, she remembers, "was aways filled with people and food."

She goes on to say: "Feasting, family and community is the bedrock not just of my family, but of Cypriot culture." It makes sense, then, that her new recipe book Taverna is packed full of tempting dishes to gather people around the table.

Ahead, she shares two recipes that are perfect to coax your nearest and dearest to your table. Neither is overly complicated, which is kind of the point – the less time you spend cooking in the kitchen, the more time you've got to relax with your guests.

Fish Keftedes In Mustard And Dill

Not an authentic keftedes recipe, but (a hugely popular) one I developed for my half pescatarian family. It combines the Greek love of fritters and meatballs with mustard sauce – a common addition to souvlakia or gyro.

Serves 4

Ingredients

½ tsp fennel seeds
½ a bunch of flat-leaf parsley
100g fresh breadcrumbs
600g white fish fillets – such as cod, haddock or pollock – skinless and boneless
2 large eggs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
4 spring onions
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp French mustard
400ml crème fraîche
1 tbsp capers
½ a bunch of dill

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Grind the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar, then transfer to a food processor. Roughly chop the parsley and add to the processor along with the breadcrumbs, then pulse once. Cut the fish into small chunks, add and blitz until just blended together. Crack in the eggs, season well and pulse once or twice, till everything is just combined. Roll the mixture until small balls, around 3–4cm. Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil into a large ovenproof frying pan and place on a medium heat. Fry the fish balls on all sides until golden brown and crisp all over, then spoon onto a plate.

Trim and finely slice the spring onions, peel and finely chop the garlic. Drizzle a little more olive oil into the pan and sauté the spring onions and garlic for 10 minutes on a low heat, then stir in the mustard and crème fraîche. Heat for a couple of minutes, then season and pop the fish balls back in. Scatter over the capers and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Finely chop the dill, scatter over the dish and serve. Perfect with a stack of pita breads and a big chopped salad.

Tomato Braised Peas and Beans: Pizeli Kai Fasolaki Yiahni

I toyed with the idea of putting this in the sides section; however, it is more than filling enough to be a main meal (which is how we eat it), especially when served with all the traditional accompaniments. Like the roasted cauliflower on the previous page, we always have this with fresh Greek bread and pickled caper leaves, plus whole spring onions and a huge bowl of my mum’s dressed tuna – it’s a perfect partnership. Also, I have called this 'pizeli and fazolaki yiahni' as we make it both ways, with peas or green beans, just use whichever you fancy.

Serves 4

Ingredients

600g Maris Piper potatoes
Olive oil
2 onions
3 carrots
5 ripe tomatoes or a 400g tin of tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
500ml vegetable stock
600g green beans or 900g fresh or frozen peas
4 large artichoke hearts

Instructions

Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks, around 5cm. Pour enough olive oil into a large saucepan to fill it by 1cm. Place on a medium heat and fry the potatoes on all sides until brown. Remove from the pan and keep to one side.

Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the onions. Peel and roughly chop the carrots. If using fresh tomatoes, peel them (see page 12), roughly chop and keep to one side. When the potatoes are done, fry the onions and carrots in the same pan for 10 minutes to soften slightly, reducing the heat a little. Stir in the tomato purée, then add the chopped or tinned tomatoes and the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

If using green beans, cut off the tops and roughly chop them in halves and thirds. Roughly chop the artichoke hearts. Stir the beans or peas and artichokes into the tomato sauce with the potatoes. Cover the pan and continue to cook for a further 35–40 minutes, or until the veg are soft and the sauce has thickened – you don’t want it to be watery. Season to taste, and serve with all the accompaniments mentioned above.

Taverna: Recipes From A Cypriot Kitchen by Georgina Hayden is out now on Square Peg

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I removed my glasses, placed an eye mask over my eyes, turned to my right, leaned in... and sniffed the wrist of the woman sitting next to me. Though I’d later discover we had a friend in common, I’d never met her before, and we hadn’t spoken beyond introducing ourselves. She smelled nice: clean and slightly floral, like the classic, familiar bar soap that millennials have allegedly murdered.

At our host’s direction, we smelled each other’s forearms, then upper arms… and decided to pass on the option to sniff each other’s armpits, considering we’d had to do 20 jumping jacks a few minutes earlier and I hadn’t reapplied deodorant since that morning. “How many people found that sexy?” our host asked. “Yeah, right,” my partner scoffed, though she’d just assured me I smelled “lovely.” I thought again of the deodorant sitting, untouched, in my desk drawer at work.

I wasn't just sniffing a stranger randomly; I was attending Attraction Lab, an event hosted by Guerilla Science. The New York- and London-based group is dedicated to, as they put it, “creat[ing] entertaining, quirky and unforgettable experiences for you, to inspire new ways of looking at the world.” Launched in London in 2013, Attraction Lab is one of Guerilla Science’s longest-running events — though it’s recently undergone a few tweaks.

Attraction Lab was originally a singles’ event called Sensory Speed-Dating — and it often led to people making out in the corners, the night’s host Chris Duffy, a comedian and writer for Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, told us. The event I attended was open to all, with the room divided into singles’ section and a couples’ section. Held at the Intrepid Museum in New York and co-hosted by astronomer Jana Grcevich, the event I went to was only the second one open to couples. “I would tell my friends about it who were in partnerships, and they would be like ‘that sounds like a really fun, interesting evening, I want to do that,’” Guerilla Science’s Head of Operations, Olivia Koski, tells me on the phone the day after the event.

At the Attraction Lab I attended, singles were paired randomly, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or age. “Our fundamental goal as an organisation is to give people fun experiences and connect them with science; we’re not a dating company,” Koski says. “We get that people are there and they are looking for love, and it’s like, ‘Well, you might not find love, but hopefully you’ll have a weird story that you can tell your friends about, and you might leave thinking differently about who you’re attracted to and why.’”

Doing jumping jacks and then smelling a stranger was the third exercise of the night. The first two tasks involved telling another stranger about a recently embarrassing moment (mine: showing up underdressed to an event), and feeding yet another stranger freeze-dried tomatoes and carrots, chased by a delicious piece of chocolate. There were six "attraction exercises" in total, each dedicated to a different sense. Along with the ones I’ve already mentioned, there was a "touch" round during which we felt a stranger’s hand, arm, then cheek (and after the smell round, that didn’t feel as intimate as it sounds). The final round was based on movement. For that one, we danced with a partner. And, oh yeah, all but one of the activities were done blindfolded, Bird Box -style. The only sighted activity: gazing into a stranger’s eyes for over a minute. The bartenders at the drinks table told me they’d had a fun time watching us flail around, and I later found pieces of dehydrated vegetables in my bra.

The amount of time spent blindfolded is intentional, Guerilla Science’s Head of Operations, Olivia Koski, tells me. "Most of the time when we think of who we’re attracted to, or how we attract people, we think visual: someone looks attractive. We wanted to explore how we rely on the rest of our senses in order to choose a mate," she says.

Though the exercises might sound silly, Guerilla Science sent me a reference list that includes over 20 scientific studies. They included a 1984 study titled "Self-disclosure, intimacy, and the depenetration process" (that’s the one that says telling a stranger an embarrassing moment will make you feel closer to them — which checks out, though I found it more friendship-inducing than sexy), and several 2016 studies, including one titled "Pupil dilation as an index of preferred mutual gaze duration" (that’s the eye-gazing one, which I actually found to be pretty flirtatious, after the initial awkwardness). Guerilla Science works with scientists and researchers to stay up-to-date on the science of attraction, Koski says, "but humans are so complicated that it is quite a big scientific challenge to decode romance from a scientific perspective."

