Welcome back to Monday, everyone. Our beautiful city of New York is gloomy and hot, so you know it’s going to be a great week! And what better a way to start off a sad, sticky week than with a little booze and a little porn? Luckily Punch wrote a piece about… booze, porn, and the combination thereof.
A 1962 ad in Playboy for Fleischmann’s Preferred Blended Whiskey shows a man turning a pretty lady’s head, holding a bottle of “BIG” whiskey, not so subtly inferring liquor’s ability to make a man large in all arenas…The message was consistent: Women are drawn to men who drink.
If the aforementioned devices for self-medication aren’t enough to perk you up, head over to Nylon and listen to Hayley Kiyoko’s “This Side of Paradise,” an old-school electropop track which Nylon succinctly describes as “femme trance.” It’ll improve your mood and transport you to sunny L.A., where Kiyoko recorded the song.
I was quite moved by Jessica Machado‘s essay about Rob Kardashian in Guernica, “Falling Behind The Kardashians.” She compares the family dynamic between the troubled, camera-shy Rob with her own brother, who struggles in a family in which he’s the youngest, and is still living and working at the family’s farm. “Rob’s is the only sadness on the show that isn’t channeled into a plotline; it just exists,” writes Machado, who is careful and empathetic as she dissects the turmoil that seems to follow Rob through each episode. This is not your average celebrity write-up — here, entertainment journalism combines with personal essay to make a truly extraordinary piece.
Refinery29 discusses Prada’s employment of a 14-year old Dutch girl in its latest runway show in Milan. Miuccia Prada has a history of employing underage models for her shows and ad campaigns (including one with the then-14-yr-old Hailee Steinfeld). Is it ethical to employ underage women in this context, especially if they’re getting paid and not getting overworked? It’s a complex issue — one that many fashion designers refuse to even discuss, instead continuing to cast teenagers despite whatever controversy may arise.
For a more optimistic take on fashion modeling, Paper Magazine has a great list of Korean models who are taking the fashion world by storm. Says Bethann Hardison, founder of the Black Girls Coalition, former model, and advocate for models of color, “the reason [Asian models] are having a moment is because these brands need China [but] I don’t care what the reason is, I’m glad it’s happening.”
Last but not least, view your dream house (/mansion) at Curbed. It’s for sale for only $13 million — so your mortgage payments would only be a little more expensive than the rent for your Williamsburg studio!
