Excellent Women: Mak Gilchrist

Photo: Brett Walker

Mak Gilchrist might not be a name you know, but I bet you've seen her face. You might recognise her from her days modelling for fashion houses like Chanel, but  it's probably her cameo in the music industry that will ring the most bells - remember Robert Palmer's music video for 'Addicted to Love'?



Mak is the leggy bassist stood at the back on Palmer's left. Thirty years on, she and the other models from the shoot are still in touch but it took a while for them to realise that they'd been part of a piece of music history.

'Music videos and MTV were still very much in their early days so how could we know how iconic it would be?'

Mak was eighteen when she was started modelling in between courses at college, after an archetypal 'spotting' story where she stepped on the foot of an agent in the lift at the tube. And the rest is thirty years of fashion history.

It's often hard to judge the level of our own successes at the time, so, with hindsight, did Mak realise she'd 'made it' when she became the face of Chanel's Allure campaign?

'I was aware of how successful I'd become, but I did very little celebrating of it. It's not a profession you can rest on your laurels in. Working with greats like Herb Ritts for Chanel, or Helmut Newton or David Bailey; you know you aren't going to get in front of their lens unless you've got something they feel is worthwhile. That of course was a huge compliment and one I always strived to give my very best for.'

But Mak also had strong beliefs, which wasn't really what was expected of models in those days. Cue a clash with one of the all time fashion greats, and a story I never tire of hearing:

'Helmut Newton and I were destined to not to see eye to eye. I remember asking my agency prior to the booking if they were sure Helmut's team knew I didn't wear fur, pose naked or advertise cigarettes. There was a high chance one of those things would appear on a Helmut shoot. Don't get me wrong, I had enormous respect for the legend that Helmut was but I was concerned somebody wasn't quite on message. Anyway, I get to the shoot in Monte Carlo and am handed a Mink, skimpy lingerie, high heels and a gun! By now I'd turned down huge sums of money on principle, especially regarding my stance on fur and legend or no legend I wasn't about to make a compromise. His agent ended up locking me in a toilet, begging for me to just do as I was told. We agreed to a solution. They would find a fake fur and I would accept the rest of the shoot as part of a character I was playing.'

Photo: Ian Philpott

Mak is still making waves in the fashion community, recently launching the Green Carpet Catwalk as part of London's International PARK(ing) Dayinitiative: reclaiming parking spaces in the city for a day to turn them in to mini gardens. She's also keen to encourage people to shop more ethically.

'Consider everything you buy. Educate yourself, its all online to learn about. For clothes my first choice is always vintage / second hand shops. For food go to farmers markets or local street markets. Be conscious about your spending habits!' 

Mak and Edible Bus Stop partner Will Sandy,
photo by Rosie Collins

This leads us nicely to Mak's other 'green' project, The Edible Bus Stop. After seeing a planning application on a local lamppost, Mak was horrified to discover that the main piece of green space in her area had a proposal to build two houses on it. If this proposal had gone through they'd have lost a bus shelter, a phone booth, a mature Silver Maple tree as well as the flower beds. So she started lobbying the neighbourhood, put together a leaflet and fly posted 400 letterboxes locally.

'I suggested that setting up a community garden would be much better for the neighbourhood than yet more buildings. Inspired by a small guerrilla gardened vegetable patch that had appeared on the site the previous year, I came up with the idea that we should grow edibles and as it was next to a bus stop, why not call it The Edible Bus Stop?'

'I'm not a gardener per se, I am an activist who uses gardening as a tool to get people to talk to each other and break down barriers. Our community gardens are out on the roadside, not hidden behind fences and are open 24/7. They become a landmark of pride and a focal point for the area. They are in effect, urban interventions.'

The future of The Edible Bus Stop is looking bright. They now have a sculptural pop up installations arm, where they create planted installations for festivals. Last year they presented a Roller coaster of Wheelbarrows all planted up with mini edible gardens for The South Bank Centre's Festival of Neighbourhood. This year they have various installations up their sleeves and their next Pocket Park garden is set to open in West Norwood later this spring. You can follow @EdibleBusStop for updates or write to [email protected] to be put on their mailing list to be keep up to date on events.

Photo: Brett Walker

Meanwhile, Mak is still modelling. Does she think the media is getting better at representing older women?

'As a woman, you're still not really allowed to grow old gracefully in the public eye. However, the fact that I am still represented and working as a model 30 years on is a good thing - my agency Models 1 has a section dedicated to older models.'

We love seeing women reinventing themselves and their careers throughout their lives. You can follow Mak on twitter for more tales from a model 'once considered difficult, now championed as ethical'. As we all know, well-behaved women rarely make history.

Know an excellent woman we should be championing? Tell us about her in the comments.

Gluten Free: Battenberg Simnel Cake

Like Creme Eggs and hot cross buns, Simnel cake is is one of those short-lived treats that only appear around Eastertime. It’s usually an Easter cake, but did you know that it was originally made for Mother’s Day? I could make a Simnel cake for my mum since she loves marzipan. She's less fond of fruit cake, though, so, what other cake uses marzipan in abundance? Battenberg!

This cake might look like a Simnel cake from the outside, really, it’s a Battenberg! I’ve used my recipe for eggless sponge cake, because it's a handy one to have for those times you want to bake, but don't have eggs or butter. 

Battenberg Simnel Cake
Prepration time: under 40 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
You’ll need:

• 150g gluten free self raising mix
• 50g ground almonds
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 50g icing sugar
• 300g sweetened condensed milk
• 100g vegetable oil
• 1tsp pink food colouring
• 90ml water
• 200g apple sauce
• 400g marzipan (check the ingredients, some marzipan contains gluten)

Make it!

• Preheat your oven to 200°C/400F/gas mark 6.
• Whisk the self raising flour mix, ground almonds, baking power, bicarbonate of soda, salt and icing sugar together to remove any lumps. Add to the condensed milk, oil and water and mix until smooth.
• Divide the mixture into two and add the food colouring to one half. Stir until the colour is completely mixed in. You want the batter to be a few shades deeper than the colour you want the cake to be as it fades when it bakes.
• Pour each half of mixture into its own greased and lined 20 cm cake tins and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the whole cake has risen, (DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!! It'll sink if you do.) then turn the oven down to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3 for a further 5 minutes. 
• Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for about 15 minutes before turning them out on to a cooling rack.
• Once cooled, trim any uneven bits off the cakes - if you don't, it won't be level when you build the Battenberg and the slices will start to topple once cut.  
• Use a large biscuit cutter to remove a circle of cake from the centre of each cake. Gently remove the centre and insert it into the opposite colour. 
• Spread apple sauce over the top of one cake and sandwich the other on top. Spread a little more apple sauce on top of that, and around the edge of the cake.
• Roll out the marzipan to ¼ cm thick and place on top of the cake, smoothing it down the sides. Trim the edges to neaten.
• Make 12 balls from the remaining marzipan and place around the rim of the cake. Use a little water or apple sauce to ‘glue’ the balls on to the marzipan top.

Advance warning - it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday. Don’t worry, there’s still time to post a card, shop for a gift…and buy the ingredients for this cake.

Candy Crush: The Fudge House

I've been meaning to rave about The Fudge House since CHRISTMAS. I can only apologise for my tardiness, and for depriving you of the best fudge I have ever eaten. It's time to make amends. 

Edinburgh dwellers will already be familiar with The Fudge House's delectable shop on Canongate, where the mouthwatering display above greets customers who've made it down the Royal Mile, weary with tartan tourist fatigue, and in need of a sugar high. If you're in town, be sure to pop in, but don't expect it to be a quick visit - choosing your flavours is a mighty task indeed. Luckily, I've tried a great many, so here are my recommendations. Worry not, non-Edinburghers - everything The Fudge House makes is available to buy online, and I urge you to order some at once. It is all truly brilliant.

Strawberry & Dark Chocolate is a winning combination. I steer clear of strawberry-flavoured things usually, because I don't like the taste of fake strawberry. This fudge doesn't taste like fake strawberry. It tastes like real strawberries, ripe and juicy. Mmm. Also of note: Chocolate Orange.

Obviously, there's tablet, arguably Scotland's most popular sweetie (although Macaroon Bars, Chelsea Whoppers, Edinburgh Rock, and Wham Bars also vie for the top spot in my opinion). Tablet is not fudge, as Scottish people the world over will tell you time and time again, because it isn't fudgy. This one is the perfect amount of crumbly, tooth-achingly sweet, and based on a family recipe of old. In short, it's amazing. 

Here's a thing: despite loving chocolate, when things start to become double-choc-treble-choc-choc-chip-choc-choc-choc I just starting thinking "No". When faced with The Fudge House's Triple Dark Chocolate fudge, however, I said "Yes". Could you resist? So gooey, so decadent. 

The chocolate fun doesn't stop here, of course. There are EIGHT different chocolate fudges, including Pecan & Chocolate Swirl, Rocky Road, and Chocolate Coconut. YUM. 

Lemon Meringue Pie fudge is my favourite. It is so zesty and creamy, and contains pieces of actual meringue for added authenticity. Just looking at the photo makes me drool. 

You want boozy fudge? You got boozy fudge. As well as Cherry Brandy Cocktail, there's Praline & Drambuie, Rum & Raisin, Marzipan & Amaretto, and good ol' Whisky. 

Coffee and tea fiends might fancy trying Mocha Coffee Cream or Chai Latte for a sweet take on their favourite drinks. 

March's flavour of the month is Pistachio & White Chocolate. Inspired by the owners' favourite gelato flavour (they are the Di Sottos, and the business has been in their family for generations), it's a triumph. Look out for limited edition fudges throughout the year, too - their Jubilee fudge was lovely, and the Christmas flavours (FIG KLAXON) are divine. 

Fudge is available to buy in boxes of 5 or 10 pieces, priced at £7.50 and £14 respectively. And by pieces, I mean a pretty substantial chunk - enough to share (I suggest you don't). You can mix and match flavours or choose just one - the online ordering system is really straightforward and with first class or next-day delivery as standard, you've got time to pick up a box for Mother's Day.

Which flavour will you choose? 

Let There Be New Lights

Just when you think the market in novelty lighting has been cornered - balloons, gift bows, even fisherman pendant lights - someone goes and makes a light out of a beach ball. A beach ball. (That someone is Toby House. You can buy these lights for £99 from Lifestyle Bazaar.) I obviously need to up my lighting game.

While I'm not quite convinced by the need for a beach ball in my house (not till I get that beachside retreat I fantasise about anyway), I would like to experiment a little more, well, as much as my budget allows. This neon table lamp looks like a good place to start - it's £79 from Zara Home.

I love the range of gorgeous creamy ceramic lightshades by Kathleen Hills that are available from Bodie & Fou. Available in round, half or full shades, they're £85 each.

Remember Ed Carpenter's pigeon lamp? Well, he's gone all country house on us, and made a pheasant lamp too. It would look equally at place in a townhouse or city pad too, and is £79 from Theo.

I've said it before, and you know what? I'm going to say it again. BHS is unexpectedly brilliant for lighting. This Chalice light is £85, a fraction of what you'd pay for an equivalent elsewhere. For another statement piece that isn't a conventional chandelier, I'm definitely also tempted by their Dexter pendant.

We've a long week ahead before we get to the next edition of Sales Spy, so here's a Monday treat: this Leitmotif's classic pendant is something of a sales bargain. Originally priced at £215, Dutch by Design are currently selling it for £99.95.

There is surely no home that cannot be improved without the simple addition of a Pac-Man ghost lamp. It's only £34.99 from Firebox.

Sometimes simple things are the best, like this Egg of Columbus shade, made from recycled paper. It'll put my standard paper lightshades in the, err, shade for only £28 from Folklore.

It's also possible to get more unusual lighting without spending loads on a new lamp or shade (or beach ball). A long time admirer of Lee Broom's crystal bulbs, my head has been turned by Dyke and Dean's filament bulbs. At £10 each from Heal's, it's a cheap route to fancy. How many Domestic Sluts does it take to change a light bulb? I honestly have no idea - if it's this bulb, I'd be too busy staring at its prettiness to bother counting.

The Boy and His Poison: Apple Pie Old Fashioned

This particular drink will require a little preparation and a lot of love. The idea of an Apple Pie Old Fashioned owes a massive debt of thanks to a recent visit to Spuntino's where I spied a bottle of apple pie bourbon. Fast-forward several hours and I awake, dry-mouthed with the words 'make apple-pie bourbon' scrawled on my wrist in ballpoint pen.

There's nothing like a Memento-esque instruction to make me want to figure out how to concoct a drink. Having shaken the hangover (courtesy of a lot of bacon), I proceeded to grab a bottle of bourbon, some vanilla pods, cinnamon sticks and a tart granny smith apple. I'll warn you in advance, nurturing your fledgling infusion is a responsibility (a little like a 'fun-time' sour dough starter base): you’ll shake it, sniff it, and generally get to know it like a flatmate for a few days. But, with just a little investment of time, the drink is incredible. A warm rounded flavour, inviting colour and slow reveal on the tongue makes all the effort worth it. Plus, if you don't drink it all, it can also be used to spike all your apple deserts.

For the Apple Pie Bourbon 

You’ll need

• A bottle of your favourite bourbon (rye works equally well, just avoid whisky) 
• A clean jar
• 1 cinnamon stick broken into three
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1 Granny Smith apple sliced finely

Make it! 

1. Pour the bourbon/rye into a jar.
2. Add the sliced apple and make sure it's completely covered with the liquid. 
3. Add the dried ingredients and shake. 
4. Leave in a cool dark place to infuse.
5. Give it a little agitation once a day, and a sniff to remind yourself what you have to look forward to. Three days and it should be perfect, but if you think it needs longer trust your tastebuds.

For the Apple Pie Old Fashioned 

You’ll need:

• 50ml of your lovingly prepared apple pie bourbon/rye
• 2 dashes of angostura bitters 
• A sugar cube

Shake it:

1. Add a sugar cube to a large tumbler. 
2. Soak in angostura bitters before crushing with the back of a bar spoon. 
3. Once dissolved, add 50ml of the apple pie bourbon. 
4. Stir gradually until dissolved. 
5. Garnish with a fine apple slice.

Friday Wishlist: Gorgeous things you'll want to buy RIGHT NOW

The perfect dress. £59.99 from Zara.

The perfect cutlery. £28 from Anthropologie.

The perfect neon lighting. £575 from The Mint List.

The perfect cherry blouse. £35 from Collectif. (Cheer up, love.)

The perfect pendant light. £90 from Bodie & Fou.

The perfect stingray platter. £40.78 from Yvonne Ellen.

The perfect pink shoes. £30 from ASOS.

Sluttery Sales Spy: Hobbs, Oasis & Emma Bridgewater

A smörgåsbord of sales surprises, a medley of money-minding must-haves, a plethora of penny-pinching purchases! And an astonishing assemblage of absolutely awesome alliteration.

THE DRESSES

NW3 by Hobbs country dress, £77 (was £110), John Lewis

Oh, Hobbs, this is a reet nice pattern. I must say I'm not crazy about the matchy-matchy belt, so I'd probably swap it for another and use this one as a curtain tie-back or something. I'm actually quite proud of this idea. One curtain's going to feel left out, but hey-ho. Life's a bitch, curtain.

Patchwork dress, £18 (was £45), ASOS

WANT. That clashing panel continues around the back in a jaunty fashion, by the way. For inexplicable reasons, this patchwork dress makes me want to go on a picnic immediately. I think the flowers might attract wasps, though. Also I'll be cold.

THE SHOES

Jazz shoes, £28 (was £35), H! by Henry Holland at Debenhams

JAZZ SHOES. Hands up who was in an amateur theatre group at school? *Raises hand* White jazz shoes remind me of those heady days. Alas, mine did not have silver toecaps like these H! by Henry Holland numbers, a glorious design feature which I can only imagine would have massively improved my performances as 1) a blind apple seller, 2) a male gambler, 3) a scarecrow, 4) a Kit Kat girl, and 5) a disciple of Jesus. Prizes* for those of you who can correctly identify the musicals these roles belong to, with a bumper prize** for guessing number 3, because even I can't remember.

* There are no prizes.

** Sorry.

Swedish Hasbeens Lacy Sandals, £96.50 (was £129), ASOS 

Frances showed us some rather fetching red Swedish Hasbeens yesterday in her flat shoe extravaganza (she also cost me a fortune. OH, FRANCES. She does this a lot, everyone). These are a go-with-anything shade of quite-unlike-me beige, described as 'nature', but not really representative of the nature I have witnessed in my lifetime, with the exception perhaps of sand, palomino horses, and sawdust. Maybe Swedish nature is more beige. Anyway, they're ever so lacily pretty. There's also a really brilliant gold pair in a different style, but they break my "under a hundred or it's not coming in (to the Sales Spy)" rule. That's a new rule and liable to change at any given moment, depending on my mood. Stay tuned.

THE SKIRTS

Renaissance Rose skirt, £30 (was £40), Oasis

I am an extreme fan of this painterly Renaissance Rose print at Oasis. As well as this skirt, there's a dress, blazer, trousers, a top, and shorts. They are ALL in the sale. Good grief. Just don't wear them all at once, will you? Unless you're trying to conceal yourself in a darkened hothouse and are requiring of suitable camouflage, in which case FINE, I suppose. 

Midi skirt, £28 (was £45), ASOS

I love a kilt-like skirt, but as a Scottish person I do wonder if I look a little too tourist board when wearing one. Well, I don't care any more, because this midi skirt from ASOS even has kilt straps, and it's ace, so I am purchasing it AT ONCE. Needless to say, I won't be wearing it with the rest of the get-up in this photo, in particular the open-toed ankle boots that look like a dead armadillo. NO.

(On a related note, when I was a teenager, my one great fear was being sent away to the local boarding school, where they wore knee-length kilt-like skirts. At the time, I thought a knee-length kilt-like skirt was the worst possible item of clothing in the entire world. Isn't it funny how tastes change? I like courgettes now too.)

THE HOMEWARES

Seletti Hybrid Ipazia plate, £40.17 (was £66.95), Graham & Green

I'm as keen on this Seletti Hybrid plate now as I was a year-and-a-half ago when I first discovered the range. At £40, it's for looking at not eating off, in my house at least, but I wouldn't want to obliterate those patterns with food anyway. Maybe, MAYBE a strategically-placed French Fancy. Nothing more.

Fox & Squirrel mugs, £30 (was £39.95), Emma Bridgewater

Emma Bridgewater has a nice little 2-for-£30 promo on all her animal, bird, and flower mugs at the mo, which'll save you just shy of a tenner. You can spend your savings on gin to fill the mug (I should probably mention here that they hold a half-pint. Maybe get some tonic as well, yeah?). You can mix and match any of the eligible designs, or opt for a ready-made pair, like this lovely red fox and red squirrel combo. They come in a box, as those of you with eyes will see from the photo, and I think this would be a smashing gift for a redhead. Hopefully not literally smashing, though. 

TWO-HEADED CAT DRESS OF THE WEEK

Your Eyes Lie cat dress, £25 (was £47.60), ASOS

Why have a one-headed cat when you can have a whole dress full of two-headed cats for just £25? This is bonkers, and I adore it. No other two-headed cat dress could compete this week, and let me tell you, there were a great many contenders. 

How are we all?