Currently Obsessed: June Edit
A cornucopia of delights to warm your cockles this winter month
So many things cross my path – and they don’t always have a natural home. Back in my Grazia days they would have climbed their way into The Chart of Lust, in 2026 you’ll find them here. Join me and be equally obsessed with my monthly Round-up of Cool Things…
1 Taylor’s Bespoke Tees
I know I shouldn’t get excited about something so bachelorette-coded, but I did love Taylor Swift and her Haim posse’s (honourary mention to court-sider Mariska Hargitay getting in on the fash-action) tees at the un-freaking-believe NY Knicks game on Wednesday night. Knicks colours, check. Knicks font, check. Tees read: Knickelback, Stevie Knicks and Knickole Kidman. Okay, I thought they were funny punny. And cute.
2 Anne Hathaway’s Plaits
Disclaimer: I have yet to get this quite right, but I – and my Myprodol – are on it! Anne Hathaway has been scrutinised of late for whether she’s had a facelift. Thanks red carpet season for making the world go crazy for her unlined, brow-lifted face. Anne recently decided to put a stop to the rumours and had her hair and make-up artist show us the tiny li’l plaits that they weave into her hair at her temples, and pull as tight as they can until all her wrinkles disappear like magic, before they wrap it into a hairband and flop her luscious locks over the evidence. I’m not explaining it properly – you can watch their technique here. And tell me what you think.
3 The New Newt
Like I do with Charlize Theron, I have to also take credit for the global obsession with The Newt in Somerset, because: South Africa. The sister property to Babylonstoren – and owned by Karen Roos and Koos Bekker – The Newt has just opened Yarlington Lodge, one mile from its front door in Somerset, England. The lodge – a centuries-old rectory - spans 12 acres of gardens (walled and formal, I beg your absolute finest pardon) and historic woodland.
Karen tells House & Garden UK: “The inspiration comes from the architecture and the lives that were lived here many years ago.” And what a time would have been lived – during the Tudor period, this estate was gifted by Henry VIII to not one, but two of his queens, which is, quite obviously historically marvellous, but then there’s the magic that seemingly only Karen can inject into a place. She explains it thus: “We must never lose the perfume of the dust - and for me that’s the wonderful thing that I always go back to - the idea of a roughness and a certain untouched quality.” Urgh, just somebody take me there already!
4 Off Campus
Hands up who hasn’t watched it yet? And hands up who’s watched it more than once already? There are only two camps that currently exist – ‘we haven’t started’ and ‘how many times is too many?’ In less than three weeks of launching, Off Campus has already become the third most-watched debut series on Prime since it launched. In 2011. And it’s still climbing (some of those views are just me and bestie).
Like Heated Rivalry earlier this year (don’t get me started!), it’s a Booktok-beloved hockey romance that has put consent kings and emotionally regulated leads at the heart of the story – along with super-hot new faces, a killer soundtrack and an existing fandom that was amped to fall in love with the book-to-screen adaptation. The books, Elle Kennedy’s Briar U series, are being expanded into further seasons. In fact, Dean and Allie season is already in production – and for those of who you have already watched Off Campus, I know you are as thrilled as I am that their story is season 2.
5 Dua Lipa’s Wedding
Thanks fork I’m married because if I was planning a wedding, Dua Lipa’s would now be my only mood board… Civil service like a proper cool girl - in a Bianca Jagger-esque skirt suit and gilt-edged hat - followed by a Sicilian three-day weekend, filled with swathes of tanned skin, cascades of undone hair, along with backless dresses, summery cocktails and jaw-dropping only-white outfits. All against the backdrop of an ancient Italian villa with my coolest friends – who happen to include a world-famous DJ who takes to the decks, merci Mark Ronson - and my smoke-show, 6’2” now-husband. Hashtag blessed and Cool Brittania. That’s all.
6 Sexponential
Nicki Brivik is one of those instantly recognisable faces – not least because she’s outspoken and loves animal print as much as I do! And Nicki is outspoken in the best possible way, because she is a sex and intimacy coach, so there are no verboten topics. Better still, she’s just written a book, which is the brilliantly titled Sexponential. I have a good feeling that all our burning questions will be answered, but if you’d like to hear them answered IRL, I am hosting her for her Cape Town book launch at Exclusive Books Waterfront on June 24 – yes, I am giving you lots of warning – and you’re invited. RSVP here for June 24 at EB Waterfront – it should be a really fun, spicy conversation! Jozi friends, you won’t get me, but you will get Nicki at The Wild Side. Book tix to her event in Craighall.
7 Yesteryear
Surely one of the most buzzed books of the year – literally everyone is talking about it, from book fairs to author chats to Tiktok. It is Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel about a trad wife influencer who wakes up one morning to find herself living back in pioneer days. The story switches between her influencer heyday – with millions of followers, a team of help, a gang of rosy-cheeked children and a sprawling homestead – to her unenviable present where the homestead seems familiar, as do the kids and the husband, but not quite. And life is tough… Freezing cold, hungry and forking hard. As the readers - and trad wife Natalie - try to figure out whether she’s been kidnapped, thrown onto a reality TV show, woken from a dream or lost her mind, the plot keeps you hanging on right ‘til the end. Which is obvs explosive! Read it! Watch my full review
8 Arts ‘n Crafts
Fashion fans will remember the name Christopher Bailey as the Brit designer who turned Burberry back into a global mega-brand. He stepped down as creative director a few years ago, but was in the headlines this week for rescuing Burleigh Pottery from closure. The ceramics company, founded back in 1851, is Britain’s last continuously working Victorian pottery, where every item is still made by hand at its Stoke-on-Trent factory, as it has been since 1889. The ceramics are made using its distinctive transfer printing technique: designs are engraved by hand onto copper rollers, before being transferred to tissue paper and then clay. “I have always loved Burleigh pottery,” CB said, “this company has an extraordinary history, and what makes it so special today is the skill, care and creative spirit that continue to define the business.” Watch this space as the rise in artisanal and hand-crafted goods continues to become the absolute pinnacle of luxury in an already AI-weary landscape.
9 Orpheus in the Underworld
Loosely inspired by Jacques Offenbach’s comic operetta, Cape Town City Ballet’s newest production is a romp, featuring 1920s flapper girls, Mafia henchmen, Can-Can dancers and a phalanx of Greek gods. The original piece is a satirical twist on the classic Greek myth, portraying Orpheus and Eurydice as an unhappily married couple who are actually relieved to finally be separated… Separated because Eurydice is having it off with Pluto, god of the Underworld, who he spirits her away to his, erm, lair. And so the chaos begins. On at Artscape til June 21. Book here
10 Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
No self-respecting editor could wrap up a list on the number nine, so here’s 10… The external completion of a 144-year task - yes, the building of Gaudi’s iconic Sagrada Familia has taken more than a century - celebrated on the centenary of the Catalan architect’s death on June 10, with a mass led by rockstar Pope Leo XIV.
PS If you need more? Here’s last week’s piece, click to read and be a cool girl.
