It feels significant that all three of them created art that made so many people unreservedly happy, and, that their personal style and ways of expressing themselves were deemed, at various times, to be deeply provocative and contrary to mainstream culture.

My hope is that their deaths will inspire people to live in the ways they did: pursuing their creativity unreservedly, and appearing in ways that shake the foundation of small-minded individuals.

This way of living brought me around to something I’ve been thinking about for the past couple of weeks: Do artists have an obligation to create art that is accessible, or is exposure enough?

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Despite the tortures of my young life (see: having a job), I’ve managed to have a nice summer. I’ve seen some good shows and good movies, eaten some nice meals. I’m probably shopping more than I should be, but that’s more of an all-year-round problem. Here’s a roundup of some things I’m enjoying in these humid, dog days.

Movies

Tony; Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

I was extremely lucky to have been invited to a screening of Tony all the way back in May, and I’ve been bursting to talk about it since then. If you’re a fan of Anthony Bourdain, I think this biopic, which shows a very brief and early part of his life - really the nascent stages of his interest in cooking - is a great representation of the tortured person he was. It doesn’t glamorize him, but instead shows the lies and mistakes and awkward steps taken which begin to set one on a path - towards greatness and ruin in equal measure. If you’re not a fan of Bourdain, I think it still works as a great bildungsroman.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a great movie if you love campy lesbian dream-fiction more than pure horror. Which I do! I was afraid it would be too scary for me (a fragile flower), but I found it utterly hilarious, poignant, well-acted and well plotted, with some great cameos and stellar visuals. I never thought a slasher film could also be a feel-good movie.

Fashion

Copenhagen Fashion Week

My hot take that may get me fired from the internet is: I generally don’t like Copenhagen Fashion Week. It often feels like TikTok [style name] churn. Most things are conglomerate trends from the past five years: jorts, skorts, hair clips, Mary Jane sneakers, etc.

I think the key - and why designers like Miuccia Prada and Phoebe Philo still feel so cutting edge - is that the best designs come from a direct starting point. Meaning, a reference of already existing styles and silhouettes. For example: 1960s London; Brazilian showgirls; Russian ballet dancers. It’s harder to create a distinct narrative when everything looks like a hat on a hat (and those hats have never met each other in any universe).

But there was some nice stuff! I waded through the (many) iterations of leg warmers (like seriously why does every designer want us to wear fucking leg warmers), and found some winners…

Food

• Cho Dang Gol - finally tried this Koreatown staple, and was thoroughly impressed by the cod roe omelette. Worth the 1-hour wait (and I VERY rarely say that)

  

• Café du Soleil - We started going to this Upper West Side neighborhood-y spot in the late spring, and quickly became addicted to their INSANE $89 three course prix fixe for two people that includes a bottle of wine

• Silvana’s - I go through phases of food hyperfixations here - currently I’m obsessed with their Sabich bowls

• El Pingüino - We went here for my brother’s birthday, and I thought they made a pretty perfect (pink) martini

  

Culture

Marcel Duchamp/Frida and Diego at MoMa; Tarot at the Morgan Library

I’ve been a real little museum mouse lately. Fred and I wandered around MoMa for hours a few weeks ago and were greatly enamored by the Frida X Diego exhibit. Frida always wins by a mile (for me) when put up against her paramour (I generally feel it’s rude to even compare them), but putting them together presents a fascinating snapshot of Mexican heritage and culture in a very specific time period of revolution-industrialization-shifting perspectives on sexual agency and creativity. The constructed tree with mirrors at the top reflecting the audience walking around the exhibit was a great touch.

I also enjoyed the Duchamp retrospective, although I’m not much of a Surrealist. I do love to see the artist shift from representational work to the expansion of the mind/fragmenting of social mores into something strange and symbolist.

I also attended the tarot exhibit at the Morgan Library, which I thought was really beautifully curated and provided a really expansive view of tarot, from its origins as a card game for the gentry, to its genesis as a modern fortune telling tool, to its iterations as an art form, a lifestyle, and a way into the deepest recesses of the human unconscious. I am a fairly advanced practitioner of the tarot (friends will remember that I was teaching courses on how to read tarot during the pandemic - ah, the romantic life of a freelancer…). Anyway, it is a great exhibit and on through September, so I’d recommend it for anyone curious about its uses and designs.

What was your favorite thing from this summer that you saw/ate/experienced? Did any of it make you feel insane/alive/magical/evil/irrepressibly horny?

I don’t think the costumes were particularly impressive, however. Some were downright baffling - not sure why Jon Bernthal seems to be wearing some kind of modal draped hoodie from Alo Yoga here…

Or the logical necessity for Charlize wearing a fishnet top - other than the fact that she…catches fish on her island? If so, everyone in the Mediterranean should probably be walking around wearing netting. Let’s not even get into the eyebrow shaping…

The rest of the movie felt like a lazy version of Game of Thrones. GoT makes the case much more beautifully - based on the climate, the industry, and the specific myth and politic of the area, clothing is given a series of defining colors, silhouettes and small details. Bernadette Banner made a fantastic video about it.

It’s understandable to use natural fibers and neutral coloring: remnants of Bronze Age fashion show simple silhouettes, shades of brown, and a basic weave, as they’re the first examples of historical textile production we have.

However, there were virtually no design risks taken in The Odyssey that created a sense of fantasy. Worse, in my opinion, was the sort of modern, plastic-y sheen on the costumes. The armor was matte, the linens looked squeaky and fresh out of the factory.

This is not to say that Nolan is at all required to replicate Bronze Age clothing in his costumes, but when a fantasy story is written during a particular era, the details of that clothing provide a rich base for building the visual language of the film, even if those details are turned on their heads.

I will say the two details I did enjoy were:

• Agamemnon’s very Schiaparelli spine helmet

I can’t say I appreciate the rest of the helmet - as I said above, the matte black is giving Tesla. However, this particular detail felt like a good definition of the Agamemnon character without the actor having to say a word (which is what good costume design will do, but I digress).

• Penelope’s final act dress

I thought the navy and burgundy dress was a good nod to the fact that yes, natural dyes for clothing DID exist and a wealthy woman certainly would have had colorful clothing - as seen here in this Ancient Aegean fresco of the “ideal” Minoan woman.

I also appreciated the golden necklace/collar detail: there was very little adornment in the film (Calypso fishnet top notwithstanding, ha ha), but I thought the collar-style necklace was true to the era, and although the movie version was more delicate, it showed that there were delicate details, specifically circles and spirals, that we see in these pieces.

but enough about that:

The best looks of the press tour were simple, sleek, sculptural and metallic. Slight nods to antiquity, elegant cutouts that refined the body’s natural curves, statuesque.

The worst were overly flouncy or ruffled, showed wrinkles (crazy tbh!), had cheap looking prom details, or looked like they belonged at Coachella.

Long time, no blog. I have just recently pulled myself out of an unending tornado of work - between my various jobs, I’ve barely had a moment to myself, let alone a moment with Ye Olde Substacke.

But it hasn’t been all bad. We had a successful gala at the nonprofit I work for (it was my first time planning a gala and I was absolutely sh*tting bricks until the last person left that evening). I’ve also had a surprisingly busy spring singing season: I debuted three orchestral works, have been a session musician on two different studio projects, and sang a wonderful private recital last weekend at a dreamy estate in Connecticut with some of my very best friends.

And amidst all that, if you can believe it, the world continued to spin! In fact, it’s spun all the way to the fucked up US of A, who is currently hosting the World Cup. I’d consider myself a bit of a World Cup aficionado, in that I enjoy watching muscular men run around in short shorts.

However; I am a fashion critic first and soccer pervert second, so what I’m really interested in are their outfits. Not their jerseys, but the outfits they showed up to the USA in.

I have been dreaming about these jackets ever since I saw them weeks ago! Côte d’Ivoire showed up in these brilliant, tailored orange and white tie dyed jackets with a sloped lapel and embroidered elephant on the back. Paired with crisp white shirt and pants…perfection.

The Democratic Republic of Congo wore very Coming to America (complementary)-esque suits with leopard print panels and Cartier leopard brooches. Sexy, powerful, sharp.

I also loved seeing how drippy the French team’s travel handbag choices are! To be honest, there’s really not a lot I like about sports or sports culture - however, I do really appreciate how men (most of them ostensibly straight) are encouraged to participate in fashion on a high level. Yes, a lot of it is in futherance of presenting their wealth to the world, however I am genuinely inspired seeing a professional athlete sporting a huge, green Chanel flap.

