Marketer admits she’s CRIED due to working with influencers

Fashion marketer reveals how working with glamorous influencers leaves her crying in the bathroom because she feels so insecure about her own appearance

  • In The Style launched a new collection every two weeks throughout summer
  • The brand made £65,000 in an hour of releasing their collection with Lorna Luxe
  • Employees admit working with influencers can make them feel insecure 

A fashion marketer whose career involves being surrounded by glamorous influencers has revealed how working in the industry has left her crippingly insecure. 

Assistant Marketing Manager Grace appeared in last night’s Breaking Fashion, which goes behind the scenes at Salford-based fast-fashion giant In The Style. 

She was seen working on a trip to Cannes for bloggers and influencers, to promote the brand’s collaboration with former air hostess Lorna Luxe, who has more than 800,000 Instagram followers. 

And Grace admitted that at previous companies she’s worked with, she’s struggled with her confidence. 

‘I think social media definitely has an impact on people’s insecurities,’ she said. ‘I’ve had times before when literally on these trips I’ve gone to the toilet after a day and cried,’ she said.

‘I’ve thought, “I don’t want to do this job anymore. I don’t look good enough and I’m not attractive enough to be here”. You definitely compare yourself. 

In The Style’s Assistant Marketing Manager Grace (pictured) reveals working within the fashion industry has made her battle with insecurities 

Grace (pictured) says that those with a big platform should look at how they can use it to make people feel better

‘I think that any brand that’s got a big platform and a huge audience. Everyone needs to start looking at how they can use it in a good way to make people feel better.’

In The Style spent around £20,000 on their collaboration with Lorna Luxe who is a former air hostess. The Instagrammer also chose a group of fellow social media influencers with a combined following of 3.5 million people to help create a buzz for her collection.

Founder Adam Frisby who built the brand on the belief that shoppers want to look like the stars they follow on social media, believes the content influencers share produces sales.

Speaking about the early days of the company, he said: ‘Trends change constantly that were able to bring fashion to life so quickly is so important to this generation of people. 

In The Style’s collection with former air hostess Lorna Luxe (pictured) sold £65,000 in the first hour alone, Adam says it was a proud moment

‘People want to be wearing stuff on Instagram, they want to be going to Ibiza at the weekend in a swimsuit they’ve seen on Billie Faiers or Charlotte Crosby.

‘Social media, celebrity and fast fashion wasn’t linking together, I really felt that I could link this up. 

‘I’d love to say I had a massive business plan but one evening it just came to me. I went to the wholesalers bought six dresses, I think at the time. And I remember the first day I launched and did one sale, I was buzzing.

‘Very quickly six dresses soon turned into 12 and 24 that’s how the business was built. People want to look like celebrities and influencers. 

Adam (pictured) claims younger shoppers are most interested in buying clothes they’ve seen on their favourite social media influencers

‘If you get the right influencers attached to your brands for the right reasons it can be massive.’

The entrepreneur became frustrated as the brand’s app started malfunctioning just 20 minutes before their launch of Lorna’s collection.

‘The launch is the biggest opportunity to drive traffic and sales to the site. Obviously you can restock things if there’s demand for stock but you don’t get the same kind of buzz,’ he says as the new collection goes live.

Adam admits he’s always hoping to do better, In The Style saw 27 items bought within three minutes of releasing the collection.

He says: ‘When you actually break it down that’s £65,000 that’s gone on Lorna’s collection alone in the first hour. 

‘It is just amazing, when you think about the context of it just being my little brand that I started off and Lorna as an influencer doing this together and generating all of this, it is amazing. It’s a really proud moment.’

Adam and the team (pictured) battled with IT malfunctioning minutes before the launch of their Lorna collection

Speaking to the staff about the overall collection, he says: ‘One of the biggest launches that we’ve ever done, in fact maybe the biggest in terms of stock. I think everyone felt a little bit nervous about it, just based on amount of stock we ordered, especially as the second collection, will it do as well etc.

‘We also had a successful Cannes trip. It was mega expensive and had finance kicking off but it did pay off, we got loads of new influence on the trip and I think the content was really good. 

‘Although we were only there for 48 hours it was really successful trip. Well done mainly to Jamie, Mel and Grace who pretty much organised the whole trip, that worked really well.

‘In the first week we’ve just taken just under £300k sales on Lorna alone, which is the biggest most successful launch we’ve ever had.’

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Tragic story of mum who died at 37 after two decade battle to beat heroin

A mum-of-three died aged just 37 while she was in rehab following a two decade struggle with heroin addiction, an inquest heard.

Tracey Holden was a fresh faced school pupil at 13 but by the following year she was smoking heroin after falling in with a "bad crowd".

Her mother took her for counselling but treatment failed and she began an on-off fight against the Class A drug spanning 23 years.

Tracey, from Blackburn, Lancs, booked into a rehabilitation clinic in Manchester in September 2017 but she was found dead just weeks later on November 1 when she relapsed after meeting an old friend on a day out.

In the hours before she suffered a drug-related death she told a care worker: "I am scared – I don’t think I can do rehab it’s too hard."

Tracey had earlier been discharged from North Manchester General Hospital following a relapse when she met an old friend whilst on a day out to have her hair done.

Tests showed she had toxic levels of heroin, morphine, painkiller Pregabilim plus the anti-depressant Trazodone in her system after her death.

She had also been taking cocaine.

An inquiry revealed staff at the Lighthouse Care Centre in Longsight should have looked in on her every hour after she was returned to the centre – but she was not checked upon for three hours.

At an inquest on Thursday a coroner ruled the failure to check on Tracey each hour did not contribute to her death but he raised concerns about discrepancies over records produced from the clinic.

The Manchester hearing was told Tracey had a normal childhood with no medical problems.

But her mother Karen Holden said: "She was about 14 years old when she she started taking drugs.

"As far as I know, she smoked heroin but that was the first I heard about her drug use.

"She had made friends with other people who were using drugs and this started her drug use.

"I took her to a drug centre where she had counselling, but that didn’t have any benefit on her.

"She later travelled around the UK and sometimes abroad.

“When she worked in Benidorm, she detoxed off the drugs but used to drink Baileys, which she said did her good.

"I know that it’s swapping one for the other, but she more or less survived on Baileys rather than drugs."

Ms Holden told the inquest that Tracey had a "volatile relationship" with her daughter's father, whom she met in Spain, and she continued to use drugs after returning to the UK.

She added: "On the odd occasion, she would tell me that she was clean but I could only take her word for it.

"She ended up at the Lighthouse centre and I would visit her most weekends and she would sometimes come to visit me in Blackburn.

"On October 31, we were in Spain and her daughter rang me to say that her mum is in hospital.

"I phoned Tracey but she was talking normally, she wasn’t slurring her words.

"She said she had collapsed and she had a bad back. She was waiting for the doctor to come and see her.

"I said I would ring her later, and she said ‘no, just enjoy your holiday and give me a bell in the morning'.

"Everything seemed fine – I did ask her if she had taken anything and she said she hadn’t. I found out the next day that she had passed away."

Ms Holden paid tribute to her daughter, describing her as "funny" and "humorous".

The mother added: "She would sing The Greatest Love of All on the karaoke. She won us a few holidays when she was little in competitions at the caravan park.

"She also loved her family.”

Cheryl Ashton, manager at the Lighthouse care centre, said Tracey was admitted on September 4, 2017.

Ms Ashton said: "She had anxiety but had successfully remained abstinent from drugs. She had been out on October 31 as she had a hair appointment in town.

“Prior to that day, she had a review with her care manager and everything was going really well. With the way she behaving, there was no suspicion that she was doing drugs.

"But I was later informed by a support worker that Tracey had been found dead in her room. It very much so came as a shock to me.

“I was told that Tracey had contacted the Lighthouse to say that she was unwell and with somebody in Manchester.

"A member of staff organised for an ambulance to take her to hospital and the staff member then went to see what was happening and to bring her back home.

"She was discharged and returned to the Lighthouse.

“I was told that she was upset because she had relapsed and that she didn’t have the intention to use drugs, she just wanted to go to her hair appointment.

"I think it was a coincidence that she bumped into somebody that she knew in town."

Staff team leader Lewis Rice said: "I had known Tracey from the day she came to the Lighthouse.

"We had a really good relationship with what she was going through and discussing trying to help her.

"That night I called her off my personal mobile and she answered.

"When she knew it was me she said: 'I am so so sorry I messed up'. That’s when she told me that she had used.

"On the way back she wasn’t good and she under the influence of something of heroin by the looks of it and also under the influence of cocaine."

He added: "The plan was to keep her safe and try to get her to bed.

"We returned shortly before 11pm and around midnight Tracy had come back down looking for the end of cigarettes to smoke and was asked to return to her bedroom.

"She told me she was scared. I said 'scared of what?' and she said 'I don’t think I can do rehab it’s too hard'.

"Because she said that we went and say in the games room and had a good chat about what did she want in life and I knew that she could do it – she could recover.

"I was just worried the person she had been with might have taken advantage of her. Nothing did happen – the guy just scored for her and she knew him."

