I’m out here doing my best to make Old Broads Sexy Again and the medical community is really yucking my yum. While many of us are trying to make menopause an approachable subject, one that can be discussed without hushed tones or shame, the Mayo Clinic is putting out studies like this. They found that working women in the US between the ages of 45-60 may lose up to $1.8 billion due to menopause. Yes, billion, with a B. The loss is from symptoms being so unmanageable, that women in that age group are either being laid off or quitting. And some say that number is conservative, because this study factored in women who had access to company healthcare and there are plenty of women who don’t.

Working women in the United States may lose up to $1.8 billion each year due to menopause, according to a new study.

Menopause is the time that marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years, or twelve months without a menstrual period. It usually occurs when women are in their 40s and 50s, but the average age is 51 in the U.S. Symptoms include irregular periods, hot flashes, mood swings, sleep problems, vaginal and bladder problems, loss of bone density and higher cholesterol levels — some of which come on gradually.

The study, published this week by the Mayo Clinic, surveyed more than 4,000 women aged 45-60 and found that 15% had either missed work or cut back on work hours because of their menopause symptoms. The study notes that more than 15 million women in the workplace ages 45 to 60.

Researchers also found that over 1% of participants reported that their symptoms were so debilitating that they were either laid off or quit their jobs in the preceding six months.

Dr. Juliana Kling — study author and chair of the Women’s Health Internal Medicine division at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona — said that based on collected data, there’s an estimated annual loss of $1.8 billion in working time.

Kapoor added that the recorded $1.8 billion annual loss is likely an underestimate because the women surveyed had access to health insurance and possible treatments for menopause symptoms, which is not the case for all women in the U.S.

[From People]

I’m being flippant but I am genuinely distressed about this. We’ve discussed the symptoms before. Many of them would affect job performance. Brain fog is a particular challenge. What I’m having trouble with is that menopause is finite. Laying someone off or quitting for something that will end is scary. I know peri can last up to four years, but there has to be a way to manage being a woman in the workplace, this can’t be the answer. The article noted that the study found women also felt they couldn’t talk about menopause in the workplace and that’s probably why they aren’t getting help. Smart companies should give every 45 year old woman in their employ a personal fan with their company logo on it and soak up the free advertising every time that woman has to bring it out to deal with a hot flash.

Obviously, the biggest concern is women losing money due to a milestone they will all pass through if they’re lucky enough to live that long. Granted, not all will suffer debilitating symptoms, but clearly enough to lose a collective $1.8 billion. What I’m focusing on is the women being removed from the workplace. I worry that employers will use information like this to weed out women of a certain age as job candidates. Professional resume builders already tell women to hack their work experience so HR can’t guess their age prior to the interview. So newlyweds are filtered because of their potential for pregnancy and choosing to stay home after maternity and now capable middle aged women will get filtered because a study suggests they’ll vacate or be forced out of that position after the company has paid to train them. I just wish they’d stop finding new ways to stack the odds against us.

Add this to the University of Birmingham announcing that there’s a rise in throat cancer because of oral sex and it’s like the medical community is out for us.

Photo by Vlada Karpovich and RODNAE Productions via Pexels

The British newspapers are searching for any kind of new royal content ahead of the coronation, and Buckingham Palace is trying to placate the media by giving them access to random people in the new king and queen’s lives. Which makes for some interesting quid pro quo, in general. Queen Camilla clearly authorized this – her colorist, Jo Hansford, recently spoke on the record to the Telegraph. I have to admit, I actually enjoyed this piece a lot. Hansford is close in age to Camilla and she’s done everyone’s hair. Well, everyone but Prince William, it sounds like. She’s a gossip and well… you’ll see. Some highlights:

She started working with Camilla 35 years ago. “I remember seeing her for the first time. Her brown hair had a few lights in it, and she had this shaggy fringe. I noticed her bright blue eyes and I knew immediately she had to be blonder.”

Camilla & Charles are a “real old-fashioned love story.” “Camilla deeply loves him.And Charles obviously loves her very much. And as her son Tom said recently in an interview, that’s really what it comes down to. They should have married years earlier in my view. But all that silly royal nonsense… I felt so sorry for Princess Margaret, for example. She was unable to marry the person she wanted. And of course, things have changed. Obviously. Just look at Meghan and Harry! But I do think it’s sad that it went on for so long. Not that Diana wasn’t a lovely person. And I think she probably tried very hard, but she was so young to be in the firm, and we have to remember that it is a firm.”

Camilla won’t try anything new now that she’s queen: “It’ll be the same. Nothing dramatic happens to a woman’s hair on the day she becomes Queen. There are no new rules to abide by.” No special new “Queenly” shade. “I see everyone as an individual, whether they are a Queen or a pauper. I’ve always believed that. It’s not about what’s in vogue – but what suits a person.”

Gradually changing Camilla’s color: “Over time I have had to change Camilla’s colour. I’d noticed that in photographs her hair had started to look white – like grey hair. And I thought ‘why bother if it just looks white?’ But I had to be very cautious because she likes the body that the colour gives her, and she has a lot of hair but it’s fine. So we had the conversation and did it as a gradual process, and it looks so much nicer, the body is still there, and Camilla loves it.”

She’s asked what she would do with Meghan’s hair: Hansford deflects with a grimace and a “we won’t discuss The Big M”, she has some thoughts on the Duchess of Cambridge’s mane. “She’s got lovely hair but I think it is too long. She’s so slim, and with hair you have to look at the whole image, the proportions, so I would take it up six inches.” Not that she believes in “mum cuts”, she says. “I don’t agree with that idea at all. But as you get older you need a bit of shaping, because your face muscles start to drop, so bringing it all up to, say, shoulder length, can give you a lift. That said, everyone ages differently.”

The many bald Windsor men: As for the famously follicly-challenged male royals, Hansford wishes they had been given better guidance about hair loss and transplants early on. Alongside colour and cuts, the salon offers a whole range of individual services and has in-house experts in wigs, hairpieces and trichology. “The problem with the ‘inner circle’ is that they really don’t get given the right advice. But also they’re in the public eye so much, so if the princes had done anything everyone would have made such a big deal about it. I really feel sorry for William because he had such a lovely head of hair and he should have done his ages ago. If he were a client of ours, we would have advised him to do that as soon as he started to lose it, but of course he can’t do anything now because it’s gone so far.”

[From The Telegraph]

First of all, a criticism of Hansford’s work – Camilla’s hair has been too light, too white-blond for years now. While I appreciate the consistency of Camilla’s style & color, I feel like Camilla should pick one – either go snow-white or put in some lowlights so she’ll look truly “blonde.” Personally, I really think Camilla could go back to an ashy blonde these days.

As for the rest of it… I agree that Kate needs to take off six inches or more. We don’t know what’s underneath all of Kate’s wiglets, but I would guess her hair is already thinning significantly. A shorter, shoulder-length cut would not only look better, it would be easier for her to maintain and it would be easier to phase out the wigs and hairpieces. As for the stuff about Baldemort… lord, Camilla really authorized her colorist to slam Peg and Keen’s hair foibles, huh?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

This is one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever read, especially given the timing. Perez Hilton is still around, and he’s giving interviews like he consumes the Daily Mail 24-7 and he believes everything they publish. Perez and his obvious hairplugs went to the opening of a club in Las Vegas and he chatted with Page Six about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. He apparently finds them super-boring. So boring that he spun out for a page and a half about how they “need to go back” to the UK, because everyone in America is terribly bored with them. Are we 100% positive Camilla Tominey wasn’t wearing a Perez mask at this club opening? I mean…

Perez Hilton believes Prince Harry and Meghan Markle need to pack up their California mansion and return to the United Kingdom where they belong.

“Honestly, they need to give up and move back to the UK,” Hilton, 45, exclusively told Page Six at Tao’s grand opening for Cathédrale at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday. “I feel like it’s inevitable. I don’t mean this as an insult but they’re both boring. The only thing that makes them interesting is the family in the UK and all of that drama. In America, she and he are not royals to us. We’re not their subjects. They’re just celebrities and they have to play by the rules of celebrity. You have to work at it to maintain celebrity because the only way to monetize your celebrity is to maximize it and feed the machine.”

The podcast host, however, admitted that Markle has already hit it off with celebrity power players.“She’s hanging out regularly with Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, with Ellen DeGeneres, with Oprah [Winfrey]. It doesn’t get any more Hollywood than that,” Hilton said. “It’s still fairly young and new. They’re in their honeymoon period, so to speak, and I feel like they’ll end up moving back eventually because that would also be good for business for them even if they’re still not working royals.”

Hilton also believes that Markle, 41, and Harry, 38, won’t be able to “resonate” with a lot of Americans because people find them “boring” and “hypocritical.”

“They’re still calling themselves the Duke and Duchess but they hate the institution. They’re calling their daughter and son Princess and Prince but they hate the institution,” Hilton said, adding, “I don’t dislike them, but I don’t like them either.”

“I respect what it all boils down to which is, Harry never liked being the ‘Spare.’ I get that. He never wanted to play by the palace rules. I get that. He was a grown man and wanted to make his own decisions and he wasn’t allowed to do that under the system that he was in. So that’s why I do feel like he will ultimately end up moving back because there will be some kind of compromise. It’s a business but it’s also a family and that’s weird. [He left] not even his family but all of his friends too. Everyone. He’s in a whole other country.”

[From Page Six]

“You have to work at it to maintain celebrity because the only way to monetize your celebrity is to maximize it and feed the machine.” This is straight out of the British media’s playbook, that Harry and Meghan are “nobodies” because they aren’t constantly going to LA parties or attending the opening of an envelope. Perez apparently doesn’t understand that the truly A-list celebrities have so much cachet when they aren’t being seen everywhere. And honestly, just in the past six months, they’ve had a hugely successful Netflix docuseries and the biggest bestseller of the year (so far). I will never understand this idea that H&M “need” to “go back” for their brand. Why, so they can be bossed around by Little Lord Incandescent With Rage? No.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Looking back on it, I’m still so mad that Prince Harry and then-Meghan Markle extended wedding invitations to the Middleton clan. Like, I know I’m the only one hanging on to this, but after the way Kate and William were already treating Meghan, and after the way the Middletons treated Meghan around Pippa’s 2017 wedding? No – Carole, Michael, Pippa and James Middleton should not have been invited to the Sussex wedding. Now, it makes some kind of sense that the Middletons have apparently ALL been invited to the coronation. Kate is the Princess of Wales now, and Prince George is a page at his grandfather’s coronation. So it appears that the whole Middleton clan is hopping in their jalopy and goin’ to the Clowning, Clampett-style.

Kate Middleton’s family may be among the guests at King Charles’ coronation on May 6. While high profile guests like Lady Pamela Hicks didn’t receive an invitation to the event, another royal bridesmaid could be set to attend.

According to Daily Mail diary editor Richard Eden, Pippa Middleton, who, he notes, ‘made such an impact’ at the wedding of her sister to Prince William, has been invited to the big day. He added that the Princess of Wales’ parents Carole and Michael have also received an invitation, alongside her brother James Middleton.

‘They are the family of our future queen, so it’s right that they should be there,’ Richard Eden was told by one of their friends.

[From The Daily Mail]

People Magazine noted that Pippa and James Matthews (of Terribly Moderately Wealthy fame) had “no comment” when asked if they will be in attendance. Which probably means they will be. So, as I said, it seems like a reasonable thing for Charles to invite the “en masse Middletons.” It makes less sense when you think about how many aristocrats, lords, dukes, earls, marquesses, viscounts and family friends didn’t get Chubbly invites though. I absolutely think that Charles not inviting Pamela Hicks – the daughter of Lord Mountbatten, his mentor, surrogate father and advisor – was a huge shift in priorities. I think that really shocked the aristocrats, most of whom are also not invited. Lord, it’s going to look tacky as hell if Carole Middleton’s broke ass swans into the Abbey and gets seated in any kind of prominent position. Keep your eye on this too – if the aristos are truly disgruntled, they’ll play a long game.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

Last Summer, David Beckham announced he was partnering with Netflix to put together a documentary series on his life and career. I get a little tired of some things Beckham, but not David’s career and the impact he had on the sport, so this is something I’m inclined to watch. A recent article in The Guardian covering his new series discussed David’s OCD, which I didn’t know he had. The series detailed David staying up after the family goes to bed to clean up after everyone. He doesn’t just fluff the pillows and make sure the sink’s empty, but specifically cleans the candle wax, which is his particular bête noire.

David Beckham is opening up about the “tiring” ways his obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects his family.

In an upcoming Netflix documentary chronicling the soccer star’s career, the Guardian reported that Beckham, 47, said he stays up hours after his family sleeps to clean detailed parts of their home.

“The fact that when everyone’s in bed, I then go around, clean the candles, turn the lights on to the right setting, make sure everywhere is tidy. I hate coming down in the morning and there’s cups and plates and, you know, bowls,” Beckham said, per the outlet.

