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Black Coffee and Red Lipstick

Notes on living
Brief Description
Praise for Alexandra Shulman: 'Self-deprecating and stylish, this is sure to become a classic.' - Vanity Fair 'Alexandra Shulman's style is unaffected, immediate and hilariously dry. She's brilliant at observing everyday feelings in a joy-sparking turn of phrase.' - Helena Bonham Carter Black Coffee and Red... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3999
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Releases 29th September 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Black Coffee and Red Lipstick" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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A new collection of thought-provoking and engaging memoir-based essays from columnist, commentator and Sunday Times-bestselling author, Alexandra Shulman, the longest serving Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue.

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Praise for Alexandra Shulman:

'Self-deprecating and stylish, this is sure to become a classic.' - Vanity Fair

'Alexandra Shulman's style is unaffected, immediate and hilariously dry. She's brilliant at observing everyday feelings in a joy-sparking turn of phrase.' - Helena Bonham Carter

Black Coffee and Red Lipstick is a collection of essays that weave ideas about our domestic and daily life - hence the black coffee - with thoughts on style and the way we present ourselves - hence the red lipstick.

It combines anecdotes and observations from Alexandra Shulman's 25 years spent editing British Vogue and her current life as a freelance writer and commentator. She draws on her experiences as a magazine editor but also a mother, daughter, sibling, girlfriend, housekeeper, and lover of shopping.

Alexandra left her job at Vogue in 2017 to embark on a different way of life and while this is in no way a book of self-discovery, it does touch on the question of things or patterns of behaviour that make us who we are.

The essays will be a mixture of ideas from her quest for the perfect eyeliner, to why picnics are so delightful. How it is that men and women see different things in the home - is there male pattern blindness? - to why our hair matters so much to us. Friendship, siblings, gardening, and grey hair will also be explored with Alexandra's characteristic wit and incisiveness.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781846018107

Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 October 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Mitchell Beazley

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Alexandra Shulman is a writer and commentator. She was British Vogue's Editor-in-Chief from 1992 to 2017 and was awarded the CBE in the 2018 New Year's Honours list. She is currently a columnist for the Mail on Sunday, a contributor to a variety of newspapers and magazines and a Vice President of the London Library. She has written two novels, Can We Still Be Friends (2012) and The Parrots (2015) and Inside Vogue: The Diary of My 100th Year (2016).

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  • Clothes... and other things that matter
    Warm, thought-provoking and honest. - Victoria Hislop Clever, emotionally intelligent, revelling in style without making us yearn to shop. - The Times Self-deprecating and stylish, this is sure to become a classic. - Vanity Fair Thoughtful, wry and candid. - Mail on Sunday A must-read memoir for even those beyond the fashion set. - Evening Standard It's funny, honest and...
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