Two weeks ago, my roommates and I reserved our seats at the 34th street AMC to watch Don’t Worry Darling make its worldwide theatrical debut. Finally, the night was Thursday.

We were all skeptical. We as in my roommates, but also, we as in the world. The drama sh*tstorm that’s continuing past release has clouded any sort of normalcy this movie could ever have, and I saw one too many TikToks of Harry saying weird things for me to be comfortable going into that theatre.

I don’t think I’m breaking any news by saying that I’m a massive Harry Styles fan. I’m afraid to ever find out the amount of money I (or should I say, my mom) have spent on him since 2013, and I don’t want any reason to not love him. I don’t want to get the ick, I don’t want to stop being a fan, I don’t want my life to change like that. Hence forth, reason #1 why I was scared.

Reason #2 was because of Olivia Wilde. Shia, Shia, Shiiiiaaaaaaaa. Miss Flo. Everything.

I saw Olivia Wilde speak at SCAD, my alma mater, in 2019 before a screening of Booksmart, one of my favorite movies. She was extremely intelligent, funny, warm, and I also thought the movie was brilliant. It made me really excited that a female director was coming to share her vision and give the room full of us any sort of advice, even if I wasn’t a film student.

Considering how much I admired her and her work after this, I was excited for this to come out. And then everything else happened that we don’t need to rehash, because if you have a phone and an Instagram or TikTok account, you know, and I’m not breaking any news here on Coffee Order.

After everything else, I was still excited, but again, scared. I wanted the movie to be fantastic and shut everyone up, I wanted to not believe what I read because I wanted to give Olivia the benefit of the doubt, and I wanted to still love Harry Styles at the end of it all.

Alas, allow me to give my full, comprehensive review of Don’t Worry Darling.

SPOILERS START HERE.

The first thirty minutes of the film are basically setting the scene. We see Jack (Harry Styles) and Alice (Florence Pugh) as a basically sickeningly in-love couple with their neighbors/friends, including Wilde’s character, Bunny and her husband portrayed by Nick Kroll, dancing drunk and having a good old 50s time. Alice, Bunny, and their fellow housewives live in a company town for the Victory Project, where their husbands off to their mysterious jobs every morning, drive off into the desert that outskirts the town, and while they work, the gals truly play. They go to the pool, they go to the mall and charge things to their household accounts, they ride the trolly, what could ever go wrong?

The 50s scenery, set design, and costume was truly the best part of this movie. I know that they filmed a lot of it in Palm Springs, and it made for an absolutely beautiful movie to watch. The houses were amazing, the colors were visually engaging, and each shot was really well thought through.

Alice starts to grow suspicious of her seemingly perfect life when she witnesses Margaret (KiKi Layne), a fellow housewife, speaking out against the Victory Project and their Jim Jones-esque leader, Frank (portrayed by Chris Pine), and the repercussions she faces. Everyone calls her crazy, ill, and wrong, while Alice starts to believe her claims of mind control and wrongdoing on Frank’s part. Alice even starts to see things herself, including a plane crash in the desert where the Victory Project is headquartered, and embarks out into the desert like Margaret once did to see for herself.

The film then takes us on a journey of Alice only seeing more and more, seemingly getting flashbacks to an alternate life of her and Jack, and many motifs of eyeballs. Every time she goes to Jack about something being wrong, he insists everything is fine, and that they are in fact, luck to be there (cue the TikTok). Everything comes to a head when Alice goes head to head with Frank at a dinner party hosted by Jack and Alice after Jack gets promoted at the Victory Project, where Alice accuses Frank of controlling them, but Frank still gets everyone, including Jack, to believe that she’s crazy. Frank outs Alice’s trip to the desert, and Jack sets up for her to be taken away for electroshock therapy in order to make her “better”.

This is where we get the insane plot twist that made me once again believe in Olivia Wilde.

During the therapy, Alice’s old life is revealed. She’s shocked back into reality, where she’s a doctor in current times, picking up extra shifts to support her and her unemployed partner, an extremely less handsome and very scary Jack. He stays home all day after losing his job, researching and eventually joining the Victory Project simulation, where he isn’t a loser that depends on his wife or girlfriend, but a breadwinning, handsome 50s husband, who can give Alice the “perfect” life. We find out that Jack has put Alice (unsure if that’s her name in the real world) in a simulation against her will, and that by using tools on their eyes, they’re able to live in an alternate universe.

I can’t be 100% certain, but my take on this was that Jack is someone who fell down a Reddit rabbit hole when he got fired, spent all of his time online for a long time, and eventually stumbled across this simulation created by “Frank”, where sad, lonely, Q-Anon adjacent men can place their wives or girlfriends under and have the perfect life, outside of their loser-y ones now. This was an absolutely ABSURD and great plot twist to me, some sort of social commentary on the world today. The men can be who they want to be without trying in the real world, and control the women like they were once able to in the 50s. Jack chose to join, and was able to craft their perfect life.

The movie ends with Alice going back into the simulation, confronting Jack who admits what he’s done, but begs her to stay. Once he becomes aggressive and tries to trap her, she kills him. But, this also made her kill him in real life, which trapped her in the simulation. Bunny comes into the house after hearing the hoopla, and tells Alice that she’s known all along and chose to live in the Victory Project after losing her real life children, where she can have them back, as well as the perfect life. She tells Alice to run to headquarters, as it’s the only way out before the henchmen of Frank’s will kill her too. The last scene is her making it to the mountaintop, and a black screen with Pugh gasping for air is the last thing we hear. I assume she woke up from the simulation and is back in real life, but who knows.

Hopefully that synopsis made sense. I’m not a movie critic, only a Wikipedia user.

