Leandra Medine's Blog, page 604

Making Fall Resolutions Using New York Street Style

I really liked what Leandra said about street style — that at its core, what everyone wants is authenticity. And I agree: New York dressing has become about either putting on a show or putting on airs as opposed to just putting on pants that make you feel good.

What’s cool about Krista’s street style photos, if I may, is that she has a way of finding moments of truth. Her back may be facing the famous model wearing these-are-flat-in-defiance-flats, but it’s because she’s capturing a woman crossing the street in a flat-out great blouse with no agenda besides getting dressed.

This post was supposed to be a silly compilation of weird captions with pretty pictures — I’ll save it for fantastical Milan. Because after reading that story of Leandra’s and then going through these pics, all I could see was (you can roll your eyes at this it’s fine I get it I’m being cheesy) inspiration.

So, this fall, I officially resolve to…

Sleep in fancy pajamas so that I can wake up and go. To work. In my pajamas.

Wear a flight suit.

Adopt Leandra’s weird ass word “boiler suit” in lieu of flight suit.

Or use both.

Wear button downs backwards.

Use anything and everything as a hair-tie — except for hair-ties — especially, purse straps.

Stop having imposter syndrome about surf-inspired clothing.

Let a little (more than usual) skin show.

Stop being afraid of all black “because it’s not me.”

Get into ruffles, but take it slow.

Remain undeterred in my search for the perfect vintage jean.

Wear more skirts.

Embrace all lengths.

Keep khaki going.

Think long and hard about the color red — then finally take the plunge and buy something red.

Preferably this, specifically.

Find shirts with wrists that open up at the forearm and flare out.

Until then: despite it being fall, unbutton cuffs.

Figure out how to fray the ends of my jeans so that it looks intentional (and so that I don’t have to spend money on a pair.)

Or, stop spending money on dumb things, then save up and treat myself.

Buy (or DIY) a shirt that is actually a blouse.

Like a pretty, romantic, Romeo-would-have-a-sword-fight-in-this blouse.

Wear heels because they add value to my outfit as opposed to avoiding them because I don’t want to “look like I tried.”

Try.

Reconsider denim on denim again. But real denim. Not chambray.

Pull over while texting.

Put phone away. Resume life.

You?

Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis

The post Making Fall Resolutions Using New York Street Style appeared first on Man Repeller.

Oh Boy Episode 5: Payal Kadakia

This week on Oh Boy, host Jay Buim sits down with Payal Kadakia, Co-Founder and CEO of ClassPass. They cover the cultural dichotomy of growing up Indian-American in New Jersey, her parents’ expectations, and how a driving passion for dance led Kadakia to create one of the most beloved recent innovations in fitness, ClassPass, valued at over $200M.

If you’re short on follow-your-dreams inspiration this afternoon, this is the episode to listen to. Also keep an ear out for Kadakia’s parents’ love story, and excellent, actionable advice for entrepreneurs.

Photograph via Fortune

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The Thought Process of Putting On Makeup

Shout-out to my coworkers for not putting a complaint into HR today due to my own compliance-failure with the employee handbook’s rule number 1: do not be a dead person. (It’s a little discriminatory but has something to do with how being alive makes it easier to pay taxes.)

I thought I looked fine when I left the house. I guess I didn’t really consult a mirror after brushing my teeth, but how much could have changed between improving my fluoride levels at 7 am and closing my laptop at 7 pm?

A lot, apparently. Now hand me my makeup.

Famous people always talk about primer so let’s start with that. Nothing like caulking my pores with invisible goop that cost $20! (“Seriously, it makes such a difference.” — Everyone pretty, ever.)

Pause here: am I supposed to put concealer on first, or foundation? The word foundation should be a giveaway but the dark abysses below my eyes need tending. Concealer wins. *Blending the way a makeup artist once told me not to because it causes wrinkles but I’m a rebel.*

I am surprised at the immediate improvement and get bold; I’ve watched enough tutorials to know how to do this contouring thing, so I reach for my bronzer and sculpt my face.

Update: looking the same just a little more sparkly than normal, and tan.

Realize I forgot foundation. Decide I’m a warrior of paint and there is no turning back.

Now for the blush. This part’s boring. I take a quick nap. I wake up to too much blush; I’ll claim it’s my last sign of youth.

Here’s where I pause to reflect on what my done-up face of makeup looks like with naked, un-lacquered lashes.

I settle on this:

I’m one of those people who, if deserted on an island with a stingy packing allowance of Only One Cosmetic Thing, would choose mascara.

But before I apply, the most dangerous game: do I, or do I not, dare to add eyeliner? I check my watch. I have time.

You’re a warrior of paint, my reflection reminds me. Don’t wimp out now.

With a steady hand and a stretched out lid I begin to draw. I’m so good at this. Great. Switching eyes. They’re uneven. No worries — a little more to the left.

Too much to the left. Gotta add more on to the right. Left. Right. Hi my name is Cleopatra and I’ll be your human cat burglar for the night.

But this works.

Had a burst of brilliance to call the Uber while I’m ahead. He’s two minutes away — I whip out my wand and seal the mascara deal.

I just sneezed. Mascara is everywhere. There’s no time to start over and this cannot be saved. Instead, I swipe my whole face off with a makeup removing wipe and appraise myself in the mirror.

Sunglasses as night, it is!

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Video: Watch Leandra Ask People in the Park About Perfection

We’ve done a Round Table on perfection before — what it means, whether or not it’s attainable, whether it’s good or bad. The whole thing ended up clocking in around 2.5k words once edited down from its original 5k, which is a lot of thought on a single word. It says a great deal about how loaded it is.

To strive for perfection can be the momentum needed to push us forward. It can drive us to be better people, workers, head-standers, friends. It can also be harmful — if nothing or no one is every actually perfect, then how can the perfectionists within us ever feel satisfied? In two seconds that word can make a sane person go crazy.

But at its core, I think the word has value. Perfect is a reality to the individual; perfect is personal. It’s yours alone to hold. Consider your idea of the perfect day, the perfect meal, the perfect sunset, the perfect jeans. You may consider the ones you love to be perfect — noting their flaws and all. In fact, because it’s so individual, each definition flexible and dependent upon the moment and human at hand, we thought we’d take it to the streets and ask what perfect means to you. 

Enjoy the video, then give us your definition down in the comments below.

Shout out once again to the students we probably made late to class, and good on you guys for actually making a 12:30 p.m. class on such a sunny day.

In partnership with Esprit #Esprit #ImPerfect

The post Video: Watch Leandra Ask People in the Park About Perfection appeared first on Man Repeller.

See What a Professional Celeb-Dieter Keeps in Her Fridge

Want more brain food? Listen to Stacy London’s podcast, watch Leandra give free advice, and ask an English girl about LFW.

Rebecca Harrington is a fearless eater. As a writer known for her adventures in celebrity dieting, she’s had to endure such stomach-churning creations as beet-greens soup which may or may not have contributed to a post-gluten rash (Gwyneth Paltrow), a sour cream/cottage cheese mixture (Elizabeth Taylor) and something disgusting called celery loaf (Greta Garbo).

Off-assignment and in the gastronomic comfort of her own home, however, it turns out that dear Harrington may have just as weird a palette as the luminaries whose cuisines she copies. Part of it’s occupational hazard; the fish oil, for example, is a leftover from her journalistic stint as Miranda Kerr. But the rest of her largely food-less refrigerator is stocked with pretty labels, forgotten face masks and tumbleweeds. “Sometimes I buy a piece of salmon and then I put a bunch of condiments on it,” Harrington said, “But it doesn’t stay in the fridge.”

The Food Life’s Lauren Levinger and I investigated. Below, the 10 weirdest things we found in Rebecca Harrington’s fridge.

1. Baking Soda

“For some reason this fridge like always smells weird so I have like 5 things of baking soda. I think it’s because of all the condiments? I don’t even have that much food.”

2. Liquid Aminos

“They were part of the Miranda Kerr diet and I never got rid of them. They’re really horrible. They taste like soy sauce, but they also don’t, in another way.”

3. Rose Water

“One time I used it in a recipe but then I didn’t know what to do with it after, so it’s just still there.”

4. A Rotting Lime

“Let me get this out of here. Excuse me.”

5. Three Bottles of Ketchup

“There are two artisanal ketchups in here (both Sir Kensington) and a regular ketchup (Heinz). I have no idea what’s special about Sir Kensington ketchup. The reason I love condiments is because I love packaging, so all I do is try to find different packages that I like. When I saw this ketchup I was like, ‘Oh! That’s cool! Look at him! He has a monocle! I gotta get it!'”

6. Artisanal Maraschino Cherries 

“I love Maraschino Cherries. They’re poisonous, so I was trying to find a better version of them. They were disgusting.”

7. Mint Jelly

“For another diet. I think I had to make a lamb loin?”

8. Brown Rice Syrup

“Oh, that’s a big Gwyneth thing. Until she realized it had arsenic in it. But I still have it. Like seriously, these were all recalled. I love Gwyneth so much. So I still do everything she asked me to do.”

