The Simpler Times #02
reporting on references, recipes & reminiscing for real life
Welcome back to…
In this issue:
Patsy Kensit: a Gettyimages Style Icon
I <3 My Filofax
Whose Frappuccino is it Anyway?
A *new* Rom-Com Worthy Recipe
Soundtrack Playlist 02
In the Style of Patsy Kensit
Patsy Kensit is an English actress and singer. You may know her best from an array of films as she seems to have been in many and I seem to have never seen any of them. I currently know her best from an iconic run of outfits found on gettyimages. Gettyimages is like the library to Substack’s writing desk. And Patsy Kensit is it’s underrated it girl of style.
Stand out pieces are obvious here: the perfect v-neck oversized knit jumper, the long yellow coat with single row buttons, the multi-animal print wrap coat and the cheetah print trousers. The outfits as a whole though make these individually loud clothes work to the best of their abilities. It’s super simple dressing, elevated by one-off items that tie everything together with some personality. And it might not be for everyone but I think you can apply the idea to elevating your own everyday looks. Plan a specific hunt for one-offs!
There is something that feels so effortless and genuine in these outfits. It’s probably that she styled herself more than anything. I think a lot about how growing up around costume designers and departments on film and tv sets must develop your style as an actor. It’s likely that after days of character dressing, a t-shirt and jeans is the easiest return to self. At the same time, the theatrics of fashion might be less dramatic and daunting, which is where bolder elements play into her style with apparent ease. It makes total sense, even just in her wardrobe, that Patsy Kensit and Elizabeth Hurley are close friends of over 35 years with Hurley named as godmother to one of Kensit’s children. They both harness an innate effortless glam.
A mini mention for her now ex-husband Liam Gallagher’s minimal looks here. A great example of striking balance as a style-inclined couple in accordance with whatever events they were attending.
Filofax for Life
My mum had a Filofax when I was growing up. I’ve since come to learn she actually had a few but the one I remember was a black leather pocket size. The leather was soft and it closed with the classic button popper on the right hand side. Mum’s always struggled to close a little due to the volume of its contents. A detail I still love about physical note taking over long periods of time. Her Filofax was a symbol of cool to me and now I realise it’s probably because I just love putting pen to paper. Plus I like to schedule incessantly1.
I got my first Filofax when I was a receptionist in London for 6 months. I thought it was obviously necessary but ended up barely using it after buying all of the separate pieces to fill it. The cover, which I chose because I thought it looked professional, was actually just boring so I often forgot it on my way out the door. Money wasted but lesson very much learned to only buy stuff I really like.
At the end of last year I felt a pull to the Filofax system again. I knew I was moving into full-time work and would need to be more organised than probably ever. And naturally a research deep dive followed. I couldn’t just buy one without any thought. It’s supposed to be a lifetime thing and I wanted it to evoke fond memories of the one my mum had in a way no one would understand but me (and now maybe you).
I found my leather pocket chameleon on vinted for £30. An absolute steal if you know the Filofax resale market. It’s in great condition and already filling up fast. I never forget it on the way out of the door.
The Frapp Walk
You may have heard of the Pap Walk wherein celebs go for a not so nonchalant stroll in the hopes of being photographed by the paparazzi2. Well allow me to introduce The Frapp Walk wherein celebs carry, and sometimes drink, a coffee-milk-ice concoction all packaged up in a transparent plastic cup and then proceed to be photographed in suspiciously cute outfits and suspiciously flattering poses.
I don’t know what happened exactly but somewhere along the way we lost The Frapp Walk in pop culture. $30 Erewhon Smoothie Walk just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Real celebrities drink frappuccinos3. It baffles me that they became a way for kids to miniature micro dose caffeine masked by sugar syrups and various flavours found in the biscuit aisle. In my early teens I too dabbled in the coffee shop milkshake with flavours of fruit or chocolate advertised as coffee and yes, it was fun! By all means let the kids drink their sweets. I don’t care what they do.
The mid-1990s frappuccino revolution gave us some brilliant paparazzi photography and while I don’t condone the harassing nature of “the paps”, I am a serial saver of their shots. The photographic style captures the essence of a bygone era in its grainy simplicity. I guess that’s also why I miss adults drinking frappuccinos. To a younger me avidly watching late 90s early 2000s films, wishing for a job in print media with a town car and 2 best friends, the drink was cool, sweet and simple. When I finally had an espresso frappuccino for the first time life did feel like that4. I also realised that it was a ploy for adults to buy fun drinks disguised as their coffee fix. Though I’m not sure Jude Law’s bare chested waistcoat look is a pre-requisite for the modern Frapp Walk.