Overall, I’d give the movie a solid 7.5/10, perhaps even higher. I wish beforehand that I watched reference movies that Wilde and the screenwriters used, such as The Stepford Wives, The Truman Show, etc., only because I feel like there were a lot of great references that I missed. I don’t think that Harry deserved all of the hate, especially because once it’s revealed that he was the one who put Alice under and has been lying, it makes sense as to why he was so odd and almost dopey (albeit, incredibly hot).

Florence. MF. PUGH. This performance was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in an actress. It was reminiscent of Midsommar, but on a whole other level. She went from loving, soft, and agreeable in the beginning, to fierce and incredibly strong, overall carrying this story to greatness. No one else could’ve played this role the way that she did, so I’m glad Olivia chose her over Shia.

I didn’t see how Shia LeBouf could’ve played this role anyway. I was left believing that Jack was diluted by the internet, genuinely believing that he was giving Alice the perfect life. If it were Shia, I would believe that it was malicious, and more similar to Frank’s character than who Jack was supposed to be.

I love a psychological thriller, and I truly did not see the simulation plot twist coming. That was really exhilarating to me. I also love Palm Springs and the time period they chose, so that was also really great. I also love cult-y things. And I love Harry Styles. And Florence Pugh. So for me, the movie was fabulous.

I could see where people are left with a bad taste in their mouth with some unanswered questions, and I would like to request a prequal in order to understand. How did Jack get Alice involved in the simulation? She was strapped to the bed with an I.V. and crazy things on her eyes, so how did she get there? What are the logistics of the simulation? Are all men in Victory simulation leaders in their household, or did Jack create them? Frank’s wife, portrayed by Gemma Chan, took over at the end of the movie, so what was her role in the simulation? Also, what the f*ck was everything about the red plane?!

The true question I was left with was, would I stay in the simulation with Jack? My answer? Yes. I absolutely would stay in a perfect, 50s simulation with Harry Styles. Is this a bad, anti-feminist answer? Yes. Maybe I’m stressed from work and the hustle and bustle of NYC living, but a Palm Springs simple life with an extremely hot husband sounds fabulous to me. But, I also understand why Alice wanted out.

The drama of it all also makes me kind of sad. The sound design and score was incredible, I previously mentioned the set and costumes being immaculate, and I truly thought that Olivia Wilde directed this movie straight to the moon. But, it’ll all be eclipsed by this PR nightmare for the rest of eternity. I know that Rotten Tomatoes roasted DWD to no end, but to me, it was worth the overpriced AMC ticket, and I’m looking forward to watching again in order to look back on what I missed, knowing what I know now. I also feel badly because I truly don’t believe that any male director would ever face this sort of firestorm, which is most definitely true because many have done far worse than anything alleged on this set without any sort of Daily Mail Snapchat graphic.

All we can hope for now is that “With You All The Time”, the song that Alice hums throughout and eventually breaks the simulation for her, is sung by Pugh and Styles at the Oscars or something.

For me, Olivia Wilde is 2/2, showing that she’s not just a mastermind behind drug-induced Barbie fantasies, but that she’s also capable of crafting a beautifully messed up alternate universe. And making Harry Styles fall in love with her on set. Good for her!

Share

I’ve seen almost every dating reality show on in the past few years.

From my former Bachelor franchise obsession that I’ve thankfully gotten over, to previously proclaiming on this blog that The Ultimatum is the best show on modern television, nothing gains my viewership faster than ten people, evenly of the opposite sex, only casted for their looks, determined to find love.

Love Island is undoubtedly the most intimidating one to dive into. With episodes airing every single day (except for Saturdays), you truly have to dedicate time and effort to being an avid watcher.

I, personally, have never found anything so worth it.

Having previously watched the first ever UK season, I was familiar with why Love Island is so entertaining. From contestants not understanding what a country is versus a state, to ruining lives and breaking up defined couples in each recoupling ceremony, the drama and entertainment value is through the roof.

What I didn’t expect, was for Season 8, to provide sound love advice.

Something about this cast in particular is that they aren’t afraid to try, try, and try again. Newcomers to the Villa put themselves out there, even if it means embarrassing themselves and getting rejection. Islanders that have been around but can’t find love are optimistic, waiting for their person to come into town, even if they never do.

Their eternal optimism with love may stem from the fact that they all got hired because they’re hot, they know that, and they aren’t afraid to tell you they know that. They’re all models and influencers who are nearly guaranteed to have a Boohoo or Pretty Little Thing deal the second they get sent home, and have no issue being in a bathing suit on international television every day.

However, a page can most definitely be taken out of their book.

As Charlie from this season said: “I took my chance, I shot my shot, and now I’m single again.” And what’s the problem with that!

Subscribe now

Couture Week thus far has been living in my head rent free.

From my prior ode to North West to a Margiela play for the ages (not really), even Kristen McMenamy absolutely eating it at Jean Paul Gaultier by Olivier Rousteing, the fun has not stopped (and I hope it never does).

If you’re unfamiliar with couture week on the fashion calendar, I’ll break it down for you. Haute Couture Week™️ happens twice a year, once in January, and once during the first week of July (welcome). During this week, over 50 designers showcase la crème de la crème of high fashion, January’s event being for Spring-Summer of that year, and July’s being for Fall-Winter.

Although they say ‘presenting to the public’, there is absolutely nothing inclusive about couture week.

Depending on the designer, invitations to a show can be just about as difficult to acquire as an affordable New York City apartment. Sometimes, fashion students and lovers can sneak their way through the back or stand in the dark corners, however, most of the time it’s Fort Knox, and mere plainfolk have to gather outside in throngs of people, throwing elbows and holding their phones as high as their arms will stretch to get a glimpse of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman wearing alien glasses.

Couture week post-Covid has been a bit difficult to be excited about. We’ve delt with a multitude of virtual shows or attempts at hosting in the metaverse, limited attendance, and quite frankly, some boring collections that make it difficult for a light to be sparked within any fashion lover’s heart.

This season was easy to get excited about. As soon as I saw Dua Lipa on the Balenciaga runway, it was clear that many designers are now creating a world for their audience to become fully immersed in, not just allow buyers of stores and editorial staffs to decide what’s essential to bring back to the States.

To some looking on the outside in, such as an Instagram story or recommendation from the TikTok algorithm, the fashion ether must seem like a strange, avant-garde, exclusionary world that doesn’t actually matter in the grand scheme of life. I mean, how could Kim Kardashian wearing a helmet straight out of a low-budget sci-fi film be anything important that we should be paying attention to?

The truth lies in performance art. Fashion now strives more towards viral moments than it does successful Q4 sales, and in order to be the best, most successful brand of the season, you need to be the one that everyone is talking about on Instagram or TikTok. I don’t think I’m breaking any news by saying that, but it’s the reason why this past Couture Week was so successful.

Seeing people on the street wearing something out of the ordinary is exhilarating. Whether you take it negatively or positively, it added substance and culture to your day. Even if you don’t understand it, you encountered someone who does.

I may not understand why people spend money on Versace clothing or $1000 Shein hauls, but that’s alright. Some things are meant to keep us curious, and even judgemental.

Subscribe now

Coffee Order’s accidental summer hiatus has come to an end, and I’m back to share what’s in and what’s out for summer 2022.

IN:

#1: Lemonade stands that take Venmo

OUT:

#1: Not giving women the fundamental right to choose

IN:

#2: Dairy milk

OUT:

#2: MP lobster rolls

IN:

#3: The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime

OUT:

#3: Choosing Jeremiah over Conrad Fisher

IN:

#4: Going to your hometown bar and hating it but doing it again every other weekend

OUT:

#4: The New York City apartment market

IN:

#5: Listening to Gracie Abrams and other sad music when you’re not sad at all

OUT:

#5: Not wearing sunscreen

IN:

#6: Short hair

OUT:

#6: Overpriced, subpar deli sandwiches

IN:

#7: Powder manicures

OUT:

#7: The Metro North

IN:

#8: Skorts

OUT:

#8: Tight shorts

IN:

#9: Clothes from your high school closet

OUT:

#9: Iced lattes

IN:

#10: Cold brew

OUT:

#10: Not having ice cream after dinner

Share this with a friend to let them know what the vibe is this summer.

Something I pride myself in is the ability to read.

I got back into the swing of reading during COVID, and read like 25 books during 2020. I definitely don’t read as much now because of school, but with summer next week, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be placing a big order of what #BookTok tells me to.

Here are the top ten books I recommend for you to read by the pool, beach, in your bed, on the plane, wherever.

Ranked in no particular order. (📕 = Hard 📙 = Medium 📗= Easy)

1. Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

Genre: Fiction, Romance???

Themes: Friendship, being British/Irish, being a writer, being in College, affairs, being a woman

Pages: 336

Difficulty: 📙

I’m a Sally Rooney stan, and everything she writes makes me want to move to Dublin, write poetry, and get into a complicated relationship with an attractive, emotionally dead man. Now a subpar Hulu series, Conversations With Friends was one of my favorite books I read last year.

In this novel, Frances, a collegiate poet, and her best friend Bobbi, are living in Dublin. They meet Melissa, an older writer, who invites them to her house. Frances and Bobbi then embark on a journey with Melissa and her husband, Nick, navigating their own friendship, feelings, and perhaps pretending to be a bit more mature than they actually are.

2. Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

Genre: Fiction, (again) Romance (I don’t know anyone who wants this type of romance)????

Themes: Marriage, young adulthood, being an artist, New York City, age gaps

Pages: 384

Difficulty: 📙

This was a novel recommended to me by #BookTok, and while it looks pretty on my nightstand/bookshelf, it’s also pretty great!

Coco Mellors is another fantastic British writer, and I perhaps enjoyed reading this so much because of how envious I am of her style.

Cleo is a 20-something artist from the U.K. who marries Frank, a 40-something-year-old advertising executive, for what seems to be love, but also may be for a green card. This story follows the two of them, along with their gaggle of creative, insane friends, navigating life in New York City.

Warnings: mental illness, age gaps, suicide, an entitled bitch, narcissistic artists.

3. Nobody Asked For This by Cazzie David

Genre: Essays

Themes: Being a nepotism baby, young adulthood, humor, womanhood

Pages: 352

Difficulty: 📗

This is my most favorite book I’ve ever read.

I’ve been really into books of essays recently, just because if you get bored or the plot isn’t going anywhere, a sharp left turn is just a few pages away. I also really like to hear about personal stories, especially if they’re hilarious.

Cazzie David, the daughter of Larry David, is in her late 20s. She’s a writer, former PA (who everyone apparently hated), one of two daughters to divorced parents, and Pete Davidson’s first famous ex girlfriend, who Ariana Grande wrote “break up with ur girlfriend, i’m bored” about. If that doesn’t sell you, I don’t know what will. But it’s actually the funniest book I’ve ever read, and you will laugh out loud.

4. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Themes: Murder, mental illness, psychological thriller

Pages: 328

Difficulty: 📕

This is kind of funny, because it has a little bit of if Cleopatra and Frankenstein was a murder-mystery.

But, as a complete 180 from the previous three novels, The Silent Patient is a gripping, extremely bone-chilling, and thrilling page turner.

Alicia is a painter, married to a fashion photographer. She lives in Hampstead Heath with her husband, painting and living a fabulous life that everyone envies (can you tell I dream to be a young wife in London?). Suddenly, one evening, her husband comes home from work, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face. She’s then admitted to a mental hospital and refuses to speak, where psychologist Theo attempts to breakthrough to her, understanding what made her do it.

Warnings: murder (duh), mental illness, being scared sh*tless.

5. My Body by Emily Ratajkowski

Genre: Memoir

Themes: womanhood, celebrity memoir

Pages: 256

Difficulty: 📗

Please, save your judgement.

I was an Emily Ratajkowski hater…kind of…until I read this. I never really understood her, I was put off by the way she was holding her baby like a football (even though I’m not a mother and have no legs to stand on), and I felt like she was to pretty to ever complain.

After reading this memoir, despite being an incredible writer, Emily is retrospective, curious, dedicated to making a change, and just a really cool girlboss. Of course, there were times where I was like, hmmm, should you be saying this? But, she’s incredibly candid about struggles and past traumas she’s faced, and, I just love to hear about her fab life.

Warnings: sexual assault, trauma

6. Animal by Lisa Taddeo

Genre: Fiction

Themes: Womanhood, I literally don’t know what else

Pages: 336

Difficulty: 📕

This is definitely the most intense novel I could recommend, second to Silent Patient, but this, for some reason, is more intense than a woman shooting her husband in cold blood.

Lisa Taddeo, if you’re familiar with her previous work with Three Women, you’ll know is one of the best current writers male, female, anyone. Her style is so incredibly raw that you’ll feel sick to your stomach, want to cry your eyes out, and completely change your perspective on life for the foreseeable future after reading. So, a super fun beach read for your weekend trip to the Hamptons!

Joan, the protagonist, flees NYC due to a man in her life committing a horrendous act of violence in front of her eyes. She ends up in Los Angeles, in search of Alice, someone who can inexplicably explain her past for her. Joan faces her trauma head on, and finally fights back against the men who have ruined her life.

Warnings: boy, where do we begin. Trauma, sexual assault, the patriarchy…

7. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

Genre: Memoir

Themes: Friendship, romance, womanhood

Pages: 368

Difficulty: 📗

One of my dearest friends, to whom I recommended this book to, described it as a handbook. I simply couldn’t agree more.

If anyone’s keeping a tally of how many books I love that include a young woman in the U.K., navigating love and friendship, you may have lost count by now. The same goes for memoirs by female writers. However, I promise, it’s worth it.

Dolly Alderton reflects on her young adulthood, navigating love, friends, parties, school, the workplace, and more. She’s hysterical, candid, extremely well spoken, and the amount of things she has taught me is endless. If you’re a young woman in your 20s, buy this book. If you’re the mother of a young woman in her 20s, buy them this book. If you have a best friend, buy them this book. Buy the book.

8. Tell Me Lies by Carla Lovering

Genre: Fiction, romance, young adult, kind of a thriller

Themes: Young adulthood, college, romance, toxic relationships

Pages: 384

Difficulty: 📗

This has successfully made it’s way around my friend group, as well as to my friends at SCAD, which means it’s truly a gem.

I would say that this is the ‘beachiest’ read out of all of these, by Reese Witherspoon standards. Despite being nearly 400 pages, I finished this in one day during the summer of 2020, and it’s just the type of book you want to be reading with a glass of rosé with no interruptions.

Lucy is a college freshman native to Long Island, who meets Stephen, an older frat brother who’s entranced by Lucy, successfully seducing her and leading her onto a ride she simply cannot get off. This novel sees betrayal, friendship navigation, going to college for the first time, and meeting someone who causes amnesia to everything important in one’s life.

If you’ve ever had a toxic ex boyfriend, a hard relationship with your mother, grown up in the East Coast, gone to college, or all four and everything in between, this will rock you. Otherwise, it’s a novel that’ll have you flipping pages like it’s nobody’s business.

9. Supper Club by Lara Williams

Genre: Fiction

Themes: Friendship, cooking, womanhood, coming of age

Pages: 320

Difficulty: 📙

This is probably the most avant-garde book that I could recommend, but if you like weird stuff like that, then you’ll be down.

Fun fact, I thought that people started supper clubs after reading this book, but in fact, it was already a concept.

Roberta is almost thirty, displeased with her life, and feels like she needs to seek out a greater purpose. She meets Stevie, an artist, who inspires her to live more freely and embrace what she’s passionate about: food. Thus, the two embark on starting a supper club, an experimental group where women join from different walks of life and come together to relinquish their fears and embrace their hunger. It proves to be a transformative experience, especially Steve and Roberta, for better, and for worse.

Warning: Eating disorders

10. The Idiot by Elif Batuman

Genre: Fiction

Themes: Humor, travel, family, friendship, romance, tradition

Pages: 464

Difficulty: 📙

I haven’t actually read this yet, but I thought I would finish this roundup with the book I’m kicking off the summer with. It’s listed as #1 in Turkish Travel Guides on Amazon, but this is fully a novel that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, so I don’t know. Maybe Jeff Bezos should sort that out.

Synopsis from Jeff himself: “The year is 1995, and email is new. Selin, the daughter of Turkish immigrants, arrives for her freshman year at Harvard. She signs up for classes in subjects she has never heard of, befriends her charismatic and worldly Serbian classmate, Svetlana, and, almost by accident, begins corresponding with Ivan, an older mathematics student from Hungary. Selin may have barely spoken to Ivan, but with each email they exchange, the act of writing seems to take on new and increasingly mysterious meanings.“ Juicy!

While writing this, I had a fantasy of the Coffee Order stickers going on these books as picks, just like Oprah or Reese Witherspoon. Until then, tell a friend what they should read this summer.

The best part about graduating in June, is being the last to post graduation pictures on Instagram.

Seeing so many peers at other colleges and universities graduate weeks, almost a month before I am, I’ve had a lot of time for self reflection.

Often, that self reflection leaves me lying awake at night, scared for what’s going to happen once I have no classes to attend, no homework to submit, and no professor critiquing me without consequences.

As I entered the twilight of my academic career, it became increasingly harder and harder for me to control what I was worried about.

Before, my worries were somewhat reasonable. From finding an apartment with the market in New York City today, to finding a job that I liked, to worrying that I would even succeed at said job, these are all topics that make anyone sweat.

From moving woes to workplace fears, I have fully transitioned into post-grad panic. Will there be a Trader Joe’s near my apartment? Do I have the cool-Danish-girl wardrobe that’s necessary for my first summer being a real adult? Who do I eat lunch with during work?

Last night, particularly, it was the lunch question that really kept me wired until the wee hours of the morning, turning my Sunday Scaries into Monday morning baggage, and has truly set the tone for my last week of school, EVER.

Each time I’ve left a level of school, I like to reflect on things that I will never have to do again. When I left Elementary School, it was walking in a line and playing the violin. When I left Middle School, it was use a bottom locker or sing in chorus (can you tell I hated music classes). When I left High School, it was ride a bus, hear a school bell, sit in a cafeteria, have a principal (we had a headmaster…), take a standardized test, the list really goes on with that one.

When I left the enormous state school that I immediately evacuated after one year, I had a lot to leave behind. I would never walk around a campus again, I would never go to frat parties or be in a sorority again, I wouldn’t go to football games or any sort of sports games (wink wink, Alex).

Now, leaving SCAD, there’s a lot that I won’t ever do again. I won’t have critiques, I won’t use Canva nearly as much, I won’t go to Ex Libris every Monday and Wednesday and spend an abhorrent amount of money on supplies for a random elective. I won’t ever have to lug a design kit from class to class, I won’t have to do any ELOs or hear the word “midterm conference” ever again.

While these are things that really only make sense to the small community of fellow bees subscribed to this blog, they mean a massive amount to me.

I’m definitely a sentimental person. The idea that I won’t be going to Bull Street Taco every Monday for $5 margaritas with my best friend, followed by bingo and sometimes interrupted by an impromptu haircut makes me truly want to throw up and cry at the same time. Although I hate it, I will miss Ex Libris. Every time I drive by the apartment that I lived in during sophomore year, wondering if I could actually survive my roommates and make any friends whatsoever, I get a twang of nostalgia.

It’s crazy to think how scared I was before coming to SCAD, and going to college in general. Although whenever anyone asks if I’m ready to graduate, I say a resounding yes, and that I can’t wait to leave, I truly don’t think I will ever be ready to say bye to this place.

As I always like to say: it’s been real, it’s been fun, but most of all, it’s been real fun.

I think that everyone is up to speed on the fact that I love Harry Styles more than life itself.

Since the One Direction days of fan fiction, begging my mom for tour tickets every year, and that Barbie doll collection of 2012, I’ve been on the bandwagon, and won’t be coming off anytime soon.

Quite possibly, my biggest fear may be meeting Harry in person. It keeps me awake at night that working in the fashion industry may allow me to cross paths with him at some moment, depending on my success, and I will immediately have to be escorted out of the room at risk of throwing up (out of love, of course).

As someone who saw Love On Tour twice and is anxiously awaiting the release of tickets for his ten-day stint at MSG later on this year, Harry’s House is something that I was waiting for anxiously.

With the release of As It Was, we all knew this was going to be different than the aesthetics that Harry has bestowed upon us before. No more Gucci shirts, high waisted trousers, and suspenders. Enter: JW Anderson, Molly Goddard, and the lack of any sanity I had remaining.

The looks created by Harry’s stylist, Harry Lambert, and the aesthetic carefully crafted by his team, including Creative Director, Molly Hawkins (perhaps a distant relative) is better than any Harry-era we’ve seen before. All of this, culminated with the fact that he’s in a chic relationship with certified girlboss, Olivia Wilde, was on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens, and has a booming beauty business, proves that ultimately, the world is becoming Harry’s House.

Alas, here is my comprehensive review of the album known as Harry’s House.

Favorite Song: Little Freak

I love a Harry sad moment. Matilda was a little too sad, and Boyfriends hit a little too close to home for me to casually listen. This is the perfect combination of a beat that sounds incredible in Airpod Maxes, with the lyrical roundhouse kick to the gut that I’m alright with.

Least Favorite Song: Love Of My Life

I don’t love it when ‘baby’ is said in a song, and this has that just a bit too much. But no Harry song can ever be bad in my eyes.

Best Vibey Song: Keep Driving

I never thought that I would hear 2014 Harry Styles sing the words “Cocaine” or “Sideboob”, let alone one next to the other, but here we are! And I’m grateful for it!

Song With The Most Tea: Cinema

He might’ve well have just sang “I Love Olivia Wilde I Love Olivia Wilde I Love Olivia Wilde I Love Olivia Wilde I Love Olivia Wilde I Love Olivia Wildeeeeeeee.”

Song That I Will Listen To For A Year Straight: Grapejuice

On Fine Line, it was Cherry. Something about this song reminds me of when I would listen to The Beatles when I was like eight (for some reason?) and it’s a really nice one to play in the background of any task.

Favorite Lewk Thus Far

Custom S.S. Daley duck sweater?!?!?! Molly Goddard baggy jeans!??!?!?! If every boy dressed this way, I would never get the ick again.

I hope that my opinion regarding the topic of Harry Styles is valued to this audience. If so, send it to a friend!

Share

Whenever I think of outfit repeating, I think of two things. One, Lizzie McGuire, and two, Massie Block.

The fact that this is now the second Massie Block reference on this blog is pretty incredible, and I sincerely apologize if you’ve never seen/read The Clique, because boy are you missing out.

I think of Massie because I truly believe she shaped me as a person, in more ways than just one. The main way she shaped me was during The Clique movie, where she took a polaroid of every outfit she wore each day so that she would never repeat.

This truly set the sentiment in my mind that you can only wear outfits once.

Ignore every aspect of sustainability in this because I understand that Massie’s model of living is the antithesis of sustainability. Outfit repeating is in fact what we should all be doing, however that’s obvious.

I wear the same handful of items during the week like it’s my job. My notorious navy crewneck shows face at both of my classes once a week, not to mention when I get home, when I sleep, and multiple times on the weekend.

The best hack that my roommates have ever taught me was buying New Day tank tops from target and cutting them to the length I want, getting the perfect Brandy Melville-esque shirt for only $8. I have every color they’ve ever made, but I still only wear the black, white, and grey ones as often as my navy crewneck (often together).

As mentioned in April favorites, I’m also currently obsessed with Aerie tennis skirts. These get equivalent, if not more wear than my usual suspects, due to the fact that I live in a swamp (literally) and it’s nearly 100 degrees each day past May 1st. Dress em’ up, dress em’ down, you get it.

Selfishly, I want everyone to outfit repeat so that I don’t feel self conscious doing so. I want to be able to wear the same sweatshirt over and over and over again (within hygienic reason) without having the panic that people are realizing (which is most definitely narcissistic to think anyone would notice). I want to wear the same jeans that make me feel great every weekend.

I promise that I shower, I promise that I wash my clothes, and TMI, I even change my underwear and socks 2-3 times a day if I work out or shower.

My soapbox this week is that the most stylish, fashionable people wear the same things multiple times a week. So, if you want to take style advice from me, here it is:

Share this with a friend so that they can get top-notch style advice each week <3

Share

We need to be honest with each other.

I’ve been obsessed with YouTube since I was about twelve. I don’t recall how I started watching, but it began with the classics. Zoella, Ingrid Nilsen, Bethany Mota, need I go on?

Sometimes I’ll tune into a Devon Lee Carlson vlog or a Vogue 73 questions, but now, my time is mainly consumed of reality television, TikTok, or crime podcasts.

Peak YouTube obsession hit for me from about 2016-2019. I was entirely obsessed, and YouTubers were at their pinnacles of fame. Casey Neistat was going to the Met Gala, Jeffree Star was making documentaries with Shane Dawson about how he has millions of dollars no one knew about, and Emma Chamberlain was still living in San Fransisco, going to Philz Coffee and thrifting. Life was good.

I even indulged in Jake Paul videos. I’m truly laying it all out on the floor here.

Emma Chamberlain is definitely my favorite from that era that I still follow. Obviously, for those who feel the same, Casey Neistat and his wife will reign supreme in my heart, but they aren’t churning out the content that Emma is, so they’ve lost their #1 spot.

One of my favorite Emma Chamberlain eras, was in fact, the sister squad.

I’ll hold for gasps.

The. Sister. Squad.

If you’re unfamiliar with the sister squad, it was made up of Emma Chamberlain, James Charles, and the Dolan Twins. They would make videos with each other that consisted of baking challenges, extravagant Christmas surprises, and vlogs of them going places such as Vegas.

These videos had me in a straight-up chokehold. The will they-won’t they of Emma and Ethan, the thousands of dollars they would spend on each other, the laughs. So many laughs.

Now, we know that Emma has called this group toxic during her Call Her Daddy two-parter, and the foursome has seemingly never spent time with each other past 2019. Emma’s hosting the Met Gala red carpet for Vogue and is the face of brands like Cartier and Louis Vuitton, while James is hiding in a bunker from repeat cancellation. I’m not too sure about the Dolan Twins.

James Charles is one of the most controversial YouTube figures of all time. From predatory behavior with minors to past offensive tweets, he’s truly hit every mark there is of someone who’s gotten cancelled multiple times.

I’m here, once again on my soapbox, to admit that I once was a sister.

I wanted merch, I asked for the Morphe pallet during Christmas 2019, and I watched every single video he put out. I watched his house tour with bated breath, and truly thought that he was going to be one of the most powerful influencers ever.

It’s funny looking back on that due to his sheer memeability. From the Coachella outfits to the singing videos, he truly could not give us more to use against him.

This admission is all to say that from 2016-2019, YouTube was in its gilded age (to thrice mention the Met Gala in this). Content was getting better and bigger, stars growing into global sensations, with many getting cancelled left and right.

Now, we probably won’t see someone go from living in their parents house to being a multimillionaire and a fully formed celebrity, just from YouTube. TikTok has completely taken that spot over, building starlets overnight, only for them to sector off into their own audience in their own algorithm.

Sometimes, I miss it. I miss logging on and seeing someone post a twenty minute expose on one of my favorite YouTubers, sending Twitter into a tizzy for days on end. I miss logging on and seeing that James Charles and Kylie Jenner created content together, because that’s the sheer level of fame that he was riding. I miss a good, old fashioned apology video.

This is turning into a fashion marketing style in-class discussion, but it’s truly crazy to see how many things have changed since then. One global pandemic later, and Jeffree Star, who once sat on the throne of YouTube, had to seek refuge in Wyoming from cancellation.

Happy Sunday, everyone. I know how I’ll be spending mine, and that’s watching the sister squad in bed with a gatorade, thinking about what could have been.

Share

IN

#1: Miniseries’ about corporate scandals

OUT

#1: Flavored Vodka (other than cucumber)

IN

#2: Sitting in the Chick-fil-A line by yourself

OUT

#2: Ankle socks

IN

#3: Wearing pimple patches in public

OUT

#3: Shawn Mendes

IN

#4: Listening to brutal murder podcasts while doing mundane tasks

OUT

#4: The influencer to podcast pipeline

IN

#5: Going on walks

OUT

#5: Talking about Euphoria

IN

#6: Commenting on famous people’s posts without tagging anyone

OUT

#6: Hating Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles

IN

#7: Loving Julia Fox

OUT

#7: Watching vlogs on YouTube

IN:

#8: Following moms on TikTok

OUT

#8: E! Live from the Red Carpet

IN

#9: Casually discussing the said children of the mothers on TikTok casually with your friends as if you know them

OUT

#9: 10-step skincare routines

IN

#10: Crossbody bags

OUT

#10: Wearing jean shorts to class at SCAD with stools

I always have the T.V. on.

Whether I’m doing homework, cooking, or even just on my phone in the living room, it’s always instinct to just click the remote.

I do have range. It’s not all Real Housewives or all Law and Order S.V.U., I truly try to switch it up and alternate between palette cleansers. Whether that’s Anne Hathaway as Rebekah Neumann of WeWork, or Teresa Giudice calling Margaret Josephs ‘white trash’, depends on the day.

It’s very easy for me to get wrapped up in a show, consuming my every waking thought morning, noon, and night. Currently, it’s WeCrashed, before that, it was The Dropout, and before that, it was The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Because of this, I often find myself without anyone to discuss these shows with. The plethora of pop-culture podcasts I indulge in tends to touch upon them, however, talking to myself doesn’t really satisfy my need for discourse.

Here are my top five shows I need everyone to watch so that I can talk to someone, who isn’t myself, about them:

—

5. The Real Housewives of New Jersey (Hulu)

As an avid RH franchise viewer, I feel as though I can determine which ones are worth watching. Obviously, Beverly Hills and Salt Lake City are top 1 and 2 for everyone, with New York absolutely decimating itself off of the rankings.

If you’re already a fan of any of these, you will love New Jersey. They get physical, there’s an underlying tone of the mafia, and literally all of their houses look like an Olive Garden.

—

4. Bridgerton Season 2 (Netflix)

I had so many people to talk to about season 1 of Bridgerton. It was winter break, we had nothing to do, and the plot line of Daphne and the Duke was the perfect distraction from the fact that the sun was setting at 3:45 pm. We watched together, as a community.

My mind, body, and soul are overflowing with emotions about season 2. Where did the community go? Twitter, where I usually would turn to, is oversaturated with gifs and memes about Lady Whistledown and Penelope. Why is no one focusing on the love triangle between two sisters? Somebody. ANYBODY.

—

3. The Ultimatum (Netflix)

Another Netflix dating show with aluminum wine glasses!

The Ultimatum is quite possibly the craziest concept of a dating/marriage show I’ve ever seen, and I’ve dedicated about 5 summers to the Bachelor franchise. Six couples went into the ‘experiment’ (as host Nick Lachey loves to call it), one member giving the other an ultimatum to propose or break up.

They then mingled with the other couples in a downtown Austin Marriott, then deciding which person they were going to choose to live with for 3 weeks that wasn’t their significant other. At the end, they have to decide whether they want to stay with the person they came with, or the new person they just met and lived with. If that isn’t convincing enough to watch, I don’t know what would be.

—

2. WeCrashed (Apple TV+)

If you thought Anne Hathaway peaked in Les Mis, think again.

In the limited series adaptation of the WeWork scandal, Jared Leto as former CEO Adam Neumann, and Hathaway as his wife, Rebekah, had me absolutely losing my mind week to week. From the accent, to the Harlem Shake references, to the bong rip in bed 10 minutes into the first episode, this is the epitome of what a perfect limited series should be. Golden Globes for all.

I suggest familiarizing yourself with the WeWork story beforehand, there’s a great Hulu documentary that’s quick and truly summarizes all of the craziness, so that you understand why they bang a gong in the office.

—

1. Sex Lives of College Girls (HBO Max)

I say this about almost every show that I watch, but this really might be my favorite of all time.

Before watching, I was super skeptical. I got ads for The Sex Lives of College Girls before every episode of And Just Like That, or anything else on HBO Max, and I thought it was super cheesy.

Boy was I WRONG. This show is everything that the Gossip Girl reboot wanted to be. The humor is genius (thank you, Mindy Kaling), the situations are real and raw, and these four girls coming together to experience the biggest change I personally had to go through, very recently, might I add, was the perfect storm for me to become obsessed. I need season 2, Mindy, if you’re reading.

—

I hope that you use this latest installation of Sunday Hangover to watch one of these shows, and then immediately text me after.

Send this to a friend so they can be cultured as well!

Share

During the long, dark hours that a Connecticut winter entails, I found myself anticipating the release of And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City reboot that we all thought Kim Cattrall ruined any chance of happening.

If you haven’t seen it but plan on watching, this is your spoiler warning. You also would’ve had to actively avoided the internet for the past 3 months, but I digress.

As a Sex and the City fanatic, I truly was excited for this reboot. You couldn’t pay me to watch the iCarly one or any sort of Disney Channel reunion, but the true joy that was sparked once I saw Sarah Jessica Parker in a taffeta dress in the Instagram trailer during the year 2022, was unmatched.

All of that was ripped away as soon as Big died on that Peloton.

While I tuned in weekly to the latest and greatest of Charlotte, Miranda and Carrie, including gender-fluid children, forays into adultery, and too much internal dialogue (as per usual), I couldn’t stop the feeling of immense disappointment throughout every episode.

Here are the top 5 reasons as to why this show failed, hence forth the existential dread I feel for the next season I’ll force myself to watch.

—

5. Che Diaz

If you can imagine, this is the first on the countdown. Meaning that there are bigger fish to fry in the pond of what went wrong.

Che Diaz, while trying to be a progressive, groundbreaking character, turned just about everyone off besides Miranda. From the arrogance to the cringey-ness, to the vape, to the fact that they went to LA for a Netflix show, need I say more.

—

4. Brady and his girlfriend

Putting these two at number four is a real act of philanthropy on my part. Because there perhaps were not two more irritable characters in the show, and I’ve already mentioned Che Diaz twice.

The fact that this is what the writers think a Gen-Z couple act like is insulting. I would rather run a 5k on the morning of a holiday than ever show one ounce of PDA near a blood relative, let alone make out at a piano recital. It’s called class, Brady.

—

3. The crucifixion of Steve

Basically, everything wrong with this season was in Miranda’s family. Just kidding! But seriously, justice for Steve.

If you’re familiar with this franchise, then you know that the entire premise of the first movie was Steve cheating on Miranda. And now, we’re supposed to just let Miranda run off to LA and say that she’s having a journey?

