DE-INFLUENCED

Helping Our Neighbors Never Goes Out Of Style

Heidi Kaluza — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 03:24:35 GMT

I live in Washington State so the majority of these resources will be focused on resources in the Greater Seattle Area (please share, especially if you live in wealthier areas that have a lot to give). We’ll also be touching on strategies that can be utilized anywhere in the US, by anyone.

Huge thank you to all who contributed to this resource guide!

The Sunday Salon | 002

Heidi Kaluza — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:39:12 GMT

When you learn about fashion, you learn about everything.

People love to dismiss fashion as superficial, as if fabric and form exists apart from politics, power, or people. But when you learn about fashion, you start to see the threads that connect us: labor, gender, class, technology, and the stories we tell ourselves about who deserves to be seen.

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Follo…

When A Friend Is "Dickmatized" We Send For Help

Heidi Kaluza — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 02:12:25 GMT

I don’t hate Taylor Swift. I’m not jealous of Taylor Swift. I’m not mad at Taylor Swift. I’m simply fascinated by the manufactured nature of it all as well as the organic calls for authenticity stemming from it. Taylor Swift™ in this discussion isn’t a person; she’s a multinational brand, a corporate ecosystem with lore so proliferate it functions like …

The Art Of The Boycott

Heidi Kaluza — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:58:06 GMT

Boycotting Produces Style

There’s a peculiar myth in fashion that money neutralizes conscience. That if you have the disposable income to buy whatever you want, whenever you want, the ethics of the thing simply don’t apply. After all, isn’t shopping just… shopping?

A new purchase every week instead of buying vintage? Groundbreaking.

But we both know the fa…

The Sunday Salon | 001

Heidi Kaluza — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 23:39:35 GMT

The crisp Fall air rolled into Seattle this week. The telltale chill caressing my skin amongst the waning warmth of the September sun. Requiring an array of tetris like layers to meet the moment. Underscoring the need for whimsically functional designs like Cointel’s (History Dipped) “Coat N Tote”.

A stylistic Fall delicacy that takes the edge off a bit of news we received last week…

The Drool Edit | If I Would, I Could

Heidi Kaluza — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:10:19 GMT

I do my fair share of scrolling (and let’s be honest, disassociating) these days on apps and sites like The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Linda’s Stuff, and beyond. And I’m here to share the treasures I find. The pieces that need a home, that complete a look, that might just spark a smile. All sans affiliate links, of course. Because we both know that model thrives on hyperconsumption.

An entirely secondhand & upcycled look built over multiple years showcased on Indyx, my preferred closet cataloguing app

Good for billionaires, bad for our wallets.

Think of this as the shortcut. No extra apps to download, no new “want” lists to maintain, just the good stuff, distilled.

Let’s begin with boots and layering pieces, since the air has that telltale edge that says Fall is officially clocking in…

Shop My Closet

Heidi Kaluza — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 21:30:28 GMT

Many of you know I’ve never been enamored with the affiliate model. There are a million reasons why, but at the heart of it: the whole structure rewards sameness, hyperconsumption and props up the fast fashion empires of a handful of male billionaires. Hard pass.

At my core, I’m a secondhand sleuth, a small-batch devotee, a made-to-order enthusiast. A collector of the odd and the extraordinary. My wardrobe swings from cozy knits to, yes, an oyster corset with matching bag (we contain multitudes.)

From the inner sanctum of my style-obsessed brain. Photo by @swolfephoto

Today, I’m pulling back the curtain. Expect links, tools, discount codes, and a peek inside the beautiful chaos that shapes my style.

This evolving series will live behind a paywall ($5/month or $50/year) which, if we’re being honest, will likely save you money, time, and decision fatigue.

With that said… shall we play?

