What's the gloss (Grazia, New Idea, Woman's Day)?

What's the gloss (Grazia, New Idea, Woman's Day)?

Keeping an eye on those naughty glossip magazines and the microcosm of life in the celebrity fast lane.

"Now this is a spectator sport!" declares Grazia, leading into pages and pages full of fabulous wintry outfits and accessories modelled by impossibly chic people sporting all the on-trend items: cue platform shoes, camel coating, shearling jackets, pops of colour, military-esque ensembles, maxi skirts, loafers, felt hats, satchels (!) and animal prints, notably of the feline variety. The cheetah print, you'll find, is also modelled by one Lindsay Lohan on pages 16/17.

Nothing says "glamour" quite like a ciggie and flash of panty-hose as one topples towards the bitumen amidst an "NY bar crawl". Having your inelegant movements published in sequential splendour for all the world to see? That just takes the shame to a whole other level. But we are all spectators in the life that is LiLo, all complacently watching on as fame's hungry lion gnaws at the bones of her dignity on this seemingly continual, and tragic, downfall from grace.

The smash-face stumble, a popular Saturday night move on the pavements of Cavill Ave and Oxford Streets, is a readily accepted (though no less unfortunate) part of the coming-of-age story of most young women, and those not-so-young (see: Bridget Jones); but in LiLo's case, there's no Mark Darcy to the rescue as her celebrity pals (Madonna, Nicole Richie, Rachel Zoe) reportedly turn a blind eye and ex Samantha Ronson moves on with a new love.

It's no fun when you're the only one at the party; much less when it's your own.

"She's had chance after chance, rehab stint after rehab stint, but it seems Lindsay Lohan still hasn't learned her lesson," laments Grazia. "Is it not allowed to slip and fall? im always a klutz!!! [sic]", tweeted Lohan. Yes, but who is helping to pull you up while you're unable to get back on your own two feet?

Jessica Rowe's contentment "has everything to do with the love and support of her husband of seven years, fellow newsreader Peter Overington, and their girls, Allegra, four, and Giselle, two," says New Idea this week, reflecting on the journalist's battle with post-natal depression after "four gruelling IVF attempts and "hurtful headlines over her stint on the Today show in 2006".

"There's a lot of extra guilt if you've struggled to conceive," Rowe, who has authored Love. Wisdom. Motherhood, tells New Idea. "I'd longed for this beautiful baby girl yet I felt so grim when she arrived. I remember going to a mother's group and looking around at all these women who all seemed to be blissfully breastfeeding their babies. I had never felt so alone in a group of women in my life. I knew I wasn't 'right' in myself but I was ashamed to admit it."

Applause to Rowe for humbly talking about her feelings, fears, frailties and imperfections (ie the truth) so publicly and not pretending things are perfect. Indeed, you might "brighten up with blush", as page 48 suggests, but if you're dull on the inside, faking it in the company of shiny, happy people just makes you feel worse.

What is to be done? Start celebrating. Start small. "Tough times make you appreciate all the good things you have," says Rowe. And, "Be ready for anything winter throws at you", as suggested by the fashion spread further on featuring a brunette model who appears to be in her late 40s and whose skin has not been airbrushed to death (win!). 

Mother of three, actress Lisa McCune, who, like Rowe, has a new book out (Hopscotch And Honey Joys – Food For Your Family and Friends), is the type to count her blessings every day, says Woman's Day. "She has many awards and an enviable lifestyle, but it is the simple things in life that keep Lisa so happy – cooking and caring for her three young children and her husband, Tim Disney."

Unlike LiLo, all the drama for McCune takes place on-screen, and she has no desire to uproot her family to chase Hollywood dreams. "As you get older, you start to see the most beautiful people aren't always the most attractive."

As Michael Buble sings, "Put it in your head,
Baby, Hollywood is dead, you can find it in yourself... Love what is true and the world will come to you, you can find it in yourself."

*... albeit occasionally, while potentially inadvertently perpetuating the cult of celebrity obsession. Better to cushion the habit in critical thought, right?

Girl With a Satchel