Leandra Medine's Blog, page 47

One-Sentence NYFW Reviews Day 2: PRISCAVera, Monse, and More

Man Repeller’s famous (in niche circles) one-sentence reviews are BACK and better than ever (I predict), so floss your teeth and tie your shoelaces, my elegant mongooses (just Googled and the plural of mongoose is regrettably not “mongeese”). We’ll be whipping up dispatches like they’re the fashion week equivalent of egg whites, occasionally light on actual fashion but perpetually heavy on the spice that is LIFE ITSELF–the emotions, the celebrity sightings, the subway delays, the elaborate snacks, the joy of staring at the back of a familiar head, etcetera! This page will be updated once a day, every morning, with the prior day’s insights and observations, so don’t forget to check back. See you in the comments.

Day Two
PH5

Walking up to the Ph5 presentation, located at the Standard Highline, I was almost blown away, literally, by a freezing wind tunnel on West 13th Street. Maybe appropriate, because I soon entered a warm room with a digital mountainscape as its backdrop and models wandering around in various cold-weather gear, like an incredible recycled boiled wool twinset, a dainty cotton shirt layered under a ski suit, a fresh take on a balaclava, girly socks paired with hiking boots, patchwork cotton puffer jackets, and hemlines with ski slope curves (as Mallory noted in our Fashion Week Slack channel, “the era of gore-tex-chic really is upon us”). Hot cider in clear glasses was served alongside the collection at a bar looking over the Hudson River, and design duo Wei Lin and Mijia Zhang were milling around chatting with everyone, answering questions, catching me taking a selfie with a model in my Ph5 cardigan from FW18. Only part of the collection was on view, but you can see the rest on Vogue.com (and you should, bc it’s goooooood). —Elizabeth

PRISCAVera

In the belly of midtown, a small but elegant library was the backdrop to PRISCAvera’s runway show, which was a mix of grunge and street and intriguingly quiet style. Juxtapositions! I was perched in a balcony section with Sabrina overlooking the scene, where we watched the show’s edgy attendants, who all seemed to hug and know each other. Then, the grand finale! The final circuit of models arranged themselves for display in the library stacks opposite us, all dressed in muted colors accented by small shocks of pink or neon, and without fail–a pair of Nike sneakers. —Amalie

Rag & Bone

At Vesey Studios—a new venue that’s waaaay over on the west side close to the Freedom Tower, but near zero immediate subways, FYI—Rag & Bone showgoers sat in a dark room on risers. Beverages were served in dimly lit kiosks around the perimeter of the space, like at a concert. The lights were extremely low and remained low throughout the entire show, with models illuminated only by spotlights. Sitting next to my seat mate, show beer in hand, I witnessed slouchy sturdy boots paired with slip and long knit dresses, oversized plaid shorts paired with tall boots (you heard it here first!), and sleeve cuffs hanging wayyyyy past the models’ wrists. Looks were cozy and comfy: fair isle knits and flowy ponchos, and my favorite, sheer black tights paired with open toed platforms and … sneakers!! This entire collection said “well-dressed cold-weather commuter-wear” and I’m here for that. —Elizabeth

Monse

Calling all fans of the uneven hemline, still riding the side of the 90s train that was highly inspired by English punk, feeling experimental enough to affix both safety pins and crystals to their tights: I have the fashion show for you! Monse, held on Wall Street at 6pm yday (I’m writing this from 6 a.m. the next day, fyi) had a ton of tartan baked into suiting, lots of mens tweed, a hodgepodge of both those aforementioned safety pins and crystals and Eva Chen, dressed as a #stickofbutter in the front row, was wearing a newsboy cap. —Leandra

Day One
Christian Siriano

The red (actually, pink) carpet leading to my first Christian Siriano runway show was almost more exciting than the main event, seeing as it was loaded with celebs like Heidi Klum, Tan France, Alexa Chung, and Rachel Bilson just rubbing elbows and talking about celeb stuff. The clothes themselves—punk and candy-colored—told me that if you thought the aughts were exempt from the 20-year nostalgia cycle, you’re entirely wrong, but that’s okay because the coup de foudre of the evening was watching Leslie Jones absolutely lose it over Coco Rocha walking in her Siriano couture. —Amalie

Rachel Comey

You gotta picture this scene—we’re at La Mercerie (a swanky-ass restaurant attached to a store that sells the kind of furniture that decorates lofts and park-view apartments), which is directly next to Stadium Goods on Howard and Mercer and a group of no more than 60 people (including Molly Ringwald and Cindy Sherman!!) are seated around six-ish tables when Mx Justin Vivian Bond (a transgender artist and downtown staple) takes the stage, or at least podium, and starts to sing “You’re So Vain.” Then out walk a bunch of fashion looks on models who are also Interesting People in the World, but the show’s not done yet! After the first group of models complete their traipse, an SVP at the Center for Reproductive Rights promptly takes the microphone and first asks us if we like her dress (it’s Rachel Comey), but mostly she’s there to talk about a Supreme Court rally in DC on March 4th, which causes my table to charge into a conversation about abortion rights until Mx JVB comes back out to sing again and show us more clothes (camp socks and boots r the thing, btw, and so many unexpected sparkle trims are peeking out of knitwear; there’s also slightly acid-wash denim, in jumpsuits and pants and jackets, which, duh). Then! Aminatou Sow talks about friendship and it is so heartwarming and she’s wearing kooky glasses that make her look so cool and this fitted checkered Rachel Comey dress from a season’s past. She says, “Some of my best memories have occurred in Rachel’s clothes” and I swear I’ve just fallen in love with her. By this point my table is wrapped in a conversation about the Iowa Caucus and art funding and the trim on a sweater we all just saw and just before the final tableau of models is to show, it becomes so obvious that this is what fashion week 2.0 should be like because at its best, this is what life is like: a bunch of different people, from different lives, with different perspectives, in a room, talking about stuff they care about, in clothes that make them feel strong. —Leandra

Photos via Vogue Runway and Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows

The post One-Sentence NYFW Reviews Day 2: PRISCAVera, Monse, and More appeared first on Man Repeller.

One-Sentence NYFW Reviews Day 1: Rachel Comey and Christian Siriano

Man Repeller’s famous (in niche circles) one-sentence reviews are BACK and better than ever (I predict), so floss your teeth and tie your shoelaces, my elegant mongooses (just Googled and the plural of mongoose is regrettably not “mongeese”). We’ll be whipping up dispatches like they’re the fashion week equivalent of egg whites, occasionally light on actual fashion but perpetually heavy on the spice that is LIFE ITSELF–the emotions, the celebrity sightings, the subway delays, the elaborate snacks, the joy of staring at the back of a familiar head, etcetera! This page will be updated once a day, every morning, with the prior day’s insights and observations, so don’t forget to check back. See you in the comments.

Day One
Christian Siriano

The red (actually, pink) carpet leading to my first Christian Siriano runway show was almost more exciting than the main event, seeing as it was loaded with celebs like Heidi Klum, Tan France, Alexa Chung, and Rachel Bilson just rubbing elbows and talking about celeb stuff. The clothes themselves—punk and candy-colored—told me that if you thought the aughts were exempt from the 20-year nostalgia cycle, you’re entirely wrong, but that’s okay because the coup de foudre of the evening was watching Leslie Jones absolutely lose it over Coco Rocha walking in her Siriano couture. —Amalie

Rachel Comey

You gotta picture this scene—we’re at La Mercerie (a swanky-ass restaurant attached to a store that sells the kind of furniture that decorates lofts and park-view apartments), which is directly next to Stadium Goods on Howard and Mercer and a group of no more than 60 people (including Molly Ringwald and Cindy Sherman!!) are seated around six-ish tables when Mx Justin Vivian Bond (a transgender artist and downtown staple) takes the stage, or at least podium, and starts to sing “You’re So Vain.” Then out walk a bunch of fashion looks on models who are also Interesting People in the World, but the show’s not done yet! After the first group of models complete their traipse, an SVP at the Center for Reproductive Rights promptly takes the microphone and first asks us if we like her dress (it’s Rachel Comey), but mostly she’s there to talk about a Supreme Court rally in DC on March 4th, which causes my table to charge into a conversation about abortion rights until Mx JVB comes back out to sing again and show us more clothes (camp socks and boots r the thing, btw, and so many unexpected sparkle trims are peeking out of knitwear; there’s also slightly acid-wash denim, in jumpsuits and pants and jackets, which, duh). Then! Aminatou Sow talks about friendship and it is so heartwarming and she’s wearing kooky glasses that make her look so cool and this fitted checkered Rachel Comey dress from a season’s past. She says, “Some of my best memories have occurred in Rachel’s clothes” and I swear I’ve just fallen in love with her. By this point my table is wrapped in a conversation about the Iowa Caucus and art funding and the trim on a sweater we all just saw and just before the final tableau of models is to show, it becomes so obvious that this is what fashion week 2.0 should be like because at its best, this is what life is like: a bunch of different people, from different lives, with different perspectives, in a room, talking about stuff they care about, in clothes that make them feel strong. —Leandra

Photos via Vogue Runway and Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows

The post One-Sentence NYFW Reviews Day 1: Rachel Comey and Christian Siriano appeared first on Man Repeller.

I Asked 3 Red Carpet Stylists What It’s Really Like to Dress Celebs

After years of styling people for Man Repeller photo shoots, I’ve become somewhat familiar with the unique varietal of intimacy that is dressing another adult human. More often than not, it involves wearing the hat of “amateur therapist” in addition to that of “stylist,” and navigating the complex cocktail of emotions, vulnerability, and identity-parsing that can arise from the simple but powerful act of putting on clothes. It is for this reason that I am deathly curious about what it’s like to be a celebrity stylist. Because imagine how much higher the stakes are when you’re engaging in this delicate dance with Reese Witherspoon. Or Viola Davis. Or Meryl Streep. I’m stressed just thinking about it!!! But I’m also fascinated and dying to know everything.

My sense of curiosity is particularly heightened during awards season, when the inundation of red carpet attire exacerbates my desire to glean all the juicy details behind how each look was chosen. Was there drama? Intrigue? Competition? A last-minute change? I HUNGER FOR THIS INFO. With the Academy Awards on this weekend’s imminent horizon, I decided to enlighten myself–and you, if you happen to share my zeal. Below, three celebrity stylists* myth-bust some of the most fun rumors I’ve heard about the business of dressing famous people.

*Names have been changed.

TRUE or FALSE: Everyone wears Spanx.
Gwyneth Paltrow  at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Award; January 05, 2020

Lillian: False. If they don’t need them, there’s no reason for them to wear them. I have a personal hatred for what I call “sports bra ass”–you know, like a tube of ass–which is the effect Spanx often conjures. It’s compacted, and it’s not sexy. Also, if you’re hoping to hook up at an after party, you don’t really want someone to touch your body when you’re wearing Spanx. It has that sausage feeling.

Billy: As far as women are concerned, I would say that’s true. You need every possible advantage when you step out on the red carpet. When you’re shooting a celebrity for a magazine, all you need is one good picture. When you’re on a red carpet, all a photographer needs is one bad picture of that person for it to go viral. Anything you can do to mitigate anything that makes the client insecure is an absolute must. I actually remember one particular Oscars night when I was getting an Academy Award winner dressed for the Vanity Fair party–she wanted to stay in her Spanx but had to wear a dress with a split that went up to her upper thigh, basically her hip bone. While she was standing there surrounded by friends and family and everyone who had been there with her through her long and very storied career, I was down on my hands and knees with a pair of scissors pressed against her thigh cutting a V-shape into her Spanx so they wouldn’t be visible on the red carpet. It was the most nerve-wracking moment of my life.

Natalie: False. They’re so uncomfortable and sometimes actually hurt the look by adding bulk more than help. As an alternative, I’ve had corsets made for my clients that are built into the dress. I also use a lot of adhesives, thongs, pasties, etc.

TRUE or FALSE: There’s A LOT of drama involved in working so closely with famous people.

Lillian: That depends on the person. With some people, there’s a lot of drama. Certain people who are actually cursed. Their zipper will break, their heel will break, their bra will somehow magically turn into the wrong size. And then with other people, you can pack them a bag full of shit and they’ll look great no matter what. 

Billy: It depends. By and large, most celebrities are very pleasant to work with, it’s the people they surround themselves with who are a source of a lot of heartache and drama. As a celebrity, you get to be nice by employing an agent and manager and publicist who are evil and terrifying to be around. That affords the actor or singer or whomever a great deal of latitude to be more carefree and down-to-earth. Behind the scenes, dealing with talent publicists is easily the worst part of the job. You have to bite your tongue and take whatever comes your way. I don’t really do much celebrity styling anymore, and part of the reason is because the prevailing emotion that permeates every day of your life is desperation. It doesn’t matter how important your clients are, you are just one disaster away from losing it all. Often, those disasters are foisted upon you by circumstances that are completely out of your control. You may work with an Academy Award-winning actress that every brand will dress, but your relationship with that actress is only as good as your relationship with her publicist. That publicist decides who hires you and if you come back for the next awards season, and that publicist might have 20 or 30 other clients who pay [your] bills. So you’re not just dressing Academy Award winners, you’re dressing the publicist’s B- and C-level clients that designers have no interest in. You have to find them looks in order to stay in the publicist’s good graces, and that’s the dance of celebrity styling. At any given time, there are probably only 200 or 300 celebrities that designers really care about dressing, and the rest of them are incidental. You have to find a way to satisfy those “less important” clients, or you’re not going to get the more important ones.

Natalie: True and false. Depends on the celeb! Everyone has a different personality and a different way of working. Some are way more difficult than others. I keep my cool by trying to be as easy and accommodating as possible. That’s part of the job–being ready and down for everything. And I mean anything. Some people want you to wait for them.. and wait… sometimes all day long. Others are quick and thoughtful about your time. I’ve been on set for 24 hours straight waiting for a client to do a fitting.

TRUE or FALSE: You have to compete with other stylists for the most coveted pieces.
Jodie Turner-Smith at the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences’ 11th Annual Governors Awards; October 27, 2019

Lillian: It depends. I’ll usually send requests to hold certain pieces right after a runway show, like, “I want these looks for the season. Please don’t give them away to anybody else,” or, “Listen, so-and-so wants to wear this and the event isn’t for three months, don’t give it away to someone else before.” With award season, though, a lot of stylists ask for exclusives. They’ll say, “Okay, my client is going to wear Givenchy to the Golden Globes, nobody else can be wearing Givenchy,” and the designer will grant that and then nobody else can call the brand in. But I don’t do that. I don’t get it. I don’t understand what it signifies other than a power trip. I think PR people like it because it means they’ll have less work trafficking all the samples. 

Billy: It’s certainly true that competition for the season’s best samples is stiff; that said, I think it’s pretty rare that stylists are feuding amongst each other for the best pieces, especially during award season. Stylists often commission custom gowns for major events, and top-tier designers typically supplement these offerings with capsules of evening-wear specifically made for the red carpet. I can recall a handful of incidents in which a stylist-to-stylist feud broke out over these samples, but it’s rare. The truth is, stylists are not really at war with each other—they’re collectively locked in a nonstop war of attrition with fashion publicists. These publicists are the ones who control the flow of product, and 48 weeks out of the year they are sadistically withholding. (Major red carpet events like award shows and film festivals are the rare exception to this otherwise ironclad rule.) The reason is simple: Despite their waning influence, magazines are voracious hoarders of product, and they exert an inordinate influence over fashion publicity firms. Ask any red carpet stylist where the good samples are hiding and they will complain to you bitterly about the 50 or so racks of clothing gathering dust in the hallways of Vogue.

Natalie: True. But the celebrity is normally the selling point. The more interested the brand is in dressing a certain girl, the more keen they are to send the dress to her. I send out requests as soon as I know my client has an event coming up.

TRUE or FALSE: You have to travel with your clients to award shows to hold their trains/steam the outfit again before getting out of the car.

Lillian: False. I don’t do that. I mean, you’re talking about 10 minutes in a car, what the hell is going to happen? Also, I couldn’t get credentials to go to the Oscars. They’re highly secure. Even the most famous celebrities have to take their ID with them. You can be nominated for an Oscar and still have to have your driver’s license or your passport in your bag.

Billy: I’d say that’s by and large false. I’ve only been to a premiere or show that my client was attending like five times in my whole career. There are outliers, though. For instance, some dresses are so large they don’t fit in the car, or so delicate they will immediately wrinkle—for example, that Dries van Noten dress Maggie Gyllenhaal wore to the Academy Awards in 2010 was beautiful, but all you saw was the wrinkles. In cases like these, you have to bring in a sprinter van and the actress will stand the entire way to the show. Once the dress is on, there’s not much you can do to re-steam it. You want to keep a steamer as far away from human flesh as possible. It’s like an iron, you can really hurt someone (I’ve heard horror stories). One awards season, I was working with a super high-profile male client who brought his mother to the Academy Awards as his date. Everything was perfect, her dress fit her well, we had a little trouble getting her zipped in, but she looked like a million bucks. We got her in the car and my colleague and I were high-fiving because we weren’t going to see them again for the rest of the night. Five minutes later, I hear a blood-curdling scream. The zipper on this $10,000 Prada gown had split when she sat down in the car. Luckily we had a backup dress. You always have to have a backup. Not only for the dress, but for everything. At the first event that I ever got someone ready for, I sent the girl off to the event at the Beverly Hilton, went home, opened a beer with my friends, and right then, I got a call. She was like, “The heel snapped on her shoe, how fast can you get back here?” I jumped in my car and I was there in 30 minutes with three other pairs.

Natalie: False. Only when it’s a big red carpet event. In general I just tell my clients to lay down if they’re riding in a car or get ready as close as possible to the time of the event! On big awards show nights, I allocate my time based on who books me first and who has the budget to pay to have me on set. Sometimes I’ll send an assistant, and sometimes people are okay to get themselves ready alone.

TRUE or FALSE: You don’t sleep during awards season.
Saoirse Ronan attends the EE British Academy Film Awards;  February 02, 2020

Lillian: Somewhat true. I feel anxious, so I don’t sleep. I worry about things. I’m not a great sleeper to begin with, so I spend a lot of time in bed thinking about things. I want the dress to be perfect. What’s going to make it look perfect? What’s going to fuck it up? I turn things over in my head over and over and over again. There are so many things that could fuck up the look–bad jewelry, weird hair, the wrong shoe, the wrong length. That’s what I obsess about.

 

Billy: That’s false. If you’ve done your job correctly, awards season should actually be one of the easiest times of the year for you. That’s when the designers are clamoring to get their clothes on your client. You’ve had everything plotted out from the moment your client was nominated. You’ve secured the best looks from the season, and anything you couldn’t secure you had custom made. You’ve made arrangements with the jewelers and shoemakers and bag companies. This is when all of the pieces fall together pretty easily if you know what you’re doing. I will say, you can plan as much as you want but life inevitably gets in the way. One awards season, we had commissioned a custom gown from a designer in Paris who is unparalleled in terms of his reputation. He didn’t dress celebrities for decades, and when he decided to dress someone again, it was our client. He told us that he was making something custom for the Academy Awards. For weeks, we were kept in the dark as to what he was making and it wasn’t until ten days before the show that his team sent a sketch at our insistence. Think about everything that you’d want out of a major awards show dress: color, volume, drama, a little bit of classic Hollywood. This was diametrically opposed to all of those things. It was a thick black velvet turtleneck gown. It was very interesting, but not right for our client and certainly not the Academy Awards. One of the hardest calls I’ve ever had to make was to call the designer’s assistant and tell her that she wasn’t going to wear it. It was too late to do a custom dress or pull something through the usual channels, so we had to go to extraordinary lengths to find a replacement.

Natalie: False. I sleep. I just go to bed the second I get off work and wake up and get right to work. I don’t have time or feel the need to go out and celebrate. It’s too exhausting trying to do both.

TRUE or FALSE: You bring your client hundreds of dresses and sometimes they choose none of them.

Lillian: No, I don’t do that. For an award show I provide between 5 and 15 choices and I almost always know before I go into a fitting what’s going to work, but I want to show them other things in case.

Billy: Absolutely true. I don’t know that “hundreds” is accurate, but I’ve definitely had fittings where we have six racks of gowns from top-tier designers and after trying on 50-60 options, the client says, “Where are the rest of them?” I remember one year for the Emmy’s, we worked with a high-profile actress who went on to win that year. She could only do fittings on Saturday mornings, so five weeks before the show we brought 100 dresses to her home and she didn’t like any of them. We went back the Saturday after that and the Saturday after that. We ended up doing four fittings with dresses and she didn’t like any of them. She ended up wearing a dress that she found on the third weekend, but right up to the day of the show, she kept asking me if there was anything else. Finally, her publicist had to intervene and finalize the choice. She was locked in at that point. If you’ve done your job well, you don’t need hundreds of dresses every time. It betrays a sense of fear to your client. If you really know your client, three racks of clothes will get the job done. It’s like walking into the supermarket–you have the world at your feet, and suddenly you have no idea what you want, because there are too many choices. At their absolute best, a stylist is an arbiter of taste. It’s rare that you get to work with a client who fully trusts you on that level, where they don’t expect to see heaven and earth. You have to keep in mind that at the end of the day, it’s really their publicist that you work for. You can love something, your client can love something, but if the publicist doesn’t like it, they have veto power. They have an image of what they want to create. The best-case scenario is that you have a hands-off publicist or a publicist who trusts you. What I’ve found is that most publicists are stifled/wannabe stylists and they vent that frustration by throwing sand in the gears of your tightest operation.

Natalie: Depends on the client. Some want racks of options and some want to be told what to wear. In the beginning of my career I used to bring a ton of options, but now I’m so comfortable with my clients and know their style well enough that I can do a tight edit with the confidence that something will work.

TRUE or FALSE: Styling celebrities is a vehicle for becoming genuine friends with them.
Awkwafina at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards; January 05, 2020

Lillian: That’s a tricky question. I’ve had some clients for over 15 years and to say that we’re not friends would be an insult, but I’ve made the mistake of thinking I was friends with certain designers or celebrities, and then gone on to realize it’s just business to them. In general, I try not to hang out with my clients outside of working together because I think it complicates things. Sometimes a friendship happens naturally, but I prioritize professionalism above all else. I want our dynamic to be really warm, and for them to feel cared for and loved, but I don’t want to hang out with them.

Billy: Absolutely false. Celebrity stylists and definitely stylists of a certain generation are terrified of their clients. “Celebrity” as a profession is one that can take over your entire life and can fill you with such insecurity and emptiness, and the space for friends and family needs to be filled by people without a profit motive. Historically, giving your client the luxury of not feeling obligated to entertain you socially has been the hallmark of a true professional. However, I think that’s starting to change with younger celebrities, especially with celebrities of the Instagram age, like the Kendalls and Kylies and Gigis. They have ushered in a whole class of stylists that don’t necessarily take the same route to the top that old-school fashion stylists have. Nowadays, a lot of people become stylists because they’re already friends with a celebrity.

Natalie: True and false. It’s all based on personality. If you vibe, you vibe, and if you don’t, you don’t!

Photos via Getty Images

The post I Asked 3 Red Carpet Stylists What It’s Really Like to Dress Celebs appeared first on Man Repeller.

Welcome to Fashion Week, This Post Has Nothing to Do With That

For the past three or four years, every time a new season of fashion week is about to start, I am overcome by this intense pressure to have a revolutionary opinion on The State of Fashion because, you know, it’s due for a revolution. But you know what? I give up. My opinion is net sum the same as it has been for a long time and maybe now I can freckle it with buzzwords that I didn’t have in my arsenal in years prior, or crystallize the sentiment in a way that was not available to me then, but fundamentally, here goes: if the primary purpose of fashion (for those who indulge) is to support us on our respective quests to tell the world who we are (or want to be), but we don’t need as much stuff to facilitate this level of expression for the simple reasons that the world is undergoing radical change and broadcasting expression in a non-committal, self-serving, and still satisfying way has become easy and possible for effectively anyone with any form of a Facebook account, why are we still trying to shove this evolving shape (the era of expression) into a not-evolving square peg (fashion week)?

I mean I get why we’re still trying to make it work–there are so many things at stake, like peoples’ brands and their lives and the macro-economic implications of letting an industry implode, but I’m running out of ways to say this and, frankly, in the spirit of the expression era, I’d rather talk about… my kids.

I don’t necessarily want to talk about what the best sippy cup is, or how to potty train (though honestly, I’m starting this process and it feels like, as David Rakoff once said, “pulling teeth from my dick”). I had a feeling before I had kids that I would not become the kind of mom who is passionate about discovering weekend activities for her toddlers, who knows who makes the best BPA-free flatware or what the most creative ways to sneak protein into their meals are and I just realized that I have felt guilty as fuck every time I am reminded that I was right. I’m not that mom. But typing this out is showing me that I’ve equated being that kind of mom with loving them. And make no mistake, I love my kids. No, no, I love my kids. But I guess what I feel like I can offer them is different from what I initially thought I had to offer them.

You know, it’s funny. My girls are obsessed with their dad. I got home from work yesterday and Madeline thought I was Abie, so she was running towards the door yelling “daddy,” her voice cracking from sheer excitement, and when she noticed it was me, she froze as if looking at a ghost, and slowly but surely, her lower lip began to quiver and out from the guts of her throat came a very loud shriek. She cried “No, mommy, where daddy?” It sucked but I realized I had a choice: I could either indulge my inner-victim and take it really personally, call my mom to cry about it, or tell Abie I give up, or ask my nanny to stay an extra hour so I could lie down and recover from the trauma of having a daughter who hates me OR I could buck the fuck up and stretch into my mom shoes, acknowledging that Madeline is my daughter and I love her unconditionally. Part of unconditional love necessitates a level of maturity, and that maturity is governed by this understanding that even if she thinks she hates me, or that her dad is better than me, she’s stuck! With me! Forever! And what a gift it is to be stuck with a mom who loves you so unconditionally that even when you cry because you hoped she was someone else, she gets down on her knees, pulls her arms out wide and leaves them open until you’re ready for an embrace. Could take years, Madeline, but I’ll still be here.

This, I think, is how my inner-victim is slowly but surely melting away.

Now I have to tell you something else about having kids: I had no idea that doing it was going to illuminate how different my husband and I really are. How as “co-CEOs” of “the business unit” that is our family, we have such different leadership styles, you’d think we were running two different organizations. I guess I thought we’d develop the same style because we’d become parents together, but then again, we also became spouses together and now that I think about it, the beginning of that felt a lot like this.

My blood boils when Laura whines to get what she wants or asks for a cookie before we’ve even had breakfast and he gives it to her. When he tries to create absolutely perfect conditions, or preemptively apply a bandaid to Madeline’s unblemished knees even though she’s yet to fall.

The more you accommodate exactly what they want, the less likely they are to learn that necessity—either figuring out how to get what you want all on your own or to make do with what you’ve got and manipulate it to your advantage—is the mother of invention. And if their knees are always protected, they’ll never know what it’s like to fall! I’m sure he wants to punch me in the face for saying these things, intellectualizing the textbook behavior of a set of two year olds, as if I know any better than he does. (I don’t.)

I’d probably punch me too, but you know what? We were having an argument the other night about something he did and something I said or whatever and whatever, and he said to me, “By the time our kids are lying on their therapists’ couch talking about all the ways we’ve fucked them up, I’ll know we did okay if they say, ‘My parents gave me the tools to demand love and support.’ You know what my response was? “I’ll know we did okay if they say, ‘My parents gave me curiosity and confidence.'”

Then I thought about it and realized that if we were both zeroing in on the same variables—if we both endeavored to give them curiosity and confidence first and foremost, or love and support exclusively, they might grow up feeling unstable, or pushed too hard. Alternatively, they might never receive the kind of intellectual and emotional challenge I already know they’re capable of pushing through. When Abie and I got married, we didn’t become each other, but we did learn to be ourselves with each other. I guess we’re doing that again.

Anyway, I don’t know how we got here, but man expression can feel so good sometimes. Welcome to fashion week.

The post Welcome to Fashion Week, This Post Has Nothing to Do With That appeared first on Man Repeller.

Get It While It’s Cold! The Final Installment in Winter Office Apropos 2020

Welcome to Office Apropos Winter 2020! It’s the first Office Apropos of the decade and the second in our new publishing format, in which we share the outfits we wore to work one day at a time. Below are six outfits we wore to work on a wintery Monday.

And, great news! If you want to see what everyone below wore the Friday before, you can see right here! And if you want to know what everyone else in the office is wearing at the moment, scroll through the Office Apropos archives.

Haley

I woke up very tired today and felt generally unmotivated to get dressed. (It’s days like these that remind me of being in high school and wishing I could wear a uniform just so I didn’t have to decide.) At first I was hell-bent on wearing a pair of Esby jeans, but was having a mental block re: how to style them and everything I tried looked forced or uninteresting. In the end I bailed on the whole plan and just grabbed this Alex Mill jumpsuit. The coat, boots, and scarf were then added for emotional comfort. I don’t have much going on today aside from typing at a keyboard in a hunched over position so I think this will do the trick!!!!

Elizabeth

I enjoy experimenting with clothing that is out of season. It’s like making french toast out of stale bread—sometimes it’s better when it’s “over.” I’m wearing Tibi suit shorts I got on $ale (I actually purchased them for the snow boot story that went up last week but they didn’t look quite right and I wore a snazzy skort instead, also Tibi). These are the greatest thigh-high boots I’ve ever owned and believe it or not, I’ve owned many. They’re from Zara last year and they stay up my thigh! By the way, I think they’re $20 right now on Zara.com?! Worn with my favorite unisex Naadam sweater and some basic everyday necklaces. I am happy to say that tomorrow I’ll be wearing sweatpants on a plane to Puerto Rico. BYE!

Crystal

Guys! Look at me in a cute outfit that isn’t the equivalent of a Snuggie! I was feeling like I needed to get dressed, so I went balls to the wall! I literally have on 45 layers of clothing. Also, style hack, if you’re sick of your colored tights, get a pair of patterned stockings and layer them on top! Instant tights makeover!

Mallory

I first wore this outfit with Converse to the Chiller Festival (lol), where I think it’s very safe to say I was the most demurely dressed person in attendance. I decided to swap out the sneakers for the MNZ ballet pumps on this day because I recently reorganized my shoes and remembered that I own them. Then I met a friend for dinner after work and when he saw me he sized me up and said I looked “professional” in a sort of quizzical way, which is something I’ll be mulling over for a while. Demure to the point of professional????? May be a step too far.

Amalie

I wanted to put the “half-dressed” theory to the test on my own today. I knew I wanted to wear these Splits 59 leggings because I think my legs look good in them, and what reason do I have to lie to you? After that, I put on this really DRAMA button-down and a DRAMA blazer and DRAMA boots, but I looked in the mirror and felt like a maître d’. Then I put a sweater on over the button-down and felt too top heavy. As a last resort I reached for this sweater vest that you’ll probably recognize from Day 2. Life is like that though, isn’t it? I’m not embarrassed to be wearing a statement piece twice in the proximity of 2-3 days because… why else did I buy it?

Tiffany

Commemorative merch from bygone Olympic Games is one of my favorite eBay holes to fall into. The 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics has some of the best–Olympic Levis, Olympic Gilets, Olympic Beanies, Olympic Jackets–much of it featuring the charming mascot Roni the Raccoon. Also worth a look: the 1972 Sapporo Games. Citius, Altius, Fortius!

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3 Outfits That Might Convince You to Love Tights

Like many long-held aversions, my distaste for tights can be traced back to childhood. Every morning before school, I’d begrudgingly pull on a pair of itchy, thick, unsightly leg casings to fulfill my school uniform’s requirements. I hated the ritual so much that when I finally acquired the freedom to dress independently, I thought I would avoid tights for the rest of my life. For most of the last decade, I stuck to this resolution. It wasn’t until recently that fate–or rather, fashion’s trend cycle–intervened, serving me up a smorgasbord of tights so compelling I didn’t just want to wear them again, I actually wanted to make them the main event.

Indeed, the last few seasons, both on and off the runways, have completely altered my perception of tights as more than just boring but necessary vehicles for warmth. Marc Jacobs floral two-tone offering and Kasia Kucharska’s scribble socks have set up camp in my brain. Saks Potts’ now-infamous monogram leggings continue to make the rounds, while Gucci’s interlocking double “GG” offering has me double-tapping every lace detailed serving that pops up on my feed. Maria Bernard’s deliciously matchy-matchy cocktail of zesty yellow tights and hefty boots sent me into a serious tailspin, I spent way too much time pouring over this alluring lace-infused, frilly extravaganza, and to top it off, I’ve mentally revisited this image of Jo Rosenthal no fewer than ten times.

As a result of this veritable hosiery charm offensive, I am now in the business of not only wearing tights, but wearing tights that teeter on the side of slightly obnoxious–in a good way. If you, too, have struggled to think of hosiery as a friend and not an enemy, scroll below for some outfit inspiration and styling advice that will hopefully change your mind.

Counteract Hosiery’s School Girl Reputation With a Dose of Distressing

If, like me, you’re still plagued by thoughts of bland school tights, a distressed pair serves as an effective middle finger to those shudder-worthy entrapments of yore. Inspired by Rui Official, I decided to lean into head-to-toe sheer vibes with a stocking-like tie-dye top (plus a blazer so I didn’t completely freeze). I contemplated wearing a kilt on the bottom, but all it took was a brief bout of uniform deja vu to convince me a mini skirt was the better choice–as an added bonus, it showed off more of the tights. Lastly, adding Pepto-Bismol-pink heels was my styling equivalent of biting into a doughnut I thought was plain, only for it to ooze yummy, jammy goodness a few minutes later.

