brought back the joy of being utterly
under someone else’s spell, when you
talk on the phone for hours and
while away whole days exchanging
meaningful glances,” she recalls with
a sad laugh. “The books brought it
alive for me all over again.”
And that seems to be at the crux
of the TMs’ obsession – the pure and
naïve love story between Edward and
Bella in an increasingly cynical world.
Interestingly, every TM Stylist spoke to
had married young, often to their first
love, and was living a pleasant but not
particularly overwhelming life.
Much like Twilight’s author.
Stephanie Meyer is a conservative
Mormon mother of three who claims
she’s never seen an R-rated movie.
She married her first love and admits,
“[High School] is the first time you fall
THE US PREMIERE OF TWILIGHT: STAR
ROBERT PATTINSON GREETS A FEW
OF HIS RATHER ENTHUSIASTIC FANS
in love, the first time you kiss
somebody. All those feelings are so
much stronger.” It seems that the books
have transported Meyer and her
readers back to the giddy days of their
youth and awoken a side of them
they’d forgotten. “Adult women have
hooked onto Twilight because it helps
us re-live our virginity, minus the
usual teen neuroses and heartache,”
explains behavioural expert Judi
James. “One of the strongest pleasures
of sex is anticipation and the
excitement of doing something
‘naughty’. Once we’re launched as
fully-functioning sexually experienced
women these twin motivators tend to
disappear from our lives. Through
Bella, we awaken the intensity.”
The crux of Twilight’s appeal for
adult women in settled relationships
is that it shies away from actual sex.
As Joanna, 35, a property manager
from London says: “Edward is proof
you can have the most intimate,
romantic relationship in the world
without any sex, which makes me
hopeful that my marriage will
survive the weeks on end when I’m
too tired for anything but a quick,
‘Not tonight, dear’.”
Indeed, the most popular threads
on Twilight Moms forums are about
feeling tired and stuck in a rut. Katie,
27, from Ohio, a stay-at-home mum to
baby Frankie, binge-read the books
between changing nappies and
cleaning sick off the stair carpet.
“The sexual side didn’t strike me
as much as the fantasy of being
spotted by a beautiful, extraordinary
vampire like Edward who believes
I’m the most phenomenal woman
he’s ever met,’ says Katie. ‘My
husband doesn’t see me that way
any more. I hate feeling like a
housewife on a never-ending
treadmill of supermarket runs,
laundry and 3am feeds.”
FANTASY MAN
Let’s not forget though that ‘Edward’
is 19 and is played by an actor who’s
just 23. Pursuing him is not unlike
Sarah Brown stalking one of the
members of JLS. “Just his name
makes me giggle. He’s totally
dreamy. My husband thinks I’m
insane, but I’ve never had an
obsession like this before,” admits
Sherman, be it sheepishly.
Kellan Lutz, who plays Emmett
Cullen in the film, acknowledges that
his strongest fan base isn’t teenage
girls with posters on their bedroom
walls, but moms with mortgages to
pay. “It’s the moms who are the most
full-on; I think some of them actually
make their daughters stay at home.
They come in big groups and battle to
give us the best presents like candy,
picture frames, flowers, baskets of
stuff.” And he admits that with
advancing years comes some rather
risqué propositions. “Those Twilight
Moms have made me blush with the
fan mail and the packages they send.”
A mid-life crisis? Or an outlet for
bored housewives? Whatever the
motivation behind TMs their vampire
obsession might be wacky but it’s not
doing any harm, and isn’t there a
hopeful teenager lurking in all of us?
Back outside the New York
restaurant, as the time for Pattinson’s
exit draws nearer, Caroline is having
a hard time reining in her hysteria.
Her 13-year-old daughter Zara rolls
her eyes. “Mom’s more excited
than I am,” she says.
New Moon is out 20 Nov. The You Code by
Judi James (£8.99, Vermilion), is out 7 Jan
TWILIGHT MOMS
TEENAGE�KICKS�FOR�
ADULT�WOMEN�
Four things we know we’re too old
for… but just don’t care
Netball Scratchy gym knickers
are no longer compulsory and
netball’s popularity for the
over-16s is growing by the
month. England Netball now has
a record 70,000 members –
that’s a lot of women leaping
around on Saturday mornings
who can chug down a postmatch
bottle of wine, guilt free.
Gossip Girl So what if your own
school life was more Grange Hill
than Gossip Girl? Manhattan ‘It’
girls Blake and Leighton embody
the life we couldn’t even
imagine
fantasising
about back
when we were
teenagers.
Their dresses
are worth more
than our cars.
Following their
diss-and-tell
lives is pure
escapism and
everyone from Donatella
Versace to The Strokes’ Albert
Hammond Jr is a fan.
GOSSIP GIRL’S SERENA
VAN DER WOODSEN (L)
AND BLAIR WALDORF
Roller Discos The thinking
woman’s justification for
whizzing around in Eighties
legwarmers and an ambitiously
short skirt. While clutching
a glass of champagne. And
also the rail at the side of the
rink. Even Kate Middleton can’t
resist a roller disco and she’s
practically the queen, so we
won’t apologise for our
eight-wheeled obsession.
Topshop It’s the spiritual home
of sequin hotpants and Sixties
print dresses, and our appetite
for all things Topshop has only
grown in line with our rising
salaries/credit card debt (delete
as appropriate). Fortunately, the
fact Kate Moss designs her own
collection there and Debbie
Harry and J-Lo turned up to its
New York launch justifies our
undying teen fashion passion.
WWW�STYLIST�CO�UK����
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