Alexandra Shulman is best known for her years as the editor-in-chief of British Vogue, and even better known for her nasty polemic against her replacement EIC, Edward Enniful, as she was leaving. Shulman’s time as EIC of British Vogue was dominated by mostly white covers, while Enniful seemed to do much more to celebrate Britain’s racial and cultural diversity. In any case, Shulman now spends her time writing an occasional Daily Mail column, and of course, she had thoughts on the Duchess of Sussex’s With Love, Meghan. I was shocked that a former EIC of a women’s fashion bible is suddenly against aspirational lifestyle programming – Shulman whines that it takes too much effort to live like Meghan. Meghan really has the racist white women fighting for their lives. From Shulman’s Mail “notebook.”
One of my most hated words is effortless. Effortless dressing, effortless cooking, effortless having a bath. Yet while effortless is a buzzword, a life full of unnecessary effort is constantly laid out in front of us. Meghan’s new TV series demonstrates such an effortful existence that it’s quite exhausting to contemplate.
Home-made teabags of Himalayan bath salt for your guests’ bedside table to show you care about how they sleep, and all that endless plating. I thought only restaurants plated up. But in Meghanland, plating is an essential activity. No longer is a nice bowl of fruit salad OK, it’s all about creating a colour-coded rainbow platter of fruit, or sprinkling flowers on a frittata. Flowers on your eggs? If that’s plating, I’m happy to pass.
It’s unfair, though, to blame all this effortful existence on Meghan Sussex (as she tells us she prefers to be called).
We must also contend with the high standards of Gen Z and millennial tablescaping, involving an exotic display of candles, floral arrangements and table linen every time a few pals are invited over for a plate of pasta. There’s scarcely any space left for plating there.
Meanwhile, beds that used to be perfectly fine with a bedspread flung on top are now meant to be adorned with so many layers of throws and cushions that serious excavation is necessary to discover the poor old sheets and pillows.
No wonder so many people feel they are time-poor. There’s such a huge amount of effort encouraged in the pursuit of the aspirational life. What’s happened to the late, great Shirley Conran’s attitude that life’s too short to stuff a mushroom?
In other times, I might have suggested, as grumpy old people used to, that we need a good war to sort our priorities out. But the way things are going, perhaps we are about to have one.
This is too funny. Like, if I’m being honest, there was stuff in WLM which I would never do because A) I do not care that much and B) it’s too time-consuming when my answer to those kinds of tasks is to throw money at the problem and pay someone else to do it. But I’m not the former editor of Vogue! I’m not writing a Daily Mail column, trying to come up with some “reason” why I don’t like Meghan or why WLM is a bad show. “It takes too much effort” is the argument of the defeated. “Why would anyone want to make anything aesthetically pleasing” FROM A FASHION EDITOR. Besides which, most of Meghan’s tips are not even all that time-consuming (minus that balloon arch). She literally gave a recipe for, like, a seven-minute one-pot pasta dish. She’s like “add some fresh juice in your champagne, it’s lovely.”
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
Alexandra Shulman, she seems fun.
This was the fashion editor that made British Vogue the central place for info about the British aristocracy. Under her the staff was lily white and barely ever featured black models–like 2 black cover models in 15 years. She’s a racist cow who buys into the Meghan rose above her station bullshit.
Was she auditioning for Tatler?
Yeah, someone who jokes about war seems like a real fun person.
I should have indicated sarcasm. She seems like such a downer.
That was disgusting actually. Genocidal almost. So she wants younger people to go to war so she doesn’t have to see their interior living efforts?
Bordering on the insane there.
Are Brits really this lazy? Like c’mon… the one pot pasta dish took half the time my normal Tuesday spaghetti takes… not to mention even a regular fruit bowl needs to be chopped. Super simple things! Martha Stewart once wrapped a whole turkey in puff pastry, Ina Gartner served a $150 seafood salad.
These people are weird af.
Er…what exactly would a war do? Toughen people up? Last I looked, war kills a lot of folks, devastates countries, and leaves too many soldiers in bad mental shape. Man, these people really live that 19th-century “It is sweet to die for your country” crap…
Rai–hee. My dad had never seen Stewart before, but he happened to catch that turkey-in-pastry ep. when I had her show on one day. He was dumbfounded, to say the least–kept shaking his head and wondering how well-cooked this could possibly be. He teased my Mom that she should do her turkeys like this. Suffice to say, she never did…🤣
Yeah. Dessicated bitch wants to throw Gen Z into the meat grinder because some people put throw pillows on the bed. Not at all insane, no sirree.
