Leandra Medine's Blog, page 104
July 10, 2019
What Are You Looking For? The Outnet’s Clearance Sale Probably Has It
When I found out about the huge (up-to-80%-off) sale at The Outnet 30 minutes ago, the first thing I did was slack MR shopping expert Elizabeth Tamkin to “tell me what to buy.”
“Done. What product category?” she replied within five seconds, saint that she is.
And then my mind went wild. Could I reply “every category” or would that be too greedy? If I said “pants, tops, shoes, dresses,” would that narrow it down? Truth be told I would like Elizabeth to do all my shopping for me. Not only because she has a photographic memory of the market past and present, but because she inherently understands my taste—and she’s like this with everyone; it’s a kind of fashion synesthesia.
Which is exactly why, a few minutes later, our Man Repeller slack channel quickly devolved into a “Outnet shopping request” submission form for Elizabeth. I’m sorry, Eliz! You are too good at this! Luckily for her, the team’s requests were a little more specific than “everything”—but general enough to serve the greater summer good, too—so I’ve shared them below along with her suggestions. If you have a request of your own, drop it in the comments! She just might hang around for a bit. (And if you’re more generally hungry for her market wisdom, her Instagram Story is always chock-full of it.)
Amalie’s request: “Summer tops I can wear a bra with.”
Per Eliz: I love dressing Amalie. She’s so fun and open to trying anything, so I came in with both a sexy top like this one that shows some skin but has supportive straps and this one that ties at the waist that I’d 100% wear with board shorts. For a day-to-day top, you could wear this poplin one with trousers to work and then with a pair of crochet shorts on the weekend. This one that is tight but has supportive shoulders and would look great with some khakis, casually.
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Mallory’s request: “A bathing suit that is not skimpy but won’t give a weird tan line, either.”
Per Eliz: Finding the perfect swimwear is not an easy task! What I looked for here were strapless tops of course, but also ones with removable or non-intrusive straps. I love this strapless two-piece which has a ruffle for extra oomph. The bottoms on this suit are also not strappy so there’s a good amount of bottom-half coverage (as far as bikinis go). This one-piece is gathered at the middle for some forgiveness in case you opt for a beach burger and the halter is removable if you’re going to be in the sun a while! This classic one-piece has fun polka dots and I appreciate that the straps are skinny and you can drop ’em down if you’re going to be toasting for a bit.
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Crystal’s request: “A chic strapless dress that doesn’t make me look like I’m going to my 8th grade prom.”
Per Eliz: The fun thing about shopping for other people is sometimes you find things you didn’t know you needed yourself. How freaking good is this strapless trench dress?!?! I also love this plaid one to be worn with lace-up sandals and mature pearls. For a dressier occasion, what about this red one with the mermaid tale?
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Harling’s request: “Cool sandals I can walk a mile in blister-free.”
Per Eliz: I recently wrote a story about commuter shoes for summer so I would say I’m a bit of an expert in this category. There are so many options, too! I love these metallic ones with a thick cushy sole. These ones with a cork sole are light and versatile. And man, I love a high-fashion orthopedic sandal like these fun yellow ones.
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Nora’s request: “A dress I can wear to a fancy bachelorette party dinner and then to a less fancy bachelorette night out (that goes beyond a size 12).”
Per Eliz: Ah! The multipurpose dress. When you need an item for two different events, it’s all about how you style it. Let’s take this fairly simple cutout black midi dress. Worn with CV stone earrings and hair slicked back, it’s basically black tie, but worn with lace-up flat leather sandals and hair au naturale, it’s chill and fun. Or! What about this asymmetric mini? I’d wear it with metallic heels to dinner and then with platform raffia sandals to the night out. And wild card! What about a jumpsuit? I love this patterned one that could be worn with sparkly jewelry and mules to dinner and then espadrilles to go dancin’ in.
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Gyan and Andrea’s request: “Shorts that aren’t denim cut-offs. (Some thought-starters: high-waisted, not too distressed, not too tight, not too short.)”
Per Eliz: As someone who has grown to prefer a longer, non-denim short option (especially for work), I can very much relate. I love these A-line high-waist ones to be worn with a knit tube top, these very cool printed board shorts which I would wear with a ribbed white tank and some slides, and then my most favorite of all, these scalloped denim ones which really are the perfect summer denim shorts solution.
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Have a shopping request? Get @ Eliz in the comments!
Photos by Edith Young.
The post What Are You Looking For? The Outnet’s Clearance Sale Probably Has It appeared first on Man Repeller.
3 Women Share Their Single Most Transformative Moment
Hoo boy. That girl is now unrecognizable to me—and I would be a complete mystery to her. All of our lives are, if we’re lucky, one long unfolding of new selves, a paper chain of subtle evolutions punctuated by sharp turns we never saw coming. Which is to say the process of becoming is as disorienting as it is miraculous—an enigma we wanted to capture with the “Becoming” series in our final Repeller drop, featuring three charm earrings: a caterpillar, a cocoon, and a butterfly (ideally worn in the same multitudinous ear).
So, to mark both the launch and its emotional impetus, I talked to three women about the moments that made them become: Natalie, who was diagnosed with cancer in college; Amelia, whose late-night gender discovery made her reconsider how she wanted to live; and Willa, whose path to motherhood took an unconventional turn.
Natalie, 26, was diagnosed with cancer when she was 20.
On the Diagnosis
I was in college and I wasn’t feeling great. I told my mom I thought I had mono, but my skin was also really itchy, so much so that I would scratch until I bled. The doctor told me it was allergies.
But then I went to study abroad and was getting incredibly ill, all the time. I was diagnosed with strep, but when I still felt sick after treatment, the doctor at the health center referred me to a hematologist at a hospital on the outskirts of the city. I have this strong memory of taking the bus out there by myself and thinking, How dramatic would it be if I had cancer?
The doctor was like, “I think you might have some type of lymphoma. You need a biopsy. I think you should go back to the States.” I just kept thinking: But what if it’s nothing? I didn’t want everyone to think I was being super dramatic. Back at home they biopsied a lymph node and the results took a week or so. Meanwhile I’d gone to visit a friend in Philly and when I came home I was like, “Mom, look at this awesome Rihanna lipstick I bought!” and she was like, “You have Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.”
On Treatment & Privilege
Honestly, at that point that was the best case scenario (cancer-wise), because Hodgkin’s is fairly treatable and fairly common. I underwent 12 rounds of chemo over six months. Each time it was four to six hours of sitting in a chair, and then weeks of not being able to fend for myself. My parents were having to do all this physical stuff like help me put on my underwear. It was all just so humiliating.
