Beautiful

Alesha MacPhail: The little girl with the 'big beautiful smile'

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Tributes to Alesha were left on the Isle of Bute alongside a school photograph of her

A 16-year-old boy has been found guilty of the rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail. Here we look at what happened in the hours before the brutal killing.

When Alesha MacPhail went to bed for the last time she fell asleep watching Peppa Pig.

The first day of July had been full of fun for the six-year-old, who was at the start of a three-week summer break on the Isle of Bute.

She had travelled by ferry and car to a party on the mainland.

And on returning at teatime she was taken to the park to play before watching YouTube videos on her grandmother's old phone until the battery ran out.

Like most children her age Alesha was mischievous.

During the 50-mile drive back from her home town of Airdrie to the ferry terminal in Wemyss Bay she annoyed her grandfather - Calum MacPhail - by repeatedly hitting a balloon onto the back of his head.

But that night Alesha burst into his room, jumped on his bed and gave him a cuddle.

The final words she said to him were: "Goodnight, Grandpa."

Image caption The six-year-old was staying at her grandparents' house when she was abducted

Alesha loved school and had just finished primary two.

Wendy Davie, headteacher of Chapelside Primary in Airdrie, said the child enjoyed reading and was a perfectionist when it came to her writing.

Ms Davie added: "Alesha was a very considerate child who loved being part of a group and she was popular with all the other children and was a smiley and happy young girl."

Her teacher, Emma Gibson, said she had an infectious personality.

Ms Gibson recalled: "Alesha was a bright and bubbly little girl, she always came into class with that big beautiful smile of hers."

She was due to spend the first half of her summer holidays with her grandparents, her father Robert MacPhail, 26, and his 18-year-old girlfriend, Toni McLachlan.

They all lived in a three-bedroom flat on Ardbeg Road in Rothesay, the main town on the island on Scotland's west coast.

Alesha had her own room in the attic of the property and a trampoline in the garden.

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Media captionThe family of Alesha Macphail say their daughter dreamed of being a YouTube star.

Robert and Alesha's mother, Georgina Lochrane, split up when she was three months old but the child travelled from Airdire to the island every second weekend.

There was plenty to keep her occupied and the schoolgirl loved to go to the local swimming pool and for walks in the country.

Her father told the jury: "We were never in. We were always doing something."

Alesha dreamed of becoming a YouTube star and her mother later shared a video of Alesha vlogging about her love of pasta.

The youngster was a gentle soul and left a lasting impression on those who met her.

Her uncle, Calum MacPhail, said Alesha had a "great amount of love for absolutely everyone" and was "the brightest thing".

Image caption Alesha MacPhail was remembered by her headteacher as a "bright and bubbly" girl

When she arrived on Bute on Thursday 28 June Alesha wanted to go Highland dancing.

But by the time they reached the 292 Club the class had finished.

Instead, Alesha's grandparents, Calum MacPhail and Angela King, took her to the idyllic beach on Ettrick Bay.

During the trial Calum recalled: "She was in the water and having a great time."

The first major highlight of the holiday was Gala Day on 30 June.

Calum said Alesha went on the children's train but especially enjoyed the donkey rides.

The following day, 1 July, she and her grandfather headed from the island to a birthday party in Airdrie.

But they arrived at the venue 24 hours late.

Image copyright Spindrift Image caption Alesha's grandparents, Calum MacPhail and Angela King, gave evidence during the trial

Fortunately, Alesha met a school friend and secured an invite to another celebration at the same place.

Calum, 49, said: "She was over the moon again.

"I don't think she knew the person at all but somebody she knew was attending the party."

They arrived back in Rothesay at about 5.30pm.

The balloon she had used to hit her grandfather was let go and she chased it along the beach until it burst.

During evidence at the murder trial, Angela, 47, recounted that special moment, telling the jury her granddaughter was a "beautiful, beautiful, happy girl."

Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde, easily accessible from the west of Scotland via a regular 35-minute ferry from Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde.

It has a population of about 6,500 people and the main town is Rothesay.

It established a reputation as a popular tourist destination in the Victorian era.

Before package holidays and cheap air travel generations of holidaymakers from the Glasgow area made the trip "doon the watter" to Bute on a paddle-steamer.

The island hit the headlines in 2003 when fashion designer Stella McCartney - daughter of Beatles icon Sir Paul McCartney - married Alasdhair Willis at Mount Stuart.

At about 6.40pm Alesha was dropped in town to meet her father and his girlfriend who took her to a park.

Angela picked them up two hours later and they drove home via a local supermarket.

Back in the flat Alesha took a slice of the pizza her father was having for dinner.

During the trial Angela was asked where in the house Alesha was that night.