The jealousy is rampant with her isn’t it. She wishes she could live so “effortlessly “ like Meg. Poor shit white woman has to watch a very successful biracial woman live so effortlessly. Suck it Alexandra!
I can’t tell you how many folks I’ve seen online who have been INSPIRED by MS 🥰 show…and ANY show that inspires you to bring joy into your life…is a good thing❣️
Ole girl can kick rocks with no shoes on regarding her assessment 😡…oh and she’s a TOTAL HYPOCRITE…her WHOLE ASS CAREER is built on curating EVERYTHING within an INCH of it’s life towards beauty & luxury!
Meghan had some of the people who posted as inspired by her in her Instagram stories. One woman was arranging flowers while holding her baby. If she can manage for the joy of it surely this old prune could.
I am a perimenopausal ADHD mum who works full time and spends every evening running the kids here there and everywhere…I loved the show and while I’m in 🏴 I couldn’t get all the ingredients for her taco night, I was inspired to make my own pico de gallo, guacamole, ceviche, chicken and fish tacos at the weekend….much tastier than shop bought stuff or Taco Bell which I would have done without WLM, in these dangerous and divisive times a bit of escapism and loveliness is what we all need and it brings just that
Sounds like a tasty dinner 😋
That’s one of the reasons I want Meghan to succeed. It’s because I want her to have as much success and financial benefits from her own work as some of these people seem to get from criticizing Meghan’s work.
Meghan’s show is delightful. The stuff she does isn’t hard. It’s simple to do. Can we do everything? No. But you can take little things and use them along the way. Her cooking style IS very Californian, but we cook this way because California is filled with farms and, if you are lucky, you can get local stuff. Everything is expensive, but she is making things with vegetables, fruit, and pantry stuff: things you can get any where. I’m feeling this show and have given it a double thumbs up on Netflix.
I sort of agree with the Vogue editor. I felt the same way when Martha Stewart was touting a similar aspirational lifestyle. Martha was followed by GOOP and now Megan. I admire Megan and wish her well. But none of these brands, while lovely, are not practical for me.
Ones man’s meat is another man’s poison. It’s her opinion does not mean everyone has to feel that way. The responses and postings of people trying the recipes out speaks for itself.
These people are acting as if they should be earning a PHD in fine dining after watching the show lol!! It’s funny how a lifestyle show has dominated some people’s life, possessed them to the point that they need an exorcism.
First it won’t do well. This is the end. But it did do well. Now a cousin was told by another cousin who works at Netflix and heard through the peephole that the show is not making money lol! All this is over a show that nobody is forced to watch. Geez!
Yes, exactly, Martha’s things are much more time consuming than Meghan’s I thought. So where is all this energy in panning Stewart?
Goop was selling $1,000 jade eggs to put in your hoo-ha after you steamed it with carefully curated herbs (read: expensive for run of the mill herbs that should definitely not be going into your cooch). Meghan is telling you to boil pasta and veggies in one pot to save time. Totally the same. *insert eyeroll*
Ok…Next time spell her name right.
It’s “”Meghan”, not “Megan”. She didn’t do the show for everyone watching to copy slavishly. Little things like fresh herbs on an omelet or scented towels after a hike are simple, easy and inexpensive.
I completely agree about feeling overwhelmed watching Martha Stewart when she started getting really well known in the late 80s/early 90s. My sister was a big fan, and she showed me the way to take what you like and leave the rest.
I’ll always remember how my sister used brown paper and flower stamps to create a “custom” runner for her table at Easter. It looked so pretty and fresh, and my sister’s thinking was that she wanted to do one decorative element for the table.
But Martha was way overboard. Her recipes often didn’t work unless you had very specific ingredients cooked perfectly. And it was plain that no one could completely live like that unless they had Martha money. Meghan’s show is all new and interesting ways to cook and craft. She’s not saying everyone has to lockstep live like this either.
I disagree. It sounds like you haven’t watched it. The point of her show is beauty and lifestyle ease. People don’t need to do the flourishes she does, but the recipes are simple, hearty, and joyous. I already cook this way most of the time, and I am learning a few new tricks.
I think that watching a Black woman get joy out of living a beautiful, soft life upsets so many people. You mentioned that Martha Stewart wasn’t giving anything you could use, either, but she was trying to create perfection and duplicating difficult, traditional recipes and professional level decorating. Meghan may not be laid back, but the lifestyle she is selling is. She is selling the pleasure of living, and I am here for it.
Meghan cooked eggs with veggies, made PB and J sandwiches and cheese and tomato. Cut fruit and veggies. If you think that’s aspirational, not sure what you eat. I saw two toddlers making her food 🤣🤣
These people are crashing out. You don’t have to do everything that Meghan suggests, just like I don’t have to wear my hair or makeup in every way that someone may suggest. Or pack my clothes when traveling in every way that someone suggests.