Chemo itself is painful, but my experience was mostly boring. The boredom was totally tied to my privilege. I lived with my parents, I could take cabs, I could go to the movies in the middle of the day to avoid people when I was immunocompromised. One of my nurses had also had Hodgkin’s, and she has two kids, one of whom was a baby when she got sick. She had to keep working. That wasn’t me. I didn’t worry about health care, and that flexibility started to make me really angry–that my experience wasn’t the standard for people who get sick.
On Life After Cancer
I think the cancer made me figure out earlier than most what I do and don’t care about. Losing my hair felt like a big deal at the time, and I did have moments–like when a security guard asked me, “Why would a beautiful woman like you shave your head?”—when I called my sister to cry. And when I went back to school in the fall, I had to figure out who looked at me differently, and who I still wanted in my life. But people would tell me how difficult they thought my life was, and I just kept thinking, but it could be so much worse! There are no sympathy Olympics, but I would tell people that my experience was really easy in certain ways. It made me a firm believer in nationalized health care. I went for my yearly check-up earlier this year and, without insurance, it would have been $2000, and all they did was draw my blood. I see those bills and I think, yeah, this is why people don’t go to the doctor, why people die from Hodgkin’s when they don’t have to.
My therapist is always trying to get me to talk about being sick. I have become much more anxious than I was, but also, who hasn’t? I often forget that I was ever sick. Or sometimes the cancer is just comedic relief, which sounds horrible. I’m dating now, and I have a hard time figuring out when to bring it up. Sometimes I will bring it up on a first date, and that seems weird, but then if I wait until the sixth date it’s, like, dramatic to blurt out, “I had cancer!”
I’d be surprised if I didn’t get cancer again. I guess the average 26-year-old doesn’t think about that. Maybe, if anything, I’ve become sort of nihilistic. I frequently think, well, who cares about the fact that I’m likely to get cancer again in my 70s? We’ll all be dead by then of climate change. My mom prompted me to freeze my eggs before I started chemo, god bless her, but my eggs will probably be destroyed in a hurricane before I decide I want kids. I do that a lot—wave away the scary thing with a joke about the world ending. That makes me feel a bit less anxious. In the grand scheme of climate change, what’s having cancer?
Amelia, 21, transitioned three years ago.
On Gender Euphoria
I was never into “girly” stuff when I was young. I was a GI Joe and monster truck kinda kid. Even when I was in high school, and I had friends who were trans, I never thought to question my gender identity. But then about three years ago–I remember, it was really late at night and I was on the internet—I found this article about trans women, and realized that was exactly what I was. I felt this immediate kinship with all the trans women in the piece. It was like I finally understood that there was a community that I wanted to be associated with. I had always had more female friends than male friends, but I also felt this definitive difference between myself and my female friends. I realize now that is because they were all cis.
There’s a lot of talk in the trans community about gender dysmorphia, and feeling like you were born in the wrong body. I never felt that. The flipside of that feeling, though, is gender euphoria–finding something that makes you feel ecstatic about your gender identity. That’s what this was for me. I realized I had always settled for being a man.
On Evolving Relationships
I came out as trans to my mom about six months after those initial feelings, and she was not that accepting immediately. She’s from Kentucky, which is not the worst place to be gay or trans, but it’s definitely not the best. She grew up around gay people in the 80s and 90s getting the hell kicked out of them in the streets. There were no laws protecting gay and trans people in public spaces. Her first instinct when I came out was, Are you sure about this? Because this is going to be really hard for you. She was just afraid. Now she sends me online clothing deals, like, Check this out, it’s so cute.
My friends were great—they were willing to take me shopping, to talk to me about these feelings. I really just assumed that everyone I knew would be on board, or they wouldn’t be in my life.
My girlfriend was actually the most helpful. There’s always this fear that when you’re revealing something like this that your partner won’t understand it, or it will really affect the relationship, but she’s been one of my most vocal supporters. Obviously it changed our dynamic, because we’re no longer in a straight relationship. There were a lot of things I needed her to change so that I could feel the way I needed to feel—things about how we spoke to each other and how we related to each other that became very different after I transitioned. Our relationship has become a lot closer and stronger since then. We’d only been dating for a few months when all this started, now we’ve been together for three years.
On the First Steps
The first thing I did was change the pronouns I used to she and her, just to make sure it felt right. I didn’t want to go through the trouble of buying new clothes if just changing my pronouns felt weird. My mom wanted me to use they/them/their, I guess as a gateway, but that didn’t feel right. The next thing I did was experiment with makeup, which I was comfortable with because I had been a theatre kid. There’s often this expectation in the trans community that trans women become super feminine–like full ‘50s pin-up, dresses and kitten heels, all of that–like you have to be even more feminine than “real” women. That was never who I wanted to be.
I started hormone therapy about a year ago. That has been a really positive thing. It wasn’t a necessity, but it has made my life a lot better, just in terms of looking in the mirror and not hating what I see. It’s not that I necessarily had issues with my body before hormones, but I understood that people wouldn’t see me as a woman unless I changed certain things, and I hated that.
But during the first few months of hormones, it wasn’t a great time for me or my relationships. I was just really angry all the time. That did pass eventually, but honestly, I’ve never felt like I perceived or received emotions the way men traditionally do. That whole expectation of stoicism, or the lack of emotion that’s pushed on men–my mom raised me not to be that way. So that made my emotional transition easier, since I was outside the binary of masculine emotional expression. I was already able to express myself emotionally.
For my birthday this year, my mom is coming with me to get my legal name and gender marker changed. I feel like I’m not even halfway done on this journey. I still feel very young, very new at all of this. I know that my experience has been very outside the binary. The stories we’ve heard are all, I played with dolls as a kid, and I knew I was different, and no one let me express it and then I came out. But I liked my childhood. I was fine with being a guy until I thought about the other options. I just found something better.
Willa, 33, recently decided to freeze her eggs.
On Dating in Her 30s
I’ve known I wanted to be a mother from as early as I can remember. I overthink almost everything, and the only two things I’ve ever been certain about are that I like swimming and I want kids. When I think of a life without kids, my heart sinks.
