Sophie-ography Home Page 5!

A few other odds and sods - including a gratuitous inclusion of the greatest billboard ad since time began.

Pick a link, and party on!

Technical Stuff

Really, this page is just an excuse to print a photo of Sophie from 2013 that I really love, but I thought I would use this page to give some detail about the history of the site and why it looks like it looks. I am not a web designer, as if I were, this site would have a proper “dot com” address!

The site was started in 2003 via a website building package that was offered, free, on Freeserve. You signed up with an email address, and they allowed you to have a website or two. You picked the design you wanted from a list, and then you simply added pictures and text into wherever it let you do so. Each site was restricted to eight pages, but that was enough - at the time - to cover the magazine covers, diary entries and a few other bits and pieces that I wanted to detail.

I had several email accounts, so was thus able to get several “sites”, and the micro sites were thus developed via this method, as it allowed you to expand beyond the eight page max. The homepage had links to these micro sites, and once the eight pages of the main site got full, there would be a link added to “part two” of the main site. This explains where the multiple “Sophie-ography” pages came from.

By 2008, Orange had taken over and started by firstly, charging for the web builder, and secondly, changing the functionality of the whole program. You could add photos as a sort of gallery, which worked OK for a couple of the microsites, but didn’t really work too well for the main site nor the diary pages. A work colleague told me about Blogger, and with some experimentation, I was able to rebuild the main SDR pages via Blogger, and a new version of the Diary Pages, eventually with added images. Links were added to direct you to the revamped “Orange” versions of the Covers and Modelling pages, but eventually Orange abandoned the whole web builder concept, and these had to be redone via Blogger as well.

The original Freeserve site worked quite well - it was menu driven and although it did have one minor flaw, was quite neat. This is, at heart, a reference site - not a photo site - and so it did the job. Blogger does it not badly, the main issue is that each menu, often, is identified by the date the page was published, which usually has no relation to the date of the material included within that page! So it looks a bit DIY. But as long as you press the buttons it tells you to, it does actually work.

Blogger has other quirks. A few years ago, going back and amending published pages could see the text “un-align”, and rather than have to re-do that problem every time I wanted to add to the page, I decided the work around would be to publish a follow on page - “Sophie’s Books 2”, and the like. This does at least mean that some pages thus don’t seem too long winded, maybe it is good to spread the info around for ease of use and clarity. The only issue is that any page which I decide to me is thus “frozen” could well have some spelling mistakes, or in the case of the Music Videos page, a great big error, which I am too frightened to try and go back to change! But come on, we have all read a newspaper or magazine with a big grammatical mess in the middle, have we not?? There were also some “problems” via photo alignment a few years back, there are a couple of pages where you can see this ‘error’ in all it’s glory!!

The other oddity is, pages published at the end of a month have a big blank section if you keep scrolling down. This is designed to stop you scrolling down. And if you don’t? Well, the next “post” thus appears on screen. In other words, the website is designed to be driven by the menus, but Blogger is for people who like to churn out streams of consciousness, so is designed to show page after page en masse unless you try to fiddle it. You can’t, I don’t think, actually fiddle it to stop it from doing this, but at least I can try and stop you from finding this out by adding big sections of blank screen!

I like to think that, whatever the technical flaws of this site, it is at least kind of good at what it does - it does have some sort of design element, and is built with an admiration and love for it’s subject. SD, we salute you!

Feature: THAT Opium Ad

Yes, I know, there is a photo of it elsewhere on this site, but I couldn’t really not at least highlight what remains Sophie’s most famous advert, could I?

Sophie’s ad for the “Opium” fragrance is probably her most well known. Not only that, but it is also one of the most recognized adverts of all time, despite being famously “banned” on release and later becoming the eighth most complained about advert of all time during a 2012 poll.