She replied: "Everywhere."

Image copyright Facebook Image caption Robert MacPhail and his girlfriend Toni McLachlan with Alesha, aged six

Just after 10pm Alesha's father Robert came out of his room and told his daughter to put away the phone she had been playing with.

He said: "Time for bed. You will never sleep."

But Alesha managed to keep the device for a few more minutes until the battery ran out.

Calum was watching TV when he heard his granddaughter banging on the wall.

Seconds later the child's father went into her room and put on a Peppa Pig DVD.

Before he went to sleep Alesha's grandfather reminded Angela that a cartridge for the bubble machine they had bought Alesha as a surprise was due to be delivered the following day.

Some time after 11pm Toni McLachlan went into the child's room to turn off her TV.

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Media captionMourners wore pink in Alesha's memory

Alesha enjoyed playing with the little sister of his father's girlfriend.

Asked about their relationship, Toni, whom Alesha affectionately called Toto, told the jury: "I loved her to pieces."

The teenager broke down as she recalled switching the TV off as the Peppa Pig theme tune played on the menu screen.

Toni said: "She was sleeping and her face was facing the wall and her hair was behind her on the pillow."

She closed the door and went to bed.

The next person to open it, just a few hours later, was Alesha's 16-year-old killer.

02

How Erdem, Simone Rocha, and More Turned Their Studio Scraps Into Beautiful Upcycled Dresses

Upcycling and sustainability are quickly changing from being fringe ideas in the fashion industry to mainstream necessities for a business to survive and thrive. At MatchesFashion.com’s London townhouse, the full potential of upcycling is on display, with a new exhibit of 11 dresses made from studio scraps produced in collaboration with Jaime Perlman’s vintage-centric magazine, More or Less. On view until March 2, the pieces from Erdem, Simone Rocha, Vivienne Westwood, Phoebe English, Halpern, Richard Quinn, Conner Ives, Dilara Findikoglu, Richard Malone, Louise Gray, and Alice Lee show the potential of what can be done with leftover materials. Some are intentionally scrappy, like Gray’s collaged-together frock, while others are as luxe as something on the runway, like Erdem’s pale pink brocade dress.

“It was a challenge to designers to see how they can use the materials they accumulate,” Perlman began, at a cocktail party to celebrate the opening. “Maybe it will change the way they think about reusing materials [in the future].” The idea is near and dear to Perlman’s heart: In 2018, she founded More or Less with the mission of shining a light on the things we keep, the pieces that linger, and the life cycle of a garment. Her glossy has featured everything from Chloë Sevigny’s closet cleanup and Kate Moss’s vintage collection to a shoot, in the new issue, of Rottingdean Bazaar’s latest collection, made of rental party costumes. As Perlman tells it, it’s not just about sustainability. It’s also about creativity and the ability to birth great style in unexpected places. “This project really marries the two concepts of the magazine—vintage and creativity—together perfectly,” she said.

The participating designers were approached by stylist Alex Carl to produce their remnant dresses, and they all turned to different techniques and approaches. Findikoglu turned her toiles into a gothic gown, Erdem used a single piece of leftover fabric to construct an elegant dress, and Ives collected silk socks to make a bias-draped black slip. “Phoebe English took all the little snippets of tulle that she had on the floor and made this beautiful piece,” Perlman said, motioning to English’s spritely red frock. You know what they say, one designer’s trash is, well, the same designer’s treasure.

03

The strange, beautiful, gross aesthetic of The Favourite

Like many period pieces, particularly those that take liberties with historical accuracy, The Favourite is a visual treat. But it’s no confection in the way that, say, Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette is. Instead, The Favourite is altogether more sour, something weird and compelling.

Tied with Roma for the most 2019 Oscars nominations, The Favourite is set in early-1700s England during the reign of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman, up for Best Actress), a monarch plagued by physical ailments and the trauma of losing 17 children. Wickedly funny and at times devastating, it focuses on Anne’s childhood friend and lover Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz, nominated for Best Supporting Actress) and Sarah’s cousin Abigail Hill (Emma Stone, ditto), newly arrived to the palace, as they vie for the queen’s affections in the pursuit of power and security.

With his creative team, director Yorgos Lanthimos created a visual style that’s highly specific, a sophisticated mix of restraint and absurdity. Scenes at Hatfield House, the film’s primary location, are lit almost entirely by pale daylight or candles; on film, those vast spaces and hallways bulge wildly thanks to the use of a fisheye lens. Stone, Weisz, and Colman largely wear no makeup; the foppish Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult) is never without a full face of lead-based paint and a gigantic wig. Members of Parliament entertain themselves by racing ducks and chucking oranges at a naked man for fun. Why? Why not?

To explain the movie’s most striking — and most telling — visual details, I talked to costume designer Sandy Powell, production designer Fiona Crombie, hair and makeup lead Nadia Stacey, and director of photography Robbie Ryan.

The film is filled with anachronistic details like blue cake, denim, and wheelchairs

Creating the visual world of The Favourite required selective breaks with historical accuracy. Powell, Stacey, and Crombie studied up on early-18th-century English styles to use as the basis of their work, then tweaked them, creating a slightly off-kilter version of reality.

“The danger is that if you don’t stick within the world at all, it looks like you got the period wrong,” says Stacey. “The guideline was to stick within the silhouette of the period but then create our own twist on that.”

For Stacey, that meant following the general shape of men’s wigs from the early 1700s, but for certain scenes, she made them pink, orange, or blue. Similarly, Powell used period-appropriate styles for the costumes, but she largely restricted the color palette to black and white, with some silver and gold in the mix. This created a striking, cohesive look. She also added in modern details, like denim from old jeans that she used to make the kitchen staff’s dresses.

“Anything to make it a little odd, a little off the wall,” Powell writes in an email.

Among the anachronisms in the film’s set pieces are Queen Anne’s wheelchair, which wouldn’t have been invented yet, and a blue cake that she eats in a temper, knowing that it will upset her stomach, and promptly vomits back up.

“Birthday cakes did not exist, and they were definitely not blue,” says Crombie.

That’s what the script called for. The cake is a pastel blue, and while it doesn’t stand out against the set and costumes as a glaring error, it’s meant to be, in Crombie’s words, “just a little bit surreal.” This is the key to the historical inaccuracies in The Favourite’s visuals: Everything makes sense within the logic of the film.

To ratchet up the film’s bizarro quality, Ryan made frequent use of a fisheye lens that warped the scenes to wild effect, underscoring the strangeness of the fictionalized Queen Anne’s court. This was Lanthimos’s idea, Ryan says, and though it was a risky, tricky move — a lens that wide captures so much that a camera operator’s head might poke into the top of the shot if they’re not careful — it paid off.

The queen’s costuming and makeup highlights her misery

Anne’s public appearances are almost always cut short. She panics and collapses while addressing Parliament, when attending a ball she can only stand to be there for a few minutes before demanding to be taken back to her room, and she doesn’t even make it to meet with the Russian ambassador; Sarah informs her that her dramatic eye makeup makes her “look like a badger,” and Anne retreats to her room. In all of these scenes, the queen’s makeup and clothing is extra special: She wears a big white-and-black fur robe for her speaking engagement, and to the party she wears a dress covered in bows and gleaming studs. These costumes are important “in just how massive and uncomfortable they are,” Powell writes.

“Poor Anne spends most of the film in utter misery, so those few scenes where she has no choice but to change out of her nightgown really had to show that contrast. And of course it never lasts long,” she writes.

Underneath those heavy outfits, Colman was wearing prosthetics to give her the appearance of severely swollen legs and feet due to Anne’s gout. She wore a full prosthetic for scenes where her leg is visible, but even when her skirts fully covered her legs, the team used a second version that was easier to apply, to give Colman a constant sense of Anne’s difficulty walking.

When it came to Anne’s makeup for the party scene — a dark, pointed lip and cheek rouge — Stacey wanted it to look “slightly weird and wrong.” The “badger” makeup has an intentionally childish quality. It’s blotchy, as though someone used their fingers to do it, and not very well.

“She’s trying to be as fashionable as the women in the court, but she got someone to do it and she didn’t get it right,” Stacey says.

It took Stacey some time to figure out how to interpret the line “You look like a badger,” since the script doesn’t spell it out. After considering the strong black and white lines in the set and costuming, she landed on a band of black eyeshadow that sweeps outward to the temple, inspired in part by Daryl Hannah’s makeup in Blade Runner.

Queen Anne, dressed for a party.20th Century Fox Film Corporation

In many scenes, Colman wore no makeup, as did Stone and Weisz. No foundation, no blush, no mascara — “if anything, a little cover-up for pimples,” Stacey says. This mandate came courtesy of Lanthimos, and it’s a very different approach from the many period pieces in which actors’ cheeks are mysteriously rosy, their skin shockingly clear, and their eyes suspiciously bright (“no makeup” makeup at its most deceptive).

In the costuming, a black-and-white color scheme turns the power plays of court into a game of chess, with each woman’s style tailored to her narrative

Throughout the film, the women in Queen Anne’s court dress in black and white, often embellished with what looks like lace but is actually laser-cut black vinyl or white cotton laid on top of the opposite color. “They come across almost like chess pieces,” Powell says, which is particularly true when the actors are standing on a black-and-white-checked floor during a party scene.