Beckham revealed that his “pet hate” is lingering candle wax. “I clip the candle wax, I clean the glass, that’s my pet hate, the smoke around the inside of a candle,” he shared. “I know, it’s weird.”

According to the Guardian, Beckham pondered whether or not his wife Victoria appreciates the results of his disorder.

“I clean it so well, I’m not sure it’s actually appreciated so much by my wife, in all honesty,” Beckham said as the Netflix cameras rolled.

“I clean it so well, I’m not sure it’s actually appreciated so much by my wife, in all honesty,” Beckham said as the Netflix cameras rolled.

The outlet reported that Victoria, 49, told the production crew that her husband is “appreciated” and “just so perfect” after the athlete shared his concern.

Beckham also said he “feels compelled” to do the tedious chores, despite how “tiring” they can be for him.

[From People]

I find David’s admission interesting. I remember when Jerry Rice talked about his incredibly strict pre-game ritual. No one talked about OCD back then, we all just chalked it up to superstition. But given Rice’s discipline and his comments about fear-based decisions, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he also had OCD. The discipline OCD demands lends itself to certain professions, like sports. It is, however, exhausting, like David said. Not just physically because the body can’t rest until everything has been seen to, but mentally because the mind won’t let go unless it knows everything is in order. I swear I’m not being shady but it would behoove David to downsize from his huge estate if he has to canvas it every night to make sure it’s tidied up. And maybe just leave the candles for birthdays? Candle wax is a b*tch.

I was a little surprised to read David didn’t think Victoria appreciated his efforts. I have OCD tendencies, so not as pronounced, but my issues mostly just affect me. Maybe Victoria wants David to come to bed sooner than he does, or he’s listless during the day because of his nocturnal cleaning. It wouldn’t be because he’s keeping the house in order, certainly. If anything that made him sexier in my mind. But I’m glad Victoria set the record straight. I’m sure David is not ‘perfect’, but he shouldn’t be dinged for his OCD.

ps – Victoria posted a shot of David emerging from a hot tub in just underwear, in case you’re interested.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham)

Photo credit: Cover Images and Instagram

Well, this is a surprise. Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner are splitting up. Christine filed for divorce after almost nineteen years of marriage. They were together for six years before their 2004 wedding too, meaning… they’ve been together since the 1990s. It’s not just the fact that they’re divorcing though – in an exclusive statement to People Magazine, Costner’s rep makes it sound like Kevin absolutely does not want this.

Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner are separating. Baumgarten, 49, has filed for divorce, PEOPLE has confirmed.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Costner’s representative said, “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action. We ask that his, Christine’s, and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time,” the rep added.

The pair wed in September 2004 and have three children together, sons Cayden, 15, and Hayes, 14, plus daughter Grace, 12. Costner, 68, also has four older children from previous relationships, daughters Annie and Lily and sons Joe and Liam.

[From People]

Costner sort of remade his career with Yellowstone, a hit drama he stars in and executive produces, and he’s a key part of putting together all of the spinoffs and such. Like, the franchise is his baby, and it’s a very profitable and career-fulfilling baby at that. According to the Mail’s sources, Christine asked him to quit the series because the shooting schedule (in Montana) is so intensive, it was affecting their family. The Mail also points out that Costner was recently in Las Vegas and he (gasp) posed for photos with his arms around some fans at the Milano Restaurant and Bar.

So… I don’t know. The terse statement from Costner’s rep makes me think that he crossed some kind of line somewhere and Christine decided that was it. Was the line an “affair” or was it about his professional ambitions? I don’t know.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

WNBA star Brittney Griner finally came home in December after being detained in Russia for 10 months. She and her wife, Cherelle, had a busy past couple of days during which they attended the White House Correspondent’s dinner as guests of Gayle King and then made their Met Gala debut. The couple walked the carpet together in custom Calvin Klein.

Brittney and Cherelle Griner made their Met Gala debut on Monday!

Brittney, 32, and Cherelle, 30, walked the carpet at the exclusive event in New York City side-by-side, just months after the WNBA star returned home from Russian imprisonment.

The couple coordinated in custom Calvin Klein. Brittney — who previously told Elle in 2013 that she vowed to never wear a dress again after her high school graduation — wore a long beige coat, matching trousers and a sheer top.

Cherelle, though, opted for a gown — a white strapless one with silver statement earrings.

“It is dripping off of us right now,” Brittney said of their looks for the exclusive affair.

When speaking with La La Anthony on Vogue’s red carpet livestream, Cherelle took a moment to remember the hardship the couple faced one year ago. “This time last year, I was missing my wife, so to have her right here, to be in this moment — breathtaking,” she said.

