Woman's Hour - 30/04/2010

Presented by Jenni Murray. As a new book charting the cultural history of sophistication hits the bookshops we explore to what extent the elusive art of sophistication still survives in 2010. When once we had Katherine Hepburn, and now we have Katie Price as Jordan, has the rise of The Celebrity turned sophistication into a lost art? To discuss Jenni is joined by Faye Hammill, author of 'Sophistication', and by Alice Rawsthorn, design critic for The International Herald Tribune. We discuss the state of housing for our armed forces with Julie McCarthy of the Army Families Federation who's lobbying all the political parties not to make housing an easy target for spending cuts in the Defence Review that all are committed to after the election, and Mike Codner of the Royal United Services Institute. A new male version of the girdle, disguised in T shirt form, has been dubbed 'The Mirdle'. With integrated panels designed to visibly control the stomach, and claiming to shave two to three inches off the male waist once on, it seems 'The Mirdle' is not only embracing but being embraced by men. One leading high street retailer of underwear has sold more than 15,000 since January. So is The Mirdle the solution to unwanted beer belly? Join us as we road test the latest in shapewear for men... And a resurgence in the popularity of buttermilk - the by-product of butter. We visit an artisan dairy in Cumbria which makes handmade butter to find out what it is, and Christina Tilbury, Head Tutor at the Cordon Vert Cookery School will join Jenni Murray in the studio to show how it can be used in baking.