About a year ago, I found myself in a very low place. It hadn’t worked out with the last several men I’d liked, and with more than one of them it fell apart when we addressed having kids. I loved casual dating in my twenties, but as I got older, first dates became these bizarrely pressurized events in which all I could think was, Could I have kids with you? Could I marry you? If we did hit it off, I’d get invested so quickly that it broke my heart if, after a few dates, he quite reasonably said he didn’t feel it. It felt like every time I went on a date I took my heart and future in my hands and tentatively passed it over, hoping someone would say, “Oh, yes, I can take control of this.”
All of this was compounded by my job. I’m an academic, which means that my future is almost comically unstable. So I suddenly found myself considering not only whether a date could be a good father, but whether there was time to fall sufficiently in love by, say, mid-March, to consider passing up a job offer for him or asking him to move with me to, I don’t know, Kentucky. I began to feel genuinely a little crazy, and moreover, resentful. I resented my job for not allowing me to be stable enough, I resented men I dated for not being superhuman, I even began resenting my friends. Becoming someone who couldn’t support my friends was the worst–there was some crabby, cruel, slithering part of me that was furious. Most of all, I resented how I felt. I hated this version of me.
On Taking Control
So I sat down and worked out what I could control and what I couldn’t: I couldn’t control getting a job or meeting the perfect person, but I could control doing my work, and I could control my body. So I made a five-year plan, one that didn’t include geography (out of my hands), a specific job (ditto), or a partner (same). Instead I set three goals: 1. Finish my book; 2. Start trying for a kid; 3. Deadlift 250 lbs. I have never been more relieved than the moment I decided that I would like a partner, but I will have kids. And that’s when I decided to freeze my eggs.
Going to the doctor for the first time was wild. My fertility clinic is sort of bougie, and my doctor is excessively empathetic. There’s a lot of holding hands, or looking me deeply in the eyes and saying, “I understand, I want you to feel empowered to make this decision.” And then in the waiting room, they always have HGTV playing. So I sit there, sipping my K-cup coffee, watching the Property Brothers talk to some couple that needs a bigger house because their fourth is on the way, while around me couples try to look brave for each other.
My ability to do this on my own is due to structural privilege and good luck. My parents both offered to help me pay (do you have any idea what this bullshit costs?), and their reaction was delight, not despair (although they definitely still try to set me up with the sons of people they barely know). And actually, everyone has been supportive.
As with all matters of women’s health, we all think we’re terribly alone until we speak up over a dinner party and it turns out half the table has experience with what we’re going through. The men in my life have all been supportive, too, if a little baffled. I don’t think it occurs to them that women might be thinking of this—I suspect they think it’s for much older women? I don’t know. Maybe they just don’t go to dinner parties of lots of 30-something women talking about their sexual and reproductive health. Which, their loss, really.
On Becoming Herself Again
This decision has definitely changed how I see my life. Dating became fun again, I got to be genuinely delighted for my friends again. So much of the language of self-care can sound sort of simpering to me, but it’s amazing how much making this choice has allowed me to show up again for others. I still cry at weddings and births, but from joy, not from self-pity. It’s amazing how selfish self-pity can make you, how small and mean it can make your world.
In a lot of ways. I feel like I’m testing out the edges of what I can control and then trying to, within that, feel more comfortable with what I can’t. I definitely feel less crazy. It’s nice to know I’m working towards what I want, rather than just sort of hoping it will happen. It has also freed up the mental space to try to really become okay with the terrifying idea of being a single mother. I’m not 100% there, but again: working on it!
Feature photo by Ernst Beadle/Condé Nast via Getty Images; collage by Emily Zirimis.
The post 3 Women Share Their Single Most Transformative Moment appeared first on Man Repeller.
Tom Hanks Introduces Us to Hot Dad Summer
Tom Hanks will not give it a rest. He refuses. He declines. He simply can’t. First, he made it impossible for me to hear the words “Halloween,” “October,” and “questions” without thinking of David S. Pumpkins. Now he has taken summer from my sweaty, ice cream-covered hands and I do not object. Allow me to explain. But first, gaze upon this image:
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A post shared by Rita Wilson (@ritawilson) on Jul 9, 2019 at 7:32am PDT
It was Tom’s birthday yesterday and he was out here DRESSING. Ray-Bans, bold print trunks, pristine white cap, and….a crisp cotton shirt coyly and confidently tied at the bottom. How breezy and unexpected. How flirty and carefree. It’s like he gave us a gift on his birthday. Who gave you the right, Thomas? It’s like he woke up on his birthday, kissed his beautiful wife Rita, accepted a FaceTime from Tom Everett-Scott, confidently chuckled and said, “I’ll leave the Hot Girl Summer to those who deserve it and stay in my lane with a temperate dad summer.” He’s one of the most beloved people on the planet with a Rolodex of the world’s most influential people and here he is just…standing next to some bushes, cheesing. If this isn’t pure aspirational content, I don’t know what is.
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In fact, his entire Instagram account is comprised of this same mix of complete normalcy as filtered through extreme fame and power. It is impossible to be his level of famous and live a normal life, and yet, Tom Hanks is trying. Everything he posts is imbued with the boy-next-door turned dad-next-door charm that made him famous. Take, for instance, his long-running and extremely popular series, “random single items on the ground/in the park/found at the beach”:
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Found. At bottom of the sea. 1 girls(?) shoe. To claim call 1- NEptune 44 66. Hanx
A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on Jul 18, 2018 at 7:28am PDT
It’s charming in its universal mundanity. Who among us hasn’t spotted a single shoe or glove and allowed one’s mind to wander to the who/what/where/when/why/how of the item? Even more delightful than happening upon a shoe in the street is happening upon TOM FUCKING HANKS taking a picture of a dirty shoe on the ground. Can you imagine? You’re balancing your Trader Joe’s wine store haul on your hip as you try to Venmo request someone you barely know for a drink you bought them four days ago when boop, there’s Oscar-winner Tom Hanks holding his phone at an angle above someone’s lost Puma.
He also signs his posts, “Hanx,” which is the famous version of my dad signing his texts “love, Dad” (capitalization his). Everything he does is art.
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Here’s a still from the movie I’m shooting in Baton Rouge. Hanx
A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on Apr 10, 2018 at 9:52am PDT
Look at this! Look at how cute he was! Look at how funny and random this caption is! I just need to believe that this man is committed to everyone having a nice time.
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What a team! Thank you, USA Women, winners of the Coupe Mondial Feminene! Hanx
A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on Jul 8, 2019 at 7:25am PDT
And here he is supporting the US Soccer team with a blurry picture of Megan Rapinoe (Megan, please, I respect what you and Sue Bird have, I really do. But should things change and you want to live in hazy marital bliss with me for the rest of our lives like Tom and Rita, only say the word. Anywayyyyyyy. Best of luck in your lawsuit, you and the whole team deserve to be paid what you’re worth. I love you.) in a move that is on the same plane of charming as Tina Lawson always posting screenshots.
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A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on Nov 18, 2016 at 10:42am PST
And before we go, a final moment of appreciation for his Instagram franchise wherein he poses next to a car that he does not own and says, “got a new car.”
Happy belated birthday to Tom Hanks, the only one among us who truly deserves social media.
Feature photo via @ritawilson.
The post Tom Hanks Introduces Us to Hot Dad Summer appeared first on Man Repeller.
I Can’t Stop Bookmarking Bathroom Inspo on Instagram
I’m obsessed with cool bathrooms. Obsessed! It doesn’t take more than a quick scroll through the bookmarks folder on my Instagram to figure this out. Give me an interesting toilet and I will give you a solemn vow to flush untold hours down the drain while thinking about it. I’m not sure what it is about this unassuming household space that stokes my creative ardor so specifically, but I think it has something to do with the fact that bathrooms are, by nature, explicitly utilitarian, which makes it all the more impressive when that utility is approached in a visually compelling way. Scroll down for some recent bathroom faves I’ve saved and you’ll see what I mean.
The One That’s a Parisian Fantasy
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A post shared by Lucia Zolea (@luciazolea) on Jun 4, 2019 at 3:49pm PDT
This bathroom is exactly what I imagine my bathroom might look like if I had a quarter-life crisis, quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, got bangs, and moved into an apartment in Paris that was spacious but in sore need of renovating. In this alternate universe, despite the broken floorboard and leaky ceiling and possible asbestos problem, I fall in love with the apartment because Oh my goodness, the BATHROOM! The bathroom. It’s utterly charming, with a claw-foot tub and a huge gold mirror and swatches of paint on the wall as if the former owners were too busy making love and eating baguettes to choose one. You know?
The One Reinvigorating My Appreciation for Millennial Pink
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A post shared by Into The Gloss (@intothegloss) on Mar 29, 2019 at 2:33pm PDT
Millennial pink is alive and well inside creative director Clara Cornet’s bathroom, which is critical evidence that the color is still chicken soup for the soul when it comes to pure visual satisfaction, despite its over-saturated status. I’ve had this photo bookmarked for months and will admit I’ve occasionally entertained some internal bargaining over what I would offer in exchange for transplanting it into my own apartment. My entire living room has been optioned, not once but twice.
The One That Turns a Toilet Into ART
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A post shared by Cat Morrison (@__s____o) on Oct 5, 2018 at 8:36am PDT
I dislike the idea of a bathroom with black ceilings and floors in theory, but when the fixtures within all resemble a bowl of Jordan almonds, who am I to resist? And furthermore, who am I to complain about the human scourge that is needing to urinate multiple times daily if that activity was rendered upon a pastel throne? I am no one!! (Except, as might be obvious, a very big fan of this bathroom).
The One With a Garden View (and So Much More)
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A post shared by sarah mahini. (@sarahmahini) on May 27, 2019 at 11:28am PDT
I loveeeee a whimsical tile. So much that I like to imagine myself as an old lady someday whose Secret Single Behavior involves conversing aloud with the various characters, whether animal or mineral or vegetable, that decorate her bathroom walls. We’ll all keep up our hygiene together like a merry crew of conspirators. Bonus points if I also manage to snag a bathroom with a garden view.
The Other One That’s *Also* a Parisian Fantasy
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A post shared by Pernille Teisbaek (@pernilleteisbaek) on Mar 20, 2019 at 3:09am PDT
Well would you look at that? I’m back inside my Parisian apartment fantasy, except this time I’ve brought a pal with me (Jeff Goldblum? IDK just spitballing), and because we’re so obsessed with nurturing the buds of our new fling and can’t stand the idea of spending a single millisecond apart, Jeff—dearest Jeff, as brilliant as he is strange—suggested that we secure not one but two bathtubs for the purpose of shampooing side by side.
Are you as obsessed with bathrooms as I am? Have you bookmarked any juicy ones lately? Do tell.
Photo by Francois Halard.
The post I Can’t Stop Bookmarking Bathroom Inspo on Instagram appeared first on Man Repeller.
Stylist Rachael Wang on How Sustainable Fashion Changed Her Life
But the year is now 2019 and we all know what’s up because it’s been up for quite some time. The question is no longer whether there is any good-looking sustainable fashion, but instead which brands suit your specific tastes and priorities. I’d say there’s an embarrassment of riches out there, but there’s no reason to be embarrassed when you’re wearing beautiful clothing that doesn’t send you into a shame spiral the second you think about how it was produced.
Rachael Wang photographed by Beth GarrabrantAnyway: Rachael! We worked together at Nylon magazine years ago, where I wrote copy for her market pages. After that, she was a fashion editor at Style.com and Allure, before she decided to take a sharp turn, resigning from her position as a fashion director to pursue a career on her own, as a stylist and consultant focused on inclusiveness and sustainability.
These values now inform every facet of her life, from her beauty regimen—her Top Shelf is very impressive—to the people with whom she collaborates. (Her shoot for Man Repeller, for example, took place at Brooklyn-based aquaponics farm Oko, which is owned by Yemi Amu, who she met at a Sustainable Brooklyn symposium.)
Her commitment to a new way of working and living is inspiring and her eye is as sharp as ever—so please enjoy these photos of some of her favorite brands and styles right now, along with a conversation about what quitting your job to bushwhack your own path really looks like.
I remember noticing that you started talking about sustainable fashion shortly after you left Allure. When did you become interested in it—around that time or even earlier?
I think I was starting to become more aware of it [before then], but I had a moment in 2016 when I went to Standing Rock to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. I was very moved by the Indigenous resistance there, and their connection to the land and the earth and reverence for the planet and mother nature and the importance of passing down that type of wisdom from generation to generation. After that—in combination with the political environment—my perception of how I was living my life just shifted. I went to work on a Monday and was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ It just didn’t feel right to me, in my gut.
So at that point, I felt like, okay, I can either leave the fashion industry altogether and find a career path that better suits my values or I can try to leverage my experience and see if I can find a way to continue in the fashion industry, but try to have more control and align my values with what I’m doing and make a living.
And how did you approach that change?