9. Cottage Pie.

“I found it. I went to this thing and they had cottage pie and I was like, ‘What’s that!?'”

10. Duck Fat 

“Gwyneth has a potato recipe with duck fat! There’s lard in here too for something completely different, I just forget what. I used to have this cookbook called The Crisco Cookbook. It was amazing. There was so many things in there like Tuna Loaf Surprise. It was so much lard and so little tuna.

No one has really looked inside my fridge before. It’s definitely good that people see there’s no food in there, only sauce. I looked at Cindy Crawford’s fridge, and I thought that that was the most amazing fridge. It’s really aspirational.”

So is yours, Rebecca. So is yours.

Images by Lauren Levinger of The Food Life. 

The post See What a Professional Celeb-Dieter Keeps in Her Fridge appeared first on Man Repeller.

I Have a Thought About Street Style

Does authentic street style exist anymore? I’ve been thinking about this since Amy Odell first pitched her theory about getting street style photographed as “fashion week basic.” (That is, does getting your picture taken at fashion week make you cool, or does it subject you to ridicule by your peers?)

When street style first started to become popular, many of the new guard women attending shows stopped dressing like reflections of themselves and started thinking more acutely and carefully about the cameras that would circumscribe (and ultimately take attention off) the shows. With the escalating popularity of the trade, what started to happen is that ambitiously-dressed loiterers (those often uninvited to shows) would spend time outside the fashion week venues in anticipation that they might get photographed.

With this movement came a ton of backlash.

The fur hats and jackets that looked like dead birds, sunglasses the size of dinner plates and ridiculous, architecturally confusing color combinations were all so loud that they could no longer be considered fashion statements — and not because each and everyone one of us isn’t entitled to an opinion that could be physically melded into an outfit — we are! But rather, because the outfits weren’t really indicative of those opinions.

Not honestly, at least.

They felt more like cries for attention, inauthentic nods to vanity. This is a point that I think was largely missed in the various degrees of criticism garnered by the outlandish dressing of fashion weeks past. Because if you’d wear it to the supermarket too, who gives a shit if you’re wearing a globe-shaped porcelain fixture above your head? Power to you! It’s the questionable cues heralded by phoniness — which is always detectable — that have been reprimanded.

But here’s the thing: those cues are relics of fashion weeks past.

As runway clothes became more streamlined and normcore exploded onto our streets and the cultural shift demanded comfort as the new luxury, the outfits of fashion week changed. The colors dimmed, the accessories learned to whisper. With insiders poking fun at the street style ballyhoo, they themselves shunned it. Maybe we all did. But the problem remained the same: we were still largely extolling inauthenticity — just in the opposite direction.

I know that as of the past few seasons, there have been instances where I looked at myself in the mirror and asked: do I look like a clown? I know that often, when I’m stopped for photos, I feel a little self-conscious about what the people around me are thinking. I’ve been seated at shows and watched as jeans upon loafers upon t-shirts walked passed me and said nothing. Maybe it’s because we became afraid to get stopped for photos, or to look like we wanted to get stopped for photos. (The photographers are just doing their jobs! Give them the damn photo!) However, I know that plenty of those clothes saying nothing were cloaking women who want to say something.

But being in London reminded me how much fun fashion can be. There is such a genuine conviviality there and so little pretension. People wear what they wear because they want to wear it; it’s as simple as that. No judgement, no confusion, no over-intellectualizing or scoffing. It’s refreshing. It’s a pick-me-up of the mic that New York dropped in retaliation to the circus just a few seasons ago.

In London, clothes have conversations. They may be saying different things at different volumes, but they’re polite: everyone gets a chance to speak. And because the noise of inauthenticity is reduced, everyone — whether in loud hats or quiet loafers — is heard.

The post I Have a Thought About Street Style appeared first on Man Repeller.

I Have Thought About Street Style

Does authentic street style exist anymore? I’ve been thinking about this since Amy Odell first pitched her theory about getting street style photographed as “fashion week basic.” (That is, does getting your picture taken at fashion week make you cool, or does it subject you to ridicule by your peers?)

When street style first started to become popular, many of the new guard women attending shows stopped dressing like reflections of themselves and started thinking more acutely and carefully about the cameras that would circumscribe (and ultimately take attention off) the shows. With the escalating popularity of the trade, what started to happen is that ambitiously-dressed loiterers (those often uninvited to shows) would spend time outside the fashion week venues in anticipation that they might get photographed.

With this movement came a ton of backlash.

The fur hats and jackets that looked like dead birds, sunglasses the size of dinner plates and ridiculous, architecturally confusing color combinations were all so loud that they could no longer be considered fashion statements — and not because each and everyone one of us isn’t entitled to an opinion that could be physically melded into an outfit — we are! But rather, because the outfits weren’t really indicative of those opinions.

Not honestly, at least.

They felt more like cries for attention, inauthentic nods to vanity. This is a point that I think was largely missed in the various degrees of criticism garnered by the outlandish dressing of fashion weeks past. Because if you’d wear it to the supermarket too, who gives a shit if you’re wearing a globe-shaped porcelain fixture above your head? Power to you! It’s the questionable cues heralded by phoniness — which is always detectable — that have been reprimanded.

But here’s the thing: those cues are relics of fashion weeks past.

As runway clothes became more streamlined and normcore exploded onto our streets and the cultural shift demanded comfort as the new luxury, the outfits of fashion week changed. The colors dimmed, the accessories learned to whisper. With insiders poking fun at the street style ballyhoo, they themselves shunned it. Maybe we all did. But the problem remained the same: we were still largely extolling inauthenticity — just in the opposite direction.

I know that as of the past few seasons, there have been instances where I looked at myself in the mirror and asked: do I look like a clown? I know that often, when I’m stopped for photos, I feel a little self-conscious about what the people around me are thinking. I’ve been seated at shows and watched as jeans upon upon loafers upon t-shirts walked passed me and said nothing. Maybe it’s because we became afraid to get stopped for photos, or to look like we wanted to get stopped for photos. (The photographers are just doing their jobs! Give them the damn photo!) However, I know that plenty of those clothes saying nothing were cloaking women who want to say something.

But being in London reminded me how much fun fashion can be. There is such a genuine conviviality there and so little pretension. People wear what they wear because they want to wear it; it’s as simple as that. No judgement, no confusion, no over-intellectualizing or scoffing. It’s refreshing. It’s a pick-me-up of the mic that New York dropped in retaliation to the circus just a few seasons ago.

In London, clothes have conversations. They may be saying different things at different volumes, but they’re polite: everyone gets a chance to speak. And because the noise of inauthenticity is reduced, everyone — whether in loud hats or quiet loafers — is heard.

The post I Have Thought About Street Style appeared first on Man Repeller.

How to Wear Tie-Dye & Sequins Now

We have broken all the rules. You can now mix black and navy. Black and brown. Silver and gold. Denim at a fancy dinner is fine, and the post-Labor Day white ban is so long-gone that to “generously” declare, “Go ahead, be a rebel: wear white this winter!” feels just as antiquated — if not more — than telling someone they can’t.

And yet, we still find ourselves playing Mother May I.

Mother may I wear those shoes even though it’s September and they’re open-toe?

Mother may I pair a turtleneck with shorts if I’m not Diane Keaton?

Mother may I mix media, prints, patterns, and in the name of my outfit, forgo a coat?

Attention: the fashion world can be nurturing and will get mad at you for not doing your chores, but it is not — I repeat, not — your momma. Do what you want!

But I know, I know. We humans like rules. I’d date a hall pass monitor if they made ’em my age. So when the question of tie-dye and sequin timeliness came up after appearances on both on the Spring runway (a bit of a trickle down effect from Resort, if you remember) and in the street (hi Leandra!), I made it my business to debunk yet another myth:

Yes, Virgina, you can wear tie-dye and sequins in the fall.

Let’s start with the sparkle first: as seen at Tibi, Rosie Assoulin, Marc Jacobs, Altuzarra, Calvin Kelin and J.Crew, sequins are neither reserved for New Years nor da club in August. Wear them whenever, starting now.

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Here’s how: pair them with equal parts texture and nerd. Think nubby knits, wooly skirts, educational shoes. It adds interest without nosey-inquiries; no annoying, “Ooo, where are you going after this?”

To the go-away store, Moira. They’re having a sale.

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Now the tie-dye: Treat it as your new neutral; the stain-camouflaging alternative to gray or white; the go-to instead of your old go-to tee.

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Then take a note from Altuzarra and pair with leather for contrast, or give in to every store and swap leather for suede. Wear jeans under a tie-dye dress! That would look cool. The point is to make the surfer-vibes less literal if only for the sake of some calendrical adherence.

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…Unless you’re surfing the web, in which case, tubular. Here’s a playlist to accompany you. It sounds just like the glittering ocean.

Photographs via Vogue Runway

The post How to Wear Tie-Dye & Sequins Now appeared first on Man Repeller.

