Nymphet Alumni

This week, we’re picking up the thread of New Sincerity— the cultural disposition that championed earnest emotion over irony and cynicism— and declaring its second wave, signaled by mumblecore documentarians, grassroots anti-algorithm micro-platforms, and transcendent, truth-seeking young rockers. Beginning with Austin’s New Sincerity underground scene in the early 1980s, we move through Daniel Johnston’s McDonald’s tape recordings, David Foster Wallace’s anti-irony manifesto, the tender emo of the early 2000s, and the hyperpop/electroclash interregnum before arriving at the present-day convergence of Geese, Chanel Beads, laptop twee, Perfectly Imperfect, Zohran’s New York, and so on. We also discuss the uncanny historical parallels between Conor Oberst and Cameron Winter, the anti-fashion uniform of dirty jackets and unbrushed hair, and the civic reasons why Ridgewood is possibly the epicenter of this aesthetic climate.

Links:

“John Wilson on Anxiety, Ridgewood, and Rent” inInterview

The History of Concreteviral Letterboxd review discourse

Perfectly Imperfect on Instagram / https://www.pi.fyi/

silknode on Instagram / https://www.silk.cx/

friends& on Substack, laptop_twee playlist by friends& on Spotify

errands.show on Instagram

“‘Errands’ Should Be the Most Boring Show on the Internet” by Alex Vadukul inThe New York Times

Zohran Mamdani on Errands / Zohran Mamdani on Perfectly Imperfect

“People Are Discovering NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s Rap Past” by Andre Gee inRolling Stone

15-year-old Zohran Mamdani defending his mother Mira Nair on film message boards

“The Zeitgeist of 1985, Pt. 1” by Michael Corcoran on Substack

“The New Sincerity” by Michael Corcoran inSpin(1986)

“E. Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction” by David Foster Wallace inThe Review of Contemporary Fiction

“Mr. Sincerity Tries a New Trick” by Kelefa Sanneh inThe New York Times

“Is Cameron Winter Serious?” by Lindsay Zoladz inThe New York Times

“Toward a Working Theory of the Nu-Hipster” by Eli Schoop inConstantly Hatingon Substack

“How to Live Without Irony” by Christy Wampole inThe New York Times

“Sincerity, Not Irony, Is Our Age’s Ethos” by Jonathan D. Fitzgerald inThe Atlantic

Milady Rave: New York, June 2023, Remilia x UG scene conspiracy on Reddit

Perfectly Imperfect SXSW Showcase 1.0, Perfectly Imperfect SXSW Showcase 2.0

“The Rise of Laptop Twee” by welcome.jpeg on Substack

“Things Are So Bad, People Are Longing for Cringey Millennial Culture” by Casey Michael Henry inThe New York Times

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 22: Mass Bushwick

“Curating Ridgewood” by Max Moorhead inThe Brooklyn Rail

“The big rock that helped defined the Ridgewood/Brooklyn border” inQNS

“Burning Bushwick” by Denis Chavez inFor The Record(NYC Department of Records and Information Services)

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 96: Continental Luxury

“Geese Never Thought They’d End Up Here” (Cover Story) by Simon Vozick-Levinson inRolling Stone

“Geese Invite Us To Their Secret Rehearsal Space, Talk New Music, Touring, & More” byRolling Stoneon YouTube

“The Real-Life Wardrobe of Geese’s Max Bassin, Who Only Wears One Brand of Jeans” by Christopher Fenimore inGQ

“I Like That Cameron Winter Dresses Bad” by Sophie Kemp inGQ

Special thanks to Riya Mahesh (Quiet Light), Vivi Hayes, Kat Brouillette (Locket), and Max Ludlow ~

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This week, Sam is joined by Ezra Marcus, New York magazine writer and trusted male correspondent from the entrepreneurial underworld, for a discussion about the shadow economy, the crisis of masculinity, and his latest article on the lit world of Chrome Hearts resale. They chat Chrome Hearts millionaires, OnlyFans empires, middle school day traders, Gen Z’s search for moral order, NeeDoh playground economics, the lost spirit of rap music, and more!

Links:

The Chrome Hearts Hustleby Ezra Marcus, The Cut

The Porn Addicts Who Tried to Rescue the Camgirlsby Ezra Marcus, The Cut

How Everything Became Gamblingby Max Read, The New York Times Magazine

Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuseby Heidi Blake, The New Yorker

Pimp: Story of My Lifeby Iceberg Slim

764

Yung Lean on Subway Takes

The New TikTok Aesthetic is ‘Ball Hog’by Samuel Hine, The Cut

Chrome Hearts Tags by Lil Uzi Vert

Rogue Garms

Kids day trading on the school bus, TikTok

6th graders networking on LinkedIn, TikTok

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the abhorrent kayfabe of Drake’s new “goth GF” courtship, the steamy, naturalistic Ryan McGinley portfolio that kicked off New York’s inaugural men’s style issue, and the incoming wave of dark technocrat dramas— Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, Nathan Fielder’s You Can See Everything— and the risks of filmmakers drawing the map over the territory. We also get into Taylor Swift’s perplexingly jolly ode to getting picked and how the viral Western Mass lesbian bar discourse echoes three centuries of New England Puritan covenant culture.