For a little while, I actually tried to do that at Allure. I tried to make more of an effort to educate myself on sustainable fashion and fair wages and to include brands [with those practices] in the pages of the magazine—and promoting a holistic standpoint of human liberation in general. I tried that for a few months, and it just wasn’t working. I didn’t really feel like I had that much power, even though I thought I would. I felt like I would be able to be more effective on my own, being a little bit more nimble, and seeing what was out there and just hoping for the best.
Obviously you know this, but fashion is an industry where people get into positions of power and then they never move. They don’t really care about their job, they don’t really put a lot into it, and it’s just a cushy thing and they collect a paycheck. I didn’t want to be that person.
So when you decided that instead of trying to work within the system you were going to create your own system—did you run that idea by any friends?
I didn’t. Maybe I should have? [laughs]
I didn’t imagine you would, honestly.
Yeah, I’m glad I didn’t, because I’m sure everyone would have been like, ‘What are you talking about? That’s impossible. There’s no infrastructure to do that or brands you can work with.’ Everyone is scared of change. The whole industry is so systematic about the way things are done—I mean, look at the conversation on the fashion calendar. No one can agree on what we’re doing and it needs to change but it’s not changing. Trying to do something in a different way is challenging, but I just couldn’t do it [the usual way] anymore, so I didn’t really have a choice. So I just jumped and hoped I would land on my feet.
I started working when I was so young, and I feel very, very lucky that I was raised by a single mom [who] taught me the value of money. I never worry about not being able to find work, and that’s partially privilege, but I’m also willing to do any job to make money. I was like, “If I have to go work at a store or be a waitress or do a job that’s not in line with the career path that I’ve been in because of these choices I’m making, then so be it.” I had to really grapple with my ego, but that gave me the freedom to jump and figure it out. I feel like the universe caught me in a way. I was so lucky that people came out of the woodwork to support me going freelance and connected me with brands and opportunities they thought I would be a good fit for. It was amazing.
How has prioritizing sustainable fashion changed how you personally get dressed?
I’m just more thoughtful about everything I consume. I find more contentment wearing what I already own because I feel good about it. I think that’s one of the amazing things that’s happening in the industry now: sustainability is becoming trendy, for better or worse. At least it’s becoming more visible, so people can feel better about wearing what they already own or wearing second-hand, taking their things to the tailor to get it reworked. People can feel really good and proud about that and not feel bad about not buying the newest thing.
When we worked together at Nylon, wearing a high-low mix was the trendy thing. I’ve always thought of you as having eclectic style. Has sustainability changed that? Or are you getting the same kind of look without fast fashion?
I’m thinking about it in a different way. I feel very lucky that I grew up in a place like L.A. where thrifting and second-hand and vintage has always been valued. I tutored and worked at an ice cream shop when I was in high school, and I would take some of the money I made and go to Goodwill and buy a bunch of things and then go home and play with them and rework them. So I’ve always really, really loved buying vintage, and the hunt for amazing second-hand things that would fit me.
At Nylon, I thought of the high-low mix as more about the mix of what people have access to and getting inspired by what you see around you—on the runway or whatever it is—and then getting the look with things that are acceptable to you. Instead of buying fast fashion now, which I’m obviously much more mindful of, I look for pieces that are going to last much longer and live through several washes and I’m probably going to be paying higher price points for [that]. I mix those in with second-hand things or stuff I already own.
So, I do still feel like I have an eclectic personal style, though I’m certainly more geared toward a uniform than I’ve ever been in my life. I think that’s a combination of age and putting all my creative energy into the work I do.
On a really practical level, how often do you turn down jobs now because it’s just not a brand or company you’re willing to work with?
That’s a complicated question. I think the amazing thing about putting my intentions out into the world is that I’m starting to be hired or sought out specifically for my take, which is such an insane magical thing. I think that’s partially the beauty of the internet and Instagram: You wear your heart on your sleeve, you talk about the work you’re doing, and you show imagery that coincides with your values, and then all of a sudden people find you based on that.
But I don’t want to paint a picture that I’m perfect or that all of the jobs that come to me are for these perfect companies. I do certainly turn down some jobs that go against hard-line beliefs I can’t get behind, but to be perfectly transparent, I don’t have enough privilege at this point to turn down every job that’s not working for a woman of color-owned business that’s fully transparent in offsetting their carbon emissions, ethical in production, sustainable in manufacturing, and offering paid family leave and fair wages to their employees. Honestly, I don’t even know if there is one brand that incorporates all those values.
Though most opportunities aren’t perfect, if I feel like I can make an impact in some way— whether internally or visibly with the outcome of the content we’re creating—I’m up for the challenge. I obviously look forward to a future when I can make a living working for brands like the one I described before. It’s not realistic at this point and there are fine lines I have to navigate on a case-by-case basis.
This makes me wonder if you’ve considered starting your own brand….
I would love to, that would be so cool. I would totally geek out on putting energy toward researching amazing materials and textiles. [But] I would only do it if I could do it right. It would take a lot of research, technology, and effort to find better ways to do things than there are now. I’m overwhelmed by that prospect and how much capital it would take. If there was a pre-existing brand that I could work with on a capsule or something, that would be so cool.
“Zara’s ‘Join Life’ line includes the most sustainable products they produce. They’ve made big efforts to change their impact on the environment and put a lot of research into the chemicals they use. They have the info up on their website, so smaller brands can incorporate into their own production, which is a great thing.”Kordal top, Maggie Marilyn skirt, Zara Join Life shoes, Melissa Joy Manning necklaceIn terms of shopping, what do you do when you need a cheap thrill? That’s something I’m working on—redirecting my brain and changing my habits in that way.
Totally. It’s interesting, I feel like I don’t get that pang anymore. I definitely do other activities that give me a thrill. This past weekend I did a DIY project where I tie-dyed old socks with boiled cabbage water. That’s something I learned about on the internet—that you can boil cabbage into water that turns purple, and then by adding vinegar or baking soda, you can change the purple to either green or blue. Then you just rubber-band your socks and toss them in. And now I have cool tie-dyed socks! Doing a fun project where I take something I already own and turn it into something new that feels trendy reminds me that instead of buying something maybe I can just do it myself. And not only do it myself, but make it natural. That is awesome.
I also have things tailored a lot. If I’m inspired by a new silhouette of a pant or a blouse or whatever, I’ll look in my closet for something I have, and I’ll change it. I found a local dry cleaner that has a pretty good tailor and I give them instructions. So that’s fun for me.
Otherwise I just like finding something different. Like, instead of shopping, now I’ll seek out new plant-based recipes and try to make it. Really aggressive ones. I made a vegan lasagna with homemade cashew ricotta and that fully took all of my attention and was creative and fun and playful and challenging.
When I read your Top Shelf interview I came away from it feeling like, “Whoaaa, I use way too many products.” And don’t even use that many! I wondered if you see a connection between your beauty and fashion routines. Does taking care of your body make fashion less of a Band-Aid or something?
Totally. It’s all consumption. Whether you wear it, eat it, use it on your skin, use it to clean your house, sit on it to watch TV—it’s all part of the same conversation on thoughtful consumption. For me, it was a slow process. It started with what I ate. I started by going plant-based, and then I eventually shifted my wardrobe to become animal-product free and more sustainable. Then that started to spread out into my beauty routine. It comes with time, but I do think they’re all part of the same conversation on consumption. There’s definitely a connection between reading beauty product labels and looking for natural ingredients in the same way you look for natural fabric. I also try to eat in the same way I buy beauty products: as holistically and clean as possible. It’s just a holistic worldview of trying to consume less, be a better person from the inside out, and being more accepting and loving of myself in the same way that I want to be more accepting and loving of the people around me.
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Stylist: Rachael Wang
Photographer: Amber Mahoney
Model: Lee Armoogam
Producer: Harling Ross
Prop Stylist: Melissa Walbridge
Makeup: Linda Gradin
Hair Stylist: Eric Williams
Market: Elizabeth Tamkin
Stylist Assistants: Raziel Martinez and Grace Tully
Shot on location at Oko Farms
The post Stylist Rachael Wang on How Sustainable Fashion Changed Her Life appeared first on Man Repeller.
Once You Look Into a “True Mirror,” You’ll Never Be the Same
“Looking into it is like meeting yourself for the first time.” This is how the True Mirror experience was first explained to me many years ago—a description I would never forget. How unsettling, I thought, and then: I need to see it. It would be a while before I’d stumble upon a defendable reason to procure one, but then Vanity Month arrived at manrepeller.com, and finally the time was nigh.
When the True Mirror arrived, news spread around the office fast. Nobody except everybody wanted a look, but I made them wait as I inspected the strange contraption myself. According to its website, “[True Mirror] is formed by taking two special ‘front-surface’ mirrors and joining them at exactly 90 degrees to form a seamless, three-dimensional, non-reversed image.” The result is a mirror shaped like the corner of a room, which inverts your typical reflection (i.e., when you lift your right hand to touch your right cheek, the mirror reveals a hand on the left side of your face). In other words, it’s a total mindfuck. But I waited to take a good hard look myself.
“I feel like I’m going to be crooked,” MR Managing Editor Gyan said nervously when I called her into the fashion closet for a look. “Because in a lot of photos I have one eyebrow up, but in the mirror, I don’t see it. Why is that?” She approached the setup I’d created at the vanity table (haha) and took a seat. She was quiet for a moment, tilted her head back and forth. “It hurts my brain!” She appeared distressed, then laughed. “I feel like I’m sitting on a chair that’s sideways. I have one tiny eye and one giant eye. I feel like a Picasso painting!”
But like benevolent drunk girls in a bar bathroom, none of us agreed with each other’s critical assessments.
In Gyan’s face’s defense, she is gorgeous, but the first thing the True Mirror reveals, we’d all soon learn, is the tiniest asymmetries of the face. And it does this by halting the invisible orchestra of ticks and tilts we perform to straighten what appears crooked to us in a normal mirror. Without it, our faces look wrong. (Wrong!) This can happen with photos, too, but those aren’t necessarily accurate either—they flatten us, while mirrors don’t, which is why the True Mirror is so discombobulating.
Some other first reactions to it:
Nora, Partnerships Editor: “This is so weird! It’s like a funhouse mirror. This is hurting my brain. Is my head currently tilted? Can you tell I look lopsided? Oh my god…I can’t look away! I must conquer this.”
Amalie, Social Editor: “I hate this. One of cheeks looks so droopy! I also talk out of one side of my mouth. Ah it’s so weird to watch my mouth move! This reminds me: I knew I talked out of one side of my mouth when I was a kid and tried to do facial exercises to try to fix it. Obviously it did not work.”
Crystal, Operations Manager: “I don’t look that different! Wait. I feel like one side of my jaw is bigger than the other one? Actually, I feel good about this.”
Harling, Fashion Director: “Oh my god. Whoa. This is confirming that my face is very round—definitely rounder than in any mirror I’ve ever seen. Also one of my cheeks is higher than the other. Also my nose is slightly tilted. Also one of my eyebrows is like a full inch higher than the other. I look like I’m constantly questioning something. How have you never pointed this out to me?”
A sampling of things I discovered: the left side of my face is narrower than the right side (as are its features???); my mouth does not sit on a flat plane but rather slopes slightly down and to the right; my right eye is lower than my left. Your standard Frankenstein fare.
But like benevolent drunk girls in a bar bathroom, none of us agreed with each other’s critical assessments. In fact, I couldn’t spot a single asymmetry in any of the faces I called into the fashion closet despite each person’s insistence on their existence. This got us all wondering: If we’re all subconsciously correcting each other’s asymmetries, the way we do to ourselves in a normal mirror, what “truth” does the True Mirror actually reveal? You know, aside from the tender self-obsession evidently coursing through all of our veins. (I maintain there’s nothing wrong with being curious about your own dumb face—it’s with you all the time and charged with projecting your inner world.)
The real answer to True Mirror’s value prop, at least for me, came once the self-criticism took a backseat to the actual experience. (This is often the answer, isn’t it?) It’s bizarre to see your face move in three dimensions this way. It tricks your brain into feeling like you’re looking at another person and, in doing so, reminds you that you are, in fact, a person. Distinct from a brain and a pair of eyes passively receiving the world like a camera lens. I wasn’t aware I needed this particular reminder, but then again, I’m so often surprised by what I need.
If you’re in pursuit of this kind of truth, I recommend you take a look.
Collages by Madeline Montoya.
The post Once You Look Into a “True Mirror,” You’ll Never Be the Same appeared first on Man Repeller.
July 9, 2019
I’ve Been Thinking About Ariana Grande’s ‘Vogue’ Cover Story All Day
Vogue’s new cover debuted today, and the accompanying story is an uncomfortable read. This has less to do with the writing, which was pretty standard Vogue fare, than what the interview revealed: about both the rawness of Grande’s mental and emotional state, and the odd state of celebrities profiles in general. Grande was her usual quippy, casually vulnerable self, offering details about her struggles with relationships, coping through work and alcohol, and setting boundaries, breaking down in tears multiple times as she did so. It was the same Grande we’ve come to know, but this angle changed the way I interpreted all the things I thought I’d already seen.