Also, why did they have to make out Steve as such a bumbling idiot? Deaf and clueless? Old and passive? Justice. For. Steve.

—

2. The crucifixion of Harry Goldenblatt

Hopping over to Charlotte’s house, I’d like to acquaint the same amount of justice for Steve, with Harry.

Once again, making Harry out to be another bumbling idiot dad in the background was a miscarriage of an iconic character. He merely sat on the sidelines of every tribulation their family faced, only to star in a completely inappropriate, full-frontal embarrassment of a scene.

—

1. The Samantha texts

Bringing us to a close is the fact that Kim Cattrall wasn’t casted as Samantha, but an Android. Not even an iPhone.

Stanford Blatch got a swift exit to manage a TikToker in Japan, Big fell to a Peloton, we even got closure from Natasha. But Samantha is half-assed through the phone? We all know Kim isn’t coming back after stating many times she refuses to do so, and with this burden of a renewal, we’re going to need some answers about that European drink. Do they think we’re as stupid as they want us to believe Steve is?

—

Happy Sunday Hangover! Take an Extra Strength Tylenol for me, cue up The Real Housewives, and tell someone you love to subscribe to this!

Share

YES. The fraud. The FRAUDDDDD. I know. I understand that defrauding investors and abusing the vulnerability of countless victims is something that absolutely should be punished. But should we punish the drive of female founders, racing against the unavoidable obstacles put in front of them from inception on?

When I first explained Sunday Hangover, I pointed out that these may be a bit more rough around the edges than the standard Coffee Order, this is a great example of what I meant. Expressing my empathy for a convicted fraudster.

To those who are unaware of Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos story, I’ll do my best to give a quick synopsis. Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford at 19 to start a biotech company, Theranos. Her goal was to revolutionize blood-testing, to go from countless intravenous vials for a single test, to one prick of the finger for a wide range of diagnoses, such as sepsis, cancer, and beyond.

Over the years past inception, Theranos and Elizabeth herself quickly found themselves overpromising and defrauding investors to believe in technology that simply never worked. It all caught up to them in the beginning of 2022, when Liz (no one calls her that) was convicted of fraud, and is now awaiting sentencing.

If you’ve been binging the Hulu show The Dropout, or watched the documentary The Inventor on HBO, or listened to the podcast series of the same Hulu namesake, or all of the above like myself, then you can relate to having an abundance of meaningless opinions on this story.

One of my favorite influencers, Tinx, aka Christina Najjar, recently reflected on watching The Dropout from the shared point of view as Elizabeth as a former Stanford student on her podcast (episode linked below).

Something of note that Tinx brought up in this was the founder culture that surrounded Stanford post-Zuckerberg, and does even to this day. Looking from the outside (art school) in, it seems as though students within Silicon Valley proximity are pushed and pushed to become the next big thing, sometimes being pushed too far to the point of fraud (i.e., Liz).

Female founders specifically are taken less seriously. That is a fact. If I walked into a venture capitalist board room with an idea that would blow the pants off of Elon Musk himself, dressed in a fantastic pantsuit with articulation that puts the majority of my peers to shame, the odds of the board I’m pitching to picking my idea over a sub-par project by a prep-school boy who grew up down the street from me are significantly lower.

This is why I feel bad for Elizabeth Holmes.

I can understand the founder culture, believe it or not, going to SCAD. Many alumni found their own companies or businesses, many of them local to Savannah, many of them successful and newsworthy such as Christopher John Rogers, Eny Lee Parker, and more that utilized their craft to create a business by the straps of their boots.

While none of my peers plan on creating another Metaverse anytime soon, I’m sure a lot of them, like myself, have aspirations of starting their own companies. A lot of us have ideas that we nurture like a child, voracious to be someone who could grace the cover of Forbes, proving to their doubters that they did in fact create something big and successful.

19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes was just a girl with a dream to be the next Steve Jobs. She didn’t have dreams of defrauding venture capitalists and creating something that didn’t work, and I could only hope to God that she didn’t have dreams of dating a 37-year-old Sunny Balwani when she went on that trip to Beijing.

Hurting innocent victims is where I have an Erika Jayne (formerly Girardi) type of inner conflict. I think this is why we all forgave Aunt Becky so quickly. The only people she defrauded alongside Mossimo (a la Target) was USC. To whom, no offense to my friend Taylor (who is currently in her eleventh hour as a student there) I don’t feel too bad for.

When there are widows or orphans or cancer patients or just a regular Walgreens shopper involved, I start to feel less bad for the defendant, as you can assume.

I pride myself as an empath. Sometimes that gets in the way, like when I start tearing up at my local bagel place because I see an elderly man in a fedora sitting by himself, or when I see a video on TikTok of an ill child and that’s the only thing in my mind for the rest of the day despite having oodles of homework to do. But a lot of the time, being an empath is one of my more charming personality traits.

I empathize with Elizabeth greatly. I feel badly that she obviously had internal issues and outside forces that caused her to eventually push herself beyond honesty and integrity. I feel badly that older, more seemingly successful men than her, i.e. Sunny, often pushed her to the brink of catastrophe. That investors wouldn’t listen in the beginning because she was in the college girl age bracket. That all she wanted to do was create something great, something that would save the world in a way.

It’s one of those things that’s super unfortunate. A huge bummer. Honestly, I don’t really care that she defrauded Walgreens, they’ve always been the inferior pharmacy to CVS (episode 4 of The Dropout).

What I hope is that the victims who were told they might have sepsis because of a faulty Edison machine get their day in court, that Ian Gibbons’ widow gets to make Elizabeth eat crow for what she did to her husband, and that Elizabeth and her hotel heir husband live a long, happy life, without filing any more patents.

Happy Sunday Hangover! Order a Chipotle burrito, get in bed, and please watch The Dropout on Hulu so I have someone to discuss it with.

If you love me, you’ll send this to your friends for them to read and subscribe. I’ll be waiting!