Hello! How’s your Wednesday going? My question to you last time about when is most ideal to receive this newsletter landed squarely at 50-50. (Thank you for your feedback, truly!) I went back and forth and decided, for now, to keep this newsletter as a weekday reprieve—save it for the weekend if you’re so inclined. But even I could use the pick-me-up of writing to you mid-week. Here’s what’s on my mind:
Well Read
Every few years, there’s a big “Hollywood is dead” think piece and the writer convinces me that movies are over. (Read: David Denby in 2012.) Then I’m reminded that the film industry is basically built upon the threat of extinction—whether it’s the advent of sound, television, or streaming, cinema has always had to evolve. All these decades later, we’re still watching movies. With the Oscars around the corner (mark your calendars, fill out your ballot), Mark Harris wrote an op-ed in The New York Times that, at first, felt a little bit like this kind of piece. Following pandemic shutdowns and union strikes, with developments in streaming and AI, the landscape is once again changing. But I liked where he took it. “There is only forward to something new,” he writes. “The industry is about to find out what that might look like.” Say more:
“A reset, however, requires creative energy and imagination, and that’s a part of the movie industry that legacy studios have spent much of the modern era trying to eliminate. Studios have moved into an age of brand stewardship and out of the business of generating ideas and developing scripts. They’ve redefined their business as curation rather than discovery. That has to change, too. This isn’t a high-minded plea for the industry to become something it’s never been; instead, it’s a pitch for the studios (and now streamers) to reconnect with the enterprising, flexible, relatively quick-to-pivot business model under which they operated successfully for a vast majority of their existence.”
How exciting a time that would be, when we don’t put all of our eggs into existing IP for entertainment, but maybe bet on brand new ideas instead. Those are the risks that really pay off. You can read Harris’ piece in full here.
Well Watched
For Valentine’s Day this year, Coby and I agreed to let the other one pick an experience that we both had to attend together. I dragged Coby to the ballet, Copland Dance Episodes at Lincoln Center to be specific, and it felt almost like a meditation. I chose the show for the costumes of radiant color combinations, which were worth it alone. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about! He dragged me to Oh Mary!, an Off-Broadway play by comedian Cole Escola, who plays Mary Todd Lincoln as a drunk former cabaret dancer in the waning days of the Civil War. It’s unhinged and hilarious. Jason P. Frank interviewed Escola ahead of the show’s premiere and writes:
“Escola is in total control of the stage as Mary Todd Lincoln. The show is a pastiche of the melodramas Escola loves — they call themselves “a maudlin old queen” — with all the screaming that entails. It’s a subtly tricky part: Because Mary is so impulsive, even a flicker of Escola anticipating her next act would ruin the joke; her mania is most thrilling when the audience doesn’t know what’s coming next.”
The run was extended through May 5, so if you find yourself in New York before then, and are open to true silliness (which I didn’t think I was, tbh), go!
Well Heard
It’s almost time for the latest Kacey Musgraves album, which means it’s time to listen, and re-listen, to the new single, “Deeper Well.” You can catch her bare-footed performance of the song on SNL:
I’m usually wary of celebrity Amazon storefronts and the like, but there is something unique about Musgraves’ Etsy shop, which accompanies her album’s debut this month. Very cottagecore, very homey, and very much brings us into the world of her music in a tactile way.
Well Watched
Nancy Meyers hates the term “romcom” because of the way it diminishes the genre. And I agree! So, as far as romantic comedies go, I have a brand new rec! One Day is a Netflix limited series based on a novel of the same name, in which we follow Emma and Dexter, who meet on the last night of university and cross paths over the next twenty years. Each episode marks a single day of their lives, the anniversary of their first meeting. Yes, there’s already been a screen adaptation with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, but I love how this one plays out as a series and think that Leo Woodall and Ambika Mod have excellent chemistry. In fact, they are the reason I’m recommending it in the first place. (The show also features the song “Dreams” by the Cranberries a couple of times, which kind of perfectly captures that fluttery feeling of potential that great romantic comedies do.)
Well Fed
We talk a lot about cake here, but I’d like to spotlight cookies for a minute, in particular the custom-made kind that has a hard sugar shell on top. Wise Cookies’ Tabitha makes delicious and beautiful ones. We ordered from her for our friends’ last-minute High Line wedding last week (Congratulations, Tom and Victoria!) and they were… well, like nothing I could have made myself. As you can see above. When all else fails, though, make these vanilla bean confetti cookies.
Well Drawn
Not saying you need it, but here’s a gentle reminder to appreciate the smaller, quotidien things, by Orfayo.
Well Worn
My love for denim beyond jeans probably began when I was 14 and came across a denim tote made from an old pair of Levi’s in my mom’s closet; I borrowed it (ha!) and only gave it back to her when I was cleaning out my childhood closet last week. Denim seems to be having a moment in the broader world of clothing now, so naturally I’m gravitating towards, well, all of it. Here are the non-jean standouts:
Acne’s denim trench coat started it all for me last week. It sent me down the rabbit hole that follows.
This denim dress by Margiela MM6 is exactly what I want to wear, but is also the most impractical garment for my everyday life, which involves breastfeeding and playing with toddlers on the floor. So, if you’re size FR 40, have at it.
Madewell does denim so well, at a great price point, but it’s not just their jeans! I’m loving these oversized overalls, this maxi skirt, and this pullover jacket, for starters.
A denim sweatshirt? Intrigued. Also, J.Crew’s denim jacket is among my favorites right now – oversized and boxy and good.
Awake Mode’s entire upcycled denim collection is so original, namely this fringed top and patchwork crop top.
If I could get one more denim shirt, it would be this one by AYR; big pocket, perfect shade. This new chambray one from WNU is also promising, and I like the layered shape of this Tibi one. Oh, and this sweet Tibi vest.
Denim bags are great, too! Like this YSL denim-and-suede tote, Mansur Gavriel crossbody, Fendi shoulder bag, Tory Burch hobo bag, Chloé tote, and ooooh Chanel backpack. (Shop secondhand!) And denim shoes, which I can go on about, but I’ll just leave in this pair by Jacquemus and this one by Milan-based Sophique.
Okay, just two pairs of jeans. Indulge me, will you? This beaded Sea pair and this twisted JW Anderson pair are currently on my mind.
That’s all for now. More soon! xo