Links:

20 WOMEN VS DRAKE | 20 V 1

Lin Lamar aka Pinkchyu on Instagram

“Perky Goth” on TVTropes.com

“We Can Tell You Have Low Social Power” by Breanna onLabyrinth of Artvia Substack

“Sombr’s ‘Sex’ Belt Was His Idea” by Eileen Cartter inGQ

2hollis - Sex (Music Video)

“Reggie Watts Is a Prominent Ketamine Advocate. Was It His Ex’s ‘Undoing’?” by Cheyenne Roundtree inRolling Stone

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 86: Deadheads and Dark Hippie-ism

“The Boys in the Baths” by Ryan McGinley forNew York’s Men’s Style issue

“The Chrome Hearts Hustle” by Ezra Marcus forThe Cut

“The Robert Pattinson and Skyler Gisondo Interview” by Slushy Noobz on YouTube

The Social Reckoningdir. Aaron Sorkin (Trailer)

Artificialdir. Luca Guadanigno (Trailer)

You Can See Everythingdir. Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim (Trailer)

Lost Weekendby Phoebe Bridgers

AI-generated steel coil safety song

“I’m a Swiftie and even I think these new songs are terrible” by Poppie Platt inThe Telegraph

300SkullsAndCounting & Jenny Sparks - The Ballad of St. Nick’s Park (Music Video)

Chiddy Bang - Opposite Of Adults (Music Video)

“Greenfield lesbian bar Last Ditch faces mask-rule backlash” by Annalisa Quinn inThe Boston Globe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This week, Biz is joined by Madeline Porsella and Mabel Capability Taylor of Mandylion Press to get to the bottom of what really happened in the 19th century… From Victorians’ obsession with clothing to why the bohemian weirdo authoresses of the 1800s were actually a bit basic.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this episode, we examine the aesthetic of the Dictator’s Wife, a 20th century archetype of conspicuous luxury, scary elegance, and icy detachment. We catalog the aesthetic’s signatures, from exotic furs and bulletproof coiffs to monochrome coordination and maximalist millinery. We consider how rigidly controlled femininity functions as armor and propaganda and survey the historical canon: Imelda Marcos’s infamous wardrobe, Elena Ceaușescu’s ugly-chic vanity crashouts, Asma al-Assad’s Vogue-approved Euro minimalism, and more. We also relate these issues to America’s current political climate, including the “edifice complex” ravaging our nation’s capitol, Melania's beleaguered glam squad, and the gilded tyranny of Mar-a-Lago glamour.

Links:

Image board

Cardi B dictator’s wife meme

Cardi B by Szilveszter Makó forVogue Arabia

Rama Duwaji by Szilveszter Makó forThe Cut

“Fashion Twitter is mad Daniel Roseberry Dressed a MAGA heiress.” by Louis Pisano on Substack

Louis Pisano’s “Couture & Corruption” series on TikTok

Lady Macbeth monologue from Act 1, Scene 5 ofMacbeth

“Shoes, furs and hypocrisy: Why we love to hate despots' wives” by Rebecca Seales inBBC News

Bond villain nationality masterlist

“Womanliness as a Masquerade” by Joan Riviere

“Women Behind the Throne” by Camille Paglia

MAGA women research by Style Analytics on TikTok

The Kingmaker(2019) dir. Lauren Greenfield

Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield

Imelda(2003) dir. Ramona S. Diaz

“5 Shopping Sprees So Wild, They Made History” by Maureen O’Connor inNew York

Eva Peron Rainbow Tour of Europe cover story forTime

Santa Evitaby Tomás Eloy Martínez

“Behind Mugabe’s fall: Gucci Grace versus the Crocodile” by Norimitsu Onishi inThe Sydney Morning Herald

“The Vanity Cult of Elena Ceausescu – Hated Wife of Romania’s Dictator” by Matthew Gaskill inVintage News

“Ceausescu sale: Everything must go” (auction report) by Kate Connolly inThe Guardian

“The Party that Toppled a Dynasty and Changed the Middle East Forever” by Jeff Zhou inYoung Diplomats Society

“Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert” by Joan Juliet Buck inVogue

“Syrian first lady Adma Al-Assad’s outfits” by Aya Lowe inMonocle

“How China Fell in Love with Syria’s First Lady” inWorldcrunch

“Armour of Couture” by Szilveszter Makó inVogue Hong Kong

Gucci Spring/Summer 2026 “La Famiglia” portrait campaign by Catherine Opie

Melania Trump’s “I Really Don’t Care. Do U?” Zara jacket

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the coiffed Californian camp of Ryan Murphy’s The Shards, KATSEYE’s continued reign as the queens of sensory overload brainrot pop, and a new cast of nominatively absurd figures including Igby Rigney, Stella Lefty, Chanty Beluga, and Nimrod Workman. We also ponder Ella Langley as the new poster girl of American alt-lite, and we consider the uncomfortable indignity of life after fleeting virality as illustrated by Jools Lebron and the Love Island USA cast. Perhaps most importantly, we pause to mourn the loss of American Founding Mother and universal aphorist Dolly Parton :( Links:

Dolly Parton and her parents sing “In the Pines” (1976)

“Evening Shade” by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton last health update vide on Instagram

TikTok #searchfordolly audition videos (exhibit A, exhibit B)

“How ‘The Shards’ Blew Up at HBO — and Ended Up in Ryan Murphy’s Hands” by Benjamin Svetkey inThe Hollywood Reporter

Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere shot by Steven Meisel forVogueSeptember 2026 Cover Story

Kaia Gerber prompts BBL accusations in Alaïa F/W 2026

Kaia Gerber says she had an exorcism performed on her with a didgeridoo

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 6: The Milf-ification of Billie Eilish (Emergency Roundtable)

First look of Billie Eilish as Esther Greenwood on the set ofThe Bell Jardir. Sarah Polley

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s StoneOfficial Teaser from HBO Max

“Happee Birthdae Harry” merch in the Harry Potter Japan Store

Poppi x RushTok x Love Island USA (exhibit A, exhibit B)

Jools Lebron original GoFundMe video and her Jeffree Star read

KATSEYE (캣츠아이) – “Hootie Frutti” (Official Music Video)

KATSEYE choreographer Grant Gilmore on TikTok

GUI GUI on Instagram

Ella Langley –“Be Her” (Official Music Video)

Ella Langley’s Shiner beer collab party trick

Ella Langley feat. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees

“The Untold Story of Sierra Ferrell: Train-Hopping to Stardom” on YouTube

Stella Lefty – “Boston” Review inPitchfork (“Stick Season” obsession evidence)

Coal miner, union activist, and singer Nimrod Workman performs the traditional Appalachian folk song “Oh Death”

A woman named “Chanty Beluga” introduces herself at a pool party

Evan Lazarus in defense of Chanty Beluga

Bodacious Humphrey Williams

Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez’s wedding shot by Juergen Teller forVogue

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

Hi Nymphies — as summer comes to an end, we’re unlocking an all-time fan favorite: the Loner Girl episode. We hope the Loner Girl, with her layered knits and rich inner world, is a source of back-to-school inspiration as we head into fall. <3

In this episode, we reflect on what we call the Loner Girl aesthetic, an eccentric style epitomized by the vulnerable yet spunky YA protagonistas of decades past, best accessorized with a messenger bag, sneaker flats, and a starry-eyed disposition. We reinvigorate the teen traumacore literary canon, including the works of John Green and Ellen Hopkins, and discuss its associated social phenomena, mental health themes, and expression through personal style. We also take stock of Manic Pixie Dream Girl discourse and discuss early-career Marc Jacobs, “Banal Eccentricity” at Prada, the forgotten appeal of eggplant purple, and our own personal thirteenth reasons ...Links:Image boardThirteen Reasons Why book cover stylingRelated aesthetics on CARI: Hipness Purgatory, Corporate GrungeWhen Miuccia Prada Invented Ugly Chic – NSS Mag (Prada S/S 1996)Marc Jacobs Fall 2005 RTWYour Fave is Problematic: John GreenThe Teen Whisperer (John Green 2014 New Yorker profile)Why John Green Likes Writing for Teenagers (2019 NYT interview)John Green and his Manic Pixie Dream Girls – LA Review of Bookshttps://lareviewofbooks.org/article/john-green-and-his-manic-pixie-dream-girls/Mori-kei – Japanese Fashion Wiki

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This week, Alexi is joined by music critic and columnist Ella Dorn to unpack her viral essay declaring Giallobrutalism as the defining visual language of mid-2020s pop, informed by the stylish delirium of Italian giallo cinema and a pervasive unease about surveillance and stardom. We discuss the aesthetic’s formal signatures—cool temperatures, split diopters, painterly tableaux, and more— as well as the rise of early-onset popstar histrionics, the existential glamour of centripetal girls in centrifugal settings, and the decade’s watershed fashion moments so far, from Miu Miu micro-minis to Sandy Liang mega-bows. We also challenge the default Y2K reading of modern pop aesthetics, arguing for a closer look at their 20th-century antecedents, and reflect on our shared past as stans of doomed K-pop girl groups.

Links:

“‘Giallobrutalism,’ or why everything looks like that” by Ella Dorn onFairyland!

Ella Dorn on Twitter

Fairyland!on Instagram

K-Pop Music Video Analysis w/ Alexi

One on Top of the Other(1969) dir. Lucio Fulci

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin(1971) dir. Lucio Fulci

“Music, Fashion, Filmis Charli xcx at her subversive best” by Ella Dorn inThe New Statesman

Balenciaga F/W 2024

Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernityby Edward Dimendberg

“The realities of being a pop star” by Charli xcx oncharli’s substack

Ep. 162: Crayola Casual

Ep. 102: Just Dance w/ Lexee Smith

Nicole Kidman wearing Miu Miu S/S 2022 forVanity Fair’s 2022 Hollywood Issue cover

Sandy Liang S/S 2024

Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interestingby Sianne Ngai

“In Defense of the Leopard Print Midi Skirt” inPapermagazine (the original @leopardmidiskirt Instagram account is GONE omg)

New Giallobrutalist canon entries we discuss: YENA (최예나) – “캐치 캐치 (Catch Catch)”, aespa 에스파 – “Switchblade (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)”, Gracie Abrams – “Look at My Life”, ifeye (이프아이) – “r u ok?” , aespa エスパ – “KISS N TELL”

Bang Jae Yeob

LOONA/ODD EYE CIRCLE – “Sweet Crazy Love” (Official Music Video)

LOONA/Kim Lip – “Eclipse” (Official Music Video)

The iconic abandoned Brutalist building from every K-pop MV

Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futuresby Mark Fisher

Federico Fellini: Painting in Film, Painting on Filmby Hava Aldouby

no na - “honk!” (Official Music Video)

no na - “superstitious” (Official Music Video)

Elliot Shields on Instagram (creative consultant on Aespa’s “Kiss N Tell”)

Magicby Jolin Tsai 蔡依林

但是又何奈 by Louise Tsuei 崔苔菁

Rocket Girls 101 (火箭少女101) K-pop plagiarism overview

KiiiKiii on Instagram

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the questionable decisions behind the scenes of the Possession remake, the historical accuracy cottage industry reactivated by the release of The Odyssey, the latest in infidelity surveillance via Jay Guapo, and new releases from Adela, Tyla, and KATSEYE. We also highlight a recent cornucopia of Euroweird excellence from the Depardieu family’s blissful film festival outing to the fabulous brainrot opera debut of Beata Mona-Lisa, Greta Thunberg’s perplexingly buxom sister— plus we react to fashion announcements including Marine Serre’s bankruptcy and the upcoming John Galliano–themed Met Gala.Links:

Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner on the set of thePossessionremake in New Jersey

Julie Depardieu and Philippe Katerine pose with their 2 sons Billy and Alfred at the Monte Carlo Television Festival (Alexi’s viral QRT)

Billy Blanchard at Jean-Paul Gaultier F/W 2026 Couture via Lyas

“EXCLUSIVE: Marine Serre Seeks Investor Amid Financial Restructuring” inWWD

The Met Announces the Spring 2027 Costume Institute Exhibition,John Galliano: Horizons

“John Galliano Returns to Fashion Via a Creative Partnership with Zara” inVogue

“An Uncomplicated Man” (review of Christopher Nolan’sThe Odyssey) by Emily Wilson inThe London Review of Books

Millie Bobby Brown responds to bad wig accusations onBBC Radio 1

@chthonicthorn on TikTok (Hellenistic practicioner?)

“Greta Thunberg’s Sister Beata Mona-Lisa Does the Splits” by Billy Parker inInterview

Beata Mona-Lisa on Instagram

Pianist Yuja Wang

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 114: Grisch

“The Folk Singer Linda Perhacs Is Found and Is Safe, Authorities Confirm” inThe New York Times

Tyla - “THAT GIRL” (Official Music Video)

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 147: Cherry Emoji Dark Feminine

Tyla in custom Phoebe Pendergast polka dot hair clip at Disney with Kai Cenat

“Valley of the Marc Jacobs Dolls” by Carwyn McIntyre inToBe

“The Surreal, Sublime Worlds of Szilveszter Makó” by Lauren Jackson inThe New York Times

Adam Green’s Aladdin- Full Movie (Official) on YouTube

KATSEYE (캣츠아이) - “Animal” (Official Music Video)

KATSEYE EP 3 ‘WILD’ (Wild heart ver.) teaser images on Instagram

ADÉLA - “Ain’t In LA” (Official Music Video)

Gabbriette in custom Matières Fécales bridal

Andrea Mauri @babedrea33 on Instagram

“Married elite NYC lawyer, 45, is caught red-handed with underling, 29, in passionate Central Park rendezvous” inThe Daily Mail

“How Leopold Aschenbrenner, the ‘golden child’ of the AI trade, was laid low” inThe Financial Times

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this episode, the ladies welcome America’s favorite game show host Ben Mora for a survey of the interior design landscape among Millennials and Gen Z. They discuss how bedroom stratigraphy reveals the history of interior design fads, the never-ending influence of the long ‘90s, the tyranny of mid-century modern, blackout curtain pleasure caves, Pinterest boards, the housing crisis, various gay predispositions, and more!

Interior Motives

Seeking Derangements

Ben’s profile inNew Yorkmagazine!!

Printed out Pinterest Moodboard TikToks

$4,300 in missing rugs, online shame, 7 hours in NYPD custody: A stooping story

Samantha Wynn Greenstone (girl who married a gay guy and had a baby)

BBL Arab Gays

Tasteslopby Nemesis

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this edition of Study Break, we go deep on Sombr’s ED summer track “My Body Isn’t Ready,” make the case for Obsession star Inde Navarette as this generation’s Dead Wife Montage Stacy, and extol Erling Haaland’s universal Homo Erectus charm. We also assess Olivia Rodrigo’s and Gracie Abrams’ claims to girl-loserdom and the influence of children’s literature on men’s fashion week.

Links:

sombr - My Body Isn’t Ready (official video)

James Blunt - You’re Beautiful (official video)

James Blunt’s 13 most savage tweets

Olivia Rodrigo - honeybee

Olivia Rodrigo addresses the “baby boy, honeybee” allegations

Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (official video)

Gracie Abrams - Look at My Life (official video)

Gracie Abrams -Daughter From Hellalbum art

Grace Abrams -The Secret of Usalbum art

Dior Men’s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Celine Men’s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Prada Men’s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Worldpeace DMT - Love Yourself (official video)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this solo minisode, Sam enters the wilderness of mirrors to unpack Michael Jackson: child star, King of Pop, fairy-tale monster, walking logo, and one of the strangest cultural phenomena of the 20th century. Using Margo Jefferson, Wendy Lesser, Mark Fisher, Foucault, Bakhtin, Peter Pan, The Little Prince, Shirley Temple, Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Fosse, P.T. Barnum, Neverland Ranch, pork pie hats, patent leather shoes, and white spats, Sam pursues Michael as a figure of inversion: the child who was an adult, the adult who became a child, the Black man who became white, the man who became a woman, the innocent who became the guilty. Along the way, she considers the glamour and horror of child stardom, the maternal diva archive, the carnivalesque body, the freakshow of Wacko Jacko, and why Michael’s legacy remains endlessly unresolved.

Stargirl’s 100th episode, we love you Emma <3

On Michael Jackson by Margo Jefferson

On Michael Jackson, with Shannon Taggart by Weird Studies

The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson, edited by Mark Fisher

His Other Half: Men Looking at Women Through Art by Wendy Lesser

Moonwalk: A Memoir by Michael Jackson

The Autobiography of PT Barnum by PT Barnum

Rabelais and His Worldhttps://monoskop.org/images/7/70/Bakhtin_Mikhail_Rabelais_and_His_World_1984.pdfby Mikhail Bakhtin

r/LeavingNeverlandHBO

My Family, The Jacksons by Katherine Jackson

Michael Jackson’s Interview in Gold Girl Magazine, 2002

Michael Jackson - Thriller (Original)

Who’s Loving You - The Jackson 5 on The Ed Sullivan Show

Interview with Suzanne de Passe, Motown Costume Designer

Human Nature, Wembley ‘88 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson’sThis Is It

Sylvester Stallone on Michael Jackson

Bob Fosse, The Little Prince, and Michael Jackson

The Little Prince

MJ Productions’s Letter to The Little Prince

Marianne Williamson officiates Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding to Larry Fortensky

Elizabeth Taylor surprises Michael Jackson with an elephant

Abnormals, Freaks, and Michael Jackson: Foucault, Baldwin the Truth of the Grotesque by Brad Elliott Stone

Nymphet Alumni’s Ep. 157: American Freakshow

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In this episode, we kick off the summer by denominating a colorful attitude toward dress manifesting bicoastally. Epitomized by brands like Emily Dawn Long, Brooke Callahan, and Cleo Camp, Crayola Casual is the funky counterpart to freaky minimalism— accessory agnostic, anti-synthetic, built around hot saturated colors and the art of the easy-on easy-off. We review this aesthetic’s historical antecedents, from fluid disco formalwear of the 70s (Halston, Stephen Burrows) to globalist chic sportswear of the 80s (Esprit, United Colors of Benetton). We also discuss Downtown New York’s Maryam Nassir Zadeh as the missing link, classics of rainbow urbanism including Sesame Street and the Vignelli Subway Map, our predictions for an aerobics renaissance, and the creative exuberance of a season of parades, pop-ups, and pennants.

Links:

Image board

Cleo Camp

Brooke Callahan

Emily Dawn Long

Rummage Stretch

“Vintage Sportswear Will Crush Your Alo Yoga Sets” by Liana Satenstein forNeverworns

Allegra Samsen on Instagram

Ventriloquist Sophie Becker for Paloma Wool

“The Accidental Trendsetter” by Emilia Petrarca inThe New York Times(Emily Dawn Long profile)

“The Sisterhood of the Unraveling Pants” by Sarah Shapiro inPuck(on the rise of the easy pant)

“The Sexy Sincerity of Maryam Nassir Zadeh” by Rachel Tashjian inHarper’s Bazaar

“How Does Maryam Nassir Zadeh Stay in Business?” by Madeline Leung Coleman inThe Cut

“1970–1979” from FIT’sFashion History Timeline

“A 1970s Fashion History Lesson: Disco, Designer Denim, and the Liberated Woman” by Lilah Ramzi inVogue

“The Halstonettes” by The Museum at FIT from the 2015 exhibitYves Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the 70s

“Stephen Burrows, the CFDA’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Winner, in the Words of 7 of His Closest Collaborators” by Laird Borrelli-Persson inVogue

“The Radical History of Sesame Street” by Figgy Guyver inFrieze

“The Quintessential Urban Design ofSesame Street” by Anna Kodé inThe New York Times

“Towards a Better Way: The “Vignelli” Map at 50” (Digital Exhibit) – New York Transit Museum

Supergraphic Ultramodern – Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute

“The rise and fall of Esprit, San Francisco’s coolest clothing brand” by Joshua Bote in SFGATE

“opening ceremony’s founders on how esprit changed fashion (and the world)” –i-D

“Esprit’s Brand Books” by Jill Singer inSight Unseen(onEsprit: The Comprehensive Design Principlefrom 1989)

“From Plain Jane to Esprit: The Making of a California Icon” by Bertrand Pellegrin

“Benetton: Celebrating a Colorful History” by Amanda Kaiser inWWD

“History” – Gap, Inc.

“Khaki Swing” – 1998 Gap Commercial on YouTube

Something Wild(1986) dir. Jonathan Demme – Official Trailer

Excerpt fromBobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got Thereby David Brooks

“Everything You Need to Know About the Battle of Versailles on the 50th Anniversary of the Event” by Laird Borrelli-Persson inVogue

“Fashion” - The 1973 World Book Year Book

“Yanks Pull Off Paris Fashion Heist” by Eugenia Sheppard inThe Los Angeles Times

Big Bad Wolf workout class on TikTok

Aerobicsby Kenneth H. Cooper

エアロピクルス｜Aeropickleson YouTube

“1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship Opening” on YouTube

Audrey Hobert live performances: trenchcoat reveal, mini trampoline

Audrey Hobert x Fishwife Tinned Fish Bundle

“Forget Euro Summer. Brands Are Having a Wet, Hot American Summer” by Madeleine Schulz inVogue(pop-up economy write-up)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

In this episode, Sam is joined by friend of the pod Anika Jade Levy, author of Flat Earth and founding editor of Forever Magazine, for a sprawling investigation into the paranoid spirit of the United States of America. Beginning with the America’s founding fantasy of paradise, Anika and Sam trace how the country’s utopian dream soured into a national aesthetic of suspicion: from Puritan invisible enemies and the feminized conspiracy of the Salem Witch Trials, to the pastoral terror of data centers humming in the American wilderness, to cyberpunk stealthwear, urban camouflage, hollow earths, Atlantis, visions of a lost world, and much, much more. Drawing from Leo Marx, Richard Hofstadter, Adam Curtis, Cotton Mather, Anette Kolodny, Silvia Federici, and Anika’s own novel, the girls move through history, politics, media, and fashion to uncover what conspiracy reveals about American self-invention.

Links:

Anika’s Instagram

Flat Earth by Anika Jade Levy

Forever Magazine

Agens Denis’s A Confrontation: Battery Park Landfil

The Machine in the Garden by Leo Marx

The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstadter

The Lay of the Land by Annette Kolodny

Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici

The Significance of the Frontier in American History by Fredrick Jackson Turner

Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather

The Cultural Cold War by Frances Stonor Saunders

CV Dazzle

Balenciaga Panic of 2022

Lotta Volkova Conspiracy

Data Center Hum on TikTok

Mr. Bean/Princess Diana Reel

The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis

MAGA as Fan Fiction by Gideon Jacobs

Player One and Main Character by Gideon Jacobs

New Models: The Online Marketplace of Ideas with Joshua Citarella

The Gurdjieff Movements

The New Age Bible by Sheila Heiti

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In this episode, we’re joined by legendary TikTok creator, Slushy Noobz creative director, and certified #SWAG Dadaism pioneer Chase Rutherford to further interrogate the ideas introduced in our previous episode. We discuss the freedom of default aesthetics and the legacy of normcore, the provocative power of readymades over a century after Fountain, how Kanye anchored the preppy misfit years of Chase’s youth, and how Chase resisted the siren song of LA influencer culture in favor of creative autonomy. We also discuss the art historical impact of Beyoncé and Jay-Z at the Louvre, how Sombr’s personal brand might still be salvaged, and the importance of reframing transient microtrends—from clout goggles to Brazil baby tee—as the significant cultural artifacts of our time.

