♥ Sale styles are now an extra 40% off at Rebecca Taylor with code WEARNOW. Ground shipping is free on all orders, or spend $350+ for free 2-day shipping. Return shipping is a flat $8. In my closet: La Vie Merino Ribbed Pullover, Stretch Texture Dress, and Luxe Merino Pullover. My picks:
♥ How to Make Friends Online the Old-Fashioned Way (Buying Clothes Together) (The New York Times): “… buy-sell-trade communities [are] Part social club and part marketplace, the groups have sprung up on Instagram and Facebook and have, for some users, become a daily place to socialize and shop … Facebook and Instagram communities can be a very real alternative to traditional retailers, providing shoppers with not only products, but also friends.”
♥ Why Fashion Brands Today Have Such Strange Names (The Wall Street Journal): “Once upon a time, labels were content to rely on a founder’s name … Today, instead of charting a direct line from a founder’s name to a shirt’s label, nascent brands seem determined to confound us with names like 99%is, Suicoke, Come Tees and Pink House Mustique … Given the almost incalculable number of brands, ‘most of the obvious names are taken, so you kind of need to go down some more obscure avenues to find something that is available’ … Before ecommerce and Instagram, closely or even identically named brands coexisted for decades, oblivious of each other … Today, in the context of multi-brand online stores and social media platforms that catalog brands from all over the world, the potential for a shopper to make those connections and for a soundalike brand to exploit them is more of a factor.”
♥ No One Wants Your Used Clothes Anymore (Bloomberg): “Fashion trends are accelerating, new clothes are becoming as cheap as used ones, and poor countries are turning their backs on the secondhand trade … The tide of secondhand clothes keeps growing even as the markets to reuse them are disappearing … Already, the textile industry accounts for more greenhouse-gas emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined; as recycling markets break down, its contribution could soar.”
♥ How Far Can Abused Women Go to Protect Themselves? (The New Yorker): “Throughout the two-thousands, Alabama was among the states where a woman was most likely to be murdered by a man … In 2011, Alabama stopped submitting its homicide data … but Georgia and Tennessee, its neighbors, are still in the top ten … In the past several decades, imprisonment of women in the United States has increased at a rate twice that of men; there are now some two hundred and thirty thousand women incarcerated … a 2004 study … found that nearly half of them said that they had acted in self-defense or retaliated in the wake of abuse … Stand Your Ground defense … which was introduced in Alabama in 2006, makes it legal to use lethal force to defend oneself against threats or perceived threats, with no duty to retreat. Thirty-three states now have such laws … over all, according to F.B.I. data, Stand Your Ground laws have actually helped both women and men win justifiable-homicide defenses. But in some states the laws have done little or nothing for women. A statistical analysis of Stand Your Ground cases in Florida … found evidence of both racial and gender bias. The gender bias applied to ‘domestic’ cases—those which occurred on a defendant’s property. The probability of conviction for a male defendant in such a case was about forty per cent; for a woman, it was about eighty per cent. The analysis suggests that, in domestic cases, Stand Your Ground works better for men than for women. In Alabama, Roman found, no women received justifiable-homicide rulings between 2006, when the state’s Stand Your Ground law was implemented, and 2010, after which the state stopped reporting its data.”
♥ Uniqlo added new styles to its sale section, and some bestsellers have been restocked. My picks: Puff Sleeve Crew Neck Sweater, Marimekko Merino-Blend Turtleneck Sweater, Marimekko Ultra Light Down Cocoon Jacket, Tweed Knitted Coat, Soft Knitted Fleece Long-Sleeve Dress, Ultra Light Down Long Coat, Seamless Down Long Coat, Double-Face Cocoon Coat, and 1*1 Ribbed Turtleneck Long-Sleeve T-Shirt.
♥ In Silicon Valley, Some Men Say Cosmetic Procedures Are Essential to a Career (The Washington Post): “… a San Francisco-based plastic surgeon … estimates that about 25 percent of his patients now are men … the vast majority of whom work in tech. Increasingly … they are struggling with beauty standards that have long tormented women … there is little doubt that the changes are, at least in part, motivated by vanity. But … male tech workers appear to be turning to plastic surgery because of more complicated pressures … Under pressure to keep up financially — and surrounded by an influx of creative young workers with new skills and talents — middle-aged tech workers can find themselves immersed in a future-obsessed culture that celebrates youthful brainpower with the same vigor that Los Angeles or Miami celebrates youthful bodies … Today’s techie is all about striving for perfection, whether that’s redefining retail, altering traditional transportation networks, spearheading a crypto-banking revolution or flouting Father Time as long as possible. That’s why, in certain parts of Silicon Valley these days, appearing old by its very nature carries more than a residue of failure.”
♥ The Lonely Burden of Today’s Teenage Girls (The Wall Street Journal): “Girls in 2019 tend to be risk-averse, focused on their studies and fond of their families. They are also experiencing high levels of depression and loneliness. A 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 36% of girls report being extremely anxious every day. They are particularly worried about school shootings, melting polar ice and their ability to afford college … Many girls report that their mothers are their best friends … But girls today aren’t as self-sufficient as their counterparts in earlier decades: They are less likely to possess driver’s licenses, work outside the home or date … They are also more solitary. Research … shows that, since 2007—the dawn of the smartphone era—girls have dramatically decreased the amount of time they spend shopping, seeing friends or going to movies. We found that many girls spend their Saturday nights home alone, watching Netflix and surfing social media.”
♥ Real Men Don’t Rent (The New York Times): “… aside from prom or wedding tuxedos, men do not rent — for now, at least … Through clothing, people project their wealth, status and work ethic. For men, being caught in clothes they don’t own could threaten those projections, and their masculinity … Major rental companies nevertheless look at men as an untapped market, even if they’re not quite sure how to go about tapping it.”
♥ “It’s More Than a Shoe, It’s a Sisterhood”: Inside the Rothy’s Fandom (Vox): “… a common challenge for digitally native direct-to-consumer brands: There are elements of the in-store experience, such as trying on a shoe, that are inevitably lost online. For these, online communities can help fill in the gaps. “
♥ Take 20% off beauty or fragrance purchases at Lord + Taylor with code BEAUTY, and 20% off almost everything else with code SAVE. I’d also recommend browsing the shoes section as there are dozens of clearance styles that are extremely well-priced (but note that the extra 20% off discount doesn’t apply to these items). My picks: Aquatalia Ryann Ankle-Strap Suede & Leather Boots, Kurt Geiger London Burlington Leather Buckle Pumps, Aquatalia Palmer Wedge Booties (still fully stocked in black suede), Calvin Klein Freeda Leather Tall Boots, Circus by Sam Edelman Hanover Over-The-Knee Boots, and Steven by Steve Madden Charly Wrap-Around Wedges.
♥ Fashion Exec Olga Liriano’s Shocking Rise and Fall, From Glossy Shoots to Folding Shirts (New York Post): :Today, New York is littered with fashion veterans who have nowhere to go. The magazines are gone or shells of their former selves, and with them so has the need for model agents, bookers, photographers and designers. So much is self-driven by Instagram and fast-fashion. Fashion Week isn’t what it used to be. There are still the few models who can command big bucks, but for the most part the industry has lost its big-spending glamour.”
♥ Your Gym Outfit Might Be Too Boring (The Wall Street Journal): “… while exercisers nationwide still love high-performance, aesthetically low-key looks from Lululemon and Nike, haute athletic styles from Balmain and Versace are vying for our money. Women are proving receptive.”
♥ Disinformation For Hire: How A New Breed Of PR Firms Is Selling Lies Online (Buzzfeed): “… since 2011, at least 27 online information operations have been partially or wholly attributed to PR or marketing firms. Of those, 19 occurred in 2019 alone … the International Communications Consultancy Organisation, an umbrella organization representing PR trade groups around the world, established 10 principles known as the Helsinki Declaration. They require communication professionals to ‘be aware of the power of social media, and use it responsibly’ and to ‘never engage in the creation of or knowingly circulate fake news’ … While the legitimate PR industry works to differentiate itself from these practitioners, platforms are finding it increasingly difficult to prune black PR from their ecosystems.”
♥ How the VC Pitch Process Is Failing Female Entrepreneurs (HBR): “In 2018, only 3% of venture capital in the U.S went to companies with a female CEO … by adopting a more data-driven approach to assessing a startup’s potential and profitability, VCs may see a better performing portfolio and one that includes more female-founded firms … there is a strong gender bias in many different elements of the pitch process … women often use metrics to sell their story, while men present the big-picture vision. VCs who are scouting for extreme outperformers may be underwhelmed by women’s more measured pitching style.”
♥ J. Crew is currently running three sales: take 30% off full-price styles with code LONGWKND, an extra 40% off sale style with code LONGWKND, or 50% off cashmere sweaters and outerwear (prices as marked, no code needed). My sale picks:
♥ Who Killed the Knapp Family? (The New York Times): “Suicides are at their highest rate since World War II; one child in seven is living with a parent suffering from substance abuse; a baby is born every 15 minutes after prenatal exposure to opioids … Only in America has life expectancy now fallen three years in a row, for the first time in a century, because of ‘deaths of despair’ … America is polarized with ferocious arguments about social issues, but we should be able to agree on what doesn’t work: neglect and underinvestment in children. Here’s what does work. Job training and retraining give people dignity as well as an economic lifeline … Another successful strategy is investing not just in prisons but also in human capital to keep people out of prisons.”
♥ You’ll Probably Never Get Into This Restaurant (Eater): “… WS New York … is reserved for members willing to pay a $15,000 initiation fee, plus $7,500 in annual dues … WS New York isn’t the only place in New York where most people will have trouble scoring a seat. Private restaurants, or those where it’s nearly impossible to get a reservation, are on the rise throughout the city … exclusive restaurants with high-end chefs are becoming the latest in-demand amenity of luxury condos.”
♥ What It’s Really Like to Be an Airbnb Landlord (The Wall Street Journal): “Often, it takes a pricey renovation to make the house appealing to renters, and then there are ongoing costs like restocking soap and hassles like taking care of laundry … How much you can make depends on a number of factors, including location, seasonality and government regulations, which vary depending on the locality. And your margins often depend on how much of the work you’re prepared to do yourself, and how much you contract out to workers such as housecleaners … being a host isn’t for everyone … If you know you won’t be able to embrace customer service, then running a short-term rental may not be for you. Even one bad review … can do serious damage when it comes to booking guests.”
♥ Recently purchased: Mansur Gavriel Mini Lady Leather Bag, Cole Haan Laree Stretch Bootie, Free People Le Femme Top, Aquatalia Ryann High-Heel Booties (also on sale here), Maje Frayed Cotton-tweed Mini Dress, Ann Taylor Houndstooth Belted Coatigan (love!), and Ann Taylor Colorblock Sweater Dress.
Have a great week, everyone!
