Chomping Gold and Status Tan Lines
after school weekend edition
Welcome back to After School Weekend Edition, a not-so-brief trends debrief for paid subscribers. Your support keeps this newsletter going! 💫
Today we’re talking about:
Madhappy x Gap’s madcap launch strategy
The latest trending aesthetic is inspired by your aunt
But maybe an end to microtrends?
“Recession fashion”
Barbie pink last summer, Brat green this summer…what’s next?
An unlikely (but inevitable) sneaker comeback
Dress of the summer?
Glossier’s next big launch
Why (and how) Starface expanded into clear stickers
Arm lipo
JD Vance’s Urban Decay eyeliner
What the big Olympics memes actually mean
Plus everything else that happened this week in style, beauty, and culture, and what I’m buying/reading/listening to. But first, my favorite TikTok of the week:
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On Thursday, the New York Times published an article with the headline: “What is the ‘it’ water bottle for back-to-school shopping?”
When I was in high school, my primary form of hydration was Diet Coke and Ocean Spray Cran-Grape, plus the occasionally Smirnoff Ice. When I really think about it, I don’t recall ever taking a sip of water between the ages of 15 and 23.
While the very premise of an “it” water bottle for back-to-school shopping may sound absurd, many items have attributable status, especially among young people, and these days, a water bottle is very much one of those items. It’s, of course, not about the water, and all about what your possessions say about you.