Links:

Chase Rutherford on Instagram

Chase Rutherford on TikTok

Slushy Noobz on Patreon

Slushy Noobz official merchandise

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In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the less-than-triumphant return of Euphoria and Sam Levinson’s pivot to everythingsplotation Western, Michael Jackson’s new hagiography and the grotesque legacy that transcends it, and recent fashioncore highlights from the literalism of the Met Gala to the nostalgia of The Devil Wears Prada 2. We also discuss the Substack truth nuke that rocked the indie music scene, Olivia Rodrigo’s coquette comeback, The Drama’s fresh take on the tribulations of female adolescence, and more.

Links:

Suga Free the Pimp on Instagram

Pimp: The Story of My Lifeby Iceberg Slim

“Why Is Everything So Ugly?” in Issue 44 ofn+1

“Fashion Is Not Art (And That’s OK)” by Valerie Steele inSomeone Else

“See Every Look from the Met Gala 2026 Red Carpet” inVoguehttps://www.vogue.com/slideshow/met-gala-2026-red-carpet-celebrity-arrivals-live

Hudson Williams MUA Aika Flores Pinterest board leak

Hudson Williams heading home at 7am following the Met Gala after party

“Abnormals, Freaks, and Michael Jackson: Foucault, Baldwin, and the Truth of the Grotesque” by Brad Elliott Stone

“Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood (Here Be Dragons)” by James Baldwin, originally published inPlayboy, January 1985

Rabelais and His Worldby Mikhail Bakhtin

Michael Jackson describes his first sexual encounter with Tatum O’Neal (2003)

Telephone Stories: The Trials of Michael Jacksonon Spotify

On Michael Jacksonby Margo Jefferson

“Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour on Power, Fashion, and Acting the Part” (April 2026 cover story) by Chloe Malle inVogue

Synopsis:Innocenceby Kaija Saariaho from the Metropolitan Opera

Olivia Rodrigo – drop dead (Official Music Video)

Olivia Rodrigo – begged (Live) onSaturday Night Live

“Fake Fans” by Eliza McLamb inwords from elizaon Substack

Nancy Pelosi Endorses Jack Schlossberg For Congress

Acquired Style x Swan Beauty Viral Bachelorette Party

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In this episode, we coin a new term for one of the most interesting creative impulses of our generation: #SWAG Dadaism. Like the original Dadaists responding to the whiplash of industrialization and WWI, a certain subset of young creatives are responding to the vertigo of global instability and breathless technological futurism through fashion assemblage, IP maximalism, and a fearless embrace of all things chopped and random. We conduct a historical survey from Clement Greenberg’s theory of kitsch and the avant-garde to the early days of meme culture to explore page fashion parodists of the past decade. We also get into Justin Bieber and Timothée Chalamet’s parallel #SWAG rebrands, the collapse of the secondhand market and its unexpected creative upside, and how #SWAG exists as the antithesis of refinement culture.

Links:

Image board

Dada Manifestoby Tristan Tzarahttps://writing.upenn.edu/library/Tzara_Dada-Manifesto_1918.pdf(1918)

“Avant-Garde and Kitsch” by Clement Greenberg fromThe Partisan Review(1939)

“The First Meme of 2026 Is About Not Explaining Yourself. And Buttons.” by Madison Malone Kircher forThe New York Times

Chase Rutherford on Instagram (referenced posts one, two, three)

Chase Rutherford interview forPerfectly Imperfect

@okniceok on Instagram

@kalebphobic on TikTok re: digicore sampling

Canal Street Research Association and Shanzhai Lyric on Instagram

“Bags, Bootlegs and Art: A Quirky Communion on Canal Street” by Siddhartha Mitter inThe New York Times

Ava Nirui / @avanope interview inOfficemagazine (2017)

“Meet Ava Nirui, The Creative Force Behind Marc Jacobs’ Heaven Line” by Eni Subair inVogue(2020)

“Go To The Thrift Store That’s Where The Heat Is”https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/go-to-the-thrift-store-thats-where-the-heat-isonKnow Your Meme

@harmonytividad “filet minion” post on Instagram

Middle school boy bar crawl on TikTok

Tung Tung Tung Sahur boxers outfit on TikTok

@twylatoktok on TikTok (referenced posts one, two, three)

