Weekend Reads for the Beginning of April

Weekend Reads

How a toxic self-improvement trend with a funny name took over your feed. (Yahoo!)

Move Over, Girl Dinner. Boy Kibble Has Arrived. (New York Times – gift link)

But he’s your husband. (CNN – warning: SA)

Ruggable launched their latest outdoor rugs and this is my current fave. BTW code ALISON15 gets you 15% off!

Your Photos Are Probably Giving Away Your Location. Here’s How to Stop That. (Wired)

There is No Shame in Turning Back. (Anne & Carlos)

Did you see Rothy's came out with espadrilles?

The $1.8 billion brand that forgot what it was for. (Not Sorry via Substack)

Allbirds Did Not Fail Because of the Product. It Failed Because Sustainability Was Never a Brand. (Camille Moore via Substack)

How AI Is Creeping Into The New York Times. (The Atlantic – gift link)

Have any of you tried this silk cami? It looks pretty perfect…

In defense of ‘millennial feminism' AND ‘Gen Z feminism'. (Spitfire News)

The Atlantic Takes Its Journalism to Sea in Three-Year Cruise Ship Partnership. (AdWeek)

Pointelle knits are a big trend this spring and summer; this shell and this cardigan are beautiful and a fantastic price.

Full network of clitoral nerves mapped out for first time. (The Guardian)

I am intrigued; I especially want to try the watermelon flavor!

The Sánchezing of Oprah Winfrey. (I Say This With Love via Substack)

What if your white jeans resisted stains and fit great?

Bank of America to Pay $72.5 Million to Settle Lawsuit by Epstein Victims. (New York Times – gift link)

Style Inspo & Sale Alert

Banana Republic Factory has the whole site 50-70% off for its Celebrate Spring Event. While I focus on women's fashion, this is a sale to check out for any folks in your life wearing men's clothing because, IMO, the men's department is just as stellar as the women's. And speaking of the women's…

cardigan | striped tank | sweater shell | pants | shorts | skirt | belt | earrings | shoes | dress | bag

I've shared before how I am a fan of Banana Republic Factory, and I think this label does Spring/Summer fashion really well. A few of the pieces I liked I envisioned as a mini capsule:

• The barn red looks great with white, black, olive, navy, and denim and really pops with stripes.
• Tie the cardigan around the shoulder or the waist of the dress
• Pair the twinset with the pants, shorts, or skirt
• The shell alone with any of the pieces, but especially the skirt
• You likely already own a black tank or tee; add it to the black pants with brown shoes and belt and gold earrings and you have an elevated casual look for this summer.
• Brown accessories with black and black stripes is a very modern touch; consider trying this with your own closet this season!

J. Crew Factory has 50% off sitewide. This includes the cute lavender pants in Thursday's post!

If you didn't take advantage of the brand's recent sale, Lands' End has 40% off full price styles and 60% off clearance with promo code SUNDRESS. This sale is through Sunday. And for those frustrated that my beloved floral shirtdress wasn't part of the last promo, it is this time!

Ann Taylor has its Spring Into Something New sale with 40% off your purchase plus an extra 15% off purchases $175+ through Sunday. My picks? This stunning dress (replace the self belt with a metal one, an obi one, or leave loose), this stunning dress (timeless, IMO), this dress (love the color), this dress (so chic, looks like it's from a fancy label), this dress (for my prep-adjacent lovers), and this blouse (with wide-leg jeans, with linen trousers, with a midi skirt or even a pencil skirt…).

LOFT has 50% off with free shipping. In the Facebook community, there was a discussion about the LOFT Versa crepe collection, comparing the pieces to old-school Express suiting or matte jersey. I'd agree; it's wrinkle-resistant, machine washable, and I find runs TTS (I wear a 16P in the pants and don't need to hem them for sneakers).

Top row, left to right: one | two | three | four
Bottom row, left to right: one | two | three | four

I know I am not the only one who feels she needs to upgrade her graphic t-shirt game for the warm weather. While classic graphic tees continue to be popular (messages, bands, locales), there is a big trend towards all-over prints. These look great under suits, paired with colorful pants, white jeans and shorts, and I love them to dress up those elastic-waist linen pants that are so comfy in the heat.

For those who have been stuck with corny floral tees due to size and/or budget, this may give you some terrible flashbacks. But the 2026 graphic tees are more artistic (look at that Monet-inspired one at the bottom), made from more refined knits (a lot of mesh ones, too) and have better fits. I linked eight ones that appealed to me above, but I gathered a few more in the carousel below and in my ShopMy shop:

See/Hear/Read

In 2021, HBO launched the mini series Station Eleven. I watched it, even though it centered around a pandemic and we as a world were still reeling from COVID. It was beautiful, I loved it, and when I shared my love for it so many of you told me I had to read the book it was based on.

And so, when I DNFed my audiobook and none of my holds were available on Libby, I searched and found the audiobook for Station Eleven was available. A 2014 novel by Emily St. John Mandel that takes place after a flu pandemic ravages the globe, it is not your typical nightmare-inducing dystopian story. This is no The Last of Us, and while the concept is scary, the novel is just beautiful. I still love the miniseries, which is similar but not exact. But this book… it was as good as you all told me it was.

On the TV front, we're watching Imperfect Women on Apple TV. Starring Kerry Washington, Elizabeth Moss, and Kate Mara, it's a story of three women who have been best friends since college but with a tragedy, they are realizing they may not be as close as they thought.

This show is imperfect, but because it is not complete (one new episode per week and at the time of writing this only four have dropped), I don't know if this is on purpose. But Washington's character is kinda horrible, Moss' character is kinda horrible, and Mara's character feels complex in an unnatural way. But I can't stop watching it and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Washington's character's wardrobe I think is supposed to be quirky artsy but it always feels… off. Like too much money and not enough style, or like it's for a kookier kind of person. Moss' character feels whiney and that bothers me because I usually like how she plays roles. Mara's character was developed in the most recent episode and it's leaving me… confused. But again, I am intrigued, and my husband also loves it (he can't remember the name and calls the show Bad Friends).

For Your Entertainment

Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp used to write songs for artists like katy Perry, Calvin Harris, and Britney Spears. While sometimes it was great, often they felt stifled creatively. They decided to band together and create Haute & Freddy, a group that is as much visual as music and even a fictional backstory. Haute and Freddy share that in the 18th century, the two were part of a circus troupe. One day, they displeased the ringmaster and had to go on the run. Their theatrics extend to their audience, who they call their Royal Court and they've been known to have stilt walkers and balloon artists at their shows.

The costumes are amazing, but so is the music. Their album, Big Disgrace, is getting positive buzz everywhere and is being compared to both '80s synth pop groups and no-skips perfection a la Chappell Roan. About the album, they shared in a press release: “Big Disgrace is all the eccentric, over-the-top parts of ourselves we thought we had to hide, on full display, like a sonic topless shimmy where said shimmier holds direct eye contact with the one person in the room giving a judgmental scowl.” One of the latest singles from this album is “Femme Hysteria,” and I think it's definitely worth a listen: