demonreads #1: WAGS to riches
A bi-weekly roundup of stuff I've been reading (i.e., watching) on the internet
Many of my friends have suggested experimenting with different post formats to help me practice consistency in publishing. And since I am just an amalgamation of all my close relationships mixed in with content I get algorithmically served served on the internet, I thought I would share some of what I’m reading/watching and enjoying with you, dear reader!
My #1 strategy for curating my online spaces is to constantly DM my friends stuff that makes me think of them, so read on if you want to be my friend and learn more about what’s rattling around in my brain these days
Let’s get into it!
why are fashion girlies obsessed with F1 and sambas?
Mina Le is proof to me that I have literally never had an original fashion thought in my life. It’s like every time she posts a video, she manages to deliver an ultra-thoughtful, excellently-researched analysis that both speaks directly to a question I have been wondering AND fits perfectly into the current zeitgeist.
In this edition, Mina delves into why there’s been a sudden surge of sportswear-related interest in fashion, citing the confluence of major sporting events (goodbye, olympics, you were beautiful), movie influences (e.g., Challengers), and rise of the trad wife as social media figure. I love the way that Mina digs beneath the obvious, surface-level analysis and plausibly makes the connection between seemingly disparate trends in our physical and digital society — even going so far as to tie blonde hockey wives to the athletic-industrial complex (which, if you know me, is a totally me-coded hyperfixation)
And I’ll admit, I am not immune to the hype around sportswear! Was I influenced by Olympic Track & Field medalist and certified dreamboat Leo Neugebauer to buy some bright magenta Nike running tights? Do I own a jersey or two of a team I don’t actually support? Maybe so!
was the Barbie movie promotional fashion season a hoax?
In this video, Karolina explores the disappointing reality that despite the splash of last year’s Barbie movie mania and all of Margot Robbie’s historical and referential press-tour looks, it seems that the clothes on actual Barbie dolls are getting … worse ??
Like basically if you ever wondered last year why Margot’s team didn’t put her in any contemporary barbie costumes, it’s because most modern Barbie outfits look like reject product ideas on the cutting room floor of TargetHQ. Karolina raises an interesting question which is : is it possible that the de-yassification of Barbie’s fashion is related to the increasing pressure over the past decades on Barbie to represent real women?
It’s a fascinating question because actually I think showing realistic and/or more diverse types of people shouldn’t automatically preclude a character or doll from sartorially serving cunt. In many ways, I believe that serving cunt is for every one! But I also see a real phenomenon in our modern fashion landscape (life imitating art imitating plastic life?) which is a pervasive loss of fantasy and DRAMA - and it’s especially sad to see in childhood media, which should be a time of inspiration and PLAY. Personally, I’m a bit dismayed at the rise of trends like quiet luxury in the west because of this — like , bring back fantasy and impracticality and Too Much, please I’m begging you !
what is underconsumption-core??
This video and phenomenon is proof that even if I might consider myself pretty chronically online, there is always another circle in the hell that is the internet to discover (also to be fair, I refuse to download TikTok, which might be my most boomer characteristic). In it, Liz, who I follow for her personal style and DIY / thrift videos, explores the recent phenomenon of “underconsumption-core” and appropriately unpacks some of the outstanding questions about the trend.
I like this analysis because not only does it raise reasonable questions about any “-core” aesthetic / trend (e.g., “why does it need to be a -core?”, “is it under consumption or just not overconsumption?”, and “are the haters just projecting?”). Paraphrased and summarized, this video does a good job of saying “given our current overconsumption and constant-media-advertising landscape, I can see why underconsumption core has arisen, and maybe it’s fine that it has, and maybe it’s not that deep”
Sustainability and rewiring our own personal and societal relationships to consumerism are topics that I care about deeply, and even if I think that “underconsumption-core“ as manifest on TikTok does feel a little silly to me, I choose to be optimistic about what it may say about young people and their ability to take on and consider and share positive ideas and behaviors
how many ways can one guy make a ball?
Wrapping this list up with a light one (on… YouTube Shorts? Maybe I should just get TikTok after all…). Seemingly random, this recommendation somehow manages to still connect to all my various interests and topics above. Like his bio says, this is Jon-Paul, and he makes balls. On his channel, he makes a range of balls by hand out of different configurations of patterns, pieces, and concepts (think: a soccer ball if it slayed). From StussyS ball to watermelon inspired ball, to ball commissioned by Burberry, this man manages to answer the question: “can you make a career out of THEE most specific set of interests and skills?” apparently the answer is yes.
Admittedly, I’ve done no background research about this man or his career. But, there is just something so satisfying about watching the process of someone making something: the logic, the problem solving, the worked math problems, the sketches, the mock-ups, and the hand-sewing. Of course, it helps that Jon-Paul has a compelling knack for narrative and storytelling and seems to have perfected the TikTok-style video cut that makes his content oh-so-absolutely-bingeable.
This guy brings a new meaning to the phrase fuck it, we ball