Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i Marie Claire Australia

There’s a moment in this month’s cover story when Rose Byrne reflects on her extraordinary career and says, “If you’ve had success in one type of character, then you’ll be asked to play the same type again.” It resonated with me for many reasons, but mainly because it’s a statement about how easily women – in Hollywood and beyond – are often boxed in by expectation. Yet Byrne’s career, and indeed her latest role as a mother on the brink, is a timely reminder that reinvention is always possible. In her latest film, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Byrne steps into one of her most daring roles yet: a woman unravelling, confronting the unspoken truths of motherhood and identity. “There are a lot of horror tropes in there,”…

1 Far from basic, this black maxi dress works best when layered over retro-style lingerie and hosiery, and topped off with fabulous footwear. 2 Remember: blazers aren’t just for the office. Worn oversized over shorts, the look delivers a cool-girl update to the smartcasual dress code. 3 Sheer fabrics pair perfectly with pastel pink and delicate lace, offering a fresh take on femininity. 4 As always, a top embellished with beading or lace is your best friend through party season. 5 Add interest to an all-white ensemble with an unexpected neckline and sparkling jewels in different shapes and sizes. 6 End-of-year celebrations are the perfect time for a statement skirt and shoe. And pink satin will sweeten up an all-black look. 7 Allow your lingerie to step into the spotlight, for a 2025 twist on an otherwise…

Few fashion objects carry the weight of both history and reinvention quite like the Lady Dior. Originally named the Chouchou, the bag was created especially for Princess Diana during her visit to Paris in 1995 as a structured design in quilted black leather adorned with Dior’s gold charms. Upon its debut on her arm, it naturally became an instant icon. Launched in 2016, Dior’s Lady Art project took that legacy into a new era, inviting artists from around the world to reinterpret the iconic accessory through their unique perpective. Over the past decade, 99 artists have reimagined the bag, from sculptural experiments and digital abstractions to painterly reinterpretations that blur the boundary between fashion and fine art. Now, as Dior celebrates 10 years of this collaboration, 10 new artists transform…

The rich lister LUXE Gold, silver, red and burgundy are the shades of the season and form the perfect focus for those who love a little glitz and glam. Inject their favourite luxe labels into the mix and repeat after us: more is more Beautiful bargains UNDER $100 There’s a wealth of well-priced wonders to be found, for everyone from your nearest and dearest to that distant aunt. And you don't need to look too hard, as we've done the searching for you The decorator HOMEWARES For the design-obsessive whose love language is good lighting and linen, think gifts that bring warmth and style to the home in equal measure, from festive candlesticks and crackers to chic hand-thrown ceramics The lad life MENS Buying for the boys can sometimes be tricky. The…

Bill Nighy, Glenn Close and Harris Dickinson are in my living room. They’re arguing, which, as a host, is always uncomfortable. I inch away in an attempt to give them space, but the tension only grows more palpable. I move over to the kitchen and start nervously stacking the dishwasher. I turn on the tap, but their voices are inescapable. Then, the front door swings open and I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s my partner returning from the supermarket. “What on earth are you listening to?” he asks. I tap my phone, and my famous guests stop bickering. “Just an audiobook,” I reply. OK, so this was in fact not a dream dinner party fantasy turned sour, but an audiobook production of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, voiced…

Turn up the heat Burnished shades of red and terracotta give the festive season instant frisson. Work them on eyelids and extend under lashes in a soft block of colour to give the smoky eye a warm and elevated feel. A subtly sparkled lip will add just the right balance and definition. Silver linings Twinkling metallics and sheeny texture are so appropriate for a night out during the party season. Make a statement of it with gleaming eyes that look elevated but smudged and artfully placed to avoid appearing contrived. Fire starter Nothing says festivities better than a statement red lipstick, perfectly applied. Dior Beauty’s iconic 999 shade gets a seasonal update with embedded sequins, which come to life when you press your lips together. Because who doesn’t want a…

STRETCH TO IT As many as nine in 10 adults can experience stretch marks, so if you have silvery lines on limbs or torso, you’re not alone. A body oil can make a difference. Here are two to consider. Well known for helping to ease the appearance of stretch marks, this OG formula has undergone plenty of research to test its abilities. Case in point: a German study showed that among women with stretch marks from pregnancy, weight gain or an adolescent growth spurt, 95 per cent noticed a reduction in the look of the lines in just two weeks. After the recommended eight weeks, all noticed improvement. Rich in essential fatty acids and a long list of vitamins (A, D, E and K), this lightweight, non-greasy, plant-based body (and…

