Editorial use only. No book cover usage.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock (5883440u)
Brittany Murphy, Alicia Silverstone, Stacy Dash
Clueless – 1995
Director: Amy Heckerling
Paramount
USA
Scene Still
Jane Austen
The new series, which is currently being shopped to networks, plucks Bel-Air princess Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone in the original film, and Rachel Blanchard in the spin off TV show) and Dionne (Stacey Dash) out of the ‘90s and places them into what Deadline describes as a “baby pink and bisexual blue-tinted, tiny sunglasses-wearing, oat milk latté and Adderall-fuelled” 2019.
That’s not the only way Clueless will be different this time around. Instead of the show taking on Jane Austen’s Emma (a la the original film, in which Cher attempts to makeover Brittany Murphy’s Tai), it will be a mystery drama that kicks off with Cher’s disappearance. Dionne, Cher’s second-in-command, investigates her BFF’s whereabouts while also navigating life as the new queen bee.
The internet isn’t thrilled with the reimagining, though it’s worth noting that the series hasn’t even been ordered to pilot yet.
If Clueless is a near-perfect film, perhaps it should be left alone, some argue. Others aren’t thrilled with the word vomit of Instagram trends in the show’s description.
i don’t know who in hollywood needs to hear this, but NOT EVERY SHOW ABOUT ~TEENS~ NEEDS TO BE RIVERDALE
I like Riverdale, but Clueless isn’t the same. Riverdale is campily playing with archetypes. Clueless was playing with Jane Austen. https://t.co/EgiznxH956
— Mara “Get Rid of the Nazis” Wilson (@MaraWilson) October 17, 2019
I. really have no words for this description. why did they write it like that.
also Clueless was a retelling of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ like you can just…write a new original teen comedy with this plot. or even an original sequel but this as a “reboot” feels weird af https://t.co/r8XiFC6mKm
Maybe I should be cynical about this reimagining, but I can’t help feeling hyped for a world in which Dionne plays detective while sipping from a millennial pink Cha Cha Matcha cup. As a Los Angeles transplant, I’m constantly fascinated by the often surreal culture of the city. (I see Clueless’ oat milk and raise it a blue algae CBD bowl, a real thing sold at a real place around the corner from my apartment.) While social media has made many of these trends ubiquitous, a series that lovingly pokes fun at the city that is their launching pad sounds like my cup of Alfred’s Tea.
It’s not like Clueless is pulling off an entirely new trick, either. Riverdale basically did the same thing for Archie Comics, and despite the fact that the show only makes sense 20% of the time, I’m still watching it, four seasons later. The CW’s latest, Nancy Drew, is already shaping up to be a super fun, Veronica Mars-esque mystery series, with characters that reflect a 2019 sensibility.
Then there’s the fact that Dionne will be the star of this series, putting a young Black woman in the driver’s seat of a teen mystery series. That’s a rare thing, and it’s time that a teen show did as much.
Most importantly: A new Clueless TV series won’t ruin the legacy of Heckerling’s very special film, because nothing can take away the film’s impact on popular culture. I’m ready to jump back into the sandbox with Cher and Dionne, no matter what size their sunnies this time around.
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West announced news of the IMAX movie back in September, with the new film supposedly complement the upcoming album. It features a behind-the-scenes look at West’s Sunday Services performance at the Roden Crater, a new installation by the artist James Turrell in Arizona’s Painted Desert. This Sunday Service follows similar performances West has done around the country: He famously put on his Sunday Service at Coachella, and recently performed in Detroit at a surprise show on September 27, the night album Jesus Is King was originally intended for release.
We don’t know exactly what to expect from the IMAX movie, but a short teaser for it on West’s official website suggests it will be a religious experience. The minute-long video shows a long room with a hallway that leads out to a stairs, beyond which is an orb of light. A choir sings in the background.
Eventually, the image gives way to a quote from the Bible: “In the words of Jesus Christ, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.’”
“Everyone that comes understands it’s just a really healing experience with an amazing choir, and amazing messages about love to start off your week,” she said.
The “Kanye West film” is directed by Nick Knight, who also directed the “Bound 2” video starring Kardashian.
Jesus Is King hits IMAX theatres in the UK on October 25. You can get tickets here.
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In order to talk about 2019 Cat Marnell, one needs to understand the past iterations of Cat Marnell.
There’s 2012 Cat, who snorted bath salts to avoid writing a story for the now-defunct XoJane.com, where she was a popular and controversial beauty director. She was known for incorporating her party lifestyle (as documented in her Vice column “Amphetamine Logic“) into her health and beauty coverage. There’s 2013 Cat, who signed an impressive six-figure book deal to tell her one-of-a-kind story about being a blonde media darling with an out-of-control drug habit (her description). Before that, there was Cat the Intern at Nylon, Teen Vogue, and Glamour. By 2017, Cat Marnell had become a New York Times best-selling author.
“I’m an idiot,” Marnell says almost immediately when I call her to talk about the audiobook — part travel diary, part self-help, and entirely her signature rambles. It’s an unexpected follow-up to her hilarious and intense memoir, which she refers to as “Murder” (the aforementioned NYT best-seller How to Murder Your Life). She goes between calling herself an “idiot” and “crazy,” frequently during our conversation, as if she’s trying to beat everyone else to the punch. At 37, Marnell has had years of practice being self-deprecating, but she also has some life lessons worth sharing. Some are simple (don’t bring a suitcase full of just wigs and shoes for a backpacking trip across Europe), while others are profound (“be a fountain, not a drain” of your own happiness).
Told over the course of five chapters, Marnell’s new project documents her summer in Europe following a complete and total mental breakdown after the release of Murder. She flooded, and totally ruined, her Chinatown apartment in an event she described as a “beauty Chernobyl.” Left with scars, burns, and practically no hair (Marnell never specifically describes what happened in that apartment, but still sticks to wigs), she escapes to Europe to solve her problems. And it kind of works. For over 100 days, Marnell travels solo from Croatia to Germany to England to Romania to Italy to Poland and beyond. She’s following her favourite artist Pete Doherty (she even once followed his path all the way to a fancy rehab facility in Thailand), and indulging in heavy pours of white wine while avoiding real life — a graffiti artist ex-boyfriend, her agent, sobriety, responsibility. The result is an immersive storytelling experience full of Adderall, loneliness, and something Marnell calls “wizard walks,” narrated by one of the most polarising and recognisable writers born of the Internet.
But that was more than two years ago. 2019 Cat is good. She’s back in New York staying in an Airbnb (temporarily), and she says she’s weaned herself off Adderall. She says she’s not sober, but she’s trying to get shit done. She has bills to pay and stories to tell.
Refinery29: Where are you right now?
Cat Marnell: “I am on a stoop on North 5th St. in Williamsburg, looking at a bulldozer.”
How long have you been back in New York?
“I’ve been back, on-and-off, all month. It is very annoying because it is Airbnb for me now, which is very hard to do in New York. Once you travel in Europe, you’re like, It’s no wonder that people don’t come here. When you’re overseas you find that people don’t come to New York. They all want to, but they can’t fucking afford it.”
Who approached whom for this collaboration?
“I met with Audible the spring after How To Murder Your Life came out. It was the one meeting I took as I was actually having a complete fucking mental breakdown and snapping. I showed up at the bar with a rainbow wig, and I met with this guy Ander from Audible — shout him out! Love him — and I found out that Audible, which I didn’t know that much about because I was writing my book and also in a drug haze, wanted original content from published authors. I thought it was pretty modern. What I originally thought of when my agent sent through that request, because I usually just say no to everything — how sad is that? — was Howard Stern working with satellite [radio]. I know it is completely different, but I really admire Howard Stern. I just liked the idea of doing something new. I just wanted to switch it up.
“One of the ideas that we settled on was ‘self-help.’ Like I said I was going through a bad time, and I just wanted to ditch New York. I bought The Andy CohenDiaries on the way at the airport, [and] I read it on the plane over there and was enjoying it so much I was like, Okay I’m going to keep a diary and see if I can sell it. And then I did. I actually sold it to Audible while I was in Europe.”
I’m sure you had enough within just two weeks for them to publish.
“Oh yeah, I always do more than I have to. I’m an idiot. Like when my book was turned in, it was way longer than they wanted. I turned in, initially, 800 pages. They cut it down to 300. I basically wrote two books. I’m an idiot.”
Did this make you look at your voice in a different way? Have you listened to it?
“Because I’m so tired all the time, it was definitely a flattened version of me, but that’s fine…I felt like this kept it very real, because I was exhausted. Because I wrote it on the train [while traveling], it kept me going. I am someone who gets depressed and gets nostalgic. I was in bed my whole fucking 20s, you know what I mean? I would give myself 20 minutes of staring out the window [of a train], and then I would pull out the computer. That’s when I would write. I was always fucking exhausted when I was writing it, but it was real.”
“I just didn’t want the book to be all about drugs. Getting off of that stuff has made me so much happier.”
– Cat marnell
How did you gather your source material?
“I just love diaries. I just want to keep writing diaries. I’d rather read that than anything from other people right now. It’s just more real. Our guess our brains have changed, and we can’t read elevated stuff. Or maybe that’s just me. “
Do you consider yourself an influencer at all?
“I’m a bad influencer. I’m proud to say. Whether I’m sorting bath salts or escaping, whenever I hear the word influencer, I think ‘bad influencer,’ you know? I never worried about recommending PCP to anyone because I always knew they wouldn’t know where to find it! I only knew where to find it because I was a fucking scumbag. I do not have the hustle to [be an influencer]. That is the worst thing about my life. I look at them, and they get their hotel rooms [for free]. I always intend to do that, and do, like, an initial email. Even getting the free train ticket to EuroRail, I sent an initial email, and then I never followed up. It’s just not me! I always just pay for it. I would be in the worst place if it meant I didn’t have to talk to anyone.”
How would you describe your travel style?
“I guess, in a negative way, I am an ‘adult child.’ That is what responsible people would say about me. Other people would be like “Oh, she’s so free!” But I don’t need anything. Honestly, sometimes, if there was a safe place to sleep on the street, I would do it.”
What are “wizard walks?”
“First of all, I used to take a lot of speed. You don’t need that for a wizard walk, though. The whole ‘wizard’ thing is played out now, but think of a carnival, or a fairground. During the day, it looks like nothing. That is how I am during the day. That is how my brain is during the day. Right now, I look like shit. I’m wearing sweatpants and I look sad, just sprawled onto these steps. That is my brain during the day.