For the past few years, I’ve felt like social media finally killed celebrity profiles. And I didn’t blame it! Or celebrities! I can understand why famous people have a preference for the direct connection Instagram, Twitter, and the like offer, which allows them to control their own image, rather than leave it to a person who might depict them as an out of touch truffle-fry-lover. (There’s a reason the most iconic celebrity profile of all time—written pre-internet—is a story about a writer being repeatedly blown off by his subject.) And writers of profiles are increasingly dealt a losing hand these days: Even when they’re granted an interview, chances are writers will have extremely limited time with their subject, and the story itself will end up feeling like a predictable Mad Lib of canned quotes between descriptions of them gingerly tucking into their salads. (Even my description of a cliché profile is cliché!) That’s why the best ones written in more recent years tend have needed a really good gimmick to get any attention. Celebrity profiles have become, at best, a cursed genre.
But Vogue’s Grande story made me wonder if these stories have a purpose again. Yes, we may feel like we already know everything about Grande because she’s been so emotionally generous on social media and in her work. But while her embrace of Twitter one-liners and diary-style Instagram photos (plus her T. Swift-style news-and-rumor-referencing lyrics) have given us intimate access to her life and her feelings about her life, they haven’t given us the whole story. And this is not a criticism of Grande—we know this because we are the editors of our own social media dispatches too.
But maybe the dispatches have a new use? In the case of Grande’s story, they set up the celebrity profile to dig deeper, faster, since we’re all caught up on the backstory that’s been offered to us in piecemeal posts. (Vogue writer Rob Haskell notes that Grande cried for the first time only nine minutes into their interview.) Vogue’s profile was hard to read for this reason—her struggles and her sadness were no longer packaged by her, and her lack of control over that made her appear more vulnerable than ever. (How interesting it would have been if this story had been written by a woman who also shares a lot of her personal life online.) For her part, Grande said she’s pulling back on all her social-media sharing, but not in a “corny” way (as she put it)—so maybe she, too, is now finding use for a different mode of communication.
Although the New York Times already published an obituary of celebrity profiles, maybe it’s not so simple. It seems more likely to me that one type of story doesn’t need to die in order for the other to live. Instead, they create a more textured narrative in combination.
It reminds me of a quote about what makes a satisfying story that I often revisit—it’s an ending that gives the reader not a “surprise,” but an “amazed understanding.” In the case of our current media consumption, social media posts are the surprise, and cover stories—with their third-person perspective and the conversational interview format, which causes more pithy stars to elaborate—have a chance at offering the amazed understanding. In the case of Grande, there’s value in the fact that she’s invited so many people to relate to her experience by coping publicly online, but the profile reveals the deeper understanding that grief is a messy, real-time slog. A slog that doesn’t edit itself down to appease character limits and is un-photogenic, no matter how flattering the light.
Did you guys read the story? What did you think of it? What do you think of celebrity profiles overall? Do you read them? If so, which ones are your favorites?
Cover photographed by Annie Leibovitz, for Vogue, August 2019.
The post I’ve Been Thinking About Ariana Grande’s ‘Vogue’ Cover Story All Day appeared first on Man Repeller.
Unconventional Life Hack: Pack Your Suitcase Irresponsibly
The very same dress had earned me looks of disapproval from more modestly dressed tourists on a hike up to a castle earlier that morning, but I had been too busy trying to angle my feet so that the pearl studs hanging off my sandals wouldn’t chafe my toes to notice. Back at the Airbnb that night, I rifled through my suitcase in search of physical proof that I was the well-prepared, seasoned traveller I believed myself to be. Instead I found two pairs of hot pants, a bonafide ball gown, and precisely nothing resembling a sneaker. I had spent almost a year planning for a mammoth, month-long trip that would take me from sunny Lisbon to my college graduation in Northern Scotland, through Russia and into Southern Siberia. I had sifted through the websites of enough budget airlines to start my own travel agency and run out to Duane Reade to pick up “just one more thing, just in case” at least a dozen times, and yet somehow my suitcase looked like it had been packed by a toddler running away from home.
Over the course of the past year, I have realized that being a good packer and being a practical packer are two very different things.
Allow me to defend myself for a moment here. On paper, I’m really good at packing. I haven’t checked a bag in years. I have enough mini bottles of beauty products to moisturize a colony of Glossier-loving mice. I always have ample pairs of underwear for reasons best explained by this meme. It’s when I unzip said carefully folded-and-rolled carry-on that things get…questionable. I made it from Portugal to Russia and managed to dress appropriately for a variety of events that included a black-tie ball and a pilgrimage into the Ural Mountains. (Okay, I did wear a bikini top as a shirt a few times, but mostly it was fine). When I arrived for Christmas morning festivities in snowy Utah dressed in what I thought was a perfectly suitable pair of blue knit bloomers and matching Fair Isle sweater only to be laughed at (good-naturedly, of course) by my family, I began to catalogue the disparity between the things I chose to pack and the things everyone around me chose to pack.
Over the course of the past year, I have realized that being a good packer and being a practical packer are two very different things. When I posited this concept to my best friend, she reminded me of a trip we had taken together where she had bragged about her ability to stuff a tiny bag full of black-and-white pieces that would theoretically function as a simple, crisis-proof wardrobe. When we arrived, she instantly found herself numbed by boredom with the things she had packed, and we spent the trip sharing things from my suitcase.
I’m curious about this phenomenon that occurs when we pack to travel–this desire to pare our style down into something sleek and palatably inoffensive. Is it a product of too many camel coat/white tee/black jeans “capsule wardrobe” packing lists? Or is it a deeper fear of sticking out in an already unfamiliar place?
While I’m no closer to finding an answer to this question, I have embarked on a one-woman battle against packing boredom. The solution? Filling a suitcase with whatever the heck I want and paying no mind to the practical concerns of pattern-clashing, over/under-dressing, or comfort. I used a family trip to Italy this month as an excuse to throw caution (and, um, the weather forecast) to the wind and really take my theory to the streets. Before departure, my sister asked for a copy of my packing list to cross-reference with her own. I sent her a screenshot from my iPhone notes and she responded with: “wtf. NOT helpful!! I can’t make a single outfit with anything on this list.” Thus fully satisfied with the inauguration of my experiment, I set off for the airport, camera loaded to document my impractical journey.