Karen Attiah | Style Is Power, Fashion Is Performance

Heidi Kaluza — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 04:35:17 GMT

Karen Attiah’s visual response to her recent firing from The Washington Post for sharing a fair and measured analysis of Charlie Kirk’s words. Photo by @karenattiah

Karen Attiah was recently fired from The Washington Post—the Bezos-owned paper best remembered for yanking its endorsement of Kamala Harris at the eleventh hour and quietly shelving political…

Fashion is Dead, Style is The Future

Heidi Kaluza — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 22:28:54 GMT

Through the Lens of Fashion

I despise most online spaces these days. Even my favorites are grating on my nerves, but it’s not their fault. We are stuck participating in a system with no discernible exit. We are all rightfully angry. But I’m done complaining. I’m done curating examples of hypocrisy as if it’s an art form, it doesn’t solve anything.

We are …

Want to Filter Muddy Water? Let it Settle.

Heidi Kaluza — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 01:46:05 GMT

As I toyed with my hair and lounged in bed battling a bout with COVID, Taylor Lorenz appeared on my feed. Her signature “serious journalist stare into the camera” drew me in. Below her face, a screenshot expanded dramatically: “A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers.” She is reading from a teleprompter overlaid on her…

Curriculum for Congress | RFK Jr. Hearing Jan. 29th & 30th

Heidi Kaluza — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 01:01:14 GMT

This is going to be a bit messy, but I had to share what I gathered the last few years following the MAGA/MAHA movement. I think we can all agree; the forward facing premise of MAHA is fabulous and has bipartisan potential if completely overhauled from it’s current form but the execution is haunting. Fortunately, the internet always provides in the form…

Becoming: The American Dream

Heidi Kaluza — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 13:42:56 GMT

I am as Americana as they come.

I grew up in a small town. My family owned a Chevrolet dealership. We attended Lutheran church most Sundays and my sophomore year in college my family moved next to the fields where the local butcher kept his cows. Before that we lived on 3 acres next to a gully that we explored often. Pallet parties, Whaling Days, the Ba…

Part II | Is "Common Sense" In The Room With Us?

Heidi Kaluza — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 17:46:43 GMT

So. It would seem as if there is a quiet, yet coordinated effort happening to strip WA state public schools of funding and create chaos district by district [divide and conquer] in order to eventually replace and/or supplement the public schools left standing with a mix of a voucher systems, charter schools and/or a Bezos Academy.

Yes, Bezos. As in Jeff …

Part I | Is "Common Sense" In the Room With Us?

Heidi Kaluza — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 19:52:48 GMT

A Bit of Context

I was recently filmed by a creepy man wandering around my neighborhood setting up illegal political signage and ended up on a right wing grifter’s page being portrayed as a “sign stealing Karen”, so let’s talk about it! Very seriously though, it’s wild it happened out of the blue (to me), of all people.

Watch this short Instagram reel for…

We Need To Talk About Springfield, OH

Heidi Kaluza — Sat, 05 Oct 2024 21:03:16 GMT

In this day and age it doesn’t take an investigative journalist to understand exactly what happened (with a bevy of receipts) in Springfield, OH and across our collective digital sphere. It simply takes connection and a bit of media literacy. The one, two punch MAGA extremists, christian nationalists and dubious political pundits apparently don’t see co…

Why is Substack Recommending Jessica Reed Kraus (aka @houseinhabit)?

Heidi Kaluza — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 19:38:16 GMT

After the VP debate my inbox was flooded with notifications from commentators, news organizations and “independent” sites like Substack and Patreon clamoring to gain access to my attention. One notification in particular stood out… Substack’s “culture recommendations” with Jessica Reed Kraus sitting at the top of the list.

Jessica Reed Kraus was Subst…

The Value Paradox | Marketing to Post Partum Women, "Engagement Giveaways" & Some Enlightening Truths

Heidi Kaluza — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 02:24:41 GMT

They participate in false advertising. Like, a lot. And claim it’s “science”.

I would bet a lot of money there are some die hard Jessica Defino, author of “The Unpublishable”, fans on De-Influenced’s subscriber list.

Which, side note, we have almost hit 1000 subscribers and I could not be more grateful. I have a bit of a wild goal to hit 10,000 of you gorgeous de-influencers by the end of 2024 and am overwhelmed at how many people are already here to experience this space grow. Eek! So much goodness to come!