Support worker Amanda Ayub told the inquest: "Tracey had come into some money and I suggested that she spend it at the hairdressers – we even arranged the appointment to divert her spending money on drugs.

"But when she got back, she told what happened to her in town and she said that she collapsed and couldn’t move. While she talking, she would go from being happy and alert to slumping over.

"I asked her why she was doing that and she said she was ‘sliding’.

"She said this was because she had taken cocaine and heroin and would go between different feelings. After calling 111, Lewis was told that it was OK to administer medication and she went back to her room.

“At about that time, 2:30am, I had another patient who had heart pains and I said that after I was done with him, I would return to Tracey but after I finished with that patient, I went to get something at about 5:20am and then I thought of Tracey.

"So, I immediately went to her room and that was when I found her. Nobody had said we need to be checking on Tracey every hour."

Recording a conclusion of drug-related death, coroner Zak Golombeck said: "Cheryl and Lewis said they would have checked on Tracey every hour but Amanda did not check on Tracey for around three hours.

"She did not fulfil her duties properly but this feature has not caused or contributed to Tracey death.

"I have not heard any evidence that had Tracey been checked more frequently she wouldn’t have suffered the effects of the drugs.

"I can’t find that Tracey took all of the drugs as an act intended to take her own life.

"But it was deeply concerning I received two copies of records and other documentation which where not of the same volume. It suggests certain documentation was not provided to this office."

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Teen with rare condition walks for the first time in two-months

Girl, 13, who was left unable to walk after being struck down by a rare autoimmune condition takes her first steps in MONTHS at Great Ormond Street Hospital

  • Lola, 13, was struck down with Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) earlier this year 
  • The condition affects the skin and muscles and left Lola unable to walk 
  • She was taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital and given physiotherapy 
  • After two months of treatment she was able to walk again for the first time  

A teenager who was left using a wheelchair after being struck with a rare condition is now able to walk again after undergoing round-the-clock treatment. 

Lola, 13, spent weeks as a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, after being diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) earlier this year. 

JDM, which affects just three in one million children, is an autoimmune condition that causes inflammation in the muscle and skin. The inflammation can cause muscle weakness, which in Lola’s case was so extreme that she couldn’t walk. 

The tenacious teenager and her mother Simone were visited by Paul O’Grady on last night’s episode of Paul O’Grady’s Little Heroes. 

Lola, 13, spent weeks as a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, after being diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) earlier this year. The condition left her using a wheelchair. Cameras followed as Lola attempted to walk for the first time, pictured

The tenacious teenager and her mother Simone were visited by Paul O’Grady on last night’s episode of Paul O’Grady’s Little Heroes. Cameras captured Lola’s first steps in two months 

The TV crew were present as Lola took her first steps with the support of nurses following weeks of hard work and returned weeks later when she walked unaided for the first time. Her mother Simone, pictured, said she was ‘glowing’ with pride at her daughter’s progress 

Paul O’Grady, mother Simone, and the GOSH staff clapped and cheered Simone after her walk

The TV crew were present as Lola took her first steps with the support of nurses following weeks of hard work and returned weeks later when she walked unaided for the first time. 

Speaking about the condition, Simone explained it was ‘really scary’ to watch her fit and healthy daughter become suddenly incapacitated. 

‘We didn’t know what it was and because it was so rare it took a long time for the doctors to diagnose it,’ she explained. 

Lola added: ‘My muscles are really weak I can’t move. I’d rather be staying at home. I miss my cat. I haven’t seen her in ages [but] it’s not too bad I just have to deal with it.’ 

When Paul first visited Lola she was in a wheelchair and had been in GOSH for several weeks.  Lola was given a round-the-clock treatment plan that included medication and physiotherapy

At GOSH, Lola was given a round-the-clock treatment plan that included a mixture of medication and intensive physiotherapy.  

After an initial meeting, Paul, 64, returned to watch the moment where Lola attempted her first steps in two months. 

What is Juvenile Dermatomyositis? 

Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) is an autoimmune condition which means that the immune system which normally protects the body reacts abnormally and becomes overactive in normal tissues. 

This immune system reaction leads to inflammation (pain/redness/swelling) which can lead to possible tissue damage. 

In dermatomyositis, the inflammation affects mainly the small blood vessels in muscle (myositis) and skin (dermatitis).

This inflammation may cause muscle weakness or pain and skin rashes particularly on the face, eyelids, knuckles, knees and elbows. 

A nurse said: ‘What we’re going to do is help Lola do some walking for the first time for you all to see. Lola’s muscles are still really weak so we have to be careful.’ 