To that end, I was tickled to see the extensive custom Hermès collection of my King Erling Haaland (a striker on Norway’s team, and a hoot n’ a holler on the internet, if you’re not already up on his lore)

Some of them are artsy, some are rugged, but all of them are genuinely interesting! I’m not a Birkin lover, but I really appreciate how unique each one is.

Let’s stay in Scandinavia for a minute. The other night, in honor of the Solstice, I watched Ari Aster’s Midsommar for the first time. I’m a certified Florence Pugh Stan™, so this was a real thrill for me. It’s not a typical horror movie, which I also liked - although I will say it has some horrifying moments. I want to talk about the design of the film, which was expertly done.

The majority of the film takes place in Hårga, a fictional Swedish commune where some creepy Swedes live and do creepy things. There is a lot of interesting, folkloric art within the movie, starting with a four panel polyptych which depicts the progression of the film (if you haven’t seen it, this isn’t a spoiler).

Near the beginning of the film, we see a painting by Swedish illustrator John Bauer, called Stackars lilla Basse! or Poor little bear!. The painting is striking, and framed centrally, ominously, in the background of Dani (Florence Pugh)’s apartment.

When the characters arrive in Hårga, the world brightens in endless summer light. The film was made for only $9 million, and it’s incredible what Aster is able to produce with limited funds (and makes one wonder just what, exactly, studios are doing spending hundreds of millions on shitty CGI sequels).

For example, each member of Hårga wears an individual embroidered outfit for the festival - these are known as Folkdräkt, and are patterned with historical patterns and runes. They’re stunning - and weirdly on brand today, considering the Reformation meets Doen meets Ulla Johnson meets Bode moment we seem to be in.

What to do…in June!

If you’ve read this long, congrats! Your reward is a list of fun things to do in New York City this summer. If you’re not living in New York…I suggest you move here immediately.

• Restaurants: Silvana (Harlem); Ren (Williamsburg), Sushi Yasaka (Upper West Side), Cafe Chelsea (Chelsea), Fiaschetteria Pistoia (West Village), AriAri (East Village)

• Places to hear music: Barbès (Park Slope), Dizzy’s (Columbus Circle), Birdland (Times Square), Tomi (Midtown East), Baby’s All Right (Williamsburg)

• Places to drink: Sea Witch (Park Slope), The Last Call (Williamsburg), The Expat (Morningside Heights), Sake Bar Decibel (East Village)

• Things to do: Free Shakespeare in the Park (I’m seeing Othello in July!), The Guggenheim Museum’s “Late Shift” (Upper East Side), Saturday Sketching at The Met Cloisters (Inwood), Food crawls (Jackson Heights, Flushing), ride the Cyclone at Coney Island and then go eat Russian Food in Brighton Beach

Kisses!

There’s something about European film festivals that hits me so differently from seeing award show red carpets. I get my back up; I say, What right do YOU have to swan around in France, while I’m here - in the proverbial trenches - in the United States?

Cannes feels effervescent; everyone seems lighter, sillier. Perhaps it’s the insouciance of heritage European wealth that permeates.

The fashion vacillated wildly from inspirational to old-fashioned. For example, I found the duchesse satin strapless column gowns and the flowy coats of Sharon Stone and Simone Ashley a bit clunky and dépassée.

My all-time favorite looks were the perfectly-styled tuxedos worn by Léa Seydoux and Ruth Negga. C’est vachement sexy, le smoking!

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The issue I, and many, are concerned with, is the theme. There is obviously no reason why a guest of a gala would have to dress “on theme;” this is merely something celebrities do nowadays to garner press and goodwill. But regardless: the theme of this year’s red carpet is “Fashion is Art.” The subject of the actual Costume Exhibit this year is “Costume Art.” In the words of the Costume Institute itself:

The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition explores depictions of the dressed body across The Met’s vast collection, pairing garments with artworks to reveal the inherent relationship between clothing and the body.

It’s a frustratingly opaque theme. Saying “Fashion is Art” is kind of like saying Puppies are Dogs. Flowers are Plants. We know that fashion is art (at least fashion at the level seen on the carpet), so in theory, wearing a nice dress that shows a little skin is perfectly on theme. Spoiler alert: many celebrities opted for this route.

Getting a little deeper, however: if we really deconstruct the possibilities for a theme as “simple” as Fashion is Art, several ideas come to my mind. It would have been cool to see more looks that expressed the hours of hands-on work needed to create an outfit (or a work of art) - a dress made of sketches, pins, muslin. Or; more looks that show the body in other mediums. The body in sculpture (perhaps in a less “on the nose” way than Heidi Klum did), or the body in installation. Performance Art, à la Marina Abramović. The Muse of the Artist As Artist (Suzanne Valadon comes to mind). Even in painting, there are so many opportunities to show Fashion as Art in a more profound way than I saw this hot girl in a painting so I wore a similar dress and now I’m her.

Can you tell I’ve been worried about this theme the past few weeks?

Anyway, let’s see what the red carpet hath wrought.

Best

I actually can’t believe that Emma Chamberlain was interviewing guests on the red carpet; for me, she was the main attraction. I implore you to find a high-def photo of this dress and really zoom in. It’s so beautifully textured; globs of paint and shredded, shirred tulle, and long, ombré fringe. The left side of this Mugler gown is like the mixing pan of the artist palette, and actually looks blurred and bruise-y. On a red carpet filled with lackluster gowns, this will go down as one of my favorite Met Gala gowns ever.

My other favorite look of the night was this rainbow Thom Browne gown on Chase Infiniti, inspired by the Venus de Milo. The sketching of the body is very classic Thom Browne (it’s similar to the Teyana Taylor gown from the Actor Awards that I loved so much), but I love that it was done this time in bright, saturated color. It felt like a nice homage without being an exact replica of a work of art.

I also have to talk about Anok Yai’s Balenciaga gown. I cannot stop thinking about it! Inspired by statues, she embodied the “Black Madonna,” in her own words. As someone really obsessed with what I like to call Creepy Catholic Aesthetics, her gold facepaint and gelatin tears, surrounded by the shroud-like black hooded gown gave me full body chills.

Some other beautiful looks: Paloma Elsesser’s Francesco Risso gown, made of scraps of vintage gowns from the early 20th century called to mind an artist’s tarp littered with streaks of paint. Also, Adut Akech’s Thom Browne ensemble as an homage to her pregnant body (a high-concept work of art in and of itself).

I also have to give it up to Amy Sherald for wearing a Thom Browne version of her own work Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance). Huge flex.

You might be surprised to see Miss Kylie Jenner on my Best Dressed List. I do think in this context, however, the body is the art, and what are the Kardashians if not celebrities participating in a decades-long performance art piece about absolute control over the human body? In the same way that a woman can be immortalized in a painting as the youngest, most beautiful version of herself, I liked how the skirt of her Schiaparelli dress fell away from the nude-colored top half, like the girl coming out of the painting she was imprisoned within.

Meh

Now we’re getting into the hyper-literal segment of the carpet, i.e. Beautiful Woman Reenacts a Painting of a Beautiful Woman. Claire Foy did Madame X, Hunter Schafer did Mäda Primavesi, and Rachel Zegler did The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. I don’t hate any of these looks (ok, I do kind of hate Zegler’s - what’s the point of cheapening the original (very beautiful) gown in the painting?), but my gripe is that this seems like the simplest possible way to do the theme. I will give Hunter credit for choosing a bit of a subversive figure, and deconstructing the dress past the point of just “pretty,” but it still falls a little flat. I do enjoy that it feels kind of like a tableau vivant, but even the 19th century royals and debutantes got a little crazier with it.

There were a few for whom the concept overwhelmed the execution. I appreciated Colman Domingo’s Valentino nod to harlequins in art, but I don’t think this look came out very well. It’s sort of garish and flat, texturally. I can’t say I understand the reasoning for using film strips from the movie Sabrina (1954) for Sabrina Carpenter’s dress (other than for obvious nomenclature reasons), but it’s a nice shape for her. Hate the headdress though - I have the same one from Amazon that I throw on for parties sometimes. Finally, LISA’s Robert Wun gown was definitely interesting - 3D arms printed to emulate Thai dance positions - but the actual dress itself looked so cheap. Like distractingly cheap, exposed seams and all.