After each exercise, our hosts asked us to raise our hands if we felt that the situation was sexy. And although the food-tasting exercise was primarily based on a study on chimpanzees, it’s consistently the one that human beings find the most sexy, Koski says. "Taste is usually the one that’s most fun, because there’s a lot of opportunity for things to go wrong, but in a fun, sexy way," she says. "And it’s not as intimate as ‘smell me!’"

Although both Koski and the promotional materials for Attraction Lab made it very clear that this night was not intended to be a speed-dating event, it still felt like one: I got up close and personal, whether physically or emotionally, with six strangers. There was one problem, though, and it’s a common problem for singles' events everywhere. The singles’ section was dominated by straight women hoping to meet men … which meant that I was exclusively paired with other women, and most of them seemed pretty annoyed to be paired with me. Having your partner cross their arms, turn away from you, and gaze longingly at the leather-jacket-wearing, floppy-haired man across the room is not the sexiest situation. I can’t blame them, though — while I was comped a ticket as press, they paid $20 (£15) to attend, plus $6 (£4.50) per drink.

"We always struggle to get the men to show up," Koski admits, adding that she and her partner connected because she recruited him — then her neighbour — to attend one of the first Sensory Speed-Dating events. Though they weren’t paired for the exercises, they hit it off and now have two children.

While I didn’t find a date at Attraction Lab, I did grab pizza afterwards with the woman I sniffed — along with our mutual friend, who happened to also be in attendance. And Attraction Lab did have me thinking about past sensory attractions: how intoxicating it felt to sit next to someone I was crushing on, or how ridiculously good a certain ex smelled. With photo-focused dating apps priming us to make a split-second decision about a potential partner based solely on their appearance, the reminder that our other senses are just as important was a refreshing change of pace. I wonder what a scratch-and-sniff version of Tinder would be like...

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Charlize Theron is being praised on Twitter for her eminently sensible and sensitive approach towards her daughter's gender identity.

The Oscar-winning actress has two daughters, seven-year-old Jackson and three-year-old August, both of whom she adopted.

In a new interview, Theron recalled that older daughter Jackson confirmed her gender identity at the age of three.

"Yes, I thought she was a boy, too," Theron told the Daily Mail. "Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said: 'I am not a boy!'

"So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect and I want to see thrive. They were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be, is not for me to decide."

The actress added: "My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be. And I will do everything in my power for my kids to have that right and to be protected within that."

Theron's comments are prompting plenty of discussion – and plenty of praise - on Twitter today. Author Juno Dawson, a role model for LGBT charity Stonewall, who is trans, tweeted: "This made me tear up. My life would have been so different if my parents had just let me be me as a kid. Adopt me, Charlize."

This made me tear up. My life would have been so different if my parents had just let me be me as a kid. Adopt me, Charlize. https://t.co/UnT9EjMiSg

— Juno Dawson (@junodawson) April 19, 2019

Check out a selection of other tweets praising Theron's approach below.

Thank you @CharlizeAfrica for being the type of parent all kids deserve. #TransIsBeautiful ❤️💜❤️

— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) April 19, 2019

@CharlizeAfrica Thank you !!! This world needs moms like that! examples so! you are beautiful I have smart! I love you!!! God bless you !! 🍋❤👑

— Juan Tijoux (@JuanVar39710888) April 20, 2019

"Yes, I thought she was a boy, too. Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said, ‘I am not a boy! So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect and I want to see thrive." <3https://t.co/KmCjM081GF

— shon faye. (@shonfaye) April 19, 2019

In an interview last year, Theron spoke candidly about her decision to adopt her daughters.

"Adoption is a very personal thing—I know people whom I love dearly who don’t feel that they could raise another child as their own. I respect that," she told Elle.

"But for me—and I can’t be the only person out there—I never saw a difference in raising an adopted child versus my own biological child. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on something. This was always my first choice, even when I was in a relationship."

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I’ve always been intrigued by others' skincare routines: the complex, the wild, the luxurious. Like an organised handbag or a monogrammed travel wallet, a good skincare routine cries of having your shit together. In reality, my own skincare routine is pretty basic. I have some beauty products I really love but when it comes to what I apply, it depends on what comes to hand and what mood I’m in. For Victoria Beckham though, there is no such lackadaisical approach to skincare. She is as diligent and dedicated to her routine as you would expect (I bet she has a monogrammed travel wallet).

According to Who What Wear, which recently published a full breakdown of VB’s morning and evening skincare regime, the designer follows a five-step morning regime and a six-step evening extravaganza. And it’s not cheap, with the products totalling over £800. Put together by Australian skin expert and facialist Melanie Grant, who Victoria has enthusiastically credited on Instagram for introducing her to some of her favourite beauty products, the routine includes serums, bespoke masks and a facial cream that has been created by a professor who is an internationally recognised authority in regenerative sciences. No half measures here.

It got me thinking. Would replicating VB’s ultra luxe, multi-step regime get my dull, dehydrated skin glowing? Would I finally learn to love a structured skincare routine? Here's what happened in two weeks of trialling Beckham’s go-to products...

Day One, AM

First up in the regime is the Cosmedix Purity Solution Nourishing Oil, £37.72, a deeply cleansing mixture of argan, olive and moringa oils as well as melia azadirachta extract (which promises to purify and help reduce the appearance of redness due to dry skin). I massage a generous amount onto my skin before emulsifying with water and rinsing off. Victoria uses this cleansing oil morning and night. At first I’m dubious of using an oil so frequently (I have combination skin but sometimes it verges more on the oily) but (spoiler alert!) by the end of the two weeks it’s truly won me over and become one of my favourite products in the lineup. It really does melt away makeup, leaves skin feeling velvety soft and smells divine.

The second step of the AM routine is the iS Clinical Pro Heal Serum Advance Plus, £63, which contains all the goodies: vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A and olive leaf extract. It certainly smells clinical, but sinks into the skin quickly and promises to help improve the appearance of blemish-prone, ageing skin as well as helping reduce redness and inflammation due to cystic acne, rosacea or scarring. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is reportedly also a fan.

Then it’s on to the eye cream. VB actually uses Cosmedix’s Eye Doctor, a liquid crystal, high potency serum, but it proved hard to track down in the UK, so in its place I tried the Eye Genius, as recommended by WWW. I’ve always struggled with finding an eye cream that’s not too heavy or too light and slippy, but the Cosmedix Eye Genius, £75.42, straddles it well. It’s both featherlight and creamy and I notice a definite reduction in puffiness under the eyes.

Still with me? We’re on to the fourth step, which involves smoothing a couple of pumps of the most expensive beauty product I think I’ve ever used onto my face. Say hello to Augustinus Bader’s The Cream, £205. Melanie Grant and Victoria are huge fans of this product, which also counts Alexa Chung, Margot Robbie and Sandra Oh as enthusiasts. It comes with some pretty impressive credentials (as you might expect with that price tag). Professor Augustinus Bader is one of the world's leading stem cell experts, who holds over 200 patents and developed a revolutionary hydrogel cream while treating burn victims, which in some patients eliminated the need for skin grafts. I have to say, The Cream is pretty lovely. It sinks in and refreshes like a gel but nourishes and hydrates like a cream without leaving a sticky residue. I don’t know whether it’s thanks to this cream, but my skin looks plumper and smoother within a few days.

Finally, there’s a slathering of Sarah Chapman’s Skinesis Skin Insurance SPF30 Perfecting Tint, £52, to round off the morning routine. Victoria uses Melanie Grant's own SPF but as you can't get that in the UK at the moment, I'm using the Skinesis SPF and tint as Victoria is a sworn fan of Sarah Chapman's products.

PM

After using the Cosmedix Nourishing Oil to remove makeup and grime from the day, Victoria double cleanses with Cosmedix’s Purity Clean Exfoliating Cleanser, £42.03, which boasts lactic acid, tea tree oil and peppermint oil, leaving skin tingly and minty fresh. I’m impressed by how the pea sized amount I’ve pumped really does lather into the right quantity for the face and neck. It might be over £40 but at this rate, will last a good while.

Next up is the Biologique Recherche Lotion, £61. I have read a lot about this. The liquid exfoliant is another celebrity favourite and is supposed to brighten, leave skin feeling smooth and has an odd array of ingredients including horseradish and onion extract. There are four different lotions in the range and before you can get hold of a bottle, a skin analysis is required, which can be done in store or online.

Following my analysis, I’m recommended the P50W lotion, the gentlest in the range. Victoria uses the P50 but it’s best to work up to this one. For the first two weeks, you’re advised to use a few drops of the lotion applied to a dampened cotton pad (I used the Tabitha Eve Reusable Organic Cotton and Bamboo Make Up Rounds, £5.50 for five), patting across the face, neck and décolleté (not rubbing and not passing over the same area more than once). I’m equally terrified and excited to give this one a go. The first time I use it, I find the lotion quite astringent and notice some tingling, especially on areas where my skin is sensitive due to blemishes. After a few days though, my skin adjusts to it and there isn’t too much discomfort, although I’m always glad to follow it up with a moisturising serum.

Now, in comes the retinol and it’s another product in the regime that requires care. Beckham uses the Cosmedix Serum 24, but this is also tricky to track down and instead I’m using the brand’s Serum 16, £86.20, which also contains retinol. I’m advised to use this one to three times a week to start with, switching to nightly use once my skin has adjusted. After allowing the serum a few minutes to sink in and popping on some of the Eye Genius, I apply Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream, £205, which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s thicker than The Cream used in the morning routine, richer and offers an almost shield-like layer. After applying it, I feel like I’ve encased all the other hardworking skin products underneath for the night.

Day Two

I'm amazed by how smooth and soft my skin is feeling after just a couple of days. Of course everyone's skin is different and simply copying a routine tailor-made for someone else doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the same results, but undeniably, my skin is already benefitting from a regular routine and some top products with clever ingredients.

Day Four

Uh oh. It was going so well but I’ve been a bit heavy-handed with the retinol. After my night cleanse I notice a sorry-looking red patch on my cheek, along with a rather flushed face. Despite looking sore, it doesn't actually hurt but I decide to pare it back a bit and take a few days break from the most intense products: the Biologique Recherche Lotion and the retinol serum.

Day Seven

I never knew plumper skin was something I was after, but these products are giving it to me and I am loving it. My face feels smoother and dry patches have been all but eliminated – plus the redness from the overzealous retinol application has dissipated. I’m also starting to see why so many beauty editors sing the praises of Sarah Chapman’s Skinesis range. The Skin Insurance SPF30 Perfecting Tint not only has a lovely smooth and ultra light texture, it’s like a filter in a tube. I don’t know whether it’s the "smart light-scattering powders and an intelligent adaptive tint" but this cream (once rubbed in properly) really helps create a smooth base and gives me the confidence to go out without makeup in a way I’d always wanted but not quite achieved without a sneaky bit of concealer first.

Day 14

As much as I am pleased with the effect of the products on my skin, I am also amazed by my steadfast approach to this routine. Let's be honest, a daily skincare routine that involves 11 steps is no light regime. To start with, it was quite time-consuming and there were some moments, especially after late nights, when double cleansing was the last thing I fancied doing before hitting the hay. But as I've grown more comfortable with how and when to use the products, it's become a calming, nourishing part of my day and I'm getting much speedier. Also, the minutes I've added to my skincare have freed up time elsewhere: having smoother, glowing skin means I'm much more comfortable without makeup and when I do wear cosmetics they have a great base, so it's not such a stress-filled event. The products in Victoria's routine are certainly a luxury but a key lesson here is, whether you're spending hundreds of pounds or a few quid, get yourself into a regular routine of looking after your skin, be that two steps or 10.

Talking about Victoria's commitment to skincare, dermatologist Dr Harold Lancer said this: "Victoria doesn’t just sporadically do something...she follows a programme with the same determination as an Olympic athlete." Boy, can I believe that.

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From New York to Paris Fashion Week, one item unified the street style: a squishy cropped puffer jacket with an upright collar and robust press closures. It appeared at Copenhagen Fashion Week in chocolate brown, was spotted in New York in black and tan, and popped up later in London in scarlet. A must-have jacket is nothing new, but the fact that this Nanushka design is made out of vegan leather is.

PVC, pleather, leatherette – faux leather has had many identities but its latest rebrand is as an agenda-setting material. The new moniker 'vegan leather' identifies its animal-friendly credentials, spurring renewed interest in the textile.

"Vegan leather has come a long way since the days of 'pleather'," confides PETA’s director of corporate projects, Yvonne Taylor. She points to Hugo Boss, which is making hide from pineapple (called Piñatex), and a lab in New Jersey that’s experimenting with growing its own animal-free skin. "New innovations mean that natural, renewable materials can be transformed into durable, high quality, stylish, eco-friendly fabrics," she says.

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A post shared by NANUSHKA (@nanushka) on Mar 23, 2019 at 1:02pm PDT

The research that Taylor highlights is paying off. Those butter-soft Nanushka puffer jackets have gone from being a street style hit to racking up searches on Net-A-Porter; in the space of one season, the retailer has increased its investment in the Hungarian brand by 200%. Likewise, sneaker label Veja, beloved by the Duchess of Sussex, is reportedly a constant sellout for the website.

It’s not just the production that’s changed, but the very feel of the product. Stroke a Stella McCartney bag and the differences between the label’s vegetarian leather and the real McCoy are imperceptible. "It took us a very long time to find our vegan leather that looked and felt just right," admits Brit label Kitri’s Haeni Kim. "We love the look and feel of supple leather but did not feel right about using real animal leather for our pieces." It took a great deal of research for Kitri to find a fabric made of 100% PU and polyester that mimicked the exact feel, weight and quality of leather but when they did, they saw the same success as Nanushka and Veja.

"Due to the high demand, the quality [of faux leather] is consistently improving," believes Selfridges' designer studio buyer, Sev Halit. "Vegan leather serves as a perfect alternative to the real thing, mirroring its luxurious and timeless aesthetic." Another notable point of difference between vegan leather and animal hide is the price. Kim puts it simply: "Good vegan leather is not cheap but it is nowhere near the cost of using real leather, so it is a much better price proposition for our customers too."

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A post shared by Stella McCartney (@stellamccartney) on Feb 17, 2019 at 1:00pm PST

Arguably, leather is the clothing industry's last acceptable animal byproduct. Not long ago, fur connoted status and luxury, allowing for instant amplification in an item's price. Now, brands across the spectrum, from Gucci to John Galliano, Burberry to Michael Kors, are promising to phase out their use of fur altogether. It's no accident that this seismic shift in attitudes coincided with the increase in quality of alternatives, like those pioneered by labels such as Shrimps and Stand.

For the Gen Z shopper, animal welfare is an important topic. Business of Fashion ’s 2019 retail report acknowledged that nine out of 10 Gen Z consumers believe companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues, and they aren't alone. Together with millennials – another generation fighting against animal cruelty and climate change – this cohort wields some $350 billion spending power in the US alone, meaning it’s in fashion’s best interest to provide attractive, sustainable, animal-friendly alternatives.

Once mocked, a vegan lifestyle has infiltrated the mainstream. Plant-based diets are now well served by the high street, from Greggs to Waitrose and Tesco, with the latter – the UK's largest supermarket – recently launching a range of vegan ready meals. Similarly, natural beauty is now a multibillion-pound industry. Identifying a product as vegan instantly aligns it with a moral compass and opens it up to a niche but rapidly growing consumer base.

"The new narrative of vegan leather [has it] viewed as a premium product," explains Petah Marian, senior editor at trend-spotting agency WGSN. She points to the rise in numbers of vegans increasing demand for leather alternatives, but also that it’s part of a larger debate that weighs up environmentalism against ethics. When it comes to vegan leather, sustainability and animal welfare don't necessarily go hand in hand.

"It signifies an interesting shift – it says more about ethical fashion rather than sustainability. Brands are looking to serve the emerging consumer who is keen to behave in a way that does not involve wearing animals," adds Marian. "It’s important to remember that a lot of vegan leather is being manufactured using plastic-based products, which aren’t great for the environment. Leather is a byproduct of the meat production process."

While tanning leather is by no means environmentally friendly, neither is the production of vegan leather, which is rarely biodegradable and involves a lot of chemicals. Leather may have a lifecycle of generations, while an animal-friendly product could be less durable. The only way to make vegan leather sustainable would be to produce it using deadstock materials. As Marian says: "It’s good that there is demand, it shows that people’s mindsets are shifting, but like everything, there is a real risk of jumping on the trend without thinking about the actual consequences."

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We’re fresh into Taurus season this week, as the sun lights up our financial minds and attitudes towards work. Take the energetic drive that Aries season lent us last week, and back it up with attainable short-term goals. The mood stays light thanks to Venus’s move into Aries last Saturday. It’s a brilliant time to take fashion risks, experiment with colour and upgrade your workout wardrobe. You could be inspired to make a few grand romantic gestures while the planet of love and beauty moves through this bold sign.

We’re feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed on Sunday when the moon wanes in Sagittarius at 11:59 a.m. Be ready for anything on Tuesday when change-making Uranus conjuncts the sun. Connect with loved ones and friends while the moon helps to create an expansive mood until Tuesday morning at 7:43 a.m. Prepare for a rest period on Tuesday when the moon goes void-of-course until 6:49 p.m. that night. Keep your mind open for inspiration when the moon enters Capricorn that night, as we’ll be inspired to create rules to help us get what we want. Allow yourself to be open to change when Pluto goes retrograde on Wednesday. The planet of rebirth and revealed truths will be moving backwards until October 3rd, helping us to become aware of hidden knowledge. Listen to your gut while he moves in reverse and challenges your thoughts to inspire new action. The moon enhances Capricorn’s qualities until 3:47 p.m on Thursday when she goes void-of-course again until early Friday morning at 5:27 a.m. When the moon is void, most actions taken end up panning out, so spend this time in reflection. Remove unessential apps from your phone, pick up a book you’ve meant to finish, and enjoy your downtime. Connect with friends and discuss your ideas on Friday and Saturday when the moon lights up Aquarius.

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We all have so many internet passwords to remember that it's tempting to use the same one over and over again.

However, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a warning ahead of its annual conference that re-using passwords across multiple accounts creates a "major risk" to our online security.

The NCSC also revealed that the most commonly hacked passwords globally are “12345”, “123456789”, “qwerty”, “1111111” and that old classic "password".

In addition, the names Ashley, Michael, Daniel, Jessica and Charlie commonly appear in passwords made by UK internet users – as do the names of football teams, the superheroes Batman and Superman, the band blink-182, the fictional character Tigger and the word Pokemon.

Creating a password containing any of these names could make your account more vulnerable to being hacked, the NCSC warned.

NCSC technical director Dr Ian Levy said: “We understand that cybersecurity can feel daunting to a lot of people, but the National Cyber Security Centre has published lots of easily applicable advice to make you much less vulnerable.

“Password re-use is a major risk that can be avoided – nobody should protect sensitive data with something that can be guessed, like their first name, local football team or favourite band.

“Using hard-to-guess passwords is a strong first step and we recommend combining three random but memorable words. Be creative and use words memorable to you, so people can’t guess your password.”

Less than half of respondents to an NCSC survey said they had a strong and unique password for their main email account – a vital step in protecting your personal information online.

Margot James MP, the Digital and Creative Industries Minister, added: "There are some simple actions everyone can take to better protect against hackers. We shouldn't make their lives easy so choosing a strong and separate password for your email account is a great practical step."

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Suffering a miscarriage is an incredibly traumatic life experience that can only be fully understood by people who've experienced it. Because of this, we don't always know quite what to say to a friend or family member who is recovering from one – or worse still, we say something that's meant to be sympathetic, but ends up becoming triggering.

To help make this very distressing situation a little easier, The Miscarriage Association has created a range of empathy cards for women and men who are going through a miscarriage.

The range of four cards – which contain messages such as "There's no good card for this. I'm so sorry for your loss" – has been approved by a panel of women who have themselves experienced miscarriage.

Ruth Bender Atik, national director of the Miscarriage Association, said of the empathy cards: "Shockingly, greetings card retailers stock a card for almost every important life event, except one. These cards recognise miscarriage, and give words to those friends and loved ones who can’t find them.

"Losing a pregnancy is heart-breaking and can be very lonely. Close family and friends often don’t know what to say, say the wrong thing, or just say nothing at all. The new cards have been launched to fill that gap. They may even become a treasured memento, the acknowledgement of the briefest of lives."

The miscarriage empathy cards are available now at Postmark 's London stores and online, and Postmark is donating all proceeds from them to The Miscarriage Association.

Natasha Necati, a woman who has gone through eight miscarriages, said of the cards: “When I had my miscarriages, people meant to be kind, but I did have comments like ‘Sorry for your loss, but at least you know you can get pregnant’ and ‘Don’t worry, you’re still young,’ whereas others just didn’t say anything at all.

“I would have loved to receive cards like these. I especially like the one that says 'I wish this wasn’t happening to you. I don’t know what to say. But I promise I am here for you'. It says it all.”

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This Easter morning, Kanye West stood on the mount – a man-made spot literally referred to as “The Mountain” – at Coachella to perform his Sunday Service. The super-secret Calabasas concert series, which is usually invitation-only and requires a signed NDA, has been a hot ticket for celebrities such as Katy Perry and Busy Philipps looking for a quasi-religious experience, a Kanye performance, and a full-on gospel choir all in one. (And, if you’re lucky, it’ll also include an appearance from North West, whose mic may or may not be turned on.) Since January, normies like us only get a glimpse of this spiritual art experiment – is it a party? An actual church? – in Kim Kardashian-West ’s Instagram stories or the well-curated @kanyessundayservice. But on this morning in the California desert, Kanye brought it to the masses via YouTube and took Coachella to church.

