helena frith powell

  • Lifestyle
  • Women
  • Beauty
  • France
  • Contact

This Devil wears Zara…..

27th September 2010 by Helena 1 Comment  

One of the first conversations I ever had with Rupert was at the business magazine we both worked at when we were starting out in journalism.

“Why aren’t you working at Vogue or some other woman’s magazine?” he asked.

I remember being terribly insulted. OK so I didn’t want to be a business reporter, that was just a way in to journalism. But I wanted to be a foreign correspondent, or maybe a Pulitzer Prize winner who had changed the world, and I certainly didn’t want to write about this season’s shoes or Brad Pitt’s love life.

Now, far too many years on, I finally find myself where I belong; on a woman’s weekly mag. I spend my days happily editing articles about designers, make-up, Zac Efron, but also more serious issues such as the everyday lives of Gazan women and inter-religious marriages.

I started off on the magazine as a staff writer two and a bit years ago. In April I became deputy editor. Yesterday it was announced that I will take over from the editor when she leaves on Thursday. I couldn’t be happier. I have already cut my hair a little shorter and am considering the full Anna Wintour bob. I still can’t afford any Prada, but I find Zara a great substitute, especially the shoes, you can get four pairs for the price of one Louboutin.

During one of my interviews for the job the Editor-in-Chief asked me what I would do if I didn’t get the it.

“Would you be interested in one of the other sections?” he asked.

I thought about it for a minute.

No was my answer, and thankfully I don’t have to think about it any more.

Just imagine, I might have ended up back on the business desk…..

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2010


Filed Under: Style, Work, blog --> Tagged With: devil, wears

One thought on This Devil wears Zara.....

  • Kate says:
    28th September 2010 at 1:38 am

    Congratulations Helena!!! I’m so pleased for you. Hope that means you’ll still have time for the blog.

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Your email address will not be published.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 */ /* ----------------------------------------- */