With the help of the nurse, Lola was able to walk across the gym without using her wheelchair. 

Weeks later, Paul returned to check up on the teenager and discovered that her walking had some on leaps and bounds since his last visit. 

Her nurse said: ‘This is the first time she’s actually walked across the gym without any support or any help.’ 

When the cameras visited Lola a month later, she was at home with her cat.  

 She said: ‘It feels great to be at home and to be able to see my cat and my family I’m doing much better now I don’t need to use the wheelchair. I’m really, really happy.’ 

Simone added: ‘I’m really happy with her progress she’s much stronger psychically, she’s happy, she can climb the stairs. 

Weeks later, Paul returned to check up on the teenager and discovered that her walking had some on leaps and bounds since his last visit. Lola was walking without an aide (pictured)  

‘I admire the strength that she’s shown for somebody so young as well she’s been amazing’. 

Research on JDM is limited so the exact outcomes are not known.  

Some children will have just one episode of JDM, which may last for 2-3 years and then goes away (enters what is called ‘remission’). 

Other children will have disease that comes back after a prolonged period of remission. 

When the cameras visited Lola a month later, she was at home with her cat, pictured, and no longer needed her wheelchair. JDM is a condition that can go into ‘remission’ 

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Demi Moore can’t land a joke in ‘Corporate Animals’

While it may appear that Demi Moore has abandoned Hollywood for a simpler life, the “Ghost” actress has actually been pumping out duds like a T-shirt factory. In the past five years she’s starred in such non-classics as “Wild Oats,” “Forsaken,” “Blind” and “Rough Night.”

And now, here’s another.

In the awful “Corporate Animals,” Moore plays a high-strung but incompetent boss named Lucy, who runs a business that makes edible cutlery — the first of a million unfunny gags. When she takes her employees on a team-building retreat spelunking through desert caves, the dysfunctional crew becomes trapped after an earthquake collapses their tunnel.

What commences is the worst episode of “The Office” ever. Ed Helms of that NBC comedy even appears as their cave guide for a few minutes, before perishing under the rocks. The funniest actor in the film is sorely missed.

Still, the workplace humor in Sam Bain’s script keeps coming — these two are vying to be vice president, these pairs are having sex, the company is hemorrhaging money — and none of it makes you laugh.

That’s largely because this rubbish is too quirky. Corporate humor works because most Americans also work. These company men and women want to recognize the personalities, dynamics and passive-aggression on-screen that they experience from their cubicles. But they won’t connect with the foolish behavior in “Corporate Animals.” Kindergarten teachers might.

Moore, by the way, has never been a comic genius. The woman has played Hester Prynne — not the Laugh Factory. Still, she keeps giving the yuks the old college try. Here, the usually easeful actress cranks things up to Ludicrous Speed, and comes off like a drugged-up yogi. Like consumers with her edible forks, we don’t buy it.

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This nomad couple transforms vans into mobile homes

No Place Like Home profiles people who swapped the conventionalities of modern living for nomadic, off the grid homes and lifestyles. Each episode looks at some of the most interesting places that people across the country call home — from vans to sailboats! 

Bre and Lacey made the move from a regular home in California to life on the road, traveling across the country in their personalized sprinter van. Today, the couple has created a business out of transforming classic vans into mobile homes!

See more on this episode of No Place Like Home and check out the couple on Instagram below:

13 PHOTOSNo Place Like Home: Bre and LaceySee GalleryNo Place Like Home: Bre and LaceyBelieve it or not, Lacey and I actually get asked if we’re sisters 🤣🤣🤣. Particularly when we’re holding hands. When we got engaged, gay marriage was still not legal in California where we live. We’ve experienced more discrimination and bias toward our relationship than any couple should. But it only made us realize how much we love each other. What continues to surprise us is the support, love and acceptance we get from our IG fam. Thank you all for all the love. We hope we inspire you to pursue your passions, despite what others think they should be. It has definitely worked out for us in all areas of our lives ❤️ #pridemonth #thevanlifeapp #love #happywifehappylife #lgbtq🌈 #homeonwheels #prideHappy Sunday!!! 📷: @travywild .#marriedlife #vanlife#vanlifediaries #vanlifemovement #tinyhousemovement #liveyourdream #homeonwheels #wanderlust #roadtrip #getoutside #vanvibes #glampingI’m excited to announce that this weekend Bre and I got some much needed sleep, meditation time, and relaxation… also some adventure! Friday evening we took off toward Rancho Santa Fe area and spent the night at the beach. The next morning we met a couple friends and an awesome mountain biking company, @mtbcornering, to learn how to be a super sweet mountain biker. We learned so much about how to maneuver the bike, positioning, how to stop correctly, and how to turn correctly (or corner is what it’s called… MTB CORNERING… get it? Cornering around corners! So cool). After learning more and more speed and feeling more confident, we took lunch at a sushi spot to talk tech :). Excited to get back on a mountain. Sunday I basically was in bed all day sore. I felt like the day after my first snowboard lessons at age 12. Anyway, it was really nice getting away. Bre and I needed this relaxing and adventurous weekend in Lady the van. PS that’s my awesome new rainbow blanket and my new sunflower pants that I’m in love with. If you catch me on a day wearing those two things, you know I’m in my element… especially if I’m napping watching the ocean out of our awesome van windows.“I want to ride my bicycle!” OH my goodness, I am in love with our new bikes! Being entrepreneurs for two businesses, you get caught in doors and using your mind A LOT!!! These bikes have given us a new freedom in addition to the van. We just pack them on our super sweet bike rack, park and work remotely, and then hop on the bikes for some exercise and nature during break time. I’m about to take a class on downhill riding and cornering (turning around corners) too! Mountain biking is huge in the vanlife community and I now see why. It’s so much fun and we get some good quality time in with each other. Breanne has been asking me to get bikes with her for years now and I resisted… why? Money, time, storage… all the usual suspects. Well, we got these for her birthday this year and it was a superb decision. Thank you, amazing woman who is so intelligent! Next time maybe I’ll listen sooner ;). .Do you mountain bike!? Do you suggest any beginner trails for us for summer riding?We’ve been working so hard this past year to help other people live their dreams with @sdcampervans and @thevanlifeapp that we forgot to live it ourselves. The hardest stages of starting these businesses seem to be over, and we’re getting the chance to get back to our roots – ourselves. The hard work is worth it, though. We literally couldn’t imagine building a better life for ourselves than what we’re building now, but its time to start doing what we help other people do: live our dreams and pursue happiness. .Thank you all for your support and encouragement. With the right intentions, and a clear vision, you can achieve anything, and we hope we can inspire you all to try. #startuplife #entrepreneurlife #liveyourbestlife #vanlife #vanlifemovement #liveyourdream #homeonwheels #wanderlust #roadtrip #getoutside #vanvibes #glamping #womenontheroad #sheexplores #strongwomen #vanlifeideas #homeiswhereyouparkit#vanlifesociety #vanlifestyle #vanlifeculture #minimalism #optoutside #projectvanlife #rvlife #adventuremobile #vanlifers #campvibesWe’re in Big Bear today and tomorrow for Adventure Van Expo To represent SD Campervans -The Home You WANT for the Adventure You NEED. Beautiful weather and beautiful people. We came straight from SD Startup Week to attend this fabulous event and I am so glad we made it. Neil with @adventurevanexpo did an amazing job hosting and it’s really nice to see all of our van build friends here to share in the experience. If there’s one business world where people really collaborate, it’s this one👏. Thank you to everyone we met for the first time or again today. You really make what we all do to help our community enjoyable. On another side of Cali, Bre spent time at our Fiesta Island Vanlife Gathering where they did yoga, a cleanup (@thevanlifeapp adopted Fiesta Island!), a potluck, and much more… ending with the fabulous ‘bond’-fire. Missed you all down there! One more day for Adventure Van Expo!! See you tomorrow from 10:00-2:00??!I found my pot of gold 🌈❤️Her name is Lacey.📸 by @cheynemybarra ..#loveyou #happywifehappylife #loveconquersall#campervan #vanlifemovement #lovelife #happilymarried #glamping #homeiswhereyouparkit #homeiswhereyouare2018 was filled with struggle and sacrifice. Struggle to accomplish big things and sacrificing balance to make them a reality. In all honesty, although we’ve accomplished soooooooo much (building two amazing businesses: @sdcampervans and @thevanlifeapp) 2018 was one of the hardest, most emotionally tolling, years of our lives. .Would we change it? Absolutely not! Because all we can do is learn and grow. For NYE, we spoiled ourselves by staying in a lux hotel in downtown Denver, ordering room service, and cuddleing up in our warm, comfy PJs. We usually set goals on NYE, but this year we made a promise to each other. Our promise is to find balance again. In both of our businesses, our primary mission is to help people achieve the life balance they want, but in doing so, we have been neglecting our own. .We know we can continue to build thriving business and lives at the same time. We are dedicating ourselves to balance in 2019. Sustainable, self-loving, balance..What are your goals for 2019?…….#vanlife#vanlifediaries #vanlifemovement #tinyhousemovement #liveyourdream #homeonwheels #wanderlust #roadtrip #getoutside“You and I, we’re not tied to the groundNot falling but rising like rolling around Eyes closed above the rooftopsEyes closed, we’re gonna spin through the stars Our arms wide as the skyWe gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the worldTo the end of the world”- Dave Matthews Band (our first dance)#happywifehappylife #marriedlife #pride🌈 #loveconquersall #traveltogether #lgbtAnnouncement time!!!! Lacey and I got a new van to convert into our next home on wheels!!!!! It’s a ford Transit 148 extended passenger van (for the windows). We’re so excited to get this build under way!! Question for all of you: should we do a video build series?? What are your thoughts? .#vanlife #vanlifediaries #projectvanlife #vanlifeideas #vanlifemovement #tinyhousemovement #homeonwheels #wanderlust #roadtrip #getoutside #vanvibes #glamping #vanlifeideas #homeiswhereyouparkit #vanlifesociety #vanlifeculture #optoutside #projectvanlife #rvlife #adventuremobile #vanlifers #campvibes #1000contemporarynomads #vancrush #ontheroad #tinyhouse #livingsmall #outboundliving #diycamper #customvan #vanconversionMore of these days, please 🍀If you haven’t done it in a while, you should have one of these days this weekend. We dare you 🤗#liveyourbestlife #liveyourdreams #morelifeSince we met 8 years ago, we’ve been “tied at the hip”, but Vanlife, even just part time, has brought us so much closer. We didn’t even think it was possible, but it did. It could be the combination of a small space and complete freedom? Whatever it is, we’re so grateful.Happy 5 year anniversary to us! I love this woman. We’ve been friends for 12 years, together for 10, and now married for 5!! Wow! So I want to take a moment to say happy anniversary to my beautiful wife and life partner. Whatever goal or dream we have, we make reality. How utterly cool is that? Life has been one adventure after another and I’m so glad to be able to share the experiences with each other.You’re just such a genuinely good person. You do so much for others, especially me. Together we make the best team ever and can tackle anything that comes our way with grace. To 100, babe! ❤️🙏❤️Up Next

