October 2020: Mary Oliver, and space rocks
Also: Les Deux, crocheted driving gloves, and beavers.
Greetings, Earthlings—
Welcome to the third installment of my unhinged little internet alcove.
I am going to do myself, and maybe yourselves, a favor and not spend the ensuing paragraphs sanctimoniously stewing over what concludes in four days, and what already took place on Monday. That is partly because I wrote what I feel I needed to last month, and partly because I, and maybe you, truly cannot spend one more ounce of energy on the mountain of rusty scrap metal that is the Electoral College when I, and maybe you, could be better served by that “active and informed citizenry” we discussed in September.
Long sentence! Period. Space. Exhale.
I initially sat down at my New York City-apartment-sized desk (that is indeed so small, it is literally designed for children) with the intention of focusing today’s newsletter on clothing’s budding “sustainable aftercare economy,” as inspired by this stellar Vogue Business piece. But then in my preoccupation with *gestures widely*, I got very, very distracted. And you know what? That is okay. We are just out here trying to do what is right and just and kind as we vibe out on a space rock hurdling through the flat-circle of time at a thousand miles per hour. The sustainable aftercare economy can wait. Harry Styles’s crocheted Gucci driving gloves, fortunately, cannot.
In the meantime, until we emerge from this excruciating moment of limbo and get to speak on all things circular fashion again, may I offer you this?
Song of the Builders, by Mary Oliver
On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God —
a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of the hillside
this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble its effort.
Let us hope
it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.
This month, I wrote about:
The psychology behind why we dress up for work, and how work-from-home uniforms continue to evolve eight (?) months into the pandemic.
19-year-old climate justice activist Xiye Bastıda, one of the lead organizers of the Fridays for Future youth climate strike movement.
Singer, rapper, songwriter and model Lous and the Yakuza, who uses fashion and beauty to shine a light on her Congolese-Belgian heritage.
An oral history of the iconic Juicy Couture tracksuit, which made me want to floof my hair into an early-aughts pouf and dance at Les Deux (RIP).
One Mexico City-based lifestyle brand that increased the monthly income of its artisans, who are located across five of Mexico's lowest-income states, by 300%.
And here’s what I plopped in my Notes app titled “READ ME” this month:
A new movement to reduce the hidden environmental cost of clothing care (Bella Webb/Vogue Business)
Why won’t my friend text me back? (Brandy Jensen/Jezebel)
Robin Williams's son wants to help you feel better (Dhani Mau/Fashionista)
Trump collides with the world of baseball (Alex Kotlowitz/The New Yorker)
The White Issue: Has Anna Wintour's diversity push come too late? (Edmund Lee/The New York Times)
Don’t put Christopher John Rogers in a box (Chantal Fernandez/Business of Fashion)
Joe Biden’s campaign, summed up in one simple gesture (Robin Givhan/The Washington Post)
Banning glitter won’t save the oceans (Adam Minter/Bloomberg)
People have nothing left — literally $0 — because of the pandemic (Venessa Wong/BuzzFeed News)
Finally, some serotonin for you,
Maura
This month, I’ve made a donation to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, to help the organization communicate to every voter that, in the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court ruling, ballots must arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.