| | | | This time of the year always feels like a key change in the song of life. The nights fall hard and fast now the clocks have changed. For a brief while, the leaves underfoot are thick as shag carpet. The world is aglow with deep autumnal oranges and reds: pumpkins, then fireworks, then poppies. The mood music is shifting, the energy rising, as the year comes to a close. On a practical level, this means it is time to get the winter store cupboards prepped – not just with food, but with all the other essentials needed to get through the colder months. So, here are a few things on my radar this month. An option if you are in the market for a new coat, the only slippers you will ever need, and perhaps a treat or two. I’m not for a moment suggesting you buy these things – you may not want anything. You might file away an idea for next year. Or something on my list might remind you about a treasure you can dig out of your own wardrobe. |
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| The November edit | | This shortlist of items are covered in a new column for the Filter. The perfect peacoat | | | Photograph: John Lewis | | Double-breasted peacoat, £159
johnlewis.com I cannot do justice to how excellent this coat is, and the photo doesn’t either, but please take my word for it when I say it looks and feels delicious. Well-thought-out pockets and expensive-looking detailing (for instance, a concealed button to hold the collar in place). It’s chunky, though, so not for you if you prefer a narrow silhouette or have a tendency to overheat. A brilliant party top | | | Photograph: Monsoon | | Bandeau top, £65
monsoon.co.uk Monsoon makes marvellous party clothes. This bandeau top with button front is fabulously Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and available on a high street near you. Dancing shoes | | | Photograph: M&S | | M&S xSienna Miller chain-detail satin sandals, £69
marksandspencer.com Don’t mess about if you want these, because the second drop of Sienna Miller’s collaboration with M&S went on sale last week and these – the only shoes in the edit – won’t hang about. The gold chain suspended from the ankle strap makes these shoes feel super special. I’m very into the poison green colourway, with a sheer black tight and an LBD, but they also come in black. The world’s most elegant slippers | | | Photograph: Bloch | | Ballet shoes, £22
uk.blochworld.com Ballet shoes make the best house shoes. They last for years, protect your tights or socks from holes, have bendy soles comfy enough to curl up on the sofa in, and won’t embarrass you if the doorbell rings. Vintage preppy pleat skirts on eBay | | | Photograph: eBay | | The vortex of disappointment that hit me after failing to snag one of the pleated short skirts from the Bella Freud x M&S collection made me realise how much I want – need – the kind of pleated above-the-knee skirt I haven’t worn since school uniform days. I went down an eBay rabbit hole, and can report that this is an excellent source of the new skirt shape you need. I’m still deciding between aclassic check Burberry one and an excellent grey woollen Ralph Lauren number. • For Jess Cartner-Morley’s full November edit, click here. And for more great recommendations, sign up to the Filter, the Guardian’s new home for trustworthy product reviews, informed recommendations and shopping guides. |
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| | | | | | Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundaye deliver your weekly dose of Black life and culture from around the world |
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| The Measure | What’s hot – and what’s most definitely not – this week | | | Rihanna in her PJ range, Jellycat has it in the bag and Lelet’s pony cuff. Composite: Savage/Jellicat/Lelet | | Going up Onesies | Rihanna’s first-ever pyjama collection, for Savage x Fenty, includes a hooded onesie in both adult and children’s sizes. And to think Karl Lagerfeld once thought sweatpants were a sign of defeat. Pony cuffs | Half hair tie, half jewellery. If you always forget to remove a hair tie from around your wrist before taking a picture, you need one. See Lelet and Etsy for glossy metal and marble versions. Lint rollers | Shedding-sweater season is officially here, which means wearing black just became a lot more work. Going down Airport trays | On Instagram, it’s all about shots of the supermarket basket flat lay. Choose your social media fighter – from Tesco’s chrome wire basket to Sainsbury’s blue plastic version – for these top-down pictures. Not having a trip booked | According to TikTok, the biggest hack to deal with hating your job is to always have a holiday planned. Adulting | From queues around the block at Selfridges for its Jellycat pop-up to Le Rêve Nazam’s jeans smothered in stuffed animals and weighing more than 5lbs, fashion is falling hard for soft toys. |
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| Are you ready for four more years of Donald Trump? We are.
We’ve just witnessed an extraordinary moment in the history of the United States. Throughout the tumultuous years of the first Trump presidency we never minimised or normalised the threat of his authoritarianism, and we treated his lies as a genuine danger to democracy, a threat that found its expression on 6 January 2021.
With Trump months away from taking office again – with dramatic implications for Ukraine and the Middle East, US democracy, reproductive rights, inequality and our collective environmental future – it’s time for us to redouble our efforts to hold the president-elect and those who surround him to account.
It’s going to be an enormous challenge. And we need your help.
Trump is a direct threat to the freedom of the press. He has, for years, stirred up hatred against reporters, calling them an “enemy of the people”. He has referred to legitimate journalism as “fake news” and joked about members of the media being shot. Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump presidency, includes plans to make it easier to seize journalists’ emails and phone records.
We will stand up to these threats, but it will take brave, well-funded independent journalism. It will take reporting that can’t be leaned upon by a billionaire owner terrified of retribution from the White House.
If you can afford to help us in this mission, please consider standing up for a free press and supporting us with just £1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you. | | Support us |
| Katharine Viner
Editor-in-chief, the Guardian |
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