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‘Bringing Up Bates’ Star Lawson Bates Makes Us Swoon In ‘Like The Rain’ Music Video

HollywoodLife is EXCLUSIVELY premiering the music video for ‘Bringing Up Bates’ star and country singer Lawson Bates’ song ‘Like the Rain.’ The amazing music video is dropping the same day as the season 8B premiere of ‘Bringing Up Bates!’

Lawson Bates’ newest country single is called “Like The Rain” and HollywoodLife is giving you the EXCLUSIVE first look on Sept. 19. “This shoot was one of my most exciting projects for so meaning reasons!” Lawson told HollywoodLife in a statement. “When we were first scripting out the video concept I wanted to make sure we chose a location that perfectly matched our lyrics and thought. Shooting on location can be quite a task with so many variables, but we couldn’t have ended up at a more beautiful place than Great Falls, Montana! My friend Chad Shearer (Shoot Straight TV) did all of our preproduction scouting and I was literally blown away with some of the spots he chose. They don’t call Montana ‘Big Sky Country’ for nothing.”

Lawson revealed that the “craziest part” of shooting the music video was that they “literally shut down Main Street in the little town of Belt, Montana, for the major payoff scene. We needed a huge downpour for a backdrop, and since we can’t predict the weather, we did the next best thing: call in the Belt Montana fire department! Fire trucks spraying water 50+ feet in the air across downtown Main Street was quite dramatic, but it turned out amazing on screen, and I’m so thankful to the Belt fire department, the community, and everyone else who came together to be a part of it all. None of this could’ve happened without my team putting in 110% to make this project something special, and I couldn’t be more grateful to each person involved.”

Lawson’s co-star in the music video is Madyson Mesinar, who is a longtime family friend. “She did a stellar job pulling off the many different looks and emotions this script called for: from horseback riding across the plains to crying in a diner to late-night shoots in the pouring rain, she was phenomenal and a wonderful person to work with,” Lawson said. Joshua Lockhart serves as the producer on “Like the Rain.”

The singer/songwriter released the album What Country Means To Me in 2016. He has collaborated with some of Nashville’s top artists and musicians. Bringing Up Bates is returning from its mid-season hiatus on Sept. 19 and will air Thursdays on UPtv.

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Political satire needs sharper edge to cut through

MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL

Patrick Livesey and Esther Miles in Gone Girls.

GONE GIRLS ★★½
Patrick Livesey and Esther Miles, Trades Hall, until September 29

Julia Gillard and Julie Bishop sharing a stage? Uh-huh.

