Celebrity Shopper
Celebrity
Shopper
Carmen
Reid
BANTAM PRESS
LONDON • TORONTO • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND • JOHANNESBURG
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781409094678
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First published in Great Britain
in 2010 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Carmen Reid 2010
Carmen Reid has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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ISBN 9780593066287 (cased) ISBN 9780593062982 (tpb)
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REASONS TO MEET ANNIE VALENTINE,
Celebrity
Shopper
‘You’ll be rooting for her as she battles family
life … and the scary world of telly, while never looking
anything less than fabulous.’
Heat
‘A woman who was making makeovers hip long before
Gok Wan came on the scene.’
Sunday Herald
‘The world of TV fashion makeovers is given
a hilariously warm send-up.’
Daily Mirror
‘More heartwarming than an expensive round
of retail therapy.’
Daily Mail
‘A brilliant read that’ll be popular with fashionistas!’
Closer
‘A sassy little number’
OK!
‘A rollicking tale’
Glamour
Also by Carmen Reid
THREE IN A BED
DID THE EARTH MOVE?
HOW WAS IT FOR YOU?
UP ALL NIGHT
Starring Annie Valentine
THE PERSONAL SHOPPER
LATE NIGHT SHOPPING
HOW NOT TO SHOP
And for teenage readers
SECRETS AT ST JUDE’S: NEW GIRL
SECRETS AT ST JUDE’S: JEALOUS GIRL
SECRETS AT ST JUDE’S: DRAMA GIRL
Visit
www.carmenreid.com
for competitions,
exclusive content and Carmen’s blog!
On-screen Annie:
Purple and white dress (Mango)
Blue wooden wedge sandals (Chloé)
Mighty beige control pants (Spanx)
Belt? Yes? No? Can’t decide (Topshop)
Heavy-duty anti-perspirant (Mitchum)
Heavy-duty anti-shine powder (Clinique)
Heavy-duty hairspray (Elnett)
Total est. cost: £530
‘I think you’re going to cry …’
‘OK, here’s our shooting schedule for today,’ Amelia said, opening the file in her hands and bringing out two sheets of paper neatly stapled together.
Amelia, in her white ankle-grazer jeans, chiffon top and pink suede wedges, may have looked as if she was about to go clubbing, but she was the most ruthlessly efficient PA Annie had ever met – which was of course why Tamsin Hinkley, producer and boss of Hinkley Productions, employed her.
Our shooting schedule!
Annie still felt a little inward thrill when she heard those words. Appearing on TV still wasn’t ordinary; it still didn’t feel humdrum, typical or routine in any way at all.
For years Annie Valentine had worked as a personal shopper in The Store, one of London’s most glorious fashion meccas. Somehow, even though she wasn’t willowy thin, or under thirty, or married to a famous producer, she had managed to swap shop life for a TV-presenting job. Well, OK, her first TV-presenting job had been a thankless, penniless grind, but now … now she was filming her second series of
How Not To Shop
.
The first six-episode series had been a surprise Channel 4 hit, steadily climbing the ratings charts to become one of the most popular slots on Wednesday night.
A second ten-episode series had been commissioned, Annie’s generous wages had increased and now she was beginning to feel like a real, live, genuine TV star. She got fan mail! People waved at her in the street! Taxi drivers asked her: ‘Ain’t I seen you on the telly or something?’
Just like its presenter,
How Not To Shop
was girlie but ballsy, frivolous but with feeling. It was a chatty but inspiring Girls’ Night In.
Viewers didn’t necessarily watch at home alone. They rang their sisters and their girlfriends, opened a bottle of wine, brought along a bucket of popcorn and watched Annie together.
Annie did makeovers on the show, yes, but always with a twist: what to wear to your ex-husband’s wedding, what to wear to ask for a promotion, what to wear to tell the plumber that his work was terrible and he wasn’t getting paid …
The show also featured a high-street sweep, with Annie picking out all the best things from the mainstream stores.
Plus, she did little thought-provoking strands, including a regular ‘Women and Money’ slot. She didn’t just want to be on TV encouraging women to part with their hard-earned cash, she wanted them to be careful and clever with it too.
Annie tried to understand money, as did her partner in the slot, Svetlana Wisneski. Svetlana, a multipily married millionairess, would sashay on to the screen draped in a super-label dress plus jewellery worth ten times the average salary and huskily begin with something like: ‘Is a
w
-ell-known Russian saying: “Spending is short, but earning is long.” Don’t throw away your money, my darrrrrrrlings, choose and use your assets
w
-isely.’
After twenty-plus years in England, Svetlana had finally learned to pronounce her ‘w’s properly, but she tended to over-exaggerate them.
Since Annie had been signed up to do the programme, she’d gone through a series of radical changes. Her once trademark bright blond ponytail had been lopped off into a tousled, face-framing short cut which highlighted her delicate features, ready smile and friendly eyes in a different way. Annie had always been devoted to fashion and dressed to impress but now there was more clever camouflage work involved. Her figure, ever more curvaceous than she would have liked, had now curved right out of a size 12 into the dangerous fashion territory of size 14 and
beyond
. This had everything to do with her biggest change of all, the knock-out change, the one which had redefined her the most: she’d gone from being a mother of two to a mother of four.
Annie still wasn’t sure how it was possible to be so busy and so tired at exactly the same time. Without her partner Ed currently taking an extended paternity leave and dealing with just about every aspect of family life, there was no way Annie could be the star of her own television show.
Right now, Ed was downstairs coping admirably with breakfast for the thirteen-month-old twins: Michael and Minette. Or Micky and Minnie as Annie’s thirteen-year-old boy, Owen, had christened them as soon as he’d heard their official names.
‘So what are we going to wear on screen today?’ Amelia asked Annie.
Annie closed her eyes, not to help her think, but to let make-up girl, Ginger, apply a careful coat of shadow, liner, and then mascara for the benefit of the camera.
‘These are the shoes and I think you’re going to cry,’ Annie replied. She pointed past Amelia to a pair of high wooden wedges adorned with a wealth of straps and buckles. ‘You’re going to be soooo jealous.’