The ‘Where’d You Get That’ Ghost
A niche (random?) observation of mine for many years now relates to how people respond, or don’t, to direct inquiries about where they acquired a specific item of clothing they are wearing in a photo posted online. On the one hand are certain online presences who respond to every single inquiry (or at least appear to attempt to) with helpful information that the inquirer often seems to desperately seek: It’s from The Row! It’s old Zara from like two years ago! They’re the Parker jeans from AGOLDE! My aunt knitted it for me! On the other hand is the approach that frustrates me to a non-insignificant level: the non-response. I’m not limiting this frustration to quote unquote influencers because in my view it’s impolite for anyone to “gatekeep,” in TikTok speak, when you consider that it takes no more than maybe three seconds to hit reply on an Instagram comment
Salty Salads
Variations on a theme feat. sauerkraut, olives, and pickled shallots.
Janessa PSA
While not cheap, I have two Janessa Leoné hats that I love and wear at least 4X more than any other hats I’ve ever owned. I’m confident I’ll have and wear them for many years to come. I wore the “Clifford” style throughout my honeymoon and I never got a face sunburn (this was in addition to sunscreen of course) and it never blew off of my head, even when wearing it while riding a bike. It also survived 15 plus hours of travel in an overhead bin and did well with my careful steaming to reshape. And, very importantly for those of us with non-petite heads, her hats comes in four sizes (I’m a large). And, most importantly! This one is currently on sale for more than 50% off! Happy hatting.
Wedding Lip Color for Blondes
I thought about my wedding lip color more than I’d like to admit. Over the years I’ve disliked the way a lot of pinks wear on me, even super popular colors that seem to look good on other blondes (e.g., NARS‘ “Turkish Delight”). Initially I thought I’d want a berry color after having worn NARS gloss in the color “Sixties Fan” for a number of years and liking how it looked on me in photographs (I first heard about this color via a video of Lo Bosworth’s makeup routine – random I know; otherwise I wouldn’t have picked it up as it looked quite dark in the tube). Anyway, NARS no longer makes that color, and I was struggling to find something similar – most berries I looked at seemed to run either too red or too plum. Finally, a late night scroll led me to the page of a
Venus Footwear
These Margiela flats are beautiful – the polarizing split-toe! These are strictly for women trying to impress other women and I love that. Evokes the Nike Air Rift sneakers that Gwyneth and Madonna were wearing to work out with Tracy Anderson in London circa 2005 (remember that era? just me?). I had a pair back then and, much to my surprise, they still make them, and in many colors.
Elixirs!
A few months ago I gave up coffee while doing the 21-day Clean Program in preparation for my wedding, replacing it with matcha, and I haven’t gone back. You know how annoying it is when people make the switch and then go on and on about how they, like, don’t even want coffee anymore and their afternoon slumps are gone (!) and they just feel so much better?? Well . . . I’ve since tried a number of brands of matcha but once I tried the Ancient Elixirs Superfood Matcha, the switching was over. It has a delicious, sort of vanilla flavor that doesn’t need much sweetener at all, and I really look forward to it each morning. I mix the powder with a little hot water and then add frothed almond milk and a little powder stevia. It makes me feel energetic in a great way (it has 135mg
Terrycloth Terror
I just got back from my honeymoon in the Seychelles (more on that later – if I can figure out how to do a non-boring travel blog post). There were, unsurprisingly, many fashionable women. At the first resort where we stayed, there was one French-speaking woman on vacation with her family (husband, three kids, and nanny, natch) who consistently wore some very cool outfits and I dutifully kept track of them for my own records and for this blog of record! It’s a cliche but of course a very big part of the appeal was her overall je ne sais quoi – a particular kind of off-the-beaten-path nonchalance. For example, at the NYE party at the hotel, while many (most?) of the women were wearing metallic-y, sequin-y, high-heeled looks, this woman was wearing super oversized washed grey jeans (like the ones below from Loulou Studio) with a casual crop top.* At
My Favorite Things I Watched During 2022
In no particular order, below are the best TV shows and movies (and one play) that I watched during 2022. Some new! Some very old! Some super obvious and some less so (hopefully)! TV: – Severance – Fantastic, dark – I found it to be so original. – Kate Berlant: Cinnamon in the Wind – I think I’m a lifelong Berlant stan. She is hilarious and smart and. . .seems really nice? – Southern Charm, Season 8 Reunion – I didn’t even watch most of this season’s episodes but damn if this didn’t deliver all of the drama that I could want out of a two-part reunion.- The White Lotus, Season 2 – Obv. – Love Island, Season 1 – I finally gave this show a try, going back to Season 1 (from 2015), and despite it seeming 18 years long (so many episodes… so many recaps), I ate it up.
IDs – Alicia Vikander as Mira in Irma Vep
I saw a few episodes of Irma Vep on a plane this weekend – can’t say I’m hooked on the show, but Alicia Vikander’s styling throughout is impeccable. Louis Vuitton artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière apparently designed all of the costumes for Vikander’s character when she’s playing Irma Vep, and when her character is off duty as the American actress, Mira, she wears a lot of cool casual combinations – like Urban Outfitters stuff mixed with Vuitton accessories. I loved the casual outfit she wears in the opening scene of the first episode; below are a few exact IDs along with some similar options for the chill but luxe vibe.
Sensitive Skin Problems
For some time now I’ve had a problem with dry and flaky skin on my forehead – the infuriating type of situation where you so much as lightly touch a makeup brush to it and the flakes multiply. A few years ago, I saw a fancy DC dermatologist who shall remain nameless and her advice was that I wasn’t washing enough, instructing me to double-cleanse every morning and night with a gel cleanser as part of the routine in order to get rid of the flakes and “start fresh” each day. Being the rule-follower that I am, I did this for quite a while before realizing that it was way too aggressive for my sensitive skin and that it was definitely making things worse. The state of affairs was particularly bad last winter when the effects of the cold weather were no doubt exacerbated by the stress and the very