mimi pompom
Mimi Pompom is my pseudonym. I am the former Fashion Editor of a well-known British
newspaper. I am now an author, and the owner of a house in a small and unfashionable French
village in the
Poitou-Charentes.
more about me
- I never say no to a glass of pink champagne.
- I know a lot about the French Revolution.
- I was brought up in The North (near Liverpool).
- I had never been blackberrying until I moved to France.
- I studied Modern History at Kings College, London University. This has proved very useful for writing 'The Marie Antoinette Diet: Eat Cake and Still Lose Weight'.
- I know the Farrow & Ball colour chart inside out.
- I understand the 'off-side' rule.
- I have a passion for Turkish Hereke carpets.
- When I was young I wanted to be a barrister but found myself writing about handbags instead.
- On principle, I don't shop at Top Shop, Primark or Tesco.
- As I child I had a white English bull terrier called Bodger and a rabbit called Binkle.
- Most proud of: getting an A for physics O level – a lesson in how to never give up ....
- Biggest fashion achievement: I was the first UK fashion journalist to write about the trend for 'grunge'.
- Favourite books: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, Scoop by Auberon Waugh and The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton.
- Favourite flower: peony.
- Favourite brands: Prada and Pret-a-Manger (pre McDonalds).
- Happiest memory: crab fishing on the Ile de Ré.
- Least favourite memory: stuck on a fashion shoot in a safari park in Kenya with a bunch of fashion people and food poisoning.
- Guilty secret: I sometimes listen to Johnny Cash while driving.
- Favourite films: The Graduate, The September Issue and This Is Spinal Tap.
- People that I am least likely to invite to dinner: Vladimir Putin, Michael O'Leary.
- People I would most love to invite to dinner: Anna Wintour, Ann Patchett, Hilary Mantel, Prince Harry, Kate Moss, Samantha Cameron, Claire Danes and Damian Lewis.
- Biggest fear in life: people who arrive early.
- I am good at camping (and even better at staying in five star hotels).
- I cook a mean risotto (as taught by an Alain Ducasse sous-chef.)
- Thing that makes me smile: my dog Biff bunny-hopping through a field of wheat or lying on his back with his paws in the air.
- Favourite magazines: FT How To Spend It, US Vogue, The Stylist, and Madame Figaro.
- My younger brother and I once took a flight from Grand Cayman to New York, during which the pilot announced that we were running out of fuel, had lost contact with traffic control and our situation was ‘critical’.
- Everyone thinks we made the above story up. [We didn’t.]
- Words I would use to describe myself: loyal, opinionated, a perfectionist.