Weekend Reads for the End of February

Weekend Reads

The 2026 Met Gala Dress Code Has Been Announced—and It Leaves a Lot to the Imagination. (Vogue)

American Girl is having a midlife crisis. (The Cut)

Midsize Bodies Were Finally Going Mainstream—Then GLP-1s Came Along. (Glamour)

I don't need this rain jacket but oh how I like it…

There is one word that explains how so many men can be in the Epstein files. So why is no one saying it? (Matriarchal Blessing on Substack)

Wait—Are We Wearing Fur Again? (Vogue)

Neighborly. (The Rumpus)

Basketball moms… I got you.

I’m a Money Expert—and I Lost Nearly $100,000 to the Man I Was Supposed to Marry. (Marie Claire)

Evie Magazine, a ‘Conservative Cosmo,’ Takes On the Cultural Moment. (Wall Street Journal – gift link)

Why Are So Many Women Getting ADHD Diagnoses in Midlife? (The Cut)

If you're looking for a button like this, this company donates with every purchase.

Fergie's Billionaire Lifestyle since the 1980s Explains Her Addiction to Men Like Epstein. (The Lownie Report on Substack)

Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why. (The Guardian)

There’s a Reason Why Social Media Algorithms Can Exploit Us So Well. (The Noosphere on Substack)

I just got this candle, and I already had the cleanser, now in love with both. BTW code OXYGEN20 gets you 20% off most of the site.

Mark Zuckerberg’s entourage threatened with contempt for wearing Meta AI glasses into a no-recording courtroom. (Yahoo! News)

If this existed when my daughter was little, I totally would have had it in her room!

25 years of iPod brain. (Dirt)

Jeff Probst Tells Mike White What 50 Seasons of Survivor Does to a Man. (Interview)

Fit 4 a Teen. (Pudding)

Soma Enbliss fans, have you seen this? With DD options, I am tempted to try it.

Tech’s new generation and the end of thinking. (Harper's Magazine)

How Nine of Baltimore's Most Revered Women in the Arts Convinced Me Friendship Is Their Best Work of All. (BMore Art)

Sale Alert & Style Inspo

M.M. Curations Mystery Boxes

In the Wardrobe Oxygen community, there was curiosity about M.M.Curations, a limited edition mystery box program by M.M.LaFleur, happening only this weekend. I reached out to M.M.LaFleur to get a bit more information:

• Customers select a box category and their size, and we handle the curation. We hope that the element of surprise is part of the fun. Boxes start at $199 and are valued up to $1,057. 
• While none of the styles are “net new”– meaning we are not launching new product through the mystery boxes, we did include pieces from more recent collections and even early 2026 that we thought would do well through this offer. 
• I can't share exact specifics for what will be in each box unfortunately but we priced these to move fairly quickly vs our typical price points so there is a high likelihood that some sizes will sell out. 

Check out the different M.M.Curations boxes still in stock at this link. And remember I have promo code ALISON15 for 15% off. I don't know if it works on these boxes, but it's worth a try!

The Spring Bag Trend I Love

Last year, I fell in love with the Meloney from Brahmin. It was black leather straps woven macrame-style over an ivory base. I had no need for it, couldn't justify it, didn't buy it, but never forgot it. Recently, I was perusing stylists on ShopMy and one shared this bag from Madewell. OMG love… but sold out.

The trend continues this year, where everyone from Prada to Old Navy has knotted and macrame bags. Some are rope, some are leather, and some are beaded but all are a unique enough style to transcend this trend cycle and be a fun spring bag to carry for years to come.

big cream | black with cream | seafoam green | all black | camel and turquoise bead | cream with bamboo handle | small cream | tan

The bags in this collage go from $34.99 (Old Navy) to $2,150 (Prada). Can you guess which one is the Prada and which is the Old Navy? And if you're crafty, here's a tutorial to make your own macrame market bag!

Other Sales Worth Scoping Out…

Banana Republic has 30% off select Men's & Women's shirts and blouses now through 3/11. This is a great men's shirt, and if you're looking for an oversized shirt for yourself, this is a nice option.

