Open tabs, holiday weekend edition
What to read across fashion, design, and culture
I am recovering from surgery today, so will likely be out of commission for the rest of May. What better way to celebrate my convalescence and the holiday weekend with some links?
Take care, and I will see you next month!
Fashion
I love the 70s pattern mixing of Duro Olowu’s fall 2025 collection | WWD
The new flex is old – the blurring of authentic and aesthetic vintage/resale fashion | Fashion Tings
Gen Z/Alpha style: Hollister, animal prints, baggy jeans | Dunkin Data
I really enjoyed Seth Rogen’s show The Studio, and Kathryn Hahn’s outfits were some of the best details. She’s like a mix of early 2000s J. Lo mixed with Gen Z trends – it’s visually a lot, but somehow feels painfully accurate for a movie marketing exec? This was a great breakdown of the show’s sartorial POV | Whatever Nevermind
The death of the aspirational customer | The Digress
Political theater and the Met Gala | Mercurial Surplus
Interior Design
I like Fiona McKenzie Johnson’s writing for House & Garden, and I like to pretend that her “Agony Aunt” series is my real life and these are my only problems. Here, how to get over decorating paralysis and how to cope with hideous heirlooms | House & Garden
Some low budget upgrades to make at home. Can confirm moving curtains closer to the ceiling makes a HUGE difference | Homebody Club
Paloma Elsesser’s place is stunning. Love the color and textile choices throughout | Architectural Digest, YouTube
Emily Grosvenor’s thoughts on building democracy and citizenship at home have been on my mind these last few weeks. What would it mean to center these values in the private sphere? | I Would Do it Differently
On the impact of visual clutter | Melissa Thomas
Culture
On Harriet the Spy and her author’s influence on young adult fiction | Lostalgia
The log truck from Final Destination 2 and its lasting impact on Millennials. Plus here’s an oral history on that scene | Teniade Topics, The Ringer
My friend Elizabeth on resisting BookTok trends. I have similar feelings about BookTube that I haven’t quite articulated yet tbh, so this was good grist for the mind mill | Things I Read and (Mostly) Liked
I binge-watched the Mormon Wives show, and think this piece still stands | Trinket Shelf
What if AI just makes everyone really boring? | Teddy Brown
On that West Village NY Mag piece | Define Normal
I used to travel a lot – visiting 4-5 countries was a norm for me pre-2020. But after the pandemic and reading Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place (on colonialism and modern tourism’s damage to places like Antigua), I have been trying to slow down. So I related to this case against travel | Sema Karaman
Bowen Yang, Atsuko Okatsuka, Hari Kondabulu, and Hasan Minhaj name their favorite standup bits from fellow Asian-Am comedians. The photos are so dreamy - I’ve recently been experimenting with film and love the double-exposures | NY Times (gift link)
The purpose of art | Aeon
xo,
JoAnn
Thank you for the shoutout -- and I can't wait to hear your thoughts! Glad I'm not the only one navigating this weird inner conflict.