Winter of discontent for brides? No way, say designers.

The chilly winter and bridal wear might seem an oddity. But not any more, thanks to the modern-western fusion by designers who have created layered outfits, embellished jackets, heavy saris teamed up with corsets and much more in velvet and brocade for brides to enjoy a perfect winter trousseau exuding style, glamour and attitude.

In long anarkali kurtas teamed up with lehengas, saris with band-gala kurta with overlapping sides in fabrics like velvet, brocade or even in organaza with thick linning, brides can not only flaunt a trendy look but simultaneously keep themselves warm.

“Yes, it is difficult for brides to choose the perfect attire which not only makes them look elegant and beautiful but also helps in braving the freezing cold. But nowadays such trendy designs are available in fabrics that can keep brides warm. So, selecting a wedding trousseau should not be termed a problem for brides any more,” designer Naina Jain, who participated in the just-concluded Celebrating Vivaha exhibition, told IANS.

Designer Mamta Rawal said that “layering of clothes is one of the trends to be watched out for in the winter, especially when it comes to the wedding trousseau”.

“This year is about transformation from contemporary to modern in bridal wear. Asymmetrical hemlines with sheer layers can be teamed up with nice and elegant lehengas. Also, a bride can experiment by getting designed a nice embellished jacket that totally goes well with the lehenga. If that is not enough, one can go for leggings with nice Swarovski or pearl work and worn under the lehenga to keep warm,” she said.

“Not for the marriage ceremony but for other related functions, a nice heavy sari with a matching corset can give layers to the outfit. The corset can be experimented with by converting it to a deep collar-neck corset,” she added.

To beat the cold, one can also pick up a cashmere coat and heavily embroidered kurta to ease down the temperature a bit and at the same time look trendy.

“One can add dark-coloured cashmere coats for the glamorous look. Also, the best way to avoid the cold is to team up your anarkali lehanga with knee-length embroidered kurtas in bold colours,” designer Monika Arora told IANS.

In fact, winter allows fashion connoisseurs to experiment with a lot of things, which is not possible in summer when people prefer lighter materials in not so loud colours. The chill gives a chance to amalgamate traditional and contemporary, says designer duo Bharat and Reshma Grover.

“The winter season is the best time for a wedding trousseau as we (Indian designers) are mixing traditional and contemporary. One can layer the wedding trousseau with floral jackets or long churi-sleeved blouses in fabrics like brocade and velvet. This will not only bring warmth but also give a slim effect to the personality,” said Reshma.

After choosing the right clothes for winter, brides need to learn how to wear it right. Stylist Archana Kochhar says that in today’s times, when “girls go for the sexy look during normal days, their wedding calls for special attention as they want to add a little bit of traditionalism and culture. To get that, one can incorporate Indian elements in the outfit, whether in the form of textiles, colours, textures and patterns.”

“In winter, one can try a flared lehenga teamed up with a custom- stitched blouse. Velvet blouses can help keep off the chill to an extent. Also, one can go for anarkali suits in full sleeves over a simple churidar,” she adds.

Though some opt for a mix of contemporary and traditional, there are others who want the accessories to do the talking. One of the most essentials is sophisticated stoles in attractive colours. Designer Amit Talwar added: “Most brides are forced to keep shawls on their shoulders while performing rituals but for me it’s strict no no as there are many designer stole available. One can try double stoles like a net stole or a heavy one with very minute embroidery on it. As far as colours are concerned, one can try purple, ruby and magenta.”

Four Weddings: Winner

In this week’s episode of Four Weddings UK, we met Suzie Yentob.Winner Suzie Yentob and her husband

Suzie’s Jewish wedding was the winning ceremony. But did she enjoy her experience at the other non-Jewish weddings? Let’s find out…

We caught up with the winning bride after the show to get all the gossip.

What made you apply to be on Four Weddings?
We wanted to be the first Jewish wedding to be featured on the show. We figured that we’re spending this much time and money planning it, we would love to share our big day with as many people as possible, and what better way than on TV.

Did you have any idea you’d win?
We had no idea. As wonderful as our wedding was, we were concerned that the other brides might find it too grand, big, over-the-top and not at all intimate, which is what we thought we’d lose on.

Who was your main competition out of the other brides and why?
I think Angela was our biggest competitor because her wedding was so much fun, and there was a great atmosphere throughout the whole evening. I think that’s what makes or breaks a wedding.

