9 Out of 10 Doctors Recommend a Fish Sweater

a sunday digest on birthday dresses, subway style, and citrus

I donned the fish sweater vest like armor to pay a visit to my doctor on a frigid winter morning.

It’s a piece I can only place into the “kindergarten-chic” category of my wardrobe; appropriate for sitting on a doctor’s table, paper crinkling beneath me, reduced to a nervous child. I’m focusing my gaze on a value-sized bottle of Purell as my feet dangle above the linoleum floor.

A child, in my fish knit, a foot taller than the woman asking me to bend down so she can take a look in my ears.

My doctor complimented the sweater — twice actually — when she said “I love your sweater!” and then when she apologized for letting something drip onto my “very cute outfit.” I left with a renewed affection for fish and a follow-up appointment for my yearly physical.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

Bobbed and baby-faced 16-year-old Adriana Lima knows how to do a birthday dress. This Blumarine f/w 1997 hot pink sequin number might just be the most Birthday dress of all time.

Nothing says birthday outfit to me like something that catches the flash of every camera in the room, demanding to be the only thing in focus. Especially if it’s got a matching fringed shawl.

My birthday is this week, and although I’ll be wearing something slightly more snowstorm-appropriate, this spirit of this dress will be with me.

The rest of the campaign, which appeared in the October 1997 issue of Vogue Italia, can’t go ignored. I can only assume the art director was aiming for ‘if the cast of Clueless had to skip fourth period for a seance.’ No notes!

These images are sources from Scanned Fashion World, an incredible resource for archival fashion images and a rabbit hole I fall down frequently.

Shalom Harlow, if you’re reading this and managed to steal the runway sample, I’d love to borrow it on Tuesday.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

The veggie aisle of Trader Joe’s is but a runway. This old woman was on a mission to raise the puffer’s coolness ceiling — high collar, contrasting head scarf, and a little baguette to prove she means business. Mission successful, imo.

And the queen of the R train opts for strappy leather flats over glass slippers. These Miista ballerinas are making a serious argument for ballet flats as winter shoes, and I might be digging out my summer sandals as we speak.

I’m usually too much of a baby to expose any portion of my foot in winter temps — even if that foot is wrapped in wool sock — but I must pay mind to a queen’s decree. For a lucky size 40, this brown pair is 70% off.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

There are no street stalls more tempting than the fruit markets in Chinatown. January is the month I remember how delicious oranges are, and like clockwork, I slowly forget as the year ticks on.

On a gloomy day, a cart of oranges can be anything you need it to be: a snack; a friend; a reason to stop in the rain without an umbrella and take a photo.

A few blocks north, borrowing a similar citrusy palette, the specials wall at Superiority Burger is a welcome boost of serotonin. The peanut butter Semifreddo pie will make you dance like the baseball-capped peanut who advertises it.

Pink, yellow, green, and orange do in fact belong together — both on the crossbred citrus tree that lives in the backyard of my imaginary mid-century dream home, and in my wardrobe. I’ll be wearing citrus this week.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

And in news you probably haven’t heard since I know this newsletter is where you come to find breaking tech stories… TikTok was banned. And now it’s back. Go figure.

still_on_a_downward_spiral

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Perhaps it’s too late, we have fed it too much, it’s a beast that cannot be killed. Or maybe it will die again in a week. Who’s to say!

More than anything, I enjoy being part of the monoculture in its demise. It’s nice when we’re all talking about the same thing. It would be even nicer if we were all talking about something real.

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I’d love to hear about what inspired you this week. And about any good pie you’ve eaten recently.