Four stylists explain how to use knits, coats and accessories to transform a favourite frock into an all-seasons garment

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A great dress (obviously one that has pockets ) can be effortless in the truest sense of the word. Flattering, comfortable and a self-contained outfit, especially during summer when it’s warm enough to leave the house without a jacket. Now, as the temperature drops in the southern hemisphere, it might seem like the time to relegate summer dresses to the back of your wardrobe. But, with the return of Y2K fashion and the trend towards layering and dresses being worn over pants , that doesn’t have to be the case. Here four stylists explain how to build a winter outfit around a summer dress.

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Inner peace, clarity of mind and for some, better orgasms. Readers share their experiences of swearing off sex, whether temporarily or long term

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Over the last few years more than 120 million posts have appeared on TikTok about the rise of an unexpected trend: self-imposed celibacy .

While some predicted a post-pandemic era of “sexual licentiousness ”, readers from all walks of life and across generations told us that far from doubling down on hookup culture, they’ve found refreshing clarity in a more austere approach to physical intimacy.

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She may not realise the effect she’s having on you, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Try to be clear with her about what would help

I had my first child around one year ago and the previously amicable and warm relationship with my mother-in-law has since become cool and standoffish. I feel my mother-in-law is emotionally manipulative and puts a lot of pressure on my husband, and in turn me, to spend time with my daughter. I think these feelings initiated for me when she was too present in our home in the first hours and days of my daughter coming home. On reflection, it feels as though she was invading a space that was very private and intimate at a time when I was exhausted, sore and vulnerable and unable to hold my boundaries myself. Since then I have been resentful and felt she was taking advantage of my exhaustion to get intimate time with her newborn granddaughter, as opposed to respecting what was the right thing for me. I now feel a need to keep her at arm’s length for fear she will again overstep.

My husband is supportive but ultimately feels pulled by his mother’s emotional manipulation. All in all, she is a kind woman, and I don’t think she will have even considered that her behaviour was an overstep. I don’t really know where to go from here, as I do want my daughter to have a relationship with her grandmother, but I also don’t want my mother-in-law being involved in as many aspects of my life as I know she desires. What can I do?

In her fortnightly review of fitness and wellbeing activities, comedian Jennifer Wong finds that mastering the Chinese martial art is a matter of mind over navel

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For the first 15 minutes of my tai chi class, we remain entirely in one spot to warm up. From afar, it probably looks as though we’re standing with our arms by our side and then – in slow motion – lifting them in front of us to 90 degrees. But if you were to look inside my brain, you would see my synapses firing trying to keep up with the instructor’s directions to do things that can’t be seen.

“Form the arches under your feet. Soften your knees, not bending,” says Angela, a tai chi instructor of 28 years. “Visualise the back of your knees. Relax there to relax your knee bones in front.”

The head chef of Melbourne’s Hope St Radio looks to her mixed Jewish heritage and Italian travels for meals filled with ‘immigrant grandma energy’

I haven’t had formal training as a chef; rather, my food background lies in my blended Jewish culture, my family’s food heritage and what I have learned on my travels and in past restaurants and kitchens, and continue to learn day to day with my team at Hope St Radio in Melbourne.

In my world, the food of home is everything. I was raised in a mixed Jewish family, with immigrant parents and grandparents always hovering about. My father and his family are from the Sephardic world, specifically Morocco. My mother and her family are Ashkenazi Jews, from Germany and eastern Europe.

When MasterChef Australia winner Julie Goodwin met Mick, she thought he was ‘too cool’ for her. Then one moonlit night, she realised he was a keeper

In the weeks between school ending and university beginning in Sydney, I ran into my friend Chris who was flat-out with a new youth group he had started under the banner of St Vincent de Paul. I asked if I could come along and rocked up to my first meeting in January 1989.

The other people in the room were all guys who had gone to St Leo’s Catholic College, including Micky G, the tallest boy I had ever met, standing at six foot seven inches – 2 metres. There was colourful language and boisterous laughter. These guys were rough as guts, but here they were organising blanket and food drives for local people who were struggling. They were distributing sandwiches in Sydney city in the dead of night. They had hearts of pure gold, and they became my people.

Why tie the knot with someone you have lived with for years – and what happens next? Three women share their stories

On the surface, marriage might not appear relevant to many Australians today. Indeed, most women and half of men say that’s so . De facto couples enjoy the same legal rights as their wedded counterparts, one in seven Australians are in a de facto relationship, and a new survey showed a 15% drop in marriage rates among young Australians between 2001 and 2021 . Yet sometimes even long-term de facto couples are choosing to marry, even after decades (and multiple children) together.

Why? And more pertinently: after such a long time, does it change anything?

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The sexual wanderings of a partner don’t always spell the end. Readers share their experiences of how their relationship came out the other side

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What counts as infidelity varies from couple to couple and how they choose to handle it is also unique. A drunken kiss on the dancefloor might be innocuous to some; for others, a relationship-ending catastrophe.

How readers chose to approach their straying partners varied dramatically depending on the length and nature of their relationship and what shape the outside encounter took. If families and mutual assets were involved – and other relationship factors were stable – readers tended to double down on commitments, opting to frame such transgressions as an opportunity for growth and refreshment. And the further down the road couples had travelled together, the more likely they would stay together post-infidelity.

This omission demonstrates a troubling facility with concealment, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith . To move forward, you need to be satisfied there are no more big surprises

After several months of dating, my partner revealed he had another ex-wife and three teenage children. He’d only ever mentioned one ex-wife and two small children. He explained his rationale and I decided to continue with the relationship. I had been single for 15 years and I feel I’ve really connected with him.

We have the best time together, and although he’s away a lot with work, he’s communicative, considerate and has given me the sort of relationship I never thought I’d find. I feel he genuinely loves me and wants the best for me. He’s always saying how much he appreciates me. But I am nervous about the future as he has so many commitments (I don’t have children but hope to one day, and he’s on board).