Bad

Well…

So the Kim Kardashian outfit is sort of like, yeah, we’ve seen this before. It’s FemBot, it’s body modification, it’s pointy boobs. The only thing that horrified me was the horrible excuse for a “skirt” below the bodice, that looked like an old, too small towel pulled halfway around her hips. I’d have preferred it as a bodysuit on its own.

Beyoncé…I know your team probably told you that this was an amazing look. For me, it was completely overcomplicated and overwrought. The bulky skeleton of the dress, covered over with the big fluffy cape, plus very long hair AND a spiked headdress? It’s a million different styles and references all smashed together.

Janelle Monae’s looks either go very right or very wrong. I loved her interpretation of the Dandyism theme last year - it was a great extension of her own style. However, this was giving Peeta Mellark disguised as a rock.

Blake…I mean sure. I also loved dressing up like a princess when I was five. She would have elicited HUGE screams from five year-old me if she had rocked up to my house for my birthday party as the Cinderella impersonator. But at the Met Gala?

Anyway, farewell for now…

Due to my limitations (runny nose, itchy eyes, brain fog), I am allowing myself to release all expectations of being normal or good at things. However, I will still try to write a Substack with some cool and interesting tidbits that have been crowding my brain recently.

Reading: James Joyce and James Baldwin and all the Heated Rivalry Books

I love this excerpt of Baldwin talking about Shakespeare. I didn’t highlight the passages in this screenshot, because to me they kind of miss the point. My favorite quote from the passage is this one:

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And his responsibility, which is also his joy and his strength and his life, is to defeat all labels and complicate all battles by insisting on the human riddle, to bear witness, as long as breath is in him, to that mighty, unnameable, transfiguring force which lives in the soul of a man…

I’ve talked about Baldwin a lot in this blog, because he is to me one of those writers who, like Susan Sontag, felt so tapped into the exact world they lived in. They’re able to witness, to analyze, to adapt to the circumstances of their existence and, therefore, comment upon it so succinctly and effortlessly that it throws into sharp relief my own understanding of a time I am not living in. Which, I suppose, is exactly why Baldwin liked Shakespeare.

If you wish, be my friend on Goodreads to follow my wonderfully erratic reading habits! This month I’m finishing my re-read of Dubliners in preparation for starting Ulysses next month, and peppering in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series as they become available through the New York Public Library app.

Watching: The Drama

Zendaya did nothing wrong. I said what I said! Alana Haim is the villain! Also, in my opinion R Patz and Zendaya kind of have the perfect relationship (i.e., your man should be afraid of you).

Dreaming about: Moschino jackets

I think I’ve talked about this before, but some of the best vintage on the internet is made up of brands people don’t really talk about. I see the same culprits all the time: Chanel, LV, Celine, Balenciaga, but there’s barely any love for the Plein Suds or the Ossie Clarks or the Victor Glemauds of the world. I have to stick Moschino in this category (along with early 2000s Marc Jacobs), because its one of those labels that A - had a bunch of diffusion labels with barely a difference between them), and B - it expresses a style that is sort of at odds with the prevailing “Quiet Luxury” aesthetic.

However: vintage Moschino jackets are SO GOOD and can be found for a great price. They range in vibes from The Nanny to vampiric Anne Rice heroine to Parker Posey in Party Girl to yes, CURRENT DAY Chanel by Matthieu Blazy.

Attending: Fallen Angels

My friend Errica invited me to see this new show starring Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne, and I really enjoyed it - the experience felt like drinking bubbly champagne and eating a whole bowl of cherries.

Fallen Angels is a comedic play by Noel Coward about two women who are bored in their respectable marriages and have a hysterical, drunken night together when they find out that a man they both had an affair with is coming into town. Bonus points: Rose Byrne wears this fantastic, Atonement-esque green evening gown that totally stole my heart. Go if you’re able - we got $79 partial view tickets in the orchestra that worked out great!

I watched the 1998 movie A Perfect Murder this week, and was really enthralled by the costumes. Gwyneth Paltrow plays an heiress who for some reason works in a semi-menial translator’s post at the UN, and looks impeccable whether she’s at work, hanging with her friend (a gobsmackingly beautiful Sarita Choudhury), or cheating on her scary husband. She’s giving Carolyn Bessette, Grace Kelly and Christy Turlington all at once.

Anyway, at the beginning of the movie she wears this stunning gown for an event at The Met Museum, and it suddenly caused me to become enamored with the color plum.

Luckily fashion seems to be on my side at the moment, because I found a plethora of plum on the recent Paris runways.

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Secondly: Ireland Hive, we are so up!! (we got TWO go raibh mile maith agats on the Oscars stage, yuhhh).

Now, let’s see how my Oscars Bingo card fared…

Although we didn’t bingo, I think my predictions were pretty on point. Let’s go through the list…

Nip Slip - Not a FULL slip (therefore a yellow checkmark), but Barbie Ferreira got pretty damn close (not complaining btw)

Teyana Taylor shows abs - As she should!

Wunmi Mosaka in bright colors - a VIBRANT and verdant green

Emma Stone in Louis Vuitton

Mia Goth in Dior

Some billionaire is inexplicably there - Not SO inexplicable but Kylie Jenner was there and I wasn’t a fan of her dress so she’s catching strays, sowwy!

Free Space/boring black tux - Pick one. Leo, Chris Evans, PTA, whatever.

ICE OUT/other political pins - KING Javier Bardem looking hotter than ever.

Someone in a cape (it’s weird) - Sorry to mi papi François Arnaud but you get the weird cape crown (plus honorable mention to Chloe Zhao’s funereal veil)

Someone in very wrinkled Prada - Again, sorry to another one of my husbands Damson Idris but this look was diabolical (more on him below)

Male Celeb in the cursed SL vomit-yellow shirt - NOT the yellow shirt (thank god), but we saw not one but TWO male celebs (Lewis Pullman and Manu Rios) in ugly Saint Laurent striped button downs, so this one gets a yellow check

Elbow length gloves - Anne Hathaway looking very Princess of Genovia

Trends included: bright red or virginal white for women, and virtually ALL of the men wore brooches, from the small and cutesy (Hudson Williams, Wagner Moura), to the large and strange (Adrien Brody).

Now, onto the best and worst.

Best

• Shaboozey in Campillo - Best dressed man of the night, hands down. I loved the nod to Regency fashion with the high collar, plus the pearl earrings. So many gorgeous details, this was a feast for the eyes.

• Rose Byrne in Dior - God, she is gorgeous. What a stunning dress; tasteful, fashionable, dramatic. And the perfect red lip. She was my first clue that red would be the color of the carpet

• Li Jun Li in Gaurav Gupta - An amazing gown, I love that she took a risk and it totally paid off. What an incredible piece of art - and more red!

• Barbie Ferreira in Zac Posen - Stunning blue, perfect silhouette. Zac Posen really is that guy, one of the only designers out there who seems to love women’s bodies. I also love a covered button.

  

• Miles Caton in Amiri - I am blown away by the talent of this young man, I really wish he had been nominated. Such a great suit color; not many men took risks with color on the carpet, and this really paid off.

• Amy Madigan in Dior - Love this woman, LOVE this jacket. It’s giving Moira Rose in The Crows Have Eyes III: The Crowening (2018) in the cuntiest way.

• Mikey Madison in Dior - Why wasn’t she wearing things like this during HER Oscars campaign?? Ok, better late than never, she looks incredible.

• Delroy Lindo in ??? - WHY can’t I find info on who Delroy was wearing? Someone HELP if you can. Anyway, he looked insanely dapper, love the cravat, the tailoring and lapels…just so good. Vintage Hollywood at its best.

I also have to shout out Mia Goth’s Dior Vanity Fair afterparty dress…so damn good and unexpected!! Vintage, yet modern, yet coquette, and perfect styling.

Meh

• Renate Reinsve in Louis Vuitton - Honestly such a disappointment after her STELLAR Golden Globes look that I still think about…this whole thing was too simple - no hair, no jewelry...I also don’t like that the red lip was the exact same shade as the dress. ALSO don’t like the shoes, everything felt too bare, the balance was off. Why is your left cheek out on the carpet my girl??