Go All In on Color (and Then Add More)

Colored tights can feel jarring when paired with an otherwise neutral winter ensemble, so I recommend committing to a fully saturated look. Perhaps this outfit was a subliminal ode to Twiggy in this outrageously ahead-of-its-time Kermit green look from the 60s, or maybe it was a personal reminder to eat more greens, but either way, I can’t get enough of this palette. Another perk of statement tights: they’re a great excuse for pulling out shoes you might otherwise relegate to summer months. These peep toes have never popped so distinctively.

Patterned Tights Are the Coolest, But If You’re Unconvinced, Try Leggings

I credit Molly Blutstein with my burning desire to forgo a dress or a skirt and wear tights with just a jacket on top, but I chickened out last-minute and opted for leggings that look like tights instead (baby steps people, baby steps), a happy-medium if you’re not completely sold on the idea. I call this my “meeting friends for one drink that never means one drink” outfit. Puffer coat for warmth? Check. Western boots for a spin on the dance floor? Check. And a bag perfect for stuffing mints in after I undoubtedly order a round of onion rings? You guessed it–check. If you’re wondering whether I was tangentially inspired by Versace’s AW19 mustard/tangerine mixture, the answer is yes, and thank you for asking.

Taking the outrageous tights trend with a pinch of salt has truly been the key to embracing it. By finding tights that feel like “me” (a lot less opaque black and a lot more ROYGBIV), I’ve been able to recalibrate my conception of them as springboards for self-expression instead of stylistic inhibitors. For those of you who have also struggled with hosiery aversion, has the recent explosion of statement tights tickled your fancy? Or are you still hesitant? Let’s talk it out in the comments.

Photos by Serena Brown.

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5 Potentially Life-Changing Workplace Experiments, Tested by Team MR

Last October, The New York Post published a story titled, “How millennials have killed the Manhattan power lunch.” Naturally, it went viral. And as it often goes when an anti-millennial hot take is published, the rebuttals came soon after, reminding the power-lunchers of yore that most young people in New York are too broke, busy, and burnt out to be spending an afternoon schmoozing with associates (unless of course, that schmoozing is taking place at Sweetgreen.)

In the Man Repeller office, the Post story got us talking about work trends. Whether it’s a workday that’s split up by two elementary school-style breaks or a plea to return to desk cubicles, it feels like there’s constantly something new to be said about how we can improve the way we work. So we resolved to choose five of the most intriguing suggestions we could find and put them to the test. Every day for one week, our editorial team—Mallory, Haley, Harling, Amalie, and myself—tried a new way of working. I think they call this investigative journalism. After each trial, we held a post-mortem over Slack (which, no spoilers, felt incredibly ironic after one epically failed experiment) to discuss the results. Scroll down to see which ones lived up to the hype and which ones decidedly did not.

Day 1: We Power Lunch’d (and Hopefully Made Some Boomers Proud)

We decided to kick off the week with the alleged work habit that inspired this whole experiment: the power lunch. We blocked an hour and a half out in our calendars and headed to the newly opened and incredibly photogenic Soho Diner, where we ate the world’s best fries and came back to the office feeling equal parts full and exhausted with our eyes at half-mast. Our thoughts the next day…

Haley: Aren’t power lunches supposed to make you more focused because you took a proper break? Or is a power lunch not a proper break because you’re supposed to keep working?

Gyan: I feel like the purpose of them was to drink while schmoozing, then have a sleepy afternoon.

Harling: Yeah, like people would nap in their offices after (on their leather couches.)

Haley: I do think I could take a nap rn

Harling: *Carrie Bradshaw voice* I couldn’t help but wonder: Does a power lunch only work if it’s followed by a power nap? Also, I feel like power lunches are only suited to jobs where you need to shmooze. The concept doesn’t really apply to just eating a long lunch with your colleagues.

Mallory: Yeah, maybe we should have dined with people who were not on our team?

Amalie: It kind of felt more French in nature (they usually take 1–2 hour lunch breaks in the middle of the workday) and often will sit and chat with colleagues.

Harling: It’s also worth noting that technology is what’s really killing the power lunch. In the olden times you could lunch for two hours uninterrupted but now you’re getting slacks and emails, which is not only distracting but also stressful.

Gyan: That being said: I propose a monthly team lunch because I loved it!

Haley: Millennials never kill anything. I’m in.

Harling: Put it on the cal.

Day 2: We Took a Boss-Endorsed Afternoon Nap

Everyone from The New York Times, to Forbes, to The Guardian have promoted the weekday afternoon nap. The general consensus when talking about afternoon naps during the workday is that they increase productivity, increase memorization, and improve creative thinking—all great things. So, under the guise of becoming better Man Repeller employees, we visited The Dreamery by Casper, where we each took a strictly-phone-free 45-minute nap in our own “Casper nook” at precisely 2 p.m. on a Tuesday. Our nap post-mortem:

Gyan: I’m very curious to hear everyone’s take on the workday afternoon nap?

Haley: I have very mixed feelings!

Mallory: Well, first of all, I feel like The Dreamery set-up is so ideal, if this kind of thing were ever to work. When we first talked about this I imagined us all, like, laying on mats in the office with the lights out.

Haley: Yes. It was SO NICE. I expected a nap pod to be very creepy and weird but instead it was like the ideal clean hotel bed, perfectly imagined for sleep. So dark/quiet/luxurious.

Gyan: It was… a lot better than my actual bed/bedroom lol.

Haley: I felt like a rich person flying first class, but richer. Did everyone fall asleep? I 100% did.

Amalie: I think I fell too asleep.

Haley: I would like to state for the record that Amalie required an employee to get her out of bed.

Mallory: I did not fall asleep, which really surprised me. I stayed awake and worried about not waking up on time, a possible lost wallet, and my life in general. I did relax though… And would 10/10 do again.

Haley: I would too. The problem for me was afterward. I was so tired all afternoon. I feel like I entered REM…

Gyan: Maybe the trick is not actually sleeping, because I felt pretty good.

Mallory: Yeah, same.

Haley: Oh, interesting. So more like a comfy mid-day meditation? If so, I guess we can just do this in the in-office phone booths like Abie does…

Gyan: You can try that first, Haley.

Day 3: We Went Back in Time to the ’00s and Worked With Limited Tech

We’re fairly reliant on new technologies in the MR office. We don’t have desk phones or desktop computers (my computer doesn’t even have a USB port??), and only a handful of people write their daily to-do lists on actual paper. But is all this tech that’s supposed to increase our productivity and connectedness actually doing its job? We decided to find out by turning back the metaphorical tech-clock and cutting down on the tools we normally rely on. We all did this experiment a little differently, but limiting Slack and email was the main course of action—when we actually remembered that we were supposed to be off-tech ,that is. Below, some notes on how we failed:

Harling: This was most difficult experiment BY FAR. But I did love being forced to converse more with my colleagues throughout the day. It felt so much more human than a robotic Slack (the few times I successfully did it).

Mallory: I think this was the number one thing we tried that really depended on more people agreeing to do it for it to be truly functional.

Harling: Yeah especially with Slack. I couldn’t just ignore Slacks!

Mallory: And by “more people” I mean the entire world, not even just our office.

Is it concerning that checking email feels like a small reward I can give myself whenever I want?

Haley: The biggest takeaway for me was how much I check my email. Every time I was editing a tricky sentence my finger would search for my email tab and then not find it! I realized that checking my inbox is my main procrastination tactic.

Harling: Is it concerning that checking email feels like a small reward I can give myself whenever I want? It’s like a bath—or a cup of coffee.

Haley: No, I feel that too!

Amalie: I don’t have this relationship with email but I do have it with social, obviously.

Haley: Something interesting about our office is how seldom anyone is doing anything besides work. Other places I’ve worked people would be reading articles and online shopping and fucking around in general from time to time. But here everyone is so focused all day (def by necessity, but also because our jobs are engaging, I hope?). I think maybe that’s why email feels like a treat. It’s less intensive.

Gyan: 100000000%. Like I cannot stress how little everyone messes around on Slacks here compared to my last office.

Haley: Totally. MR is a more intense office than people would probably guess. Maybe that was why the tech diet didn’t really work? Nobody here is really wasting time. So removing something was more of a barrier than a time-save.

Gyan: Yeah I think so! It just kind of actually got in the way of productivity?!

Day 4: We Tried Fika, the Most Delicious Workday Treat Imaginable

According to the “official website of Sweden,” Swedes try to avoid translating the word fika at all costs because, to them, this tradition is so much more than just a “coffee and cake break.” Fika can happen at any time in the morning, afternoon, or evening; at home or work; with friends, family, or colleagues; but the point of this routine is taking time to sit with those around you to enjoy a lovely conversation and, hopefully, something sweet. On this day, we held fika in the office at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. and used it as an excuse to get everyone’s favorite treats from Maman. We banned work talk, phones, and laptops. It was truly delightful, especially the afternoon session, which everyone favored over the morning get-together. Our post-fika thoughts:

Gyan: Did everyone love fika as much as I did?

Amalie: I loved fika. Fika is a lifestyle.

Harling: Wish I was fika-ing right now. Very proud of us for actually taking a break and not talking about work during the allotted time as instructed by Gyan’s “general merriment only” policy.

It had the feeling of ‘coming up for air.’

Mallory: I feel like fika had the highest quality conversation of our experiments so far. Do you guys think so? Maybe because it was more condensed than lunch but still a “sitting at a table with food/drink” kind of thing?

Harling: Yes, it had the feeling of “coming up for air.” And we could do it in the office without much disruption i.e. it didn’t require going anywhere.

Haley: I brought this up when we were doing it but at my old job we had a tradition of the whole office taking a snack break at 4 p.m. every day. If it was super disruptive to your work you didn’t have to do it, but largely everyone did and I looked forward to it every day! Our office manager would usually put out some kind of snack and coffee/tea and everyone would stand around and chat for like 15 minutes. It was great.

Amalie: I think that’s important for those who work later into the evening, too. Those last hours really feel like a slog.

Haley: For sure. Plus, everyone is hungry at 4 p.m.—that’s just true.

Harling: It’s actually crazy how much of a morale boost an afternoon snack can be. Even more so when it’s with a group or your team, but even a solo snack break can be effective.

Day 5: We Tried—Emphasis on Tried—the Five-Hour Workday

It seems like every few months a new article arises online about the CEOs that are revolutionizing the world with shorter work days, bookmarked by articles questioning whether America will ever be able to adopt the flexible work hours that are seen elsewhere. This was the only experiment we had to attempt twice. The first time we tried to limit out working hours to five-hours, the team was so collectively stressed we decided to call it a failure and try again the following Friday—which we did, (slightly) more successfully. Our five-hour workday post-mortem:

Gyan: Thoughts on the five-hour workday?

Harling: Beautiful in theory, challenging in practice. I really wanted it to work, but ultimately I’ll confess: I definitely worked more than five hours.

Mallory: I think it would only be possible long-term if we changed our actual workloads because we already work efficiently.

Haley: It helped that I had made an appointment for 3 p.m. that day so I HAD to leave by 2:30 p.m. as planned. But I think you’re right, Mallory, efficiency isn’t really our issue. So squeezing the day in isn’t exactly possible.

Amalie: The secret behind this cute, cool website is that we all work super hard.

Haley: Everybody don’t be mean to us in the comments!!!

Mallory: We are like the editorial equivalent of no-makeup makeup.

Harling: New company slogan.

Mallory: Or like, designer bedhead.

Gyan: I will say: We made summer fridays work? (Sometimes.)

Isn’t the five-hour workday supposed to be an everyday solution?

Harling: True, and the nice thing about summer fridays is that even if you have more work to do, you’re still free to leave the office, take a break, and return to your work later. On our experiment day I left around 3 p.m. to go work out in the middle of the day (!!) which did feel like a luxury. I ended up having to work for a few hours after, but I liked that I could exercise in the afternoon as a result of the experiment instead of squeezing it into the morning when I’m half-asleep. It lent my day more flexibility.

Gyan: I did something similar, Harling! Left work at 3 p.m., went for a run, got some groceries, then logged back on at EOD to button a few things up before the weekend. Maybe flexibility is the answer while we wait for the five-hour workday to hit the mainstream?

So, In Conclusion…

Mallory: Did anyone have a favorite experiment?

Haley: I think five-hour workday would be my favorite IN THEORY (i.e. I want to live in a world where that is possible). In practice it was probably fika.

Mallory: Interesting. I would say five-hour also in theory and then in reality: midday nap. If I have to be at work for a full eight hours, I’d like to be asleep for some of it!

Amalie: Reality: fika. In-theory: power lunch lol

Gyan: I’m with Haley! If I had to make one way of working universal it would be the five-hour workday, but fika was really fun for the day. I think we should… maybe move to Sweden? Fika and a ~30 hour work week.

Harling: Five hours = too short, but I loved being able to leave early. It made me think of our convo that we had another time about starting work earlier in the day, working the same # hours as usual, and leaving earlier in the day. I think that’s where I’m netting out in terms of what this experiment taught me.

Haley: Yes it seems like we enjoy breaking up the work day a bit.

Harling: Maybe that’s the answer. Enforced interruption!

Photos by Beth Sacca.

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Office Apropos: The Difference Between Dressing for Yourself and Dressing for Your Coworkers

Welcome to Office Apropos Winter 2020! It’s the first Office Apropos of the decade and the second in our new publishing format, in which we share the outfits we wore to work one day at a time. Below are six outfits we wore to work on a Friday.

And, great news! If you want to see what everyone below wore that Thursday, you can see right here! And if you want to know what everyone else in the office is wearing at the moment, scroll through the Office Apropos archives.

