Now girls, let me take you back to your neurotic and insecure sixteen year old self. What advice would you give yourself? Was Just Seventeen/Sugar/Bliss true in all of its words of wisdom?

Dear Me; A letter to your Sixteen year old self includes letters from three knights, a handful of Oscar winners, a bevy of Baftas, an intrepid explorer, a few teenage pop stars, an avid horticulturalist, pages and pages of bestselling authors, a dishy doctor, a full credit of film directors, a lovey of top actors, a giggle of comedians and an Archbishop! The letters range from the compassionate to the shocking via hilarity and heartbreak, but they all have one thing in common: they offer a unique insight into the teenager who would grow up to be…. Stephen Fry, Annie Lennox, Paul O’Grady, Jackie Collins, Fay Weldon, Alan Carr, Peter Kay, Debbie Harry, Brenda Blethyn , Jonathan Ross, Liz Smith, Will Young, Alison Moyet, Rosanne Cash, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Yoko Ono, Emma Thompson…

It’s guaranteed to make you laugh, make you cry and is a perfect Christmas gift . Not only that, but £1 from each copy sold goes towards The Elton John Foundation, so you’ll be doing a good deed too.

Here are our letters to our sixteen year old selves. We hope you enjoy them, we’d love to read yours too – please share them with us!

Dear Aimee at Sixteen,

You will always be obsessed by boobs, right now it’s because you haven’t got any, despite the crying, the praying at Hannah’s kitchen table, and the white Wonderbra that Nanny bought you to cheer you up. You will grow a pair that gets groped on a regular occasion, not just by boys, but by Thai ping-pong girls, Chinese rickshaw drivers, and hot Brazilian models, that you design lingerie for. Sorry to shock ‘Miss goodie two-shoes’, but you will also one day adorn them with sequins and crystals and dance on stage IN FRONT OF PEOPLE.

That boy whose heart you break on a regular basis, will break yours and it will hurt more than you think, so stop trying to be cool, and stop being mean, because you don’t mean it really. Although it will always be acceptable to call him a ‘twat’, especially as thanks to him christening you ‘The pimple princess’, every time you get a spot, your best friend Hannah thinks it is hilarious to tease you with it for the rest of your life.

Those screaming/crying rows you have with your mother will pay off, and tough love will make you a brave overachiever who has lots of adventures. And she will always be there for you. Trust me. And trust her, when she says she and Dad love you, and don’t go out with that loser in two years time. She will be right.

You won’t get rid of the puppy fat or the frizzy hair. But it’s okay, because all the gays-yes, you are still always with the gays-call you a ‘Russ Meyers girl’, and you will know exactly how to work that puppy fat and frizz. Don’t buy the Marc Jacobs dress in a large, it ACTUALLY does look better in a medium. Don’t wear chocolate brown lipstick because “All Saints’ do, you look deathly. You won’t be engaged at twenty-four, mainly because you will be freaked out by your friends getting married and sprogged up, and because you will be getting off with arrogant tossers/bad boys who aren’t the marrying kind. Maybe try and develop some sort of arrogant tosser/bad boy repellent now, too.

That girl called Lisa who writes for Rant magazine will be one of your best friends.

Don’t try Malibu, it will save you some money and from pickling your liver. You will still know the ‘Vogue’ rap, and the moves to the Spice Girls ‘Stop’ and you will always love Cadbury’s chocolate, snogging, shopping, Salt N Pepa, Madonna, Barry White, your friends, being slightly dramatic and if you can, please be nicer to your little brother and sister.

Your older, wiser and much more polished (use the serum!) self xxxxx

Dear Lisa at sixteen,

Firstly, I know right now you are crushing on Gary Barlow and working out ways to make him marry you, but sweet thing, he marries Dawn the dancer and they have really pretty children. On the plus side, all that Ant and Dec stalking following pays off, and you end up working with them for three years – result, non? Oh, on the Take That front, they split up next year, but don’t fret, they get back together in 10 years time and are just as amazing.

You need to chill out. A lot.
Stop stressing about being thinner, being cooler, being popular or whether you’ll actually get a boyfriend – none of it actually matters because you rip up the cool-kid rule book and write your own. Literally.

FYI, you’re probably the thinnest you’ll ever be right now – stop beating yourself up about it, seriously, celebrate your curves and don’t get hung up on your wobbly bits, don’t keep putting off doing thing until you’ve lost 5lbs – you want to do something? Do it now! Oh, and those so-called cool kids at school? Turns out in the real world they’re not so cool, who knew, huh?

I know you don’t dig standing out right now, but it’s set to become your ‘thing’ – if people are going to stare, you really should give them something to stare at, gorgeous girl. And yes, you may come from a single parent family on a council estate, but don’t listen to those people who say ’stop daydreaming’ or ‘you need to get a real job’ because chica, you never have a ‘real’ job. Dream big sparkle-filled dreams, plan amazing adventures, write lists of all the the things you’re going to achieve and then tick each one off as you achieve them, because you will – you’re kick-ass.

Don’t waste time learning the guitar, Lee Cooper will fancy you anyway, don’t spend your pocket money on Rimmel’s Black Cherry lipstick, it doesn’t suit you, and read other books beside Point Romance novels – it’ll really help.

You will always be surrounded by beautiful boys – unfortunately for you, most of them will be gay, but they’re ever so pretty to look at and treat you like the princess that you absolutely are. Despite wanting to kiss one of your best mates throughout your entire time at college, don’t. He’s still your friend at 30 and you won’t want an awkward kiss ruining super-fun cinema and dinner dates. You’ll kiss other boys. A lot of boys. In fact kissing becomes quite the past time. Some boys aren’t that nice, but others are beautiful, funny and great company – you might not believe me, but you’ll actually spend smooch time with a pop star and a Dolce and Gabanna (that’s a swanky fashion label!) model. One boy in particular steals your heart and for eight years you have fun-filled adventures, own a pile of bricks and share endless thoughts and dreams. He does eventually break your heart, but please don’t let that stop you from doing it all over again.

Throughout your early 20s, life might not be the fairy tale you expect it to be, but don’t be disheartened, because you can and will become author, stylist and star of the most awesome story ever…your life. It will be filled with the most amazing and exciting people and adventures and you’ll realise that it doesn’t matter where you come from, it’s where you’re going that counts.

Lisa xx

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