wouldn't be nothing without a woman or a girl
INSIDE: Givenchy sunnies, easy breezy summer fits, and an artist and curator who's got the patriarchy quaking
🥁🥁🥁 First and foremost, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the book giveaway wheel has been spun and
is our first-ever winner! Check your DMs for more details, girlie :)In other (less exciting lol) news, I posted a lil mood board on the ‘gram featuring some of the shell items from last week’s deep dive section. Let me know if you guys like these!!
And finally, I am off on vacay for the next two Fridays and will be taking a break from regular programming! But if you guys want to see travel content and recs from Geneva and/or Edinburgh and/or London, let me know :))))
Now, onto the good stuff~
Get Thrifty
1. ASOS Two Piece Set, Size S from Curtsy, $32
If there’s one thing I know about us… it’s that we love an ASOS matching set! I truly cannot believe this lil number hasn’t sold yet, it’s so cute and airy and marked down from $90, I believe 😮
2. Abercrombie & Fitch Mara Linen-Blend Mini Dress, Size M from Curtsy, $60
Speaking of easy, breezy summer outfits – I actually found this posting because this dress is SOLD OUT on Abercrombie and I was desperately searching for it for my Euro trip lolol. The yellow is just too good.
3. Givenchy Aviator Sunglasses from Vestaire, $62
I feel like I’ve been seeing chunky-ish gold metal sunnies everywhere and I am not mad about it!!! I truly can’t belive these GIVENCHY glasses FOR $62 with the lil star detailing haven’t been snapped up yet!
4. Free People Flowy Cream Shorts, Size M from Poshmark, $40
Ok, I have been on the search for shorts that feel bloomer-y but not too bloomery… and I feel like these Free People ones fit the bill perfectly.
B.N.W.T.
1. Sydney Coastal Cargo Pants from Damson Madder, $57
If you haven’t poked around the sale section of Damson Madder (which is also a sustainable brand!), I cannot recommend it enough! And dw, these pants are already very much in my cart lol
2. Poolside Tube Top from Lottie Hall, $72
I don’t know how I just now learned about Lottie Hall’s brand but I am OBSESSED. And not only is this incredible tube top adorable and sustainable, but it’s literally handmade 🥹
3. The A&F Paloma Midi Dress from Abercrombie, $77
If you were not yet aware of the Abercrombie 15-30% sale, let this gorgeous midi dress be your sign! I also know there is a code from The Skimm for their birthday (happy bday!!) – it’s AFSKIMM, not sure if it’s stackable though~
4. Oversized T-shirt with flower and wine graphic from ASOS, $25
Gotta do our graphic tee of the week!
Spotlight ✨
This week, I was going to write about summertime sadness™️ and the bizarreness of feeling not so great when the sun is out and everyone is telling you that you should feel great (and let me know if y’all want to read/chat about this!)… but then the temperature got a little less boiling and I felt a bit better lol…
AND I also happened upon a TikTok that sent me down a wormhole that I simply had to share.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Our tale begins back in back in 2020 when an American artist and curator named Kirsha Kaechele opened an exhibit called “Ladies Lounge” at the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Tasmania. The exhibit displayed some incredible works from Picasso and others – but there was a twist. Only people who identified as women could enter the exhibit. Kaechele said that it was inspired by the art parties her great-grandmother had thrown in Los Angeles where only women could attend (at a time when that was presumably a very, very unconventional type of gathering, especially in the art world).
Then, however, in 2023, a man sued for being denied entry to Kaechele’s exhibit and ultimately, in 2024, won his case which demanded that the exhibit be open to men as well. The legal proceedings were, in fact, iconic however as Kaechele appeared with several other women and proceeded to do some stereotypically “feminine” choreography as it all played out.
In protest, as Kaechele and MONA appealed this decision, Kaechele said that she planned to move the Picassos to the women’s restroom so only women would continue to be able to access them in theory. But there was still more scandal to be had: it was then revealed that the paintings were not actually real Picassos but rather imitation Picassos that Kaechele had created a few years prior for “Ladies Lounge.” Here she is with one ⬇️
There was, as you might expect, a whole lot of outrage in the art world over this. But as of yesterday, the Picasso estate actually forgave Kaechele for the faked paintings – most likely because it was really a part of the whole thing. Kaechele explained it like this in a blog post:
I filled the Lounge with ‘invaluable’ objects, framing each—physically (in gold) and metaphorically (with dubious stories centred around a fictional woman, a version of myself). Stories available only to those on the inside (women), each more absurd than the last. And each of those stories intended to raise questions around gender, freedom, power structures, authenticity, and value.
While I definitely don’t stand behind forgeries in general (unless it’s Neal Caffrey in White Collar), I do think this is incredibly interesting. Men in the art world – and in general – have engaged in exclusivity, fraud, gate-keeping, and in bad behavior toward women in their personal and professional lives for decades, if not centuries. I think it’s absolutely fascinating to watch in real-time as a women artist does it right back to them.
And I’ll end with one more wild statement/vibe from Kaechele :)
Look at this Graph
I guess I knew this… but this Vogue Business post really drove it home for me: celebrity beauty brands (like Fenty, Kylie Cosmetics, Rhode, Rare, etc.) have become REALLY, REALLY successful, more so than non-celebrity brands. Don’t get me wrong, I love this for these celebs… but I also hope we don’t get into a situation where you have to already be a celebrity to get people to invest in your beauty brand and totally miss out on a lot of new talent.
And the results of our poll last week are in: when it comes to go-to, easy summer shoes, 44% of y’all go for no-heel sandals, 30% go for a comfy sneak, and 20% go for flip-flips. I am personally DEEP in a Superga era at the moment, so sneaker people, I’m with you!
And for this week’s poll…
Other Corners of the Internet
I’ve been thinking a lot about the old internet recently… like I’m sad teenagers today will never know what is it to watch a brand-new Bethany Mota get-ready-for-school video.
ICYMI, The Big Silly Trivia Game is SO back for Season 2, still every Wednesday at 9 PM ET!!!
I am OBSESSED with this artist I saw on TikTok, Tayler Cook!!!
Celine is doing a very cool new pendant based on a sculpture!
I have shopped wayyyy too much this week – but it did make me very grateful for Capitol One Shopping (which you can use whether you bank with them or not)! Not an ad at all, I’m just a big fan lol.
The distant goal some day somehow is to be able to actually bid on stunning antique jewelry like this.
Last week’s most clicked links were the Co-star video (same!!!), the shoulder bag that we are all still loving (for the second week in a row), and the Pretty Little Liars style video 🥹
That’s all for now! I might be back for some vacation content in the next two weeks – but in case we don’t talk, ily and I’ll see you in August 🫶