Haley

Hello good morning how are you? I woke up wanting to wear these trousers even though it’s Friday and I’m getting off early to get a facial (a Christmas gift!), neither of which have anything to do with wearing nice pants. But I decided to do it anyway and just pare them back with utilitarian boots and Avi’s big brown sweatshirt, which I usually just wear around the house like a comfort object. The scarf and hat felt appropriately schlubby too. Not sure anyone’s looking for a hack for making trousers look like sweats, but I do believe that’s what I’ve achieved here.

Elizabeth

I went home last night with a terrible case of nausea and I still don’t feel like myself today. I guess I haven’t really felt like myself all week, but now I just don’t feel physically great either. It could be because I’m going away for my birthday next week and have travel anxiety and FOMO about being out of the office like the nerd I am. Anyway, this outfit was created from the desire for baggy pants again and to wear this cool shirt I got from Wolf & Badger with the humungo cuffs. I guess the lack of thought or inspiration that went into what I’m wearing kind of bums me out and makes me feel unlike myself and self-conscious. I kind of don’t want to be seen at all today! I’m just in one of those moods. So when I got to work and my co-workers complimented my outfit, I was taken aback. Flattered! But very surprised! It really made me think about the difference between dressing for yourself (the outfits you feel good in and proud of) and dressing for others (the outfits that you get complimented on or a lot of “likes”). But it could just be that my coworkers are shocked when I wear jeans.

Crystal

I’ve never been much of a bellbottom wearer BUT these ones from a brand called Needles were calling to me from the inside of a Barney’s Outlet in Ft. Lauderdale. I’m glad I listened to the scream, because they’ve quickly become my fave pants. These are my “I wanna look cool but have zero patience for finding a full outfit” pants. I’m also LIVING in this Urban outfitters coat. Eliz found it for me after I was whining about wanting the Isabel Marant flannel and this is an even better dupe!

Amalie

I hate skirts. I really hate them. I think they always make me feel like a girly girl and they never fit my proportions right. The waist is always too big and the hips are too narrow and it’s all because of my SHORT TORSO. Anyway. This skirt bugs me for that reason, but I like it so much that I put aside my skirt-prejudice and wore it. Why? Because I feel like a poncey pony trotting through the streets of New York. Just give me a sugar cube already.

Tiffany

The hero of this outfit is the Sonia Rykiel “Demi Pull”: a trompe l’oeil that moonlights as a half-sweater but is in fact a knitted cape designed exclusively for tying around your waist or neck. At first glance, it’s a completely useless garment, but over time it’s proven to be an MVP in my wardrobe, ready to dress up an outfit with a certain je ne sais quoi that only a Parisienne could have conceived. The tag in the back reads “Rykiel Forever,” but sadly the 50-year-old House of Rykiel went into liquidation last year. Wearing it reminds me that Sonia Rykiel may be gone, but the brand and its founder’s legacy will never be forgotten.

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MR Writers Club Prompt: Your Favorite Commitment (If Such a Thing Is Possible)

Have you heard of the Man Repeller Writers Club? Every month we pose a story idea, you write about it, then send it to us (write@manrepeller.com) with the subject line “MR Writers Club.” We go through all submissions and post the winner at the end of the month. Ready? Let’s go.

You know how every podcast ad and spammy online article wants to sell you the idea that one trick will change your life? It’s classíque internet catnip. We love a lifehack because we’re all tired and vaguely sure we could be better versions of ourselves at all times. I once wrote a whole story making fun of the way this operating principle has seeped into the wellness/betterment internet. I do think it’s a fairly unscalable, but if I’m honest, I’m still a little bit of a sucker. I may have read How to Do Nothing with anti-capitalist gusto, but even I can’t deny the appeal of a low effort, high impact promise. And every once in a while, it really does deliver. When I committed to making my bed every morning, I ascended to a higher place where small chores didn’t weigh on me like a winter coat of self-resentment.

But the problem with commitments is longevity. Doing something every day, or at least regularly, requires you dedicate a small chunk of your attention to making sure it happens every time, and that’s a precious resource you could be spending on Instagram. But when you stumble across the right thing/habit/person/pillow, sometimes it’s worth the effort. Which is why this month, for a forever-themed Writers Club prompt, we want to hear about what you think is the most worthy/underrated/surprisingly useful commitment: the little thing you do that makes the biggest difference in your life. It doesn’t have to be a lifehack, necessarily; it could be an unsuspecting product you love, a weird strategy you use, a collection of words you repeat. As long as it’s a small commitment with the gentle, undaunting promise of a forever-length payoff, it’s fair game. Write it up in 500 words or less and send to write@manrepeller.com on or by Friday, February 21st.

Graphic by Lorenza Centi.

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Express Lane Style Tips: How to Stuff Giant Sleeves into a Coat

It is not April Fools’ Day and I take you neither for a fool nor a cartoon character named April, but for this week’s edition of Express Lane Style Tips, I am either empowering you to take the matter of your big sleeves into your own hands or making you feel like I have wasted three minutes of your life. If you feel further aligned with the latter prospect by post end, all I’d ask is what you’d have done with these three minutes anyway. If it is truly worth getting the time back, I’ll figure out a way to outsource three of my minutes to you. That’s how much I care. But anyway, sleeves!

I posted a photo to this new photo-sharing app I recently downloaded called Instagram and so many of the comments were like, “We need a tutorial on how you shove those sleeves into a coat,” so I thought to myself, “Self, can you offer a tutorial on how to shove puff sleeves–a tried, true and ongoing frontier of the current fashion zeitgeist–into a coat?” And here we thought they were going to die! Here we were sure, in fact. Anyway, as I was thinking through the ins and outs of this very important tutorial it occurred to me that the solution is simple. All you have to do, effectively…

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Is shove. (Pinch and press down the middle point of the sleeve, then fold the sides that form into each other.)

And shove. (While you try with just one hand to get your arm through sleeve no.1.)

Then keep on shoving. (Repeat on other side.)

Literally.

That’s it!

That’s all!

You just take your big sleeves, and you force them to fit inside your littler coat sleeves. Of course, it helps if said sleeves are rendered on a flimsier fabric that promotes more swift mobility, but even in the event they are not, revel in the fact that you’ve earned yourself makeshift shoulder pads for the sum of time you spend wearing your coat.

A few things to note under the assumption your coat is wool/heavy (if it is a trench, none of this really matters, you’ve already mastered the shove): Thicker fabrics are better–the sleeves don’t wrinkle. If, however, the fabric of said sleeve is flimsy, that’s fine, you’ll just have to jooj a little when you exit your goat. I mean coat.

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The longer the sleeve, the easier it will be to hold the ends with your fingertips while you place your arms through the sleeves. As you can see, mine are short, so I shoved from the top, which works too because ultimately, you know, the bottom line is this: if there’s a will, there’s a way. And when there’s a way, there is freedom. And when there is freedom, you give exactly no fucks what the people might say about your giant shoulders because you know that you did it.

You stuffed your big sleeves into a little coat. Congrats.

Photos by Beth Sacca.

The post Express Lane Style Tips: How to Stuff Giant Sleeves into a Coat appeared first on Man Repeller.