Vogue covered Lizzo’s quarantine style, specifically her collaboration with Quay, a brand that works with big-name celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and Jennifer Lopez. In the piece, Liam Hess writes, “Lizzo’s embrace of high fashion has also marked a step forward in visibility for size-inclusive fashion on the red carpet. As she astutely points out, while her looks tend to be custom-made, that’s hardly unusual for a red-carpet look, which typically involves multiple fittings—it’s simply that the precedent hadn’t been set.” Lizzo is absolutely correct: custom is standard for the big red carpet events. And she is breaking barriers, but that’s not for lack of others trying. It is absolute bullsh-t for an outlet like Vogue to try to imply that before Lizzo, no plus size woman had ever embraced or wanted couture fashion. They did, but the designers weren’t willing to go there. Part of the reason they didn’t want to go there is because institutions, like Vogue!, fortified the idea that only slim bodies have value. Through their editorial choices, they let it be known that fashion was not for everyone. As Lizzo says, “I wasn’t going to wait for somebody to tell me that I could be avant-garde with my style, or I could be sexy, or I could be glam; I just had to take it into my own hands and show the world I could do it on my own.” That “somebody” would be Vogue. Lizzo did it all herself and Vogue is playing catch up. I’m very pleased she managed to work in one of her paid gigs to their coverage of her.
Skylar Astin looks like he’d show up to a party with a half-drunk six-pack and a guitar, play some original music, and then ask if you want to raw dog in the back of his ’78 Chevy Capri. In a respectful way, of course.
It’s not often that feuding podcast hosts make tabloid headlines, but this is quarantine, baby! The two women behind Call Her Daddy had a fallout negotiating their contract with Barstool Sports. CHD is an incredibly popular podcast (I’ve never listened but it’s self-described “female locker room talk”) and has a large, loyal following, but the hosts are reportedly split on making their own money vs. handing over their brand to a company. There’s more to it, including HBO and Barstool’s signature trolling (which some would say veers into harassment). Taylor Lorenz covered it in the NYT and goes beyond the feud and explores what brand value is and who holds the power and makes the money. She also noted that she would no longer be updating the story because it’s moving too fast on social media.
Kristen Bell is launching a CBD skincare line and I would say that we are due for a bunch of press from her but Kristen and Dax never go away. They are always hovering around, waiting for an opportunity to tell us a totes adorbs anecdote or be “goals” or guest host for Ellen or whatever. They’ve also positioned themselves as parenting experts despite bristling at the mere mention of their child outside of their parameters. Recently, Kristen talked about her 5-year-old daughter still wearing diapers. As their children grow up, they will become aware that their parents are famous and they can Google themselves and their daughter will know that her mom talked about her potty training and it made US Weekly. When will the “our parenting style is so wacky” anecdotes stop? If you want privacy, does talking about them - constantly – lend itself to that? No one really needs to know when your kid gave up Pull-Ups.
Not to pat myself on the back too hard but I’ve been saying for months that Julianne Hough is developing her own fitness and wellness brand, the freshly announced Kinrgy. I was recently talking to a friend about celebrities like Julianne who are able to take it to the next level despite not having a break-out project and I think it really does come down to that dreaded word “authenticity.” Even if Julianne is not your style (and she’s not mine) I don’t doubt that she believes in what she does. As corny as the concept has become because of social media, she’s true to herself. From a business perspective, launching this kind of brand is a huge investment but she’s already got goop and Oprah on her side – she’s appeared at both of their events over the last year. Smart play.
