helena frith powell

  • Lifestyle
  • Women
  • Beauty
  • France
  • Contact

How the other half lives

2nd February 2007 by Helena 7 Comments  

I receive an unusual text message today. “Your chauffeur, Michael, has arrived,” it reads. “Silver Mercedes E Class.” Thank God it’s an E Class, I wouldn’t be seen dead in anything else.
I swan out of the Lagham Hotel accompanied by a little man carrying my luggage, the doorman opens the door to the E Class, smiles obsequiously and says: “Thank you for staying with us.”

The E Class purrs into action and whisks me to the Richard & Judy studios in Lambeth. There another man opens the car door for me, someone takes care of my luggage and I am shown to a dressing room with my name written on the door. After approximately three seconds someone called Zoe shows up and asks what I’d like to drink. Then Lorraine from make-up whisks me away to transform me into a glamour puss with the help of Suzie the hairdresser. When I get back to my room my publicist Rina has arrived and tells me how gorgeous I look and how brilliant I’ll be.

Then the hard work. I have to go on television to defend my argument in this week’s Daily Mail that women of a certain age should make more of an effort to look good as opposed to less. Pitted against me is Lauren Booth (sister of Cherie) who wrote an article saying she is happy with her expanding waistline and wrinkles. When I can get a word in, I think I get my point across. My adversary has rather strangely just as long in hair and make-up as I did which I think rather contradicts her argument, but anyway.

After the show I walk out to yet another slick Mercedes.

My phone rings, it’s Bea. “I didn’t like that girl,” she says. “She was evil with you.” Then I speak to Leo. “Mummy, that dress was so lovely for you.”

I think he was referring to my glittery top. Just his sort of thing.

At Marylebone Station I am in for a shock. Gone are the little men to open doors and carry my bags. Instead I am surrounded by people talking on their mobile phones or reading the Evening Standard. The train bound for Bicester and my friend Carla’s house is packed and the lighting terrible. The décor is terrible too. Who designs trains anyway? Not someone from the Mercedes team, that’s for sure.

As I longingly remember my two hours as a TV star I think about the fact that there are people who live like that the whole time. What joy. But then maybe without the contrast you would cease to notice.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2007


Filed Under: blog --> Tagged With: lives, other

7 thoughts on How the other half lives

  • Marie Hogan says:
    2nd February 2007 at 7:46 pm

    I watched you on Richard and Judy and have to say how insulting you were both to Lauren Booth and British women.

  • helena says:
    2nd February 2007 at 7:52 pm

    Dear Marie
    I am appalled that you think that! It certainly was not my intention to be insulting to anyone. My argument is simply that women will feel better if they look better and that Lauren is discouraging women from making the best of themselves.
    Best
    Helena

  • Rupert says:
    2nd February 2007 at 8:14 pm

    Marie Hogan is a horse’s arse!

  • Marie Hogan says:
    3rd February 2007 at 4:34 pm

    I dont find it personally insulting and i do understand why you think that women should make the best of themselves. I dont think that Lauren is saying that we should let ourselves sag and be slobs, i think she is saying that we shouldnt pander to being so worried about our shape and size and we should be happy as we are without worrying and being fixated on how we look.
    I must add that i admire you for responding to me and thank you.
    Rupert, i am not a Horse Arse.

  • sabrina says:
    13th September 2007 at 12:39 am

    I find that I’m much more likely to be “happy I am” when I look really good. 😉

  • Jules Ritter says:
    25th September 2007 at 6:01 pm

    It’s a no-brainer girls! Looking the best you possibly can will give you greater self-esteem which will lead to greater happiness and a more interesting life. I’m not talking over-use of botox or false boobs here I’m just saying ditch the bag lady look, keep the hair looking nice (well groomed grey hair can be fab) indulge in a manicure and eat healthily. I live in Switzerland and there are many, many attractive women in their seventies here looking beautiful, elegant and interesting. Taking care of ourselves and revelling in our feminity doesn’t mean we immediately cease all other intellectual pursuits and interests. Remember on first meeting someone 60% of our judgement is based on appearance (that’s even before we open our mouths). A good hair style and some well applied make-up says I am in control of my life, I enjoy my life and more importantly there is life in the old dog yet.
    I didn’t see you on the TV Helena but I would have been right there behind you.

  • replica watches says:
    28th March 2010 at 8:29 pm

    watches for saleRolex Air-King replicareplica RolexRolex Submariner watchesRolex Datejust II watchesU-boat watch for salereplica Rolex GMTreplica omega

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

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. Helena is also working on a thriller called Thin Ice that will be published in spring 2021 as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

Her latest non-fiction work Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles came out in hardback in 2016 and in paperback in April 2018.

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

 

 

© 2021 Helena Frith Powell
Website by Web Inclusion
/* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:3em; -webkit-transition: all 0.8s; -moz-transition: all 0.8s; -ms-transition: all 0.8s; -o-transition: all 0.8s; transition: all 0.8s; margin-top:-100%; padding-top:100px; padding-bottom:50px; margin:0; } .scrolled .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:1.2em; padding-top:30px; padding-bottom:20px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .HFPA-section{ width:100%; background:#eee; } .HFPA-Image{ background-position:center right; background-repeat:no-repeat; height:276px; width:100%; -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); /* Safari 6.0 - 9.0 */ filter: grayscale(100%); } .HFPA-Text{ padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .footIt{ background:#222; padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */