The culture of fashion: Everybody’s doing book totes



Dior book tote

Dior’s
latest campaign just dropped, featuring the new book totes (modelled by writers and… ‘lit-fluencers’?) photographed at Paris’s famous bouquinistes stalls along the Seine – a smart way to tap into the zeitgeist for book clubs and performative reading.

The Dior book totes do retail for £2650* (or a small one for £2400*) despite the furore about how they’re actually made. But there are other options for mere mortals. (more…)



Beauty update: Chanel Rouge Noir



Chanel Rouge Noir limited edition

Chanel has unveiled an entire line inspired by its classic Rouge Noir eggplant nail polish. (If you’re old enough, you’ll remember its debut in Pulp Fiction.) Chanel’s COMÈTES COLLECTIVE member Ammy Drammeh “brought out all the nuances of Rouge Noir in order to better highlight its complexity”, including an eyeshadow and blush quad, a mascara* (my pick) and a dramatic matte Rouge Allure velvet lipstick. And you can find the OG Rouge Noir nail polish here.* (more…)



The slow ordinary: ‘boring fiction’



So Late in the Day Claire Keegan

I stole this title from a comment on Where Is the Cool’s Substack about the restorative mediation of washing up (and Helene Appel’s paintings in particular).

My new year’s resolution is to go to bed early and use that last hour to read a physical book, not scroll ‘one last time’ on the phone. So far, it’s working OK (I’m hitting the pillow at 1am, rather than 2am – baby steps!). The trick for me is to choose what I’m calling ‘boring fiction’, although I’m sure there must be a more BookTok-friendly ‘core’ name for it. It’s in the vein of Sally Rooney’s Normal People and John Williams’ Stoner and I’ve found it most recently in Brian by Jeremy Cooper, Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico and the short story, So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (above). (more…)



Quote of the day: Kathryn Jezer-Morton



Ed Ruscha I Can't Not Do That

“Friction-maxxing is not simply a matter of reducing your screen time, or whatever. It’s the process of building up tolerance for “inconvenience” (which is usually not inconvenience at all but just the vagaries of being a person living with other people in spaces that are impossible to completely control) — and then reaching even toward enjoyment.”
Kathryn Jezer-Morton, The Cut (more…)