With tablets, smart phones and technology of all kinds dominating how we consume media, it was only a matter of time before the humble book had to up its game.

Ambient literature is a new style of reading, which uses electronic devices to give the reader a personalised immersive experience. You know that feeling when you get really into a story? Well this takes that feeling to the next level.

Using data from your smartphone such as weather, location and time, the programme interacts with the reader to tell the narrative in a unique and individualised way. No two stories will ever be the same experience.

The technology enables the narrative to sync to the reader’s surroundings. So if it’s raining in real life, it will start raining in the story, if you’re sitting in a cafe, the action will take place in a cafe.

The creators say the aim is to put the reader at the very heart of the story, rather than having to imagine a fictional landscape.

But what say the reading purists? Those who recoil from the mere sight of a Kindle and love nothing more than the smell of a dusty library book. Is ambient literature too far removed from the real pleasures of reading?

The initial creators of the genre think that to preserve literature in the digital age, it is crucial to move it forward and appeal to younger, digital-native readers.

‘We aim to show how we can redefine the rules of the reading experience through the use of technology,’ says project leader Dr. Tom Abba.

‘Our intention is to develop a whole new writing technique, specifically for this space, which is essentially a new literary genre,’ he continues, ‘It’s a new arena with lots of potential, and a very exciting project to be embarking on.’

The new concept was formed as part of a collaborative research project between the universities of Bath Spa, Birmingham and the West of England. The academies worked together over two years, with the aim of exploring the relationship between technology and story-telling.

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Two dogs have tied the knot in a wedding ceremony at a care home.

Poodle Flossie and labradoodle Boy made their relationship official on 29 September after a year of doggy dating and a litter of pups.

The wedding was the idea of the dogs’ owner Maleka Clarke, 38, the director of nursing at the Ethan Allen Residence in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The pups got dressed up for the wedding, with Flossie wearing a wedding veil, tiara, dimante collar and tuli skirt, as she walked up the aisle to How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?.

Boy wore a collar and bow tie and ate dog treats during the vows as 80 guests, most of whom were residents at the home, cheered them on.

They sang rousing hymns including ‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Paws’ as Flossie and Boy lapped up the attention.

The newlyweds, both around a year old, dug into a wedding cake featuring bones made out of peanut butter. Dog guests were given goody bags full of treats, chew toys and tennis balls.

Maleka decided to stage the wedding when she found out that Flossie was expecting pups.

She said: ‘I got Boy from an Amish farm and I have always said that he is a good Amish dog.

‘Good Amish men have to get married and so when I discovered Flossie was pregnant with Boy’s pups, it seemed like such a fun idea to have them tie the knot.

‘We were joking around but the crazy idea took hold. I spent months planning it.

‘I made the collar for Flossie to wear and we got the veil from a wedding teddy bear. I made her skirt with tulle.’

The wedding was intended to be a shotgun wedding but Flossie gave birth to her seven pups early, two weeks before the big day.

Maleka said: ‘I didn’t want her to get pregnant. I separated her from Boy when she was on heat but they obviously found a way.

‘I kept thinking she was just getting a bit heavy but then the vet told me she was pregnant.

‘The puppies were at the wedding. We put little blue bows on their collars and they arrived in a wagon.’

Maleka planned the wedding in meticulous detail with the help of Cameron Segal, 24, development manager at the Living Well Group which runs the home.

Cameron said: ‘These two dogs have brought so much joy to our residents, 90% of whom have dementia.

‘They feel calmer and comforted by petting Boy and Flossie and so it was only right that they were all involved in the wedding.’

Residents helped local florists decorate home’s living room with flowers for the wedding and posed in a photo booth with bones and dog masks.

The residents cuddled the puppies throughout the ceremony and read out poems about love and dogs at the reception.

Maleka says she plans on giving the puppies away to good homes while their parents will stay in the home and luxuriate in their wedded bliss.

She said: ‘The entire wedding from concept to execution has brought joy. It was fun for the sheer joy of having fun.

‘The night before I was up late making a wedding dress for a poodle. It doesn’t get much madder than that.’

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Seven years ago, Harrison Massie, now 29, began the journey to feel more like himself.

That didn’t mean simply transitioning from female to male, but to become more comfortable in his body.

‘I am not embarrassed to say that I was ever a woman,’ said Harrison. ‘Ultimately it’s a part of who I am and how I was raised, and I love having the perspective of both genders.’

The journey was more than physical, but to capture the visual changes in Harrison’s identity and life, his friend Sara Swaty documented the entire process.

‘In my previous work, I had never had the opportunity to connect with anyone so deeply and document their transition from the very beginning,’ said Sara, who met Harrison as a teenager.

‘I always approached photo shoots with clear concepts and ideas of what I wanted the images to look like. But with Harrison, I was following his lead, and did my best to capture him as he felt, not as how I saw him.’

The resulting photo series is an intimate look at one man’s journey to become his authentic self.

In the pictures you can see Harrison growing a beard, taking hormone injections, and dressing in a more traditionally masculine way, yes, but you can also see the internal transformation – we see him smile, accepting his body, falling in love.

Harrison is now engaged to Sandra Manzoni, 29, a fellow bartender and air acrobatics performer who he met two years ago.

He’s lucky to have the support of his loved ones.

‘Harrison’s been my soulmate, my companion,’ said Harrison’s dad Robbin. ‘He said he was transitioning and wanted to become a boy and I was fine with that.’

His older sister Jasa added: ‘I knew this was what he wanted to do and I knew it would make him so much happier, and it has so much. I am very proud of him, and the man he has become.’

When Harrison began taking hormones, his friends met up for a party to celebrate the process.

There have been a lot of joyful moments, but Harrison has faced challenges too.

‘When I first started transitioning I couldn’t find a job for the life of me,’ said Harrison. ‘Any time I tried to explain to an interviewer that my deadname wasn’t the name I went by, they just got confused and wouldn’t hire me.’

Healthcare presented a hurdle, as Harrison had to pay thousands over the years for testosterone. He’s now fundraising for his top surgery so he’ll no longer have to put up with the pain caused by wearing a tight binder around his chest.

Harrison has already met his goal, raising $8,330 (£6,314).

‘It’s beyond luck, karma, blessed, whatever you believe in,’ he said. ‘I honestly never thought I would get to this point in my life.’

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An obese dog has lost loads of weight after joining a ‘fat club’ for pets.

Chocolate Labrador Collie cross Monty has shed more than 3kg in the last year to help battle his arthritis, after being put on a strict diet.

The 12-year-old dog loved to eat leftovers from his owners’ plates and weighed 38.65kg, which is far too heavy for his breed.

But after having doggy treats cut from his diet Monty is beginning to slim down.

Owners Norma and Peter Churchill, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, are hugely impressed by their new-look Monty, who now weighs 35.5kg.

The dog moved in with them in January after their daughter Gail, who was originally Monty’s owner, had a change in circumstances.

Retired Norma, 68, said: ‘He was my daughter’s dog, but her circumstances changed so we took him in.

‘She was living in Glasgow and I was going to walk him every day, so it was just easier to bring him down to live with us.

‘Monty coming to live with us has given us a new lease of life. He was really overweight and it was badly affecting his arthritis.’

Last November an overweight Monty was taken to Pets’n’Vets by Norma and husband Peter, 71, and a weight loss programme was suggested – weaning him off his usual treats.

Norma said: ‘It’s basically a fat club for dogs.

‘We had to stop giving him all the doggy treats and the little bits from our plates – it’s just so hard to say no to him.

‘He goes to get weighed every month and has his measurements done too.

‘He jumps straight on the scales as soon as he goes in – he knows what to do.

‘Sometimes if he hasn’t lost or stayed the same we will just look at him, and he’ll jump off, run around the vet’s office, and get back on – as if to see if that’s made a difference.

‘In the last year, he hasn’t gained any weight at all, he has either stayed the same or lost.’

Since starting his slimming club, Monty’s arthritis has significantly improved, and he can now enjoy four walks a day.

Norma said: ‘We can really notice a massive difference in Monty, as can the vets.

‘He’s doing much more exercise now too, he gets four walks a day and it much better on his feet in general now he has lost the weight.

‘He still has a bit to go until he reaches his target weight, which is 34.6kg, the last kilogram will be the hardest to lose – just like humans I suppose.

‘He is a big softy who loves cuddles. He is very docile and likes lounge about.

‘He has the nature of a Lab but the intelligence of a Collie.’

Overall, Monty has lost 2cm from his neck and chest and 5cm from around his stomach and is being fed two dry food meals a day.

He is under the care of Hairmyres Vets – part of the Pets’n’Vets family – in East Kilbride.

Jennifer MacKenzie, a registered veterinary nurse at Pets’n’Vets, said: ‘Monty was referred to my Pet Slimmers club as he was diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

‘The main factor to help in relieving pain is weight loss.

‘Owners decided to go for weight loss diet as their home diet of cutting down was not working well, he is currently on Royal Canin Satiety Support.

‘I calculate how much he is to get per day depending on how much weight he’s lost using an online computer system run by Royal Canin.

‘It tells me how much food in terms of grams/day he should be getting.

‘We use this as a baseline to judge how much food he gets, as every dog is different their requirements are different too, so we change it so it is tailored for Monty.

‘Myself and Monty’s owners sat down and came up with a feeding and exercise plan that works well for him.

‘I see Monty on a monthly basis for regular weight checks.

‘In these weight checks I chat with the owners as to how he is getting on, take measurements of a neck, chest and stomach to see in terms of inches how much he has lost and generally have a chat to offer advice and support.’

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Princess Eugenie’s wedding cake will be a red velvet and chocolate masterpiece.

And preparations for Eugenie and fiance Jack Brooksbank’s cake are now underway ahead of their nuptials on Friday 12 October.

The royal wedding cake is being created by Sophie Cabot, who was discovered after her work with Eugenie’s father, Andrew, Duke of York, thanks to his Pitch At Palace initiative, which helps boost the work of entrepreneurs.

Sophie began work on the special cake in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

She was pictured in action as she prepared and baked parts of the red velvet and chocolate design, which was chosen by Eugenie and Jack.

It’s been teased that the couple have decided on ‘rich colours of autumn’ for their cake, and Sophie will be adding detailed ivy sugar work to the finished piece.

Sophie, who is a London based cake designer, said: ‘I am incredibly excited to be given this wonderful opportunity to create such a special and unique cake.

‘It has been lovely working with Princess Eugenie and Jack and I really hope they enjoy the cake on the day.’

The evening reception for Jack and Eugenie’s wedding is being held at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.

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Maternity photoshoots aren’t usually known for their originality.

There’s a pretty simple formula: pregnant woman poses in a beautiful location caressing her baby bump, with their proud partner at their side. Easy.

Todd and Nicole Cameron took a different route, and ended up creating a maternity photoshoot with a genuinely funny twist.

The couple, who have been together for nearly five years, posed in a pumpkin patch, Nicole wearing a sheer pink gown while Todd proudly held a pumpkin.

So far, so normal. But as you click through the pictures… Actually, we’ll let you see for yourselves. Don’t skip ahead:

Just your average maternity photoshoot

But wait. What’s happening?

Oh no

That does not look good

OH GOOD LORD

Get it, Todd

A father’s love

Beautiful

Happy families

The photos, taken by photographer Li Carter (check out her Instagram and YouTube for more of her work), were posted on Facebook, where they’ve since been shared more than 195,000 times.

‘I found the Alien Chestburster model at a garage sale this summer,’ Todd tells Metro.co.uk.  ‘As I was putting it together and painting it, I thought that it would make a hilarious photo shoot.

‘My wife said she wasn’t into a traditional maternity photo shoot, so we decided to go for it.

‘We are huge into Halloween and even met at Halloween. We always hand make our costumes and go all out decorating our house for the season.

‘So this seemed like a perfect way to showcase our quirky sense of humour.

‘The process was so much fun. I had to gather all of the props, carve the pumpkin “alien pod”, pull out my alien toys, make arrangements with the pumpkin patch.

‘Nicole and I went to a local thrift store to find cheesy wardrobe choices that would show blood well.

‘During the shoot, we were laughing so much even though it was cold and wet. We were hoping no farm hands would cruise by to see the horror unfolding.’

Incredible work.

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One bloke has taken a stab at trying to articulate to skeptical or uncomprehending men why so many women are so furious in the wake of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to The Supreme Court.

A.R. Moxon launched into a lengthy series of tweets, in an attempt to trace out a detailed analogy, with the intention of giving men a shot in understanding just what woman go through on a weekly, and daily, basis.

Moxon creates a fictional alternate universe in which men frequently have to fear an overhanging threat of being kicked in the testicles, while also having no means of stopping the assault.

‘Imagine’ is used as an opening refrain, with the tweets becoming more and high octane as they progress.

‘Hi, guys,’ begins the first. ‘Imagine if one day you got kicked in the nuts, really hard, on purpose. You doubled over. Felt the pain. Nearly passed out. Nearly puked. Then you got kicked again. And again.

‘Imagine it happened to you when you were 12. Imagine it was an 38 year old woman who did it. Imagine it was your mother’s friend and business partner’.

‘Imagine you told your parents and they didn’t believe you. Imagine they never mentioned it again. You learned to keep quiet about it. You learned to be scared’.

‘Imagine that later your father explained that women just wanted to kick men in the nuts, so as a boy you had to be careful,’ he urged. ‘Imagine he had very detailed practical advice on this’.

‘Imagine you started spending your life planning on avoiding being kicked in the nuts’.

The counter-factual tale continues, by asking: ‘Imagine there were laws that said that if a wife kicked her husband in the nuts it wasn’t assault.

‘Imagine you heard about men with ruptured testicles who had to pay for their own forensic reports.

‘Imagine you saw statistics showing only 1% of kickings resulted in conviction.

Trump is soon invoked, albeit obliquely.

‘Imagine a woman ran for President. Imagine audio came out of her bragging about making it a regular practice to kick men in the nuts without even introducing herself’.

‘Imagine she lost no support for this. Imagine she claimed the men accusing her were lying. Imagine she said they were too ugly to kick’.

The thread ends on a note of disbelief. ‘By the way it’s 100% insane that this issue seems to require an analogy to draw a sharper focus on how wrong our society presently is, but here were are’.

Moxon’s tweets have since garnered thousands of likes and hundreds of responses from women around the internet.

‘Imagine women crying into their beer about how afraid they are of someone accusing them of but-kicking and how you should realize THEY are the REAL victims’, runs one.

Others just offered a simple thanks. Here’s hoping the analogy did some tangible good and opened a few eyes.

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Swizzels is asking customers to vote for the next big sweet creation which has been invented by fans.

Hundreds of people entered Swizzels’ Sweetest Invention competition to be in with a chance of seeing their dream sweets become a reality.

The company was inundated with various odd suggestions including goldfish sweets and avocado sherbet – but now the Swizzels panel has selected their four favourite sweet creations, and it’s up to you decide what actually makes it into shops.

The finalists include Pop Lollies – Dandelion & Burdock, Pink Lemonade and Cream Soda boiled lollies with a fizzy sherbet centre – and the Great British Dessert Chews, which are a mixed back of Swizzels retro chew sweets, tasting like classic British desserts including apple pie and custard and sticky toffee pudding.

There are also the Love Yourself Hearts – a twist on the classic Love Hearts featuring uplifting messages to make people feel good about themselves. Messages include Be You, Believe and Be Brave.

Then there are Mini Coladas – inspired by the popular cocktail flavour, the Pineapple and Coconut flavoured Squashies represent the taste of the classic Pina Colada (but without the alcohol, of course).

The sweet invention with the most votes will be created at Swizzels HQ, and the winner will get a VIP tour of the Swizzels factory where they’ll see their sweet being created.

The winning invention will sit alongside Swizzels creations such as Squashies, Choos, Parma Violets and Love Hearts.

Jeremy Dee, managing director of Swizzels and head judge, said: ‘What a competition! We have been so impressed with the level of imagination and detail put forward in the entries – it was incredibly tough to narrow it down to just four finalists.

‘We loved the positive messaging concept behind Love Yourself Hearts, the Pop Lollies flavours took us back to our childhood, Mini Coladas transported us to sunnier days, and the thought of Great British Dessert Chews brought us instant nostalgia and warmth.

‘It’s been an absolute pleasure to see the passion and excitement for sweets in our fans – it encourages us to keep innovating and exciting them!

‘Thank you to all who entered, and we wish our finalists the best of luck.’

Emma Herring, new product development manager at Swizzels, said: ‘We asked our fans to come up with weird and wonderful flavour combinations or new twists on classic tastes, and they certainly delivered! We can’t wait to work with our winner to help bring their sweet creation to life.’

If you fancy turning one of these inventions into reality, you can vote here.

Voting closes at 5pm on 22 October.

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Considering how often people say they’re ‘a bit OCD’, being labelled as OCD isn’t something that anybody wants.

Despite being formally diagnosed at 16, no one ever assumed I had it, or painted me with the OCD brush.

And that’s because I don’t conform to what people expect of someone with it.

I’m messy, my pens aren’t all lined up perfectly, and my books aren’t sorted alphabetically.

But I do experience intrusive thoughts, which used to make me think that unless I performed a ritual behaviour (in my case, hand washing), I would endanger the lives of the people I love.

The first time I showed traits of obsessive compulsive disorder, I was in primary school. While it’s easy to see now why deciding not to wash my hands would not, in fact, lead to the people I love coming to harm, as a child I couldn’t understand it.

As a teen and adult (until quite recently, in fact) I would think, ‘Well, of course it makes no sense, but what if? It’s not worth the risk.’

It took a lot of time, energy and work (and it still does) to reassure myself that performing these behaviours would have no impact on the world.

And because of the difficulties and struggle I have faced in – I wouldn’t quite say overcoming, there is always work to be done – tackling this thought process, it deeply f*cks me off when someone says casually, ‘Oh, I’m so OCD.’

No, you’re bloody not.

The label, or more precisely the diagnosis, of OCD is hard to bear.

As I mentioned, it’s something I experienced for the first time as a child in primary school. I didn’t have the words to explain it, but I knew I shouldn’t tell people about my ‘odd’ behaviour.

At 16 I tearfully worked up the courage to tell my mum I had it – although by this point she could tell. It’s hard not to notice your child in pain and spending hours in the bathroom washing their hands and leaving pools of water everywhere.

Then I told a doctor. The stress of OCD produced a side effect of depression.

Then a therapist.

At 18 I told a few of my closest friends.

At 21 I told my boyfriend.

Now I’m comfortable telling most people – but I know I wouldn’t be if I didn’t have such amazing support from my mum.

I also can’t take for granted that I am living at a time when mental health is part of daily discourse and the stigma around it is slowly decreasing.

Yet, stereotypes around OCD still exist.

No, Emma from Glee (a character praised for depicting life with OCD) did not accurately portray what it’s like.

No, not all OCD is the same – while I have been known to check windows are shut multiple times before I’m reassured, that is not one of my ritual traits.

And no, not everyone with OCD is scared of germs.

For me, OCD evolved from me being anxious about bad things happening as a child, to crossing out words I had written when I felt that they had become ‘tainted’ by my negative thoughts, to washing my hands (which was a constant behaviour from ages 11 to 24), to not being able to write for fear of tarnishing the page, to constantly phoning my mum to make sure she was okay, to wearing socks on my hands at home (unwrapping presents on Christmas Day was an effort), to going through bottles of hand sanitiser daily.

I can look back and laugh about certain parts of it now (the socks on the hands, mainly), but it was an extremely challenging time in my life, and for my mum.

People with OCD may feel like our lives are defined by it, but we’re not. We’re a multifaceted group of people who deserve more understanding.

We don’t deserve to be pigeonholed and we definitely don’t deserve people to use an illness we struggle with as a buzzword.

Having OCD has shaped my life and the person I am. It’s not a label I would have wanted, but it’s one I accept.

For as long as it takes to break down stigma and stereotypes surrounding OCD, I will proudly bear my label, educating anyone who wants to learn (and probably ranting at those who don’t).

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Quick, pop this story in your work’s Slack to drop an entirely unsubtle hint about getting new office equipment.

New research suggests that standing desks may improve work performance.

A study published in the British Medical Journal found that workers who used desks that allowed them to sit or stand reported improvement in work engagement and job performance, and a reduction in fatigue. Excellent.

Standing desk users saw physical benefits too, reporting improvements in musculoskeletal problems. They also tended to be less sedentary during the day, even with the option of sitting.

The research looked at 146 NHS staff who had previously spent most of their working day seated. 69 continued as normal, while 77 were given sit and stand office desks.

Those 77 also went to a seminar about the consequences of sitting around all day, and were tasked to set goals for amount of time standing.

At the start of the study, workers’ sat on average for 9.7 hours a day. Three months in sitting time had been reduced by 50.62 minutes per day, six months in it was 64.4 minutes less, and by one year workers had reduced their time spent sitting by 82.39 minutes a day – so nearly an hour and a half.

The workers weren’t running around more, just standing, as their average steps per day remained the same.

The group was questioned after the trial, and those who had used standing desks noted improvements in job performance, presenteeism, daily anxiety, quality of life, and fatigue.

There weren’t any notable changes in overall job satisfaction, cognitive function, or sickness absence, but those who used standing desks did report fewer musculoskeletal problems.

Previous research suggests that standing desks can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but other studies call sitting ‘the new smoking’ and claim that sitting for hours a day is ruining your bum. So more research needs to be done before we can conclusively declare that actually, standing desks are good or bad.

But if you’re keen to upgrade your desk space, the promise of improved work performance might convince your boss it’s a good idea.

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Waking up from surgery, John* was surrounded by doctors.

He looked down and his left leg had been amputated below the knee.

But rather than fear and sadness, John was happy.

This is what he had wanted for most of his life.

That is the reality of living with Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) – a psychological condition where sufferers believe that they have been born with a part of their body that should not be there.

They usually have an overwhelming desire to have one of their limbs amputated but others have reported wanting to be in a wheelchair or to be blind, even though they are physically healthy.

Like someone with Gender Dysphoria, they believe the body they are born with does not match their identity.

It’s not that they believe the limb is ugly or they don’t like the look of it but they feel that it is an additional and unnecessary part of their body.

Dr Mark Salter, a spokesperson for the Royal Society of Psychiatrists, explains that the condition is very rare and is still poorly understood but it is thought to be connected to the right hemisphere of the brain.

He says: ‘This condition is a part of body identity disorders. People with these conditions can become relentlessly fixed on appearance, for example, with anorexia or body dysmorphia.

‘But for some people, they are focused on the idea, often from childhood, that part of their body doesn’t belong to them. In the case of BIID, that is usually a limb.

‘If they really believe that their limb isn’t part of their body, that is BIID.’

John has memories of experiencing BIID when he was a child but says that when he turned 13, he started to have strong thoughts about becoming an amputee.

‘I’d had an interest in disabilities before by early teens, but it was about then that the desire to become an amputee myself became strong and ever-present,’ he tells Metro.co.uk. ‘It happened quite quickly.’

But it wasn’t until his final year of university that John felt able to talk to someone about his feelings.

‘I told a friend in my final year at university. Even so I was very nervous about their reaction and it took hours of me wanting to say something but not being able to before I finally blurted it out.

I spent about ten hours freezing my foot to be sure there was no chance of it being saved, then got myself to hospital.

‘Their reaction was sympathetic and accepting. It wasn’t the big deal that I believed it would be.’

In 2001, John was officially diagnosed with the condition by a professor at Columbia University, a leading researcher in BIID.

John had been connected with others with the condition for a few years and was certain he had BIID but a phone call with the professor confirmed this.

Although he now knew why he was having these thoughts, he struggled to control them, which led him to take drastic action.

He says: ‘Originally, it was very distracting and hard to keep thoughts off of my leg. Just the fact it was still attached to me made me feel wrong.

‘In 2005 I froze my foot in dry ice and became an left leg, below the knee amputee, which was how I had always seen myself.

‘I spent about ten hours freezing my foot to be sure there was no chance of it being saved, then got myself to hospital.

It was very distracting and hard to keep thoughts off of my leg. Just the fact it was still attached to me made me feel wrong.

‘I’d been in contact with a number of other people who’d also done it, so had a lot of information on the process and things to watch out for.

‘I’d done a lot of homework and preparation, and putting the plan in motion felt more like a case of just ticking all the boxes in order: do this, then the next thing, then the next, now sit and wait for ten hours.

‘Thinking about it now, and having heard of people who weren’t so lucky as me, there are things that could have gone wrong, but at the time I didn’t even think of them.

‘Since then I’ve just been getting on with life without the distracting thoughts, though unlike many people who succeed I’ve chosen to remain in the BIID community.’

Though John told his wife about his condition, he does not openly discuss how he became an amputee with other people as he worries about their reactions.

‘My wife has been very supportive about this. I told her about BIID before we were married, as I felt it was too big a part of me to hide.

‘I keep it fairly quiet otherwise, but not completely. I have told a few close friends the truth, but most people and those at work think it was a car accident.

‘My family found out the truth the week it happened because back then I was using my real name on online support groups.

‘I worry that people will judge me for it and not want anything to do with me. I have a lot of self-esteem issues anyway, and this feels like something that would drive people away.

‘I have had a few negative responses and also from people in the disabled community. It would be nice if BIID could be universally accepted as a disability in itself, but I’m not holding my breath.’

I remember having a neighbour who was a girl who was pretty and she was also a finger amputee. I remember being enamored with her stumps and at her beauty and I wished that I could be like that.

Anna* has BIID but also has Gender Dysphoria (GD) and lives as a transgender woman. She believes that both conditions are connected.

She says: ‘I knew I wanted to be female probably when I was five or six, slightly before I had any signs of BIID.

‘I was approximately six years old when I had some of my first desires to be an amputee. I don’t remember any one moment that stood out for me but a conglomeration of memories noticing others without certain body parts.

‘I realised the feelings connected in my early teens. I remember having a neighbour who was a girl who was pretty and she was also a finger amputee.

‘I remember being enamored with her stumps and at her beauty and I wished that I could be like that.

‘I might have thought both BIID and GD thoughts before then but it wasn’t until then that I really noticed the some of the connection without having a name for it.

‘It was really during my research in about 2009 or 2010 that I was noticed it was pointing to a commonality between those with BIID often having GD as well.’

It wasn’t until two years ago that she started to accept both conditions while she was in a behavioural health inpatient unit.

She explains: ‘I was really taking some honest assessment of who I am and realised yes I want to be a female, am a female inside and yes I want to be an amputee, and I am an amputee.

‘It was about two years ago when I came to the official realisation. Before that I had always been so judgmental of everyone thinking to be female because I was in the church and it’s just plain wrong. I was afraid to admit that I had that struggle.’

After explaining both conditions to her now ex-wife, Anna felt more comfortable talking to other people and now openly talks to others about BIID and GD.

‘In terms of BIID, I have support from my ex-wife and my friends. They just want to see me healthy and not hurting myself.

It has been misery though to feel like I am living in a way that isn’t accurate to what I’ve perceived of myself for all of these years.

‘I have been getting onto online groups to connect with others struggling with BIID as well. Some great forum conversations have come out of that. It is just nice not to feel completely alone out there.

‘In terms of being transgender, I started speaking pretty openly about that. I have shared regularly with coworkers, bosses, folks at karaoke and landlords.

‘I have only lived as transgender part-time and so sometimes people may see me in a different form one day and then a different form the next. I am still the same person inside.

‘I am trying to speak to others about it to really prep them and myself for when I go full-time. It seems easier to swallow for people.’

Although Anna is supported by friends and family, she still struggles to live with both conditions.

‘The effects are tremendous and heavy. You would never know the internal struggle I had and how I wish I could get rid of those thoughts. Outside you would see such a fun loving, musical, joyous hard-worker who seemed to really love life.

‘I do and always have. It has been misery though to feel like I am living in a way that isn’t accurate to what I’ve perceived of myself for all of these years.

‘Everyday I desire this thing and identify with this picture that isn’t a reality. I know it could be a reality. Until I can be in that identity I am left in mystery and a mind that is constantly sensing different in the every day because I have both legs.

I have told a few close friends the truth, but most people and those at work think it was a car accident.

‘Living as a woman has tremendously helped me abate BIID feelings or distract from them but lately it seems as if they are coming back with a vengeance.’

Bobbie* says he believed he was supposed to be an amputee since he was three years old but felt unable to talk about it.

He says: ‘I guess you could say that I diagnosed myself. After having been ladened with this thing that I could not figure out and having been born to parents who didn’t like people that were different, I learned, very quickly, not to bring it up with them.

‘I vowed that they should never know about it. It would bring shame upon us all if anyone knew.’

Bobbie read up about the condition, the cause of which is still unknown, and believed his thoughts fitted with BIID.

He says: ‘When I began talking to my psychologists and my psychiatrist I was able to educate them all on the condition of body integrity identity disorder.

‘From then on, they took what I said as truth. They even went so far as doing a great deal of research into it

‘I have spent years kicking myself for being the way I am. I have tried to deny it with no success. I have come up with dozens and dozens of schemes to become minus one of my legs.

‘Some of them were dumb. Some of them were pretty ingenious. All of them involved a great deal of pain and all of them had a great risk to my life.’

Dr Mark Salter added that diagnosing the condition is not always straightforward and unfortunately, it is difficult to treat.

He says: ‘When you don’t have hard science, your diagnosis is based on what the person is telling you and the persistence of belief.

‘People with BIID have a pattern of thought that is increasingly intrusive and disrupts their way of life.

‘For some people those thoughts become so severe, they attempt to do something to remove the limb. That is very dangerous and can be fatal for some.

‘There is no specific treatment for BIID. Medication does not seem to work and treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy looks at the lifestyle and motives rather than the disorder itself.

‘Hopefully in the years to come when we understand how we store a picture of the body in the right hemisphere of the brain, we will be able to explain what causes this condition and how to treat it.’

*All names have been changed.

Top picture: Phébe Lou Morson for Metro.co.uk

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It’s International Day of the Girl – a day to stand with young women everywhere as they take charge of their own future.

The day was set up by the United Nations in 2012 to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face across the world, as well as promoting empowerment.

What is the theme this year?

This year, the day is focusing on the theme of With Her: A Skilled GirlForce.

A quarter of young people – most of them female – are currently neither employed or in education or training.

According to the UN, of the 1 billion young people – including 600 million adolescent girls – that will enter the workforce in the next decade, more than 90% of those living in developing countries will work in the informal sector, where low or no pay, abuse and exploitation are common.

Over the next year, they will bring together groups to encourage opportunities for girls to attain skills for employability. They want to ‘expand existing opportunities, chart new pathways and call on the global community to rethink how to prepare [girls] for a successful transition into the world of work’.

Across the world, girls are staging takeover events and stepping into the shoes of presidents, mayors, head teachers, business leaders to demand a fair world where girls and boys have equal opportunities.

Why is the International Day of the Girl important?

Across the world, girls face adversities that hinder their education, training and entry into the workforce.They have less access to information, communication technology and resources, such as the internet where the global gender gap is growing.

A quarter of young people, most of them girls, are neither employed nor getting an education or training.

This year alone, 12 million girls under 18 will be married, and 21 million girls aged 15 to 19 years will become pregnant in developing regions.

How can we celebrate?

In London, the Southbank centre is hosting a day of creative workshops and panel discussions with schoolgirls and inspirational women, acting as mentors.

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Lucy’s* FOMO is so bad that she once made herself go to three parties in one night.

‘I just spent most of the night on the tube,’ the 27-year-old Londoner tells Metro.co.uk. ‘I would jog on the way to and from the station’.

But while FOMO (fear of missing out) is a well-documented phenomenon, Lucy (whose name has been changed) has another problem.

‘Quite often when I’m out with groups of people I’ll feel split between conversations,’ she explains. ‘My hearing’s generally terrible but I somehow pick up words or laughs at the other end of the table and feel panicked that I’m missing out.’

Recently she went out with a group of friends who split into two groups. ‘One conversation was going on about racism in a new film I’ve seen, while someone else was telling a story about a terrible date – I desperately wanted to hear both.’

Carol* is a 28-year-old Londoner who is very familiar with this feeling. It’s almost a FOMOWO – fear of missing out, while out.

‘I would describe it as “group chat envy syndrome” – whenever I’m in a group of people and the conversation has broken up into smaller discussions I always have half an ear out for the chats happening around me,’ Carol explains.

‘This happens to me all the time – probably every time I’m in a group larger than four. I sometimes don’t even realise I’m doing it, and tune back into the conversation I’ve been having and realise I haven’t been paying attention at all.’

There is no official term for this phenomenon, and social psychologist Donelson Forsyth, who studies group dynamics, says he isn’t sure many grant agencies would fund the necessary research. Despite this, he knows immediately what I mean when I mention ‘conversation envy’.

‘I have often thought about the topic,’ he says. ‘Just last week I was in a reception following a presentation, and the president of the university had a group gathered around him, conversing about who knows what. I was in a group with just run-of-the-mill folks, and so felt a twinge of envy.’

It’s obvious why we experience this envy if we’re part of a boring conversation or if we’re chatting to people who we don’t really like.

‘Social etiquette says I can’t just ignore the people I’m chatting to and join in [with the other group]. I find it very difficult to handle,’ says Carol, who will pretend to go to the loo or get a drink in order to leave one conversation and come back to another one.

But what is the psychology behind wanting to be part of another conversation even if you’re enjoying the one you’re in? Why when you’re chatting to one group of people in the pub do you wish you were chatting to the other one?

‘Sometimes when we look at groups that haven’t included us, we become envious of their energy, dynamism, and cohesion,’ says Forsyth. ‘Our group is limping along in its conversation, whereas they are boisterous, laughing, having a great time.’

Forsyth coined what he says is a ‘rather inappropriate’ term to describe the jealously we feel about another group’s high level of unity and cohesion – ‘weness envy’.

We often think of our friendships in sentimental terms, but social psychology has shown that even intimate relationships can be highly calculated.

Ken Sereno, a professor of communication at University of Southern California Annenburg says ‘Social Exchange Theory’ might provide an explanation.

‘We strive to maximise physical and psychological rewards in any situation we’re in,’ Sereno explains, ‘We make a judgment of the benefits or rewards compared to the costs we’re experiencing in a situation to determine if we want to stay or leave.’

If a conversation is boring, social exchange theory means we’d want to leave it for a better one. ‘But sometimes we may want to leave a conversation even if the rewards in the situation are higher than the costs,” Sereno goes on. ‘Why? Because we expect even higher rewards from the situation.

‘This is the “the grass is greener on the other side of the street” and ‘”am I missing out on something even better?” explanation. This can explain why a person watching a show on TV that they like will scan all of the other 300 cable channels to see if there’s something on that’s even better.’

Lucy has another theory – she blames the internet.

‘It’s like when you’re on a computer and have chat and emails and work up at once,’ she says. ‘I hate the theory that tech rewires out brains but it’s hard not to think it’s related – with MSN I’d have like five or six chats going at once.’

Conversation envy isn’t a universal experience, and Lucy thinks hers ‘stems from thinking I can’t make the conversation interesting myself’. Forsyth says ‘anyone who is comparison-prone’ is likely to experience the sensation.

‘And probably self-esteem would be important: individuals who value themselves don’t envy others as much,’ he says. ‘I would say that narcissists, in general, are less likely to experience conversational envy.

‘After all, three of the key markers of narcissism are self-sufficiency, sense of superiority, and vanity, so the narcissist should be less likely to worry about limping along socially.’

The marketing strategist who coined the term FOMO also coined another word: FOBO, fear of a better option. FOBO is characterised by a desire to pursue all possible options for fear of missing out on the ‘best’ one.

While academics traditionally talk about FOBO in terms of our career and living decisions, it may have a wider reach than first thought. FOBO might not affect us just in the home and the workplace but also, unfortunately, in the pub.

*Names have been changed. 

Top illustration by Liberty Antonia Sadler for Metro.co.uk.

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Is there anything more luxurious than breakfast in bed, sweetly made by a loved one, and propped up on a cute little food tray?

Well there is, and that’s pizza in bed. Long gone are the days of worrying about getting grease marks printed onto your duvet covers and possibly your clothes if you’re a klutz.

Now, you can turn the cardboard box your pizza comes in into a tray that will provide a mess-free eating experience.

Boston Pizza, a pizzeria based in Canada (and not Boston, Massachusetts, U.S, as the name suggests) has come up with the clever hack.

The pizzeria teamed up with an advertising agency John St. to design the thing we’ve all been unconsciously waiting for.

The BP in Bed box is purposely designed so it can be restructured to create stands that will hold up the base, giving you room to wriggle your legs through.

If setting up the box sounds like constructing flatpack furniture to you then don’t worry, it comes with simple instructions on how to put it together (with pictures).

Sadly though, the clever hack hasn’t come to the UK yet so we’ll all be eating our pizzas away from the bedroom. Unless we just invest in a tray, of course.

But we love a good food-packaging-turns-into something story, so we’ve found other hacks to ease your lives.

Did you know you could turn the average supermarket sandwich packaging into a plate? Just unfold the whole thing and it’ll become a flat square. That should make the very British act of putting crisps in your sarnie much easier.

If you’ve been in a fast food restaurant and been handed a ketchup cup, the chances are you’re gonna struggle to dip your cheeseburger into the tiny opening.

But did you know it fans out to make a plate, therefore allowing you to dip as much as you want?

The same is true for Chinese takeout; the cardboard boxes double as plates.

So go forth and spread the joy of finding out about multipurpose packaging.

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It’s barely Autumn, but Boots and Tesco have decided that the Christmas build-up has begun with the unveiling of their festive sandwich ranges.

The Christmas sandwich is as much a part of the season of goodwill as mulled wine, carol singing, or disappointing presents. What could be more festive than stuffing your face with soggy stuffing and sickly cranberry sauce during your lunch break?

Both Tesco and Boots have now launched their annual ranges, which include sandwiches, wraps, bagels and vegan options.

And we’re not talking just a simple Christmas dinner between two slices of bread, oh no. Both retailers have upped the ante and have incorporated every element of the festive culinary experience into their lunch menus.

After a lighter option? Go for Boots’ Turkey and Cranberry sandwich, part of the Shapers range. Or if you’re avoiding meat and dairy, the parsnip fritter and butternut squash sandwich would be a great alternative.

If you would kill for Christmas leftovers, try Tesco’s Boxing Day sub roll, which brings together the classic flavours of smoked ham, bubble and squeak, and a coleslaw made with sprouts.

Tesco’s salmon duo bagel is a slice of Christmas morning, filling an onion bagel with decadent gin and juniper cured salmon and candy-striped beetroot.

While some might say it’s far too early for festive treats, others can’t wait to get stuck in.

‘Never too early for a Christmas sandwich!’ Tweeted one enthusiast.

Another added, ‘Controversial opinion: it’s never too early for a meal deal sandwich to wish you a merry Christmas.’

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A lesson to all who are brave enough to let small children give them ‘makeovers’: Check what products they’re using.

We’d also advise clearing the house of any scissors, unless you want a dodgy haircut.

Learn from Leanne Short, 35, whose face was dyed red for two days after her daughter switched face paint for lip stain during a makeover.

Nine-year-old Rosie had begged her mum to let her transform her face for Halloween.

Rosie planned to turn Leanne into a clown, but when she noticed how well the red ‘paint’ she was using was working, she decided to turn her mum into a lobster.

But that ‘face paint’ Rosie was using was in fact a red lip stain.

Leanne realised something was wrong when her skin began to tingle.

‘It was a genuine mistake – I think,’ said Leanne. ‘The other items she used are just sticks of face paint wax and she just picked up the lip stain.

‘She said to me “can I decorate you and see what you’d look like for Halloween”? We’ve got some Halloween makeup pens and various bits and I said yes.

‘It was actually a lipstick I’d got in Primark, a red lip stain, and it was in my makeup bag.

‘I don’t know if it fell out of my makeup bag into the other stuff but she picked it up. She said “oh I’ll make you red”.

‘She had said she was giving me clown lips to turn me into a clown but then she said “I’ll do the whole face”.

‘I just sat there and she said do a selfie. She’d done it on my lips and I was thinking it was looking terrible because I was in my pyjamas.

‘She was really proud, which is why in the selfies she’s got her thumbs up and things. I was just thinking “I’m glad you’re happy”.

‘That Halloween stuff just washes off but when it started tingling and burning and that’s when I realised it wasn’t right. I was just thinking “oh no”.

‘I said show me that Halloween stuff you’re using. And that’s when I realised it was lip stain.’

Leanne says her bathroom looked like a ‘murder scene’ as she tried to scrub the red stain off her face, using water, makeup remover, baking soda, and even vinegar to get her skin clear.

Nothing Leanne tried worked, and she ended up having to spend two days with a red tinged face.

‘She thought it was hilarious,’ said Leanne. ‘She just said “you’re going to have to take me to school looking like that, I’m so embarrassed”. But she did that to me! She thought it was so funny.

‘It took hours and hours to get off. It was in my eyebrow hair, my hairline.. It faded on my face after about two days.

‘When I washed it it smudged, so as I washed it off it was on my face and dripped down the skin onto my neck.

‘As I was trying to scrub it off it just ran down my neck and onto my chest. It ran all down my hands. The more I was scrubbing it the worse I was making it.

‘It looked like a murder scene or something because there were just red handprints everywhere. I had to use bleach [on the tiles] to scrub that off because it had all gone into the grouting.

‘There were handprints on the white bath and on the shower. It spread everywhere. That would have been good for Halloween because it looked like a crime scene.

‘I had to take her to school and pick her up from school and go shopping and do all the normal things I usually do.

‘My partner joked that he didn’t want to be seen with me. All I was trying to do was entertain the kids and I’d become a social leper instead.

‘I was trying to keep my hair down brushed over my face, but Rosie just thought it was funny and said “look at my mum’s face – show them your eyebrows mum!”.

‘It was a source of entertainment for her. I suppose if you’re making someone laugh you’re making someone happy. But it was terrible.

‘It highlighted every wrinkle as well. I was going “my wrinkles aren’t normally that bad are they?”.

‘A few of the mums [at school] looked and looked back and probably just thought it was highlights or something like that that had gone wrong.

‘But my friends thought it was hilarious and were asking how I could let her do that.

‘I thought it was face paint – I didn’t know. They thought I was mad because I let her do it.’

Thankfully after a few days Leanne’s face was back to its normal state. She has sworn she won’t let Rosie near her with makeup again.

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A couple say their relationship is at its sexual peak thanks to following visits to the gym with feeding sessions.

When plus-size model Rosie, 23, and Jeff, 25, who are also known by their stage names, Kalorie and Viktor Karbashian, from Queensland, Australia, met online through a feederism website they were instantly attracted to each other’s looks.

Jeff reached out to Rosie on the site and the pair clicked, talking all day and all night long, sharing cheesy jokes with each other.

The couple practise feederism, also known as feedism – a fetish that involves feeding a partner large amounts of food. They also enjoy Rosie gaining weight, as Jeff says he feels more fulfilled by a larger woman.

At 26st 10lb, Rosie says that being with 12st 8lb Jeff has given her confidence in her own body and allowed her to feel sexy in whatever she chooses to wear, regardless of the opinions of others.

On a typical day, Rosie and Jeff enjoy a large cooked breakfast or avocado toast, yoghurt, muffins or pastries.

For lunch, Rosie has a takeaway or a hearty meal and for dinner she loves to cook new recipes at home.

She snacks throughout the day on sweets, fruit and savoury bits and in the evening the couple eat crisps and chocolate from their snack cupboard.

Initially their relationship was difficult to manage as they were dating online for a year, with Jeff moving to Australia six months ago to be with Rosie for good. They are now planning their wedding next month.

‘We met on a feedism website for gainers, feeders, feedees and fat admires. I was very popular on the site as a feedism model and Viktor really made himself present in wanting to talk to me but after speaking on and off we connected,’ said Rosie.

‘Being so far apart we didn’t know if it would come to be anything, but we are together in Australia now and very happy engaged to be married within the next month.

‘Attraction by looks is of course what catches your eye online but then once we started talking we joked for hours and really bonded over our sense of humour. Our personalities are very similar despite our massive weight difference.

‘We do it as a fetish-based thing in our relationship along with gaining. I’ve gained about eleven-stone since we’ve been in a relationship.

‘It also plays out daily with Viktor admiring my size, squeezing and touching my gains (weight fat) with general signs of affection that encompass the whole body.

‘The best thing about being a feedee is that I finally feel confident in my body. I enjoy being larger and having the ability to wear and eat whatever I like as I am all about embracing what you love and being yourself.

‘The connection that we have with feedism means that we are much closer than some couples our age as we share such intimate moments and food is a very social thing so we go to nice restaurants all the time and like trying and indulging in new things.

‘Regardless of size we can do any sex position and seeing the contrast drives us crazy. We love the difference between our bodies, it’s one of the major parts of the fetish. If anything having a fetish makes your sex and love life so much better.’

Jeff says he’s incredibly happy with a larger woman, despite his preferences being looked down on.

‘The best thing about it is that I enjoy a larger woman and I feel fulfilled in the attraction I have towards a larger woman,’ he said.

‘I am able to enjoy what for most people is a fantasy. Most people don’t share my love for big beautiful women and it is considered a taboo.

‘We wake up and feed at breakfast time, then I go to the gym or work and spend time with the family.

‘Night times are for more feeding and belly play time.’

The loved-up couple intend to continue with feederism as long as Rosie can still do everything she wants to.

‘Most scratch their heads and don’t understand as Viktor is a gym junkie and I’m a fat girl,’ she said.

‘But we kind of like being the odd couple and we don’t care for others’ opinions unless it’s positive.

‘As long as I’m able and have the ability to do everything, I like going on walks and being active in everyday life without it affecting me I’ll always continue to be as big as I can. Regardless of my size we do a lot of walking and exercise to keep that balance.

‘We are happy. Everyone finds happiness in their own way and for us this is how we are the most fulfilled in our lives.

‘You should not try to please others around you by sacrificing your own happiness. Do what makes you, you, regardless.’

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As part of his job, astrobiologist Cyprien Verseux has been living in Antarctica – the coldest area on earth which makes it the most isolated and inhabitable continent.

Even the International Space Station, 400km above the earth, is more hospitable than the freezing temperatures of Antarctica.

But Cyprien and his team still need to find a way to get by and eat every day. So what’s it like to eat in such conditions?

Cooking is certainly no easy feat as most things end up freezing.

Cyprien shared images of what happens when you attempt to make a meal in the cold.

The French scientist has been blogging about his time in at the Concordia Research Station.

‘There is almost no living being apart from the few humans and microbes that accompany them everywhere,’ he wrote.

‘The cold is too intense, can pass -80 °C during the winter. Contrary to my usual practice, I will not study any form of life: I am a glaciologist and work on different research projects that will help, for example, to better understand the climate in the past and better assess its likely future.

‘The environment is hostile and our survival depends on technology.’

To show just how hostile the conditions are, Cyprien went outside for a ‘cooking’ session.

Just for fun, he showed the results which almost look like artwork; a broken egg hangs in the air as the whites and yolk freeze, an omelette freezes midway through being poured from pan to plate, and a fork balances off rock hard spaghetti.

‘We run out of fresh food early in the winter (as we have no resupply from early February to early November), so we eat mostly frozen food: given that the temperatures never are in the positive, we just store it in containers outside,’ he added.

But despite it all, the researchers still enjoy living there.

‘In spite of being in an inhospitable desert, Concordia is highly attractive to researchers from different fields such as astronomy and human physiology’.

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An elderly passenger was kicked off a Frontier Airlines flight in the U.S after she tried boarding with a squirrel, which she claimed was a support animal.

The flyer told the U.S.-based airline before she arrived at the airport that she would be bringing the animal but when they realised it was a squirrel they refused to let her on the plane.

They said rodents, such as squirrels, are not allowed on board as emotional support animals.

But what exactly is a support animal?

The purpose of a support animal is to help with people with their mental health, in the way that guide dogs help people with their physical health and wellbeing.

They aren’t usually trained for any specific tasks but they provide support just by being there, especially if the owner experiences anxiety and depression.

But travelling with support animals has some risks. Not all of them are allowed on planes for example.

In the past, pigs and miniature horses have flown for this purpose. But sadly a peacock and one unfortunate hamster were refused (who was then sadly flushed away).

According to the Emotional Support Animal Registry UK, you must have a prescriptive letter from a qualified doctor stating your need to have an animal with you when you travel, shop and also for accommodation.

Some of the conditions that would lead to a diagnosis of a need for support animals include anxiety (specific or generalised), depression or other mood disorders, phobias (including social phobia and fear of flying), panic disorder, and PTSD.

Not all airlines will permit you to have your animal companion though, even with a notice.

On the easyJet website, it only lists service dogs as permitted. Emotional support animals are not considered service animals and not accepted on Ryanair flights.

Thomas Cook states: ‘Emotional support dogs cannot be carried in the cabin. They can, of course, be carried in the cargo hold,’ and does not mention other animals.

If you’re thinking of flying with an emotional support animal, you can register here.

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There’s a new dress that fashion bloggers are loving – and it comes from George at Asda.

The supermarket is selling a long-sleeved midi dress in a black and white floral print with a white collar and cuffs.

The Floral Print Western Shirt Midi Dress has already proved pretty popular on Instagram, with excited customers commenting hoping to get their hands on the dress.

Just yesterday, George at Asda shared a collection of photos of bloggers wearing the dress, pairing it with white or black boots, with one adding a pink jacket.

Comments on the post, which has received more than 400 likes, include: ‘I think I need this’, ‘I love it, I need one of those!’ and ‘I love this dress’.

And if you love this dress, too, you’ll be happy to know it’s pretty cheap, at just £20.

It’s currently still available to buy in most sizes online – but considering its popularity on social media, don’t expect stocks to last long.

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