Sparkle season Looking for some rockstar power for your Christmas tree? These Elton John-inspired collectibles from Waterford will amp up the dazzle in your decorations. From $149 each (or get the set of eight for $1999), at waterfordcrystal.com.au/ A Sydney icon reborn The InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach opens December 1, blending barefoot glamour with multimillion-dollar ocean views. Think sun-washed suites, outdoor baths and sumptuous seafood – courtesy of British supremo chef Rick Stein (in his only Sydney location). The former site of the rundown Crowne Plaza (which used to host new mums for postnatal care) is unrecognisable, with 198 elegantly appointed guest rooms – including 22 premium suites – delivering an indulgent coastal sanctuary. The dual-phase launch ends in March 2026, with the unveiling of the new swimming pool, poolside…

Golden Girls Party season calls for statement dressing, and this gold ruffled L’IDÉE mini dress is a guaranteed sartorial show stopper. Trudon’s luxurious refillable hand soap is the gift that keeps on giving. Enhance any washroom experience with notes of sandalwood, sage and jasmine. Stick Your Neck Out This elevated double choker set from Max Mara is a layered tour de force. Wear individually for a subtle shine or stacked together for dramatic impact. Birds of a Feather Ballet meets circus in Duck Pond, a high-energy re-imagining of Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling. A poignant, playful tale of identity and transformation, expect exhilarating aerials, jaw-dropping acrobatics, and feathers to fly. ART OF GLASS Inspired by the frescoes that once adorned Christian Dior’s winter garden in his Parisian home, Dior’s…

Summer date night Keep it easy, breezy and beautiful with on-trend polka dots and pearls for that romantic rendezvous as the weather warms. Top it off with a black lace scarf to inject a little mystery. Office party It’s all about the little black dress and sparkling accessories at the end-of-year work do. Silver is having a moment, so layer it up. New Year’s Eve For a glamorous farewell to 2025, channel a 1920s vibe with sequins, satin, diamonds and feathers. Just ensure you pare it all back with a black and white palette. Long lunch Retro sunnies, check. Light layers, check. Comfortable footwear, check. You’re all set for that long lunch in the great outdoors.…

Presented by GEORG JENSEN Supported by THE ECO-WARRIOR Anjali SHARMA What happens when a tween climate activist grows up? If they’re Anjali Sharma, they remain on the frontlines, because the fight is far from over. You probably remember a 14-year-old Anjali, who organised the headline-making student-led climate strikes in Melbourne in 2019, or a 16-year-old Anjali, who was the lead litigant in a lawsuit against then-federal environment minister Sussan Ley in 2020/21. Together with seven fellow school students, she argued that governments have a duty of care to protect young people from the impacts of climate change. Their legal victory was historic, but was later overturned on appeal. Anjali is now 21, and her resolve to save the planet and address intergenerational climate injustice is as strong as ever. This year…

The first days of motherhood were a blur for Letitia. After a long labour and an emergency C-section, she found herself in a crowded hospital room, alarms blaring as nurses bustled in and out. She awoke at each wail, unsure whose baby was crying, and yet she felt she could handle anything. “I just started having this feeling of euphoria,” she says. At home, Letitia felt unstoppable. “I’ve got this, I don’t need to sleep,” she told her husband, laughing nonstop at the dizzying joy of new motherhood. “This is the best thing!” she’d tell anyone who came to visit. But behind the euphoria, small moments of disorientation began to emerge. “I started having strange thoughts that I could achieve anything, but at the same time I couldn’t make decisions,”…

By the time the video connects on our Zoom call, Rose Byrne and I are already apologising to each other. Me, because I’ve blurred my background and I don’t want her to think it’s for privacy – who am I to deny Rose Byrne the chance to snoop inside someone’s apartment? (If you’ve seen those Domain ads, you know she’d want to.) It’s to hide the hellscape of a recent move. She, because she’s in the car on her way home to make dinner for her kids after a long day of work. She assures me she’s not the one driving – and it is reassuring, because it’s clear her eyes are not on the road. That I’ve caught Byrne in the in-between of work and motherhood is fitting, because…

Sunset drinks Bold with notes of citrus, a heart of musk and base of akigalawood, this fresh and zesty orange scent suits high summer wear. The cocktail party FOR HIM Fresh and woody, this New Caledonian sandalwood-dosed fragrance feels powerful and sophisticated and lingers seductively on a shirt collar. FOR HER Notes of rose, jasmine and aldehydes stay true to the original fragrance, and this rich body oil leaves skin beautifully scented and glistening subtly with pearly particles in white gold shades. The waterside soirée As invigorating as the ocean it’s inspired by, this bright and optimistic scent opens with bergamot and lime before drifting into geranium and jasmine and a sandalwood and orris base. The romantic dinner FOR HER This luminous scent is built for the romantic at heart,…