• Jessie Buckley in Chanel - I saw someone on Twitter saying she looks like a beautiful bottle of Glossier You, which made me giggle. Ok, so she was NOT Hilary Clinton as predicted in my card (no stiff, silky or brocade fabrics, no weird frumpy silhouette), but her hair is still unfortunately giving The Democratic Establishment.

• Chase Infiniti in Louis Vuitton - The dress is a little too froufrou for my personal taste, but Chase looked absolutely beautiful. I also like how youthful the look and styling felt.

  

• Elle Fanning in Givenchy - Elle has NOT heeded my warning about wearing white - she simply has a very pink complexion that, to me, doesn’t suit a true white. Also, the dress itself is a bit David’s Bridal.

• Emma Stone in Louis Vuitton - Just a bit meh, no? She’s sort of the epitome of meh in this. Why does no one want to wear jewelry??

• Anne Hathaway in Valentino - It’s not BAD, but it’s very 2016. I used to have that stretchy stomacher-bodice thing from Nasty Gal.

Worst

• Odessa A’Zion in Valentino Couture - Why can’t I get on board with her? I feel like I should, but something about her look feels so off to me. I think her hair is way too dark, is that it? This was almost cool, but came off sloppy ultimately.

• Kieran Culkin in Paul Smith - I just can’t get on board with a warm brown jacket over a true black shirt…it makes the black look dusty.

• Misty Copland in David Koma - Yikes…why. I hate a direct reference (tutu), and the fit/silhouette of this is really stressing me out.

  

• Teyana Taylor in Chanel - After her stunning Actor’s Awards Thom Browne gown, I was really excited to see what Teyana would be wearing, but this was such a letdown! The spaghetti straps felt so casual for the Oscars, and the sheer torso felt like a bathing suit.

• Timothée Chalamet in Givenchy - Are we just like…accepting that he’s a douchebag now? Is that the thing? Idk, his look was feeling cool and interesting last year, but things have just gone a bit limp.

• Damson Idris in Prada - Damson, please. Let me style you. The Wrinkled Prada came out in FULL FORCE, and the length is so smothering - I kept thinking about how it was over 80 degrees on that carpet…
  

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The card is below, and is filled with things both immutable (Someone in a cape - it’s weird), and subjective (Ayo Edibiri in Chanel (good) vs Ayo Edibiri in Chanel (bad)).

Follow along, fill out your cards, and let me know how it went! Alternatively, it could be a drinking game (“drink if you see Teyana Taylor’s abs”) Warning: may be fatal. I pre-abdicate myself from any responsibility there.

As usual, I’ll have my red carpet recap for you, fresh and toasty on Monday.

Oh - and, a LOT of you read my last post! That’s so cool - I love when my stuff breaks containment (kinda). If you’re reading and not a subscriber, why not simply…subscribe? I’m fun I swear.

In a recent interview with Matthew McConaughey for Variety and CNN, Chalamet said that he wanted to be in an art form that people cared about.

He said, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.’” He then added, “all respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”

Let’s get some things out of the way: is this an asshole take? Yeah. Is he kind of an idiot probably? Perhaps. Are all of the people who believe him to be some Percy Bysshe Shelley- ass, sensitive ass, artiste wrong? Maybe, maybe…

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However, is this information objectively wrong? No! Of course not! People in pretty much every country in the world, in any age demographic, do not privilege opera and ballet over other, more relatable forms of entertainment - movies, tv shows, podcasts, TikTok. They simply don’t, and they never will. This is not the way the arc of culture is bending. Even my own friends and family, even MYSELF as a literal professional classical musician would often rather do or see or listen to things that are not opera or ballet.

The issue that becomes glaringly obvious is that his words are a case of art cannibalizing itself. If we are okay with one form of art disappearing in favor of another, fine, perhaps that’s just the survival of the fittest. But on the other hand, the classical arts enrich and interfere with the contemporary arts and vice versa. If one dies, there’s an effect within the entire ecosystem.

On the THIRD hand, I think the vitriol I’ve seen coming from the opera industry is sort of proving his point. If you weren’t bothered — if it hadn’t hit some crucial truism, you wouldn’t care at all.

Anyway, this whole thing made me think about one of my favorite scenes from Call Me By Your Name, where Elio is playing the piano for Oliver.

Moving on - The Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards) happened last week, and the Powers That Be decided to implement a red carpet theme (first mistake). The theme was Old Hollywood (second mistake). Did the celebs show up and show out? Well, you tell me…

The Best

Ultimately, there’s no point implementing such a general theme because celebs will just wear what they want to wear. They are actors in Hollywood, ergo if they wear a gown or a tux they are somewhat dressing on theme. You need to make the theme astronauts or fauna of the Pacific Northwest or Despicable Me, if you want to get something interesting.

However, I did get an old Hollywood feeling from Gwyneth Paltrow’s beautiful not-quite full length dress, and Amy Madigan’s debonair, Clark-Gable-esque suit and scarf. The others are just good looks.

I’m not going to write about who was Worst Dressed, only about one person who was…let’s say, Confusingly-Dressed. And has been for a while now. And if you follow me on Instagram you know who I’m talking about…

Jessie Buckley, AKA the favorite to win Best Actress at the 2026 Oscars, AKA a fantastic Irish actress and gorgeous human. Whose sartorial choices continue to upset and perplex me!!

I think about what she wears far too much - it consumes me. She is 36 years old, but has a penchant, nay, a yearning, to dress like she is much older. And actually, I refuse to insult any woman who is older because many of them are dressing far sexier.

Sexy, too, doesn’t necessarily mean showing more skin. It’s the way a line curves, the way a shape can be seen under a sheer fabric, even the way your hair and makeup is styled. I also often conflate the words sexy and cool, because both, when employed properly, give someone an aura that’s difficult to put into words.

These looks are, I think, the opposite of Auramaxxing. Buckley seems like a whimsical, warm person, but these looks are so devoid of whimsy! I will give her partial points for a better hairstyle on the far right - the shellac’ed Hilary Clinton bob she’s been rocking is going to be the death of me.

Anyway, you’re probably saying, Francesca stop being such a hater; it’s not as if you would do a better job styling her.

To which I say - you have no IDEA what i’m capable of when I’m procrastinating things I actually have to do! I’ve put together a styling guide based on recent runway seasons. Jessie, have your people get in touch!

For movie premieres:

No more harsh white or cream colors (or pink). Tonal shades, metallics, blues and greens. Wear velvet! No pants!

For talk shows:

My girl needs to lean into the power of the suit. Or even just hot, architectural tailored separates. No bra.

For awards shows:

Sultry, tonal, textural!! Also please imagine these with a chocolate brown pixie cut or long bob. No more brassy blonde helmet.

My overall thought process with these is the same as my overall gripe for how celebrities are styled nowadays: no one’s style is ever truly developed according to their own preferences. OR, should I say, preference is given to style celebrities based on their current project, instead of their actual personalities. That’s why we saw Zendaya styled with a bunch of tennis racquet accessories during Challengers, and why Jessie Buckley’s current red carpet looks for The Bride are what I’d like to call “gothic slop.”

It’s not that these things aren’t fun, but they don’t allow an audience to understand an actor outside of the movies they make. I imagine that’s partially by design, but there’s something cool (and, I think, would add to longevity in the public eye) about being able to conjure an image of an actor when you say their name - not just a character they’ve played.

Who do I submit my complaints to? Law Roach?

Other than that, I’ve been faithfully compiling notes and squirreling away photos from the red carpets and the runway, and having Thoughts and Opinions about them as I am wont to do.

Grammys 2026

The Grammys cannot be critiqued with the same rubric as movie red carpets; the musicians tend to be more scandalously attired (because Actors are Serious, of course), and this edginess and randomness makes it harder to pin down specific trends. I love this since sometimes it feels like every movie red carpet only features gowns in 2 or 3 colors.

The Best

When I tell you I screamed when I saw this look on Chappell…what a moment. This dress IS the event. It’s cool AND hot AND edgy AND strange AND interesting all at once. If you’re wondering about the physics of the nipple-age, it’s a very good mesh under layer that perfectly matched Chappell’s skin. I also love the filmy, brick red dress itself, and the hair and makeup is divine.

Tyla wore Dsquared2, and I think this is the best look I’ve ever seen on her. She’s such a flesh tone gown girl (more on that below), and this one draped so beautifully. A great combination of beauty and vivaciousness, it felt both retro and modern glam.

Lady Gaga wore scandalously-named new designers Matières Fécales - this was a great night for her, musically and sartorially. It really feels like she’s going back to her avant-garde/German BDSM/gothic eldritch roots, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m also very into the other two looks she wore that night (particularly the Givenchy):

The Haim sisters were a surprise hit for me - this sleek and sexy trio of Louis Vuitton looks hit all the right proverbial notes. I’m very sensitive to a girl group in the same-ish outfits because I feel like often one of them gets the “bad” outfit, but in this case each one felt very special and fun.

The "Good but not for the Grammys”

Here’s the thing: none of these outfits are BAD, they’re just not right for the Grammys. They’re a little too sweet, a little too refined, not enough rock n’ roll. A good Grammys look, to me, has to hit the line between good and bad taste, and these are just good.

You can even tell when I list off the designers - Giambattista Valli, Chanel, Valentino…these are names generally unfit for a Grammys red carpet. However they all look beautiful, so I remain mostly un-offended.

The Worst

The sheer number of STUFF on this Celine look totally drowned Miley - it took me multiple scrollbacks to even clock that this was her. It could’ve been really cool, but ended up looking very bulky and flat.

Addison Rae never seems to gel with her stylist’s vision of what she should wear. I’ve definitely talked about this before, but there needs to be a sort of aura-match between the celebrity, the stylist, and the aesthetic. She seems like such a sweet, sunshine-y person, and this is stark and sculptural; totally at odds. I do believe there is a concept behind these contrasting auras, I just don’t think it’s working.

This odd, stiff dress on Heidi Klum immediately reminded me of Tyla’s very successful Met Gala look from a few years ago. Tyla’s look worked because the texture of the dress curved pleasingly around the body, making it look like sand or some other organic material. The plastic-y version on Klum looked like a Fashion Nova rip-off, and I hate seeing my girls hobbled by their attire.

I really wanted to like this dress on Doechii; there are definitely some cool things about it. I think Cavalli, similar to Versace, is a type of designer that can really WORK on the Grammys red carpet. However, the fit was all wrong - too loose on top, too tight at the torso, and the skirt always looked bunched up in strange places. And, the shoes…I once again am asking: WHERE ARE THE GOOD RED CARPET SHOES.

Couture Week

Looking at the Couture shows as a Certified Poor™, I’m always wondering what the designers are trying to say or sell or signify to their most in-demand customer. One designer, Alexis Mabille, decided to go full AI with their runway show - a failure of epic proportions, at least for me, because moving forward I will never be able to think of them as anything other than “The AI designer.”

Other than that, I did have a nice time diving into some of the shows. Chanel really impressed me, despite it not looking like a “traditional” couture show. So far, I’m really enjoying Matthieu Blazy’s tenure with the brand!

Couture, to a lot of people means big, extravagant gowns or extreme, avant-garde silhouettes. However, it really just means that things are custom, handcrafted, unique! It’s a good place to push the envelope for your customers who really trust what you’re selling to them. I thought this collection really delivered on what Blazy introduced during his recent Métiers d’art collection.

The Schiaparelli show is always a highlight, although I have to confess, when I first saw some images I thought they were from last season…they certainly have a distinct aesthetic (It might be time to shake things up a bit). Nevertheless, I thought sharing a quick video of how a few of the looks moved would be nicer than the static images.

I suppose I’ll round this out by talking about Jonathan Anderson’s Dior, which I really loved! I go so hot and cold with Anderson, but this was his strongest showing yet. I loved the soft sculptures and many feathers; it gave me shades of both Issey Miyake and Dries van Noten in the best way.

Things on my mind: Thunderball (1965)

I’m currently writing something that takes place in the 1960s, so 60s fashion is definitely on my mind. We watched the James Bond film Thunderball, a movie that would be great aside from the director’s desperate need to put all of the fight scenes underwater, rendering them confusing and sloooow moving.

Despite that, I was very drawn to the costumes worn by French actress Claudine Auger as “Domino.” Black and white on the beach is my absolute favorite thing (which I realized when I was very young and saw Fran Drescher in The Nanny wear this swimsuit). She must have been referencing Domino, no? The headband feels incredibly on the nose. Latent shoutout to Sean Connery, for always wearing a pleasing shade of pink to complement her looks.

But ahh - things get better when I remember Japan, where I was lucky enough to spend Christmas and New Year’s. Japan made Fred and I surprisingly emotional; of course it’s a place like any other, with very real issues and struggles (I’m looking at you, Miss 3AM Meeting), but we were struck by the way in which it takes tangible care of its citizens.

The way the cities are arranged and maintained, from public bathrooms, to restaurants and city parks, all seem to be in the furtherance of logical care. When Fred lost his scarf while in a department store, he found it carefully folded by the escalator, for a quick and thoughtful recuperation.

It made us unfortunately, think about how America does not provide this same support for our own. Not even remotely. It baffles me how some Americans can, even now, maintain staunch support for a country with a broken healthcare system and not even the barest modicum of safety guaranteed.

So with that cheerful introduction, here are some recommendations for anyone wanting to voyage to Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto and Hakone to be specific), and see firsthand its quiet majesty. And buy homewares with cats on them.

Tokyo

I hadn’t been back to Tokyo since 2013, and it felt a lot less overwhelming than the this time around. Perhaps I’m just older, or I’ve gotten slightly better at navigating big cities. I was also distinctly aware that so many more people spoke English compared to last time. However, I did get to bust out my few Japanese words, which were met with appreciation - if (when) I go back, I want to be courageous enough to struggle through a few more phrases.

Food: Zekkocho Teppen (Shinjuku), Taishu Sakaba Mata Ai ni Yukimasu (Shibuya), Sushiebisu HANA (Ebisu) and Toyosu Market Restaurants (Toyosu)

Zekkocho Teppen is an izakaya tucked away down an alleyway in Shinjuku and up four flights of stairs. Fred and I got there and were promptly incredibly confused about how to order, until dishes just started coming out. It was all fantastic, and a great, lively place to go with friends.

Taishu Sakaba Mata Ai ni Yukimasu was our last official dinner in Japan; we found it as we were wandering in the pouring rain after hearing some fantastic jazz at Blue Note (shoutout to my old high school friend Emmet Cohen). Their sake broth clams, served in a teapot, are to die for.

We went to Sushiebisu HANA on New Year’s Eve and they served the most fabulous and fun omakase. They also do an AYCD menu, which we took full advantage of and promptly passed out back at our AirBnB around 11:57pm.

Toyosu Market is the less-lauded sister of the Tsukiji Fish Market, but has a similar thing going on. We went at the crack of dawn for the tuna auction, which was pretty underwhelming; the star of the show was the warren of sushi restaurants underneath the auction floor, which serve up (obviously) insanely fresh tuna and other fish. We had two meals there before 7AM, as God intended.

Shopping: Kindal, Ragtag, Uniqlo PLST

Japan’s secondhand shopping is renowned, and I took a fair bit of advantage when I was there. I found more luck at Kindal and Ragtag than 2nd Street and Book Off, which are often cited as the first line of vintage defense. I tended towards pieces by Japanese designers since I can’t find them at home, and was suitably rewarded. I made a whole Japan haul video, in case you’re interested.

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I thought the Globes were quite charming this year; I liked the winners for the most part. Everyone seemed genuinely surprised by their wins (except for you, Timothée…I’ve got my eye on you), and I loved seeing Teyana Taylor and Rose Byrne win.

The red carpet had a few distinct trends which we’ll talk about, and I shall also crown the best and worst overall.

TREND: Black gowns, beautiful gowns —> There was SO much black on the red carpet last night that I have to break things down into tiers of success. The best black outfits were ones that pushed the envelope with textures, details and silhouettes.

GREAT - Teyana, Coleman, Jenna

Teyana Taylor in custom Schiaparelli - Incredible. Teyana is a great example of a person whose style I feel I understand because her personality carries through everything she wears. She is avant garde, she has edge AND she’s a modern beauty. The Betty Boop finger wave! The crystal panty line! I’m so excited to see what she wears the rest of the season.

Coleman Domingo in custom Valentino - Another year, another beautiful, interesting, well-tailored suit on Coleman, and another gushing review by me! What else is new?

Jenna Ortega in Dilara Findikoglu - Similarly, I can’t help but love Jenna’s absolute commitment to looking like the fiercest ghoul on the red carpet. Her and Dilara are a match made in hell (complimentary).

GOOD - Jacob, Odessa, Maura

Jacob Elordi in Bottega Veneta - Great tailoring, great sunglasses, insane rizz.

Odessa A’Zion in vintage Dolce - Very cool outfit, I like how she wore trousers. I’m not really on her fangirl train simply because I’m a little put off by how manufactured her whole look has become. Maybe I’ll come around to her later in the season.

Maura Higgins in Marmar Halim - A surprise entrant! I’ve loved Maura since her LIUK season (my Irish sister), and she looks so damn good. This outfit could look dowdy with the long crinkly stole and shorter hair, but she manages to look insanely glam.

MEH - Mia, Selena, Ayo

Mia Goth in Dior - not a fan, the top looks like a bib.

Selena Gomez in Chanel - I’ve seen her wear a variation of this dress on every red carpet for the past year. There’s something about her look that feels inauthentic to me, but maybe it’s just because I don’t have a good sense of her personality. Anyway, the top looks like a loofah.

Ayo Edibiri in Chanel - ladylike but meh. There are things I like about it - I think the neckline is beautiful and the slightly shorter length is charming, but the hair and the lack of whimsy in the styling ultimately makes it a bit matronly and boring.

BAD - Lisa, Timothée

Lisa in Jacquemus - Very over-styled. I think the issue with a lot of current day red carpets is that when you try to create a look that’s a little more undone (this one reminds me of Angelina Jolie’s 2000 Oscar’s look), it still looks so “constructed” because we know that none of these celebrities aren’t allowed to make any aesthetic decision without the input of 45 different people.

Timothée Chalamet in custom Chrome Hearts - He looks like a pervert sorry!

TREND: Yellows, greens and sequins abound —> this trend was more entertaining to witness; I think greens and yellows are a bit risky (in a good way), so I like to see celebs pushing the envelope with different shades and permutations

GREAT - Tessa, Minnie, Kirsten

Tessa Thompson in Balenciaga - One of the best of the night! Photos don’t do this dress justice; the way the poison, swampy green glittered under the lights was simply delicious.

Minnie Driver in Sabina Bilenko - very chic, love the fringe/panels dragging on the ground, great hair.

Kirsten Dunst in Tony Ward - Sexy, simple, the most perfect shade of green.

GOOD - Emma, Leighton

Emma Stone in Louis Vuitton - DON’T COME FOR ME. I love this look. It’s cool and fun and quirky! Her hair looks amazing, I love the slice of midriff, and I’m a sucker for a crystal beaded skirt.

Leighton Meester in Miu Miu - This dress looked much more beautiful on film than in a photo - the slightly off color mixing worked really nicely, and I think Leighton has always looked amazing in a strapless dress.

FINE - Rose, Miley, Wunmi

Rose Byrne in Chanel - This was almost an Atonement dress moment, but it ultimately came off as slightly meh. My big problem was that up close, you could see that the top was gapping all over the place. I also don’t think it’s the perfect shade of green for her skin tone, and it would have been much more glam with an updo, a darker brown hair color, and a fabulous pair of big earrings.

Miley Cyrus in custom Saint Laurent - I definitely admire Miley’s commitment to dressing like the heritage rock star she is! She looks cool as hell, I just hate the floofy shoulder panels.

Wunmi Mosaku in custom Matthew Reisman - Wunmi is one of the world’s most beautiful women, but something about this dress wasn’t successful. Wunmi has a womanly body and is also pregnant, so I’d venture to guess that she doesn’t have as many options as other celebrities which quite frankly sucks ass. The color of the dress was nice and sunny in some photos, but in others looked a little bit green and strange. The cut of the sheer overlay also wasn’t as chic as I wanted it to be; I didn’t like the asymmetry, and it didn’t look properly designed.

TREND: Princess gowns galore - This was an interesting trend that I didn’t predict. The prevailing trends the past few years seem to be aiming to highlight everyone’s thinness, so I thought it was interesting to create more volume for once. However, I don’t think anyone was quite successful in their execution.

MEH: Ariana, Amy Lou, Parker

Ariana Grande in Vivienne Westwood - I want to love this but I’m sleepy looking at it. The black drains her I think - maybe if there was more color in the accessories or makeup.

Amy Lou Wood in Vivienne Westwood - This was SO ALMOST RIGHT. I love black and brown together, and I love the vaguely 1860s silhouette. But her hair was far too casual, and her jewelry far too staid.

Parker Posey in custom Rodarte - God bless her, this woman is odd. This almost seemed like a gag look, even though I know it wasn’t. But it’s kind of like bad Gone with the Wind cosplay.

BEST OF THE NIGHT: Renate Reinsve and Michael B. Jordan

Renate Reinsve in Louis Vuitton - This looks FLOORED ME. I’m so inspired by the way it moves. It’s a total showstopper without grasping for attention. I love the curved neckline, and the grooming was so sleek yet perfectly stylish.

Michael B. Jordan in Prada - I love how this suit is a subtle nod to his costumes in Sinners with the double breasted, slightly vintage cut, but still looks perfectly modern. The deep chocolate brown and polished brown shoe, the subtle sparkle of his brooch, his sunglasses - it’s perfection.

JUST PLAIN BAD - Emily, Jennifer, Jessie

Emily Blunt in Louis Vuitton - This looks like a three-hole punched piece of paper in the weirdest way. Everything is so pointy and stark and not fun.

Jennifer Lawrence in Givenchy - I think a lot about Jennifer’s first Oscars dress in 2011. She wore this gorgeous, really simple red Ralph Lauren gown and it felt so right on her. This feels cheap and icky to me. It’s like a figure skating costume gone wrong. I really don’t like her current style era, but that’s a tirade for another day.

Jessie Buckley in Dior - this beautiful woman is addicted to dressing like Hillary Clinton. Everything she wears is so stiff and the worst colors for her skin tone. I’m allowed to say that because she and I share a similar pale Irish complexion.

WORST OF THE NIGHT: Jennifer Lopez and Damson Idris

Jennifer Lopez in vintage Jean-Louis Scherrer - God, I love Jennifer Lopez. What a face, what an abdomen. This dress is a horrific pageant reject, and still, I laughed and clapped with delight every time she was on screen.

Damson Idris in Prada - I HATE to critique my husband Damson, but the tailoring of this suit is a crime against humanity. The pants are too short, and the entire silhouette is giving Gru.

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To be perfectly honest, I felt a lot of anger and fear this year. I fear for what lies ahead for us all. I want for people to rediscover their compassion for one another, and work together to undermine the billionaires who truly do not care whether we live or die. I want kids and adults to feel safe in schools. I want the air to be clean. I want for people to feel hopeful as they move through their lives, rather than burdened by mountainous college debt and the prospect of AI taking their jobs.

On a personal level, I felt a great deal of anxiety about my career, despite having accomplished some things I never thought I’d do. There is an omnipresent desire within most of us to feel that we are pushing towards something better, some next level that will let us breathe a sigh of relief, saying to ourselves that we’ve finally made it.

Despite the ever-more catastrophic landscape of the arts industry, I am deeply grateful for the opportunities that presented themselves in 2025, particularly those which allowed me to build some inner fortitude, rather than relying on the ephemerality of “success.”

Highlights of this year included:

• Performing the title role of Strauss’s Salome → The opportunity to tackle this huge, complex, bloody, sinewy role was not something I had on my bingo card, so to speak. But this was a fucking blast. Reaching into reserves of vocal and dramatic willpower to portray this absolutely heartbreaking, batshit character is something I will quite literally never forget.

  

• Releasing my debut album → This is crazy too, ngl. I can’t believe this actually came to fruition after years of dreaming and planning and HUSTLING. A lot of logistical work and practice and pitching myself to people and trying to convey a complicated set of references and languages and feelings. I am forever grateful to the team that made this happen, and I can’t wait to build on this work.

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• Running a half marathon → Honestly, I hate running. I don’t think I’ll ever love it. But I’m proud of myself for setting a goal for myself and accomplishing it. I think I’m becoming better at follow-through as I get older…it’s good to know at least something is improving as I age!

  

• Completing The Artist’s Way → If Julia Cameron has zero fans, I’m dead. I did The Artist’s Way around the same time as I was training for the race, and it was really helpful to have these two goals happening in tandem. I began the process after finishing Salome and a few concert gigs, when I had absolutely nothing singing-related on the horizon. It was quite literally a period of deep and uncomfortable reflection, and I gained so many tools for my own self confidence that I continue to put into effect in my current creative life.

