Biophilia, Buildings, and Beings

At its core, Biophilic design is a concept that embraces humans’ instinctive desire to connect with nature. It reflects nature and its elements, incorporating natural materials, natural finishes, and nature-inspired shapes from seashells, flowers, wings, and so on. This type of style is commonly employed within architecture and interior design. In these spaces, we often see indoor waterfalls and other water features, green ceilings with hanging plants, and large glass windows that allow for natural light to fill our rooms. 

Biophilic works have become increasingly popular due to COVID-19, which has caused individuals to stay indoors for increased periods of time and experience the outdoors less often.

Biophilic design is an aesthetic choice, but also one that is favorable to the environment. The design’s incorporation of plants in urban environments reduces carbon emissions, increases natural biodiversity, and improves air quality. 

This architectural style benefits the well-being of those it surrounds, too. Nature’s biopsychological ability to mitigate stress is likely an evolutionary adaptation. For early humans, vegetation was a critical source of food, so the presence of greenery indicated that they no longer had to worry as much about food scarcity. 

As a result, interaction with vegetative elements is said to improve creativity, relaxation, and sleep quality. A study conducted in 1984 by Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M University, Roger Ulrich, found that patients who viewed green nature were able to recover much faster than those who looked at a brick wall instead. For us, nature has healing effects.

As Biophilic design progresses, more research has been conducted on the types of greenery that people prefer. A significant concept in the field is the “Savanna Hypothesis”, which claims that we have retained our evolutionary preference for savannas. These biomes were the habitats of our early ancestors and are where humans evolved to what we are like today. Savannas offered early humans plenty of biomass for consumption; they also had easy access to low-lying vegetation for food, ameliorating humans’ survival prospects. 

A study conducted by Virginia Lohr and Caroline Pearson-Mims in 2006 discovered that individuals find the shape of trees that flourish in the savanna biome more appealing than the shapes that characterize trees from other biomes. Another study by Balling and Falk in 2010 found that eight-year-old children prefer savannas over other types of biomes. These hypotheses could revolutionize the specific types of greenery that our designs include in the future, as we may turn to savanna-inspired elements in the years to come. 

In the meantime, the world of Biophilic design offers insight into the ways we can improve our workspaces during the pandemic. It’s healthy to care for more plants in our offices, to open our windows, and to go for a walk outdoors once in a while. Embracing greenery is ultimately not just an aesthetic choice, but also one essential for self-care.

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ThisIsNotSpam: Exploring Collaging and its History

To: You

Cc: MODA

Subject: Collaging

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Dear readers,

Today, we are going to explore collaging, the art style that has consumed me for the past few months. I could talk about the pieces that inspire me and spark interest for days, but for now, I’ll just give you an elaborate gist (is that an oxymoron?) in hopes that you can at least gather some useful information. This can be anything from inspiration for creating, as collaging encourages me to do, or just the ability to become more observant when viewing art.

I never paid any attention to collaging myself until the beginning of last quarter when a good friend of mine made me two collages for my birthday. This led me down a whimsical rabbit hole that irked me learn more, and lucky enough when I saw that a collage class was offered last quarter I enrolled, no questions asked. So, this article right here is a giant soup, combining what I learned in class with my own research.

You may be wondering what exactly collaging is considered and how we can define it. Well, collaging includes but is not limited to: cutting and pasting, editing, quoting, sampling, mixing, and pretty much any sort of combining, which doesn’t need to be physical— my answer: what isn’t collaging?

Pablo Picasso, Le joueur de guitarre (Guitar player), 1910

Collaging began as a subcategory of cubism, mainly influenced by Pablo Picasso (note: this has been my fun fact this week!) Through art, he combined and disassembled day-to-day, recognizable figures into ways that would play with how our eyes make out images. In so many pieces, we see his obsession with the figure of a guitar and how he carefully selects slivers of its parts to paint, all interacting with each other in unique and confusing ways. For instance, Pablo Picasso’s Guitar Player, as seen below, re-figures a guitar in a way that would be considered ambitious since you can barely even tell there is a guitar there. A sneaking suspicion that an instrument is visible builds up with clues like the color of the painting, the title, and some curves here and there, which gives us a sense of the guitar’s presence. 

In the early 1900s, strange arrangements of figures in paintings become popular. They are similar to collating but exist in a single medium, completely flat. It’s as if a smashed guitar was recreated in strokes of oil paint. It’s a method that shifted surrealism into a multi-media genre, and although it’s only slightly dipping its toes into the sea that is collaging, these skills being developed by venturing artists were essential for this category of art.

Picasso was already extremely comfortable with the art of masquerading, of transforming. It was around 1912 that he began adding texture to these pieces, slowly but surely incorporating items like wooden pieces that added texture to painted guitars, music sheets peeking through the background of otherwise flat paintings, and the usage of wallpaper instead of solely relying on painted base layers. Soon he would inspire other artists to enrich the surface of the canvas using three-dimensional elements.

Pablo Picasso, Guitar, Sheet Music and Glass, 1912

Pablo Picasso, Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper, 1913

It was the group of artists known as the Futurists, who were most active between 1909 and 1918, that stepped into the next level of uniting materials. They began collaging entire pages rather than considering pasted elements minor parts of their creations.

My favorite example is Carlo Carrá’s Interventionist demonstration, which is composed of phrases and radical ideas relating to civilians’ perspective of World War I. He used cutouts from newspapers and magazines, enclosing them all in a looping spiral: a mind churning and slightly haunting arrangement.

This led right into the Dadaist movement during the early 1930s, which was made up of artists who specifically wanted to target media’s effect on society. They thought that the images presented to the public were toxic to our behavior of constantly participating in capitalist movements. Creators like Hannah Höch, Hugo Ball, John Heartfield, and Tristan Tzara wanted to go against some generally accepted ideas that were more effective than the bourgeois, political nonsense, and were able to alter an image’s original destination to relay strong messages. One of the most known pieces of these anti-art movements is John Heartfield’s 1932 Adolf the superman: Swallows gold and spouts junk. This piece makes fun of Adolf Hitler, showing an x-ray image of a stomach full of gold and a swastika replacing his heart.

John Heartfield, Adolf the superman: Swallows gold and spouts junk, 1932

Carlo Carrá, Manifestazione interventista (Interventionist demonstration), 1914

Then came the Surrealist movement, where the obsession with the subconscious and Freudian studies led artists to wander into the crazy world of dreams. Some of these artists include Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and Joan Miró. Pretty much all surrealists experimented with collaging—metamorphosing body parts and objects into strange creatures, including sexual fantasies. With every year, more combining of leaflets, posters, advertisements, and media gave way to a nonsensical world of art that caused viewers to be drawn to the madness embedded within collaging.

Pop Art is the movement that emerged in the mid to late 1950s, where its artists celebrated mass culture rather than revolting against it. These artists built a bridge between what was considered exclusive, professional art, and kitsch art, a push for a more inclusive system for anyone to participate in. Here, we see a jump from using somewhat identifiable images in portions of the creator’s work to famous icons and brands taking over entire pieces. In James Rosenquist’s work, the 35th president of the United States is depicted in an oil painting. Cinema, advertisement, newspaper, television, and comics were frequently reintegrated into creative projects.

Since media itself was utilized to be fed back into its creation, Pop Art was huge for emerging artists who demonstrated their ability to reinvent common images in refreshing ways, ways that popped. Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol were extremely talented creators who played with collaging’s mediums and helped drive the next wave of artists to create more playful masterpieces. They even collaborated before Basquiat’s death, managing to push numerous boundaries in a short period of time and making people question what art is “supposed to look like” and who can make it—questions we continue to ask today.

Today it’s hard to distinguish between collaging that is purely for aesthetic value and art that communicates a message, especially since we have access to an infinite number of mediums and materials to combine together. Collage’s development continues to define political movements, as it is an ever-expanding genre that uses current events to relay an artistic vision. For viewers, this is a unique experience that can’t be found among other one-dimensional creations. This is precisely what fascinates me about collaging, and I hope it inspires you to continue to delve deep into the art you are passionate about. 

Best,

Nicole

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Contemplating Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Beyond

In May 2012, five months after Lana Del Rey’s breakout debut Born To Die, a 2006 demo album Sirens by May Jailer leaked online. With no known album cover, seldom-known track titles, and a still-uncertain release status, the fifteen-song compilation made as little splash six years after its inception. One thing was clear, however—May Jailer was Elizabeth Grant’s first stage name before landing on the now infamous Del Rey. Even more striking is how recognizable Grant’s artistic vision is in both projects, so many years and an entire career apart. 

In contrast to the luxurious and cinematic soundscape of Born to Die, the exclusively acoustic Sirens sees Lana playing with the six cords she taught herself on guitar. She remains in her high and feathery vocal range throughout, only adding her future-signature reverb on one song. While in 2012 few would associate such an acoustic sound with Del Rey, if you were presented with only the lyrics of Sirens, it would be hard to place whether they were new or old songs.

Indeed, this first project plants the seeds to the themes and imagery that Lana would build her discography on: relationships with those on the wrong side of the track (“Is this what you wished? / To commit a crime?”); recognition of her darkest demons (“I’ve got a bad disease / will no one help me, please?”); her adventurous, American spirit (“Have a big degree in philosophy / But I don't know what I want to be / So I'm going into aviation”); and putting herself in the shoes of the married men she was seducing (“I have a great wife / And I'm tired of making / Decisions without thinking”). While later discussions of Del Rey’s narrative revolve around her submission to toxic men, May Jailer often argues for her own ambitions and desires, singing “My dreams are bigger than your junky pride.” Finally, in one of alternative music’s greatest premonitions, then twenty-year-old she declares, “Well, you know it and I know it, I'm gonna be a star.”

Elizabeth Grant would eventually find her way to the moniker Lana Del Rey, and even in the 2011 single “Video Games” that made her known to the world, Lana notes that she’s, “Livin’ for the fame.” But how has that worked out for her? Being the most successful alternative female artist of the 2010s and having Bruce Springsteen call you “one of the best songwriters” must certainly feel nice. But right off the heels of Born to Die, there were already inclinations that fame’s glamour was chipping away.

“I’ve been trying too hard with one pretty song,” Del Rey sings on “Ride” about the massive hit “Summertime Sadness” (albeit in its remixed form). By her sophomore record, Lana seemed to try and retake control of her narrative by sarcasticly singing, “I f**ked my way up to the top.” From there, however, the road continues to toughen for Hollywood’s “saddest, baddest diva”. In 2015’s Honeymoon, she admits, “I’ve got nothing much to live for ever since I found my fame.” By 2017, she was driving up and down the West Coast looking for a paparazzi-free shore to relax, eventually going through “13 Beaches.” In 2019’s critically-acclaimed Norman F**cking Rockwell, we find Lana buying a truck so the same paparazzi can stay away from her and her “Bartender” lover. 

It is hard to talk about Lana and fame without bringing up her various... interesting moments that have drawn as much public attention as her music. From her hard-to-watch SNL performance, cultural appropriation accusations, to her (according to her) out of context, “I wish I was dead” interview, as well as her more recent tone-deaf “Question for the culture” and mesh-mask outings. She cannot let the music speak for itself, as the music is essentially the diary of Elizabeth Grant. It’s no wonder that lines like “he hit me and it felt like a kiss” have drummed up a frenzy from listeners.

Time and time again, however, she has refused to back down. There is no mystery as to why she covered Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” but it’s fair to say that people actually understood Lana Del Rey quite well. Regardless of how well-intentioned she may be, the spotlight continues to burn Del Rey again and again. Either way, fifteen years after putting herself on a path to stardom, on Chemtrails Over The Country Club, Lana Del Rey continues to wonder if she can handle the firestorm of fame.

Straight from the opener, Lana places herself thinking about the good ol’ days of being a waitress at nineteen: “I wasn't famous / Just listening to Kings of Leon to the beat.” While Del Rey is often characterized for her nostalgia for bygone eras, here the nostalgia is vivid and grounded. Her strained, high-register and whispery vocals struggle to fit some syllables into the melody. The instrumentation is sparse but builds into a stunning bridge. Despite its oddity, you get exactly what Lana means when she sings, “Somehow it made me feel / Made me feel like a god.”

From there on, the album’s title track is similarly nostalgic—though it is present-day Lana with her jewels on and under the chemtrails. There is a tinge of self-awareness about her privilege, and Lana continues to battle popular conceptions as she proclaims, “I'm not unhinged or unhappy, I'm just wild.” I don’t think anyone knocks her for being a free spirit, but the track serves as a dreamy encapsulation of the bubble Del Rey inhabits. 

Lana then rides her “little red sports car” to new frontiers. The sultry “Tulsa Jesus Freak” continues the album’s growing sense of uneasiness with an interesting use of autotune and heavier instrumentation. The track’s layers of vocals and giggles are a sweet contrast to the oddness, quite fitting as Lana reassures her lover to not “be afraid of our love.” Although the next track, “Let Me Love You Like a Woman,” was the album’s first single, its piano-driven simplicity best fits within the context of the record. Lana is clear in her desire to leave LA and “talk about the good ol’ days.”

And so the record continues its trek across the Midwest with “Wild At Heart.” More than looking for new scenery, it’s clear Lana is running from fame’s exposure, as she croons, “The cameras have flashes, they cause the car crashes / But I'm not a star.” Lana’s versatile voice shines over the track’s country-tinged guitars. The chorus sums up her polarizing career aptly: “If they love me, they'll love me / 'Cause I'm wild, wild at heart.” 

Jack Antonoff’s touch is best demonstrated in “Dark But Just A Game” with lovely percussion and synths. Lana battles with the “price of fame”, promising that, “I'm not gonna change/ I'll stay the same.” It's up to you to decide if that is a positive statement. The beat switches up into the more folky chorus is a stunning continuation of the album’s sonic themes, and from there Antonoff and Del Rey continue with the fragile “Not All Who Wander Are Lost.” Despite its bumper-sticker title, Lana manages to stray from too-cliche lyrics (though “'Cause every time I said no / It wasn't quite what I meant /If you know what I mean” certainly requires a doubletake).

The album continues to slow (stall?) with “Yosemite.” There is certainly a beauty to the track’s simplicity, as Lana manages to boil down love to its most tender sentiments. Even so, lyrics like, “We did it for fun / We did it for free / I did it for you / You did it for me” would not pass if it were not for Del Rey’s phenomenal melodies. However, sometimes such raw feelings don’t need the most complex lyricism to capture. To this end, “Breaking Up Slowly” is a simple country ballad that cuts straight to the point: “It's hard to bе lonely, but it's the right thing to do.” Nikki Lane and Lana sound beautiful together in the chorus, which makes the track’s short length a bit of a letdown.

On the other hand, “Dance Til We Die” goes on for long enough, particularly for being so far down the tracklist. Still, on its own, the track offers some of the album’s most beautiful moments. The chorus’ sax and optimism is fantastic. Carrying on the album’s themes, Lana is clear about feeling “burdened by the weight of fame.” Finally, the track’s bridge picks up with the best country twang, so good in fact that you wish the entire track had been that tempo. 

Throughout the record, Lana namedrops many of her inspirations (Joan Baez, The White Stripes, Stevie Nicks, Tammy Wynette, etc.) so there is no surprise that Lana chooses to end an album about fame with a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “For Free.” Lana hands the mic over to Zella Day and Weyes Blood for most of the track, with the latter having the last word of the entire record. While the track is by no means a standout cover, the original’s classic beauty is undeniable and both Zella and Weyes outshine Lana (though it seems that is Lana’s intention). Certainly, for an artist seemingly at one of the most bright moments of her artistic journey, Lana is happy to share the spotlight with rising female singers. It’s a nice gesture given that she was not afforded the same in her early career. 

I began this piece with an overview of Sirens not just to show off my Stan-level knowledge of Lana Del Rey, but in large part to demonstrate the full-circle moment that Chemtrails Over The Country Club is for her career. While it is easy to say that Chemtrails is artistically richer and more complex than Sirens, at its core is an artist that has promised to never change. To her point, I really don’t think she has. For an artist that has often been labeled inauthentic and lyrically shallow, the past two records that have been thematically not that different from her earliest work have nevertheless garnered her best critical reception.

Aside from the autobiographical nature of her work, it’s hard to separate the art from the artist with Lana Del Rey. I don’t mean to minimize the artistic merit of her past two records, given that I agree that they are stunning pieces of work. At the same time, however, Lana Del Rey received lashings from both the broader culture and critics for a significant part of her career simply because of who they perceived her to be. Still the same blonde, privileged girl at heart, it is puzzling to see the confusion around her statements and music. The theatrics of Born to Die now seems like a projection of her desires to be seen within the music industry that had cast her out for so many years. Seeing how much it backfired, Lana’s feelings that “maybe I was better off” make more sense and why her sound has naturally swung back around to the folkiness Sirens.

Chemtrails Over The Country Club finds Lana rejecting the fame that has enveloped her life, yet she is at once proving her songwriting and melodic talent, fifteen years into an unimaginably grand career. What Rock Candy Sweet, tentatively due out this summer, may dish out is probably already mirrored somewhere in Lana’s past work, but this does not make the future of Del Rey’s discography any less captivating.

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Unedited featured photos all sourced from here.

Sometimes Better is Everything

I try not to look at my phone first thing in the morning. If I’ve learned anything from internet personality Gabi Abrão of @sighswoon on Instagram, it’s how to wake up. 

First, understand you are awake. You can’t open your eyes first thing in the morning and bargain with whether you are awake or not. Awakeness and awareness are not meant to be decisions, and as I enter that state of consciousness from the warm planet that is my bed, contemplations chase each other across the space of my mind. 

Should I snooze the alarm? Am I really ready to get up, now? God, I want to go back to sleep.

No, I’m awake. Get up and go do something. The buzz words these days are grounding, spiritual, peaceful, calming, mindful. Make your morning any of those adjectives. 

Second, third, fourth, last, whatever, the list goes on. But the step after waking up is to remember you exist, and then do something about it. Stretch, drink water, put on music, stimulate. Make your ritual morning coffee and hold the mug between your hands as you stare out the window, letting the sun hit your face. Rinse the spinach, chop the tomatoes, and whisk the eggs for your breakfast omelette like it’s your last meal. Ideally, it is all so very beautiful, letting the world unfold before you like a miracle. 

Why does it feel so unattainable? Scratch that, why do they make it feel so attainable?

I surely can’t be the only one, as an early twenty-something and a sometimes unfortunately avid consumer of social media, on what could best be described as “Routine Tiktok.” Self-care Tiktok, morning routine Tiktok, night routine Tiktok, day-in-the-life Tiktok, what-I-eat-in-a-day Tiktok.

It includes anyone from the likes of celebrities, to influencers and business owners in their high-rises, to young adults with generational wealth in their lofts, to regular teens in their homes or hanging out with friends. I get so much satisfaction out of watching others do their so-called daily tasks, from the mundane to the exciting. 

I don’t think I have to make the spiel that nothing on social media is particularly authentic, I think we all know how that dance goes already. In a sphere that is all about craft and curation, the internet is not a space to wax poetic about organic existence. 

Sure, sometimes these posts feel a little real, like when I see @lei_go_to_therapy make a quick day-in-the-life where she admits that all she really did that day was wake up, sleep, maybe watch a couple episodes of a TV show. I love those ones, I do. It’s comforting. It’s a little bit like memoir writing, isn’t it? I mean, the most convincing thing about memoir is when the author acknowledges their short-comings, is candid about how things aren’t always what they seem. 

And then there are the other types, the ones with ethereal people in ethereal houses with amazing lives and amazing jobs. Trust me, I love @sighswoon, I really do. I think she, and other accounts like hers, do amazing work to help people on their spiritual journeys. I consume her content and it’s always nice to look at, the reminders and digital resting points and bits of poetry amidst the prose. But I can’t help but see her living the life in Hawaii, in a house by seaside, posting videos of waterfalls and hikes and beaches and just not being able to relate.

I don’t have that, most of us don’t have that, and this is not to say people don’t work hard for those things, but it is safe to say that the yearning for the lives of others can harm more than heal. 

Influencers and people who make those routine videos, the spiritual guides, the day-in-the-life Tiktoks, they know that those lives are curated. We know that those lives are curated. It’s a very clear exchange between creator and consumer. Social media is a highlight reel, or however the saying goes. It’s an unsaid agreement. That’s crystal clear to most adults on the internet, but this type of content still strives to portray a sense of authenticity even if that isn’t really possible. I don’t want a life that is not my own, I never will.

Man, do they make it feel attainable, though. It gets a little sinister.

Will I still wish I could spend my mornings on a balcony overlooking the sea? Sure. Will I still feel bad when my day is spent waking up, going to Zoom class, going on my phone, and going to sleep just to wake up and do it all again, my brain hammering at me to live my life to the fullest? Absolutely, whatever that means. People say you have the power to change your own life, yeah, yeah. Trust me, I know, let me be cynical and pensive, but that’s not what this piece is about. It’s about the other things.

Why doesn’t it feel as nice as it seems in the videos when the sun hits my face in the morning? Why isn’t the process of making my morning cup of pour-over coffee peaceful and meditative like theirs? Instead my brain just feels a little empty, full of goo and sludge and whatever comes next.

Maybe I just need to meditate, or go on the spiritual journey everyone talks about. Something like that. 

For now, I’ll still try to romanticize my life, because when the moments are good, they’re good. It’s about understanding that it all doesn’t have to be that way, that loving and being loved are good enough. I don’t always need to wake up at 5 AM, or do yoga, or meditate, or go on a run, or write in a journal, or be productive like the videos say.

Sometimes your orange tasted really sweet, and you laugh about the sting of the tartness in your cheek. Your hand is cold and your friend holds it and now it’s warm again. The tea soothes your throat and you feel it in your stomach. You trace your eyes across a finger as it points to the banana moon on a clear night. Things feel good, feel better, and it’s everything. 

I’ll turn my phone off when it gets to be too much.

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Thumbnail image by Petra Collins

Pokémon: Celebrating 25 Years with Fashion

February 27, 1996. A date that can feel like a lifetime ago, literally for those who were born after 1996 (probably almost everyone reading this article). A date that may not mean much to many of you (for anyone that you know born on that day, happy birthday, and for anybody who achieved a milestone on it, congratulations), but a date that is intrinsically significant for fans of a particular franchise full of powerful creatures, appealing world-building media, and a game that tried to blend imagination with reality. If you read the title, you know what I am talking about. 

You, reader, I wager that you clicked on this post either because you love Pokémon or because you are curious and with some time in your hands (also, you may like my style of writing, and if this is the main reason you are here, I am exceedingly obliged). So, for those who grew up with Pokémon, you may know the importance of a 25-year celebration, a milestone that marks the longevity of something that exists because of the love and appreciation fans have for it. Since I am a fan of Pokémon myself, I couldn’t let the opportunity go to write about something that I love. Moreover, because this is a fashion blog, I will discuss the importance of character outfits and style as a general component of world-building and the effect a brand can have on people’s personal image. And for those who consume Pokémon through media osmosis, know that you won’t feel lost as I will walk everybody through the celebration details and the different forms of fashion expression found in and outside the games and anime.

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Fun fact (and this one I think is relatively popular): Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. So, how does a billion’s worth franchise celebrate its own anniversary? In the first two months of 2021, they... announced a musical program that will culminate in an album with 14 tracks released by Capitol Records featuring Katy Perry, J Balvin, Post Malone, and more; partnered with McDonald’s (again) to release an exclusive collection of trade cards; collaborated with Levi Strauss & Co and Zavvi to launch new clothing lines; distributed special Pikachu that can learn the move Sing (a direct nod to the musical program); announced New Pokémon Snap’s release date for April 30th and the next video game titles Pokemon Brilliant Diamond, Pokémon Shining Pearl, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus (a shocking and pleasant surprise since Legends promises to be open-world, providing a possible new formula to reinvent the main series games); and held a virtual concert featuring animated Post Malone singing censored versions of Psycho, Circles, Congratulations, and a remix of the song Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie & The Blowfish. The Only Wanna Be With You remix adds in some chord progressions and instruments from classic Pokémon city themes like Ecruteak City’s to create a pleasant result that I recommend everybody checking out (the smoothness of the melody reminds me a lot of Sunflower).

 Ok, that was quite a lot. But I assure you, the Pokémon Company and Nintendo will not sleep on the opportunity to make 2021 a year of celebration. They are planning on doing a lot more throughout the year, including releasing the star-studded musical album and even more brand deals, so if you want to know more, follow Pokémon on their social media, check out their website, or just read the news as I assure you, people are going to talk about the franchise year-round. But maybe you are also thinking, “I love a particular Pokémon design, or even if I don’t share a deep connection with the franchise, I want to celebrate the 25th anniversary in some way to have something else to be joyful about during the Pandemic by styling myself with Pokémon-related clothing.” (You don’t need to, but hey, it is an excellent segue to my next point). Well, there are different ways fashion connects with Pokémon to create an aesthetic that can be either very seamless and quotidian or particular to special occasions.

Seaking an Everyday Style?

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I want to first highlight Pokémon’s partnership with Original Stitch. The work put into making button-up shirt patterns for men, women, and kids based on each Pokémon from Generation 1 and 2 (and some from 3 and 8) is phenomenal. Some designs are outlandish for my taste, but others like Machoke’s, Clefairy’s, and Dratini’s are subtle enough to be worn out on a date or even in a professional scenario (if the workplace is not that serious). You can even choose between dress, casual, and Hawaiian shirts and design the collar, buttons, and sleeve styles of your liking, creating this highly customizable experience that makes every article of clothing something unique. They also sell unisex polo shirts with small Pokémon sprites that can be embroidered on the left chest and the front and back waist area. Original Stitch’s shirts are the perfect choice of garments if you want to show your love or, at least interest, in Pokémon in more formal scenarios with stylish designs. 

However, if you want to wear more casual, cheaper, and informal clothing that features Pokémon illustrations more prominently (like you may want to do with Disney characters, superheroes, or you know, a name brand like Supreme), the Pokémon Center shop, Hot Topic, and Difuzed are great places for you to find comfortable, cool, and official t-shirts, jackets, socks, shoes, gloves, and much more. Notably, the Pokémon Center is the best place to find garments specific to the pocket monster you like most since brands that license Pokémon are less likely to profit from choosing random monsters to depict in their products from the 893 possible options.

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Still, if you are not convinced of Pokémon’s impact in the fashion world, the company has also partnered with artists, clothing designers, and streetwear brands to produce limited-edition capsule collections seeking to explore the connection between fashion and pop culture. Recent examples include the Thunderbolt Project from Fragment Design by Hiroshi Fujiwara, Rivals from heritage street fashion brand 10Deep, Fictional Archaeology illustrated by contemporary artist Daniel Arsham for Japanese global apparel retailer Uniqlo, With Pokémon UT also sold by Uniqlo, an 8-bit Pokémon graphics collection from Adidas, a trading card game inspired line from Japanese contemporary clothing brand BEAMS, a “Gotta Catch’em All” line from South Korean streetwear brand Thisisneverthat, a sepia collection from streetwear and sneaker retail store BAIT, and a Pikachu illustrated pink sweater worn by Offset during the Spring/Summer 2019 NYFW designed by fashionista Jeremy Scott. From the list, BAIT’s and Thisisneverthat’s collections were open for sale and are still available for purchase.

Pokémon Go has also proven to be a landscape where fashion blends with the Pokémon world. Companies like Uniqlo, Gucci, The North Face, and Longchamp have released exclusive digital models of their accessories and clothing items for players to outfit their avatars with. If you open the style section of the game now, your playable character can wear Uniqlo With Pokémon UT Pikachu, Ditto, and Eevee t-shirts, a Gucci x The North Face backpack, hat, and t-shirt, and Longchamp’s Pikachu backpack. Out of the three, the Gucci x The North Face digital clothing models have nothing to do with Pokémon, featuring neither a logo nor a drawing connecting the garments with the franchise, something that points to the future of Pokémon Go as a platform for the promotion of branded items (something that was already part of the game in the form of McDonald’s and Starbucks sponsored PokéStops), creating a unique partnership between fashion and video games.

A-Mew-sing Character Design

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The other side of the connection between Pokémon and clothing is found through cosplay. For playable trainer characters, gym leaders, antagonists, champions, side characters, their clothing is intrinsic to their personality, the connection between their Pokémon, their profession, and how they are seen by gamers. Because of the iconicity of Pokémon costume designs and because cosplaying is bound to happen in any franchise with multiple well-designed characters, cosplaying as Pokémon characters is a widespread practice today (as always, I recommend you to go on Google, select any Pokémon character, and search for their cosplays). Such appeal of dressing up as game and anime characters comes from the love fans have for them and is a testament to the developers’ accomplishment of creating cohesive and stylish looks that have captivated audiences for 25 years. I can like Lucario’s model as much as I enjoy Cynthia’s style, and that is something that differentiates Pokémon from almost any other media franchise in existence: there is a vast plurality of well-thought-out diverse designs for anybody to like and choose from. In-game/in-anime fashion is an unsung appeal of Pokémon.

Ash Ketchum is arguably one of the most iconic anime characters ever, as audiences have accompanied him in his journey for 23 seasons. Although his age has not changed that much throughout the series (he started his Pokémon trainer career being 10-years-old and turned 12 once, but then that was seemingly forgotten later on), his clothing has been modified by animators for every single generation besides Gen 2. As a side note, Pokémon is divided by generations, with each new one occurring around every three to four years, presenting a novel region and new Pokémon. The anime divides its episodes into many seasons inside one gen, and when a new one arrives, the visual style of the series changes. And because Ash is the only constant of the anime, he and his garments are the most direct proof of each style’s particularities.

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The most basic Ash Ketchum starter pack consists of his iconic cap, spiky hair, a loose jacket or pants, and a form of high-top sneakers. Those are the four aspects of his look that have been consistent since the beginning. Moreover, his color palette has continued to reside on the blues, reds, blacks, and whites with touches of green and yellow once in a while. Yet, there have been various revisions and adjustments to Ash’s look that keep on making his appearance both iconic and fresh. There are generations where he wears fingerless gloves and others that he doesn’t. In some, he puts on blue, black, or grey cargo/jeans pants, while in others, he wears shorts. Ash typically wears a jacket or vest above his black, blue, or white t-shirt, but in Gen 7, he wore no jacket (most likely because the anime depicted Alola, a region inspired by Hawaii and Polynesia, and those places are hot year-round). And most strikingly, his cap logo is consistently different. Therefore, the relationship between Ash and fashion is a terrific example of how a character that has existed for almost 24 years can look both familiar and yet fresh as a way to keep his appearance constant while also updating it to the cultural identity of the forever-changing audiences as time passes.

However, Ash has never fully appeared in any of the games. He is specially written for the anime to represent the player character gamers select when starting a Pokémon installment. A weird fact about the games is that the gender of the avatar you choose to play as exists as a named preset version that can also be canon in other Pokémon media like the anime. May, Dawn, and Serena are the female presets (and rivals if the player selects the male gender) for Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire, Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, and Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, respectively, as well as Ash’s female companions in the series.

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So, all of the playable trainers are unique in how they are styled, and they exist in an exciting relationship to Ash in the sense that the model’s clothing is both specialized to their region and drawn to convey diverse identities, but each new designs follows a pattern that makes the visual aesthetic of the playable trainer character class clear and distinguishable to the audience. Serena may wear something resembling black high-top boot sneakers, grey thigh highs, a red buttoned high-waist knife-pleated miniskirt with a butterfly collar black t-shirt, a red hobo bag, and white sunglasses atop a red wide-brimmed hat (very French), but her overall composition doesn’t move too far from Dawn’s original pink boots, black knee-high socks, pink miniskirt, black vest over a white sleeveless top, yellow duffel bag, red scarf, and white beanie. In other words, while Ash is always the same person wearing the same type of garments that are reworked to keep the anime fresh after 23 seasons, the preset playable trainers are distinctive characters of their own that share the same function and are part of the same class, so their costumes are similar to each other in general structure and number of components but different in how they functionally look. 

Ash and the playable trainer class are not the only characters designed with a cohesive and uniform visual identity in mind. Generation 8 gym leaders literally wear sports uniforms as a tribute to football’s history and importance in the U.K., the region Gen 8’s Galar is based on. In Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, battles happen inside massive stadiums, many times with audiences cheering the player on to replicate the idea the Pokémon battles are the de facto sport of the Pokémon world. Of course, then, the gym leaders’ battle uniforms would mirror sports uniforms in real life and follow a similar pattern, but as I mentioned with the trainer class, they are also personalized to each leader.

Gym Leaders in Fashion

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Nessa, the water type gym leader, wears a sports bra and biker shorts with the Galarain water type crest (a drop of water), the colors that represent it in the region (orange, blue, and white), and various sponsor logos. Like football clubs with their crests and colors, gym leaders in Galar acquire the Pokémon type crest and color when they are selected to represent it. So in the U.K.-based region, types like water, fighting, and ice are stand-ins for the clubs, and the gym leaders take the football players’ place. Nevertheless, Nessa is a model with a fondness for water (if you want to know more about her, check out this episode of Pokémon: Twilight Wings), so the fact that she chose to design a uniform that only consists of a sports bra and biker shorts is very telling of her “fashionable athletic beach” style. Moreover, she wears lots of water-themed jewelry (navel chains, wave bracelets, hoop earrings, ear piercings, and a water droplet necklace) and sandals with rescue buoys as decorative side pieces, combining her stylish side with the water motif. The same applies to Kabu, the fire-type gym leader. He wears a cooling towel, a red polo t-shirt with the fire-type crest (the kanji for fire) tucked inside white shorts, a black and red flame tattoo-like sleeve, and red, black, and white cleats with red socks and something that resembles a shin protector. The fire gym motif is there in the colors and the crest, but Kabu’s style makes his visual aesthetic resemble that of an old football player.

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The fashion world inside the Pokémon games is not only represented by Nessa. The gym leader Elesa from Gen 5 is also a model, Valerie from Gen 6 (based in France) is a fashion designer, and Lisia from Gen 3 is a pageant icon. Elesa is worth mentioning first because she is one of the only characters that appear in two games with two different costumes. In Pokémon Black and Pokémon White, Elesa is blond and wears yellow high-heels, black tights, a yellow sleeveless shift dress with black and white arrow patterns, a black choker, and red and blue headphones with cable tails. In turn, in Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, she is dark-haired and wears red and blue flats, a blue and yellow top and shorts connected through a Pokeball patterned belt, a yellow fluff coat, and white headphones with red and blue spikes. Those are two drastically different outfits that challenge video games’ depiction of characters never changing their clothing (typically because designing them is already time-consuming). Elesa is the perfect character to do so because she is a model in Unova, the region that imitates the US’s East Coast, where New York, one of the “Big Four” fashion capitals, is located. 

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Finally, Valerie and Lisia are characters that, at first, look nothing alike. However, something that underlies both of their visual aesthetics is how much Pokémon inspire how they style themselves. Valerie allegedly wants to identify herself as a pocket monster, so she designs her main outfit to look very animalistic. Her costume makes her seem like a butterfly, and as a fairy-type gym leader, it suits her eccentric, magical personality very well. It consists of black and pink clog heels, grey thigh-high socks with detailed rims and x-shaped seams, a purple, black, yellow, and pink dress with sleeves that resemble butterfly wings, and a purple antennae-like tiara. Contrastingly, Lisia’s ace Pokémon is called Altaria (the Pokémon that won the pageant called Pokémon Contest Spectaculars with her), so her outfit takes full inspiration from this pocket monster. Part of Altaria’s behavior is that she is regal, soft, and kind, and when she bonds with a trainer, she envelops them in her cotton cloud-like wings and hums. Her color scheme is also very appealing, residing in various cool blues and cloud whites. So, Lisia uses Altaria’s personality and physical attributes as central motifs for her contest costume. She wears sparkling boots with cloud collars and diamond ornaments, one white and blue striped sock on her left leg, mini jeans shorts, a tutu skirt with a cloud belt that resembles the sky, a ribbon crop top, a cloud scarf, fluffy cloud-like arm accessories, and blue diamond jewelry.

In conclusion, the Pokémon franchise has impacted the lives of so many people for 25 years, and the 2021’s celebration promises to provide a myriad of new content to keep fans excited year-round. Fashion and clothing merchandise is something the Pokémon Company has invested in before, and this year is no exception. Previous collaborations challenged the outlook of video games as only pure entertainment, and maybe this year will continue to bring exciting opportunities for games to cross over into the fashion world and vice versa.  However, Pokémon also captivates audiences through character designs that have a broad cosplay appeal. Trainers, gym leaders, side characters are all appealing partially because of how their costumes convey their personality, uniqueness, profession, and the connection between them and Pokémon, even if sometimes they may be structured similarly. Though this may be common for most video games and animation series, Pokémon puts an emphasis on creating a world like ours that integrates fashion into its fabric. Therefore, it is safe to say that fashion is a critical stylistic feature of Pokémon, more than people may realize.

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The Arbitrary Mask-Wearing of Pandemic TV

Tuesday nights are for three things and three things only: This Is Us, sweatpants, and chamomile tea. This week’s installment? Season 5 Episode 5. For those of you with better things to do than cry over Milo Ventimiglia, we’re nearing autumn in L.A. (or some version of it within the multi-verse of pandemic TV). 

In typical This Is Us fashion, a tear-jerker of an episode awaits. Kate Pearson is moments from eviscerating the abusive boyfriend haunting her teenaged past. Queue the golden hour lighting, a road trip down California coasts, and of course, Kate’s signature floral revenge dress. Years of trauma simmer beneath a southwestern sunset as she approaches (ex) Marc’s new haunt, the storefront of a run-down record store. 

This is supposed to be Kate’s climactic moment of closure. A powerful ode to victims of emotional abuse both on and off our TV screens. But while actress Chrissy Metz lays her soul bare on the streets of San Diego, all I can think about is the mask that dangles from her hands as she violates CDC guidelines to yell at this veritable stranger, an ex 20 years in the rearview.

Unsurprisingly, pandemic TV occupies a lawless space in the broadcasting world, where mask-wearing applies only to background characters, and “thanks for quarantining beforehand”  excuses every COVID faux pas. 

To its credit, This Is Us is one of the less offensive programs currently airing. Beloved Philly councilman Randall Pearson regularly distributes masks and sanitizer to the homeless. The less beloved Kevin Pearson haphazardly disinfects himself before each interaction with his pregnant fiancé. Beth, Deja, and the rest of the Pearson clan at least pretend to operate within “social bubbles,” despite the growing number of side-characters taking up space in these tight-knit communities. Pandemic media watchdog E-News gives the drama a solid 9/10 in their adherence to COVID safety measures.

Though a 9 seems generous, NBC’s favorite tearjerker is light years ahead of the other COVID nightmares polluting our screens. Fox’s 9-1-1, for example, reads like a how-to for hot-spot breeding. First responders, obviously, are far too cool for N95 masks (or really, any masks at all). And while the occasional unmasked crisis caller seems reasonable, a dispatch office full of unmasked federal employees does not. Somehow, despite neither distancing nor vaccines, everyone remains miraculously virus-free in this season-long game of COVID-roulette. 

On some level, it’s refreshing to watch TV programming that so closely mirrors COVID's apathy in the real-world. As of early March, both Texas and Mississippi have formally put an end to their mask-wearing mandates. Residents of Boise, Idaho, were filmed burning surgical masks during a rally at the steps of their capitol building last week. TV mask aversion becomes almost political when viewed in tandem with the anti-masking movements dominating national news. 

And though I’m 99% sure the Pearsons aren’t secretly anti-maskers, I’m looking forward to the day where I can get through a full episode of This Is Us without wanting to scream at the maskless figures on my screen. 

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On Taylor Swift's Longstanding Cultural Impact

Fans of Taylor Swift’s music have been eagerly anticipating her rereleased music ever since she announced her intentions to rerecord her first six albums (Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation) in order to gain ownership of her own music, and today the rerecorded version of her 2008 classic Fearless dropped.

The album cover for Taylor Swift’s upcoming rerecording of Fearless. Image via.

Despite the original version of popular Fearless single “Love Story” having been released almost 13 years ago, the release of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” was incredibly well-received, with the song garnering nearly 6 million streams within its first day of release on February 12. The lasting popularity of “Love Story” is a testament to Swift’s longstanding cultural impact: from the release of her album in 2006, she has maintained extensive popularity as one of the world’s most successful female artists. Today, she is the second most-streamed female artist of all time on Spotify, only after Ariana Grande. Following the release of her eighth studio album, folklore, she became the female artist to have released the most songs (128) to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, surpassing Nicki Minaj.

To have maintained this level of popularity and success over a period of 15 years is a feat achieved by few artists. So how has Taylor Swift maintained such long-lasting relevance in the music industry?

It would be difficult to write about Taylor Swift’s impact without mentioning her reputation in the media. Her public life has received a great deal of attention from the media, with a particular interest in her relationships and her former and current friendships with other high-profile celebrities such as Selena Gomez, Karlie Kloss, and Ryan Reynolds. Swift has received a great deal of criticism from those who believe that she has dated too many man or written too many songs about her ex-boyfriends. She is also known for her feuds, most notably with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. While Swift is often portrayed in an unfavorable manner by the media, this portrayal has shaped her into a feminist icon among her fans, who rebuke the criticism given by the media to her personal life. These portrays have also, in part, inspired Swift’s recent political activism.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West have had a complicated relationship over the years, beginning with West interrupting Swift at the 2009 VMAs. Image via.

While Swift has received a great deal of attention due to her controversial media portrayal, the media is certainly not the primary factor behind her popularity. Few can deny her talent at singing and songwriting: even if her music doesn’t fit your personal taste, everybody’s jammed (or cried) to at least one of her songs before. Particularly impressive is the ease with which her musical style has transitioned from country to pop to now alternative/indie. While Swift’s most well-known songs are generally her most radio-friendly, upbeat songs (think “You Belong With Me,” “Shake It Off,” and “22”), she has received the most critical acclaim for her sadder, more personal songs. In particular, songs like “Dear John,” “All Too Well,” and “Cardigan” have received great praise for their lyricism and storytelling. Swift has also received commendation for how personal songs such as “Marjorie” and “Soon You’ll Get Better” about her family are.

Taylor Swift’s success may also be, in part, due to the level of intimacy she maintains with her fans. Most well-known are her “Secret Sessions,” in which she invites groups of her most active fans from social media to her home and plays her albums for them before they’re released to the public. Swift has also been known to send personalized gifts to fans and invite her most eager fans backstage after her concerts to meet her. She’s also interacted with her fans by leaving intricate easter eggs and puzzles in her music videos, album memos, and social media posts, often using such clues to hint at upcoming music releases. As a result of these interactions, Swift has been able to maintain a unique and incredibly personal relationship with her fanbase over the years.

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Another factor in Swift’s success has been how she has rebranded herself with each album release through different “eras” and aesthetics correlating to her albums. For instance, 2017’s Reputation was accompanied by a primarily black wardrobe with snake motifs. By contrast, her following album, 2019’s Lover, brought about an incredibly colorful pastel theme with heart and butterfly motifs. Swift has effectively incorporated aesthetics into her brand as a musician, heightening public interest in each album by accompanying relevant color schemes and motifs into her outfits, concerts, and music videos for each era.

A design from Taylor Swift’s merch highlighting the different aesthetics of her first eight eras, from her first, self-titled album to folklore (2020). Image via.

Throughout her 15-year-long career, Swift has released a prolific amount of music, including nine studio albums and nearly 200 songs. She has also contributed to the soundtracks for a number of films, including Hannah Montana: The Movie, The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades Darker, and the ever-controversial Cats. In the past year and a half alone, she’s released three albums, including two surprise albums that were released within months of each other, with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) set to release soon. She’s also released two documentaries accompanying her albums Lover and folklore. The amount of music Swift has released is a testament to the incredibly hard work she’s put into her music career, hard work that has certainly paid off, given the lasting impact her music will have on the industry for years to come.

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Bring Concerts to You

Digital media has been winking at us from the doorway of the future for quite some time. We are getting absorbed into our mediatic worlds, screens, and, in a way, moving into our artificial embodiments, day by day. The popular notion of the “future” was just a matter of innovation, yet, with quarantine lingering and dragging everything behind, we happened to become social animals with a silly pun on the word social. Just when I said OK, I got used to these online classes, online clubs, online shopping, online, online, online...things, I witnessed friends having online therapies, online relationships, and more online things that once, supposedly and ideally, would have occurred face to face. I am not in a position to blame or glorify what we are witnessing now. However, I can talk about how I am, well, taking advantage of the situation.

Music is a must in my life. When one listens to music as much as I do, we inevitably begin to delve into its multifaceted world, slowly drifting away from the popular tracks and the good, old classics. Language barriers disappear. And this search for the unknown, a search that satiates the hunger for more, starts. Yet, when your playlists consist of music from more than a hundred countries, you obviously miss out on the concerts that happen all over the world. And, unfortunately, when you live in a place where none of the popular artists stop by in their tours (I am not even talking about that local indie group we all admired once), you start to look for solutions. Now, the very same solutions for the live shows conundrum apply to today’s quarantine situation.

For all my beloved friends that long for concert halls and any artistic medium of music, here are two of my alternative choices of music sharing platforms. Enjoy!

ONSTAGE K

ONSTAGE K is a Korean music-sharing platform that attracted me first because of its cubic aesthetic, which encapsulates the artists it presents. While Korean pop is dominating the music industry with its singers, dancers, and performers, ONSTAGE showcases contemporary artists that are as talented but less famous than mainstream K-pop bands. If you are looking for authentic, indie/R&B/Rock, chill, and energetic music performed by amazing artists with a live band in the background, creating this artsy and carefree atmosphere, I suggest you check ONSTAGE videos.

TINY DESK

The Tiny Desk Concerts idea came when a music editor was so frustrated after a concert that he couldn’t hear anything because the crowd was cheering all the time. Later, he jokingly suggested to Bob Boilen, the now host of the Tiny Desk, that he should invite artists to perform at his own desk (read the story). Well, history happened. Now, behind a “tiny desk,” in front of a silent crowd, world-wide musicians perform their tracks in the most instrumental way possible. Having more genre and language options than ONSTAGE, Tiny Desk is definitely a must-listen.

Hope you had a nice time!

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Cuban Cocktails You Should Try This Spring

I love making cocktails. They are an art form that carries fascinating cultural histories. There’s something so simple about them, yet there are about a million different possible flavor combinations. I became obsessed with cocktails and mixology after I read about Cuba’s rich cocktail history. I later worked for Court theatre as a bartender, where I experienced firsthand the enchanting power of cocktails. Something as simple as whipped cream topping a coffee mixture brought joy and wonderment into the eyes of my customers. What started as a way to feel more connected to my heritage became a treasured hobby.

Now that the weather is getting warmer here are three Cuban cocktails to try:

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Cuba Libre or the Mentirita

Mentiritas, or more commonly known as a Cuba Libre, is one of the simplest ways to elevate a boring rum and coke. Add lime. It’s insanely simple, yet the addition of the citrus fruit will make you wonder where this recipe has been all of your life. The name ‘mentirita’ directly translates to a little lie and is a pun and a political statement based on the official name Cuba libre (which translates into freedom).

Recipe:

·       2 ounces of white rum

·       4 ounces of Coca-Cola

·       1 lime wedge

Add ice to your glass. Pour the rum over it and top off with Coca-Cola. Squeeze fresh lime over the drink and stir gently.

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Frozen Daiquiri

The legend, according to Bacardi, is that Jennings Cox, an American living in Cuba, ran out of gin at a party and ran out into the streets to find ingredients that were widely available in Cuba: rum, sugar, limes. Inspired by the Cuban 19th-century cocktail canchanchara, Cox combined the ingredients into the first Daiquiri, which Cuban mixologists eventually developed into the frozen Daiquiri that we know today.

Recipe:

·      2 ounces of white rum

·      1 ½ tablespoons of sugar

·      1 ounce of lime juice

·      1 teaspoon of Maraschino liqueur

·      2 cups of ice

·      Optional: strawberries

Blend ingredients together until its frothy. My favorite adjustment to the classic recipe is replacing the ice with frozen fruit. This hack ensures that your cocktail won’t be watered down by the ice.

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Mojito

I fondly remember the first time I saw someone make a mojito. My mom and I were picking up takeout from a Cuban restaurant, and while we waited, one of the bartenders began making them. I was transfixed with the process of muddling the ingredients. This cocktail is my personal favorite.

Recipe:

·      12 mint sprigs

·      1 ounce of lime juice

·      1 ½ tablespoons sugar

·      2 ounces of white rum

·      3 ounces of club soda

Muddle the mint, lime juice, and sugar in the glass you will be serving the drink in. Add rum and gently stir. Add ice, then top off with club soda.

Optional adjustment: to make raspberry mojitos add a handful of raspberries and muddle them with the mint, lime juice, and sugar, then follow the recipe as directed above.

Album Review: Whole Lotta Red

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There is perhaps no musical artist in today’s cultural scene who can deftly shapeshift with more volatility than Playboi Carti. His ability to sprint in one direction, stop on a dime, and pivot to another in any number of wild, unforeseen ways, has contributed immensely to his mystique. Only a few months after releasing his 2018 album Die Lit, Carti began recording his next, which he proclaimed would be a more “alternative” and “psyched out” project that would propel his sound into uncharted territory. A few months later, in May 2019, fans leaked several songs he was looking to include on the album on YouTube, SoundCloud, and TikTok. Unreleased tracks such as “Pissy Pamper,” “Opium,” and “Taking My Swag” racked up millions of listens across myriad platforms, driving Carti to remake the album from scratch — yet another testament to his improvisational virtuosity as an artist. Then, in April 2020, Carti dropped “@ Meh,” which he purported to be his upcoming album’s lead single; in one more bewildering about-face, he would ultimately exclude the track on the final project.

Thus, it is only fitting that Carti’s relentless versatility is just as prominently displayed in Whole Lotta Red as it is in the whirlwind of events that culminated in its creation, and the opening track, “Rockstar Made,” functions as a potent overture to the album’s twisting turbulence. In the track, Carti’s vocal adeptly careens with cataract force from his signature “baby voice” — imparted within a lighter, higher register that is equal parts delicate and shrill — to a darker, more serrated tone laced with intentional straining and cracking. His chameleonic acrobatics are amplified tenfold in their visceral extravagance against a bold backdrop of clipping 808 instrumentals and menacing minor synth lines; the effect of Carti abrasively rasping out every last drop of sound from his being, as if his contorted vocal cords have been eviscerated from hours of screaming the song’s lyrics, transcends performance and comes to embody the artistic experience. “Rockstar Made” thus exemplifies the most enthralling aspect of Whole Lotta Red: it masterfully explores the multitudes of complex identities and sounds that Carti adroitly weaves his work with, paving the way for a musical masterpiece unlike any other.

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The album’s first three tracks — “Rockstar Made,” the Kanye West feature “Go2DaMoon,” and the Gucci Mane-inspired “Stop Breathing” — showcase Carti at his rawest and roughest. He hisses, “I take my shirt off and all the h*es stop breathing,” yet he sounds as if he is the one who is on the cusp of losing his air, especially as he gasps out arresting lines like “Ever since my brother died / I been thinkin’ ‘bout homicide.” Carti’s trademark minimalistic writing — with choruses and hooks as repetitive as a Philip Glass string quartet — both contrasts with and complements this dramatic delivery style. Instead of unwittingly falling victim to meaningless tautology, Carti’s lyrics daringly lean into repetition with the conscious intent of instilling every single reiteration of every single syllable with an ineluctable dynamism. The risk pays off in spades, as the high-pressure tracks on Whole Lotta Red crackle indelibly with eclectic energy.

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Just as Carti begins to lull the listener into his rhythm with the album’s opening trio of tracks, he abruptly yanks us into a different dimension — a grating outro filled with rasped repetitions of “whet” suddenly segues into “Beno!”, which opens with a cutesy and whimsical synth descant that would not sound out of place playing through the aisles of a candy store. He shifts his aggressive flow to a playful lilt, donning his idiosyncratic “baby voice” to maneuver through more metrically meticulous moments. Despite their lyrical complexity, lines like “All black 2-3, LeBron with the heat / I was just in Miami in the Rolls Royce geeked” begin to sound like simple playground chants and nursery rhymes because of the breadth of Carti’s sonic inventory. As the album progresses, we are plunged even deeper into this funhouse tour of musical madness. The sinister “Vamp Anthem” warps Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” into a harsh trap beat; the saccharine chord progression and pulsing instrumental of “Control” evoke the sound of early 2010s dance-pop; soft samples of Bon Iver lend a transcendental tranquility to the album’s closing track, the indie folk-influenced “F33l Lik3 Dyin.” Yet, as we are tossed asunder by the hurricane that is Whole Lotta Red, we never quite feel like we are losing sight of the album’s core meaning and sound — it is the perfect storm, an illusion of chaos orchestrated with scientific precision by our maestro.

Whole Lotta Red reaches its most immaculate heights when Carti acquiesces to the music’s hypnotic power, letting his innermost words and feelings spill out of him, unbridled and unchained. “Slay3r,” which features exquisite production by Juberlee and Roark Bailey, cradles Carti back and forth with its carefree and cartoonish ambiance, and he playfully responds with uncharacteristically jocular refrains of “Whole lotta mob sh*t / Whole lotta mob, whole lotta mob sh*t.” The juxtaposition of such a jaunty sound with the track’s devilishly dark subject matter and inspiration — the song pays homage to the thrash metal band Slayer — palpably demonstrates how twisted Carti’s sense of irony becomes when unleashed in full force. As listeners, we are even treated to an exploration of his vulnerable side; on the deceptively chill “ILoveUIHateU,” Carti pours out, “I mix all of my problems and Prometh’ until I roll on my death bed / Don’t get close, uh, baby, don’t get too close.” This riveting confession — of his potentially lethal drug use, of his fear of emotional intimacy and availability, of his awareness and deliberate ignorance of his self-destructive tendencies — paints a different picture of Carti than his “rockstar” songs do. We have peeled back the façade of Carti the artist to reveal Carti, the human.

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The album reaches its zenith at the start of its final stretch with the track “Sky,” which is an ode to substance abuse and its escapist utility. After a disorienting intro that sounds vaguely like video game boss music, Carti comes in on the chorus with a mesmerizingly restrained sound that still sounds like it is on the verge of losing control. After tenuously riding the beat through the track’s opening, Carti hits its next section, which fittingly begins with an invocation to “Wake up!”, and he loosens up and begins to derail in the best way possible. Carti’s flow loses its smooth sheen and slowly becomes erratic and syncopated, navigating through intricate polyrhythms and oscillating between being behind the beat and being in front of it. He delivers lines like “Can’t f*ck with nobody, not even my shadow / I got on Ed Hardy, she got on stilettos” with a captivating fiendishness that puts the listener on edge in spite of the track’s relatively tame vocal and dreamy Travis Scott-like sound.

Whole Lotta Red garnered intensely polarizing reception upon release, with many diehard Carti fans proclaiming that the album is too splintered and possesses no particular unifying sound. While these traits may be undesirable in the rap mainstream, they are precisely the unique traits that give Whole Lotta Red its je ne sais quoi. The album is nothing short of manic and unhinged; it is a treacherous labyrinth, filled with everything, from Baroque polyphony to Atlanta hip-hop, and elevated by the incomparable temerity of Carti’s experimental performance. As he expresses in “Punk Monk” with the declarations, “I just worry ‘bout me” and “I don’t rap, I write poems,” Carti deeply values pure authenticity and innovative brazenness, and his new album reflects his commitment to keeping his head down, blocking out the noise, and carving out his own path in the rap industry. Whole Lotta Red stands by itself in today’s popular music landscape as a generational work of transcendent genius, unparalleled in its inventiveness, and listeners would do well to look past the smoke and mirrors of Carti’s carefully constructed madhouse to unearth the deeply emotional richness of his work.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Deserves a Second Chance

Cyberpunk 2077 is a video game that is as controversial nowadays as it is beautifully written and designed. For a game so hyped since its announcement back in 2012 in a dramatic, hyperrealistic, conceptual teaser, Cyberpunk 2077 had a chaotic launch period that turned the emotional power of expectation into rage and disappointment. The promises studio CD Projekt Red made to players of providing an immersive unparalleled technological experience in this cyberpunk space called Night City, with extensive character customization and a lot of places to explore, combined with the company’s positive reputation based on the popularity and praise of their most famous game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (which probably pushed for the development of The Witcher TV series on Netflix), amounted into a hard drive of anticipation that was emboldened by names like Grimes and Keanu Reeves joining the roster of characters.

However, with the issues that came from a rushed release due to several internal and external forces (investors want their money’s worth from a game in development for eight years and fans just can't wait anymore after several launch delays), the game’s first version did not technically perform well, something that made many consumers disappointed enough to overlook Cyberpunk 2077’s terrific everything else. 

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Cyberpunk, or The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future, is originally a 1988 RPG board game developed by Mike Pondsmith with his company R. Talsorian Games Inc, heavily inspired by Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, two very prominent stories that are arguably the origins of the cyberpunk genre of dystopian futures, characterized by moral conundrums based on the technological advancements of the time. (My previous article on Alita: Battle Angel already introduced the cyberpunk genre, so if you want to know more about it, check it out). This first game tells the story of how the world came to the dystopian future of 2013, beginning its history in the 80s. The second game, set in the 2020s, expands the lore of Night City. The third game explores the ramifications of a fourth Corporate War in the 2030s (as it is very known, technology had many of its great leaps because of significant conflicts), and finally, Cyberpunk Red is a revised version of the third game, set in an alternative timeline that serves as a prequel to Cyberpunk 2077. Is this confusing at all?

Because the launch of the video game was nothing but confusing and unsatisfying, fans were not happy. The PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 saw some minor bugs that only slightly hindered the gameplay experience, but the console versions for PS4 and Xbox One were jammed with glitches that prevented gameplay and proper engagement with any aspect of Night City, the characters, and the story. It is not difficult to find countless video compilations on YouTube or Reddit depicting the unfortunate examples of how the game did not go through a thorough troubleshooting phase before launch, pointing to a weird and chaotic rushed development process in the part of CD Projekt Red in regards to software implementation and optimization. T-poses, characters getting naked all of a sudden, standing up and phasing through their vehicles, textures with low resolutions, cars that are difficult to drive, and infinitely phasing below the map are some examples of the glitches that are hindering fans’ ability to immerse themselves in the future world of Cyberpunk 2077.

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For such hype (I am not kidding, the preorder numbers reached 8 million copies before the release date of December 11th, 2020, CD Projekt Red’s biggest launch ever, already covering their development expenditures, and they sold 5 million copies more the week after), the results were not the perfection everyone wanted. In crisis mode, the game studio promised to refund the customers that felt Cyberpunk 2077 was nearly impossible to play and enjoy, letting them keep their old copies if they wanted to try it out still but reimbursing their money in a show of goodwill. CD Projekt Red then immediately tasked the development team to create patches to fix the bugs and glitches, and by March 2021, they have only released one major patch that was not able to address all the issues fully. A new one was scheduled for later February, but due to the studio being hacked by cyberattacker trolls, who stole internal legal documents, employee data, and source codes for The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Gwent and may or may not have already sold them in the black market, they postponed the second patch to the end of March. And to rub salt into the wound, CD Projekt Red investors are suing the company for being misled about the state of the “unfinished and unplayable game” before its release.

But why am I talking about all of this? Because I believe Cyberpunk 2077 is much better than many fans and all the news headlines care to admit, and it deserves a second chance. As I mentioned before, the story and moral dilemmas it presents, the characters, and most importantly, the cyberpunk aesthetic (the fashion and music are my favorites) are aspects the game not only succeeds at making satisfactory but emotional and engaging enough to drive audience members (gamers and backseat viewers) to reflect upon what they experienced for days on-end. What is better than to finish a book, TV series, movie, or song and to keep thinking about what the message behind the story/lyrics means and how it affects and applies to one’s life? To discuss with others such effects and how memorable the whole experience felt? 

I do believe CD Projekt Red released the video game in an unfinished state. Technological development has raised the threshold of game quality significantly as gamers today experience fewer and fewer bugs that genuinely affect gameplay and better graphical resolutions that make gaming an awe-inspiring affair (Last of Us Part II is a perfect example). And because RPG video games are distinguishable from any other media of storytelling by giving audience members the ability to mold and lose oneself in the stories through controlling character actions and dialogue, the gameplay is a crucial aspect any video game should nail. I am not somebody who cares as much about how the game feels in one’s hand or how easy and seamless it is to progress through a story than what is being told, but it is essential to think that plot and characterization/acting alone are part of what makes books, movies, and tv shows stand out, not video games per se. Still, the game’s plot and worldbuilding should be praised.

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Cyberpunk 2077’s narrative is a precious piece of code. The game discusses the nature of facing and accepting death, finding family and love in the unlikeliest of places, technological immortality, trying to find oneself in a broken world (something very relatable in today’s current climate), achieving one’s dreams against all odds, and keeping one’s principles and moral codes even in the toughest of times.

It has three different beginnings that end up with protagonist V (Vincent or Valerie) working with their friend Jackie as mercs in Night City, the US’s hub of technological innovation, entertainment, and crime located in-between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and accepting a job to steal something called the Relic, an implantable prototype chip that contains the consciousness of Johnny Silverhand. With time, the Relic physically modifies V’s brain to match Johnny’s memories and higher cognitive functions, killing V in the process, so the story develops into both characters working together to separate Silverhand from V’s mind, culminating in 5 different primary endings. The voice acting is fantastic (Keanu Reeves does his part well, and his persona Johnny Silverhand is enticing as this full of himself punk-rocker Jiminy Cricket-like cybernetic construct in V’s head) and the portrayal of characters like Judy and Panam, who are the primary romanceable options of the story, is captivating; one an emotionally awkward Braindance editor (advanced VR that permits customers to feel the sensations of the person who recorded it) and another a fiery nomad who wears her heart on her sleeves in the best kind of way. Still, almost every single character introduced in the missions and side mission is as alluring as Jackie, Johnny, Judy, and Panam.

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But the narrative and characterization are only part of Cyberpunk 2077’s uniqueness and ingenuity (I felt a gut punch watching every single ending). Night City’s rendering and the game’s musical production and costume design are breathtaking indeed (see what I did there?). Beginning with the Californian town, Night City is beautiful day and night. During the day, the architectural cubic and cylindrical silhouettes appear stacked together in various shapes connected through walkways and above the ground roadways that make the city look both too tight and narrow from the ground up and too big and sprawling from an above perspective. Technological innovative high rises blend with simpler one-story houses located on the ground floor or even under bridges, creating this contrast where the wealthy people and big corporations live closest to the sky (heaven), and the poor inhabit the spaces nearest to the ground (underworld/hell) in this social gap that permeates the thematic of Cyberpunk 2077. Yet, during the night, the colors emanating from high rise buildings, holographic and electronic billboards, decorative lights, and store displays in shades of blue, yellow, purple, red, green, and orange coalesce into a mesmerizing perpetual night show that contrasts with the prominent denigrating and criminal activities that occur at this time of the day. That paints Night City as this enthralling trap that lures you in with promises of grandeur only to suck your soul out of your body at a moment’s notice. 

Night City’s design is only matched by the main character’s costumes. Players can customize how the protagonists look with many different clothing options won and collected throughout the game like in any RPG, but if a player is interested in boosting their stats (it makes it easier to progress through the story), fashion is thrown out of the window. Gamers can look sexy and stylish as V, but that will not help them win the game. NPC avatars wear some of the garments available to the protagonist in preprogrammed looks, though, so taking a stroll out in the streets is the best way to appreciate how much thought and stylistic cohesion went into designing Cyberpunks 2077’s fashion of the future. But for all the main characters in the story, their style matters. Their costumes are very iconic because they depict their personalities in fun, unique ways, and they are not overtly technological or manufactured in an incredibly innovative manner (at least the game does not mention this), but implants and prosthetics enhance a few of the character’s bodies, something that transcends the boundaries of style and fashion.

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Beginning with Panam, because of her background as a nomad (groups of people that perform bounty hunter and mercenary jobs all over the country), her design lacks a touch of technology. Instead, Panam looks like a biker with her red and grey motorcycle crop top vest jacket with a collar that closes into a choker, safety harness above a sand yellow-green wooly shoulderless shirt (wearing a safety harness like a belt is a fashion statement indeed), fingerless gloves, black nails, and jeans pants with tire-like knee pads. Her style is the definition of bold yet delicate, as her jacket and pants feature comfortable protective pads and on the outside look badass, but upon taking them away, her shirt exposes a lot of body, covered and protected yet again, now by the harness. Panam’s jacket by itself was given to her when she entered her nomad clan. So, her costume tells the story of a woman that appears to have this firm and bold disposition, but in reality, her drive and dauntlessness are shields to protect her inner vulnerability and her fear of messing up her relationship with her nomad family and with her friends and love interests.

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Like Panam, Judy is also very emotionally vulnerable, but instead of Panam’s seemingly brazen personality, she is much more reserved and aloof when you meet her. Her style is then a representation of the strength she wants to exude. Judy wears a tied-up t-shirt like a bra, black leather-like overalls with a silver-studded punk belt, and black laceless v-shaped boot shoes. Her look is fierce, very revealing, and straightforward, but she does not wear it out and about in Night City because of her reclusive personality, so it seems Judy chose her outfit as a way to personally empower herself without the judgmental guise of anybody. Moreover, her costume is only black and white to drive attention to her tattoos and hair. Her tattoos represent her personality, as some examples include lots of colored red roses, spider webs, ghosts, laser sharks, fire trucks, the name Moxes (her gang formed to protect women of Night City), the number 13, and the lyrics for Pyramid Song from Radiohead. Judy prefers exposing her skin as a way to convey what she likes and who she is to anybody (including herself) without having to speak to them directly. And her green-pink hair is styled in a buzzcut so the hairless side can clearly display her implants, a signal of her work as a Braindance editor.

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Unlike Judy and Panam, Johnny Silverhand is full of himself. He is the quintessential representation of the self-destructive punk-rocker (he is the lead singer of the fictional band Samurai) that believes the world is twisted, but instead of using only music to convey his distaste toward corporations dominating the world (and causing several world wars), Johnny also blows up a “corpo” building to become a legend of Night City and to kickstart a movement to make the world a more beautiful place. The song Never Fade Away, which in-canon was written by Samurai and performed by Johnny, can be interpreted to represent the endless struggle to live in a world that is ugly, violent, dystopic, and destructive. It may sound cheesy, but Never Fade Away, performed by Olga Jankowska, is hauntingly enthralling, and the lyrics can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, as an existential dilemma or a romanticized point of view, so you should check it out. Therefore, his style combines rockstar clothing and tactical wear. Johnny wears a bulletproof vest over a tank top with the logo of his band, wine glossy tight fitted pants, black heeled dress shoes, military dog tags, and his iconic aviator sunglasses, and he also has an entirely metal prosthetic left hand he uses to play his guitar and punch his enemies.

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Other character styles that are interesting to point out are Rogue’s, Evelyn’s, and Hanako’s. Rogue (Johnny’s ex-lover) wears a very iconic neon yellow and black crop top sweater with the word “Survive” (a piece that seems to work in the 2070s as well as in the 2020s) that leaves her midriff exposed to a black implant she has between her breasts and waist. This cardigan really speaks to Rogue’s commanding attitude and survival at all costs morality. Evelyn (the character that tasks V with stealing the Relic) is even more stylish, with her cyan and pink plumed black robe-like jacket, blue hair, disco ball v cut dress, and red thigh-high boots. She is an escort so, part of her fashion identity is to show and attract, something very apparent in her style. Finally, Hanako (the daughter of the main villain Saburo Arasaka) represents Cyberpunk 2077’s perspective on the impact of wealth on fashion. The costume players see her wearing is an Haute couture white skintight latex-like high neck dress and white shoes with golden high heels. But what stands out from the outfit is the golden detailings that appear in the collar and back and slither through her arms ending in her hands as metallic finger coverings. These gold detailings are conductive sensory enhancements, typically seen as thin grey lines in other characters. So, because Hanako is part of one of the most influential families in the world, she can wear Haute couture at any time of the day and have better, shinier, and more beautiful sensory implants than the rest of Night City.

Conclusively, Cyberpunk 2077 suffers from an unfortunate case of rushed development due to external pressures that resulted in a captivating narrative and design experience being coupled with faulty gameplay at best. So, if you want to give Cyberpunk 2077 a chance, you can either wait to play it on consoles and PC after the prominent patches are released, or you can go to Twitch or YouTube and watch the whole story as a backseat viewer. I am sure that if you love a thought-provoking plot, very likable characters (you will undoubtedly love Panam), and an easy to get invested in highly bingeable content, and you find yourself wanting to consume more cyberpunk media, you will have a memorable and transformative time. Also, I assure you, Never Fade Away, sung by Olga Jankowska, will not fade away from your memory for quite some time because “A thing of beauty - I know, Will never fade away.”

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Thank You for the Music: Spring Selections

For the third installment of Thank You for the Music, we looked toward the sunlight of spring at the end of the dark and miserable tunnel of winter (and finals), and one of the most recurring themes of the season is rebirth. Spring is a promise—a budding flower, a dewy morning, a ray of light through the crack in the door. It’s a season for dreams, a feeling Felix Gonzalez captured in the hazy cloud motifs dispersed throughout our words. We all chose songs that remind us of spring, of rebirth, of release, of hope, and exchanged them with peers in the hopes of spreading those jolts of sonic serotonin as we slowly emerge from a brittle and lonely winter.

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Ashley Fung’s pick: Milky Chance, “Blossom”

I pride myself on choosing one of the band’s lesser known songs to recommend. Although “Stolen Dance” seemed to be everyone’s stepping stone away from mainstream pop and into the genre of soft rock, some would say it’s on the cusp of being a bit too overplayed. “Blossom” is none of that. To put it simply, “Blossom” is an underrated feel-good song. It’s a song best listened to with good company. If you haven’t already, I recommend experiencing the beginning with a pair of headphones because the intro was edited in a way that magically makes the notes jump from one ear to the other. And oh boy, I can’t wait till you reach the twenty-six second mark and feel the power of the most subtle of bass drops.

The vocalists of Milky Chance are among the many modern artists that pride themselves on a complete lack of enunciation. While this technique might make it more difficult to absorb each song’s lyrics, it also forces you to focus on every other aspect that tends to go unnoticed. I’ve had this song as a go-to for quite some time now, and haven’t bothered to fact-check the lyrics until now, but if you are in desperate need of some clarification then Google away. In my opinion, the song lyrics connect to the idea of spring quite literally. It’s all about seeking discomfort and remaining hopeful about the possibilities. With “Blossom” you’ll get a perfect blend between beat, bass, and vocals. Enjoy it in the car, at the Point, or on a walk in this decently warm Chicago weather.

Andrew’s take:

Like Chicago springs, Milky Chance’s “Blossom” takes its time, then starts in the middle: “‘Cause I’m tired of all this talking,” Clemens Rehbein warbles. The crux of the song lies in the refrain “‘Cause all I need, is to see you blossom out, blossom out, blossom out.” The rest of the lyrics are… we'll call them impressionistic. But the music conveys all they need, as the synths bottom out and a simple, quiet acoustic guitar gives the chorus room to breathe, leaving room for it to grow.

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Grace Lee’s pick: Maggie Rogers, “Back In My Body”

Honestly, it's hard to think of a Maggie Rogers song that doesn't remind me of renewal. For me, her music constantly brings up imagery of water and its cleansing properties. But "Back In My Body" definitely stands out the most as a song that connects to themes of spring and regrowth. The joy that Rogers feels in this song is palpable: she sings the chorus with such conviction, and there is an audible sense of relief throughout the song.

Perhaps the beauty of "Back In My Body" is how relatable and adaptable it is. We've all, at some point or another, experienced what it's like to finally feel like yourself again after a long struggle, a feeling of renewal that seems to come most often at the beginning of spring. Rogers perfectly encapsulates this experience through "Back In My Body" and provides us with a powerful anthem of regrowth. As she sings throughout the song, "this time I know I'm fighting. This time I know I'm back in my body," it's hard not to sing along and feel the healing effects of these lyrics. It's an experience that's all at once refreshing and empowering.

Felix’s take:

I love songs that talk about moving or being in different locations. I find that I too often downplay the effect of being in a new space, and the importance of making your mind a safe home. “Lost you in the border town of anywhere / I found myself when I was going everywhere” highlights this process of self-realization despite the chaos around you. This song reminds me of “Fight Song” but with a little more lyrical nuance to sink my teeth into. On that note, I really enjoy the heavy drums of the chorus. They certainly give this song a lively spirit that reminds me of the sense of upward mobility that comes with spring. I’ve heard only good things about the record this song comes from, so I will definitely be hearing more of Maggie!

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Felix Gonzalez’s pick: Florence + The Machine, “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”

In another song called “South London Forever,” Florence sings, “There’s a special kind of sadness that seems to come with spring.” “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,” the titular track on her third (and my favorite) album embodies perfectly the limitless spirit of change that comes with spring. “Oh, what are we gonna do?” she asks a lover that is increasingly distant, “We opened the door now, it's all coming through.”

The track builds and builds its momentum, backed by a joyful acoustic guitar and spurts of trumpets. I love the “whoo’s” and Florence’s classic belts as she sings about the vastness of the sky, skylines, and love. The bridge is a much-needed contemplation—like that which comes as the flowers begin to bloom and you look ahead of what has survived after a long winter. As the song fades into a chorus of trumpets, it feels like the sky itself is widening, growing with cautious hope at the warm days ahead. 

