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Come on Carla, pull the other one…

27th March 2008 by Helena 8 Comments  

Sister JackieIt was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who said that ‘no man can step into the same river twice, for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you’. I had hoped that when Carla showed up for the state visit to England that she might have brought a bit of fresh water with her.

Sadly not. One commentator observed that she looked like a mixture betweeb Jackie Kennedy and a nun. I am all for Jackie Kennedy. Style icons like her are to be adored and admired. But the fact is that our dear tutti fruity Carla is about as far removed from her as she is to a nun, and yet she is trying to be her. Heraclitus would not approve.

I can see that for her this was a safe option. Show up looking demure and like Jackie – that’s what people expect from a First Lady. They do indeed. Unless that particular First Lady has a reputation for sleeping with rock stars and conducting interviews topless (I promise you, she did, I read the article, the (male) journalist had to keep trying not to look at her tits and bury his head in his notebook).

What I was hoping from tutti fruity Carla was something with a little flair, a touch of the frivolous, the fun, the daring. Why show up looking like a frigid matron when the whole world knows you’re anything but?

Who knows, she could have created a style all her own, that future first ladies and women all over the world would have emulated.

And another thing. How long before she realises that going on tour with Mick was much more fun than state visits to drafty old castles?

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008


Filed Under: Britain, Politics, Style, blog --> Tagged With: carla, other

8 thoughts on Come on Carla, pull the other one...

  • margaret says:
    27th March 2008 at 11:55 am

    My, what big feet you have Carla…all the better for making a dash for it! Flats are not the best for a dainty foot look.
    However, she did look good, in an ironic “I can do demure as well as nude” kind of way.

  • Sharyn G says:
    27th March 2008 at 2:38 pm

    Where did she get that hideous hat? Why did she let someone dress her like that? Her stylist must be Atilla the Hun. There are many ladies out there with the resources that Carla has to dress in chic designer clothes. She really should ask one of them for help in choosing a wardrobe. Even Camilla dresses better than that ans she is twenty years her senior! I shudder to think!

  • Sev says:
    27th March 2008 at 4:59 pm

    I didn’t much like the grey outfit, but she looked pretty good the rest of the time!
    She really has caused quite a stir in the British press – in a good way, it has to be said. She seems to have charmed just about everyone from the royal family downwards.
    Or maybe it’s just a ‘male’ thing – because I think she’s gorgeous but my partner just thinks she’s a tart!
    Is Rupert still enthralled?

  • Expatmum says:
    27th March 2008 at 5:14 pm

    I think we should all give her the benefit of the doutb. Perhaps she’s trying to turn over a new leaf and become as boring as the rest of ’em?

  • snusmormor says:
    27th March 2008 at 8:16 pm

    I agree with Expatmum, give Carla a break, she looked very nice and funnily enough I also agree with the Daily Mail for once, that the roadkill pheasant hat was awful as was the coat and how come you never get ’round to fixing your teeth miss Camilla? And finally, I also agree with that woman from the Guardian: does it really matter what these guys look like and how they are dressed??? However – he is very short, that new husband of hers, isn’t he?

  • Rupert says:
    28th March 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Sev, I have to say I am less enthralled, but I thought she was pretty stylish. Judging from the picture on the blog, there must be an air hostess somewhere either wearing rock chick clothes or just her matching underwear: it looks like carla got them off her on the flight over!

  • GHCH says:
    28th March 2008 at 3:49 pm

    What on Earth was the Queen doing entertaining that jumped-up, arrogant little frog and his tart?

    I am not a monarchist, but, blimey, there are limits.

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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