Still, if Trump and Brexit have taught us anything, it’s that in politics, dismissing anything as impossible is most unwise. And if the gender imbalance in governments teaches us anything, it’s that political differences must be laid aside to make lasting change to the boys' club culture.

In Gone Girls, Patrick Livesey and Esther Miles play two political foes and while old habits die hard – with catfights over policy, legacy and feminist ideology – their claws retract over discrimination and misogyny, with explosive results.

Political satire used to be a strong suit in Australian comedy. Over the last decade, though, the drama and dysfunction of government has moved beyond parody. How can imitators compete when the real thing has been such a black comic shitshow?

It’s difficult, and while Gone Girls is meticulously researched, it lacks the sharp wit, gift for impersonation and satirical flair to cut through.

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Lucy Denyer: 'The couple trying to bring up their child as gender neutral are fighting the wrong battle'

Almost every parent I know frets, at some point, about the extent to which they are ‘gendering’ their child. Little flutters of anxiety about dressing a male child in blue and a female in pink, or giving boys trains to play with and girls dolls.

We roll our eyes at aisles in department stores that differentiate their aisle offerings between the two, and grit our teeth about the fact that you can now buy a globe for a girl where the sea is coloured pink.

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That said, I know plenty of small boys who will spend hours happily playing with a toy kitchen, and little girls who refuse to wear pink and spend their lives in practical dungarees.

Mostly, I think, the fact we worry about this stuff is a good thing: we’re wary of socialising our children in this way, and act to mitigate against it as much as we can.

I have some sympathy, therefore, with Hobbit Humphrey and Jake England-Johns, the English couple who are trying to bring up their 17-month-old child in an entirely gender neutral manner, choosing to keep its sex a secret, referring to it by the pronoun ‘they’ and dressing it in both girls’ and boys’ clothing. (And also some sympathy for the poor befuddled grandmother of said child, who has only just been let in on the secret in being allowed to change its nappy).

Nevertheless, I think they are living in fantasy land. And also – they’re fighting the wrong battle.

Pink globes aside, the world has arguably never been less gendered than it is now. And by gendered, I don’t mean what we buy for our children to play with or wear, but what we can expect of them, or for them. That men might choose to be nurses and women engineers. That a man might want to stay at home and raise children while his wife goes out to work. That women can vote, for goodness sake. Slowly but surely, gender equality is starting to permeate through society.

But we’re not there yet.

A report earlier this year by the World Bank, which has tracked legal changes for the past decade, found that only six countries in the world have enshrined gender equality in laws affecting work – which is good news if you’re a woman who wants to be on an equal footing with men and live in Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg or Sweden, but less good for everyone else.

Even in this relatively forward-thinking country, women still earn 13.9pc less than their male peers. And think of the battles yet to be won for the rights of women in countries like India, Pakistan or North Africa.

And this is what the fight should be about. Not a battle to destroy the concept of gender entirely, through pronoun use, or types of clothes (leaving aside that there’s much to celebrate in identifying as either male or female), but the war on gender equality that’s yet to be won.

Gender wars are a distraction – and besides, once there’s a level playing field, surely worrying about gender neutrality becomes a moot point.

In a choice between a world stuffed with pink globes and one where women in some countries still don’t have the vote, I’ll suck up the pink globes and focus on the far larger latter problem.

And I reckon that, ultimately, this couple might want to as well.

Already they’re running into problems with their little experiment – not wanting to deny their offspring “the joy of playing naked” becomes tricky when you don’t want to reveal their gender.

They even acknowledge that all they want is for their child to “grow up in their own little bubble”.

Don’t we all. But every bubble has to burst. And when it does, hopefully all parents will realise there are other issues far more worth fighting for.

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Sticky Carpet

Australia's own rising star of blues and roots, Freya Josephine Hollick, had no less than Lucinda Williams' band Buick 6 bringing their glorious sounds to her new song, Nobody's No Better Than No One, the first track from her forthcoming new album, The Real World.

Recorded at Rancho de la Luna in California's Mojave Desert, Hollick's distinctive voice takes on a whole new attitude in this darker, rocky desert romp, while guitarist Greg Leisz – who's recorded with everyone from Eric Clapton to Emmylou Harris, Beck and Sheryl Crow – blasts away on the strings. It's the first sign of what promises to be a grittier, sonically charged path for Hollick.

Freya Josephine HollickCredit:Riot House

Following last year's Feral Fusion album, Real World will be released next year but this first glimpse of Hollick's new material is now available to download. A vinyl 7" of Nobody's No Better Than No One released on Blind Date Records comes with the exclusive instrumental track Senorita Blvd by Buick 6.

