The Australian Women's Weekly January 2025

When I was growing up in Adelaide in the 1980s, one of the first names of fashion that I became aware of was Maggie Tabberer. She was the local girl who became a cover star and fashionable businesswoman: The chic face of The Weekly championed women of all sizes with her eponymous label, Maggie T, one of the first inclusive fashion labels. She was also outspoken about women’s issues, including raising awareness about SIDS after the loss of her son, Francesco. An inspirational Australian and true icon. Maggie has been a much-loved member of The Weekly family since she first appeared in our pages as a young fashion model in the 1960s. She graced our cover more than 15 times, and led The Weekly’s style team as Fashion Editor from…

Letter of the month Thank you for Denise Scott’s column The colours of life (AWW, Christmas). This was the worst year of my family’s life after our daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Seeing her suffer broke my heart and as a result I have been fighting depression. I felt like a failure but eventually succumbed to taking antidepressants and was so embarrassed at having to take them. That was until I read how Denise loved her antidepressants! It was like instant therapy. Thank you Denise – you will never know how much you have reassured me that I am “normal” after all. Burpengary East, Qld. Outback Christmas I want to celebrate the sensational subscriber-only cover of Poh (“What I’ve learned about love”, AWW, Christmas). When I saw it in…

Barbie TRIBUTE Miniature milestone Ahead of her 93rd birthday, EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner Rita Moreno has been honoured with a Barbie. As one of only 21 to reach EGOT status, Rita’s Barbie wears a replica of the gown she donned for the Oscars in 1962 (above, with Rock Hudson and George Chakiris) and 2018. “I was a girl who decided to go for it, and ... I never gave up on my dreams,” she said. “That’s what I hope this doll inspires.” Women we love Space odyssey American scientist Emily Calandrelli became the 100th woman in space. “How lucky I am ... to experience this view,” she captioned a photo of her experience. Record-making win After achieving the rare feat of becoming a dual-sport medallist at the…

As I hunched over my cooktop, slurping my reheated pasta straight from the frypan, I thought … what can an (allegedly) deeply flawed and quite possibly (allegedly) unhinged woman like me possibly offer you by way of inspirational New Year’s resolutions? First, let me explain the frypandining. I share my home with three housemates: two teenaged and one almost-teenaged. Some may call them my children. I prefer to refer to them as housemates. It just feels …fairer. These housemates (and to be clear, there are literally no three people I’d rather live with) have an endearing habit of racking up an unfathomably large pile of glasses, cups, cutlery and plates every few hours. It really is a miraculous gift. They merely touch a glass and it’s deemed unfit to be…

When the news broke on December 6 that icon Maggie Tabberer had died age 87, a dazzling star went out in Australia’s fashion firmament. Modest Maggie would have been surprised at how intense the outpouring of emotion was. The news of her passing was the lead story for every newspaper, social media site, radio and TV network. The loss felt by Australia was palpable, for even though she was “a very old lady” –her words not mine – Maggie never lost her lustre. The stunning young girl with piercing sky-blue eyes and perfect bone structure from working-class Adelaide who then grew up to be a supermodel, TV star, fashion editor and savvy business entrepreneur was a national treasure and as was immediately obvious, she commanded a very special place in…

Beatrix Bracefield’s birth has been the subject of heated discussion – in the Queensland Parliament, in community meeting rooms, around kitchen tables and in supermarket aisles in her hometown of Chinchilla. Born on the side of the Warrego Highway in January 2022, hers was the birthing scenario pregnant women in the district had been dreading since their local hospital had “paused” its birthing service back in 2017. “The day Beatrix was born started like any other,” her mother, Yvette, a music teacher, tells The Weekly. She woke at 2am and then again at five with some pain. “I’d had early labour pains on and off for a couple of weeks,” Yvette says. She thought these were no different, but as a precaution moved the appointment with her midwife scheduled for…