You don’t really need me to explain why. The photo should do it for you. Sophie, naked but for some high heels and bling, legs (sort of) akimbo, it’s publication in late 2000 saw the moral majority get up in arms, who figured that a nude woman plastered on a billboard was more shocking than the latest blood splattered shoot-em-up movie they’d seen in their local cinema.

The photo was shot by Steven Meisel, best known for his work with Madonna, during Sophie’s brief ‘red hair’ phase in September 2000, and published soon after. Opium was an Yves Saint Laurent perfume, and it’s creative director, Tom Ford, hoped the advert would recall the golden age of glamour, giving “a nod to it’s history of sexual provocation and female liberation”. I can still remember seeing it on a massive billboard outside the tube station at Upminster Bridge, but I was not one of the 948 people who complained to the Advertising Standards Agency - instead, I was one of many men (and women) whose jaw dropped instead at the sheer beauty of it, and then simply went about my daily business thereafter.

It was only really banned from being on display in public, officially because it’s sexual overtones were deemed “unsuitable for children” although there were stories of the image being too distracting to motorists, who were rumoured to be crashing their cars whilst gawping at Miss Dahl on the side of the road. Fashion magazines were given the nod to run the ad, and it appeared with great regularity throughout 2000 and 2001. For a so-called banned advert, it was seen more times than - say - her Jennifer Nicholson shoot.

Officially, the image runs “right to left” - in other words, Sophie’s head appears on the right of the photo. The Opium logo appeared in different positions in different versions, sometimes below Sophie’s head, sometimes above her knees. The version above, showing it in reverse, was published like this in the 2004 book “Tom Ford : Ten Years”.

Magazine versions often were printed in landscape, across two pages, but if the advert was only to take up a single page in portrait mode, it would thus be spun round so Sophie’s head appeared at the top of the page - again, the logo would then be printed wherever appropriate, usually at the bottom of the ad.

As mentioned on the “Ad Campaigns” pages, a hyper rare alternate second shot was also published overseas at the time, but I still can’t find it on the net again! Sophie herself has commented on the iconic image, saying “the photograph is beautiful. It was seen as being anti-women, when in fact I think it is very empowering to women”. Anti-sex campaigners out there, take note!

Sophie's Books 4 - and more!

So, apart from a bit of modelling and some cooking, Sophie post-Noughties was really now an author, both of the fiction and food variety. The days of music videos and movies seemingly over. As such, this page - which may or may not be chronological - is designed to feature the next section of books, plus anything else that may be oddball enough to mention here because there is nowhere else to mention it - which shouldn't really be that much. So, if she does a one woman play and then releases it on Blu-Ray, this is probably where it will go. We shall start by going back in time!

Playing With The Grown Ups: Audio Book

Now, it took me some time before I decided to include this one. This is a 2008 6-CD Audiobook edition of Sophie's 2007 novel (BBC/Chivers CCD1406). But, as with most audiobooks, the author does NOT read it - it's actress Finty Williams who does this one. What this means is - we have a novel with no image of Sophie (but one of the reader instead), and no actual printed words - so it could really be anybody reading anything! But I figured that it is still at least Sophie's book, so finally, here it is on this here website. The image above is a "squashed" image that appeared on the Listening Books site, where you could "rent" it like it was in a Library, the actual package itself is more of a square, and the image thus less rectangular than what you see here. My copy is an ex-library edition, so if there was a booklet inside, I don't have one. The discs are housed in pairs of slide-in wallets, so the box is bigger than it probably really needs to be, and if you want to listen to it all in one go, it will take you 7 hours and 11 minutes to do so! There is also a 6-Cassette edition (BBC/Chivers CAB 3366) which seems to be better packaged - the tapes basically slot into the six cut out sections when you open the sleeve, so feels a bit more 'compact'. The novel is spread across both sides of each tape, meaning each side of the tapes are numbered, from side 1 up to side 12.

Drei Erzahlungen

And another one. This is a German audiobook (Edel 978-3-7857-3629-6) featuring three actors reading one short story each. Andreas Frohlich reads "Dancing Eyes", presumably, in German!

Cooks And Kids Too

Published in May 2014, this is a book full of "recipes for kids" (Graffeg ISBN 9781909823051). Basically, a number of celebrity chefs provide recipes that are printed in such a way that it makes it easy for youngsters to follow - with many of the recipes featuring photos of said chefs actually helping to create the food. One or two chefs provide a recipe for another chef to cook, and Sophie is one of those guest providers, so the only photos of her in here are from an old photoshoot, used purely for illustrative purposes. Sophie's involvement seems to stem from the fact that the proceeds go to the Place2Be charity, an organisation that Sophie has worked with for many years (see those London Carols Concerts).

Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory

Published in September 2014 (Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-141-35077-6), this book is a 50th anniversary celebration of Roald Dahl's "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory" kids book. It is full of photos of memorabilia, including images of different front cover editions of the book, photos from the various movies, and even a section about Chocolate in general, and features a short intro about Roald by Sophie. No contemporary pictures of her, but there is a photo of her when she was a child, as previously posted on her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Epicurean Journeys

Published in April 2014 (Assouline ISBN 1614281890), this is another one of those cookbooks with various celebrity contributions. Sold, possibly exclusively, on the Luxury Collection store, where it was described as a "culinary treasure trove" with tips and stories from "high profile global explorers". Sophie is one of them. The image you see above is the slightly ridiculous limited edition gift set version, with five free spice jars!

Madame Badobedah

Released on 3rd October 2019, this is Sophie's first children's book - an obvious career move, when you consider who her grandfather is (Walker Books ISBN 978-1-4063-8440-6). Embossed dust cover, with a nice 'lighthouse and boats' cover beneath (as opposed to your usual plain hardcovers), it could be seen as the "Kids" version of "Dancing Eyes", in that it's fully illustrated, this time by Lauren O'Hara. Quite big, A4 size, when compared to Sophie's previous book outings. Copies sold through independent bookshops have a different catalogue number (ISBN 978-1-4063-9256-2) and come with a bonus art print. Although the image shown here is a stock image with Madame B wearing gold shoes, this was changed to a pair of black shoes for the book's physical release. Sophie also recorded a spoken word version, as a digital download 'Audio Book', which could be listened to via the Audible website, or as a CD read by the lady herself (Bolinda Audio ISBN 9780655631422). There is also an "MP3" CD version, which is a version designed to be more i-Pod friendly (Bolinda Audio ISBN 9780655631439) - this is actually a CDR, which comes with individual MP3 files which you then just add to i-Tunes, think of it as a fancy USB stick. Both include an interview with Sophie, and originally come shrinkwrapped - the "MP3" edition has a slightly altered front cover design to indicate what it is.

This is the US edition, released on April 7th 2020 (Walker Books US ISBN 978-1-5362-1022-4). The main difference is the dust cover - not only is the front image different, but so is the rear cover, and the text/info on the inside flaps. The main book is generally the same, the image beneath the dust cover on the front of the book itself is unchanged. But there are some typographical differences with the text throughout - the opening line of the story, "Part One The New (Old) Guest", for example, is partially printed in a different sized font to that found in the UK edition. The book also quotes a 2019 'copyright date' for the text, to acknowledge the earlier UK release date, but also lists "First U.S. edition 2020".

At some point, a Dutch edition of the book was released. It has the same title as the UK one (ie. not translated), but the giveaway is the dutch text on the front about the illustrations (Christofoor ISBN 978 90 6038 878 5). This edition has no dust cover.

In 2020, the book was issued in France. It uses the US cover as it's basic design, and comes with a translated title. I didn't know "Badobedah" was a word that could be translated! See above left. Again, no dust cover, whilst the "this book belongs to" text which was found on the UK edition is missing (Gallimard-Jeunesse ISBN 978-2-07-514240-3). Meanwhile, May 2021 saw the release of a Spanish one, with another variant of the title, and with the artwork based on the UK version. See above right (Penguin Random House ISBN 978-84-488-5651-9). Whilst the artwork is the same as the UK version, the actual size of it is noticeably different, as it is quite a bit smaller - width is about an inch less, and the length about two inches less. It comes with a dust cover.

These two images represent firstly the Italian edition, released at some point in 2020. It differs from the existing releases in that the translator, Maurizia Balmelli, is given a credit on the front cover. That little red blob bottom right is the logo of the publisher, Gallucci (Gallucci ISBN 978-88-9348-836-5). It also has a translated title, which is similar, but not quite the same, as the French copy. Above right is the UK paperback reissue, which was released on May 6th (Walker Books ISBN 978-1-4063-9300-2). The 'Madame B' title is embossed in gold, and the "This book belongs to" legend appears on the inside of the cover. The back cover has various quotes from the press praising the book on it's genius.

The Pianoman At Christmas

So, after previously doing backing vocals on one of her husband's earlier records, perhaps, as a model, it was only a matter of time before Sophie stepped up to make it onto one of his LP covers. Not quite Jerry Hall on a Roxy Music long player, but here is Sophie (and hubby) on the cover of his 2020 Xmas album, released on 20th November. There were two basic editions of the record - a standard 10 song edition, and a deluxe version with extra songs - however, Sophie only appeared on the cover of the 10 song editions (LP, Cassette and CD). She also appears in the CD booklet, Cassette inlay, and the inner sleeve of the LP. The LP is available on both black and red vinyl, whilst some formats were available as signed editions (not by Sophie, before you ask).

A year later, an 'expanded' edition of the record appeared, with this slightly altered front cover. Again, there were vinyl and CD editions but, as regards Sophie imagery, nothing different than what could already be seen in the 2020 editions.

The Worst Sleepover In The World

Children's book no.2, released on 11th November 2021 (Walker Books ISBN 978-1-4063-8441-3). Despite stating in earlier interviews that Madame B was potentially the first in a series of books in which that character would feature, this is a totally different picture book story. Landscape format, as opposed to the portrait formats used for Madame B. A slightly simpler design, no "about the author" blurb or "this book belongs to" legend, etc. The book was originally scheduled for an early October release, but was delayed due to issues with getting the book printed in time. As such, planned appearances and signings at the Wimbledon and Bath Book Festivals in September and October 2021 were both cancelled. A further event in London in December '21 was also pulled, although Sophie did visit a handful of book stores in the capital at the time to sign copies which were then sold in store, or via mail order.

On 1st February 2022, Bolinda again issued an audio book edition, although this time, the CD and MP3 releases included Sophie's earlier reading of "Madame B" as a bonus. Again, copies came shrinkwrapped, and the MP3 edition (Bolinda Audio ISBN 9781867594642) again came with slightly altered artwork to differentiate it from the standard CD edition (Bolinda Audio ISBN 9781867594598).

6th July 2023 saw the release of this paperback edition in the UK, with the sky blue colour of the original now replaced by a light red colour (ISBN 978-1-4063-9467-2).

Madame Badobedah And The Old Bones

Children's book no.3, released on 5th October 2023 (Walker Books ISBN 978-1-4063-8442-0). Follow up, of course, to "Madame Badobedah", meaning the book has a design more in keeping with the original hardback version of that, more so than "The Worst Sleepover". So, again, A4 sized, dust cover, "This book belongs to" legend on the inside, and blurb on Sophie and illustrator Lauren O'Hara.

On 28th March 2024, Bolinda issued the audio editions, complete with a new bonus Sophie interview. The CD edition (Bolinda Audio ISBN 9781038668455) seems to have a printing error on the back, claiming it has a running time of "31 Minutes on 2 Compact Discs" - my copy just has the one CD, which is even marked '1 Of 1'. The MP3 CD lists 1 CD instead (Bolinda Audio ISBN 9781038668769). Again, copies were originally sold in sealed shrinkwrap.