On the same day Jesus resurrected, Kanye was looking to do the same with his career by offering a church-like experience that could wash away his long-list of recent PR sins. Praise be to ‘Ye and Coachella for making this happen so quickly. Originally slated to headline Coachella, Kanye bowed out after the festival reportedly couldn’t build him a giant dome. But, build Kanye a mountain and he will come in his Sunday best.

There were no sermons, or rants, which have been par for the course for anyone who has seen Kanye live as of late. But in Indio, CA, the home of many golf courses, it was just good vibes and G.O.O.D. Music seen through a telescope, which made it feel like you were spying on this not-so-secret Sunday Service.

KANYE
"JESUS WALKS"
SUNDAY SERVICE#Coachella pic.twitter.com/CkHwj8eUmm

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) April 21, 2019

For the first time in a long time, Kanye let the music do the talking, saying nothing for most of the performance, which included dancers intermingled in the crowd and a shot of North West showing off her moves. In fact, Kanye barely popped up on the screen, but the few times he did, he looked overcome with joy. A reminder that yes, Kanye does smile.

Instead of the “me,” Kanye was focused on the “we,” playing band leader of this ensemble that was ready to get a little funky in their mauve Church Clothes that made them look like a little Polyphonic Spree. When Kanye finally did take the mic for The College Dropout classic “All Falls Down,” he seemed unsure if he even wanted it, a change for a guy famously known for stealing the mic away from Taylor Swift.

ALL FALLS DOWN #Kanye #SundayService #CollegeDropout pic.twitter.com/SkMqUmXwh6

— 🌊トーサー • 〔≡_≡〕 🌊 (@somegaveall) April 21, 2019

Nearly two decades after “Jesus Walks,” Kanye is still merging hip-hop and gospel in his image, but his Coachella performance, not unlike Beyoncé’s Homecoming , had him unapologetically showing what it is he believes in. While Bey went for a drumline in her celebration of HBCUs and Black excellence, Ye went with Wurlitzers to go full-tilt for the Black church. Kim K recently told Jimmy Kimmel Live! that Sunday Service is "more of just a healing experience" than a religious one. "There’s no praying, there’s no sermon, no word, just music, and just a feeling,” she said, “and it’s Christian.”

Oh, this Coachella Sunday Service was definitely Christian in ways that are bound to turn people off — but for those willing to catch the spirit there was something powerful about a performance that stanned for a brighter day to come.

Kanye West and Teyana Taylor turning Coachella into ah black church 😂 #sundayservice pic.twitter.com/S0gI0ZZoWu

— Big Head Sam (@BIGHEADSAM) April 21, 2019

Over the course of the over two-and-a-half-hour, 24-song performance, Chance The Rapper preached “Jesus Christ is Lord” on the already spiritual “Ultralight Beam” right before DMX gave a sermon. “Fade” became a praise Jesus dance-off that had them reworking ‘Ye’s original non-denominational lyrics to “He’s alive.” That “he” was Jesus, but no one would blame you for thinking it was Kanye, too.

On this day, “Power” was a spiritual for those who think no one besides God should have all that power – something Kanye might understand a little too well in the decade since writing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Let’s just say Kanye shouting about the devil trying to bring him down on “Jesus Walks” felt a little more real than usual.

In between, Kanye’s choir turned Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness” into an ode to Jesus, before letting Coachella know “we have everything we need” in a new song that is presumably off his next album, Yandhi, a Yeezy spin on Gandhi. Kanye also debuted the new track “Water,” which looks at starting over fresh. “We are water,” it repeats, “like a newborn daughter.”

kanye debuted a new song called “water” at #sundayservice 😭🌊🙏pic.twitter.com/ob0RcVtMLU

— Genius (@Genius) April 21, 2019

On this highest of holy days, “Highlights” off Life Of Pablo stood out. It was Kanye’s confession, him asking for forgiveness for all that came before this moment. There was no Christ-like posturing from the rapper, though there were a lot of tears.

It was just him asking Jesus and, perhaps, those at Coachella and watching on YouTube to save him from the old Kanye and welcome this new Kanye with open arms. But instead of repeating four Hail Mary’s and an Our Father, he decided to dance it in the Palm Springs desert, hands up to the heavens.

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Every year, more than 5,000 women worldwide are killed "in the name of honour" to "restore" their family's reputation. What is it that makes a father put societal values above the lives of his own children? This is the question at the heart of Inside An Honour Killing. Written by investigative journalist Lene Wold, the book tells the story of an honour killing from two perspectives: the killer's and the victim's.

While living in Jordan for three years, Wold meets and interviews Rahman, a man who killed his mother and daughter and attempted to kill a second daughter. Wold interweaves their story with her own experiences of Jordanian culture; her meetings with imams, journalists, lawyers, government officials, police and human rights workers; and visits to prisons, hospitals, homes and graveyards, all in an effort to understand what drives a person to kill a loved one.

Rahman killed his daughter because she was having a relationship with a girl. In the following extract, Wold meets some new friends at a bar and discovers how they live as members of the LGBT community in Jordan. Wold herself is gay and writes beautifully about how she feels so vulnerable and in awe of people who defy the law to be themselves.

My first impression of the place is surprisingly positive. A dozen people – mostly men in their thirties – are sitting with beers in front of them, chatting with each other. Their voices are relaxed, the interior is dark wood, and the speakers in the corners of the room are emitting a kind of Arabic attempt at rock – which quickly gets me feeling like I could be back in any pub in Europe. I sit down at an empty table and order a beer from the man behind the bar. He smiles, fills a glass, and places a bowl of warm nuts in front of me. I regard those around me curiously. I’m the only woman here but it seems to be fine, I think. Maybe Samir is right after all.

Shortly after, Samir struts through the door with two friends and a woman with uncovered bleached hair. She is wearing eyeliner and dark red lipstick, and I am immediately struck by her beauty. The two other friends are well dressed in tight pants and light shirts and have perfectly groomed eyebrows and freshly trimmed beards. If I didn’t know any better I’d have guessed a group of models had just entered the room. Samir himself is tall and dark with a medium-length beard, green eyes, and a big smile. He is undoubtedly a handsome man with a lot of charisma – which was why I started talking to him when I was out a few weeks ago. We exchanged numbers and stayed in touch, and have become good friends during the short time we’ve known each other.

The gang surrounds me, shaking my hand and giving me long hugs. Samir says we’re going to drink arak, a strong liquor with an alcohol content of up to 60 percent. I grimace sceptically, and Samir pats me carefully on the shoulder.

"You’ll be fine," he says, laughing. "You’re a Viking!"

"Arak!" cries out the friend who introduced himself as Ali. Shortly thereafter, an enormous bottle with blue writing is placed on the table along with five narrow glasses and two pints of water. Ali mixes the liquor with the water in the small glasses, and the liquid turns into a cloudy, milky substance. I’m getting the chills just looking at it, and even a bit nauseous from the sweet smell of anise that meets my nose as I take the drink.

" Nnakhbak — to health," says Ali, and we all raise our glasses.

" Skål — cheers," I respond and knock back the liquid that tastes a lot like cough syrup.

The hours pass quickly, and the bottle is soon empty. We eat mezze and indulge in freshly baked Arabic bread that we dip in hummus, baba ghanoush, and labneh – a dip that resembles a cross between feta and cream. Labneh is definitely my favourite, and I eat so much that my stomach starts to hurt. The conversation flows and the mood rises as we continue drinking. Samir says he wants to go out to a club, while Ali would prefer to drive around town and listen to music in the car. On Saturday nights, the streets of Amman are packed with cars full of friends, alcohol, and loud music. In Norway, I would perhaps have called them hooligans, but here the practice has a slightly different social function, as it’s the easiest way for young people to meet. Hidden in their own cars, men and women can be out on the town together, drink, and get to know one another – without being exposed to the critical gaze of the outside world.