But, I digress, back to Jessica’s genius…

The Unpublishable

The ‘Science of Skincare’ Isn’t Science or Care

A while back, I read a profile of a prominent beauty industry personality known for “breaking down the science of skincare.” She teaches her followers to focus on “what actually matters,” the article said: “What’s inside the bottle.” This, perhaps unwittingly, is a perfect illustration of how the “the science of skincare,” as defined by the beauty media…

3 years ago · 637 likes · 49 comments · Jessica DeFino

Funnily enough, coming of age in the era of social media [I was a freshman in college when Zuckerberg launched FB], has taught me to slow down, not speed up. I rarely give “hot takes”, although I love consuming them from others, instead I like to let things percolate. It was just about a year ago when my attention was pulled back to a certain subset of the creator economy via The De-Influenced debacle AND Jessica released the above article, which got me ruminating on the disturbing parallels between the marketing of skin care and the marketing of scalp care…

As someone who dealt with extremely painful, and visible, cystic acne for well over a decade I am intimately familiar with the pseudoscience of skincare. Along with how the promotional promise of product efficacy drove me to spend an astronomical amount searching for a solution. The money spent acted as proof that I recognized my physical shortcomings and was working hard to improve them. I believed that my acne wasn’t only a nuisance to me, but to everyone who had to look at me. Therein lies the power of the patriarchal beauty standards and those who are enslaved to them, which we all are to varying degrees.

Luckily, I wised up and brought my concerns to my naturopath, who is also an MD. An elite combo, in my opinon. She suggested I remove dairy from my diet, as I am acutely prone to inflammation, before trying more potent products or invasive and costly procedures. Lo and behold a few months later my cystic acne disappeared for good and all I had to spend/endure was a $25 co-pay and a 30 minute wellness visit.

Obviously, not every solution is simple. Sometimes the solution is time. Sometimes the solution is a change in diet. Sometimes the solution is a mix of things. Sometimes the solution is a proper diagnosis. But rarely is the solution a product. So. Why do so many people buy into it? Probably because their favorite celebrity/influencer swore up and down it worked for them…

Up until the launch of Divi’s scalp serum in the summer of 2021 Dani Austin was claiming Nutrafol transformed her hair… I was skeptical then, but didn’t have the context and knowledge I do today to pinpoint exactly why I felt so “icky” witnessing it at the time.

Given that I dipped my toe into fast influencing in 2018/2019 I was around for the hair loss, the wigs, the promotion of Nutrafol (or whatever product they were contracted to promote at the time), the extensions, the root spray, the faux “transparency” and “authenticity” and all of #danislittlelies. It was odd, to say the least, but Dani Austin was the tip of the iceberg…

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We Are All People | Israel Commits Genocide

Heidi Kaluza — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 22:37:47 GMT

TW: Pregnancy Loss

Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7th, I have been unable to post here or on my social media channels. Initially, I was not fully equipped to do so. It might come as a surprise that I, like many people living in the western world, was not as informed as I should be regarding the long and violent history between the state of Israel a…

VOGUE: The Original Influencer

Heidi Kaluza — Tue, 02 May 2023 22:16:01 GMT

Choupette interpretations, arbitrary Anna and what analyzing 538 pieces written by Vogue about H&M over the past decade reveals. Before we get to the Met Gala slays let’s take a trip back in time to the 2022 CFDA awards. I have long predicted that influencers will be the downfall of fast business models given a part of their allure (and an integral foun…

The 10 Year Anniversary of the Rana Plaza Collapse: Building Community for Collective Change

Heidi Kaluza — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 21:11:15 GMT

Today we remember the 1134 lives lost and the 2500 people who were left injured and disabled after the Rana Plaza collapse. An amazing amount of progress has been made in the last decade to address safety, dignity and fair wages throughout the fashion industry’s supply chain despite challenges stemming from the fast fashion business model. While there i…