DSW has buy one get 50% off the second pair, now through March 1st. It's not the entire site but it's a lot including brands like Puma, Aerosoles, Dolce Vita, New Balance, and even Birkenstock!

Alexis Bittar has spend $295+ and receive a complimentary Solanales Gold Crystal Spiral Stud Earring ($95 value; use code: AGIFT). And if you spend $495+ you get a complimentary Solanales Gold Crystal Orbit Necklace ($195 value use code: FORYOU). I got this ring for Christmas and it's so badass. I think this bag is so chic and timeless.

SURI makes more sustainable and eco-friendly of electric toothbrushes, offering bodies made out of stainless steel and a plant-based brush head with a recycling program. And right now SURI is offering 15% off sitewide. I got the SURI 2.0 last fall and became such a fan, with this deal I got one for my husband. I also signed up for auto-delivery of brush heads so I don't ever run out. Yet another way to get away from both plastic and Amazon!

Missoma, a sustainable and ethical woman-owned demi-fine jewelry brand has 20% off sitewide through March 5th. I'm personally a fan of these two-tone hoops, but there is a lot of chic and classic pieces at this site.

See/Hear/Read

Okay hear me out…

So my husband comes home from the gym and says all the guys there are talking about this show Banshee, which is on HBO Max. It's over a decade old, but it's so good. And I'm like sure, whatever, we're not watching anything big right now, I'm game.

It stars Antony Starr, who if you watched The Boys, you will recognize. Starr plays this ex-con who just got out of jail after 15 years and heads to the fictional town of Banshee, Pennsylvania.

See, in his past life he was a thief working for a scary guy named Rabbit, and he was on the sly hooking up with Rabbit's daughter, Ana. The two of them were to steal some diamonds for Rabbit, but really, the two of them were going to keep the diamonds and run off together and start a new life away from crime. Dude gets caught, daughter doesn't, but she takes that fake identity and runs off to Banshee to now be Carrie, wife and mother.

Well, ex-con heads to the local watering hole and while there this guy shows up and says he has been hired to be the new sheriff of Banshee. And then two ne'er do wells also show up and fight starts and the bad dudes AND the sheriff die. So the ex-con decides to take the identity of the dead sheriff and heads to the police department saying he's the new sheriff. And this works. It works so well, this show has FOUR SEASONS.

It was filmed in 2014, and it feels like it. Everything is with an Instagram filter, and there's super artsy cinematography: shaky camera, flashbacks, you name it. And the show was on Cinemax originally, so it's so much violence and so much sex and exposed boobs and bums (and in the fourth season, male frontal nudity). Did I mention Banshee also has the Amish, drug lords, a violent gang living on a nearby reservation, skinheads, and satanists?

Season one, stupid. I am losing brain cells watching this crap. We take a break. Season 2, not much better, but now I'm getting the hang of it and am utterly fascinated by the creative teenage boys that must be in the writer's room. I can predict who is going to die next, and who Sheriff Hood is going to have sex with.

And before I know it, we're in Season 3 and it's like the show got a bigger budget and maybe a different camera person and producer. It's just as violent, and just as many boobies, but the quality is better, the story more intriguing, and I really emotionally care about the character, Job, who is a cross-dressing genius hacker with the best comebacks.

Last night I went out with friends and actually was sad that I wasn't home to catch an episode or two of Banshee. We're in the final season, and it's still utterly ridiculous, but I am totally invested.

For Your Entertainment

I was working on this week's edition of Weekend Reads and my husband asked if I had a song yet. I was just ready to open up YouTube and find one. “Check out Delilah Bon, she has a new song out I think you'll like.” He was right.

28-year-old Bon is an English singer/songwriter who mixes hip-hop, melodic rap and nu-metal, switching from singing to rapping to screaming. And all proceeds from her ‘Digital Downloads' of this song bought directly from her website (link) are being donated to MIRAC (Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee).