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Weekend Reads #237
The home-sized hole in the safety net. (Defector)
Gavin Newsom announces California is ‘done' with Walgreens due to abortion pill. (ABC News)
FDA sets national mammogram standards to protect women with dense breasts. (Washington Post – gift article)
US gun violence makes international students and their parents think twice about studying abroad. (GRID)
Nordstrom announces plan to close all Canadian stores. (KIRO)
Did you know Amazon has an outlet? It's full of designer items on clearance because there are fewer sizes or it's last season's style. I always look at Amazon for discontinued items for less (it's where I found my Rebecca Taylor dress) but had no idea there was an actual destination.
Drew Barrymore is too much — and that’s just right. (Los Angeles Times)
Nine to five, 24/7: my decade dressing as Dolly Parton – in pictures. (The Guardian)
Abortion restrictions are racist. Freedom means full access for all, full stop. (Ms.)
Oh Jenny Bird, I love your style so much and want this ring so badly... I'm glad you've extended your size range from just 7 rings up to size 9, but I'd love a 10 or 11 so I can wear it somewhere other than my ring finger!
That being said, I did get this ring from Miranda Frye, which is almost half the price, and it's gorgeous and available up to a size 12.
The costume designer who had to re-create classic Dior — and nailed it. (Washington Post – gift article)
Ohio train derailment: The public health angle. (Your Local Epidemiologist)
Angela Bassett, Oscar nominee, is just doing her thing. (AP)
Can insects have culture? Puzzle-solving bumblebees show it's possible. (NPR)
Why beige is the preferred color for rich women. (BuzzFeed)
Inspiration is everywhere. Literally. (Link In Bio)
In 2020, most style guides changes to capitalize Black when referring to people in racial, cultural, or ethnic terms. I'm reading a book and at the beginning, it shares that throughout the pages White would also be capitalized when referencing people because not capitalizing it is othering Black individuals and making whiteness the norm. This was different from what I had read before and did some research and found this from the MacArthur Foundation from 2020. The Center for the Study of Social Policy also agrees and capitalizes White. The AP Stylebook capitalizes Black but not white. APA capitalizes both. The National Association of Black Journalists capitalizes Black, White, Brown, and other racial identifiers.
I share this because we're never too old to keep learning, to keep growing, to keep improving ourselves and the world around us. We learn better recipes for favorite dishes, better ways to clean our home, better ways to organize our wardrobe, better ways to shop online, we are constantly learning and improving in these arenas so there is no reason why one cannot learn and improve when it comes to vocabulary, grammar, and how we address our fellow humans.
And I cannot NOT thank all of you who gently educate me on such matters. I appreciate you helping me to choose better words for the content I share here on Wardrobe Oxygen. What can seem to be minor changes can have major impact, and I love that this job and this community challenge me on a daily basis. Thank you.
See/Hear/Read
My husband and I love fashion competition shows and we watch them all. Project Runway, Making the Cut, the Hype, and Next in Fashion, which is on Netflix. Last season, I recall Next in Fashion being fun, like Project Runway Lite. This season… the talent is there but the production is not.
We started the first episode and wondered if there was something wrong with our TV settings. It was like the Vibrance was dialed to 11. The whites were glaring, the brights felt neon. We switched to a different show also on Netflix and it looked normal. The editing is so fast-paced, the timeline isn't always consistent, and there seems to be a lot of action and little detail. It's like swiping through TikToks but not watching any video for more than 15 seconds.
Last season, Next in Fashion was hosted by Tan France and Alexa Chung, and they felt cool and in the know. This season, France is joined by Gigi Hadid who is always posing and always trying to get some cute moment or catchphrase happening over providing any beneficial feedback or commentary. The judges are “cool” individuals but the editing makes all their thoughts sound really stupid and superficial. The editing makes Jason Bolden, who doesn't seem to be an asshole, sound like an asshole.
Everything feels very orchestrated and try hard and edited to try to appeal to those who will meme and screengrab for social media yet not enough to get emotionally invested in any designer or even get to really see their talent. It is not in any way the same show as Next in Fashion Season 1.
We're still watching because it's thrilling to see these creatives make such art in short timeframes with odd stipulations, but Next in Fashion is really making me miss the sophistication and constructive criticism of The Hype and Making the Cut, and really makes me realize how good Alexa Chung was as co-host.
I read Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid back in 2019, after enjoying Reid's novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Daisy Jones and the Six entertained me, but not as deeply as the previous novel. But when I heard it was going to be made into a TV series, I felt it was going to be really good.
Well, we began watching the series Daisy Jones and the Six on Amazon Prime and it reminds of how cliche I felt the entire book was. The show, like the book, is set up as though there is a documentary being made about the band and each member is being interviewed decades after their fame. And each interview segment feels like it's being performed by a kid actor. Long pauses, deep signs, meaningful last words, they feel like an SNL skit.
The story itself is enjoyable, the cast quite good, the fashion fun, and I am always into a music-themed anything. The interview segments are a good time to Google cast members, refill my water bottle, and take the time to remember how this show is slightly different from the novel. I do look forward to future episodes!
For Your Entertainment
Sparks is an eclectic pop duo of brothers Ron and Russell Mael that has been together since 1966. And they're still being quirky and catchy and innovative today. To be honest, this video got my attention because it stars Cate Blanchett dancing in a fabulous yellow pantsuit, but having such a catchy and relevant song after decades in the business (and the brothers are in their 70's) I couldn't not share. And for some background into how this collaboration happened, check out this brief Pitchfork article.