The woman, Mary, says she’d rather go out since there’s so much traffic. They’ve already been sitting in the car from Irbid for an hour and a half anyway, she points out. I say I can go along with whatever they decide. I’m not so familiar with Amman’s nightlife and just want to see what they want to do.

"We’re going to Books@cafe," Samir says.

"Books@cafe?" I ask, surprised. It’s the only place I actually do know of in Amman; it’s known for being a meeting place for the LGBT community. Samir blinks and pours another round of arak, proposing yet another cheers — without mixing the alcohol with water this time.

"To tonight!" he shouts, knocking back the drink and leaning toward me. He whispers that he likes both women and men.

I throw back my own drink and don’t know how to react. Then I stare at Ali in his tight shirt and with his perfectly groomed eyebrows.

"Do you know what kind of place it is?" Mary asks, and it grows quiet around the table. Everyone looks at me.

It’s not illegal to be homosexual in Jordan. Even though homosexuality is considered sinful behaviour, it is a private matter that the state mostly doesn’t get involved in.

I nod, still uncertain about how to act. Could it just be a coincidence that my closest new friend here in Amman is bi, or is he here to lure me into a trap? I go over the facts in my head. On paper, it’s not illegal to be homosexual in Jordan, and I’ve never read any cases of tourists being prosecuted or convicted for being openly gay in the country. Even though homosexuality is considered sinful behaviour, it is a private matter that the state mostly doesn’t get involved in. The family deals with the "issue" internally, and different families choose different solutions. The authorities can’t kick me out even if they have evidence that I’m gay, I conclude. Besides, I was the one who introduced myself to Samir when we first met, not the other way around, so the friendship seems genuine.

"I’ve been there before," I admit.

"I KNEW it!" shouts Mary, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "You’re one of us."

I look at the group in front of me and start laughing. The thought hadn’t struck me, but now it is obvious. The tight jeans and shirt Ali is wearing suddenly have a logical explanation, as do Samir’s delicate handshakes and the way his two friends are acting with each other. Stereotypes, maybe, but also facts in this case.

"Maybe," I say. "Are you all gay?" The group erupts into laughter.

"Yes!" Mary says, ordering another round, and the mood rises further. "Let’s celebrate!"

"But I’m not gay," Samir corrects eventually. "I just have sex with men. And I’m masculine. No one is really gay in Amman. Here, you’re bi, not gay."

I ask what he means by that, and he explains that he thinks it’s okay to have sex with someone of the same gender but that it isn’t okay to live in an open lesbian or gay relationship. "That would be selfish," he says. "It would be hard for the family."

"Would they kill you if they found out?" I ask.

He grins and says no. Jordan isn’t a primitive country where barbaric Arabic men kill their children before breakfast, he remarks.

I think about this comment for a while. In a way, he’s both right and wrong. After all, there are about twenty men who kill their children in the name of honour in this country every year, including for reasons such as this. But, like homosexuals in this country, they only represent a small subculture, a minority. Neither gays nor those who kill in the name of honour represent the majority in this country. I realise that I have been focusing only on two extremes of Jordanian society. For months, I have examined the darkest sides of the culture, looking for oppression, prejudice, and murder . . . but there are of course also parts of Jordan where people can more freely love whomever they want and be more open about their sexuality. Honour killing is an ancient cultural phenomenon founded on its own form of logic, and it is increasingly taking place in societies where modern values are gaining traction. It’s only at the extremes that things go wrong. This is an important nuance, I think, and empty my last glass of arak.

"How does it really work, concealing your sexuality?" I ask, wondering if the family won’t find out eventually anyway when they never get married.

"I’m going to marry a woman, get a good job, a house, kids. Like I said, I’m not gay." Samir hits his chest.

Mary leans forward and tells me that there are many ways of solving this issue in Jordan. Sometimes, gay people search for other gay people of the opposite gender with whom they can build a family. They share a home, have children, and live just like any other family – but they are also living a double life on the side with other partners. This way, you can both meet your family’s expectations and live the life you want.

"Doesn’t it feel like living a lie?" I ask.

"You just have to be considerate," she says. "You always have a choice between yourself and your family. Just like we cover up our women with veils, we cover up our secrets. As long as we hide our sins from the public, it’s fine."

Her perspective surprises me. And as we tumble out of the bar and drive toward Al-Rainbow Street in the humid summer night, I feel more out of place and illegal in this country than I have in a long time. My like-minded friends think that what they’re doing is a sin. They have given up the right to their own sexuality and are living a double life in which they are neither faithful to themselves nor to society’s norms.

Inside An Honour Killing, A Father and Daughter Tell Their Story by Lene Wold is available for pre-order from 2nd May from Greystone Books, £19.99.

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Over the past few years there has been a significant shift in the image of conscious fashion, with brands big and small pledging to produce clothing that is both ethically made and beautifully designed.

Slowly but surely, the fashion industry is being held responsible for its impact on human life and the environment. This is thanks, in part, to international designers like committed vegan Stella McCartney – whose fabric innovation, sleek designs and cool collaborations were reinventing cruelty-free fashion way before the mainstream cottoned on – as well as the influence of the internet in spreading activism and raising awareness around our consumer habits.

Shopping ethically can be problematic; when prices are higher due to better production and people morally judge you for shopping on the high street, it becomes a class issue. Meanwhile fast fashion's promises of supply chain transparency and one-off sustainable capsule collections don't remedy its burning of waste products or endless supply of garments.

However, a growing number of small, independent brands are creating clothes you’ll want to wear while implementing fairness every step of the way. And while fast fashion brands have a long, long way to go to overhaul their damaging and dangerous practices, more are making positive changes.

From feminist and Photoshop-free platforms to brands working with global artisans to keep traditional craft alive, here’s our roundup of where to go to make your wardrobe more conscious in 2019.

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For someone like me, emails can pose a problem.

In 2015 I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (now considered to be Autism Spectrum Disorder). I can be literal; I find it easier to understand other people if eye contact is not forced, and clear options are offered. "Would you prefer a cheese or ham sandwich?" is much easier to answer than "What would you like to eat today?" Of course this is a hugely oversimplified example. But by being presented with more straightforward options, I find communication clearer and easier, otherwise the various possibilities will be going around in my head for ages. Trying to understand someone who is neurotypical – not on the spectrum – can sometimes feel like trying to break a code without a key. Email only makes things harder for me as an inbox removes any social cues, making communication more complicated.

As a freelance journalist, I spend my day largely sat at a laptop, either writing or pitching. (I wouldn’t be writing this otherwise!) Misunderstandings often occur over email because I can be very literal. I have had to learn social codes along the way, like what is appropriate to say, what not to say. I can also be persistent, and will make use of offers like "Come and chat to us" or "Meet me for coffee". Face to face, I can’t tell what someone is thinking, and worrying about not wishing to upset anyone, and putting what I think and observe about certain things causes me to feel anxious, and so I type and retype emails before sending.

In an exchange with another autistic writer, we agreed that our frustration at not being understood some days is almost tangible. Okay, great, someone new wants to meet to network; why duck out of this when I try to set up a day for it? If you promise to look at a story, why won’t you do so? Why respond with a muddle of questions, where your line of thinking is impossible to follow? Why be patronising when rejecting an idea to do with diversity that both the publication, and I, are so passionate about?