“It’s everything just to be here with my wife and just able to be here,” Brittney added. “It means so much. Get to see this event a lot and actually live it. It’s amazing.”

Both Brittney and Cherelle were dressed in custom designs from Calvin Klein for the evening, who also styled the couple for Saturday’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington, D.C.

Brittney and Cherelle were invited as guests of CBS and Gayle King to the event, where the WNBA star was able to thank President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden for the administration’s efforts toward her release from Russia last year.

[From People]

Both Brittney and Cherelle look classic in their Calvin Klein. They also look luxe and expensive, which is definitely the Karl Lagerfeld way. The couple spoke to LaLa Anthony on the red carpet and Brittney talked about how happy she was to be home and with her wife and talked a bit about the Bring Them Home Campaign, for all Americans detained overseas. Last month, Brittney announced that she’ll tell her story about her experiences in Russia in a memoir, to be published next spring. It will probably be distressing for her to relive that, but may also help with processing what happened and shed light on the conditions she experienced. Brittney’s had such a rough go of it, it’s nice that she’s happily back with her family and playing basketball. And while her work with the Bring Them Home Campaign and her book will also raise awareness, it’s nice that she’s getting to just relax and enjoy fun events like the dinner and gala with her wife too.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Calvin Klein (@calvinklein)

Hollywood writers have gone on strike. [Pajiba]
All of the late-night shows are shutting down because of the writers’ strike. [JustJared]
Ryan Murphy’s next series is focused on the Menendez brothers. [OMG Blog]
I loved all of the fingerless gloves at the Met Gala. [LaineyGossip]
A lady had a loud Big O at the LA Philharmonic. [Dlisted]
Kendall Jenner & Bad Bunny went to the gala afterparties together. [Jezebel]
Everyone loved Anne Hathaway’s whole look. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Ethan Hawke in satin? Sure. [GFY]
What influencers are really like. [Buzzfeed]
A third Mamma Mia movie?? [Towleroad]
All of the Burberry looks at the Met Gala. [RCFA]

At last night’s Met Gala, Nicole Kidman was one of several old-school fashionistas to choose a vintage Chanel look from their own archives. Nicole’s Chanel gown was something she wore when she represented Chanel No. 5, it was a custom gown designed for her by Lagerfeld years ago. That’s really cool, and the dress itself is lovely. What I hated was Nicole’s stringy, limp, unwashed-looking hair. Blech.

Billie Eilish wore Simone Rocha. I liked this? It was fine. Well-constructed, interesting, on-brand for Billie.

Embed from Getty Images

Karlie Kloss announced her pregnancy on the Met Gala carpet last night as well! She debuted her bump in this custom Loewe dress. Now that we’ve seen the whole scope of this year’s gala, it’s sort of cracking me up to see just how many women interpreted the theme as “dripping in pearls.” Congrats to Karlie, maybe she’ll have something to talk about when she’s having dinner with the Kushners.

Mindy Kaling wore Jonathan Simkhai. I hate this! She’s been trying to get this slender for most of her adult life, and now that it’s happened for her, she doesn’t really know how to dress.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red, Getty.

Weeks ago, there was a Page Six rumor that Anna Wintour wouldn’t allow any Kardashian-Jenners on the Met Gala carpet. It didn’t feel like something Wintour would do, and big surprise, the whole thing was bullsh-t. Wintour actually likes Kendall and Kim, and I would imagine she’s neutral on Kylie. So those are the three K-Js who showed up to last night’s gala. Kim Kardashian wore Schiaparelli – from the waist up, this was actually interesting – the pearl necklaces as a “top,” the weird corset-waist. I mean, the whole effect is messy, but I like that she tried something different and didn’t ruin another historic piece of fashion like she did last year.

Kylie Jenner wore Jean Paul Gaultier (by Haider Ackermann). It was interesting and very “Haider Ackermann” and not very Lagerfeld. She stood out, and she’s trying to be a Fashion Girl, so there you go.

Kendall Jenner wore Marc Jacobs. This was a tad more on-theme, although it didn’t fit her and the whole look was very try-hard and tacky. I saw photos of her leaving her hotel and her whole ass was out. Bonus: her boyfriend Bad Bunny was there, but they didn’t walk the carpet together. Bad Bunny wore Jacquemus and he “got” the theme much more than Kendall and Kylie.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.