Will you keep in contact with any of the other brides?
Yes, definitely. I really got on with them, we had a great time together at all the other weddings and I got to know them all very quickly, so I think it would be a shame never to see them again.

What was your favourite part of the competition and why?
Experiencing the different weddings. I’ve been to very few non-Jewish weddings in my life, and to experience first-hand three completely different weddings was without a doubt my highlight. Also, meeting the three other brides was worth entering the competition for as they were great fun.

What are you looking forward to most about your honeymoon?
Going to India in style! it’s a country we have always wanted to go to, so we can’t wait to see the sights.

For any viewers considering applying to be on Four Weddings, what would you say to them?
Go for it! You have nothing to lose, your wedding day itself is not compromised at all by the other brides, or the filming. Plus, the crew really leaves you alone on your day. If you win, fantastic. If not, you still get to air your wedding on TV and experience three other weddings – what’s wrong with that?

Find out how you can apply to be on the next series of Four Weddings.

Dennis Rodman to Coach Topless Women’s Basketball Team

We’re not sure if this is awesome, gross or just plain weird, but Dennis Rodman is going to be holding tryouts for a topless women’s basketball team in New York City.

The Basketball Hall of Famer will be trying out and coaching a team fielding exotic dancers from Headquarters Gentleman Club, in hopes of playing a HOT charity game against what appears to be another topless women’s basketball club.

The NBA bad boy dreamed up the team after hearing that rival strip joint Rick’s Cabaret launched a league with former Atlanta Hawks standout Spud Webb, who runs the Texas Legends, an NBA Development League team.

Rodman is challenging Rick’s Cabaret’s topless team to a charity game.

“I don’t know too many men that don’t like a good-looking women’s running up and down around the basketball court,” Rodman said.

Really? Are men SO desperate to see boobs that they’ll pay to watch (presumably bad) basketball game to do so? Just peep these Lindsay Lohan pictures instead. Geez.

And what is Rodman doing? Didn’t he talk about being a better husband and father in his Hall of Fame speech? So many questions, so few answers regarding the Worm.

A 56-year-old woman who walked almost 30 hours after her van broke down in remote Victorian wilderness has checked herself out of hospital so she can fix her vehicle.

The woman, who travels around Australia in her Ford Transit van, had headed off into Murray-Sunset National Park, about an hour from Mildura in Victoria’s far north-west.

About 10am (AEDT) on Monday, in scorching 41-degree heat, her van broke down when it hit a severe bump on a track in the 633,000-hectare park.

Victoria Police acting sergeant Jason Bruhn said the adventurous retiree had been caught in one of the remotest parts of the state.

“There’d be just sand dunes and old deserted tracks – it’s the middle of nowhere,” Sgt Bruhn told AAP on Wednesday.

“If Victoria’s got a place that’s the middle of nowhere, that would be it.”

The woman spent eight hours trying to fix her van without success.

“She’s obviously a pretty versatile, handy sort of woman,” Sgt Bruhn said.

“When she couldn’t get it fixed ,she started walking for help about 8pm on Monday.

“She had no mobile phone reception, so she took with her four litres of water, what limited food she had, an umbrella for shade and a sleeping bag.”

It was 27 hours later, about 11.20pm on Tuesday, that she reached the main gate on Last Hope Track and discovered reception on her phone.

She had walked about 20 kilometres, through the night and the 41 degree heat of day.

She was on the last of her water and her feet were red and severely blistered when police got to her on Last Hope Track about 1am on Wednesday.

Sgt Bruhn said finding phone reception there may have indeed been her last hope.

“Well by the way her feet were, she couldn’t have got too much further, they weren’t great and they’re not great now.”

Sgt Bruhn said the woman was “a very experienced 56-year-old”, who was a bit of a bushwoman and “lives out of her car and knows how to rough it”.

She was relieved, but calm, when police reached her.

If she had stayed with her van, she was unlikely to have been found.

Sgt Bruhn said she was well equipped for the conditions but her mistake was to not have let anyone know where she was going.

“If you’re going into a park, especially as sparse as that park is there, you’re probably best off letting a friend or family or even the local shopkeeper know that you’re going in and if you’re not heard from in a day or so, that maybe people should start searching for you,” he said.

Sgt Bruhn said the woman discharged herself shortly after arriving at hospital so she could check on her van, The Herald Sun reports.

“She sold her home recently and her van has all her possessions, she lives out of it and she is worried about it,” he was quoted as saying.

Police launch murder hunt after woman’s body found on Royal Estate at Sandringham

A murder investigation was under way today after the remains of a young woman were found on the Royal Estate at Sandringham. Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that they could be those of missing teenager Alisa Dmitrijeva.

A post mortem was carried on the woman’s body this afternoon, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.

In a statement tonight, police said: “The body is that of a young adult  woman’s which has been at that site for a period estimated at between a month and up to four months.

“The forensic pathologist believes it is highly unlikely the death was through natural causes. There is no evidence of accidental injury, damage due to firearms or bladed weapon.”

Earlier Det Chief Insp Jes Fry, head of the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Incident Team (MIT), said officers were examining cold cases nationwide for potential links.

Speaking near the wood where the grim discovery was made by a dog walker on New Year’s Day, DCI Fry said: “We are at the very early stages of the investigation and it could be a complex inquiry. The body had been there for some time.

“The circumstances suggest this is a murder case and we are looking at missing persons reports and cold cases both locally and nationwide.”

DCI Fry said he could not rule out that the body was that of missing teenager Alisa Dmitrijeva, who was last seen in King’s Lynn in August.

“We will be looking at all missing persons and she will be in the list of people to be eliminated,” he said.

“We will be focusing on all local missing persons and then spread our catchment area depending on how our investigation goes.

“Part of the post-mortem will try to establish the identification through fingerprints or DNA which may help us identify who the victim is more quickly.”

Asked why police were treating the death as murder, DCI Fry said: “I can’t go into that.”

He also refused to be drawn on the nature of the injury or injuries the woman’s had suffered.

“That’s what will be established by the post-mortem so unable to comment on that,” he said.

“Currently we have CSI officers deployed at the scene working with forensic pathologists and forensic anthropologists.

“They are recovering evidence from the scene to make sure we can catch as much as we can from what we have left whether that be fibres, body tissue, anything discarded. They are working on that at this time.”

Asked to describe what the victim was wearing, DCI Fry said: “I don’t want to make any comment about how the victim was clothed because the only people that know are my staff at the scene, the person who found her and those responsible for putting her there. Therefore that is something I would like to retain.

“We are currently focusing on missing people. We will be prioritising on those closer to here and work our way out.

“At the same time there will be things established during the post-mortem which will help lead to the identification of the victim anyway.

“Hopefully in the next day or so we will have a good idea who we are dealing with and that may open fresh lines of inquiry.”

DCI Fry leads the crack MIT, which calls on top detectives from both the Norfolk and Suffolk forces to spearhead inquiries into murders and other serious crimes across the region.

Police removed the woman’s body from the scene this afternoon. Forensic officers were seen coming out of the wooded area carrying evidence bags.

Officers sealed off a narrow strip of woodland between Sandringham and Anmer after the body was found at dusk on Sunday.

The scene is just over a mile from Sandringham House, where the Royal Family spent Christmas, close to the Royal Stud Farm.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are currently still in residence at Sandringham, along with the Count and Countess of Wessex.

The Queen has reportedly been told about the discovery. Today Buckingham Palace said: “It’s a matter for the police. We have no comment to make.”

PIP breast implant worries for Norfolk women

“We have no evidence of a link to cancer or an increased risk of rupture. If women are concerned they should speak to their surgeon.

“I will be writing to GPs so that they are aware of the concerns women may have and can talk them through with their patients.

“While we respect the French government’s decision, no other country is taking similar steps because we currently have no evidence to support it.

“Because of this, and because removing these implants carries risk in itself, we are not advising routine removal of these implants.

“The secretary of state has been liaising with his French counterpart, and the MHRA is in contact with the French regulatory agency. Our experts will continue to examine any further evidence from France and across the world on this issue, and will keep this situation under close review.”

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has launched a review of the risks from faulty breast implants after receiving evidence from major cosmetic surgery firm Transform, which holds cosmetic surgery consultations in Norwich at the Roundwell Medical Centre in Costessey.

A statement from Transform said it had seen a 7pc rupture rate, based on 108 patients.

The statement said: “Transform has not used PIP implants since 2005 with the exception of 108 patients out of the tens of thousands of procedures it has undertaken.

“The figure of 7pc was based on seven cases out of the 108 patients.”

It said it shared the figures with the MHRA and its advice to the regulator was that more information was required.

NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh is in charge of the review, but there are fears that even this will not clear up the conflicting views on whether women should have the implants removed.

Consultant plastic surgeon Fazel Fatah, who is sitting on the Government-commissioned panel investigating the PIP implant scandal, said there were simply no firm figures in the UK on what proportion of devices have ruptured.

He believes women should plan for having implants removed.

This is a view shared by another member of the review panel, Tim Goodacre, president of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (Bapras).

He said: “Even with a very low rupture rate, we would want to see most implants removed on a staged basis.

“If you believe a device is faulty, I think this would be true in your car or any other object that you buy, you would want to have that replaced on a staged basis.”

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon Elaine Sassoon, a council member of Bapras, said no plastic surgeon in Norfolk’s NHS hospitals had used the defective implants, as they strived to avoid what they saw as “cheap implants”.

She said: “We try to put the best implants we can in our patients, but some clinics’ aims are purely financial.

“The difference between the cheap ones and the more expensive ones will be about £500 for a cosmetic clinic buying them in bulk.”

Miss Sassoon said she had seen patients with the PIP implants who reported feeling exhausted all the time.

She said: “The ones I have seen have never got very far with the clinics, but I think now things are going to change.

“Some of them felt unwell for ages, others had leakage and pain, or a hardening of the scar capsule around the implant.

“The ones I have seen have had to go back to clinics and had to pay more money, but now with this scandal I think something is going to happen.

“If it was me I would like to have them removed. It doesn’t have to be as soon as possible, but I would start thinking about having them removed.

“Get the information now; get a copy of your operation notes.”

The latest news comes amid warnings from other experts that anti-ageing injections will be the next scandal in the cosmetic surgery industry.

There are concerns that the practice of administering injectable fillers, including Botox, is unregulated.

Leading surgeons have been calling for years for tighter regulation of the industry, saying anyone can “set up shop” to administer injectables.

Older women more sexually satisfied

A woman’s sexual satisfaction increases with age despite low sexual desire, a new study has revealed. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System evaluated sexual activity and satisfaction as reported by

806 older women who are part of the Rancho Bernardo Study (RBS) cohort, a group of women who live in a planned community near San Diego and whose health has been tracked for medical research for 40 years.

The study measured the prevalence of current sexual activity; the characteristics associated with sexual activity including demographics, health, and hormone use; frequency of arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and pain during sexual intercourse; and sexual desire and satisfaction in older women.

The median age in the study was 67 years and 63 percent were postmenopausal. Half the respondents who reported having a partner had been sexually active in the last 4 weeks.

The likelihood of sexual activity declined with increasing age. The majority of the sexually active women, 67.1 percent, achieved orgasm most of the time or always. The youngest and oldest women in the study reported the highest frequency of orgasm satisfaction.

40 percent of all women stated that they never or almost never felt sexual desire, and one third of the sexually active older women reported low sexual desire.

“Despite a correlation between sexual desire and other sexual function domains, only 1 in 5 sexually active women reported high sexual desire,” said lead investigator Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, Professor and Chief, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

“Approximately half of the older women aged 80 years or more reported arousal, lubrication, and orgasm most of the time, but rarely reported sexual desire”, she said adding, “In contrast with traditional linear model in which desire precedes sex, these results suggest that women engage in sexual activity for multiple reasons, which may include affirmation or sustenance of a relationship.”

Regardless of partner status or sexual activity, 61 percent of all women in this cohort were satisfied with their overall sex life. Although older age has been described as a significant predictor of low sexual satisfaction, the percentage of RBS sexually satisfied women actually increased with age, with approximately half of the women over 80 years old reporting sexual satisfaction almost always or always.

Not only were the oldest women in this study the most satisfied overall, those who were recently sexually active experienced orgasm satisfaction rates similar to the youngest participants.

“In this study, sexual activity was not always necessary for sexual satisfaction. Those who were not sexually active may have achieved sexual satisfaction through touching, caressing, or other intimacies developed over the course of a long relationship,” said first author Susan Trompeter.

“Emotional and physical closeness to the partner may be more important than experiencing orgasm. A more positive approach to female sexual health focusing on sexual satisfaction may be more beneficial to women than a focus limited to female sexual activity or dysfunction,” Trompeter added.

The study has been published in the American Journal of Medicine.