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Photos provided by Ruby Redstone.
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The Best Part of Couture Week Was Barely Visible
I’m talking about the shoes. But not just any shoes! The shoes that you might miss entirely because the outfit they are paired with is a mouthwatering feat of aesthetic glory. The shoes that are nearly imperceptible until you catch a glimpse of something—an unexpected detail, a bloom of perfect contrast—that suddenly makes it impossible to think of anything else.
At Chanel, this phenomenon manifested in black patent leather loafers with subtly pointed toes and a high lip. They were styled with tweed evening gowns and ruched pedal pushers and sleepwear moonlighting as daywear, effectively making me question why I have more shoes than I have space to store them when all I really need is just this one. They reminded me of the Belgian shoes my mom wore in the 90s, which promptly sent me down a Google rabbit hole that led me to this eBay page where various Belgian shoe relics lie in wait, on sale. Very tempted by these but may hold out for an all-black pair.
At Dior, a similar magic arose thanks to the whisper-thinnest of gladiator sandals. I saw them paired with a beret and a short-sleeve trench and a single dangling earring and thought to myself, I would totally watch this remake of Sherlock Holmes. I saw them emerging delicately from black silk trousers enwrapped in a sweeping black cape and thought to myself, if Meryl Streep doesn’t wear this on the red carpet I will pound my fists on the barnacle-encrusted table of global injustices. I saw this $60 alternative on Shopbop and thought to myself, don’t mind if I do!
At Valentino, the translucent shoes were quite literally invisible, save for black, gold, and green bows that almost looked like they were floating next to models’ ankles. A trick made otherworldly by virtue of its simplicity, put forth in a context where‚—ironically—subtlety is actually more likely to stand out. There’s no better complement to the unseeable than the impossible-to-ignore, and there are few things more impossible to ignore than a coat bursting with thick yellow fringe. I’m not much of a DIY-er, but who am I to resist the temptation of tying this ribbon around these $48 clear sandals!?
What were your favorite takeaways from couture week, shoe-related or otherwise?
Photos via Vogue Runway and by Peter White, Stephane Cardinale – Corbis, and Victor VIRGILE via Getty Images.
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“There Is No Template,” and Other Career Advice That’s Easy to Forget
Today marks the final drop of this summer’s Repeller collection, so we decided to invite Studio Scissor’s own Lydia Turner, along with two of her industry-leading peers Roanne Adams of RoAndCo and Abby Muir to MRHQ’s Good Evening series to learn about the reality of pursuing a career in design—or anything, really. What ensued was a night of good advice and honest conversation (the best kind), facilitated by Man Repeller’s Director of Product Development, Dasha Faires.
Before I share some of the most compelling takeaways, a super-relevant heads up that we’ve also just launched a Good Evening site! Designed, of course, by putting all of Roanne, Abby, and Lydia’s advice into action. (Feels good.) Bookmark it so you can stay up to date on the latest MR happenings, get a preview of upcoming events, and sign-up for early access to tickets. And thennnnnn scroll down to hear about what else they taught us!
Lesson #1: There is no template
Sometimes I feel like there’s a set plan for every aspiring young professional. Take some APs, go to a good college, major in something that guarantees a good job, get an internship, get the aforementioned job, get 2.5 kids and a beagle. Lydia Turner did that. She started her own studio with the proverbial “businessman” that we all know and likely do not love. They had an office on Mercer Street, the whole professional nine yards. “It was really what I thought I wanted,” she said. “Because that’s what New York City wants you to do: have employees, wear fancy clothes, show up to meetings… And I hated it.” Rather than do the open office floor plan and have weekly check-ins, she chose to close the whole office, which was an extremely painful and difficult decision.
Roanne Adams, founder and creative director of RoAndCo, had a similar experience: After working in an office that played bad music and where she felt “removed from New York.” she quit completely to go freelance and, by 25, she was out on her own. “I just wanted to sleep in,” she said with a laugh. “I was overly confident then.” But honestly, is it overly confident if it works?
Lesson #2: Cubicles aren’t cool anymore, MOM
After closing down her office, Lydia needed to relearn where she worked best. Turns out she works best when she’s at the opposite of an office: places of leisure. She now works in Hawaii two months out of the year (yep) and in other stereotypically relaxing places and, curiously, gets more done than she ever did in an office. She calls her time in Hawaii “work vacations,” and she goes to be productive in a quiet place while eating pineapple and starfruit. And at her own Studio Scissor, she has the ability to work exactly how she needs to. No judgment. No pressure.
Roanne had a similar moment of transition, but came to a slightly different solution. Her studio, RoAndCo, wasn’t initially a fun place to work. She noticed people were competitive and sometimes straight-up mean. So she made the conscious decision to look inward to solve the problem, and now practices and preaches mindfulness and meditation in her office. “Do you ask for negativity?” and “Do you need to change your approach?” are questions she asks herself constantly.
Lesson #3: No one does it alone
From the very beginning of the conversation, they addressed the hard stuff. As Lydia Turner put it bluntly: “It’s not an accident that we’re three white women sitting up here.” She acknowledged that, yes, all women have to work extra-hard to get ahead, but she’s still starting with an advantage because of her race. “I can’t talk about how I got here without talking about that,” she said. Similarly, as the conversation moved on to how all three ladies got the courage to go out on their own, Lydia pointed out that the glamorous narrative of striking out all on her own is not the full story. After shutting down her studio, she received a loan from her brother-in-law and a computer from her father. Abby’s first job came from an internship a professor at Parsons had given her. In other words, they worked hard to get where they are, but it’s important to remember that the whole “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” way of thinking works far more easily when you have someone to help you put them on first.
Lesson #4: If you like it, you’ll work on it
In a world of clickbait and listicles (which can be fun, tbh), I can imagine it would be tough for people who work in tech to feel inspired sometimes. But when asked about what gets them going, all these women said the same thing: projects with purpose and personality. Abby’s cited a recent project as one of her most inspiring: “The design of the site is not the most revolutionary, but because it’s helping to serve a group that really needs it, it means a lot,” she explained, underlining the truism that purpose beyond paying the bills can be one of work’s greatest motivators.
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If you want to see some of Lydia, Roanne, and Abby’s work, check out their websites, which I just linked. And if you to see our next talk IN THE FLESH, you now know where to find us!
Photos by Ken Castaneda.
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