And so the idea of the email disclaimer was born, like those you often see: "Sent from my iPhone, typos likely" or, more corporate: "The views and opinions included in this email belong to their author and do not necessarily mirror the views and opinions of the company." My email signature, I decided, would have a different amendment. It would read: "Disclaimer: I am on the autistic spectrum, please be clear and direct in replies."

To see if it had any effect, I tried it out over a week.

Day One

It’s day one of using an email disclaimer, and I feel...vulnerable? Reactions to autism are not necessarily the politest or most understanding. The letters of the disclaimer are big, bold and would easily draw attention. They are impossible to miss. At first, my inbox is full of clipped, slightly brusque emails. I’m pleasantly surprised, though; "clear and direct in replies" has clearly been taken on board. While emailing round for extra freelance work, due to my inbox being suspiciously quieter than normal, an editor emails back: friendly, to-the-point and helpfully deploying a yes-or-no question rather than the open-ended questions I’ve come to expect. The email disclaimer has worked in my favour. I’ve picked up new work, too.

Day Two

My concentration levels have been fried due to illness; no new pitches today!

One of the things I’m working on in the meantime is an opinion piece about Autism Awareness Month. And over the past two days, the disclaimer has clearly had an impact. My email exchange with the editor is clear, concise, to the point; we work really well together. Communication has been made far more understandable and therefore easier for me; I think I may keep this disclaimer in place.

Day Three

Finally, the weekend! One email is sent today, in exchange with my mentor; she’s aware of my diagnosis already. She doesn’t care about my autism – after all, why would it take away my ability to be a journalist? Emailing her is more for my benefit.

It is clear, by this point in the week, that the disclaimer has brought out an unconscious reaction; nearly all the emails I receive are more clipped, straight to the point, offering options clearly. Without the disclaimer, emails tend to be almost flowery – the jotted thoughts of someone I may never have met can be impossible to understand at times. But I have to wonder: is anyone going to ask me about this? Have they noticed the disclaimer?

At least with no one mentioning it, the tone-deaf reactions I sometimes get haven’t made their way into the exchanges. Person to person, as soon as I say "I’m autistic", people can respond hurtfully, because they see a label and not a person. The disclaimer removes the potential for misinformed exchanges, like anti-vaxxer myths (when some people find out, every so often the response is "You are vaccine damaged!" Really). The disclaimer simply beats them to the punch; I like this way of communication.

Day Four

Sunday. In other words, the day of rest; no one is going to reply to emails today, let alone ideas for pitches. Humans on the other end of the inbox can’t respond 24/7. Pandora Sykes has written a new column about how we use out-of-offices, which I read with great interest.

Emails are drafted to send promptly on Monday morning; sending emails at 9am is my tactic for getting an editor's attention. There are podcasts mentioned, interview requests for my blog, invoices…

Day Five

I turn 20 today! Hello new decade…

Due to the flurry of activity today, emails are limited, written in snatched moments and borrowed time. An editor at a big newspaper is polite to me, bothering to explain why she can’t take on any new writers. Other follow-up emails are sent and promptly ignored – although I think this is due to March being a bad freelance month overall for me, not down to the disclaimer.

I feel like the disclaimer has put me on a level with someone not on the spectrum; I feel as though I am no longer patronised, derided or made to feel stupid. It also seems to work to my advantage in another way as editors – those who usually do not reply – are now explaining what I could do better. One editor I am writing a piece for was so lovely and sent me a lot of feedback, carefully and clearly worded. Another editor also responded, saying she was really sorry she couldn't accept any pitches. This has never happened before; I virtually never get replies like that.

Day Six

Catch-up time! My to-do list is huge. There are a lot of deadlines approaching; prioritising my list of what to do helps. But I wish I could go and visit two friends, one who is horribly unwell.

I also get a nasty shock; my blog hosting is up for renewal. That’s expected but the price has been hiked, far outside my (tiny) budget. More emails are fired off, to track down a better and cheaper hosting company. I also send a Freedom Of Information request, to find out more about a story I’m working on. I also send off an interview request for my blog, a quote request for a piece about exams and revision. The disclaimer makes no difference that I can see.

Day Seven

Today is focused on writing, largely. The end of the week means a piece about swimming has to be filed early. This requires interviewing case studies via email; as they’re students, and nearer in age to me than most, I remove the disclaimer, as it feels inappropriate to run the test on them.

The piece is filed, sent off prior to the deadline. *Phew*

No one has asked about the disclaimer yet; I feel slightly defeated.

A week of trying out an email disclaimer left me somewhat surprised; as someone with autism, communication is difficult, but it can be made harder when email removes any social cue. Putting the disclaimer definitely made communication easier, and contacts were "clear and direct" as I asked.

Because no one has brought up the disclaimer directly with me, I ask my mentor for her feedback. Her response is interesting; she said she thought my choice to add a disclaimer was knee-jerk and I’d have to agree, as it was a decision made out of frustration at being misunderstood. It could also be perceived negatively, she said: we are all aware of someone on the spectrum, so why pull yourself down? (A survey conducted by the National Autistic Society suggests 99.5% of the UK public have heard of autism.) She ends on an upbeat note; to foster openness is good, as long as you are not casting yourself in an unfavourable light. Why not turn the disclaimer into a statement of positivity instead?

I think a disclaimer could be helpful for people in other situations. An author I know has a disclaimer for typos, as she has dyslexia. Book publicists who are incredibly busy have a disclaimer for the same reason, simply because they go from the office to meetings, to seeing authors, to events, often typing on the go. For other syndromes, this could also be helpful in the long run, such as if you have an invisible disability – perhaps it could foster a more accepting work environment.

That being said, I am not going to keep using the disclaimer. Although it worked to my benefit, it feels inappropriate. I am more than a label, and I feel ambivalent about being pigeonholed. I also found a correlation; the commissions I got were about autism and therefore because I have autism, not, unfortunately, because I am a trained journalist.

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In Refinery29's Sweet Digs, we take a look inside the sometimes small, sometimes spacious homes of millennial women. Today, 27-year-old Jazmine Reed-Clark and her husband Jordan Clark, 30, share their Dallas apartment.

In her early twenties, Jazmine Reed-Clark was obsessed with having everything be picture-perfect. "I wanted my home to look like a magazine," she says.

But over time, Jazmine started finding herself drawn to different items that didn't quite fit her established aesthetic. And her multi-personality apartment grew. "The older I got, I just thought, I don't care if this is trendy or in style, as much as if I think it's cool," she says.

When she and her husband moved into a much-larger two-bedroom duplex in Dallas neighbourhood Lower Greenville, she had even more room to play. Thus: The "mid-century coze eclectic" living room; the "jungle cafe" dining room, the "marble farmhouse" kitchen, and "Southwestern sexy" bedroom.

Watch their home tour above to see what all those terms mean, and read on for decorating tips and more.

How did you find this space?

"Jordan actually found it. I was unfamiliar with the area, but he had heard great reviews about our landlord, so once we got engaged we wanted to look for a place with outdoor space. We were living in another building our landlord owned, and we just stumbled on this place. I think it's 1600 square feet with a patio, backyard, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. And for this, we just paid one month's rent, which is our security deposit, and that's it."

You must have had a lot of rooms to fill up. What decorating rules do you follow?