The launch show for Nobody's No Better Than No One takes place at Big House Arts in Coburg North on Saturday, September 21, and tickets for this special performance are available from blinddaterecords.com.au. Special guests on the night include Hannah Blackburn, Sean McMahon, Eaglemont and more. "We wanted to throw a party that resembles the sweet times we had recording at Rancho de la Luna," Hollick said. "Big House Arts will be kitted out with desert projections, fairy lights and some other Rancho style junk along with a top quality sound system." For more information, go to freyajosephinehollick.com

album of the week
Mudhoney
Morning in America
(Sub Pop)
★★★★
Three decades and 10 studio albums since erupting alongside some of Seattle's finest, Mudhoney have a new EP and if nothing else, frontman Mark Arm can still deliver a line quite unlike anybody of his generation.

"Shakespeare is a square, Shakespeare is a square," he sings on One Bad Actor before continuing with "Shakespeare is dead, just like his stupid language."

Sticky hasn't yet heard this EP in full, but in the spirit of taking a rare punt, it gets a star for each member of the band. Here's hoping it lives up to their high standard of underground rock, which helped set the bar for the very best of grunge.

selecta
​Complex – Montaigne
Crystal Cuts – Shifting Sands
Atomic Ritual – Nebula

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Chrissy Teigen Accidentally Tweeted Out Her Email, So Of Course Fans FaceTimed Her

As fans of hers already know, Chrissy Teigen has a penchant for posting hilarious and relatable messages all over social media. Most recently, though, the Twitter star had a bit of a blunder. Teigen accidentally shared her email address with her 11.7 million followers, but without missing a beat, she managed to make the most of the silly situation.

This pretty major snafu happened while Teigen was live-tweeting her series Bring the Funny on Tuesday night. As Buzzfeed noted, the whole issue started when the cookbook author tweeted out a screenshot from the latest episode of the NBC series so that she could highlight host Amanda Seales’ outfit. The only thing wrong with her post was that the photo actually featured her email in it, too, a fact which she was obviously not aware of at the time.

After quickly deleting the tweet, Teigen admitted her mistake by telling her followers, "F*ck I posted my email address lmao." But, the former swimsuit model decided to turn her lemons into lemonade by rolling with it. She wrote on Twitter that she received some kind messages and FaceTime requests, and that she actually engaged with a few of those lucky fans. Teigen described the situation by writing, "oh my god people are FaceTiming me. was 100% sure this would be a penis but nope just a nice stranger."

In one of those videos, the Bring the Funny judge and her mom, Vilailuck Teigen, got to exchange pleasantries with a fan named Ricardo. But, the convo didn’t last too long, as Teigen explained that the family was about to have dinner.

In a subsequent video she posted on Twitter, Teigen could be seen in a clearly exasperated stance with her hands on her face and her computer right next to her. Unfortunately for her, the FaceTime calls continued to roll in, as Teigen posted yet another video that featured that classic ringtone. While it had to have been a stressful moment for her, you kind of can’t blame the fans that wanted to follow in Ricardo’s footsteps by having a chat with the charismatic star.

Luckily, Teigen got everything back under control eventually. She updated fans about a half hour after she originally let her email address slip that "everything disabled and changed emails. but I love you guys and thank you for the kind words lol."

According to Teigen herself, this whole email debacle paled in comparison to her other accidental, very personal reveal, she explained to one Twitter user that this was "not as bad as when I published my phone number on my dog’s collar in my cookbook." In case you don’t remember that debacle, in Teigen’s 2016 Cravings, she featured a photo of her dog, Pippa, in the book. The only problem was that many readers noticed that Pippa’s collar contained a phone number to call if she happened to get lost. Of course, Teigen subsequently changed her phone number, but not before receiving a "100 or so calls" and a flurry of "kind voicemails."

More recently, in July, Teigen committed another, technology-related blunder on Twitter. In order to promote Bring the Funny, the judge posted what she thought was a clip from the show. However, as she pointed out in a subsequent tweet, she accidentally shared the whole episode of the series (the Youtube video featuring the episode has since been deleted).

In true Teigen fashion, she took the mistake in stride as she joked to her followers, "Well it looks like I have been fired for posting the whole thing thank u all for your kind texts and DMs please send job opportunities to same number."

Thankfully, all of Teigen’s devices (including any associated emails and phone numbers) are currently under control. But, of course, if you’re still dying to share a message with the Twitter maven, no one can stop you from sending a tweet or two her way.

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