“But the way carnival rides look lit up at night, my brain is the carnival. [It’s] so glowy and awesome at night. That is the wizard thing. I’ve always connected with cities at night, the glittering night lights. I look better at night, I feel better at night, and so I take these night walks.
“You can go to the best cities in Europe, and then everything at night is completely empty and it’s all lit and glowy and enchanting. Nothing is enchanting during the day — it’s just not. It’s sunny, and it’s pretty, but enchantment is only at night. Even a string of fucking Canal St. bulbs just strung up, or LED lights — that’s my speed. In Europe, everything is a fucking castle — well technically it’s a fortress, but in your American brain you’re like, That’s a castle!. It’s all glowing in the distance, and you put on electronic music and just wander over there. It’s awesome. I’m crazy, though, I’m crazy. You get the energy. It charges your brain for real. Night walks are my thing.”
Is How To Murder Your Life still being adapted into a TV series?
“It’s going to be a limited series with Sony TriStar. I can tell you that it will have the showrunner Esta Spalding, who is the showrunner for the Kristen Dunst God thing [On Becoming a God in Central Florida]. My co-writer is Jessica Caldwell, who has worked on Billions. I love them. I am very excited. I am involved, not because I want to make it accurate about me, but because I want to want it awesome. I want to elevate it. We are creating a fictional world, but I want to come at it from a place of humour and energy — some crackling different stuff. I’m not a big TV person. I don’t watch any TV. I don’t have the patience for it because I find it all to be quite hackneyed and cliché. The second something is played out I’m like, No, I can’t watch this. I have cities to walk around in!”
A piece about your finances went viral earlier this year. Do you feel like you’re in a better place financially now?
“Not at all, actually. I backslid. I don’t have any money coming in anymore! Well, I do. But the TV show money is so far away. I need to sell a book. That’s what I am going to do. Next month. I’m going to fucking Europe again. It’s cheaper! All I do in New York is go to the fucking Buffalo Exchange to buy shit I don’t need.
“Tax extensions are due. I’m just piling up fines again. When you’ve been in tax debt hundreds of thousands of dollars, like I used to be, being in debt $20,000 doesn’t feel like anything. Try telling my mom that. Even my storage unit — I owe them like $800, and I can’t get in. I don’t have any of my dresses. I don’t have any of my shoes. I can’t get in. I am miserable.”
Are you still wearing wigs?
“Of course, I have to. I can’t even get into that. I am trying to get some sort of wig sponsorship, but I’m not sure that is going to happen. I wear bad ones, too…I don’t know how to do anything. I can barely keep up with my email. I can’t hustle for anything. I wind up paying for everything. It’s annoying.”
I am trying to get some sort of wig sponsorship, but I’m not sure that is going to happen.
-Cat Marnell
A person who’s been in the news a lot recently has talked about how much she looks up to you…
“Are you talking about Caroline Calloway? C.C.? Good for her, I hope she flourishes and thrives. I DM with her all the time, and I definitely feel protective of her, as someone who can understand what she is going through in a unique way. The advice I gave her was just to work out through all of this. I said, Caroline, work out. Even if it is just half an hour a day. It is going to keep this entire experience that much more clear for you. That exercise is going to affect the other 23-and-a-half hours in the day in a good way.
“I only have two pieces of advice for anyone, ever: travel and work-out. I really do think for her, you have got to snap out of it sometimes. But it’s intoxicating when it first happens. Hopefully, she seems to be monetising everything. It’s harder than you think to monetise.”
People want to hear from you, and her, all the time. They also want to judge.
“Everyone hates Kim Kardashian — well, I guess they don’t anymore — but being polarising has made all these people’s careers. It’s annoying that Caroline will try to charge money for things, and people will attack her for that. I really don’t see how that is scamming. And also the vitriol. People are negatively obsessed with her. Howard Stern has the same thing where people are obsessed with hate-listening to him, and it’s almost like hate-fucking. Hopefully she can just make that into something, and I think she will. I like that she is just obsessively creative, because yeah, people are fucking disorganised. Disorganised creative people are a thing.”
After this experience, do you have any new cures for loneliness?
“Oh, God. Well, you know, I am off Adderall now. I’m not sober or anything…But on that trip, I took my supply and just took less and less and less and less, so I was down to crumbs by the end. I just didn’t want the book to be all about drugs. Getting off of that stuff has made me so much happier. I don’t know why I just bought up drugs…”
Because going off was your cure for loneliness?
“There’s no cure. I am actually lonely all the time, but I realise that is not going to change. It doesn’t matter if I become a quote-unquote famous person or anything. If anything, fame has made me more self-protective and weird and withdrawn. I am trying to meet up with people more. Like someone hit me up last time when I was in London, inviting me to dinner. Usually I don’t do that stuff, but it turned out being amazing. I made these new friends in London, and I feel like my whole life over there opened up. Now I can actually move there and know people.
“People need to be brave. Human connection does not come naturally to me. It has nothing to do with social media — this came before all that shit. It just doesn’t come naturally to me. I was always surrounded by people like my graffiti writing friends who protected me from the real world. When I was in Europe, I didn’t have anyone. You learn to stand on your own. But you have to make an effort. I sound like my dad. [Laughs]”
Check out this clip from Self-Tannerfor the Soul, below.
Interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
If you are struggling with substance abuse, please visit FRANK or call 0300 123 6600 for friendly, confidential advice. Lines are open 24 hours a day.
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In honour of Chanel’s upcoming Mademoiselle Privé exhibition in Tokyo, Sofia Coppola has created a new short film that is the ultimate tribute to the French fashion house. Stitching together the brand’s most iconic moments, the Lost in Translation filmmaker chronicles Chanel’s lasting impact on the fashion industry using a combination of archival footage, modern campaigns and vintage imagery.
In Homage to Mademoiselle opens with a 1978 ad starring the original French ingenue Catherine Deneuve, then flashes through some of the label’s most recognisable moments. From black and white footage of Coco Chanel sewing her own designs to clips of the ever glamorous Jackie Kennedy wearing that pink suit, the film highlights Chanel’s undeniable influence throughout cultural history.
Coppola also showcases the brand’s modern muses, spotlighting Natalie Portman, Margot Robbie and Kristen Stewart, all of whom have fronted campaigns for the brand in recent years. Piecing together vintage advertisements and contemporary campaigns in a dreamy collage, the film celebrates the fashion house’s story from all angles, from the creation of the very first LBD to the enduring success of Chanel No.5 perfume.
Some of the brand’s most infamous shows also feature, with sequences centring on the extravagance of the annual catwalks at the Grand Palais in Paris. One particularly beautiful moment shows Chanel’s late creative director Karl Lagerfeld walking side by side with Lily-Rose Depp, who wears a ruffled pink tulle gown.
Set to the ethereal sounds of Grimes’ “Oblivion”, the film is a dreamlike amalgamation of haute couture and French glamour, marrying the famous faces of modern Chanel with its historical significance as a luxury fashion house. An exploration of the brand’s eternal power, In Homage to Mademoiselle is the ultimate Chanel highlights reel for any fashion obsessive.
Watch the film below.
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There’s only one Aisling Bea in Living With Yourself, but the Irish actress and comedian is charismatic enough to contend with two Paul Rudds.
Living With Yourself, out on Netflix on 18th November, is like if Black Mirror had the intimateness of a three-person play. The twist? Paul Rudd plays two of the three main characters: Miles, a schlubby 30-something, and Miles’ clone. Kate (Aisling Bea), Miles’ wife, is dragged into the domestic mess when she suddenly has two husbands.
While Paul Rudd squared is the draw of Living With Yourself, Bea is equally memorable. Here’s what else you’ll want to know about the actor and stand-up star.
She’s originally from Ireland.
Bea was born Aisling O’Sullivan in County Kildare, Ireland. She initially studied at Trinity College Dublin, and moved to London aged 21 to pursue acting. Though she’s since travelled across the Atlantic, Bea still excels in Kildare regional humour. Her stand-up is a tour through the Irish sensibility.
Speaking of stand-up: She’s an award-winning stand-up comic.
Living With Yourself isn’t Bea’s first Netflix show either. You’ll recognise her from her 15-minute stand-up set that is also available to stream on Netflix and her appearances on Channel 4’s Comedy Gala and Live At The Apollo.
She is having a really big autumn.
Not only is her new show on Netflix, but she’s also the creator and star of Channel 4’s brilliant comedy-drama This Way Up. The show starts with Bea’s character, Aine, leaving a mental health facility where she received treatment for a nervous breakdown. Now, she has to undergo the day-in, day-out of getting better – with more than a little help from her sister, played byCatastrophe’s Sharon Horgan.
Bea has a personal connection to the show’s subject. In 2017, she wrote a personal essay for TheGuardianabout her father, who died by suicide when she was three. She was flooded with responses from readers.
“There’s something about this show…I think a little bit of it slowly came about as a slight response to the people and stories that came in after I wrote that article about my dad,” she told The Irish Times.
Living With Yourself is Bea’s big break.
Bea has been a working actor for years, having secured parts in Holby City,The Fall and Lewis, but Living With Yourself is “next level.” She told the Irish Times it’s “the first time the magic thing happened. I just put myself on tape; they had a phone call with me, then flew me to New York for a chemistry test. That magic thing had never happened to me.”
Her sister is in show business, too.
Sinead O’Sullivan is a successful costume designer. Thank her for Emma Watson’s yellow gown in Beauty and the Beast.
She’s a huge reality TV fan.
Bea was inspired by the Real Housewives and Love Island while writing the sisters’ relationship in This Way Up. “I just realised what I loved watching was sometimes reality TV, with really deep relationships between women, like The Real Housewives andLove Island,” Bea told Vulture.
Here’s where you can see her.
While Living With Yourself and This Way Up are definitely her biggest roles, Bea is all over streaming networks. She flaunts a dramatic side in Hard Sun on Hulu and the serial killer drama The Fall on Netflix.
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I’m so used to hearing Jenny Slate’s breathless voice in my favourite TV shows and movies that I accidentally scream “HI!” the moment we get on the phone to talk about her new stand-up special, Stage Fright. HI! Like I just ran into my friend at the supermarket. Jenny Slate doesn’t know me, but after watching her new stand-up special, Stage Fright, and reading her upcoming book of essays, Little Weirds, I feel like I know her. Like, really know her.