  

• Biking around France → Fred and I spent an idyllic week in St Malo, Brittany this summer, and while we were there we rented bikes and traveled around to various seaside towns, going to the beaches, drinking wine and eating fresh seafood. It was a dream, so quiet and cheerful and beautiful that it hardly felt real.

  

The best things I ate, read and watched in 2025:

Best Books: Maurice by E.M. Forster; The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin; City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim; Barbarian Days by William Finnegan

Best Movies and TV: Night of the Hunter (1955); One Battle After Another (2025); Department Q (2025); Grantchester (2014); Sense and Sensibility (2008); To Live and Die in L.A. (1985); Official Competition (2021)

Best Meals: Everything from La Fourchette à Droite in St Malo; chocolate mousse from Chez Janou in Paris; shrimp wonton soup from Jing Fong in New York; DIY scallop rolls at AriAri in New York; frozen grapes from my freezer in the summertime

And here’s what I wish for 2026 - other than the usual (peace on earth, goodwill to all, for women to stop changing their names after they get married, etc)

• That Zohran Mamdani is a good mayor, and actually helps make life more affordable for everyday New Yorkers

• That I can make art that connects meaningfully with audiences

• That I become good enough at sewing that I can start creating the insane person wardrobe of my dreams (I’m like halfway there)

• That I can secure funding for my upcoming projects (putting that dual-career stuff to good use!)

• That my family and friends remain safe and healthy

That’s all from me; cheers and happiest of holidays, a peaceful transition to the new year, and all that other good stuff. THANK YOU for supporting my Substack; I hope to see you again on the other side of December.

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This year has been a fucking doozy, and I can’t say I’m sad to be seeing the back of it. However, there are always bright spots: wonderful friends, a steaming bowl of ramen, rubbing a fat cat’s belly.

Here’s a list of things I’m loving - it’s part-gift guide, part-esoteric muttering, part-filling your eyeballs with nice looking things.

Looking: Photographs by Sarah Moon

A few months ago I came across this shoot by Sarah Moon from 2003’s Glamour Italia, and since then I’ve been obsessed. Not all of her work is fashion photography; you can find a swathe of her stuff on Artsy (a great resource for contemporary artists, and a good way to start collecting if you’re interested!). I think I’m most interested in her moody, non-fashion figures and landscapes.

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Gifting: Faccia Brutto Spirits

I’m very into the idea of giving (or getting) a bottle of Faccia Brutto spirits; if nothing else, the branding is fantastic and deserves to be displayed (faccia brutto means “ugly face” (slightly grammatically incorrectly) in Italian). I’m particularly interested in their nocino liqueur to make a walnut-ty, spicy espresso martini.

Experiencing: Rockefeller Center at dawn

Fred and I started going to see the tree at Rockefeller Center in the wee morning hours a decade ago, after being recommended to do so by a former coworker. It’s become a bit of a tradition, and is really a cool experience to see the tree all lit up in the plaza without having to fight through crowds. You can also take a leisurely stroll along the Saks 5th Avenue windows (make sure you accompany your wanderings with hot chocolate)!

Gifting: Forbidden Fruits Vintage

My secret source for all of my best coffee table books is Forbidden Fruits Vintage. You have to follow their feed for when Michelle, the owner, posts, and then be the first to DM her to purchase. The thrill of the hunt! Books range from fashion to the occult, erotica, Old Hollywood and niche history.

This year, I bought a book of 19th and 20th century New York City apartment photography, as well as a book of Victorian Fashion, and I read them weekly! Endless inspiration, and a one-of-a-kind gift idea.

Reading: International Detective Novels

I like to think of myself as a fairly slutty reader. Meaning; I’m not really bothered about which books I’m “supposed” to be reading, as a “supposedly” intellectual New York asshole. I don’t care much about reading whichever books are on the Top Whatever List, or the books that are being made into movies (sorry to the team of Hamnet). I am guided by pure instinct (read; the books on my bookshelf that have been languishing for years//the books that jump out to me from the Fiction section of the Morningside New York Public Library branch).

Anyway, what’s really toasting my marshmallows this time of year is curling up with a cozy detective novel. There’s just something about wending one’s way inside the minds of genius/terrible crime solvers; bonus points if they’re from another country or traveling around to various countries. I’m partial to a Gabriel Allon or Salvo Montalbano mystery; Fred appreciates a good Harry Hole.

Noticing: Chanel Métiers d’Art

The new Artistic Director of Chanel, Matthieu Blazy, presented his second show for the legendary fashion house this week in New York. Specifically, in the decommissioned Bowery subway station. Quel scandale! This was the Métiers d’Art show, a specific collection that Chanel is known for (otherwise known as Pre-Fall 2026), that seeks to highlight the work of the many artisans who produce highly skilled work for the label.

Everything was very beautiful, crave-able, and tactile. The odd thing was how NOT out of place the models looked, walking around the grubby platform, jumping in and out of subway cars. I loved the deep green bouclé suit, the effulgence of fur and feathers, and the high contrast red and teal against black. It felt like a collection for a real city woman.

Recommending: Myself?

The last thing I’ll do is a shameless (well, slightly shameful) plug. If you’ve enjoyed reading my Substack this year or in previous years, why not gift a subscription to a friend or loved one? Whether it’s for a mere month or a year, I love writing em, and hopefully you love (or feel ambivalent) about seeing my name pop up in your inbox.

If $55 for a year feels steep, not to worry! There are other ways to support me, your friendly neighborhood singer/writer/development director/internet friend.

For example, you can support my debut album! Purchase a vinyl or CD, or simply stream the album to toss me a few pennies. Bonus points if you share it around your own internet domain. It means a great deal to me, and hopefully will be a nice gift for you or someone else.

2025 has been Quite A Year (derogatory), but I’m trying to focus on the things that are bringing me peace and giggles and wonderment.

Another Round (2020)

This movie is a trip! It’s a pretty great commentary on the progression of life, career and relationships in middle age, framed around…binge drinking. Very nordic, no? It was quite funny, kind of sad, and stays with you long after the glass is empty.

Vintage Chloe

Prompted by some runway photos of old Chloe shows I saw on Instagram, I began a deep dive into the plethora of old Chloe on the secondhand market. I’m particularly drawn to the collections from the Karl Lagerfeld era - full of vibrant colors and eclectic femininity.

Last Podcast on the Left - Heinrich Himmler Series

I’ve been a semi-devoted fan of LPOTL since 2019 or so, and they’ve been in a good groove recently. Some of their stuff is really stomach churning, but their most recent series on Heinrich Himmler was truly excellent. Who doesn’t love a good n@zi-bashing, after all?

Katie Mitchell on sexism in the opera industry

I can’t stop thinking about this article about the retirement of operatic stage director Katie Price, where she references the misogyny of the opera world as the reason for her retirement (or, redirection to directing other forms of theater). It is so depressing to see titans of the industry, who have done their part in promoting the art form, wanting to leave because of issues that could absolutely be fixed if men would just treat women like human beings. Anyway, a good read.

Eleven Percent, by Maren Uthaug

If that segue wasn’t explicit enough: this is a funny little book I read about a near future society in which an entirely matriarchal world has emerged “triumphant” after some huge upheaval, and only eleven percent of men are allowed to live - and only exist for procreation purposes. The men are kept in Centers, where they are drugged and kept as breeding and sexual playthings. All in all, it’s definitely a fount for discussion and debate. I’d recommend if you have a book club (bonus points if it’s co-ed).

I’m being slightly facetious, but it’s true; I had been feeling a perpetual sense of being overlooked, unseen, unheard, to the point where I wondered if I were alive at all.

Being a freelance artist entails a lot of advocating for oneself. This means, oftentimes, emailing people to remind them Hey, I’m performing in this interesting project, or Hey, something I worked on just won an award. Earlier this year, it was reaching out to managers and artistic directors, to share new recordings/credits/schedule availabilities, as well as pitching myself to theaters for possible inclusion as I tried to book some shows around my album release.

I was met with silence. Pure, unadulterated silence. No rejections, no Out of Office notifications, no “try again later” or redirects to other departments, but a silence so loud that it felt purposeful. I tried to make sense of the abandonment I was feeling, and wondered if perhaps I had been blacklisted from the industry for something I wasn’t aware of.