Ashley’s take:

I’ve probably known about Florence + the Machine since middle school. I remember the group’s style being a bit daunting to me at the time. Too “rock” for my twelve-year-old brain. Even so, it didn’t take much for me to recognize Florence Welch’s natural talent and ability to make you feel at ease. My background knowledge of the band’s work is by no means expansive. “Dog Days Are Over” and “You’ve Got The Love'' were among the first songs I added to my PCH playlist—dedicated to my home state’s Pacific Coast Highway, naturally—four years ago. Both cheery, both upbeat, and both listed as Florence + The Machine’s most streamed songs on Spotify. “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,” however, doesn’t fall into any of these categories.

During my first listen, I wasn’t totally convinced. The song felt sad and reflective, like it wasn’t gonna be anything to smile about. But there was most certainly a turning point. Too quick to judge, I felt the wave of Florence’s lifted emotion right when she recited the song’s title “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.” What can I say, alliteration is a weapon. In the context of spring, I can see how, in a lot of ways, this song can represent a new beginning. The repeated line “what are we gonna do” towards the middle of the song immediately caught my attention. I can’t help but be reminded of how so many of us found ourselves asking the same question this past year. While the song is not your stereotypical springtime bop, it certainly has a lot to offer. The move from lyrical to instrumental right around the middle of the song is the kind of transition you only hear in movie scores. It took a couple of streams for it to grow on me, but it’ll definitely be worth your while.

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Nadya Osman’s Pick: Walk the Moon, “Anna Sun”

What made me choose this song is the opening bright melody that plays in the background. It’s so hard to describe in a technical way, so I’ll leave it at this: it immediately places you on a field populated with blooming daisies as you spin in circles with your arms out and throw your head back to beam into the sun. The lyrics further set the scene: “Fire-crackers in the east my car parked south / Your hands on my cheeks your shoulder in my mouth…We got no money, but we got heart.” It’s about having a good time no matter your situation—there are so many ways to have fun without money, just being with one another.

It’s also clearly a spring song, hence the line, “Wait for summertime.” I discovered this song in middle school during my emo days, and it takes me back to an era where I was completely carefree and relaxed. As we head into spring quarter, that’s what this song brings for me and what I hope others take away from it—relax and enjoy the time we have here!

Danya’s take:

At first I couldn't understand how this song reminded someone of spring because I kept thinking how dilapidated his house was and how his relationship was falling apart. But then I realized that the speed, energy, and whimsy of Walk the Moon does remind me of the freeing acceleration that spring brings after a repressive winter. The song really has a killer beat that is very original and well-composed; Walk the Moon excels with the right energy and are a rare group whose distinct color comes through in their music. I was obsessed with their songs “We are the Kids” and “Portugal” because their drums and rhythms are immensely enjoyable. It's been a long time since I've listened to Walk the Moon, but I can imagine them hosting the best outdoor concert in spring or summer because their drums and energy exactly matches a fresh outdoor hangout.

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Eleni Wah’s pick: Aries, “RACECAR”

I recently noticed that I tend to spend most of winter listening to sad music, with the exception being all of December when I listen to Christmas music exclusively. This year, I am blaming my seasonal sadness on Taylor Swift for dropping Evermore before I had even marginally recovered from Folklore, but now that winter is over, I’m temporarily trading in Champagne Problems for something more mentally sustainable. Songs like “RACECAR” are the opposite of what I’ve been listening to for the past few months; instead of feeling emotionally targeted by Taylor, listening to this song actually gives me a surge of dopamine (or maybe it’s serotonin?)—especially with headphones.

Even though I normally enjoy trying to understand the meaning of lyrics, “RACECAR” appeals to me largely because it doesn’t demand my attention at all. The constant flow of vocals that often overlap with each other and the fact that there are hardly any breaks between verses makes it a very trancelike song– it doesn’t require me to think as I listen, which I find both relaxing and energizing. Again, I’m not entirely sure what most of the lyrics mean, but I get the idea that the girl Aries is singing about is ready for change, which is exactly how I feel when spring hits, more than any other time of the year. Most relatable line: “With her bad lungs, running back to ‘em.” Because I really do have bad lungs.

Alexandra’s take:

I had never heard this song before, so I Googled the lyrics and yes, as Eleni validates for me above, they don’t make much sense. But what I can garner from them is a spirit similar to the song I picked below, which is the spirit of relief. The contrasts in the crescendos and the monotonous moments in the music give me the feeling of someone who really needs to break free.” Freedom is also something I associate with spring (though to a drastically smaller extent this year…), as everything seems to come to life and out of hiding. This spring, I’ll definitely be searching for the smaller (read: COVID-safe!) ways to find my own “RACECAR”-esque escapism.

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Danya Wang’s pick: Kacy Hill, “Porsche”

I found this song through Instagram, when a creative cool dancer was sporting “Kacy Hill” on a shirt. I thought the art on the shirt was really cool so I searched her name up and found her song Porsche, which is a really striking memorable song because it's so light. Her consistent high notes and the bells after the first verses take you up to rest in a field of clouds; you can imagine being surrounded by cupids. The sound of the song seems timeless and has a kind of vintage groove.

The emotions are timeless, although I'm sure the vocabulary of self-love was largely exempt from mainstream music’s consciousness until the late 2010s, making her message of getting out of your head timeless but spoken with a modern vocabulary. Hill's feelings in this song are as clear and kind as her voice, light but still compartmentalized—like being on a Paris balcony with some white wine, or walking into open space surrounded by the blue sky, bright sunshine, and lush trees. In her voice, I could hear that feeling spring exudes that says life is stable.

Grace’s take:

Listening to "Porsche" for the first time, I was immediately struck by how jubilant the instrumental opening made me feel. It reminded me of the opening of one of my all-time favorite songs, "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac, but most importantly, it beautifully captured the feeling of renewal. The song seemed to encourage me to relive some of my favorite peaceful memories from springs past: soaking up the ever-so-welcome sunshine during long car rides, going on walks and observing all of the flowers that had regrown, and just finally feeling blissful again after a rough winter.

This feeling is echoed by the song's lyrics, which are simple but hauntingly beautiful and a much-needed reminder. Kacy Hill sings over and over again, "Baby, you got it. And everybody loves you." It's a truth that we can forget all too often, and Hill reminds listeners of the support systems we have around us. The song is filled with other important reminders and advice, such as "Don't take it personally if things don't work out the way you thought." Overall, "Porsche" makes for an incredible, feel-good listening experience. It feels like sunshine and like lying in a warm bath of positivity.

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Alexandra Fiorentino-Swinton’s pick: Erykah Badu, “Window Seat”

There’s something inherently wistful and romantic and promising about Erykah Badu and neo-soul in general. I think it has something to do with the tendency to take inspiration from the past and fuse it with the present, which screams “spring” to me. We leave winter a little brittler and dimmer than we were before, but we eagerly lean into spring with the knowledge that we’ll enjoy the sun all the more for it.

Miss Badu perfectly captures the gentleness and haziness I associate with spring, what I consider to be the airiest and least intense of seasons. It waffles between chilly and balmy, easing us from one extreme to the next. Similarly, Erykah seems to be at a crossroads as she travels alone, just wanting “a chance to fly / A chance to cry / And a long bye bye,” and who among us can’t relate? It’s a song about release, and as the ice melts away and the coats get shelved till fall, there’s no other song I’d rather soundtrack my spring.

Nadya’s take:

As soon as I pressed play I knew this was the perfect spring song. It’s the light, rhythmic piano in the back that does it for me. I also love the idea of the song in general: the window seat is where the most elite daydreaming happens. It’s the place where you can settle in your own thoughts and breathe, and I believe spring brings us the chance to do this. Spring gives us the chance to take a little time to ourselves and step back to observe the world we live in. After this pandemic, I think we could all benefit from this outlook and I challenge you all to incorporate it into your daily lives, maybe by sitting on the Quad and playing this song!

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Andrew Stahl’s pick: David Bowie, “I Can’t Give Everything Away”

David Bowie died for the last time on January 10, 2016. Previous deaths, including one famous rock ‘n’ roll suicide, always held the promise of reinvention; this time Lazarus couldn’t escape himself (“Everybody knows me now” he sings). There are signs of defiance: “I’m dying to / Push their backs against the grain / And fool them all again and again,” but the first line soon proved to be more double entendre than bravado. The elegiac closer to Bowie’s career, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” completes his final reinvention as an artist who no longer plays a character.

The song sounds like an attempt to sum up his life. It begins with the harmonica line from “A New Career In A New Town”—written in exile in Berlin after his most controversial death—which transforms into a haunting saxophone refrain (his first instrument). “This is all I ever meant / That’s the message that I sent,” he sings. There is a tinge of regret, perhaps because his life with his second wife has been cut short—the title might refer to not being able to give it all up, knowing that he was dying from cancer. But it also indicates that he’s not willing to give up the game entirely, that even after dropping the masks his music still holds secrets. David Bowie died his final death on January 10, 2016, but his music continues reinventing itself.

Eleni’s take:

This song resonated with me particularly strongly from the first time I listened to it. It was Sunday night and I had just submitted a paper that I had spent the whole day working on, and I had that restless energy Bowie emanates here, which is fueled by the almost chaotic instrumentals of the song. Maybe I was just projecting my own feelings about my current situation onto the song, but I felt like there’s something desperate in the way he sang “I can’t give everything away”—as if someone was actually demanding everything from him. At the same time, there is also a kind of empowering sentiment about setting boundaries that strikes me as relevant heading into this spring.

I’ve always found that winter can be an especially draining time of the year, and while spring might bring a new, revitalizing energy, it also seems like a time where things start to become a bit clearer, allowing us to reflect on the darker days of winter. This song feels like dragging yourself out of a lifestyle or situation that you know is unhealthy or is taking too much from you; even if you need to repeatedly affirm the statement to convince yourself of it (“saying no but meaning yes”), the message is still clear that you deserve the right to save some of yourself, only for yourself. 

Featured Image created via here and here; graphics designed by Felix Gonzalez

Fernweh~5: Bulgaria

fernweh

/ˈfɛʁnveː/

farsickness or longing for far-off places

In this entry of Fernweh, we are going to explore the Bulgarian culture. As I have lived, and am currently living, in a geographical place pretty close to Bulgaria, I can count the many instances I was lucky enough to experience the Balkan traditions. In this region, the folk tales are still narrated by the elders to the next generations in crowded family dinners as if they happened--or fantasized to have happened--in the recent past, and the traditional clothes are worn not because they belong to history but because they are a part of daily life.

The traditions are so integrated into the present that when I was visiting Macedonia for the Balkan Youth Folk Dances Festival--yes, that is a thing here-- dancers like me wore traditional garments because they were a part of the required getup, but most surprisingly, some of the audience members also wore other traditional outfits.

Last quarter in my humanities class (reading cultures, if you are wondering), when a friend of mine from the Balkans made a presentation about the importance of a traditional shirt transferred from generation to generation in his family, once again, I was filled with admiration. So, what’s so different about this entry of the series is that the culture I will discuss is not preserved like amber within the modern designs, but it continues to breathe life every day.

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Traditional Clothing

Many civilizations left their traces in the Bulgarian culture throughout history, including, but not limited to, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Slavs, and Turks. These interactions resulted in different ethnic articles of clothing that are spread across the borders of Bulgaria. It is not unlikely to see a diverse spectrum of ethnic costumes with lots of common-ground elements. That also represents how the Bulgarian territory is a host to many different communities. The traditional garments, narodna nosia/nosija, therefore are an expression of the identities of these communities.

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The traditional clothes were hand-made by the Bulgarian females in the villages up until the beginning of the twentieth century. Learning to embroider was an essential skill, as the motifs in the costumes were used to identify the region and the village. The motifs were heavily influenced by the Pagan beliefs, such as bad luck of symmetrical shapes. Therefore, most of the costumes included intentional removals of symbols and cuts on the fabric. Each costume with its own design conveyed a message or a pleasant wish from the costume's embroiderer to the owner or a bystander. 

Female costumes consisted of dresses and aprons. The number of aprons in a female costume was an indicator of the region of the maker. Also, different head garments and accessories were designed in consideration of the family and the village. Moreover, on top of the costume, women wore an overcoat called saya. Most of the identification of the embroidery was understood by looking at this part of the costume. 

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Male costumes consisted of pants, shirts, and vests. The differences between male outfits were due to the color of the upper coat. As the male costumes were much simpler than the female ones, the garments' shades varied between black and white, each indicating a different region of Bulgaria. 

Present Day

As I mentioned earlier, the traditional costumes of Bulgaria are still in-use by the current Bulgarians. During Festivals, other important dates, family events, and more, it is possible to encounter people who wear their ethnic outfits. 

However, one thing that is worth mentioning is that the traditional motifs of the Bulgarian costumes are in great demand by the fashion industry. Even though there are not many well-known Bulgarian fashion brands, Valentino’s 2015 collection displays the influential power of Bulgarian traditional styles on current fashion trends. 

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Brave New World’s Future is Undoubtedly Fashionable

In a previous article on the topic of costume design and science fiction (the Raised by Wolves one, in case you forgot or did not know), I mentioned NBCUniversal Peacock’s series Brave New World. There is a purpose behind it. I wanted readers to acknowledge its existence because eventually, it would be the show’s turn to receive an exploration of its fashion designs. Regardless of how well it did with critics and audiences, or how well it adapted and built upon its source material (Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World novel, a critique of the early 20th century’s utopian ideas about a possible future based on the values of the times), the show’s costume design, and style in general, is a visual experience that uses a mixture of 1930s motifs with contemporary fashion to picture a dangerously attractive version of our future.

Brave New World was developed by Brian Taylor, David Wiener, and Grant Morrison. While you may not know any of these names, Grant Morrison is an iconic DC Comics writer, and if you know me and my article oeuvre, you know I love DC. He is known for esoteric plots and crazy scripts, so adapting a novel that is aesthetically rich and full of possibility storywise, most significantly due to the shifting values that mark each century, is something he excels on. For those rare few reading right now that know Final Crisis, Multiversity, and his run of Doom Patrol, you have an idea of what this writer is capable of imagining; otherwise, I believe anyone reading words like Final Crisis, Multiversity, and Doom Patrol without having the slightest idea of what they mean in the context of comics may comprehend the level of “out thereness” and existential dilemmas they convey. That is all to say that, even if the story in the novel is not very similar to the series’ (and I must tell you, the latter deviates so glaringly from the book in its characterization and message), the show’sstyle, especially the myriad of different garment designs, is for sure one of its most fascinating aspects.

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In broad strokes (a challenge in itself), the TV show follows two characters, Bernard (played by Harry Lloyd) and Lenina Crowne (played by Jessica Brown Findlay), in a utopic New London where, amongst the various changes to today’s society, human embryos are genetically developed in artificial wombs and separated into social castes before birth (Epsilons in the bottom and Alpha Pluses in the top). During their childhood development, they are conditioned to deny solipsism and monogamy and give in to sharing their pleasures with the rest of society while performing their caste vocations correctly and without question, always perceiving their mental health as a benefit for the collective, and never challenging the social bodies above them and accepting the provocations from those below them. However, upon venturing into the Savage Lands and encountering John, the Savage (played by Alden Ehrenreich), Bernard and Lenina’s view of this “utopian” society changes into eventual defiance of its machinations. The social castes’ fashion also reflects the citizen’s positions in society, but interestingly, while in the book, only one color is assigned to each class (Black for Epsilons, Kaki for Deltas, Green for Gammas, Pink/Purple for Betas, and Grey for Alphas), in the show, it is instead the style of clothing that primarily defines the classes. 

Therefore, to speak of Brave New World’s fashion in detail is a very daunting experience as the amount of variance inside the social classes (besides Epsilons grey janitor uniforms) is vast, especially without the use of colors to help to define them, which makes appropriately distinguishing Alphas from Betas and Gammas from Deltas challenging when, for example, they are walking on the streets. However, it is possible to classify the series’ costume designs in three different ways: day looks, night looks, and the clothing of the Savages.

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But first, I would like to acknowledge costume designer Susie Coulthard, who previously worked on Black Mirror’s episodes Metalhead and the award winner San Juniper (my favorite episode, and I think of many people), and brands Jako Schelpfer and Cotweiller for their work on the show. Although there is not much on the internet about the creative process behind the designs Couthhard worked on and how she came up with the futuristic look (I would love to know how she worked with the production team to design Brave New World’s version of the future), she has briefly commented on her inspirations before. In an email to SYFY Wire, she mentions, “Let’s not forget the novel was written 90 years ago. I wanted to give a nod to this by looking at the fashion of the '30s when the novel was written.” I will go a little bit more into the day looks later, but the 1930’s high society male and female fashion clearly inspired the show’s garments. Moreover, it is known that Coulthard partnered with Swiss textile company Jakob Schlaepfer to weave the glossy, oily, and glassine looks that populate New London in contrast with the more wool-based comfortable 1930s inspired ones. And she also worked with Cottweiler at one point, a high concept, high-fashion streetwear company, since they mention they helped design Brave New World’s costumes in their Instagram (specifically which ones remain to be known as the series has a lot of different garments), something very on-brand for Cottweiler as they are known for innovative fashion.

Now, I think it is time to address the visual side of this article. From my classifications, I will be separating the day looks into work clothing and leisure clothing. Looking into the Alphas first, because they work in positions of power and control, their garments usually are very formal and cover most of their bodies because they work in positions of authority. For male characters like Bernard, who is in charge of ensuring that people are emotionally healthy and available for the social body’s good, tailored wool blazers, dress pants, and open trench coats were designed to be worn with a turtleneck sweater and sometimes an added scarf to create this image of power from volume. Also, as sex is something normal, rather encouraged in Brave New World’s society, covering the flesh instills the idea that such a person is harder to get, more unattainable, creating this dynamic of power and respect. Yet, it does not prevent the look from being attractive as Henry Foster (played by Sen Mitsuji) wears form-fitted suit jackets with low turtleneck shirts that accentuate his athletic physique. Separately, the 1930s were famous for the sharp form-fitted business suits, and both turtlenecks and trench coats were around at the time and part of the male wardrobe. But together, the garments are a fashion statement suitable for the future.

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As a side note, the show does not depict many Alphas of the opposite gender, but the female Alphas key to the story (Wilhelmina Watson portrayed by Hannah John-Kamen and World Controller Mustafa Mond) wear loose poncho shirt-dresses and robes as professional attire. The 1930s reference is lost on me, but they fulfill the “cover less skin” and “power through volume” constant of this caste.

Compared to the Alphas, the Betas wear lighter, more transparent, and glossier garments and appear with leisure clothing, something that sets them apart. Here is where Jakob Schlaepfer’s textiles start to shine in the series. Because Betas are, in a summarized way, the scientists or lab technicians of the society, fertilizing and classifying the caste of different newly formed embryonic zygotes, women wear white lab coats that cover different types of dresses and skirts while men wear white lab coats over loose scoop neck t-shirts and trousers. However, they only wear their coats inside their labs, which look almost transparent and very glassine as if instead of protecting, they serve as a reminder of a past custom. Thus outside them, anything is possible.

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Lenina is an excellent example of how her sense of style transcends the limitations of work clothing. Betas can wear different types of dresses or t-shirts for work, but Lenina not only has a closet full of dress types like rompers, sleeveless bodycon, and wrap, but she is seen with evening capes and tied-up trench coats replacing her lab coats as a leisure look. The audience even gets to see Lenina Crowne and her friend Frannie Crowne (played by Kylie Bunbury) wearing white sports attire full of webbed and accordion mashes playing tennis in a high-tech court. Betas are the most fluid and dynamic caste in terms of fashion, and most of the garments I listed Lenina wearing (her rompers, trench coats, capes, wrap dresses) were very much present in the 30s. What makes the show’s costume design feel futuristic is the use of unusual textiles and colors and the combination of past and present fashion to create something new.

Night looks, then, go all out on the futuristic innovative side of fashion Huxley could never even possibly imagine. These looks, characteristic of New London’s social nightlife, are very much a result of the haute couture and technology of the present and our understanding of how fashion may look in the future from a 2010’s viewpoint, with 3D printed clothing that can morph into anything you design in real-time, selected from tech lenses that connect characters with the whole of society (yep, that happens in the show). Every scene that occurs in a nightclub is priceless because of the creativity behind each and every style for both the main actors and the extras, especially the female garments, and I believe it is something anyone interested in fashion should look forward to when watching Brave New World (if you choose to, but be careful because nudity and sex are primarily depicted in them).

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It is in the nightlife scenes that Coulthard, Cottweiler (I would believe their collaboration resulted in at least the night looks), and Jakob Schlaepfer’s work become something transcendental and maybe even prophetic (not regarding the dystopian background, but the fashion scene). I say this because Brave New World’s night fashion is not the result of one person depicting what they think the future may resemble based on their perspective of life, but a consequence of haute culture and high-fashion brands giving their input on today’s fashion scene and likely trends to inform a more realistic future. It is indeed exciting to imagine how technology will influence how we will look, and it is even more exhilarating when seeing a well-crafted educated guess depicted visually on the screens.

Finally, I should mention the designs worn by the Savages. For contextualization, not all cities globally are ultra-technological conditioning hubs of progress, sex, soma (compliance and emotional welfare drug), and complacency. Some people decided not to give up their freedoms and solipsism to be part of Brave New World’s depiction of a flawed utopian society, so they live in poverty in reserves worldwide. The show’s Savage Lands are different from the books as they are located in an undisclosed US Midwestern place and work more like a resort, museum, and theater experience where the “savages” act out the sins behind concepts like monogamy, capitalist indulgence, and free will (crimes). 

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So, the savage garments represent how stuck in time (outdated) and materially impoverished they are. They wear something that resembles a 70s hippie style, with lots of disco suits, tank tops, and jeans and leather pants, belts, and jackets. The show does this to seemingly depict the savage community as a group of cults and gangs (the Savage Lands do look a lot like Spahn Ranch) seeking to remain outside of civilization’s mockery in a self-sufficient reserve. There is a lot of gaslighting between John, his lover Madysun, her boyfriend, and gang leader Sheila at the beginning of the show, and Sheila herself tried to get John into her gang to help them kill all outsiders in an act of defiance against the world.

John, then, goes through the most and least significant change in fashion of any character in Brave New World. He goes from troubled lover boy wearing dirty white t-shirts and tank tops with skinny pants and an orange shirt covered by a red nylon jacket to, when he moves to New London, troubled lover boy sometimes wearing light grey and white t-shirts and slacks, other times wearing black/navy velvet peacoats and black/navy slacks. The show depicts the “Savage” devoid of any bright hue in the new city, outfitted in the dullest of shades. Yet there are moments in the series that display John with a similar wardrobe to his Savage Lands style, especially his choice of a white t-shirt. He never wanted to go to New London; he just wished to escape the poverty-stricken place he lived in for his and his mother’s sake (played by Demi Moore), so at the beginning, his mentality in the city was one of escape, reflected by the similarly styled clothing. But as John began to fall in love with Lenina and (briefly) enjoys London, the fabrics and colors of his garments became darker and more sophisticated to represent him losing his principles, joy, and will to be free due to (mild spoiler) sexual indulgence and Lenina’s own doubts about free will and love’s importance against the “perfect life.”

In conclusion, Brave New World should be on anyone’s list who likes to watch shows not only because of their compelling stories and characters but also because of their ability to weave clothing and personalities together and translate possibility into a visual aesthetic that either predicts that future of fashion or provides grounds for inspiring future trends.

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The New Flower Trend: LEGO?

LEGOs are more than a pastime; they are a creative endeavor. Anyone can style any set as an imaginary world or an artistic ornament. LEGOs are an aesthetic, and a lifestyle. The Danish company has touched many different media properties throughout its years, from DC and Marvel to Harry Potter and Star Wars, and created some new ones like Ninjago and Legends of Chima, but the company’s roots lie in making “unthemed” replicas of real-life environments and buildings. Their Architecture and Art lines are the quintessential representation of the brand’s potential as an A.D.I.M.W.E.A.K., also known as an artistic decorative imaginary miniature world-building assembling entertainment kit. The company can design toys, but they can do much more than that, and really, the more artsy themes I have mentioned are just touching the surface. A brand new example of LEGOⓇ’s foray into this world of home decor statuettes is their recent LEGOⓇ Flower Bouquet and LEGOⓇ Bonsai Tree sets from the Creators collection. 

(This will be a short article, but please count how many times I write “collection,” “set,” and LEGO. Right out of the bat, I can tell you it’s many).

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The Botanical Collection is one of the first of its kind for the company. If you own a LEGO, chances are you have already built small flowers and trees before, albeit with a few pieces, adjusted to make them fit the size of the set. But models made to replicate the scale of real flowers as buildable sets are truly something unique. The 756-piece bouquet set includes many botanical genus and families from snapdragons (cool name for a flower), roses (classic), and poppies (opioid-free), to daisies (very delicate), and asters (daisies again?) and can be arranged based on the personal preferences of the owner, especially as the stems are length-adjustable and the petal-pieces are of different colors altogether. But if you want, you can buy red roses and tulips separately from the main set for that romantic date gift (for those LEGO lovers, of course). And the 878-piece bonsai tree set is a twist on the millennial practice of pruning and shaping the small specimen, offering a challenging experience for customers, and features two optional leaf colors: perennial green and cherry blossom pink. It also comes with instructions for both a rectangular pot and a display wood stand so the whole ~bonsai aesthetic~ is achieved to its fullest.

LEGOⓇ designed this collection with adults as their target audience in mind. In their official press release, they mention their 2020’s global LEGO Play Well Study as a source of inspiration, seeing that 73% of the adults that answered the survey mentioned they look for ways to distress weekly, and that 81% of them said that playing with LEGOs helps them achieve a level of relaxation; all as a trend created by the pandemic. In other words, LEGOⓇ understood the importance of their brand, the current consumer environment, and the engagement that their sets have with their customers, including older LEGO lovers. Thus, it makes sense as to why LEGO decided to lean into activities that are naturally relaxing outside their LEGO form like picking flowers to display in one’s house, or cutting and caring for a bonsai. As design lead of the LEGO group, Jamie Berard, expressed in the press release, “as adults look for new ways to switch off and relax, we’re delighted to be able to help them seek solace from their busy everyday lives as they immerse themselves in creating these beautiful botanical builds.”

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Something interesting to note is that within collections with VIDIYO and Hidden Side, LEGOⓇ has been diving into creating lots of different original set themes that make use of AR components, providing an immersive experience for kids to blend concrete built environments with superimposed digital characters. However, their first release of 2021 stirs technological innovation to the opposite direction, one that focuses more on production since the flower bouquet and bonsai tree collection pieces are manufactured using sustainably sourced sugarcane as a basis for their bioplastic, showing the company’s ability to continually innovate and sell something for every kind of taste. 

In the end, the Botanical collection is another aesthetic addition to LEGOⓇ’s assortment of artistically driven, adult-minded sets with decorative potential that serve as a fulfilling de-stressing activity for those LEGO builders who seek something different, and something beautiful and challenging at that.  

If you want to snag the collection for yourself, you can go back to the text and click on “bouquet set” and “bonsai tree set.” At the time of this writing, all sets are sold out in the official website, but they are available to the public in other retail stores. And if you want to read more about them, check out this article.

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The Bachelor's Chronic Race Problem

If you have been following along with The Bachelor franchise, or honestly, even if you haven’t, you know that the series has a race problem. More broadly, it has a diversity problem. While The Bachelor producers have faced surmounting pressure under the recent George Floyd protests, they finally, after twenty-five seasons, casted the first black bachelor, Matt James. They also casted their most diverse group of contestants and hired a diversity team. While those are good steps, that alone will not eliminate racism from the franchise.

This recent season is where racial matters have come to a head: one of the contestants, Rachael Kirkconnell, has been questioned over past social media activity that included posting and liking racist imagery and QAnon conspiracy theories. Then, photos of her at an “Old South” plantation-themed college party in 2018 appeared on Reddit the first week of February. Since then, fans have repeatedly asked for accountability both from Rachael but also from the producers for allowing someone of that character on their show.

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While Matt James tried to stay low and not directly address the issue (“Rumors are dark and nasty and can ruin people’s lives. So I would give people the benefit of the doubt, and hopefully she will have her time to speak on that”), Chris Harrison, the show’s host since its premier in 2002, was finally confronted with it on Rachel Lindsay’s show.

Rachel Lindsay made history as the first Black Bachelorette in 2017 and has continued to remain a loud advocate for addressing the diversity issues on the show. She invited Chris Harrison to clear up the controversy, only to have him dig himself his own grave.

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Addressing the “Old South” photos, Harrison said, “Well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018, or is it not a good look in 2021? Because there’s a big difference…Where is this lens we’re holding up and was this lens available, and were we all looking through it in 2018?” He also said that we need to “have a little grace, a little understanding, a little compassion” towards Rachael.

I was horrified when I first heard the comment. I had always known that Chris Harrison wasn’t the champion of social justice everyone wished he could be – his ignorance has rubbed me the wrong way and at many times he seemed ingenuine in his “commitments” to diversity. However, I had always held out hope on him, and by doing so, in The Bachelor franchise as a whole.

Countless times, I saw statements of The Bachelor pledging to incorporate more diversity onto their show, yet I would always be let down when the new season approached. The closest I got to being proud of the progress The Bachelor has made was when Tayshia Adams, the second Black Bachelorette, had a conversation with contestant Ivan Hall about matters of race and police brutality in America. This moment was only possible due to the diversity in experience both the contestants and the bachelorette had. That conversation was relayed to thousands of people across America, most of whom are white and may be in conservative-leaning areas where they are not exposed to personal experiences with race.

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Harrison posted an apology for “wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism.” Again, I was let down by him, because while he responded to the comment he made about having “grace,” he said nothing of the fact that he excused racist behavior from *checks notes* three years ago.