SKIN Actual sleep will help get skin glowing. But if you have burnt the midnight oil, the next best way to look fresh come morning is to get gleaming with skincare. Here are fast fixes and sustained complexion strategies for radiant skin. RIGHT NOW Wash your face with cold water in the morning Just as effective as rubbing your face with ice cubes, “this improves blood circulation and lymphatic flow, whilst reducing inflammation, puffiness and redness”, explains Jocelyn Petroni, facial advisor for La Mer Australia. “It feels like a mini facelift every morning, refreshing without freezing.” Her tip: keep a jug of water on standby in the fridge. Layer on lip balm Apply a generous amount and let it soak in overnight. Then when you wash your face the next…

COVER UP Fact: sunscreen needs to be reapplied every two hours and it should always be worn with a hat, sunglasses and protective clothing. Here are some new releases to consider: MIST Reapplying sunscreen after you’ve applied makeup can be tricky. Solution: a mist sunscreen, like this one from Natio. Invisible and able to go on over makeup, this vitamin-E enriched formula mists a whisper-weight application of sunscreen without budging your makeup efforts. MINERAL Vegan, cruelty-free and ocean-friendly, this zinc-rich mineral sunscreen sinks in seamlessly, and helps protect skin against blue light and free radical damage while giving it a flattering illuminated glow. MOUSSE Suspended in an airy mousse texture, this fun, fruit-scented sunscreen absorbs quickly without stickiness, leaving behind soft, hydrated skin thanks to added vitamin E. *Always read…

“I admire the work of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. I love their creative boldness, unmistakable style and connection with their roots, which is evident in everything they do. They built this brand from the ground up, and it has evolved so magnificently over the decades.” On the new Dolce & Gabbana My Devotion “It’s very luscious and sweet. I’m very particular about my scent, and I’ve never really strayed far from certain ingredients. Devotion is my new elevated version of that cocktail. It felt so authentically me. I felt cosy and sweet and young and delicious. It felt like flirting and falling in love for the first time.” On what’s important “My daughter, Daisy Dove, love and music. First of all, being a mother. And secondly, music changed my…

NOVEMBER 22–DECEMBER 21 SAGITTARIUS December marks your entrance into main-character territory: your hair cooperates and your skin glows without the ring light. As your sign hosts December’s new moon, a potential partnership stands out: a business collab or creative alliance will fast-track your ambitions. Singles meet someone whose humour matches their appetite for life. After December 22, the sun lights up your money zone, and you get serious about saving. Gift thoughtfully this Christmas rather than extravagantly, and you’ll start the New Year without the financial hangover. POWER DATES December 1, 14, 20 DECEMBER 22–JANUARY 19 CAPRICORN Mars rockets into your sign in December, turning you into a productivity powerhouse and closing 2025 with the energy of someone who just discovered espresso. Your solar return season begins on the 22nd,…

Seriously fun Ground a fun and flirty lace skirt and lighter-toned accessories with a practical white shirt or silk blouse. It’s a look that’ll see you transition effortlessly from office meetings to summery cocktails with the gals. White hot White is big news this season, and it looks super sweet rendered in lace or crochet. Ice that cake with diamond jewellery or a sequinned bag and you’re set to sparkle.…

THE PERFECT BAG Cute or shiny, these are proof that great things often come in small packages. SPARKLING JEWELLERY Now’s the time to pull out the bling. And we know you won’t want to stop at one. STATEMENT SHOES Kick up your heels, literally, in patterned pairs, bedazzled beauties or colourful pumps.…

There are always theatrics at a Louis Vuitton show, but this time Nicolas Ghesquière made it literal. In May, beneath the soaring arches of one of France’s most celebrated palaces, Avignon’s Palais des Papes, the creative director staged a fashion performance so rich in drama it could have opened the city’s famed summer festival. The collection, aptly described by Ghesquière as “women’s armour for everyday life”, transformed the medieval fortress into a shimmering battleground for modern femininity. The setting was cinematic: twilight over the 14th-century palace, Gothic ramparts glowing in the fading spring light. Inside, the cathedral-like courtyard became a medieval theatre where guests – including Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone, Saoirse Ronan and Alicia Vikander – took their seats on Es Devlin’s tiered red velvet benches. Australian model Julia Nobis…

At 2am, Chloe* was still scrolling. The Sydney mother of two was overseas with her family when reports of a string of alleged child sexual assaults at a Melbourne childcare centre first surfaced. The alleged offender, Joshua Brown, had worked at 23 centres across the city between January 2017 and May 2025. What began as casually checking the news, spiralled into an obsession she couldn’t shake. “I was seeing every single detail of every case that was happening … I was unravelling with the stress of it,” she recalls. By the time the family returned home, Chloe had made a decision that would reshape their lives: she pulled her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter out of childcare altogether. In Brisbane, Jane* was watching the same headlines but making a different calculation. The Irish…

Sofi lies back on the bed, holding eye contact with Dave, making sure he’s watching. She has already playfully tied his hands with rope and gently pushed her pants into his mouth. Now her hand strokes her collarbone, cups her breast and slides down her stomach, past her suspender belt, moving between her legs. “Cut,” John shouts. “Katie,” Jane asks, “do you want more masturbating?” In a magnificent Italian villa on a Wednesday afternoon, I am making a porn film. One I wrote, am directing and, more importantly, one that asks a question: is it possible to make feminist porn? I have always been a feminist, I’ve always watched porn and always worried whether that made me a hypocrite. Now, as porn dominates conversations around the UK’s Online Safety Act…

Beauty devotees who once generated thousands of flyer points to get their hands on Clé de Peau Beauté can now add to cart here. Previously, they’ve had to stock up in Tokyo, Paris or New York, but this month the luxury skincare and makeup line launches exclusively at David Jones (starting with Chatswood in Sydney and Bourke Street in Melbourne), bringing with it its signature philosophy of skin intelligence. Confused about how skin can have inbuilt smarts? The brand invites us to think of it like this: our skin has the ability to learn, adapt and repair itself when given the right tools in the way of ingredients. Owned by Japanese powerhouse Shiseido, Clé de Peau Beauté (French for “the key to skin’s beauty”) is built on innovation surrounding research…

Do I Really Need Primer? Admittedly, I’ve always been a bit hit-and-miss with primer. Some days I reach for it like my life depends on it; others, I skip straight from skincare to a tint or foundation, putting primer in the too-hard basket. Lately, though, with a crop of new hybrid formulas that blur the line between skincare and makeup, I’ve been wondering: could the primer replace a skincare step or two to help streamline my routine? I only need to flick to my work inbox to know that primers are becoming a regular in beauty routines. And where these skin smoothers were once chock-full of silicons to add a filter-like finish, the new breed firmly adopts the “skincare first” approach. Take the two primers from local brand Go-To. Both…

LIGHT UP Dosed with micro-pixel pearls to ramp up the amount of light being caught on the lips, this five-shade collection of oil-in-stick textured lipsticks offer long-lasting hydration, definition and renewed smoothness. HEY HONEY Support barrier function, calm and protect compromised complexions with this intense moisturiser by Honey Biotics. Dosed with UMF15+ Manuka honey, this steroid-free balm helps skin proneto issues such as chronic dryness. STRENGTH TRAINING Designed to hydrate, condition and protect hair before shampooing, this pre-wash treatment boasts a special RDS bond complex that penetrates the hair cortex to support strand resilience and help reduce breakage. IN THE PINK Smooth and hydrate lips and boost shine with one pretty pink drop of this serum from The Ordinary. High counts of PHA help to exfoliate the surface, leaving your…

Living in a building of architectural significance, one is not so much a homeowner as a custodian – but there are few so well-suited to the role as Annette. The CEO of Museums of History NSW, Annette’s work is driven by a passion for the past. This has overflowed into her personal life, as she and her husband Michael are the owners and meticulous caretakers of the Walter Burley Griffin-designed Duncan House in Castlecrag. Annette and Michael’s love of heritage homes is longstanding, and when the couple moved from Melbourne to Sydney and began house hunting, a period gem was high on their list of must-haves. “We were looking for something that hadn’t realised its full potential, that had architectural significance and heritage value to it. I love a project,”…

THERE’S AN ART TO ENTERTAINING that goes far beyond the guest list. This festive season, it’s about the mood you set – the clink of glassware, the soft candlelight, the perfectly poured drink that feels as considered as the tablescape itself. Whether you’re pouring champagne over a polished marble counter, mixing margaritas against colourful linens or serving red wine beside a scattering of gold flatware, your drink can (and should) be part of the décor. Kim Crawford Wines Illuminate Sparkling If you’re looking for a light, lower-alcohol bubbly for the silly season ahead, Kim Crawford Illuminate Sparkling is perfect. With aromas of green apple, elderflower and tropical mango, and a crisp finish of white peach and citrus, this New Zealander is the perfect drop for casual celebrations when you want…

What’s the last book that made you cry? Honestly, my own. Yesterday I was recording the audiobook for Ask Yourself This and had this moment of deep pride. The book looks fun and colourful, but the content is raw and transformative. Realising I had created something that evokes both joy and catharsis left me with a profound sense of satisfaction, and made me curious about what other good feelings I’ve yet to explore. What is the soundtrack to your life right now? Dianna Lopez’s guitar performances on YouTube. “Too often we filter our experiences through imagined audiences, rather than sharing our true perspectives” Which fictional character do you most resonate with? Less a character, more a quote. The line, “Maddy knew who she was from a young age,” from Euphoria. What…