"I do like to follow the rule of threes. Depending on the room, though. Some rooms it might be more geometric so I'll care more about symmetry, but I like to make a place feel lived in. So I mix textures and I experiment, and I try not to do too much. But I like to buy things that catch my eye, and then I'll put it in the design closet because I can't find the proper home for it. And every now and then I'll go into the design closet and I'll be like, oh I have the perfect spot for this. So my tip is mix and match, and don't be afraid to experiment."

I love the artwork on your walls. Can you talk about where you found all these prints?

"For my husband, he's lived in Egypt and Spain — he grew up in Indiana — so he likes to college maps. So now we have a lot of maps framed around the house.

"For me, I feel like I have a really simple philosophy when it comes to art. I love art museums and getting lost in them, but at home I believe you should have stuff you just love. Growing up in a predominantly white neighbourhood, I just did not see representation of Black beauty, so it was really important to me that when we have family members coming through, I wanted them to see that celebration of Black beauty. I wanted it to be intentional and have Black queens throughout my house. So we have Issa Rae, we have books by Phoebe Robinson, we have a framed photo of Serena Williams. And I remember seeing that Solange cover art and thinking That's incredible. I always feel something when I walk past it."

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Women in their forties are being exploited by IVF clinics "trading on hope", the UK's fertility watchdog has warned.

Figures published in the Daily Telegraph reveal that since 2003, the number of women in their forties seeking fertility treatment has more than doubled – to 10,835 cases in 2017.

However, the odds of IVF being successful drop dramatically as a woman progresses through her forties.

NHS guidelines state that a woman aged between 40 and 42 should be offered one IVF cycle on the NHS. Women older than this aren't generally offered a cycle on the NHS, so private clinics may be their only option.

Fertility watchdog the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) says that for a 43-year-old woman using her own eggs, there is a 3% chance of a birth from IVF. For a woman of 44 or over using her own eggs, there is just a 2% chance of a birth.

Sally Cheshire, chairwoman of the HFEA, warned that some private clinics are making claims like "guaranteed baby or your money back" to persuade older women to pay for IVF cycles. She also said that some clinics are quoting misleading success rates that include births by much young women.

“Some of the private sector clinics use very selective success rates in their sales tactics which we are also trying to stop. Because they need to be honest about their results by age group, by category of patient - all of which is available on our website,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

“I would like our clinics to be honest about the success rates. They are catering to a bunch of vulnerable women. What the clinics shouldn’t be doing is trading on that hope. That hope and vulnerability. They should be honest and transparent about a woman or a couple’s chances.”

According to the HFEA, the average cost of an IVF cycle in a private cynic is between £3,000 and £5,000. However, Cheshire said there is "anecdotal evidence" that some women have been charged as much as £20,000 by clinics selling "add-ons" purporting to increase the chance of success.

Cheshire said she would like the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, which created the HFEA to monitor and licence the UK's fertility clinics, to be amended to give the watchdog extra powers to regulate the price points of IVF cycles in private clinics.

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Ozwald Boateng, the youngest black designer to open a business on London’s Savile Row in 1995, is bringing his talents to New York City. For the first time ever, the British designer of Ghanian descent will design a womenswear collection in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance — an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centred in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s.

According to WWD, the show will be a celebration of culture, diversity, music, history, and fashion, “starting with a short film on Africanism, and guiding us into the future of AI,” according to the company. On May 5, the Savile Row designer will showcase an immersive fashion experience at the Apollo theatre in Harlem, showcasing the brand’s women’s and men’s collection.

Last May, Boateng told Refinery29 that when he started his career, race was not something that he initially wanted to address. “You wouldn’t talk about [race],” Boateng, now age 51, said, recalling the press surrounding his first Givenchy collection in Paris. Though he made history as the first black creative director at a legacy fashion house, he didn’t focus on identity politics. “There was a certain political correctness. You wouldn’t want to bring emphasis [to the fact that someone is Black]. Now, you do,” he added, attributing this shift in global mindset to Barack Obama’s two-term presidency.

“Now, I’ve reached a place where I’m more vocal [about race],” Boateng said. “My work has a strong African identity without being what you would normally expect.”

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Earth Day, celebrated annually on 22nd April, feels especially important this year. It falls as Extinction Rebellion's highly effective protest against government inaction on climate change enters its second week, and within hours of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg arriving in London to address the crowds gathered in central London.

"For way too long the politicians and people in power have got away with not doing anything at all to fight the climate crisis and ecological crisis," 16-year-old Thunberg told protesters at Marble Arch on Sunday evening. "But we will make sure they will not get away with it any longer." According to reports, the Novel Prize nominee was greeted by cheers of "we love you" from the crowd.

On social media today, people are sharing photos of the Earth's dazzling natural beauty, reminding us of what activists are fighting to protect for future generations. In this slideshow, we've gathered some especially stunning imagery from across the globe.

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The fashion industry isn't always the most conscious — socially, economically, or ecologically. The retail business loses thousands (if not millions) of dollars every year on wasted materials and the move towards fast fashion is digging our planet into a serious hole. But despite all of its faults, many of us still find ourselves attracted to fashion more than any other industry. Fortunately for us (and the environment), there are a few select members of fashion's inner circle that are using their voices to change the way the industry works — specifically on the sustainable front.

The six ladies ahead might draw us in with their unique abilities to put outfits together and pose for the camera, but it's their authenticity and dedication to inspiring change that really keeps us coming back for more. From Reese Blutstein of @doublexposure, who's constantly putting pressure on brands to use less paper and cardboard in their packaging, to Natasha Halesworth, whose brand, The Consistency Project, makes shopping for recycled clothing easier than ever — it's clear that these women are dedicated to making the fashion industry a more conscious, eco-friendly space.

In time for Earth Day today, they share advice on how we can all reduce our carbon footprint, starting with our closets.

At Refinery29 UK, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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Just two months after Vogue Brazil's fashion director resigned from her role with the company after being called out for cultural insensitivity, another Condé Nast International title is in hot water. According to WWD, a beauty editor at Glamour Hungary told photographer Brenda Nasr, the magazine "is only allowed to have editorials with Caucasian models." At the time, the photographer was pitching a fashion editorial shot with a single Black model.

“In an industry like this, you typically can’t call people out, because you never know for sure,” Nasr tells WWD. “You might have a hunch that they don’t want something [for a specific reason], but you can’t call them out directly — but she just told me.” When Nasr reached out to Condé Nast International, Glamour Hungary's editor-in-chief Krisztina Maróy apologised for "any offense" to her as "we absolutely did not mean to." Further, Nasr tells WWD, Maróy said she considers she and her colleagues “committed devotee[s] of human rights, democracy and female empowerment.” Maróy claims the editor was "rather awkward" because English isn't her first language.

“[The editor] simply meant that our beauty pages work on mirroring the reader and in a magazine like Glamour and in a country like Hungary they are practical, not inspirational,” Maróy wrote. However, Wolfgang Blau, president of Condé Nast Internatonal called the comments “wrong, offensive and indefensible.” “We at Conde Nast International unreservedly apologise for that.” Further, the editor, who was freelance, will no longer work for the magazine — or any other Condé Nast magazine for that matter.

“All of our fashion and beauty editorial teams around the world not only embrace diversity but are actively promoting and celebrating inclusion in all its forms,” Blau says. “This quite explicitly includes our Glamour team in Hungary, which has consistently promoted new models and talent of all backgrounds and races.”

Blau also said that CNI is “reviewing Glamour Hungary’s diversity policy together with the editor in chief as well as the team’s internal training programs for staff and freelancers so that this never happens again.”

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