Some of this criticism is just so ridiculous that it’s comical. It’s too much work to sprinkle flowers on top of a donut? It’s too much work to make a bed? It’s funny it’s too much work to do these simple things to show someone that you care about them and love them, but it’s not too much work to spend all your time on Instagram and Tik Tok talking about how you hate a woman you’ve never met.
There was a docuseries on Netflix about Vogue’s 100th anniversary. Alexandra Shulman looked like an unmade bed most of the time. She was the anti-Anna Wintour. Telling people that it’s too much trouble to use a plate for take-out food? Or to make your bed? Seriously? Nowhere in WLM did she say that people had to do everything she did. It was a suggestion.
Lots of suggestions and she makes a lot of references to time and people having limited time.
My afternoon snack today was some chopped veg and hummus. Instead of dipping from the pot (as usual) I put the hummus in a ramekin and added some rose harissa on top then put the veg on the plate around the ramekin. It was nice and took under a minute over what I’d usually have done.
The whole point of WLM was to put effort in the small things to make life more fun, and make guests, friends and family a little more appriciated. But at the end of the day she didn’t put a gun to anyone’s head and force you to do it. If it’s too much effort for you then just… don’t.
Me, i think that candle making and flower arranging are fun activities to do with the girls.
Yeah, my takeaway from the series isn’t that you have to do everything M does (I mean you never have to do anything she does, lol.)
But if there were a few tips in there that might brighten your day or someone else’s day – like the flower ice cubes, or the pretty pasta, or the cute little ladybug things, or the pretty mimosas – then do it. Sometimes its the little things that make a big difference. You dont have to make a 7 course gourmet meal to make your friends feel welcome. Have a pretty veggie platter waiting instead.
Most of us who aren’t into crafting aren’t doing all that, but I went out and bought more vegetables over the weekend and some nice drinking glasses. I can go for a hike and have a nice tea. Meghan said just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you can’t do something. Gonna try making focaccia this weekend. I watch a lfew of HGTV shows, I enjoy them, but I’m definitely not a DIY person. This is a light show, more eye candy than dictat. These are the same people who’d shriek about the Sussexes preaching to us after they did something for a charity. They need a bit of perspective.
Alexandra has no friends.
And she’s basically wanting to kill the next generation because they put her lazy-ass efforts to shame. Must miss all those Vogue minions running around and doing things got her.
Alexandra – you’re not WLM’s target market nor are you intended to be. Now, you and Tina can join the “We hate Meghan because we are former editors who no longer have influence” club.
Who else is next?
And you are right. We all know fashion and lifestyle magazines have been struggling. People are more interested in TikTok etc than what a fashion magazine editor has to say. And the show is not for her. That is what I don’t get. Thousands of things to watch on Netflix. You can skip this one. You opinion is not pushing the needle. People are tired of this behavior that is why all the bad mouthing made no difference. People watched.
Lol! She is 67 years old for crying out loud. Ask any younger gen they will tell they don’t know her
Yep–she and those like her are furious they don’t call all the fashion shots now. (Back in the ’60s when looks changed, a French fashion designer complained that “American women won’t do what we tell them anymore.”) And for an ex-Vogue editor to be complaining about hard/unattainable living is hilarious. 🤮🤣 It’s not like most of her career wasn’t about selling an impossible body image and overpriced clothes to the rest of us. 🙄
What a comedown – once, her opinions determined the content and tone of one of the major fashion publications. Now, she’s resorting to providing colour commentary for the Fail, more than a week after the series was released. I’d be bitter, too!
Matching Alexandra’s looks with her words and it all makes sense 🙂↔️
This wench has the nerve to come for Meghan when she worked for a magazine that specialize in high end fashion. Another racist jealous b who can’t stand the fact a biracial woman has exceeded her in style, personality and success.
I confess I didn’t read the whole thing. Too time consuming. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
😂
TLDR: another unhinged rant. Won’t be able to reason with them. Move on.
I *am* the target market and I think the show is a delight. My daughter (10) saw a picture of the rainbow fruit tray and is so excited that I might make it for her pool party with friends this summer. These people need to CALM DOWN. It’s super rude to those of us who like Martha AND Meghan!
Question: is there any other Netflix-produced lifestyle/cooking show? If so, it’s doing much worse than WLM.
I’ve seen so many people tailor what she does to a) fit their budget and b) fit into their time. A lot of what she makes is not at all time consuming if you cook on a regular basis like me. So many women are crashing out seeing a BW living a soft life. It’s like we don’t deserve it. I have a friend who loves to make fruit plates and make them into different shapes. She loves hosting. She even made a food plate in the shape of a football for the Super Bowl.
