#5: the life & death of demure, luxury pee-stained underwear, and the “cucumber guy”
what’s on your dopamine menu?
Hi trendfriends!
There’s been plenty of pop culture news blowing up our feeds this past week. Auntie Anne's and Hellman’s Mayonnaise both dropped fragrances (continuing the current perfume craze which is taking over the beauty industry at large).
Lately, all we’ve been is “demure and mindful,” which has been the slogan taking over the Brat summer frenzy and ushering us into fall. While the It Ends With Us press tour drama is ongoing and reaching a fever pitch. Many are particularly critiquing Blake Lively with how she has promoted the film that deals with a storyline that revolves around domestic violence as if the film is a romantic comedy. Meanwhile, people are apparently returning her new Blake Brown hair care products en masse.
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Of course, season four of Emily In Paris recently released and the series is the perfect, mindless form of beautifully silly and stupid escapism. In London, Taylor Swift made a rare appearance post-terrorist threat at a party she hosted thanking all of her Eras Tour staff. The pop superstar wore a plaid matching mini-skirt set by Vivienne Westwood. She looked cool and ready for autumn. Lastly, national treasure Dolly Parton announced that she is launching a beauty brand for “country girls who dream of glamour,” unlike most celeb plugged beauty brands, we will actually be invested in Parton’s rhinestone lipstick.
This week, the “it girls” were “it girling”. Addison Rae, who released Gen Z pop hit “Diet Pepsi” last week, is on the latest cover of Perfect Magazine. Sabrina Carpenter wore a 14K gold heart charm on her ankle by fine jewelry brand Yeah It’s Jewelry. Devon Lee Carlson appeared in a new Nike campaign and Amelia Gray fronted the Moose Knuckles campaign.
Now, follow us into our trend recap as we talk about fashion glamorizing grime, Copenhagen Fashion Week trends, and explain what’s on the dopamine menu.
WEEKLY TRENDS:
Grime’s Getting Expensive & Fancy: From Willy Chavarria's new “dirty willy” pee-stained underwear to LGN's sweat stained sweatshirts and Puppets and Puppets used banana bags, luxury fashion seems to be making a new statement about the state of the world and what we place value on. Why are designers elevating dirt? How much is grime worth to us? What does this say about fashion sociopolitically? Maybe it’s just all trash.
The Life and Death of Demure: Earlier this week, beauty influencer Jools Lebron became an overnight TikTok success thanks to her videos on being “demure” “mindful” and “cutesy” as a trans woman. Other women began making their own playful videos about being demure and the trend spread like wildfire. While some are comparing and contrasting the demure trend with brat summer, we personally believe they can coexist. Unfortunately, brands jumped on the word really quickly, and now it feels like the trend is already dead.
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Cucumbers Are Cool Now: Food creator Logan Moffitt, dubbed “The Cucumber Guy” by The New York Times, is going viral for his cucumber creations. Now everyone else is getting in on the cucumber game, even Alix Earle, the queen of TikTok whose racist tweets surfaced recently, and made two separate videos. Grab a cuke, a plastic container, some random sauces and spices, and some chopsticks and voila you got yourself a trendy little meal. The biggest question on our minds: Will cucumbers replace the tomato or avocado?
Highlights from CPHFW: For Copenhagen Fashion Week, there were a lot of emerging trends spotted, including soft toys which Emily Chan investigated for Vogue as an emerging motif and perhaps a continuation of the bag charm and shoe trinket trends we have previously reported on. While photographer and content creator @karyastreetstyle highlighted that wearing double bags (yes, wearing one large bag with another small bag at the same time) is an emerging development in accessorizing along with socks and peep toe kitten heel shoes. CPHFW is known for setting the fashion style standard (like a pop of red trend that’s been everywhere) so expect to see soft toys, double bags, and showing socks in peep toe shoes in the months to come. Also worth noting: Lucy Edwards became the first blind person to model at Copenhagen Fashion Week, walking the runway for London-based designer Sinéad O'Dwyer. Lucy’s adorable guide dog, Miss Molly, also joined her.
Skinny Jeans vs. the World: It’s only natural for the skinny jean discourse to roll around as the season is readying us for the emergence of fall. Nicole Kliest recently wrote for The Zoe Report that the often Millennial loved and Gen Z hated jean cut is anticipated to make a comeback, but is being styled in a more organic way. While content creator @hannahlizzy_ is adamant that boot cut jeans will be taking over as the denim of choice for fall.
The Dopamine Menu: “What’s on your dopamine menu?” Is the question social media wants us to ask ourselves. A dopamine menu is defined by your go-to list of things you do to feel good about your day “so you don’t default to doomscrolling on social media.” Things Maria does for a hit of dopamine includes going on long walks (blasting loud music, dissociating, and letting her phone die), petting strangers dogs while out on said walk and phone calls with her grandma. As for Sara, her dopamine menu consists of petting her cat, touching grass, eating fruit, taking a weed gummy and watching Sex And The City.
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Shit we love: In a personal essay for The New York Times, writer Sophie Kemp shares a story about playing the lying game while on a night out. Climax Books is opening in New York. Vogue recently released an entire editorial spread for celebrities dog’s, dubbed Dogue which is beyond chic. Maude Apatow did a bodega reel collab with Tory Burch in a “This or That” style rapid-fire. Maire Claire reported that Kamala Harris’s step daughter Ella Emhoff, a Brooklyn-based knitwear designer and former model, never intended to be an “it girl” while Owen Thiele and Zoe Kravitz jumped on the white tank top with a message bandwagon that Olivia Rodrigo’s been dominating while on tour.
This week, Sara wrote about the “demure,” trend for Byrdie while Maria interviewed beauty insider, Sable Yong on her debut essay collection, Die Hot With A Vengeance for Dazed and pop star Beabadoobee on her third album release for Office.
Love you! MEAN IT, Bye!!!