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The world of fashion seems to be at a tentative standstill. Trends come and go in the blink of an eye, and there is a preponderance of very “normal” looking clothes at astronomical price points (as illustrated by Rachel Tashjian in this great article).

I’d assume this is in reaction to the ever-shifting trend cycle, and also the financial instability we all (?) seem to be feeling. What’s the point of doing a collection full of ruffles and sequins for an astronomical price point, when instead one can design sensible black sweaters and trousers for an astronomical price point and actually turn a profit?

But don’t worry; the fashion industry understands that black trousers have little emotional impact, so they have created a fantasy world around the pants that we now call quiet luxury. It’s not BORING, it’s quiet luxury!

Heaven forbid I get in the way of some designer’s bag, but I agree with Tashjian in that, sure, design plain clothes if you must, but is a runway show really necessary? I do not want to trudge to Brooklyn to witness a cascade of sensible sweaters I could just as easily find at Uniqlo.

To me, the runway show should be an artifact of pure imagination, constructed to provide the audience with a portal to another world. And that other world isn’t just “a woman with an email job who goes to Pilates.”

So here are some looks I’ve liked from fashion week so far, that eschew the conventions of quiet luxury, and instead have something about them that invokes a real, albeit fantastically cool life.

For the architect who loves bitter green tea, listening to Toru Takemitsu, and salsa dancing

Perhaps I’ve front loaded this post by picking my favorite look right off the bat. This Fendi look oozes around my brain in the most delightful way. I love how every element is considered: the sexiness of the bare architectural sandal, compared to the obscuring volume of the coat; the insouciant mix of blue/black/yellow/brown/white, and the sharp symmetry of the blouse contrasted with the tilted shoe shape and the aggressively slicked hair + single earring.

For the book editor who moonlights as a painter’s muse and wears huge glasses even though she doesn’t need them

Fashion people went through a long-standing hatred of NYFW for years - I was one of them! They thought it was no longer chic, that the influencers had cheapened it, and that the shows lacked magic. In the past few seasons, however, my love for hometown fashion has been officially reinvigorated. Brandon Maxwell’s show was one of my all-time favorites; it included a lot of atypical plaid, mixed with sequins and mesh, to create a perfectly intellectual, yet sensual collection of separates.

For the tech entrepreneur who sold her company and now loafs around palazzos in Puglia drinking too much Nebbiolo

I wasn’t so much of a fan of Miu Miu this season, but Prada almost never lets me down. This tangerine skirt is permanently affixed in my memory; an electric reminiscence of drinking Aperol spritzes as the sun sets in a Mediterranean coastal town. The absolutely sedate, almost Jil Sander-esque coat over it is delightfully anachronistic with its oversized sleeves, particularly paired with a minimal bra top and heels straight out of Secretary (2002). It looks like what you’d throw on to grab an espresso and cornetto after waking up in a hotel room after a long night with some beautiful strangers.

For the club kid who works at the university library and attaches BDSM harnesses to her Labubus

Yuhan Wang is a younger label whose designs have increasingly attracted my notice. This show was an effulgent cornucopia of vintage references, from bloomers to Louis XVI slippers, to Joan of Arc suits of armor. I love shows that feature complete outfits I could immediately envision a cool girl wearing on the street, and bloomers are a trend I can actually get on board with. They’re imminently style-able, and toe the line between sweet, edgy and awkward. Bonus point for a bag so tiny you could barely fit a euro coin inside.

For the screenwriter who lives in East London with three Great Danes named Basquiat, Kusama and Twombly

No.21 is rarely a brand that falls within the fashion week discourse, but I constantly think of them as the ultimate expression of the stylish European. The clothes are actually tactile, unlike so many designers’ runway looks that never actually make it into anyone’s hands. I bought a vintage black and red checked coat with this same shape earlier in the year, and I’m planning to wear it today styled exactly like this, with a large scarf around the shoulders, clomping loafers and socks. That’s the power of fashion - from Milan to Harlem!

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The Emmys don’t wow me in way as an Oscars or a Cannes do; mostly, I was just thinking about how so many people looked…hungry. As in, people standing stock still, stiff in a boxed Barbie way, frozen faced, perhaps thinking about the possibility of eating a delicious bowl of ramen in the future. I put Brittany Snow and Chase Sui Wonders in this category alongside Molly Gordon. Could’ve been good outfits, but I’m distracted by how they all look miserable in their own way.

Winners: Jenna Ortega and Gwendoline Christie

These were my ladies bringing some Capital F Fashion to the carpet. Jenna Ortega can do no wrong for me lately. The bleached brows amplify the contours of her face (I’ve spoken more on this in another post), and her stylist Enrique Melendez has done such a good job at creating a signature style for her that feels true to her personality. This look is a bit Isabella Rossellini in Death Becomes Her. And I’m normally not a fan of white people wearing white, but the cut of Gwendoline’s Tom Ford suit was enough for me to break my own rule. It’s the perfect length, perfect amount of room in the jacket, perfect slouch, etc. It’s hard to find good examples of tailoring on the red carpet these days, and I thought she looked hot and powerful.

Winners: Coleman Domingo and Sam Nivola

I’m a huge fan of a dinner jacket and silk scarf combo, which both Domingo and Nivola pulled off with panache. If you’re tired of me waxing poetic about Coleman Domingo’s perfect sense of style, you should probably unsubscribe. The brown and blue is everything to me (my September manicure is a brown and pale blue ombré, so I felt very seen), the shirt and scarf with a pale contrasting polka dot, the pointed toe shoes, the embellishment on the jacket…I could write poetry about it. Sam Nivola wore new Dior by Jonathan Anderson, and it felt really fun and exciting. The cropped tuxedo jacket combined with the wider pant leg felt ultra formal in a fresh way. My only criticism is that it didn’t feel particularly youthful for a 21 year-old.

Winner: Hunter Schaefer

Sheesh. I hope the Alexander McQueen team appreciates the absolute epitome of fashion advertising that is Hunter Schaefer wearing one of your creations. The fit, the flow, the balance of this look is just so right, and I really loved how the red hem of the dress melts into the red of the carpet.

Good Effort: Jennie Garth, Elizabeth Banks, Meghann Fahy

I really loved all of these dresses, I just had issues with the hair/styling. I thought Jennie Garth’s hair was flat, the makeup look was off and the earrings were wrong. Elizabeth Banks’ hair, on the other hand, was TOO stylized and made her look a bit cartoonish. Meghann Fahy’s styling always feels a bit mature for her, maybe it’s the heavy fabric or the aggressive highlights, but she’s only 35 and she dresses like an (albeit hot) actress in her late 40s.

Good Effort: Michael Urie, Alan Cumming

Again, I really appreciated these looks! Michael Urie’s suit was modern and cool, I just felt that the feathers on the lapel were a little bedraggled, and the burgundy suit didn’t sit right against the carpet. Alan Cumming’s suit was so striking and true to form, but interestingly felt a little too oversized, particularly the trousers and shoe, and I would’ve preferred if it went even further in a trompe l’oeil direction.

Good Effort: Charlotte Le Bon, Aimee Lou Wood

I’m totally obsessed with Charlotte’s dress, I just really hated those beige sock-shoes with it. She needed a great platform or sky high stiletto. Aimee fell victim to this thick taffeta fabric that immediately wrinkles, and that plus a criminally blah hairstyle made her look a bit undone.

Losers: Lisa and Rita Ora

These two have won my “Courtney Love is in dire need of attention award.” I love Lisa, but this dress and hair color do nothing for her beauty and charm. Rita Ora is inexplicably…wet? And presumably can’t see through those bangs.

Losers: Adam Brody and Leighton Meester

These two look like the evil parents in a 1950s prom movie. Adam’s powder blue suit is way too on the nose, and Leighton’s looking far too stiff and tight and weirdly Stepford-esque with that hair.

Loser: Christopher Meloni and Bowen Yang

Lastly, these are just a classic example of bad fitting and bad styling. I can see the vision in both, but Chris Meloni’s mix of a high school principal shirt and tie with a shiny blue tie dyed suit is quite odd, and tight pant winds up making him look a little like Gru. Bowen’s high-low mix of a drapey t-shirt blouse and tuxedo pants doesn’t have the cut or the high contrast to really make an impact.