One Last Lick From London

If you’d have asked me for a single piece of advice at the start of London Fashion Week, I’d have said: buy cropped flare pants. If you ask me again today, I’ll also recommend getting out of your comfort zone, going for the pieces that say less about a designer’s place de naissance — that is, what so clearly brands him for all consumers to see, and more about where that designer wants to go, as evidenced by the experimental garb.

In the case of Christopher Kane, where, don’t get me wrong, there were still a fair handful of the endemic pieces: neon lace, swirly, colored trim on dark back drops and geometric shapes rendered in primary colors and pasted together as though collaged, there was also lots of fringe and paint splattering and yarned knits.

At Peter Pilotto, you still had the prints that might make you tick — they were on a couple of flimsy dresses and lightweight skirts, perfect for a balmy summer evening. But entirely new for the designers were diagonally striped poplin blouses, cut out to expose shoulders and solid colored pants, plus skirts with exposed stitching, some shaped as triangles and circles that encompassed bands across the garments. There were also these ruffles — some really strong, like on a blouse paired with a royal blue culottes or on two pastel dresses (one off the shoulder and another crew neck and long sleeve) — and others that kind of looked out of place, like on these two zip-up blouses that paled in comparison to the rest of the offering but still spoke to a new vision for Pilotto.

Then at Marques’Almeida, all kind of cool shit happened. Last season, the design duo proved their dexterity beyond shredded denim with kimono-style blouses and pants set on brightly colored brocade. This season, while they stayed committed to their shredder, they played with soft chiffon counterbalanced by thick rims of dark eye makeup around the eyes of their models. There were also a couple of leather pieces — some rendered in ruffle, others in jackets and pops of color like fuchsia and green; finally, turtleneck collars that look like belts plus closing layered-cake pieces that, even through their near-Comme des Garçons demeanor, said new Almeida.

And at Toga — let there be color! — sheer paneling and unexpected quirks, like patent leather inside a series of ruffles or a block of gold sequins on the top of a sculptural dress spoke acutely to the aesthetic this brand is building. Less expected were the more moderate pieces, like a pleated red mid-length skirt or plain white silk blouse, all of which seemed to say it’s only the beginning.

Photographs via Vogue Runway and The Impression

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Pumpkin Spice-Up Your Fall Basics

Today is the first official day of hot coffee season. Many will read this with a latte in hand nodding that they too got the memo. Others will hold on to their iced versions with the conviction of that Wilson Phillips song.

“I’ll never let go, Jack,” they’ll cry into plastic cups packed with little icebergs. “I’ll never let go!”

As an iced coffee drinker myself I can tell you that the transition is hard. It takes at least a month (it’s not the same!) but once you settle into your new order, all is well. You’re not sure how you ever withstood brain freeze. You love a foam design. Hug in a mug. Etc.

It’s important to remind yourself that it’s the same thing with fall dressing.

At first, sweaters and pants just don’t sit right. Proper shirts look boring. Closed toed shoes feel oppressive. Ugh, jackets. But in the same way baristas trick us into enjoying cold weather by adding weird stuff into our coffee (consider the pumpkin’s history as a squash; suddenly pairing it with coffee seems gross), we can trick our bodies into accepting fall clothes.

How? By pumpkin spicing them up.

Just not with literal spice, because that’s probably itchy.

Let’s start with our model, Chloe Pang. She’s just your regular 24-year-old girl. However! She’s also a big deal when it comes to the piano. (More on Chloe in the slideshow, but think performances at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman.) See? Something extra. That pumpkin spiced life.

Now, translate it to your clothes.

First: since you can’t teach your wardrobe to play an instrument, take a cue from the SS16 runway and pair your pants (snooze!) with a skirt. Whoa!

Adding denim flares underneath a long pencil skirt like this one from Boden makes the classic shape less austere. The turtleneck on top lowercases the L in “look” so you don’t feel like you’re baiting street style photogs.

Next: flip tradition on its head and wear your staple shirt backwards.

Leave it open in the back, knot the bottoms into a bow and pair with dark purple velvet pants (also Boden) like a rockstar who has a performance followed by a semi-fancy dinner with family uptown.

Finally! Refuse to conform to the pocket and button.

This skirt is “supposed to” button in the front. Just right on down the middle with a pocket to the right. But no! That ain’t spicy! Flip it to the side like you know all skirts are inclined to (that’s why they twist when you walk) and give yourself some of that SS16 runway thigh. Then add a coat — regardless of bucking tradition and weirding-up your classics, it’s eventually gonna get cold.

Especially if you’re one of those iced-only people who never ends up making the switch to hot coffee.

Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis. Model: Chloe Pang.

In partnership with Boden.

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