@turtlewithhat_ / Izzy and Emma pink leggings outfits

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In this week’s episode, we’re joined by critical mastermind Caroline Cai (aka Clairolime) to unpack what we’re calling Catalan Chicslop, the downtempo, sophisticated, quietly freaky aesthetic championed by brands like Paloma Wool and Gimaguas. We discuss how this look evolved from avant-basic dopamine dressing, its influences from ‘90s minimalism to early 20th century experimental couture, Barcelona’s history as a modernist aura farm, post-Phoebe Philo feminist-lite brand mythos, and strategies to transcend the tyranny of chicness. We also analyze the aesthetic’s appeal to women across successive life stages, from 13-year-old Penelope Dissick to microinfluencer gallerinas to mysterious pregnant brunettes. Links:

@clairolime on Instagram

Image board

Relevant brands: Paloma Wool, Gimaguas, Susmie’s Collection, Belle Anna, Deiji Studios, Buci, Geel, DémodéMODÉ

“How Spain’s Indie Fashion Scene Nailed Global Growth” inBusiness of Fashion

“These Brands are Putting Spanish Style on the Map” by Zoe Suen inW

“Paloma Wool: From Cool to Basic and Back Again” by Yola Mzizi inThe New York Times

Paintings by Ramon Casas (Ex. 1, Ex. 2, Ex. 3, Ex. 4)

Paloma Wool’s “San Sebastián 2025” campaign featuring Carlotta Baan

“Studio Visit: Paloma Wool” inSleekmagazine (2023)

“Where Are All the Women Designers?” by Emma Childs inMarie Claire

Chicslop runoff examples from Miaou, Frankie’s Bikinis, Guizio, Jaded London, Revolve house brands Lioness andLovers and Friends, With Jean, UNIFHAIM - Relationships (Official Music Video)

Crumbs from Penelope Dissick’s deleted TikTok photo dump

Emma Chamberlain’s “i got rid of (almost) everything” closet video

“T-boy swag: Claiming space where trans people feel we don’t inherently belong” by Reanna Cruz inNPR

Note from Alexi: I’m sorry I mispronounced Phoebe Philo omg put your chic pewter pitchforks down!!

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In this edition of Study Break, the girls review the latest cultural dispatches, including the newest wave of attention-seeking fashion week stunts (from Fakemink at Balenciaga to Bryan Johnson lurking at Matières Fécales), the Buffalo Bill realness of Robert Pattinson and Zendaya’s Interview Magazine cover, Tyra Banks’s wacky legacy, Hillary Clinton’s bleach-and-tone, the rise of Wuthering Heights womanslop, and more!

Links:

Fakemink for Dazed

Brian Johnson for Fecal Matter in Paris

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya for Interview Magazine

Jim Carrey Clone Allegations

Alexis Stone Jim Carrey Prank

Punch the Monkey

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In this week’s episode, we discuss Romantasy, the Franken-genre that has conquered the publishing world and defined the libidinal landscapes of a generation of women. We decode the genre’s DNA from dimestore bodice-rippers to high fantasy epics, examine the sociological profile of its authors and audiences, and explore how it’s mutated in the digital age via AI visualizers and high-budget audio erotica. We also talk about Renaissance faires, fujoshi discourse, the mirror image of male vs. female gooning in popular culture, Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights as the BookTok movie of the century, and more. Links: Image board

Sam’s Romantasy Spotify Playlist

“Did a Best-Selling Romantasy Author Steal Another Writer’s Story?” by Katy Waldman inThe New Yorker

“She Fell in Love With ChatGPT. Then She Ghosted It.” (r/MyBoyfriendIsAI profile) by Kashmir Hill inThe New York Times

“Gender difference in brain activation to audio-visual sexual stimulation” by Chung et. al. in PubMed

“Sexual Scripts: Permanence and Change”https://is.muni.cz/el/1423/jaro2016/PSY109/um/62130424/Simon___Gagnon__Sexual_Scripts.pdfby William Simon and John H. Gagnon inArchives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 15, No. 2

“How the Renaissance Fair became America’s favorite fantasy” by Kelly Faircloth inNational Geographic

r/AskAHistorian discussions about medievalism and high fantasy (one, two, three)

The Oxford Handbook of Victorian Medievalismed. Joanne Parker and Corinna Wagner

Hard to Be a God(2013) dir. Aleksei German

Candlelight EcstasyRomance Guidelines c. 1980

Love Storymagazine ed. Daisy Bacon (1921–1947) (see covers here)

“The Uses of Reading Mass-Produced Romance Fiction” (Harlequinstudy) by Susan B. Neuman (1985)

History of the “sex and shopping” genre by Pascal Tréguer

“Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Boys” by E. Alex Jung inVulture

Interview with Quinn founder and CEO Caroline Spiegel inRefinery29

“Aural Fixation: Celebrity Audio Erotica Is 2025’s Answer to the Centerfold” by Hannah Jackson inVogue

“The Importance of Critical Thinking in a Zombiefied World” (Why romantasy is crucial to understanding Apple TV’s hit show Pluribus) by Maris Kreizman inThe Atlantic

“Liking Books is Not a Personality” by Hannah McGregor inElectric Literature

@shauna_the_author on Instagram

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