Thanks for the info about Black and White. I work in publishing and am sharing this with my colleagues. The last time I read about the idea of capitalizing White (probably in 2020) the consensus was not to do so, because White nationalists generally capitalize it. However, the idea that capitalizing it helps erasing “white” as the norm totally makes sense. It’s kind of like how we no longer use “he” or “him” to stand for all people but say “he or she” (or “they”). I’m old enough to remember when the transition to “he or she” “his or her” sounded weird and awkward. Language is fascinating!
On a semi-related note, a friend shared this with me recently: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/12/us/maam-sir-polarizing-words-cec/index.html There does seem to be a need for a gender/marital-status-neutral word . . . being Californian I’m voting for “dude”….
Thanks for the Amazon outlet link! COVID allowed me to move from Annapolis to Montana where I work remotely. I have happily discarded my city clothes for mountain wear, but am heading to Chicago for a conference in May featuring some fancy dinners. I browsed the outlet this afternoon – looks like I will be able to find some good things! More ski shops than boutiques here, so online shopping is the only way to go.
IMO, any one getting mammograms should be aware of the risks and benefits of routine screening. Like this 14-part series, updated in December 2022:
https://nutritionfacts.org/2021/10/12/how-is-it-possible-that-mammograms-dont-actually-save-lives/
I’ve been getting the dense breast tissue warnings ever since I moved to MA, but no one has ever recommended testing beyond a 3D mammogram. I figured it was because I had no history of breast cancer in in my family and my imaging center has every mammogram I’ve ever had for comparison. But that changed a few years ago when my sister was diagnosed. No known genetic factor, but who knows.
That having been said, I’ve often felt mammograms may give a false sense of security. I do self-exam every month, and so many women I know have discovered their cancers on their own even when they’ve had regular mammograms. That’s how my sister found hers, and it when reoccurred, despite all the doctors’ visits and scans and whatnot, she’s the one who found it again! We agreed that was kind of ridiculous—she sees top doctors in the DC area. In the end, we have to know our bodies to best protect ourselves.
I was very interested to read about the FDA’s mammogram standards on dense breast tissue. I have dense breast tissue, and have had multiple rescans, and several core needle biopsies, with markers left in my breast.
I never thought much about where I was sent for these mammograms. After several appointments, that I found scary, and less than professional, I made an appointment to talk to my internist.
I told her about my experiences. Once, I was pulled from the dressing room by a staff member who took me right to the scheduling desk to make an appointment for a biopsy. This was before anyone had told me there was a concern.
My Doc told me of her frustration. She said that she always expected that she would be the one to share any concerns, and she expected the radiologist to work with her.
She set me up to have my next mammogram at a woman’s clinic in our nearby large city.
It was there that I had a very different experience. I had a 3D mammogram, and an ultrasound. Before the ultrasound, the radiologist came into the room, she very firmly said “I have looked at all your previous mammograms, and the one we’ve just done, and I want you to know that there is absolutely nothing that is concerning to me”.
She then did the ultrasound, with me watching the screen. She showed me everything she saw, and what she thought about it. She explained that they mapped everything they saw for future comparisons.
I left that clinic with an immense feeling of relief. I now recommend to everyone that they seek out the very best clinic and radiologist to read their scans.
In my case, it’s The Women’s Imaging Center in Denver and Dr Kelly McAleese.
I felt “Daisy Jones & the Six” was the perfect beach read, an enjoyable and easy read with just enough substance to keep me reading until the end. The same beach vacation i also read “The Final Revival of Opal & Nev”. It’s also about finding stardom and yourself in the music business, but it’s about so much more than that. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. It’s a book I think deserved so much more attention than it got.
As always, such a great round-up. Thank you for bringing much needed attention to important topics. The one re new FDA rulings for dense breasts really hits home, having just gotten additional screenings thanks to my wonderful primary care physician. The Brem Foundation is quoted in the article and they do such amazing work, helping low-income patients access these life-saving screenings. Plus? They’re right here in the DMV 🙂
https://www.bremfoundation.org/
A lovely list that made my trans self feel safe and valued. <3
I appreciated the article on US gun violence deterring foreign students from studying in the US. I always found it ironic that the State Department issues “do not travel” warnings for many parts of the world, yet our own violence, which is so random and unpredictable, is never mentioned.
Thank you for mentioning Nordstrom leaving Canada. I live in Vancouver and our store is the top performer in North America, yet Nordstrom is still shutting it down. I’m sad and frustrated but apparently they never had a profit overall in Canada so I understand why. In the last few years so many American retailers have left Canada (J Crew, Loft, Naturalizer for example), I can’t find anywhere to shop as a mid size woman in her 40s. Everything is either a crop top or too mature for my generation. I am hopeful Nordstrom US will open up their ecommerce site to Canadians once again so I at least have some options. I’ll miss being able to easily buy brands like Zella, True & Co, Bombas and more without exorbitant shipping costs.
Hey, it’s great to see another Vancouver-based reader here! The Nordstrom news is shocking. Where to buy jeans now? Fortunately, we have some fantastic local designers, so I’ll be shopping small and local now (that exchange rate and shipping? yowzas).