Lifestyle Barometer: What’s hot and what’s not from Oscars gowns to the white saviour row

From eggs to Ariana Grande and hair discrimination, what’s trending this week

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▲ Billy Porter’s gown: Actor Billy Porter (above) wowed the red carpet at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday. The Pose star shocked viewers by deciding to wear a voluminous dress designed by Christian Siriano, finished with a crisp white shirt and sharply tailored tuxedo jacket. Porter’s look quickly went viral on social media with people awarding the actor with the most sought-after accolade of the night: best-dressed guest. Speaking to Vogue, Porter revealed that the outfit choice was deeply personal and that he wanted to challenge people’s views on Hollywood‘s dress code. “I’ve always been inspired by fashion,” he said. “My grandmother, my mom – they were always stylish. I grew up loving fashion, but there was a limit to the ways in which I could express myself. When you’re black and you’re gay, one’s masculinity is in question.” You can find a roundup of the best-dressed guests from the night here.

Grande: the most talked-about woman on Instagram (Invision)

▲ Ariana Grande: This week, Ariana Grande overtook Selena Gomez to become the most-followed woman on Instagram. When the victory was announced, Grande held the title with 146.3m (146, 335, 305) followers, edging ahead of her fellow pop star Gomez, who has 146.2m (146, 288, 283). However, both women remain surpassed by footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who took the title as the most-followed person on Instagram back in October 2018 with 155.9m (155, 910, 661) followers. Grande’s latest social media triumph follows a number of achievements this year. Her single “7 Rings” has spent four weeks at number one so far since its release in January 2019, with “Break Up With Your Girlfriend” and “Thank U, Next” trailing it at number two and three respectively. As a result, Grande made history as the first artist since The Beatles in 1964 to hold the top three slots on Billboard’s Hot 100 at the same time.

▲ The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has announced that 2018 saw egg sales surpass 13bn for the first time since the 1980s. The organisation revealed that approximately 240m extra eggs were sold last year, increasing sales by four per cent. It has been suggested that the spike in sales could be related to a rise in the number of people adopting flexitarian, vegetarian and vegan diets. “Eggs are firmly back in fashion, with sales maintaining their relentless rise in 2018, supported by consumer desire for healthier options, flexitarianism, and the impact of the change in official advice that vulnerable groups can now enjoy runny eggs, as long as they are Lion,” a spokesperson for the British Egg Information Service (BEIS) told The Independent. The BEIC says it expects sales to continue to skyrocket throughout 2019.

The best place for women to work is the Czech Republic (Getty Images)

▲ The Czech Republic has been named as the best place for women to work in an annual survey. After quizzing more than 180,000 expats from around the world about a number of topics, including work life, Expat Insider ranked the best and worst countries for women to work. According to the index, Greece is the worst place due to the number of female expats who were unhappy with their career prospects, with 81 per cent of respondents expressing negative feelings about the Greek economy. Italy followed closely behind, with 34 per cent of female expats in the country dissatisfied with their jobs and an additional 50 per cent reporting that they were unhappy with their work-life balance. However, the Czech Republic topped the list with 83 per cent of female expats revealing they were satisfied with their professions. This was followed by Bahrain, Taiwan, Norway and Denmark, all of which boasted high numbers of women happy with their career prospects, work-life balance and job security.

▲ National pub of the year: The Wonston Arms, located in Winchester, Hampshire, has been named as the National Pub of the Year for 2018. Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) – an independent organisation dedicated to promoting real ale, cider and the traditional British pub – awarded the pub with the top prize for its dedication to its local community. In 2015, the pub was saved from closure when owner and landlord Matt Todd decided to purchase it and give the building a complete overhaul. Since its reopening, The Wonston Arms has raised more than £25,000 for charity and become a centre for community events such as darts matches, jazz sessions and photography club. It also serves a range of cask ales alongside a well-stocked gin bar with 180 varieties, and regularly joins forces with local food vendors to host pop-up pizza, curry and fish and chips nights. “I’m overwhelmed that our little pub – which had been handed a death sentence four years ago – has now been named the very best in the country,” said Todd.

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Diamandis calls out designer for photoshopping ‘stick’ legs (Getty)

▼ Photoshop row: Marina Diamandis has criticised a fashion designer for photoshopping her legs and thighs to look like “literal sticks”. On Tuesday, the Welsh-born singer – previously known as Marina and the Diamonds – tweeted a post in which she said she wore an outfit to a recent award show to support a female designer and the next day they posted an altered image of her on Instagram. Diamandis did not name the designer in the tweet but described their actions as an example of “internalised misogyny in full action”, adding: “Do BETTER. Be less dumb.”

That same day, the singer spoke about how society continually shames women in an emotional interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy for the Channel 4 News podcast Ways to Change the World. Diamandis explained that women are seemingly criticised no matter what they do, due to their appearances, their career choices and whether or not they have children. “I know that men get shamed in different ways too, but it just seems like the female experience, it has to change. It just has to,” she said.

Diamandis continued, stating that she’s “not going to put up with it anymore”.

David Lammy has criticised Stacey Dooley (Rex) (Rex Features)

▼ White Saviour complex: This week a number of celebrities became involved in a row over race and aid work in Africa. The dispute began when Labour MP David Lammy accused Stacey Dooley of perpetuating “tired and unhelpful stereotypes” about Africa after she shared pictures of herself holding a young boy during a trip to Uganda with Comic Relief. “The world does not need any more white saviours,” he wrote on Twitter. Dooley hit back at the comments in a tweet, replying: “David, is the issue with me being white? (Genuine question) ...because if that’s the case, you could always go over there and try raise awareness?”

The Strictly Come Dancing star was backed by a number of high-profile names including Phillip Schofield and Darren Styles – the owner of the UK’s biggest gay magazine, Attitude. In response to Lammy’s comment, Styles tweeted: “As a white man who has raised more than £350k for an AIDS charity to spend in Africa you can go f*** yourself. “I’ll spend my life and my time how I see fit, and do what good I can wherever I can based on need, rather than your poisonous view of my (or anyone’s) colour.”

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▼ Single use plastic: Glastonbury has announced that single-use plastic bottles will no longer be sold at the festival. This year, the organisers have decided to take a stand against the detrimental impact of plastic pollution. “With more than one million plastic bottles sold at Glastonbury in 2017, we feel that stopping their sale is the only way forward,” a statement on the musical festival’s website reads. According to the announcement, plastic bottles will also not be supplied backstage, in dressing rooms or to people working in production or catering. Supermaket chain Iceland also announced plans to reduce its plastic use by bringing back the traditional greengrocer with packaging-free fruit and vegetables. The trial, which will launch in one of Iceland’s larger stores – The Food Warehouse in North Liverpool – will see 35 items sold loose and 27 lines sold in plastic-free packaging such as compostable punnets, paper bags and cellulose nets. The move forms part of the supermarket’s efforts to completely eliminate plastic from its stores by 2023.

Thandie Newton (Getty) (Getty Images)

▼ Hair discrimination: Thandie Newton has spoken out about the discrimination she faced as a child, claiming she was not allowed to have her photograph taken at school because of her braids. The British actor recalled the memory on Twitter after the news broke that hair discrimination would be made illegal in New York City, with punishable fines of up to $250,000 (£187,522), earlier this month. “Woohoo!!!!!!!” she wrote. “Take THAT the nuns at my primary school !! I wasn’t permitted to have my photo taken on School Photo Day because Mum had given me beautiful rows of braids the night before – specifically to make me look my best. Now hair discrimination is illegal in NYC. Bliss x [sic]”.

Newton’s post has since received more than 1,800 likes and been flooded with comments from people also rejoicing in the news of the ban.

Givenchy releases foundation range with just two darker shades (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

▼ Lack of make-up diversity: High-end beauty brand Givenchy was criticised this week after photos of its new line of foundations showed a lack of range and diversity. Promotional photos of the collection revealed that of the 20 different foundation shades there were just two that catered for darker skin tones, prompting concern that the new line would limited to light-skinned foundations only. On Twitter, makeup artist and influencer Jeffree Star called the new range a “joke” and said he would not be reviewing the line. He wrote: “Hi Beauty Community, Givenchy is officially cancelled until further notice. It’s 2019, stop making POC an afterthought. “I’ve reached out to the brand for a response because this is a JOKE and we need answers. I won’t be doing a review and promoting this foolery.”

Others compared Givenchy’s limited shade range to that of other brands such as Fenty Beauty, which has an inclusive line of foundations with more than 40 shades.