Special mentions of celebs who ❤️ their frapps:
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Britney Spears
A Rom-Com Recipe: Banana Bread Loaf
Banana bread is a pretty easy bake. It all ends up in one mixing bowl and you can add in any extras that you like (until it basically becomes an entirely different recipe). It’s a basic staple to keep saved in your notes for all eternity so that when any situation calls for a banana bread, which is every situation by the way, you’re on it no questions asked. It’s a recipe where the laidback elegance of Nancy Meyers’ cinematic world meets the haphazard charm of Nora Ephron’s Kathleen Kelly5.
So here’s one to keep for exactly when you need it most. It’s got a cakier texture so that it’s not overtaken by moisture, leaving you to question if you even put the oven on. It cuts well into slices of all sizes and slivers. You can trust that this has been tested by myself and many “kitchen assistants”. And the best part, besides it being easy-peasy, is that it has a crunchy golden brown crust on the top.
First pre-heat oven to 160 degrees in fan/180 in conventional/350 in Fahrenheit & melt the butter however you prefer.
Ingredients:
3 overripe bananas (medium size-ish), mashed
2 eggs
150g golden caster sugar
80g melted butter - melt first to cool before mixing in
180g plain flour - pre-combine with the following marked * and then add slowly, folding in6
*(a little less than) 1 tsp bicarb of soda (US: baking soda)
*1 tsp sweet cinnamon
*Pinch of salt
100g choc chips - mix about 80g with some of the flour and add into batter
Save 20g of choc chips for the top
Opt. Brown sugar sprinkled on top pre-oven
Mix together in the listed order, pour into a lined loaf tin, add any toppings.
Bake for 35 mins then test with a skewer, bake for a further 20 minutes and test again.
You want the skewer to be almost clean, bar the obvious melted chocolate so around about an hour works - keep an eye on it.
Leave to cool and firm
Take out of pan and cool on a rack
Soundtrack Playlist 02
track 1 / what it feels like for a girl - madonna
track 2 / won’t cry - amber mark
track 3 / baby, this love I have - minnie riperton
track 4 / bottle pop ft. snoop dogg - the pussycat dolls
track 5 / no go - laundry day
Reality Check
Bring it to life with this checklist:
Plan a dedicated shopping trip or online browsing hour to hunt for one-off pieces of clothing that you feel really speak to your personality. They should feel like physical embodiments of your truest self when you put them on. Don’t think about how they’ll be received by others. You’re dressing for you. And if you’re in a couple, and you care enough, consider each other’s outfits before you leave the house. Would gettyimages stop to photography you two together?
You don’t need a Filofax unless you do. But you can still put pen to paper and get planning and scheduling like the month ahead depends on it. Find a planning system that works well for you and that you want to transfer to every new bag for every outing. Think of fond memories and find something that will transport you to that feeling every day. It might be something you already own.
Wherever you like to get your coffee, go grab a blended ice coffee frappuccino drink. Whatever they call it there, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Spend the fiver and then meander somewhere nice, taking in your surroundings. Stop every now and then to subtly pose and have a friend take your “candid” photo from across the street. Good use of freewill and something to laugh about later.
Pick a Saturday evening or a Sunday morning for a little bit of baking. Wake up to banana bread for breakfast or plate it with butter that melts from its just baked warmth as you watch your go-to rom com. I recommend The Mirror Has Two Faces for the ultimate cozy morning with a cup of hot coffee in your favourite mug. Optional: hope for rain tapping against your window as you enjoy.
Add these songs to your favourite streaming app or join them onto last issue’s playlist if you liked that one. Plug in your earphones and lie in a field of grass as it plays, or chuck it on the speaker while you get ready.
Thank you for reading. See you soon for the next issue.
The virgo placement in my birth chart is strong
not to be mixed up with a trip to a nearby doctor for a pap smear, though I understand the confusion.
I should note the frappuccino has many different names across different coffee chain brands, this is just the name I grew up with but iced blended drinks and frappés and any other options you prefer will suffice.
I could romanticise a trip to the scrap yard
as brilliantly played by Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail
