Add To Wishlist by Otegha Uwagba

Greetings Spendthrifts, I was completely blown away by the response to my new fitted wardrobe when I posted about it on Instagram last month. Hundreds of comments, DMs, shares, saves – and lots and lots of questions. Not that I’m complaining! This wardrobe has been a real labour of love [I mean this figuratively of course lol – I designed it myself, but it was built by an excellent contractor] so I am rather proud of the response it’s received.

Greetings Spendthrifts, Today’s newsletter is all about getting off our phones and away from our screens (after you’ve finished reading this, obviously). I consider it something of a public service to be honest, given how desperate most people I know are to reduce their screen time, myself included.

Greetings Spendthrifts, Writing to you from the white hot centre of yet another London heatwave - which to be clear, is not a complaint, I am simply observing. I hope you’re all holding up okay. I am subsisting off endless bowls of cereal and salads because I simply cannot bear to turn my cooker on (plus ça change).

Greetings Spendthrifts, It’s been a busy and fun month since I last wrote to you. I saw Rosalía play an honest-to-God lifechanging show at the O2 on her LUX tour (hands down the most gifted artist and live performer operating today). I had a delicious little early summer holiday, more on that below.

Greetings Spendthrifts, I had planned to use the ‘culture’ section of this month’s newsletter to write about Robert Pattinson and Zendaya’s new movie The Drama, a film that provoked a frankly surprising amount of discourse and is also – fittingly – about a wedding.

Greetings Spendthrifts, A quick bit of housekeeping: if you’re reading this post in the Substack app, please make sure you’re also on my email list by entering your email below. I might not always use Substack as my tool of choice for sending out this newsletter - this mailing list started out on Mailchimp, and I’m on Substack (for now) - and if that changes, you won’t be subscribed. If you already get this newsletter to your email inbox, no need to do anything.

This month’s newsletter is sponsored by Gap. Greetings Spendthrifts, No paywall today ‘cause I’m in a good mood 😁 I’ve also at the very last minute decided to split this month’s newsletter into TWO parts, as I got completely carried away and it had become so long I worried the second half might get a bit lost… So today’s newsletter is the fashion stuff, and I’ve scheduled the second half - featuring a few beauty recommendations and a tonne of culture ones - to go out next week.

Greetings Spendthrifts, I’ve had more on my mind than in my shopping basket this month, so today’s newsletter contains lots more writing than links - a smorgasboard of opinions on recent cultural happenings I’d have covered in my Grazia column if timings had allowed (on which note - my column on the BAFTAS n-word fiasco really seems to have resonated with people, judging from the DMs I’ve had since). So what opinions lie therein?

Greetings Spendthrifts, And Happy New Year! (A greeting which is valid through January as far as I’m concerned). I hope your 2026 is off to a good start - I started mine with a 10-day solo writing retreat in Amsterdam, c/o a friend who very generously lent me his empty flat (Eduardo, ¡te amo!) and it was exactly what I needed.

Greetings Spendthrifts, Back in your inboxes with the rest of my ‘evergreen’ gift guide - link below for Part I: …And keep reading for Part II which, as I mentioned on Monday, is a more eclectic roundup of individual items (as opposed to entire brand/retailer recommendations). No paywall on this one as it’s a quick one, and also… Christmas, y’know? Let’s get into it.