On the New Yoko Ono biography, What’s Chic, and Lorde!
Dear Readers,
Welcome back to On Fashion. I’m back from my brief hiatus healthy, happy, and ready to dive headlong into some fashion discussions. All good things! I have a packed On Fashion this week. I’ve got an update on how I’m running On Fashion going forward, some acknowledgements of some incredible Armour people, and of course, what you are here for—fashion content!
First, some housekeeping: On Fashion, which began on Substack as my column for Armour, WashU’s student-run fashion magazine, is merging with my personal Substack, RIPPED AND RICH. It’s just easier that way. On Fashion, which is still part of Armour, will be a column of the greater RIPPED AND RICH world, which has always featured interviews with industry creatives and will now feature more art and culture topics, with fashion being central as always. Basically, I’m waving my magic wand and merging mailing lists. It won’t affect anything on your end, so just enjoy. In that vein, On Fashion and RIPPED AND RICH is continuing over the summer. I’ll be in NY working for Desert Vintage, going to fabulous parties, seeing friends and family, and looking at tons of art. So, basically heaven.
And finally before we start, I want to say a huge thank you to Sophia Palitti. She’s the one I thank at the end of this Substack each and every week and she’s one of the graduating Editors in Chiefs of Armour. I met her at the first pitchfest last fall and she has been an incredible friend, mentor, and creative confidant all year. We bonded over chewing gum in the gym and wearing cowboy boots. She encouraged me to start writing On Fashion for Armour. I’m sad she’s graduating but luckily for me, she’s from New York and we will be crossing paths many times I already know. With all the love, thank you, Sophia.
Now onto the new Yoko Ono biography, what’s chic, and Lorde!
On Yoko: There is nothing more entrancing than a biography of an artist that partly or completely takes place in New York. It’s truly a subcategory of nonfiction that captivates me and many other readers who spend their time daydreaming of NYC's past and the art created there that shaped American culture. Think Just Kids by Patti Smith, The Fran Lebowitz Reader by Fran of course or, more recently, Down the Drain by Julia Fox. Yoko by David Sheff opens with a vivid scene of Ono performing Cut Piece in 1964. Cut Piece is maybe the most famous example of performance art ever performed in America and all over the world. Scheff describes the tentative cuts random viewers of the piece made to Ono’s clothing, removing hem lines, delicately cutting away scrapes of fabric in a rhythm of restraint, slowly altering her clothes as she wore them. This viewer restraint quickly disappears and the piece meets its logical extreme when a man cuts away her shirt exposing her to the audience. Yoko described the experience as people activating her art. Sheff traverses Ono’s life and the lows and high with tact and in an extremely honest way. The book is extra special if you're like me and don’t really care about the Beatles, but are delighted to hear all the strange things Yoko and John Lenon did. Because this is a Fashion Substack, I also have to mention her incredible personal style which the book touches on briefly. I linked some pictures below. She has so many incredible style moments and of course I have to mention the sunglasses. I highly recommend the book and highly recommend familiarizing yourself with Ono’s work.
On what’s chic: I’ve been thinking about what is chic recently. The Oxford English Dictionary dictionary offers this definition: “elegant and stylishly fashionable.” That’s a good start, but chic is really a look and a feeling. It’s kind of mysterious and you know it when you see it or, better, wear it. So I figured I’d start to dispel the secrecy around what is chic. Really anything done well can be chic, but below are some of the things I find chic in the warm weather. (It’s 77 degrees in STL today thank god)
Jewelry you can sweat in: Very Charlie and Troye I know. (look at their Coachella outfits, they were good!) Now this doesn’t have to be precious and I really encourage it not to be. I wear a thin gold chain that I spent a long time finding. It’s perfect. So consider that, but I'd also encourage a friendship bracelet from someone that means something to you. Everything is beautiful when it's a beautiful story. I mean, it can still be ugly but I’ll give some examples.
Mix your sentimental jewelry/disposable “jewelry” with fine jewelry or wear it alone. The idea is you can be outside and not worry about it. And believe it or not, there is such a thing as too much jewelry! Keep it easy and breezy, like the pic above! Nobody wants to see a jewelry stack that looks like you’re wearing armor from the medieval ages.
Clothes given to you by family: I really do encourage you all to find your older family members’ clothes that they are willing to part with. Extra points if the clothes are worn. There is a really beautiful thing about the ease of wearing something old or meaningful. Summer is the time to look hot, so a destroyed t-shirt is absolutely the move. But aside from looking sexy, I find summer is when I want to be around friends and family and it's extremely comforting to wear something given to you by someone you love. And that feeling and exchange of loved clothes is extremely chic. I have a sumptuous sweater on loan from my godmother that I feel so fabulous in and it reminds me of her. I have at least 15 T-shirts from my dad that I wear with jeans. They are all perfect. And I have jewelry and old T-shirts from my mom.
Sunscreen: Yes, sunscreen is chic. I love seeing people outside and getting some sun but be warned even though getting some color on your skin can make your skin look better and hide some imperfections, your skin will get worse quickly if you burn. Also, sun damage causes long term issues. I use Cetaphil sunscreen and love it. No white cast, it's cheap, and it has moisturizer. It's easy. I could recommend many other more fancy or fabulous sunscreens that I love but that’s for another day. Because why bother when you have something cheap that really works? Save your money for vintage Prada!
On My Mind: Lorde's new album is coming and I can’t wait. I’m a massive fan of hers and she truly is one of the best dressed pop stars. My summer goal is to meet her. It may sound crazy, but I have a plan. I am revisiting some of her best looks and can’t wait to see what's coming and hear the new album.
As always, thanks for tuning into On Fashion! Feel free to DM me @Reidmcvey on Instagram or put all your fashion questions in the comments. They will be answered and maybe make an appearance on a future newsletter. Until next week,
Reid McVey
________________________________________________________________________
Thanks to Sophia Palitti, and Violet Holah,
Armour Magazine