In Stage Fright, Slate takes her unabashed, sometimes crude, late-show vulnerability to a more personal place, opening up about her loneliness and romantic pessimism following the 2016 US election. Both the special, out on Netflix on 22nd October, and book, on shelves on 4th November, document Slate’s return to her childhood home in the midst of this hopelessness. Stage Fright weaves Slate’s traditional stand-up with documentary footage of her family and home videos, and through this collage we learn about her parents, her grandparents, the ghosts that haunt her house, and what felt like her life coming to a total romantic and personal end.
But the Jenny Slate on the phone with me isn’t lonely anymore. Fans of the comedian know a secret that the comedian writing Little Weirds in 2017 does not: She gets engaged to art curator Ben Shattuck in September 2019. He’s actually part of the book — not by name, but is the man mentioned in the story “In Norway.” They meet while on the trip documented in the piece, but don’t start dating until two years later. When it came to Stage Fright, this meant Slate originally only had material from a past version of herself, who is as much a ghost as the spirits haunting her childhood house.
These projects, both hilarious and heartwarming, illustrate the evolution of Slate as she pulls herself up from her lowest point to achieve her happy ending. After being with her through this journey, it kind of feels like we’re all part of the celebration — which, as her now close personal friend, is the least I deserve. Ahead, we spoke to Slate about her past two years, her take on Saturday Night Live’s recent controversy, in which stand-up comedian Shane Gillis’s racist comments on his 2018 podcast were discovered, and what kind of ghost she hopes to return as when she dies.
Refinery29: This is your first stand-up special ever. Why now?
Jenny Slate: “I just haven’t been interested in doing a special before and I didn’t identify with the process that you had to go through in order to make a special, of perfecting the jokes and touring a lot. I thought that that’s what you had to do, but it really turned out that I could do it whatever way I wanted to. Netflix was really supportive. They did not try to change anything about how I did it. We had an all-female crew. It was just a very private experience and I hope that shows through.”
“This special is more of the sibling that is popular and does sports, and the book is more the sibling that is dreamy and goes away for the summer to spend time with a very old aunt and likes to play the xylophone.”
Jenny Slate
Your book and your Netflix special seem like companion pieces. Was that on purpose?
“I got the book deal in 2017 and at that point I did not want to do a special at all. But as time went on and I started to write the book, I became aware that I communicate in a certain way and that I want to go as far with that as I can. I think it’s pretty wild that they’re both coming out at the same time. I didn’t intend for that to happen. I do think that they are siblings to each other. This special is more of the sibling that is popular and does sports, and the book is more the sibling that is dreamy and goes away for the summer to spend time with a very old aunt and likes to play the xylophone.”
Your name was brought up again in the recent controversy with Saturday Night Live. Many people pointed out that you were fired for saying “fuck” while Shane Gillis was hired despite ample evidence of him making racist comments and other problematic behaviour. SNL ultimately fired him after online backlash, but did you have any reaction to that considering your own history with the show?
“I don’t even know who’s on the show. The only thing that I care about in terms of SNL is Tim Robinson, who I never actually saw on SNL, but I just heard about him this year and I’m obsessed with his show [I Think You Should Leave on Netflix]. I mean, it’s like if you went out with like a weirdo for three months, like 12 years ago, and someone’s like, Did you hear what Trevor did in, like, another country? Do you have a comment about that? I really don’t. I’m not connected to that at all. Thank God I at least got to work there because I always did want to. I always wanted to be on the show. So if I hadn’t gotten there, I would still be trying to.”
There’s a line early in your book that reads, “This book is the act of pressing onward through an inner world that was dark and dismantled.” Do you feel that you pressed onward?
“Yeah. But there’s also a line in the book that’s like, fall apart, take up the pieces, reassemble. This is my essential movement. So of course I pressed onwards. And there is, until I die — well, even after I die, I guess I’ll just press onward into decay and become something else again. Like man, my life looks completely different now than it did when I finished this book last October.”
For instance, you got engaged last month, so your fiancé is not mentioned in the book nor the special.
“I don’t do a lot of the jokes from my special now because they are not true to who I am anymore. The stand up that I was working on for the special really started to feel like, Oh my God, I don’t want to say this anymore because it’s not how I feel. When I met Ben I was doing these sets, and I remember like on our third date, he came to see a show of mine in New York and I was like, Ah, this is the material I’ve been doing. It doesn’t, you know —I’m sorry or whatever. And he was like, You don’t have to apologise for your art.
“When we came back to the special, we had a dress rehearsal where I did all the old stuff and it was really one of the worst shows of my life. It was so bad and I cried my eyes out and I don’t usually have bad shows, but because I was trying to be so rigid about the material it just didn’t work. The next night when we did film the special that you see, I ended up doing a lot of new material. It’s mostly about ghosts and Judaism and we really took out a lot of the love stuff and a lot of the jokes that I had been doing about being brokenhearted.”
“I think I would like to see a ghost [because] I do want proof of what I already believe, which is I’m definitely connected to everything and have so many more options than I allow myself to believe.”
Jenny Slate
Speaking of ghosts, I’m curious: Did you ever actually see one in your childhood home?
“My sisters, my mother, and my father have all seen ghosts in the house and I haven’t. My experience is basically that I am a person reacting to the fact that everybody else has been freaked out. That framed fear and fright and surprise and also other dimensions and an overactive cosmos as part of my inevitable experience that things are not settled.
“What I love about that is that it made me into a person who is gentle, who believes in spirits and also knows how the human spirit can be very, very easily affected. I also think if you do see a ghost, then you also have proof that everything is so much bigger than you allow yourself to believe on a daily basis. I think I would like to see a ghost [because] I do want proof of what I already believe, which is I’m definitely connected to everything and have so many more options than I allow myself to believe and it’s time for me to expand.”
Have you ever had any kind of ghost experience?
“Ben and I live in a very old house and it was made for his great grandmother as an old dance hall. A lot of people who sleep over, guests that we’ve had, say that they have wild dreams and hear things in the house. It makes sense to me that where I would finally land and have my life partnership is in a house for partying. I wouldn’t be upset if I saw one of those party ghosts and I wouldn’t be upset if I became one one day.”
Stage Fright is out on Netflix on 22nd October.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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As any true Zara obsessive knows, the international fashion brand offers up new product on a biweekly basis (on Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you were wondering). Over 300 designers work around the clock to bring us the latest trends at the exact moment we want them. But while fans wouldn't change a thing about Zara’s two-a-week drops, there are a few pieces that we’re willing to wait a bit longer for. Case in point: Zara’s coveted Campaign Collection.
With higher quality fabrics and a focused and involved design team, The Campaign Collection is everything that Zara is known for — but better. "Campaign is separate from Zara Woman in the sense that we don’t have to reply to customers," said one of the designers. "Rather the opposite; customers either fall in love with the collection... or they don't." The latter, we find highly unlikely. The Campaign AW19 offering is full of standout pieces we already want to add to our closets, like a suit with inside-out lining and a reversible faux fur collared coat that's soon to go viral.
The collection was “was inspired by the French; a kind of sexy, crazy type of woman,” another designer told us as we previewed the collection in the exact location where it was conceived: the brand’s head campus in A Coruña, Spain. While there are 37 pieces that made it to the finish line, the design team tells us that there were around 70 to 80 prototypes designed in total, with similar silhouettes created in varying patterns and colours.
Of the items that made the cut, we especially loved a pair of trousers with a micro mini skirt attached, a sequin slip cast in magenta and red, and a dress printed with the symbols of Greek astrological signs. Remarkably, all the clashing pieces somehow tell one definitive story. "The goal with this collection was to test mixing different clothes together," a designer said.
Ahead, shop all 37 pieces from the AW19 Campaign Collection.
Zara Campaign Pleated Printed Dress, $, available at Zara
Zara Campaign Leather Square Toe Heels, $, available at ZaraPhotography by Steven Meisel.
Zara Campaign Reversible Printed Coat, $, available at Zara
Zara Campaign Lace Dress With Bow, $, available at Zara
Countless TV shows, films and documentaries get added to Netflix every single week, so why do we turn to Friends for the 50668th time on a hungover Sunday rather than search for something we haven't seen?
With brand new content flying at us at all hours of the day, small releases can get lost in the fray, meaning that we often resort to our comfort shows rather than seek out a hidden gem.
But just because something hasn’t landed in your recommendations doesn’t mean it isn’t worth watching, which is why Refinery29 staffers are here to help you dig a little deeper and unearth a host of hidden treasures in the Netflix back catalogue.
From fascinating documentaries to foreign reality TV shows, the streaming platform has boatloads of quality content just waiting to be watched, much of which hasn't got the viewing love it rightly deserves.
So with the nights officially getting darker and the weather making us reluctant to leave our beds ever again, it's time to settle in with your favourite snacks and discover the streaming platform's unsung heroes. Click through to see team R29's Netflix hidden gems. Katy Harrington, Managing Editor
Netflix hidden gem:Voyeur
Why it's worth watching: This looks to be one of those 'couldn’t make it up stories' we love so much but just when you’ve picked your jaw off the floor after the initial shocker, things in this documentary get weirder and darker. No spoilers here: Voyeur tells the story of a very strange man, Gerald Foos, who bought a motel with the express intention to spy on his guests. Over a decade he meticulously documented their movements through vents in the ceiling. That’s a show in itself but when one of the New Yorker’s most famousjournalists, Gay Talese – who by the nature of his work is himself a voyeur – gets involved in telling the story, the bombshell really goes off. The unnerving subject matter seems to be the big draw here but actually the much muddier questions around voyeurism, hypocrisy, reporting, human psychology and ethics are what really leave a lasting effect. Add to your watch list now. Jess Commons, Lifestyle Director
Netflix hidden gem:Enlighten Us
Why it's worth watching: This documentary is one of my absolute favourites and I can’t believe more people haven’t seen it. It’s about James Arthur Ray, a self-help guru featured in The Secret who was on track to become the next Tony Robbins when disaster struck at his $10k 'Spiritual Warrior' retreat during a sweat lodge ritual and three people lost their lives. Ray spent two years in prison for negligent homicide and Enlighten Us follows him as he tries to rebuild his image after his release. It’s a fascinating character study of a man who achieved a cultlike following, only to lose it all. It’s up to you, the viewer, to decide how much Ray believes in his own teachings and just how sorry he really is.Anna Jay, Art Director
Netflix hidden gem:Dogs
Why it's worth watching: This Netflix original docuseries came out last year and if you’re looking for soul-soothing stuff, look no further. The series explores the bond between dogs and humans, with each episode telling a different story about how dogs can change lives, from a refugee in Berlin getting his husky back from Syria, to aid dogs assisting children with epilepsy. I cried all the tears in all the eps I’ve watched, but it’s heartwarming stuff. Plus, it’s beautifully filmed with fantastic storytelling through cinematography. Nina Joyce, PR Director
Netflix hidden gem: Mega Food
Why it's worth watching: Have you ever been so hungover you can’t move? Have you ever been stuck on the sofa for an entire day, as if your limbs have been covered in caramel and draped in one of those curious weighted blankets? If so, I have the perfect programme: Mega Food. Requiring absolutely zero brain engagement, Mega Food is a 2013 series focusing on large-scale food production in godforsaken places like the world’s largest cruise ship, an Aussie 'super pub', SeaWorld and an unfathomably large hotel in Singapore. Everything is grotesque, in particular the mass-produced, day-glo lit food hurriedly made in basements and back rooms: it’s the one-night stand bastard child of Chef’s Table and I absolutely love it. Manufactured TV jeopardy about whether the cruise ship’s 'Lobster Night' – which requires the shelling of 2000lb of crustaceans – will go off without a hitch is the perfect tonic to feed your pickled brain on a Sunday morning. Courtesy of Netflix.Elli Weir, Social Media Executive
Netflix hidden gem: Terrace House: Opening New Doors
Why it's worth watching: When you’re SO done with reality TV, this is the show for you. It’s said to be the Japanese equivalent of Love Island but the only resemblance it bears to that show is that it is about young people who share a house and are looking for love. But it’s OH so much more. All the participants are also looking to progress in their careers, develop healthier habits, meet new people, move away from home for the first time, etc. You follow the ins and outs of their lives while they encourage and chastise each other in relationships for a whole year. Once someone has either found love or reached their respective goal, they leave the house and new members join. It’s just so bloody endearing. There is no prize, no cash giveaway, a slight chance of mild celebrity but on the whole, it’s reality TV in its purest form. In short, it makes Love Island look like hot garbage. Eni Subair, Editorial Assistant
Netflix hidden gem:On My Block
Why it's worth watching: Not sure if I’m early or late to the party but either way, On My Block has brought oodles of joy back into my Netflix experience. I’m notorious for picking up shows and ditching them halfway, but something about On My Block forced me to overcome my fear of commitment. The show focuses on a group of POC teens in Freeridge, east LA, and without giving anything away, it touches on a lot of relatable experiences we all go through. Littered with laughable moments, gang-related issues and your average daily life struggles, On My Block is much more than your average cheesy coming-of-age, angst-filled teen drama. I’ll be bingeing seasons one and two again while I wait for season three, which was confirmed earlier this year (yay!).Paulina Macdid, Audience Development Intern
Netflix hidden gem:Palm Trees In The Snow
Why it's worth watching: My friends are fed up with my Netflix recommendations now as, regardless of what they ask for, I always bang on about how they should watch my favourite love film of all time, Palm Trees In The Snow. Set during the 1950s Spanish colonial rule of Guinea, this passionate drama focuses on the intense love story between Killian, a Spanish plantation manager, and Bisila, an African nurse. It’s unique as Spain’s colonial history has barely been covered on film and this confronts the dark and upsetting era. The racial and cultural prohibitions of the time result in a turbulent, captivating and raw love story, with an extremely emotional ending. Ensure your tissues are at the ready as this film is guaranteed to bring you on an emotional rollercoaster. Katy Thompsett, Sub Editor
Netflix hidden gem:A Ghost Story
Why it's worth watching: There are no big scares in A Ghost Story. None of the leap-from-your-seat, heart-in-your-mouth, leave-the-light-on-at-bedtime sequences that the title might suggest. Nothing much happens at all, actually. Casey Affleck plays a musician who dies suddenly and is condemned to haunt the home he shared with his wife (Rooney Mara), even after she moves away, new tenants come and go and the house, eventually, is torn down and replaced with a futuristic skyscraper through which his ghost wanders, draped almost comically in a white sheet with holes cut out for eyes. A quiet reflection on grief and loss, the passage of time and the legacy we (do or don’t) leave behind, I found myself thinking about this film for days after I watched it. The soundtrack is spectrally (sorry) beautiful, too.
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It’s also difficult to determine exactly what makes a good work/life balance. Going freelance or transitioning to flexible working can seem appealing, but they’re not necessarily healthy – or possible – for everyone.
If you sometimes worry that everyone else is better at cracking the work/life balance conundrum than you are, it could be reassuring to look at the results of a new study, which suggests we don’t have it too badly compared to other countries. According to Sleep Junkie’s Lifestyle Index , the UKcomes 17th out of 141 countries for the best work-life balance in the world.
The Lifestyle Index was compiled using factors including the average number of working hours and annual leave in each country, the percentage of people getting a good night’s sleep, people’s happiness in each country, and their life expectancy.
Luxembourg comes out on top, thanks partly to a system where employers tend to reward staff with more annual leave as they get older. Workers over the age of 55 there get an average 36 days of paid leave every year.
Austria and Denmark place second and third respectively. Both countries give workers a minimum of 25 paid leave days a year – five more than the UK. Check out the top 10 below.
The UK places 17th overall thanks to its reasonable average working hours – 36 a week – and relatively high life expectancy of 81.2 years. Though more than half of people in the UK said they get between seven and eight hours sleep a night, which is obviously good, the UK also scored poorly for sleep difficulty. This was calculated by analysing monthly search volumes for terms such as “I can’t sleep” and “how to sleep”.
Check out the next 10 highest-scoring countries including the UK below.
The US appears further down the index at 87th, partly because it doesn’t guarantee workers any paid leave days at all, and partly because of its high sleep difficulty score.
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This week, astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir completed the first ever all-woman spacewalk, and it is looking like the future is indeed female. However, NASA isn’t stopping there. There now is a full speed ahead attempt to further uplift women astronauts.
After the first all-woman spacewalk, NASA reported that while they’re focused on landing on the moon — and thus one woman will soon become the first woman to land on the moon — the first person to land on Mars might also be a woman. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine revealed the possibility in a press conference for the all-woman spacewalk.
“We could very well see the first person on Mars be a woman. I think that could very well be a milestone,” said Bridenstine, via Space.com.
“What you do is incredible. It’s so — you’re very brave people. I don’t think I want to do it, I must tell you that. But you are amazing people.” said Trump. “This is truly historic.”
“We’re stopping at the moon. The moon is actually a launching pad. That’s why we’re stopping at the moon. I said, ‘Hey, we’ve done the moon. That’s not so exciting.’ So we’ll be doing the moon. But we’ll really be doing Mars,” Trump elaborated.
Meanwhile, many other politicians noted the historic achievement on Twitter, including Sen. Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“For the first time in our nation’s history, an all-female crew walked in space today. It’s more than historic—it’s a reminder that for women, even the sky doesn’t have to be the limit,” wrote Harris.
For the first time in our nation’s history, an all-female crew walked in space today. It’s more than historic—it’s a reminder that for women, even the sky doesn’t have to be the limit. https://t.co/qmqypruQ7O
“@NASA has captured the imaginations of the world for generations. Congratulations to @Astro_Christina & @Astro_Jessica for leaving their mark on history with today’s #AllWomanSpacewalk. You are an inspiration to women & girls across America,” noted Pelosi.
As for the astronauts themselves, Koch and Meir were all business, sharing their excitement on Instagram to get their job of battery repairs done efficiently.
Given the stuff you're liable to stumble over on social media, you'd be forgiven for thinking there wasn't a wholesome corner of the internet left. But you'd be wrong, because Pasta Grannies exists.
The hugely popular YouTube channel is the brainchild of Vicky Bennison, a food writer who spends her time driving around her adopted home of Italy, meeting the country's nonne (grandmothers) and hearing about the tried and tested recipes that they've been cooking for their extended families for years upon years.
Now, the Pasta Grannies have a book. Each recipe comes from a different nonna and is testament to the kind of cooking skills that come from a long life, well lived. One of the nonne, Giuseppa, is still making pasta at the ripe old age of 97.
Because the nonne are used to cooking for their large Italian families, their recipe portions are huge which makes these dishes perfect for batch cooking at the beginning of the week. Click through to see three recipes for pasta dishes which you'll enjoy as much on the last day of the week as you did on the first.
Raviole are not ravioli but cigar-shaped gnocchi made in the Varaita valley, close to the French border in Piemonte. The potato is mixed with a local cow’s milk cheese called tomino di Melle. It’s a fresh cheese, which only needs to be matured for five days before it’s ready to be used. Robiola cheese also from Piemonte is a good substitute, and if you cannot find that in your deli, any soft fresh cheese will do. Even a chèvre goat’s cheese would be nice. Domenica advises to use the best possible alpine butter you can find for the dressing. This is a special occasion dish, traditionally served at baptisms and engagement parties. Thus the liberal use of butter is a treat!
For the raviole 1kg old floury potatoes, unpeeled 200g tomino di Melle or other fresh cheese (see introduction) 250g 0 flour or plain (all-purpose) flour Salt
To serve 75g unsalted butter (actually, Domenica uses considerably more than this!) 100ml single (light) cream Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Boil the potatoes in salted water. When they are cooked, drain and peel them. While still hot, put them through a potato ricer or vegetable mill and then spread the mash over a well-floured wooden board. Crumble or mash the tomino di Melle cheese and scatter it over the potatoes along with the flour. The hot mash will melt the cheese. Mix everything and knead it until the ingredients have blended together. Check for seasoning.
Chop up the dough into fist-size pieces, then roll each one out so it looks like a thick bread stick. Slice these into 3 cm long pillows, then take each one and roll it along the board to create a short spindle shape, around 5–7 cm long. Have a platter ready in a warming oven. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add some salt and then return it to the boil. You will probably have to cook the ravioles in batches, as you don’t want to overcrowd the pan. When they bob to the surface, scoop them out with a sieve or slotted spoon and place them on the warm platter.
In a small sauté pan, fry the butter until it is golden and smells nutty. Domenica goes further and aims for flecks of black at the bottom of the pan, but there is no need to do this. In another saucepan, warm through the cream.
Pour the melted butter, warmed cream and a handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano over the cooked raviole. Some folk like to grill this briefly (make sure your platter is oven-proof if you want to do this step). Image Courtesy of Hardie Grant. Rosetta's Trofie With Basil Sauce For 4 people
Basil pesto or pesto alla Genovese is the world’s second-most popular pasta condimento, or dressing. Pesto has now come to mean any herb-and-nut combination you can think of pairing. Rosetta and her friends add an un-classic fresh cheese called prescinsêua to their pesto. This has a tangy, yoghurt-like flavour with a consistency similar to ricotta. Of course, they like the taste, but it’s also a way of making expensive ingredients go further. Because of this, I have called Rosetta’s recipe a basil sauce rather than a strict pesto, as it is creamier than usual.
Pesto alla Genovese is usually served with trofie pasta, and it is only fairly recently that manufacturers found a way to extrude this shape through their bronze dies. Prior to this, the local pasta business in the little town of Sori commissioned ladies in the area to make it, and Rosetta is one of them. After she married, she wanted to earn some money while bringing up her children, and so learnt how to make it. She says it took several days of practice to get the twirl tight and the pasta all the same size; now it’s second nature and her skills are such that she appears on Italian TV and YouTube (Pasta Grannies, thank goodness).
For the pasta 400g 00 flour or plain (all-purpose) flour 180ml boiling water, or enough liquid to bring the dough together
For the basil sauce 2 tbsp pine nuts, preferably Italian 1 plump garlic clove, one that has not developed its ‘anima’ or green shoot 75ml extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Ligurian or other grassy-tasting oil 150g fresh basil leaves 4 tbsp prescinsêua cheese, or live Greek-style yoghurt 80g Grano Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano, grated 20g Pecorino Sardo, grated 1/2 tsp fine salt
To serve 150g green beans, halved (optional)
Place the flour in a mixing bowl then gradually add the water. Use a fork to make a dough that feels soft but not sticky. Turn it out onto a floured pasta board and knead it until it is smooth and silky. This will take around 10 minutes.
Cover the dough with the bowl so it doesn’t dry out and leave it to rest for 30 minutes. Pinch off a pea-sized piece and roll it outwards over the board with the palm of your hand to create a spindle shape. Pull your hand back diagonally across your body, pressing down gently but firmly on the pasta with the edge of your hand. You should create a twisted piece of pasta, which looks like a corkscrew. You can also try it with a bench scraper if you cannot get the hang of it with your hands.
Make the basil sauce by blitzing everything together in a blender until smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the trofie for about 2 minutes. The length of time will depend on how big your trofie are, so test one for doneness. Use a sieve or slotted spoon to scoop out the pasta once it’s cooked and place in a large serving bowl. Add the green beans, if using, to the hot water; blanch for 3 minutes and add to the pasta. Stir through the basil sauce. No extra cheese is needed.Image Courtesy of Hardie Grant. Eugenia's Fregula And Bean Soup For 4 people
Eugenia lives in Montresta, a tiny village in north-west Sardinia. Her house has mountain views. You approach her home through a happy mix of flowers and herbs, and it takes a moment to notice she has a second kitchen to the side of one terrace. It looks like a garden shed, but inside it has a special kind of pasta beater only found in Sardinia, a freezer and all sorts of bottling equipment. It’s a secret cave for keen cooks.
Fregula is Sardinian for fregola – the name used to describe little balls of pasta, which can be toasted. Eugenia says, 'Fregula was invented to give texture and interest to pulses and vegetables.' While most people these days buy their fregula, Eugenia magics hers into existence in less than an hour. The method is the same process as for making couscous and you will need the more coarsely ground, sandy-textured semolina.
One of the many other things Eugenia makes herself are intensely savoury sun-dried tomatoes. She slices plum-shaped tomatoes in half, sprinkles the cut surfaces with a little coarse salt, and leaves them in a huge, flat, reed basket to dry in the sun. She then covers each half with a basil leaf and freezes them until needed. Her tomatoes are sweet, not too salty and an instant pick-me-up for all kinds of dishes.
For the pasta 1 tsp salt 250ml tepid water 300g coarsely ground semolina flour
For the soup 250g dried chickpeas 1 onion, sliced A handful of wild fennel fronds, chopped 4 good-quality sun-dried tomatoes, chopped Extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Place the chickpeas in a bowl and cover with enough water to submerge them by several centimetres. Soak them for 8 hours, or ideally overnight. Then drain them.
To make the pasta, dissolve the salt in the water in a small bowl. Splash a bit into a large mixing bowl (Eugenia uses a flat-bottomed earthenware dish with a diameter of about 40 cm), followed by a couple of tablespoons of the semolina.
Using the tips of your fingers, stir the flour into the water using a circular motion. Little balls of dough will begin to form. Alternate adding more water and flour, making sure there is never too much of either. You will start to create fregula of varying sizes, but ideally they should be about the same size as a small chickpea. Remove them as you go along and spread them on a tray to dry out. Keep going until you have used all the flour. Divide your pasta into large and small fregula, by shaking your tray – the large ones will rise to the surface.
Put the chickpeas, onion, fennel fronds and sun-dried tomatoes in a large saucepan. Cover with enough water to submerge the contents by about 10 cm. Simmer until the chickpeas are soft, which will take about 1 hour. Once they are cooked, add all except the very smallest fregula (which can be used as the starter for your next batch) and simmer for a couple of minutes to cook through.
Ladle into bowls, and serve with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Heaven. Image Courtesy of Hardie Grant.
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Florals have descended into darker territory this season. Gone are the highlighter neon tones and saccharine hues that dominated floral dressing in summer, in their place inky colours that we predict will transcend autumn and see us through much of 2020.
Richard Quinn's AW19 collection was rife with the print, displayed across boxy '80s-style blazers, deconstructed gowns and button-up preppy pea coats. Marques'Almeida embraced the blossoming trend (sorry) and sent puff-sleeved iterations down the runway. On the 'gram, we got to peep the trend IRL thanks to street style favourites like Emili Sindlev tapping in early. Mixing a statement tweed piece and florals from everyone's fave cult brand, Ganni, we hastily saved the look to our IG bookmarks.
Thick jumpers and chunky cardis are all well and good but this season, prepare for gothic, ditsy florals to take over your wardrobe. Florals for autumn? Absolutely.For those looking for a more loose-fitting number, add this Mango creation to your list.
Mango Floral Print Dress, $, available at MangoWe're digging the sheer sleeves on this Oasis midi.
Oasis Fauna Floral Midi Dress, $, available at John LewisEvery drool-worthy dark floral dress deserves an equally fab pair of minimal heels.
Reformation Carina Dress Es, $, available at ReformationA high-collar dress and leather boots will never not be a foolproof combination.
Warehouse Floral Shirred Neck Midi Dress, $, available at WarehouseA classic A-line dress never steers us wrong.
Marks & Spencer Floral Print Relaxed Mini Dress, $, available at Marks & SpencerToughen up a floral dress with trainers or this season's street style favourite, chunky lug sole shoes.
ASOS DESIGN Grunge Floral Print Tea Dress, $, available at ASOSA pop of colour never hurt anyone.
Rocha John Rocha Floral Cap Sleeve Dress, $, available at OxfamWe're pairing this vintage treat with a micro bag, '80s power blazer and gold accents.
Vintage Multi Floral Maxi, $, available at asos marketplaceAppropriate for the office and after-work drinks.
& Other Stories Floral Long Sleeve Midi Dress, $, available at & Other StoriesIt's maxi dress and knee-length boot season.
RIXO Lottie Shirred Floral Print Midi, $, available at Net-A-PorterWe can always count on Ganni to deliver a floral dress with a refreshing twist.
Ganni Printed Mesh Wrap Dress, $, available at GanniThis Vampire's Wife frock screams Christmas party season.
The Vampire's Wife Festival Ruffled Tiered Floral Print Velvet Maxi Dress, $, available at Net-A-PorterGo hard or go home is the message here.
Fenn Wright Manson Floral Patterned Dress, $, available at OxfamFinally an excuse to whip out our chunky clogs/mules/Mary Janes...
Mango Midi Floral Dress, $, available at MangoVictorian elegance meets floral.
byTimo Tie Detail Floral Dress, $, available at BrownsAnother secondhand steal, ta ASOS.
Vintage Blue Black Floral Dress, $, available at asos marketplaceA beret, florals and contrast detailing – don't hesitate to mix trends.
Another Matinee The 'Nobody's Little Weasel' Dress, $, available at Another MatineePrairie dresses will slot into your wardrobe all year round. We're layering ours with a sheer rollneck.
Cecilie Bahnsen Ronja Tiered Floral Fil Coupé Dress, $, available at Matches FashionForget boring LBD (long black dresses), it's all about splashes of ketchup red, duck-egg blue and a good pair of lace-up vintage-style boots.
Ghost London Floral Black Dress, $, available at GhostOh go on then, just one more.
Violeta By Mango Floral Print Dress, $, available at Mango
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A romantic day for all is had at home on Sunday when sensual Venus sextiles responsible Saturn. This is a gorgeous time to get your house in order, reconnect with loved ones and reset for the week ahead. The Moon wanes in sensitive Cancer until Monday at 8:39 a.m. when she reaches her third quarter. We’re in the mood to wrap things up during this moon phase — but it’s important to remember that while the finish line is in sight, we need to keep moving forward. We’re ready to relax a little on Monday when sweet Venus trines dreamy Neptune. This transit lends us a more laid back attitude, and a talent for artistic expression. We’re feeling just a little needy on Monday when the Moon wanes into showy Leo at 12:28 p.m. Blow off some of this emotional steam by expressing your inner entertainer. The Sun moves into the strategic sign of Scorpio on Wednesday, helping us to hone our approach to achieving our goals. The Moon wanes through exacting Virgo at 3:29 p.m., helping us to fact check and fine-tune our actions. We’re ready to heat things up in the bedroom on Friday as romantic Venus sextiles transformative Pluto. Make sure that everyone’s on the same page as this transit can push boundaries. The Moon wanes into friendly Libra on Friday at 4:19 p.m., encouraging us to reach out to our besties and let loose in style. Aries March 21 to April 19
Take a step back and look at the bigger picture, Aries. Your love and money ruler, Venus, sextiles professional Saturn on Sunday, helping you to reprioritise your goals. It’s time for you to re-evaluate your image of prosperity, and what happiness looks like. Your domestic ruler, the Moon, wanes into her 3rd quarter on Monday at 8:39 a.m., creating stop-start energy. Be patient and avoid knee-jerk reactions with loved ones during this finicky transit. You’re ready to shake off your worries on Monday when material Venus trines spiritual Neptune. It’s time to switch gears on Wednesday as your creative ruler, the Sun, brightens your 8th house of transformation, mystery, and dramatic change. Are you looking for inspiration? Try new routines, investigate hidden paths, and immerse yourself in unfamiliar territory. CELIA JACOBS.Taurus April 20 to May 20
Feed your mind, Taurus. You’re focused on self-development on Sunday when ruling Venus sextiles intelligent Saturn. Wellness-minded Venus trines dreamy Neptune on Monday, inspiring you to seek out more ethereal and unconventional methods of self-care. Link up with friends during this positive transit to share insights that will help you to create healthier routines. On Wednesday, the Sun enters your 7th house of partnerships, contracts, and business. During this transit, your shining domestic ruler seeks to elevate and enrich your relationships. If you’ve been looking to get beyond surface-level conversations with your collaborators, why not get to know them better off the clock? You could tap into some brilliant ideas as you think outside of the box together. It’s easy to get into a romantic mood on Friday when ruling Venus sextiles love planet Pluto. If you’re single, this could be the perfect moment to make the first move. Attached Bulls should enjoy this sweet transit by indulging in a decadent date night. CACHETEJACK.Gemini May 21 to June 20
Measure twice and cut once, Gemini. You can combat anxiety with information on Monday when your financial ruler, the Moon, enters her third quarter at 8:39 a.m. Press pause and consider what your career is doing to satisfy your needs on Monday when material Venus trines professional Neptune. Are you heading the direction that you intended? Do you need help to recenter yourself? Take note of your accomplishments, and update your resume to help boost your confidence — it could help you get noticed for an exciting opportunity. Your goals are refocused on Wednesday when the Sun lights your 6th house of health, order, and service. It’s time for you to prioritise your well-being.AMBER VITTORIA.Cancer June 21 to July 22
Opening up your heart is easy, Cancer. You’re ready to welcome loved ones into your safe space on Sunday when domestic Venus sextiles romantic Saturn. Enjoy reconnecting with your partner, or inviting a new person into your life as these planets complement each other. An air or urgency approaches on Monday at 8:39 a.m., when the ruling Moon wanes into her 3rd quarter in Cancer. Practice patience and fight the urge to act without preparation during this transit. You’ll be able to relax when homey Venus trines lucky Neptune on Monday. Things will fall into place when you embrace a calm attitude. On Wednesday, you’re in the mood to be pampered when the money-minded Sun illuminates your 5th house of creativity, pleasure and romance. Entertain at home on Friday when Venus sextiles pleasure seeking-Pluto.ARIEL DAVIS.Leo July 23 to August 22
In the mood to get organised, Leo? You’re ready to optimise your week on Sunday, when Career-minded Venus sextiles Saturn, your wellness ruler. Plan your outfits, prep your lunches and set the week ahead up for success. Saving time at the start of the week will allow you to tap into your imagination more easily on Monday, when professional Venus trines dreamy Neptune. Your loved ones take centre stage starting Wednesday, when the ruling Sun brightens your 4th house of family, instincts, and foundations. The coming days will help you to re-invest in your space to support your well-being. Turn to family for advice and support on Friday, when material Venus sextiles domestic Pluto. LYNNIE Z.Virgo August 23 to September 22
Ready to enjoy the finer things in life, Virgo? You’re ready to immerse yourself in a little retail therapy on Sunday, when money-minded Venus sextiles pleasure-seeking Saturn. Avoid going overboard and over-spending by making educated purchasing decisions, and don’t skimp on quality. If you’re in a relationship, you may feel like speaking in the love language of gifts when Material Venus trines romantic Neptune on Monday. Single Virgos may feel inclined to invest in self-care or a new sex toy to help recenter themselves. Your mind and words sharpen starting Wednesday, when the Sun moves into your 3rd house of communication, thought, and community. Now is the time to expand your social circle — muster up your courage and introduce yourself to people that inspire you. Start a new group chat and celebrate your friendships. SIMONE NORONHA.Libra September 23 to October 22
It’s time to get nesting, Libra. You’re ready to inject a little personality into your space on Sunday when ruling Venus sextiles domestic Saturn. If you share your space with others, make sure they’re on board with your big ideas before you make any purchases or irreversible changes. Analyse emotions that arise at the office on Monday. Your career ruler, the Moon, wanes into her third quarter in sensitive Cancer at 8:39 a.m. You may feel like things aren’t moving quickly enough — have patience. Let your thoughts turn to improve your well-being while ruling Venus trines wellness-minded Neptune on Monday. Your mind turns to more material matters on Wednesday when the Sun lights up your 2nd house of finances, values, and possessions. You’re blessed with a sharpened intuition for your finances on Friday, when ruling Venus sextiles your money ruler Pluto. SARAH MAZZETI.Scorpio October 23 to November 21
Is it time for you to create healthier boundaries, Scorpio? Love ruler Venus sextiles practical Saturn on Sunday, inspiring you to add a little more structure to your relationships. After setting some ground rules, you’re ready to kick back with your sweetheart on Monday, when romantic Venus trines dreamy Neptune. The spotlight shines brightly on your accomplishments starting Wednesday, when the Sun enters into your 1st house of self, first impressions, and appearance. Use this time to polish your professional image, on and offline. Sweet Venus sextiles ruling Pluto on Friday, encouraging you to take your current romantic partnerships to the next level, or channel your energy into a sex marathon. One thing’s for certain, you won’t be couch-locked. KELSEY WROTTEN.Sagittarius November 22 to December 21
Has anyone ever accused you of being frivolous, Sagittarius? They simply don’t understand your forward-thinking approach to self-care. Indulge in earthly pleasures that raise up your energy on Sunday, when wellness-minded Venus sextiles Saturn, your financial ruler. Sensual Venus trines domestic Neptune on Monday, helping you to optimize your space to suit your needs. Think of your home as a cocoon that’ll help you transcend into your next state of being. A cosy space will help you to transform as the Sun brightens your 12th house of inner growth, vulnerability and conclusion. If it feels like nothing is happening, have faith. On Friday, Venus sextiles spiritual Pluto, syncing your outer changes to your inner growth. KISSI USSUKI.Capricorn December 22 to January 19
Take a moment to clear your mind, Capricorn. Check in with yourself on Sunday, as career-minded Venus sextiles ruling Saturn. It could be an opportune time for you to re-adjust your five-year plan, make time for volunteering, or even take on a mentor. Accept emotions that arrive on Monday at 8:39 a.m. EST when the Moon, your love ruler, wanes into her third quarter. She’s inhabiting emotional Cancer, bringing up feelings that you may have unknowingly pushed away. Professional Venus trines your communication ruler Neptune on Monday, helping you to come across loud and clear. Use this collaborative energy to bring attention to your goals and be ready to ask for help. Get ready to start socialising on Wednesday, when the Sun illuminates your 11th house of groups, friendships and goals. Reach out to old friends and make time to reconnect. This is an opportunity to reinvigorate yourself. LOVEIS WISE.Aquarius January 20 to February 18
Retreat to your safe spaces, Aquarius. You’ll find that achieving inner growth is easier when you invest time at home on Sunday, as domestic Venus sextiles Saturn, your spiritual ruler. Take time to revisit old memories, and reflect on how much you’ve grown. Record your feelings and add to your diary to enrich this experience. Your attention refocuses towards your professional journey starting Wednesday when the Sun moves into your 10th house of career, structure, and public image. Home-loving Venus sextiles transformative Pluto on Friday, encouraging you to take a new look at your surroundings. Consider how you’d like to optimise your space as these planets complement each other.
HILDA PALAFOX.Pisces February 19 to March 20
Feeling a little stuck, Pisces? Take this uncomfortable moment as a blessing — you’ve got the opportunity to change your thinking. The Moon, your creative ruler, wanes into her 3rd quarter in sensitive Cancer at 8:39 a.m. on Monday. The mood lightens on Monday when material Venus trines ruling Neptune. It’s a brilliant day to let someone know how you feel or experiment with your artistic side. You’re inspired to explore the world starting on Wednesday when the Sun moves into your 9th house of exploration, adventure, and belief. It’s time to cash in on those vacation days — plan a getaway during this favorable transit. The Sun rules your health and work zones... could an opportunity to work or study abroad be on your radar? Explore every possibility.RACHEL JO.
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The days are getting shorter. The weather’s getting colder. There’s a spooky feeling in the air. That’s right: Scorpio season is almost here.
The eighth sign of the zodiac might be the most intense. Scorpio is associated with sex, mystery, and transformation. “From 23rd October to 22nd November, all signs will be feeling this sign’s introspective, kinky, and hypnotic-like vibe,” Narayana Montúfar, Senior Astrologer for Astrology.com and Horoscope.com, tells Refinery29.
“As the energy of the sun, our main star, shifts to the sign of Scorpio, not only will the overall mood shift but even the days will start to embrace a darker undertone,” Montúfar explains. “It is no coincidence that Halloween and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) happen during Scorpio season — after all, it is the natural ruler of the eighth house and the realm of sex, death, rebirth, and transformation.”
This Scorpio season is “bound to be intense due to certain planetary alignments,” but “it holds the keys to release negative emotions and patterns that might be holding us back in order to reach deep transformation,” Montúfar adds.
Mercury retrograde in Scorpio, beginning on Halloween, “forms a very rare meet-up with the hot sun in this emotional and sensitive sign,” she says. “Very important information will be coming to the surface, when going with the flow will be crucial — especially as unexpected events force us to make radical changes at a moment’s notice.”
Sterling Bowen, astrologer for the app Sanctuary, says, “Scorpio season is about digging deep, and this year, we’re going to see it dialed up to 100. Mercury is adding to the drama when it enters its retrograde phase on Halloween (boo!), so there’s a chaotic, confused type of passion in the air.”
