Once, I paid $120 to go blonde. Now, I trim my split ends in my bathroom mirror. I’m not alone; I know many who are surrendering their platinum hair for dark roots, swapping regular salon visits for $8 box dye from CVS, and getting free haircuts in friends’ bathrooms. Whether we read The Wall Street Journal or not, we know when bleach starts to feel like a luxury rather than a six-week upkeep. Like hemlines and lipsticks, hairstyles too respond to the broader economic climate…
Read MoreEggshell. Ivory. Cream. White. Shades of stress for 18-year-old me choosing her high school graduation dress. You see, in the dark ages—okay, post-COVID spring 2021—white was basically the only option. It was tradition. It was expected. It was uniform. And of course, I obsessed over the difference between “off-white” and “warm ivory” like it was a life-or-death situation…
Read MoreIt seems a delicious new color has arrived on the scene for summer.
Her name? Butter Yellow…
I often look back on my middle and early high school outfits with disgust. However, I can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia pang in my chest. Every time one of those ancient “fit checks” taken in the school bathroom mirror pops up, I’m reminded of who I used to be…
Read MoreThe day I shaved my head the first thing I noticed were my silver hoops. They hung from my lobes, pulling at the old, loose piercings, stretching them open. I didn’t notice my two ponytails of hair lying limp on the table in my backyard, or my chia head, or the scratchiness the micro hairs left on my back. Those came second, runner-ups to my silver, dangling hoops that were too heavy for my sleazy earlobes.
Read MoreThe year is hardly underway, and already Paris Fashion Week has confirmed much of what careful aesthetes feared—fashion still has no direction. In recent months, the world of high fashion has experienced a clear game of musical chairs; countless creative directors making unexpected departures from longtime mainstays in the industry…
Read MoreThere’s no denying the fact that I’m short. As a full-grown adult, I have maxed out at a wonderful height of five foot two inches, which is far below average and, to me personally, very frustrating. As someone who was born female and tends to present femininely, my height is often a topic of discussion. Whether it’s a fleeting comment from a passerby…
Read MoreRaised, furrowed, arched, lowered, drawn up: beyond protecting the eyes from dirt, sweat, and rain, eyebrows are one of the most telling facial features of emotion. Serving as a system of communication, eyebrows have their own language.
Read MoreIt has become increasingly easier to access clothing at the press of a button. This is great for convenience, but doesn’t let you make the most of what you already have. Taking up sewing as a hobby is a great way to engage your creativity and expand the lifespan of clothes already in your closet. Though sewing is not as common a hobby as it used to be, you can pick it up anytime, and it’s not as complicated as you may think.
Read MoreCollage en Plein Air as a movement encourages arranging one’s clothing in a way that highlights the many textures, colors, and patterns that build the foundation of the garment itself. Regardless of how an item might be typically worn, Collage en Plein Air demands that apparel be selected and worn specifically to capture a briefly beautiful moment on one’s own body.
Read More“Too pretty for a job.” “I put the hot in psychotic.” “My iron level is lower than my standards.” These baby tees, adorned with ironic, often sarcastic phrases, have resurfaced with the Y2K revival, casting an odd shadow of humor over fashion. On one hand, they serve as subversive fashion statements supposedly intended to empower…
Read MoreI have a Pavlovian reaction to L’Eau D’Issey. It was my ex’s favorite (and only) fragrance, and it’s like I’m transported back into his white-curtained bedroom whenever I get a whiff of it on the street…
Read MoreWhen I was in middle school, I had shoulder length hair. My light brown locks dangled in waves behind my ears and draped down my neck. It tickled the collar of my T-shirts that read “Let’s Get Weird” and “Angry Birds for Life” as if to say, “I’m only ten and I’ve already defied the constraints of the gender binary….”
Read MoreA collection of interviews and photographs of some of Emerson’s most stylish. Photographs by Emilie Dumas.
Read MoreI’m not sure when I first conceptualized the color purple. It might have been raining, I could have had my eyes closed, it may have been accidental…
Read MoreEveryone has their vice. Something we inherently know is so wrong, but just feels so right. It simultaneously clams our thoughts, while also making our heart beat rapidly. For you it could be a freshly lit cigarette, others like their vice on the rocks with vodka. For me personally, my vice is shopping…
Read MoreClothing defines us—if it didn’t we wouldn’t invest in it. With styles being recycled from decades prior, the idea of individuality becomes narrower with every cycle. Everything that once was is repackaged into the mundane, watering down one’s genuine style. ..
Read More“Pain is temporary; swag is forever,” a motto I use to hype myself up whenever I’m sitting in that all too familiar reclined chair, needle dancing in and out of my skin. From a young age, I knew I’d either never get a tattoo or be covered, no in between. When I turned 18, the allure of swag won, and my mother’s pleadings lost.
Read MoreHowever, queer people know queer fashion doesn’t begin with these trendy silhouettes. We know it finds its roots in plaid Bermuda shorts, your brother's swim trunks, softball uniforms, and yes, vests—a lot of vests. When I flip through the pages of an old photo book, QUEER jumps off the page.
Read MoreAfter a brief yet enlightening conversation with my mother, I learned that the impulse to rid my head entirely of that little white hair was completely natural. My mother had been in the habit of plucking her grays for years before she first took the plunge and started fully dying her roots. But she was well into her twenties by the time that happened.
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