The Girls Aloud singer admits she broke down in tears and turned to the controversial Atkins diet after she discovering she had a 29-inch waist in the band’s early days.

The 25-year old said: “In the first year of Girls Aloud, I went up to a 29in waist. I remember crying because I was 133lbs when I’m only 5ft 3in.

]]> http://richnessa.com/cheryl-coles-extreme-diet-for-sex/feed/ http://richnessa.com/tented-camps-take-luxury-under-cover/ http://richnessa.com/tented-camps-take-luxury-under-cover/#comments Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:42:32 +0000 admin http://richnessa.com/?p=507 Alice Temperley likes to camp. Which is why the British fashion designer, who escapes her London workshop to rusticate in a tepee on her Somerset country estate, was recently commissioned by One & Only Le Saint Géran to erect a similar structure on their beach in Mauritius.
“It’s escapism to the nth degree,” says designer Bill Bensley of the tents at the Four Seasons Tented Camp, in Thailand’s Golden Triangle.

“It’s escapism to the nth degree,” says designer Bill Bensley of the tents at the Four Seasons Tented Camp, in Thailand’s Golden Triangle.

The 17-foot-high tepee is decked out with beads, streaming ribbons, and embroidered patches — a look Temperley likens to “a jewelry box that glistens in the sand.” The resort offers cookouts by the tent — marshmallows included — served by a liveried butler.

By any definition, this is an indulgent experience, but given its availability in a structure originally designed for the life nomadic, it signals a shift in our perception of both luxury and escapism. Suddenly, a heightened sense of well-being may owe less to four sheltering walls than to a temporary shedding, not just of our inhibitions but also of all the weighty paraphernalia that clutters up a sedentary life.

Tents pitched in far-flung locales have always had romantic cachet — who could forget Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in “Out of Africa.” And now there’s a trend of textile pleasure domes being adapted for use in diverse settings across the globe.

“They provide an experience that you could miss in an ordinary concrete box,” says designer Bill Bensley of the tents at the Four Seasons Tented Camp, in Thailand’s Golden Triangle. “Guests can hear the sound of elephants munching their way through the jungle. It’s escapism to the nth degree.” Travel + Leisure: See the world’s best tented camps

That sentiment is evident in Bensley’s design for the resort. He drew inspiration from northern Thailand’s hill-tribe villages as well as camps he visited in Botswana, and he filled the 15 tents with metal craftwork from local artisans, along with explorer-themed antiques (an old compass, rifles, primitive fishing tools).

Like Temperley, Nairobi-based fashion designer Anna Trzebinski is also dabbling in the world of hotels, opening the tented Lemarti’s Camp near Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau last year. She stitches tents of locally loomed cotton in the same workshop where she creates beaded tunics and accessories inspired by indigenous Kenyan designs.

Set on platforms above a river bend, the camp’s tents are furnished with tables and beds built with wood from dhow boats, and decorated with African-themed found objets d’art: crocodile skulls, elephant shoulder blades, beaded walking sticks and clubs.

“For me, a tent should be the veil between you and Mother Africa, a sheer shield to protect but not in any way disconnect you from her presence. To be under canvas on a comfortable bed, with the smell of acacia blossoms — in the old safari days this was intoxicating enough, but now we have the ability to improve on the concept.”

And that’s exactly what Banyan Tree is doing with one of its latest resorts, the Banyan Tree Maldives Madivaru, on a coral atoll in the Maldives. Created by Dharmali Kusumadi, one of the group’s head designers, it’s by far the most cosseting tented property available today.

Only 18 guests at a time can stay on the private island. Rooms come in the form of three conjoined tents facing a cobalt-blue lagoon: a king-size platform bed dominates the air-conditioned sleeping tent, while the bathing pavilion has a claw-foot tub. A butler and massage therapist are at guests’ beck and call.

Spas, too, are employing tents to help travelers abandon worldly cares. In Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, Miraval Tucson Resort & Spa guests take treatments in one of six new tents styled by Irish-born designer Clodagh.

“For me, a tent evokes impermanence,” she says. “It reflects the impermanence of the spa treatment as well.”

Set in a botanical garden shaded by paloverde trees, each of the tents has natural cleft-stone flooring, an acacia-wood bench, and walls made of saguaro and ocotillo cacti.

Tipping the indulgence scale, Taj Hotels’ Rambagh Palace, in Jaipur, has put up two new spa suite tents patterned after a 16th-century Mughal encampment. When India’s royalty went camping, their tasseled tents were made of velvet and embroidered silk. Devised by husband-and-wife hotel design team Amit and Shalini Gehlot, the billowing pavilions contain handwoven carpets, royal pennants, and love swings made from salvaged shesham wood.

And if that’s not adequate escapism, this month Taj opens Banjaar Tola, a safari lodge with 18 tented suites in the bamboo forests of Madhya Pradesh, a four-hour drive from Jabalpur. Created by one of India’s top architects, Sanjay Prakash, each tent has bamboo floors, solar-powered heated pools, and traditional artwork from nearby Chattisgarh. Definitely fit for a mogul on the move.

And Winslet admits she was instantly blown away when she first met the acclaimed filmmaker at a lunch meeting - and was immediately convinced they were destined to be together.

Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz, who were married in a private nuptials in May, welcomed the arrival of Bronx Mowgli Wentz on November 20. Earlier this month, in a post on his official site, the Fall Out Boy bassist explained the decision he and Ashlee made not to sell the first pics of Bronx to any publications, putting to rest rumors to the contrary.

“We understand that like other celebrities have said, ‘there is a bounty on our heads’ for these pictures. There is a danger when there are cameras being held over walls and into our backyard. We are followed day and night and that was fine when it was us but we are going to do our best to shelter Bronx from that as much as possible,” he explained. “We are not placing judgment on those that do as they often use the money in a very charitable way. However, we have made the decision to not sell Bronx’s baby pictures right now.”

Choosing not exercising its option to co-produce and co-finance the sequel to “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”, the studio pointed out on budgetary and logistical reasons. Still, they do not elaborate more on those reasons. Due to Disney’s exit, Walden reportedly will look for other partner, which most likely candidate for the moment is said to be the 20th Century Fox.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” itself has been reported to be in pre-production and is set to begin shooting in spring of 2009. Michael Apted was on board to direct a script by Steven Knight and “Prince Caspian” stars, Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, and Skandar Keynes, are expected to return and reprise their roles. The movie is slated for May 7, 2010 U.S. release.