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Rachael Kirkconnell did not even respond to any of her behavior until after Chris Harrison’s apology and went on to contradict her own actions by saying “it’s important to speak up in the moment and not after you’re called out.” Now, it’s possible that her contract with ABC prevented her from speaking on the matter, but Rachel Lindsay has said otherwise: “There is nothing in your contract that stops you from getting on your social media and doing exactly what she just did. She can’t go to the media, do an exclusive sit-down interview on her own, but they don’t have control over your social.”

What ultimately matters is how Black viewers receive the apology, and judging from the Instagram comments, it was appropriate. As one comment put it, “AS SOMEONE THIS APOLOGY WAS MEANT FOR, I think this was a very well said statement. I appreciate the fact you took accountability and didn’t try to use ignorance nor age as an excuse. Thank you I felt that this was sincere.”

There were also joint statements from the cast of this season as well as the cast from Tayshia’s season condemning racist behavior on the show. On Saturday, Chris Harrison announced that he was stepping down as host for a “period of time” so as to not have this “historic season…be marred or overshadowed by my mistakes or diminished by my actions.” In this announcement, Chris Harrison finally owned up to “excusing historical racism,” admitting he defended it. While he could have been clearer about showing that he was aware of what he did wrong, I’ll give him credit for being quick with his apologies (this whole sequence happened within a matter of days), unlike Rachael.

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This is just one example of a racist, insensitive incident that has happened on the show, but any viewer can name countless others. That alone is a reason why I don’t think this event will have much of an impact on the show. Excuse my pessimism, but for a show that has a swath of white viewers who maybe don’t understand the inherent issues of race, their public opinion will not change significantly and therefore neither will the show’s.

Obviously, there are a few outspoken people such as Rachel Lindsay and fan groups such as the Bachelor Diversity Campaign who have pushed for changes and have somewhat succeeded. Still, there is much work to be done to change the systemic structure of the show that cannot be accomplished without public pressure from a large section of the viewership. Lindsay put it best: “The show does not understand people of color. Period…The only way to do that is to have people of color in the decision-making room.”

If, however, ABC picks a new, permanent host who exemplifies the future of The Bachelor that many people hope for, it could turn the train around. Having a host actively committed to anti-racism as the face of the show could dramatically shift its trajectory and would make me feel less guilty about watching a show that is incredibly tone-deaf to race in the United States. If I’m being honest, I don’t see ABC doing this, but a girl can dream, right?

For now, we’ll have to wait and see if Chris Harrison will ever step off of The Bachelor stage. And we’ll also have to see how far Rachael gets through the season (some predict that she ends up winning, hence the frantic messaging on ABC’s part). Despite my pessimism, I do hope The Bachelor can listen to its fans and make us proud to be part of “Bachelor Nation.”

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Underrated Artist Spotlight

Searching for unique music to listen to so you can fuel your individuality complex? Or just looking for something new to spice up your music taste? Today, we’re highlighting some underrated artists* that will have you feeling like the main character in your own indie coming-of-age movie.

*Underrated can be an incredibly contentious term when discussing music, so for all intents and purposes, we’ll consider underrated to refer to artists with less than 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

HumorUs

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Based in Nashville, HumorUs produces vibrant, energetic music that provides an instant boost of serotonin. If you enjoy bands such as Passion Pit, Phoenix, and Grouplove, you’ll enjoy the feel-good sounds of HumorUs.

Songs to check out: “Labyrinth,” “Paranormal,” “Road Trip”

Florence Rose

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With sounds inspired by Cage the Elephant, Declan Mckenna, Gus Dapperton, and The Neighborhood, it’s no surprise that Florence Rose’s music is indie rock perfection. Heartfelt lyrics combined with danceable melodies make for a necessary addition to any indie rock lover’s playlist.

Songs to check out: “Boyfriend,” “Growing Pains,” “The Day We Met”

Sizzy Rocket

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If you’re a fan of Dua Lipa, Rina Sawayama, and Charli XCX, make sure to check out the electropop sounds of Sizzy Rocket. She describes herself as “the cool best friend you wish you had growing up - the one who doused herself in glitter and moved to New York to start a punk band,” a sentiment that is certainly echoed in her music. Sizzy Rocket has also written music for recognizable pop artists such as Noah Cyrus, Bea Miller, and Hey Violet.

Songs to check out: “Rollerskating,” “Bestie,” “I KNOW WHAT U LIKE”

Cannibal Kids

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Indie-surf pop-rock band Cannibal Kids creates relaxing yet melodically joyful music that will appeal to lovers of groups like LANY and Cigarettes After Sex. If you want to feel like you’re lounging at the beach, Cannibal Kids is the band for you.

Songs to check out: “Falling in Love at Wii Sports Resort,” “My Boy / My Girl,'“ “Save Me The Time”

Bien

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Indie pop trio Bien produces music that will leave you in a dreamlike haze. Their music is peaceful but fresh, and fans of EXES or VÉRITE will appreciate their eclectic sound.

Songs to check out: “Times Like This,” “Spinning on Blue,” “Stars Across the Sky”

Black Pontiac

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Perhaps what is so special about Black Pontiac’s music is its ability to remain ever-so-energetic while still invoking a sense of nostalgia for nights long gone. I would especially recommend their music to fans of Ricky Montgomery and Ryan Beatty.

Songs to check out: “Kate Rambo,” “November State of Mind,” “School Girls”

Juco

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Juco’s music does an excellent job at capturing the feeling of youth. It’s perfect for both dance parties in your room and lying on your bed contemplating your life - that’s versatility!

Songs to check out: “Dance With Me,” “We Were Young,” “Take Me to Your House”

Dom Fera

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Dom Fera’s music immediately feels vivid and refreshing. Perfect for lovers of Declan Mckenna and Kid Bloom, it’s sure to make you feel like you’re transcending.

Songs to check out: “Breathe,” “Mothers and Fathers,” “Easy Thing”

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Lost Media: London After Midnight

Over winter break, I fell into a rabbit hole regarding lost media. Scouring various online forums took over majority of my free time as I looked for more information regarding many pieces of lost media, particularly films. Simply put… I was hooked. 

Lost media refers to anything ranging from literary works to films to television broadcasts—anything that has been lost to time. Rumors can run rampant within communities dedicated to this subject—given that there is always a shroud of mystery. Many lost media have little to no evidence of their existence, yet countless people dedicate time to finding them. There is something fascinating, almost thrilling, of finding a piece of media that people haven’t seen or interacted with for years. Most of the time, there is no monetary compensation or any type of reward for these pieces of media—just eager communities waiting for the rediscovery. One of the biggest subcommunities of lost media is dedicated to lost films, particularly early silent films. 

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Before home media, the film industry was quite different. Films really only had value during their theatrical release, and afterwards, they were worthless to studios. These films took up space in the studios’ vaults and were very expensive to maintain. Despite churning out many of these moving pictures, there was never any consideration to archive them for historical purposes. Most of the time, they would be recycled for silver or sold. According to various sources, 75% to 90% of all silent films are permanently lost.

Even if studios kept copies of their films, fires were a common occurrence. Film stock was produced with nitrate which was highly flammable. Two of the most famous occurrences were the 1937 Fox vault fire and the 1965 MGM vault fire. The 1937 vault fire caused majority of Fox’s silent films created before 1937 to be destroyed, and the 1965 MGM vault fire destroyed the last known copy of Tod Browning’s London After Midnight, a movie shrouded with lore and considered the “holy grail” of lost films. 

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Tod Browning was a legendary director, who created one of the most influential movies of the 20th century. Dracula (1937), starring Bela Lugosi, was the first talking film based on the Bram Stoker novel, and the titular Dracula continues to be a cultural icon. The success of Dracula would serve as the starting point to Universal’s Classic Monsters. Bela Lugosi’s portrayal would serve as the mold for other vampire films that came in its wake. However, before Tod Browning directed Dracula, he had already started to experiment with the horror genre. In 1927, he created London After Midnight, starring Lon Chaney. London After Midnight experimented with horror and supernatural tones. It was a commercial hit albeit a lukewarm reception. It would be one of Lon Chaney and Tod Browning’s most known works, yet no one has laid eyes on it since 1965.

The film continues to be one of the most sought after, with rumors of its discovery swirling around from time to time. 

Despite being lost, the original screenplay and some of the movie stills exist. Using the screenplay and movie stills, Rick Schmidlin was commissioned by Turner Classic Movies to produce a 45-minute reconstruction of what the movie would have looked like. Though an honest attempt and a spectacular feat, there was something missing—the essence of the film itself. It gave a great idea of what moviegoers saw back in 1927; however, it can’t replace watching the film itself. Close to a century of its creation, it still garners more attention than most lost films. The only known poster for the film was auctioned off and bought for $478,000 in 2014 by Kirk Hammett of Metallica. 

The only known poster for the film was auctioned off and bought for $478,000 in 2014 by Kirk Hammett of Metallica. 

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Even with such a status and attention, the discovery of London After Midnight would not sell for the same amount, or even in the same stratosphere, as the poster did. Despite being a lost film, Warner Brothers still holds the rights to the film, which essentially means that any person who were to come across the film would probably pay not much for it. Given its status, it would be hard to sell it without Warner Brothers trying to take action. If any money was to be made for a found reel, it would most likely be by a private collector.

In fact, many people believe that somewhere in a private collection, London After Midnight exists waiting for it to become public domain so Warner Brothers cannot block the sale of it. As of right now, the film is slated to enter public domain in 2022, so we shall just wait to see whether these rumors have a basis. 

Despite not having any economic incentive, many people hope, myself included, that one day, as they are scourging through boxes of an attic or an estate sale, they come across an old film reel with “The Hypnotist” written on it. That one day, it will be screened in its entirety. 

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There’s a beauty in it. Films give us a window into the time and society they were produced in. There is something exhilarating of finding a piece of media that hasn’t been seen by anyone for decades—to be the first person to do so. To discover a piece of history that has been lost to time. Perhaps one day we will see a copy of London After Midnight, though chances are relatively low. But if the curiosity of this film is too much, there is always the 2002 reconstructed version of it and the 1935 “talkie remake” Tod Browning did with Bela Lugosi.

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Chicago Chocolate Crawl

Although Valentine’s Day has passed, there’s always an occasion to do something fun with your significant other, your friends, or just by yourself! I’m a chocoholic, so this year for the holiday I decided to create a “chocolate crawl,” consisting of a walk to different chocolate stores downtown. I’m sharing this with you all because—excuse the ego—I’m kind of proud of myself for this idea and want everyone else to do it. Make it a thing. Name it the “Nadya Chocolate Tour” or something, idk.

Stop #1: L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates

If you’re driving, this is where you are going to want to park – everything else is within walking distance from here! L.A. Burdick is the absolute cutest and prettiest store. Everything is neatly displayed and boxed and the service is amazing. They have an area just for chocolates and then another area for fudge. The store really lives up to its name – you can tell that each piece of chocolate is delicately handmade with the utmost care. The variety in flavor is also astounding, you won’t be disappointed. They even have seasonal chocolates shaped like penguins and mice! Just look at how cute they are! This is a great first stop to get in the chocolate-y vibe.

 Stop #2: Venchi Chocolate Chicago at Eataly

Head just a block east and you’ll arrive at the infamous Eataly. When you step into Eataly, you can become pretty overwhelmed with the amount of food there. Most people go for their selection of handmade pasta, sauces, or wine, but the chocolate bar shouldn’t go overlooked – arranged in satisfying little cubes, this stop includes tasty chocolates of all kinds. They even have chocolate baskets for those who are indecisive! Overall, if you want a taste of what Italy can offer you in the realm of chocolates, this is your place.

 Stop #3: ROYCE Chocolate

Walk another block east and one block south to arrive at ROYCE. Located on the third floor of The Shops at North Bridge on the Magnificent Mile, this shop differs from the other two in that most of its chocolates are not in an open display but rather in perfectly designed boxes. I almost mistook it for a jewelry store before stepping in, as every box is displayed in a brightly lit case on the wall. After the more “typical” chocolates you’ve just tasted, this is where you’re going to want to branch out. Personally, I bought Matcha Bar Chocolate which was heavenly. I never even knew such chocolate existed, but boy, am I glad I tried it.

 Stop #4: Ghirardelli Chocolate

Obviously, we had to save the most iconic store for last. Walk a block south and you’ll arrive at the queen of all chocolate stores. They have an assortment of chocolates where you can either buy by the pound or try to stuff everything you can into one $20 box (which I did). They also have cute merch you can check out. And, if you’re somehow all chocolated-out, they have ice cream and milkshakes as well!

You’ve made it to the end of your tour! I hope you all try this out, it’s a fun thing to do especially in COVID times because you are only in the stores for a little while and then can eat the chocolate safely outdoors. Happy chocolate binging!

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A Love Letter to Music Videos

As a child I was always captivated by music videos and I continue to really enjoy watching them to this day. Music videos provide an additional layer to a person's experience of a song. Maybe the video is meant to evoke how the artist feels when they think of their song. Maybe it's meant to show another element of the music. A really good music video has at times changed the ways that I feel about songs. They can also be spaces to experiment with fun concepts because they are usually really short. It’s always really disappointing when great songs have music videos that end up being major flops.  

Music videos are also a really low stakes way of consuming media. A bad film might waste an hour of your life, a bad music video will waste maybe four minutes. And if you find a video that you love you can watch it many times over. I still return to some that I loved when I was a child.

Here are a couple of my favorite music videos:

INTRUDERS- Jessie Reyez

In this stunning video Reyez tackles colonialism, transforming a song that could have easily been about a jealous lover into a reflection on oppression and its afterlives. Reyez is animated into a woman defending her sentient island home from intruders.

Happy- Mitski

Mitski really delivers on the plot twist in this video. For the entire video you think that it will go one way for the carpet to be pulled from under you a mere couple of seconds before the end. Trust me it’s worth a watch.

Cellophane- FKA Twigs

This video follows much less of a traditional narrative than the rest of the videos on the list, but the concept is gorgeous. The video begins in a room with FKA Twigs displaying her insane athleticism through pole dancing. The world then falls away and she descends taking viewers on an incomprehensible journey that will have them coming back again and again to this video.

Yo Perreo Sola- Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny has never really cared for fitting within tired gender norms; this entire video is a middle finger to homophobia and toxic masculinity. He dances in drag through most of the video serving some of the looks of the century. He ends the video with a message about respecting women.

thank u, next- Ariana Grande

The vibes are just impeccable. Watch for the tea on Ari’s ex’s stay for the nostalgia. This music video is full of references to the romcoms that many of us grew up with as she details her own personal journey of growing up and accepting breakups.  

Wet Dreamz- J. Cole

Dog lovers rejoice, this one is for you. How do you adapt a song about discovering your sexuality in adolescence? We follow the love story of two puppies who meet and fall in love in a really cute reference to puppy love.

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