From Princess Diana to Kate Middleton, being a cool mom has never been about perfection

KUALA LUMPUR, 11 OCTOBER 2026 —

Author Terry Newman has released a new illustrated book titled "Cool Mothers: An Appreciation of Style," exploring how prominent cultural and fashion figures maintained their individuality, ambition and personal style through motherhood.

Newman said her study departs from conventional lifestyle guides or how-to tutorials, arguing that maternal coolness is neither about youthful glamour nor adhering to flawless ideals, but rather about women who exhibit assuredness, accumulate experiences, make mistakes and present their complex lives and careers to their children.

Newman, who previously authored books examining the wardrobes of Harry Styles, BTS and Marilyn Monroe as mini-biographies told through clothing, anchored the book in both personal reflection and historical context. The project was catalyzed by the death of her own mother several years ago, after Newman discovered diaries and a photo album showing snapshots of her mother at age 16 that revealed an unfamiliar persona.

While historical maternity fashion includes the 1793 trend of wearing a false bump known as "The Pad" and Jeanne Lanvin’s 1897 introduction of the mommy-and-me look, Newman framed her study around contemporary self-expression, noting that literature and feminist discourse have often pointed to how women risk losing their individuality after having children.

Ahead of next summer’s 30th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, Newman highlighted the late royal’s stylistic evolution from an institutional figure into an autonomous cultural arbiter. Newman noted that the late princess was initially instructed on what to wear, how to behave and forced to remain subservient to her husband, who was having an affair before they were married, pigeonholing her into a trad-wife setting.

As Diana matured and flourished, Newman said she transitioned from a wallflower in frilled blouses into someone dancing into the night wearing Galliano, while establishing her maternal coolness by dressing her children, including heir to the throne Prince William, in jeans that had never before been seen in the royal family.

The book documents intergenerational dynamics across several prominent fashion families, including punk designer Vivienne Westwood, Agent Provocateur founder Serena Rees and Westwood’s granddaughter Cora Corre. It also details Hollywood heritage through Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland. Newman tracked down one of Taylor’s granddaughters after seeing a photograph of the Oscar winner and her daughter wearing Dior couture at a fair.

The granddaughter, who studied Taylor’s films to absorb fashion cues suited to their shared body shape, recalled that while Taylor loved diamonds, she would wear a ring from a Christmas cracker just as proudly alongside them. The book also cites Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft, who remarked on the unusual reality of attending conventions where thousands of people dressed identically to her late mother.

Rock and counterculture figures form another central pillar of the volume, including Hole frontwoman Courtney Love, whom Newman viewed as having received an unfair reputation as a young mother. Drawing on her earlier reporting career for fashion publications including i-D and Self Service, Newman identified Love as the only woman on the red carpet accessorized with a baby, Frances Bean Cobain, with both dressed in vintage items.

The book similarly examines late entertainer Josephine Baker, who began adopting what would become a family of 12 children while in her late 40s, and features designer Lulu Guinness shown in an unexpected archival snapshot as a chubby, topless toddler on a beach with her mother.

Newman also features fashion arbiters including Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Taylor Swift’s mother Andrea, and three generations of the Missoni dynasty comprising Rosita Missoni, her daughter Angela and granddaughter Margherita Missoni, alongside supermodel Kate Moss, whose daughter Lila Moss described raiding her mother's drawers for vintage rock T-shirts, particularly a Rolling Stones shirt.

While acknowledging contemporary figures such as Rihanna, Gigi Hadid and Hailey Bieber, Newman concluded by addressing Conde Nast global chief content officer Anna Wintour, arguing that influential women are often narrowly pigeonholed into severe career molds rather than seen as mothers navigating life outside rigid formulas.