While Mercury retrograde is a big factor, the positions of the other planets also have an influence on Scorpio season. “Early on, Venus and Pluto form a connection that triggers our animal instinct of desire and promotes transformation, especially where love and power are concerned,” Bowen says. “Later, Mars squares Pluto to light a little fire under our asses and puts action behind the changes we’re making in our lives. Just make sure not to get caught in the illusions created by the Venus and Neptune’s connection in the second half of the season, or else all of that transformation is at risk of fizzling out.”
While the early days of Scorpio season may seem difficult, things will start looking up soon. “The beginning of Scorpio season might put us through some tests — especially around the 27th October new moon in Scorpio,” Montúfar says. “But the second part comes with the promise of real, tangible progress and unique opportunities, brought by the positive and healing full moon in Taurus on 12th November.”
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Grand gestures like these are all well and good but for many of us, taking a day off work to march through the streets simply isn't an option. Fortunately there are lots of small changes we can all make in and around the home which, put together, add up to something much bigger. This is where environmental activist Natalie Fee's new book, How to Save the World for Free comes in.
A fun yet practical take on how to be kinder to the planet, the book tackles the big questions – think sex, food, travel and politics – but also offers practical advice that can easily be incorporated into everyday life. Next time you replace your toothbrush, steer clear of plastic and invest in a bamboo one instead. Or why not try a menstrual cup rather than your go-to box of tampons?
While the climate crisis can't be solved individually, every little tweak we make to our daily routines – however small – has an impact. Read on for a few easy (and free!) tips from Fee's guide, and help to save the world from the comfort of your own home.See if you’re using more resources than the planet can provide and use it as a guide for cutting down. Try the Earth Overshoot Day calculator at footprintcalculator.org.
Seek out items made from bamboo, recycled plastic and wood, or that have a sustainability certification process.
If you have a fish tank, reuse the dirty water on your houseplants. Plants will love it!
Your plates and cutlery will come out just as clean. And load your dishwasher consciously: don’t, as some people do, put three pans and a wine glass in it and then set it off.
They can be up to 80% more efficient than other bulbs and last up to six times longer. They aren’t perfect – despite being classified as safe for landfill, they contain toxic elements including lead – but they are, at least, preferable to mercury-high incandescent bulbs.Warm up with layers or a sweater instead of turning the heating up.
Use a washing line, drying rack or clotheshorse instead of a tumble dryer.
There won’t magically be something there that wasn’t there the last time you looked, so there’s little to be gained from standing gazing hopefully inside the fridge with the door open. And keep your refrigerator in the coolest part of your kitchen – it will use less energy that way.
Save water while brushing teeth by not turning the tap on until you rinse. And fix any leaky taps. A leaky tap can lose 20,000 litres of water in a year!
If you have any outdoor space, make sure to plant it up with bee-friendly plants such as lavender, cotoneaster, heather, chives, catmint and foxgloves.
Laundry liquids and cleaning products can often be refilled from a health food shop, making them cheaper than new ones. Or search online for refillable, eco-friendly detergent deliveries.
Unused paint can be given to a local community scheme instead of adding to the millions of litres of paint thrown out every year.
You can help keep your home warm by insulating it with double glazing, by draught-proofing and by insulating lofts, cavity walls, floors and behind radiators. Danes are so good at this that they don’t even have a word for 'draught'.
Help stop deforestation by cancelling mail you no longer need and stick a 'No leaflets, menus or junk mail' sign on your door.
Check out trashnothing.com when you need to downsize, move house or are having a declutter. It’s a combo of Freecycle, Freegle and others!
These are made from a material such as willow or bamboo. Or have your ashes turned into a living, breathing, carbon-absorbing tree with a bio urn.
How to Save the World for Free by Natalie Fee is published by Laurence King on 21st October 2019. Available at www.laurenceking.com, £12.99.
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My relationship with contraception is complex. I’ve struggled with the mental health side effects of the contraceptive pill and my body rejected the coil first time around. The result for me has been that the morning after pill has played a more significant role in my life than for many of my friends. It was my safety net — until one day, after a condom failed, it didn’t catch me.
To say that I was surprised to learn I was pregnant after taking it last year would be an understatement. Statistically, I was in the two in every 100 women who get pregnant after using a condom, and then the one in 20 women who get pregnant after taking the morning after pill (Levonelle) within 24 hours of having unprotected sex. In any other context, I would have felt exceptional.
In the UK, since 2001 the morning after pill has been available without prescription in pharmacies. There are two main types: levonorgestrel (known by its brand name Levonelle in the UK and Plan B in the US), which was the first to be invented, and ulipristal acetate (known as ellaOne in the UK), which was more recently introduced.
I was in the two in 100 women who get pregnant after using a condom, and then the one in 20 women who get pregnant after taking the morning after pill.
The main difference between the two is that ellaOne can be taken up to five days after unprotected sex, whereas Levonelle’s window is shorter (three days). According to the NHS guidelines on emergency contraception, this is because they work by delaying ovulation, which “is triggered by rising levels of a hormone called luteinising hormone (LH). Levonelle appears not to be effective after levels of LH start to rise. EllaOne continues to be effective a little later in the cycle.”
In both cases, though, the pill is much more likely to work if taken in the first 24 hours after unprotected sex, and becomes less effective as time passes. You probably already know this, as it’s drilled into us all from a very young age. Taken according to these guidelines, manufacturers say that morning after pills are 95% effective.
Yet when I told friends and colleagues about my experience, I was surprised by how many people told me that the morning after pill hadn’t worked for them or someone they know.
Hannah* is a 35-year-old psychology postgraduate student. She got pregnant after taking a morning after pill, which she bought in a pharmacy. “I was astounded as despite knowing the statistics, no one explained the contexts in which the morning after pill could fail to work,” she explains. “I didn’t find out the mechanism through which it works until researching after the fact, and had I known it was tied to ovulation, I probably wouldn’t have bought it, because the timing wasn’t right.”
The morning after pill is much more likely to work if taken in the first 24 hours after unprotected sex, and becomes less effective as time passes.
The problem here is that there are no official statistics for exactly how many women this has happened to. Part of the reason is that it’s almost impossible to determine if they are skewed by women who have taken a morning after pill but would not have got pregnant otherwise. Samuelle Yohou, associate medical manager at HRA Pharma, says that “not everyone who has unprotected sex will fall pregnant but statistically 55 in 1,000 will”. According to Samuelle, taking ellaOne reduces this number to nine in 1,000.
But this statistic is cast into doubt by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (FSRH) guidelines. They say: “If 1% of all women receiving a particular method of emergency contraception (EC) within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse (UPSI) at any time in the cycle become pregnant, the overall pregnancy rate is quoted as 1%. However, for a significant proportion of the women included in the study, UPSI would not have occurred during the fertile period and they would not have become pregnant in any case.”
Roughly translated, this means that if a woman has already begun to ovulate when she has unprotected sex, no morning after pill will work because an egg has already been released. Dr Jane Dickson, vice president of the FSRH explains why this is: “The main mechanism of action of oral emergency contraception is to postpone ovulation so that sperm in the genital tract will be dead when ovulation occurs […] but it is thought to have no action once ovulation has already occurred.”
This information is included in the leaflet that comes with ellaOne, which states: “Emergency contraception can delay ovulation within a given menstrual cycle, but it will not stop you from becoming pregnant if you have unprotected sex again.” Confusingly, it also says that “you can take the tablet at any time in your cycle” but at no point does it state that the stage of your cycle you’re in could have an impact on efficacy.
That said, the leaflet does state: “Emergency contraception is not effective in every case. Of 100 women who take this medicine approximately 2 will become pregnant.” But if you didn’t read the small print or know how it works, it’s easy to see how you might be caught out by not knowing that your proximity to ovulation will affect things.
In my case, it’s a fact of which I was completely unaware until after I got pregnant. Assuming I was just ignorant, I asked friends and colleagues if they knew about it, and the answer was a resounding “no”.
According to Dr Dickson, “guidelines on emergency contraception recommend that, when making a choice between emergency contraception methods, individual women need to know that the risk of pregnancy depends on the timing of intercourse relative to ovulation.”
She adds that “the only method that will work reliably is an emergency copper intrauterine device (IUD),” and that because of this, “women should be made aware by the provider of oral emergency contraception that a copper IUD is the most effective option.”
As it turns out, a copper IUD is not only more effective at preventing an unplanned pregnancy (99.9%), but the window for taking it is longer. “It can be inserted up to five days after the first unprotected intercourse in a natural menstrual cycle, or up to five days after the earliest likely date of ovulation (whichever is later).”
When I took the morning after pill in the pharmacy’s consultation room last year, I wasn’t asked where I was in my cycle (which I know with relative accuracy thanks to my tracking app, Clue) and no one told me that perhaps a copper IUD would be more effective. That’s not to say it would have changed my decision, but it is definitely not information that was volunteered at the time by the person selling me the pill.
Hannah had the same experience. “At no point was I made aware of any alternatives with greater effectiveness,” she tells me. Of course, pharmacies themselves are unable to fit an IUD, but shouldn’t women be at least made aware of other, more effective options?
There is no reason why these pills can’t be offered over the counter in the same way – and at a similar cost – as drugs like paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Clare Murphy, British Pregnancy Advisory Service
“It left me wondering why I was kept in the dark. Was it so the pharmaceutical industry could keep making millions out of the product by not deterring women who aren’t eligible from taking it?” Hannah adds.
Clare Murphy, director of external affairs for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), notes that the morning after pill “costs pennies to produce” but is sold “at a high mark-up”. Just Say Non!, a campaign run by BPAS calling on major retailers to reduce the cost of emergency contraception pills, succeeded in bringing down the price for consumers to around £15.99 (from £25.99 previously). However, it also highlighted that the profit margins for retailers are still much higher than they need to be. For many people, £15.99 is still no small sum.
Of course, while a method of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) like the IUD may be cheaper for the NHS in the long run, there’s no getting away from the fact that it isn’t comfortable or viable for some women.
Clare passionately advocates for morning after pills to be more readily available. She says: “There is no reason why these pills can’t be offered over the counter in the same way – and at a similar cost – as drugs like paracetamol and ibuprofen.”
“Morning after pills are safe and effective, if not as effective as regular methods, and women should make use of them as and when they need to,” she says. What remains evident is that women taking the morning after pill need more clarity on when and how it is most effective.
According to quality standards published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): “Women asking for emergency contraception are told that an IUD is more effective than an oral method.” This is at odds with both mine and Hannah’s experiences, and suggests that these guidelines may not always be enforced. When pressed, a representative from NICE confirmed that the body has not looked into emergency contraception as part of its technology appraisal process, which perhaps explains the discrepancy.
All of this made me wonder whether there are other factors that can interfere with the efficacy of morning after pills. Julia Hogan, the nurse lead for contraception and sexual health at Marie Stopes, tells me that a woman’s body mass index (BMI) and interactions with other prescribed medications can also have an impact.
“If a woman has a BMI of over 26, or weighs over 70kg, it is advised to give a double dose for Levonelle,” she tells me. For ellaOne, this increases to a BMI of 30 or more and 80kg. As a woman who has a BMI of over 30, this is information that – again – takes me by surprise. When I was sold the morning after pill, nobody took my weight or mentioned that it could potentially be a problem. Ditto any medications I might have been taking. “Asthmatics taking steroids, for example, cannot use ellaOne.”
Many women who take the morning after pill are, as I was, likely to be stressed out after finding themselves in the position of dealing with a potential pregnancy. And we can’t forget that some will be victims of rape or sexual abuse, who are already experiencing huge amounts of emotional distress. Can we really expect them to be across all of the attendant issues with emergency contraception while they may be going through a difficult time? Should we expect that of them?
There is no doubt that the invention of emergency contraception changed the game for women’s rights and gave us more ownership and control over our bodies and what happens to them. This does not mean, however, that we should be expected to assume responsibility for the entire reproductive process.
Government statistics reveal that in 2018, 45% of pregnancies in the UK were classified as “unplanned”. Of course, many of these pregnancies are happy ones, but it is surprising that so many women are getting pregnant “by accident”, given the contraceptive methods to which British people have access.
As with any conversation worth having, it is clear that this is incredibly complex. It is also clear that as a woman, being aware of what stage of your cycle you’re at when you’re having sex is important, even if – or especially if – pregnancy is not something you’re seeking out. At the end of the day though, women can’t make informed choices about contraception – emergency or otherwise – if they aren’t given all the information.
* Some names have been changed to protect identities.
If you have any concerns or queries about your contraception or emergency contraception, please contact your GP right away.
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MALIBU, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: Miley Cyrus attends the Saint Laurent Mens Spring Summer 20 Show on June 6, 2019 in Malibu, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/WireImage,)
Miley Cyrus is taking some serious heat for controversial statements she made about identifying as LGBTQ+ this weekend.
In an Instagram Live video posted on Sunday, she complimented her new romantic interest Cody Simpson, while simultaneously angering social media users over her LGBTQ+ comments and throwing shade at Liam Hemsworth, her estranged husband who reportedly filed for divorce in August.
“There are good men out there, guys, don’t give up,” the 26-year-old artist says in the video of Simpson. “You don’t have to be gay, there are good people with dicks out there, you’ve just got to find them. You’ve got to find a dick that’s not a dick, you know? I always thought I had to be gay, because I thought all guys were evil, but it’s not true. There are good people out there that just happen to have dicks.”
A representative for Cyrus hasn’t responded to Refinery29′s request for comment, but Cyrus responded to the backlash she got about the video on Twitter Monday afternoon. “I was talking shit about sucky guys, but let me be clear, YOU don’t CHOOSE your sexuality,” she wrote. “You are born as you are. IT has always been my priority to protect the LGBTQ community I am a part of.
Many folks on Twitter and other media objected to Cyrus’s video commentary. Out Magazine’s Rose Dommu wrote: “So Cyrus is implying that women are gay because of bad people with dicks, as if it’s a conscious decision they make because ugh, men! That’s…not how sexuality works, Miley!”
Dommu continued: “That might be your experience, but that doesn’t make it universal.”
One Twitter user pointedly added: “But being gay isn’t a choice, sis?” For the record, that statement is science-backed. A wide-reaching study published this year in the journal Science found that human sexual preferences are determined by a multifaceted mix of various genes, life experiences, and environmental factors.
Another Twitter user noted: “Women don’t ‘have to be gay’ because they ‘can’t find a good person with a d*ck.’ Don’t use the queer community as a stop-gap because you couldn’t find a boyfriend. People aren’t queer because they “gave up” on men. This is so insulting.”
Miley, this is so not it. Women don’t “have to be gay” because they “can’t find a good person with a d*ck”. Don’t use the queer community as a stop-gap because you couldn’t find a boyfriend. People aren’t queer because they “gave up” on men. This is so insulting. pic.twitter.com/lAzcEjHRcB
The tone of Cyrus’s video was a significant shift from comments she made about sexuality in a February Vanity Fair story, in which she said: “A big part of my pride and my identity is being a queer person.” She added in a later interview with Elle that this remained true for her, despite the fact she’d married a man, saying: “I’m in a hetero relationship, but I still am very sexually attracted to women.”
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In 2019, hair colour is all about subtlety —naturally blended balayage and babylights for sparkly dimension. But like the clunky Dr. Martens boots that have somehow found their way to the front of your closet for the first time since high school, '90s highlights — un-delicate, chunky, face-framing streaks à la Ginger Spice — are popular once again.
Actually, the iconic British girl band is an apt point of reference, considering the striped highlight first made a resurgence here in the UK last year. According to London-based colourist Bryony Cairns of Larry King Salon, the "rogue" highlight is a nod to '90s feminism. "Rogue hair colour is an extreme adaptation on the face frame," Cairns explains. "Most commonly, the highlight is bleached blonde, but can totally be adapted to any other colour, too. Our clients think of it as the hair equivalent to power dressing, because it's a strong, dramatic look that draws inspiration from confident women, like Drew Barrymore and the Spice Girls."
Now, we're starting to see a variation of the rogue streak pop up on American celebrities, like Beyoncé and Jackie Aina. To see how the chunky-gone-chic highlight reads up close, scroll ahead. Let it inspire you to try the retro technique — in a cotton-candy pink fringe or a platinum streak — at your next appointment.Cairns tells us rogue blonde can be applied over any base shade — but the contrast of light platinum over a black root makes the look bold and high-drama.Photo Courtesy Of Larry King SalonIf you're looking for a more subtle approach, Cairins recommends starting the highlight away from your root, and working finer strands back from the hairline, as so colour change is more blended. London-based colourist Katie Freedman calls this look — a short cut with a platinum face-frame bang — "hairline bleach." While Beyoncé could influence us to try any hair colour, this buttery golden highlight — like a halo around her face — is exactly on par with the '90s highlight revival we're talking about.Here, an example of NYC colourist Elizabeth Hiserodt's retro bleach-and-foil dye job. She tells us it was an impulse decision by her client, Sable Yong. "She threw out the idea of a chunky blonde piece, and I added my twist to it," Hiserodt tells us.If you're considering a light caramel highlight, make a statement with a bold face-framing strand, like Jackie Aina.Think of it as a new way to wear pastel pink hair. All the fun, but with minimal upkeep.Two autumn trends in one: a red-brown cinnamon base with a retro rogue streak thrown in the front. Ginger Spice would definitely approve.FKA Twigs rocks a blazing red streak that only covers the curls bouncing around her face. It's an endorsement of the throwback punk-rock dye job — and an edgy smoky eye to match.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 01: Maggie Rogers performs in concert at Radio City Music Hall on October 01, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
This past weekend, Maggie Rogers’ Austin City Limits Festival performance was interrupted by a disturbing outburst. “Take your top off,” a male audience member yelled. “You look cute though,” another followed. During her routine intermission before the acoustic encore of “Alaska,” a vulnerable moment where Rogers speaks about gratitude and growth, she instead left feeling shocked and violated.
“I was stunned. Furious. Fuming. Confused. And also — on a really basic level — it really hurt my feelings,” Rogers wrote in a social media post after the show. Following the vulgar comment at her performance, Rogers used the experience to reflect on what it means to open yourself up as an artist on stage only to be met with derogatory words. “I step on stage every night and give every part of me. And my community shows up every night and together, we create a safe space to amplify each other,” she wrote.
The 25-year-old singer also warned that any future bullying or harassment at her shows would not be tolerated. “I want to use this moment to be very very clear. There is no space for harassment or disrespect or degradation of any kind at my shows,” she said.
Rogers’ stance is a harrowing reminder of the torment women in the public eye, as well as others just walking down the street, face on a regular basis. In a national study conducted earlier this year, 81% of women reported experiencing a form sexual harassment at least once in their life, with the majority describing their harassment as verbal and in public. This historic cycle of abuse is one that needs to stop, and by calling out this offensive behaviour, Rogers is creating a greater platform for change.
Rogers first rose to fame after Pharrell Williams guest lectured her music class at New York University when she was a student. A video of his overwhelmingly warm reaction to her song “Alaska” made her a household name for many. Since, her songwriting and rise to stardom has always been dedicated to connecting with fans and talking about her music candidly.
“I know that not everybody gets to choose their fans, but every time I talk to somebody who listens to my music I always feel like we would be hanging out at the same house party,” Rogers said in an interview with Refinery29. “It feels like my music did this thing of like bringing together all like-minded people who I would want to hang out with anyway. It’s nice to talk about music, but I also just really like the people I’m talking to.”
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PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 01: Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquiere walks the runway during the Louis Vuitton Womenswear Spring/Summer 2020 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 01, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Last week, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault welcomed Donald Trump in rural Alvarado, Texas for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Louis Vuitton’s new leather goods workshop. While Arnault praised Trump to WWD last Thursday — saying, “We are very honoured to have the president of the United States. I’m not here to judge any types of policies. I’m here to work with my brand and we are going to, over five years, have 1,000 people working here and that’s what matters” — Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of women’s collections, Nicolas Ghesquiére, is making it clear he is very anti-Trump.
On Sunday, Ghesquiére commented on the matter publicly via Instagram, writing “Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association.” Under a photo of the cover of the 1984 Evelyn Thomas club hit “High Energy”, the designer added the hashtags #TrumpIsAJoke and #Homophobia.
It’s not surprising Ghesquiére would continue to use his platform to champion inclusivity. The designer makes a point to support the LGBTQ+ community, consistently casting transgender models in his runway show. He brought on Pose star Indya Moore as the face for Louis Vuitton’s jewellery campaign. Teddy Quinlivan has worked with Ghesquière repeatedly at LV and she shared her support on the post, writing: “Thank you for standing on the right side of history.”
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