What we are all witnessing is are the Karen’s and British tabloids having a glitch in there system. They were all writing negative hateful reviews about Meghan show they were gleefully at every negative racist vile bombing Meghan show . They sworn that Netflix is going to dump Meghan they predict with gleefulness that Meghan is done . They within a couple days of the premiere her shows gets pick up her show is worldwide hit Meghan is everyone people are socials media are show off the recipe she made . Now that all that negative didn’t work in their favor instead now it’s too hard to do everything that Meghan did now it’s no one can do what she did . It’s rich coming from a former editor of one the biggest fashion magazine who job for decades telling woman what to wear how to look is all suddenly is complaining about something something. Because it’s coming from a wealthy black woman its all suddenly it wrong .
What a pointless article. I guess she had to write something.
Haters seem especially triggered by activities like doing something special for your house guests and having fresh flower arrangements, and making an effort to make food visually appealing. If that’s not their thing, that’s perfectly fine, but they turn it into condemnations of Meghan as a person. The whole point Meghan makes is that it’s good to make an effort and to live life with purpose and to consciously think about giving your children good memories. To make an effort for others and to think about others’ well-being s a good thing. To criticize is very revealing about you. Meghan reveals with everything she does that she lives life with purpose to be the best person she can be and to be of service to others in this life. Shulman’s attitude exactly echoes that of the women on a podcast I heard recently- sneering at someone making an effort on behalf of others.
Wait, so we need a war because life is too short to stuff a mushroom. O-kayyyy. Will you feel that way when your plush London pad is bombed?
The Cut has an amusing piece where the writer, Tom, prepares a few of the dishes from WLM, a la Julie & Julia. It’s very amusing! I recommend it!
What a cute article, thanks!
I absolutely chuckled at this line:
“While Meghan’s took about 20 minutes, mine took twice as long and the frozen-plate test for doneness wasn’t helpful. Maybe my plate wasn’t frozen enough, but I don’t know, it seemed pretty hard. ”
The line that made me sorry I was eating something while reading was about the honey: “Meg’s is from her bees, and mine is from a little plastic bear.” Thanks @LOLA for the head’s up about this.
That does sound cute. Most of the articles I’ve seen from the cut have been just as snotty as the tabloid ones so it’s nice to hear there was actually a feel-good one.
#1. Stuffed mushrooms are delicious. As are plain old roasted mushroom caps – pop the stem out and cook at 350 for a few minutes and the cap fills up with mushroom juice and it is DELICIOUS.
#2. Shulman is triggered and stupid. There is nothing on Meghan’s show that can’t be done by a regular person, but one – I’d like to see her show how pretty a couple wildflowers, or honestly even twigs, or a flower or two could look on the table. Flowers are pricy no matter what, so I have found bud vases to be a real boon.
I sometimes make stuffed portobellos with fresh chopped grape tomatoes, onion, garlic, green pepper, Italian seasoning, in a 350 oven for 20 minutes then top with shaved parmesan. Takes no time and is absolutely delicious.
The racism/elitism is strong in this harridan.
Lol, I’ll believe this is all Gen Z’s fault the day Anna Wintour shows up to the Met Gala in sweatpants and a baseball cap.
I haven’t finished all of the episodes, but I am really enjoying Meghan’s relatively easy tips on thoughtful living, and I’ve already attempted some of her ideas.
Of course the billionaires like Murdoch don’t want us spending our dwindling minutes of life trying to live more enjoyable lives through simple efforts like making your own post-hike chilled lavender washcloths or inexpensive homemade sun tea. As Musk’s mother said, instead of wasting our time on things like “joy” and taking care of ourselves and the people we love, we should all be enriching them by risking our lives having babies we can’t afford, even if it kills us, while working ourselves to death for minimum wage without any time to care for anyone. Don’t we know that nice things are for rich people with servants to do that, not for the poors like you and me?
Honestly, my biggest problem with her show is that I’m reluctant to treat guests as well as Meghan because I’m afraid they’d never want to leave, but her guests are mostly super-rich people, so I’m guessing that’s not a big risk for her.
I don’t think even Meghan lives like her show. I think she is just showing how to have more joy in your life when you want to. You can pick or choose from her show. I’ve enjoyed watching it – such a welcome change from the doom scrolling…
Actually Piper, she really does live like that, and there is plenty of evidence from her pre-Harry life and in the Tig days to support this. It’s why As Ever is such a good name, because what you see on camera is exactly who she is and has always been. If you go back several years you will find interviews with her friends – all diverse groups of women and men – who praise her hosting skills and wax lyrical about the way she made (makes) them feel special through all the thoughtful little touches she introduces – like making their favourite treats, etc.
That’s why the global smear campaign didn’t work 100% – she was not an unknown and the fictional M the UK media and British royals were creating was so far from the reality that her 3+ million fans and sane observers banded together to defend her… and the rest is history.
Meghan may be extra, as the kids say, but I am, too. I don’t have a lot of time to entertain these days, but it gives me a lot of joy to wrap a present in a special way … And when I do host a party, I always go to town on the food and decor. (One of my kiddos was a Harry Potter fan — thanks for ruining that, JKR — and so, for one of her parties, I used nearly invisible wire to show Hogswart invitations flying out of our fireplace, and everything was HP-themed).
When people stay with us, they always get a basket of snacks and bottles of water in our spare room, so they have to ask for them. It takes less than five minutes to assemble this basket.
I hate the cool-kid-fake-ennui attitude that mocks people who make an effort. I also don’t judge people who don’t have the resources to entertain. We’re all doing the best we can, and in this current hellscape, WLM offers some much-needed joy.
Then she should stay musty dusty, damp and dumpy. I’ll be making pretty bath salts, candles, flower arrangements, and cakes while skipping some of the cooking that I’m bad at. It’s not that deep, UK dusties.
What’s with these crotchety White people itching for a war?
Because war makes folks like them even more rich–and “toughens” the rest of us up. 🙄
On what lifestyle show has host ever “struggled” or didn’t make it look effortless? That’s the point it should look effortless because it’s a show, it’s organized (which I am not). I love watching because I am not her, but I can certainly learn something and use her tips. Heck I’m even searching for edible flowers to sprinkles on every thing. I truthfully don’t know of anyone who wouldn’t like to make the world and especially their homes a little more beautiful and joyful except the gop. I have never seen a social media frenzy of post on a lifestyle show like With Love, Meghan has had. Sounds like the woman who wrote this needs to retire to live her geriatric years in the countryside, where she can make her life as ugly as she wishes and leave the rest of us to enjoy the effort it takes to make With Love, Meghan look so effortless.
She’ll be one of those people who hoards stuff from floor to ceiling and the clean up of her country estate will be immense.
Those older white women are losing their minds over a lifestyle show hosted by a beautiful Black woman who is sharing tips and tricks that work for her that you can incorporate in your life if you choose. If you do not want to don’t. All that unnecessary bile only make them look envious and jealous.
The hounds have all been released to bring Meghan to her knees . All I have to say to these people is seek an exorcism. You’re all possess. Meghan lemons and jam is affecting these people like holy water .
Amen to that! 🪬🧿
Really is this her code for saying some British women can’t multitask and that they live a bland life. And a former editor for British Vogue at that, where pages of that magazine takes A lot of effort. I grew up making sun tea and that doesn’t take too much effort and it was fun as a kid. Making pasta doesn’t take too much effort. I just had a conversation with a couple people from work who loves to garden, have lemon trees, oranges, etc and grow flowers in their garden- for some that’s a stress reliever. If they don’t like WLM, why do they even watch just to get mad. These people just love misery.
Meghan’s show is great for when you want to do something special. No one ever said or hinted that these are things you should do every day or all the time. Her show even gives context: here are some tips for if you want to do something special for a kid’s party, a dear houseguest, a game night, a special celebration.
And it’s massively hypocritical for a former Vogue editor to make these complaints. The vast majority of Vogue readers can’t afford the clothes, handbags, accessories, and jewels, nor afford the personal trainers and plastic surgery or have the genetic code required to wear those clothes as presented. The entire high-fashion industry is aspirational.
On top of that, these Meghan-haters support the monarchy, an institution that is all about ceremony, wealth, privilege, impracticality, and being extra. When she was in the UK, they yowled whenever she supposedly wore the wrong color or accessory or broke some other made-up-on-the-spot “protocol.” They had nothing but have-to’s for her, but now when she offers some lovely suggestions about tea they cry how dare she force them to use throw blankets and table linens (which she never said anything about). The biggest difference between Meghan’s attention to luxurious detail and the monarchy’s is that Meghan’s is intended to make your loved ones feel special and appreciated, whereas the monarchy’s is to reinforce a social hierarchy.
Bunch of jealous, bed-wetting whiners.
Shulman is clearly an angry and bitter woman who I suspect is struggling with the ageing process. That “quip” she made about war was ugly.
Lordy, the bitter betties keep lining up, one after another. Who’s up next?
A Vogue editor claiming flowers sprinkled on eggs is too extra? Um. Ok…