Abigail’s ascent from kitchen maid to the queen’s “favourite” is visible in her clothing, with the balance of black and white signaling her upward trajectory. At the start of the movie, Abigail has fallen on hard times, so Powell dressed Stone in “something that would have been nice once, though now is worn out.” Since white fabric would have been a signal of wealth, Powell added more white to her dresses over the course of the movie.

“As a lady-in-waiting, Abigail starts in plain black, and as she graduates higher in status to Queen’s maid and then to lady again after she marries, we incorporated more white into her outfit,” Powell writes in an email. “She comes into money and her clothes get finer and she adds more makeup and jewelry, almost to the point of vulgarity.”

Some of the most eye-catching costumes in the film belong to Sarah, who wears menswear-inflected outfits to go shooting and riding. For the former activity, she wears a white-and-black coat and a tricorn hat, along with trousers and tall boots; for the latter, she goes for an all-black look in a fabric made to look like leather.

“I wanted her to be strong and in command, if not ‘masculine’ in the sense we usually see,” Powell explains. “So you have the trousers, with other modern touches like fake leather to supplement. The idea had been that as any emancipated woman might, she could incorporate menswear into her outfits and look great in it, almost like an 18th-century Katharine Hepburn. Rachel carries herself like that anyway, confident and in control, so it wasn’t a difficult look for her.”

The queen’s bedroom is a space for political meetings and power jockeying, and it’s constantly in flux

Covered in tapestries, Anne’s room was the largest and most ornate in Hatfield House, the location where much of The Favourite takes place. Crombie simplified the space by taking out the carpets, and she installed a custom four-poster bed and elaborate cages for the queen’s many pet rabbits, each one representing a child she’d lost. The cages she decorated like dollhouses, with tiny silver bowls, miniature cakes, microgreens, and small brushes.

Anne’s room is a kind of retreat from the world, but it’s also a semi-public forum. Members of Parliament come to her bedside for meetings, and it’s where Abigail and Sarah vie for her affections. As such, Anne’s room is messy and lived-in, filled with flowers and food in various states of consumption, constantly shifting to fit the needs of its inhabitants.

It’s also where Anne suffers from attacks of gout in the middle of the night. Crombie’s team did detailed research into the era’s remedies for gout, and for those scenes, they dressed Anne’s room with medical equipment, pastes, and jars of real leeches. (“They’re not that easy to come by,” says Crombie.) You’d probably miss the leeches because those scenes are candlelit and relatively dark, Crombie says, but they’re sitting with the doctor’s equipment. It’s unappetizing details like these that prevent the film from becoming too precious.

The men of The Favourite are ridiculous, peacocks in fashion and whimsical in their pastimes

The men of The Favourite frequently come off as ludicrous; their political concerns are incidental to the real drama unfolding between the three women. Nobody embodies this more than opposition leader Harley, whose forceful personality is matched only by his over-the-top ensembles, towering wigs, and heeled shoes. Actor Nicholas Hoult already clears 6 feet, and in costume, he’s a giant.

“I wanted him to be this larger-than-life character,” says Stacey. “The wigs just got bigger and bigger, and the bigger they got, the more Yorgos loved it.”

Stacey devised a variety of wigs for Harley, including a horned affair that signals his devilish inclinations and a long orange wig that he wears on more celebratory occasions. He wears white face paint and rouge throughout, with a shifting roster of black patches (for instance, in the shape of a rampant lion) adhered to his cheeks and chin depending on the situation.

As Harley says to his friend Samuel Masham (Joe Alwyn), “A man must look pretty.”

But he doesn’t totally. Stacey wanted the men’s hair and makeup to look somewhat crude. Their wigs were meant to look like they’d been worn for days, not freshened up every single morning in a trailer. The white makeup caked on their faces, which would have damaged the skin due to its lead content, was sweaty and imperfect.

“The fact is, in that era they would have been really dirty, smelly people,” Stacey says. “The wigs would have had lice in them.”

Some of the absurdist fun in The Favourite comes from the men of Parliament and court, who entertain themselves by racing ducks and throwing oranges at a naked man wearing a wig, a scene that comes without context. These events take place in the same room, and Crombie wanted them to have a spontaneous quality, as though someone suddenly suggested that they hold a duck race or have a party. The duck circuit was staged to look improvised, made from wooden stools and benches placed on their side. An animal handler dressed in costume threw fish to get them to run, because ducks are not much inclined to do so.

“Those spaces just constantly change. There’s something so lovely about the idea of whim,” Crombie says.

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