Death of a trend icon and a sex recession

Quote of the week

Trend icon Iris Apfel dies

“Colour can raise the dead,” was one of geriatric starlet Iris Apfel's many quips. She died this week aged 102.

Apfel treated herself and humanity to the end with her vintage fashion ensembles, her round glasses, red lips and enormous collection of costume jewellery that she could put together in a distinctive and striking way. But her greatest contribution and legacy remains to show people that age and individuality can rise above everything.

Here are some of her most famous sayings about confidence and style:

• The fashion industry has done itself in by neglecting the 60- to 80-year-old market. They have the time and the economic resources. They want to go shopping.
• Great personal style is an extreme curiosity about yourself.
• I don’t see anything wrong with a wrinkle. It’s kind of a badge of courage.
• Fashion is women’s liberation in a lot of ways.
• Throughout history, clothes represented who we were, they are a great vehicle for explaining who you are.
• Fashion you can buy but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There’s no how-to roadmap to style.
• When you don’t dress like everybody else, you don’t have to think like everybody else.

Watch

Napoleon (on Apple TV)

With Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and Ridley Scott as director.

The film covers it all: his relentless drive and slow rise to power, the most important battles, but it’s not only a battlefield movie. What sets this film apart from previous movies on the French military leader and emperor is the way it cleverly captures his vulnerabilities and personal insecurities as a lover and a man, his obsessive addiction to the love of his life, Josephine, and their subsequent volatile relationship.

It's probably not an Oscar winner but this film is absolutely worth watching if you are a history buff.

Travel with your eyes

Did you know?

The French sex recession: Has la flamme gone out?

France is suffering from an unprecedented decline in sexual activity, according to a new study. A cool 24% of French adults aged 18-69 said they had not had sex in the previous 12 months. In 2006 that figure was just 9%.

Among the young, the decline is even steeper. The proportion of celibates between 18 and 24 was 28%, up from 5% in 2006.

The results are similar in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, the US and Japan.

It is probably due to increased stress, heavier workloads and the competing distractions of technology. Studies show the internet also provides new mediums of sexual experience that shift away from physical, partnered experiences.

Millennials will be the richest generation in history

“In the next 20 years, there will be a seismic transfer of wealth assets from baby boomers to people born between 1981 and 2000, but who gets that wealth is down to luck,” according to the estate agent Knight Frank, quoted in The Guardian. “These assets will be distributed to millennials entirely according to how rich their parents are … The demotivating idea that extra effort is not rewarded is also likely to be damaging to the economy.”

Big little recipe

A genius idea. And healthy to boot.

Live well

According to CNN Health, your urine’s colour, clarity and odour can act like a daily report card about your health and provide clues that might indicate underlying issues.

The colour can vary from pale yellow to deep amber. Healthy urine should be the colour of champagne.

Clues from the colour of your urine:

Red or pink: If you have not eaten beets and your urine stays red for a while, it could mean there is blood in it. There could be serious underlying problems, like cancer of the bladder or kidneys, or benign conditions like an enlarged prostate.

Vibrant yellow: B vitamins can infuse vibrant yellow — harmless.

Dark brown or like tea: Could be a sign that you're not drinking enough water — if unchanged, could be a sign of liver problems.

Blue or green: This could be result of medication or dye in your food.

Cloudy urine can be a sign of infection or a kidney problem.

Also, note the odour of your urine. A strong ammonia smell could suggest dehydration and a foul smell could indicate a urinary tract infection. But spicy food, asparagus, coffee and some fish can also produce a distinctive smell.

What’s on this weekend?

If you're looking for something to do this weekend (March 8-10), you could take a trip to Barrydale to hang out at the Karoo Arts Hotel. Rian Malan, Guy Tillim, Hannah Loewenthal and Lloyd Ross will be hosting a weekend of music, dance and film. Book here.

Kamers/Makers is on from March 6-10 at Blaauwklippen, Stellenbosch.

♦ VWB ♦

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