What’s the vibe? is all things gay, feminine, empowering, campy, and fun. The goal of this magazine is to empower and encourage readers to not only take fashion risks but use it as a statement. Aesthetics and beauty are often deemed as something not important, and claims are made that it has no ties to the politics and opinions of the world What’s the Vibe? thinks the opposite
Fashion is inspired by the state of the world, and inspiration is everywhere. We find ways to incorporate political conversations into a fashion statement. In order to give credit where credit is due, What’s the Vibe? magazine strives to provide information about the source of our fashion inspirations, everyday apparel, and aesthetics.
Founded by Foster Monroe and Emma Lu Sarkissian, we take our Midwest mindset and pair it with our experiences around the world. We look for things everywhere and find ways to incorporate ideas and aesthetics worldwide into our readers' world.
Dressing the Part: Fashion, Feminism and the Portrayal of Working Women in Media
FosterMonroe
In offices, fashion is never just fabric. Clothes function as a social script, signaling competence, class, ambition, likability, and even morality. TV and film have long understood that wardrobe is an effective kind of storytelling, especially for working women whose authority is often scrutinized. From Sex and the City to Friends, Gilmore Girls, The Devil Wears Prada, Gossip Girl, and more, the way female characters dress for work doesn’t simply mirror prevailing trends; it shapes them, and it encodes the cultural expectations placed on women in the workplace. Our context of female workplace fashion begins in the 1980s with the emergence of power dressing. The 80s brought broad shoulders and sharp suits. With this, women adopted traditionally “masculine” silhouettes to claim space in male-dominated offices, a visual strategy that implied you had to look as masculine as socially acceptable to be taken seriously.
The 1990s and 2000s brought a new wave of business casual, softening the workplace uniforms. Minimalism and slip dresses with sleek blazers replaced shoulder pads. The look was overall more “approachable” and “polished”.
The booming tech culture of the 2010s and 2020s, mixed with the pandemic, loosened work dress codes even more. The line between the home and the office became blurred. Elastic waists and sneakers made their way into the everyday workplace role. The post-pandemic world of 2025, along with the never-ending trend cycle and new conversations around gender, brings us a whole new set of workplace looks. Quite luxury and preppy outfits coexist with gender-fluid tailoring and intentional comfort. Depending on your industry and position, there’s more freedom than ever to show personality at the office.
Throughout this timeline, women ’ s clothing has been policed and politicized. Praised as “professional,” condemned as “too much,” or instrumentalized as proof of character. Women across generations have navigated these unspoken dress codes, using them as a tool of self-expression, all while knowing that they are simultaneously sites of surveillance. From Sex and the City’s impact on early 2000s style to Elle Woods’s pink power suits inspiring young women in law, the media has mirrored and set many of these trends
When Sex and the City debuted in 1998, it immediately shifted the conversation around what a working woman could look like. Fashion was an essential part of the show’s storytelling, with each character’s wardrobe operating as a narrative device. Clothes were used to discuss different realities of work, ambition, sexuality, and gender.
Carrie Bradshaw embodies what critics often call “consumerist feminism.” As a columnist, her income could never actually sustain her unbelievably curated and overflowing closet of Manolo Blahniks, furs, and iconic designer looks Her style communicated a radical refusal to treat professional attire as any type of uniform. Carrie used tutus, colorful saddle bags, and patterned cocktail dresses to show that femininity and maximalism can be expansive, playful, and professional However, Carrie’s execution of this vision is created through consumer access and cultural privilege. Here, fashion is celebrated as a form of empowerment, but one that is only available for women who can afford it. For contemporary audiences, Carrie foreshadows the way Gen Z embraces “dopamine dressing”, overconsumption, and maximalist expression even in professional contexts.
Miranda Hobbes, by contrast, represents what is in many ways the opposite of this. Her ambition is filtered through androgyny. Her wardrobe echoes the 1980s power suit, built on the premise that women must downplay femininity to succeed in male-dominated spaces. What’s striking is that Miranda’s ambition and competence are often framed as unlikable, and her less “fashionable” approach is depicted as joyless. The costuming reinforces the double standard that dressing with authority grants you power, but it simultaneously codes you as cold or unfeminine. Today, much like in the style of Miranda, oversized tailoring and gender neutral cuts exist as central trends within workplace fashion.
Together, Carrie and Miranda embody two extremes of professional fashion in the media. One that is saturated in consumption and individuality, while the other is rooted in neutrality and more traditional respectability. Both are constrained by the cultural logic of their time: Carrie by consumerist fantasy, Miranda by patriarchal conformity. This tension remains at the heart of feminist debates about workplace dress codes today. Is fashion a site of liberation, or does every outfit inevitably display the compromises women must make to be taken seriously?
In Friends, fashion functions more subtly than in Sex and the City, but still, nevertheless, plays a major role in shaping how the working women within the show are perceived.
Rachel Green’s fashion arc is one of television’s most iconic. She begins as a runaway bride turned Central Perk waitress. The miniskirts and crop tops she wears in the earlier seasons signal her youth and often lack of direction. However, as she enters the professional work world, in her case, the fashion industry, her wardrobe evolves completely She begins to rock sleek pencil skirts, structured blouses, tailored suits, and even designer pieces. Here, Rachel’s clothing choices are directly tracking her professional trajectory. Feminist critics may note that Rachel’s career credibility is inseparable from her appearance. Her style makes her desirable, aspirational, and professionally competent all at once, reinforcing a cultural script that women ’ s authority is tied to how well they embody beauty and trendiness Her Career advancement and style are so deeply intertwined that separating them becomes impossible. A defining aspect of Rachel’s influence was not just her outfits but her hair. The layered, shoulder-length cut known simply as “The Rachel” became the most requested hairstyle of the 1990s, adopted by women across the world. The craze for her haircut underscores how her character blurred the line between fiction and reality: Rachel was not only a character in a sitcom but a cultural model for how young hot professional women should look.
In Gilmore Girls, the portrayal of Rory Gilmore is deeply tied to her identity as the intellectual “good girl,” reflecting both her personal ambitions and the cultural expectations placed on young women striving toward professional success. Unlike the high-fashion spectacle of Sex and the City, Rory’s clothing is understated, deliberately modest, and carefully neutral. While at Yale, Rory’s wardrobe consists of mature pieces like trench coats, tailored blazers, buttonups, and classic dresses, all clothes which project seriousness without drawing too much attention
Rory’s style aligns with the narrative that young women must minimize bold expressions of fashion to gain credibility. Her look embodies stability and modest ambition, suggesting she will succeed not by standing out but by assimilating seamlessly into established systems. Rory’s choices suggest that women should rely on intellect and restraint rather than style to succeed. Her clothing becomes a safeguard, protecting her from being dismissed as frivolous or unserious. Yet this also reveals a cultural double standard; her co-star Paris Geller favors sharper, more power-driven silhouettes and is often framed as intimidating, while Rory’s softened image is rewarded with acceptance
In today’s workplace fashion, Rory’s Yaleera style resonates with the popularity of dark academia, quiet luxury, and “old money ” aesthetics, especially among young professionals navigating corporate or academic settings Her wardrobe embodies the pressures on women to prove they are capable and intelligent while remaining likable, neutral, and non-disruptive, an expectation that continues to shape contemporary conversations around workplace style
In Gossip Girl, the portrayal of Blair Waldorf after high school highlights how her fashion choices reflect her identity as a strategic, ambitious woman navigating elite professional and social spaces. Post–high school, Blair’s wardrobe evolves from the structured, preppy uniforms of Constance Billard into polished, high-end office-ready looks. She pairs her tailored blazers and sheath dresses with carefully coordinated accessories, including, of course, her signature headband. Her fashion signals authority and ambition. Unlike Rory Gilmore, whose understated approach emphasizes assimilation and intellectual credibility, Blair uses fashion as an active tool of agency and social navigation. Blaire commands attention without apology, and her wardrobe reflects this.
Like with Paris Geller, a double standard also exists within Blaire’s professional wear. Bold, high-status fashion is often coded as unapproachable or intimidating when worn by women, whereas similar traits in men are celebrated. With this, Blair embodies the negotiation between selfexpression, professional presentation, and societal expectations, something that many women still face in today’s workplace. Her wardrobe demonstrates how fashion continues to operate as both armor and social currency: it can open doors, assert authority, and craft perception, but it must be navigated carefully to avoid criticism.
In The Devil Wears Prada, fashion is inseparable from power, ambition, and identity. The film centers on Andy Sachs, a young assistant at a fashion magazine, and Miranda Priestly, the infamous editorin-chief.
Miranda Priestly embodies the archetype of the ultimate career woman in a high-stakes environment. Her clothing, which consists of flawless designer suits, impeccably tailored coats, and understated yet luxurious accessories, signals her control and power within the office. Her appearance communicates seriousness, discipline, and unassailable authority, but it also reinforces a similar double standard. Her sharpness and perfection can make her appear intimidating, unapproachable, or even punitive. Andy Sachs, in contrast, enters the workplace as an outsider. Initially dressed in plain, functional clothing, she struggles to fit into the fashion-centric environment. Over time, she adopts the magazine’s aesthetic. Her wardrobe becomes a mixture of structured blazers, sleek dresses, and professional footwear, signaling both assimilation and ambition. For many women, Andy represents the tension that exists between authenticity and conformity. Feminist critiques point out that Andy’s success is intertwined with her ability to adopt the visual language of her workplace. This raises the question of how much professional women must adapt their appearance to be taken seriously. Both Miranda and Andy’s wardrobes, although different, highlight the reality that women are judged not just by work output, but by how their appearance aligns with professional norms.
In Legally Blonde, Elle Woods’ postundergraduate experience, where she begins at Harvard Law School and must navigate a male-dominated professional environment, demonstrates how fashion can serve as both a signifier of personal identity and a feminist statement. Elle’s wardrobe is famously iconic for its coordinated pink suits, head-totoe accessorizing, and playful, hyper-feminine styling. Unlike many media and real-life portrayals, where women have to tone down their femininity to succeed, Elle’s clothing choices show that ambition and femininity are not mutually exclusive. She challenges the cultural notion that serious, professional women should downplay color, femininity, and playfulness. Through her hyperfeminine wardrobe, Elle asserts her individuality and refuses to conform to traditional notions of what a lawyer “should” look like. Her fashion becomes a tool of empowerment, enabling her to navigate professional spaces while staying authentic to herself. Where characters like Miranda Priestly or Paris Geller are coded as intimidating for projecting power, Elle is underestimated precisely because of her femininity. She leverages this misperception strategically, using fashion and charm to gain credibility, influence, and ultimately, respect. In doing so, the film reframes the discussion around women ’ s appearance in professional contexts to show that success does not require the suppression of personality, style, or most importantly, femininity.
From Carrie Bradshaw’s whimsical, consumer-driven ensembles in Sex and the City, to Rory Gilmore’s understated, intellectually coded wardrobe at Yale, to Elle Woods’ unapologetically pink power suits in Legally Blonde, film and television portray a spectrum of strategies for navigating professional life as a woman. Some characters leverage style to assert authority, others downplay it to blend in, and some reclaim femininity as a source of power. Each approach reflects cultural assumptions about how women “should” look, act, and succeed in work environments. Feminist debates around these portrayals remain urgent Characters like Miranda Priestly or Paris Geller illustrate the scrutiny women face when projecting authority, while Elle Woods and Carrie Bradshaw demonstrate how fashion can be a tool of empowerment and self-expression. Rory Gilmore, by contrast, shows how quiet ambition and likability are still culturally rewarded. Together, these examples reveal that fashion is never neutral in professional contexts. It is entwined with gendered expectations, social capital, and the ongoing negotiation of how women occupy power. What women wear is never “just clothes,” but a language of identity, a reflection of cultural assumptions, and a site of both constraint and liberation. By examining these portrayals, we gain insight not only into the evolution of workplace style but into the enduring challenges and possibilities women face as they navigate professional life on their own terms.
Wedding Guide to the 2025 Bride
Ring the bells, sound the alarms, throw your rice, it’s officially wedding season! Whether you ’ re getting married in the near future or are just a wedding fanatic looking to add to your Pinterest board, this is a deep dive into this year ' s iconic wedding dresses.
Emma Lu
We can’t talk about weddings without talking about the generational effect Vivienne Westwood has had on brides. Westwood designs for the bride who wants to step into her power She creates a tension between tradition and disruptions, rejecting the passive idea of a bride existing as a form of “decoration”.
Party-girl Charli XCX leaned into Westwood’s anarchic spirit with her corseted mini dress, which featured sharp lines on top and playful brevity on the bottom. She portrayed a strong and beautiful presence, yet her silhouette was already halfway to the after-party. And honestly, what’s more Charli XCX than that? She stayed true to herself with this look and refused the script that says a bride should be demure, delicate, or encased in layers of tulle. Instead, her dress felt like an extension of the nightlife culture she’s built her career around, alluding to sweaty dance floors, glitter-smudged eyeliner, and joy so messy it borders on chaos.
The genius of Westwood is that she gives women armor without ever denying them sensuality. On Charli, the structured corset acted almost like a shield, while the tiny hemline and train winked at tradition before running straight past it. The veil softened the effect just enough, as though to remind us that yes, this was technically a wedding, but it was also a rave, a performance, and a love letter to the idea that not all romance is tidy
What makes Charli’s choice so striking is that it wasn’t trying to reinvent her. Many brides mold themselves into something unrecognizable for the sake of the day; Charli doubled down on being Charli. In a world where weddings often become about pleasing family or adhering to outdated ideals of purity, her Westwood mini was a declaration. She walked into marriage on her own terms: loud, liberated, and unapologetically herself.
Where Charli embodied chaos, Demi Lovato embodied discipline, but not in a way that muted her. Her pearl-white silk satin gown was the kind of piece that could only come from Vivienne Westwood: a bodice sculpted by legendary corsetry, holding the body in place with almost architectural precision, paired with drapery that seemed to melt downward in liquid folds.
The gown played with duality. It had both armor and softness, power and romance. On Demi, that duality felt almost autobiographical. For years, her public image has been a push and pull between raw vulnerability and fierce selfpossession. The corset didn’t just cinch her waist; it announced control. And the satin didn’t just gleam under the light; it softened that control into something devotional, even serene. What’s striking is how Demi’s gown never looked like it was wearing her Some brides disappear into their dresses, swallowed by fabric or fuss. Demi stood inside her dress like it was a stage she was commanding. Then, with her second look, a sultrier afterparty dress, she leaned into Westwood’s other gift: transformation. This was Westwood as fluidity, as performance, as the right to pivot moods within the span of one night. Demi’s bridal fashion wasn’t about playing princess. It was about showing that elegance and defiance, softness and strength, can exist in the same silhouette, and in the same woman.
Saoirse-Monica Jackson didn’t wear Westwood directly, but her Annie’s Ibiza gown felt very much Westwood-inspired. The corseted bodice, the draped neckline, the asymmetry in the cut, all carried the unmistakable language of Westwood. The dress seemed to playfully hint at bridal tradition, borrowing from its vocabulary but speaking in a different tone. It was playful, sly, and irreverent.
What makes Saoirse’s choice fascinating is that it wasn’t just about her gown but rather about the couple as a whole. Her husband wore Westwood head-to-toe, creating a dialogue between their outfits. She wore the echo, he wore the origin. Together, they looked like a diptych: two variations of the same artistic idea.
Annie’s Ibiza, as a brand, often channels Westwood’s legacy, featuring corsetry that feels both historic and punk, and drapes that feel both romantic and disruptive. For Saoirse to choose Annie’s Ibiza instead of a bridal house rooted in safety and tradition speaks volumes about her outlook. Like Westwood herself, she embraced imperfection, drama, and play. Her dress wasn’t about being ornamental; it was about being alive, in motion, and slightly unpredictable.
By marrying in a gown that carried Westwood’s DNA, Saoirse placed herself in the same lineage as Charli and Demi, even if indirectly. She showed that Westwood’s influence extends beyond the label. It’s a spirit that seeps into fashion, echoed by designers who also see wedding dresses not as symbols of purity, but as canvases for personality
For her wedding, Bachelorette star Gabby Windey stepped into something unapologetically modern. A sheer, handembroidered mini by Fanci Club. At first glance, it looked fragile, almost delicate, with its tulle overlay and carefully placed floral motifs. But the silhouette told a different story. Long sleeves balanced the boldness of exposed fabric, while the short hemline announced a shift away from ceremony and toward celebration. It was a wedding look built not for modesty, but for movement, visibility, and control. Windey proved that sheer gowns really are having a moment. It’s happening not just on runways, but in weddings, too. What used to be the realm of pop stars and red carpets has trickled into bridalwear, with more and more women rejecting the idea that “bridal” means covered, padded, or hidden. In place of ball gowns, we see dresses that reveal the body rather than disguise it. They invite light and shadow to play across skin. Transparency has become the new language of confidence.
On Gabby, the sheer Fanci Club silhouette wasn’t about shock value; it was about alignment with who she is. Fans of The Bachelorette know her as someone who refuses to be boxed in, unafraid to crack jokes, to be awkward, or to be vulnerable. This dress, in its daring honesty, felt like a continuation of that energy She wasn’t dressing to fit the archetype of “the perfect bride.” She was dressing to show that imperfection, humor, sensuality, and romance can all exist within one frame.
There’s also something quietly radical in Gabby’s choice. In a culture where weddings are often shrouded in performance, her gown bared it all, literally and symbolically. It said: I’m not here to be an untouchable ideal. I’m here as myself.
Now, if you haven’t caught up in The Summer I Turned Pretty, I’m going to need you to skip the next few paragraphs. These looks are bold and outside of the traditional views for wedding dresses, but not every wedding dress needs volume, corsetry, or drama to leave its mark, and a dress that has sparked a lot of controversy within the last few weeks is Belly Conklin’s dress.
In a series built on love triangles, big declarations, and the intensity of youth, Belly’s dress was a quiet refusal of spectacle. Unlike the anarchic rebellion of a Vivienne Westwood corset, Beckham’s design rebels through restraint. It’s a silhouette that whispers instead of shouts, yet still alters the room. Where other brides turn to lace and layers, Belly leaned into fluid lines and silk that clung to the body with honesty, exposing shape rather than disguising it.
Minimalist slip dresses have always carried cultural weight. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s wedding look in the ’90s proved that pared-down bridalwear could be just as iconic as couture ballgowns. By choosing this path, Belly’s story aligned with a lineage of women whose elegance came from refusal. The refusal to overperform femininity and the refusal to be “bridal” in the traditional sense.
Belly’s choice reveals a different kind of rebellion in bridalwear, not the maximalist, punk-informed chaos of Westwood, but a rejection of noise in favor of intimacy It asks us to look closer, to notice shape, line, and feeling rather than ornament. In that way, her dress was less about the fantasy of a wedding and more about the quiet, complicated truth of who she was becoming.
In the end, what ties all of these women, Charli, Demi, Saoirse, Gabby, and even Belly, together is not a single silhouette, fabric, or designer, but a shared refusal to disappear into expectation. Their dresses weren’t costumes for tradition; they were mirrors of identity Whether through Westwood’s defiant corsetry, Fanci Club’s sheer audacity, or Beckham’s minimalist restraint, each gown challenged the idea that a bride must transform into someone else to be “wedding-ready.” This season proves that bridal fashion is no longer about conformity, but about authorship. It’s about writing your own love story, not just in vows, but in the very fabric you choose to stand in. And maybe that’s the true evolution of the wedding dress: not purity, not performance, but presence and power
Back to school essentials
The start of September means the return to classrooms and offices. If you’re anything like me, annual school supply shopping is a must-do. My mission this year? Find supplies that are both fashionable and functional. Here is my list of items thatcheckbothofthoseboxes!
Papier
anthropologie
Inked Histories: How Gen Z Is Rewriting the Story of Tattoos
Today, tattoos are everywhere They peek out from shirt sleeves and line the arms of students heading to class, where even their teachers’ hands, writing on the board, are marked with ink. As Gen Z becomes the newest generation of adults, the perceptions and associations of tattoos are rapidly changing Tattoos are no longer just about rebellion; they are a personalized form of self-expression, acting as a creative outlet and a symbol of authenticity, covering much of the generation’s bodies. But this surge in visibility is not new. Tattoos have always been a part of us, telling stories nearly as old as humanity itself
The earliest known tattoos date to around 3370 BC and were found on the mummified skin of “Ötzi the Iceman,” who had 61 soot-made tattoos across his body. Long before tattoo machines and Instagram flash sheets, cultures across the globe used tattoos to mark identity and signal belonging, or, in some cases, to enforce ethnic isolation and criminal branding.
The word tattoo itself comes from the Polynesian term tatau. In ancient Polynesian and Samoan traditions, tattooing was a cultural practice passed down from father to son Tattoos could take weeks to complete, applied with boar and shark teeth
Designs reflected Samoan culture, featuring motifs of family and nature.
Tattoo traditions in China date back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC). Many served as protection against evil spirits, while others, according to ancient literature, were branded onto criminals to mark them as unsafe. The same was done in ancient Greece and Rome.
In Japan, tattoos can be traced back to the Jomon period (10,000 BC–300 CE), with evidence appearing on clay figurines Tattoos were associated with spirituality, and Indigenous groups such as the Ainu saw them as a form of expression. Centuries later, during the Edo period (17th–19th centuries), tattooing became a form of punishment. Through a practice called irezumi, criminals were branded, echoing practices in China
In ancient Egypt, evidence from mummified remains shows that tattoos were primarily found on women and may have been used for medical purposes.
In Aboriginal cultures, tattoos served, and continue to serve, as a way to connect people with their ancestors and the land, acting as a visual representation of identity Similarly, in the Philippines, tattoos known as batok or pintados were seen as badges of honor, representing one’s achievements and social status. Traditionally done with bamboo sticks tipped with needles, each tribe had distinct design traditions, with common motifs such as animals, suns, stars, and geometric shapes. Tattoo artists, called mambabatok, were highly respected
In Burma, the Chin people began a tradition of face tattoos, believed to enhance a woman’s beauty and signify cultural identity.
Wherever people lived, they tattooed. The meanings shifted, but the impulse was universal: to inscribe life onto skin.
By the 15th century, however, European colonizers began to rewrite the story. In the Western world, tattoos became deeply stigmatized. Indigenous peoples with tattooing traditions were branded “savage ” Missionaries banned tattoos as pagan and often persecuted those who bore them. With colonization came cultural loss: tattooing practices disappeared alongside languages and rituals The body was no longer a canvas for cultural connection but rather a site of cultural control.
Tattooing experienced a resurgence in the late 19th century. With the invention of the tattoo machine in the 1890s, the practice suddenly became more accessible, ushering in an era of mass tattooing. Royals even showed off their tattoos, while sailors marked their bodies with swallows, anchors, and nautical turtles as symbols of miles traveled and loyalty to the sea.
The war eras of the 20th century expanded tattoo culture further, introducing patriotic designs. Soldiers abroad adorned themselves with ink, while women at home got their own tattoos to display solidarity. World War II popularized “Sailor Jerry” tattoos, with imagery of pin-up girls, palm trees, and the iconic “Mom” heart
Yet stigma persisted Tattooed bodies often appeared in circus “freak shows,” reinforcing the idea of tattoos as marks of an outsider. The conservative family culture of the 1950s only deepened this taboo
Then counterculture cracked it open again. The 1960s and ’70s brought peace sign tattoos against the Vietnam War, Janis Joplin showing her wrist tattoo on the cover of Rolling Stone, and bikers wearing tattoos as symbols of loyalty. By the 1980s and ’90s, tattoos grew bolder and more visible. MTV fueled tattoo culture, Pamela Anderson’s arm tattoo became iconic, and women embraced tattoos as acts of reclamation and confidence. Feminine designs, such as hearts and butterflies, saw a resurgence
The 2000s mainstreamed tattoo culture even further. Reality TV shows took viewers directly into tattoo parlors, turning artists like Kat Von D into celebrities and cementing tattooing as a legitimate art form
By the 2010s, tattoos were no longer taboo but celebrated as art. Creative freedom flourished, with watercolor tattoos, biomechanical pieces, and full custom designs transforming tattooists into cultural stars.
Now enters Gen Z, a generation raised on art education, digital self-expression, and the constant blur of online and offline identity. In the 2020s, as they enter tattoo shops, Gen Z doesn’t see tattoos as shocking; they see them as natural extensions of personal identity. The designs they choose reflect this.
Tramp stamps, popular in the early 2000s and once dismissed as “slutty,” are now embraced as playful, sexy, and empowering. Fine line tattoos dominate: small, intricate designs that feel intimate and personal. Quirky, funny, but meaningful tattoos flourish too. Whether it’s a doodle, a word, or a cartoon, each signals belonging to a niche, a subculture, a corner of the internet, or an in-person community. Gen Z tattoos don’t need to impress everyone; they need to feel true.
From Ötzi’s soot marks in the Alps to Samoan tatau masters, from colonizer suppression to Sailor Jerry’s flash, from Janis Joplin’s rebellious ink to Gen Z’s fine-line revival, the story of tattoos has always been a story of identity.
Gen Z doesn’t just wear tattoos. They reclaim them, remix them, and make them their own In their hands, tattoos are not rebellion, freak show, or taboo; they are a birthright, a legacy, and a form of art that turns the body into its truest self-portrait.
Living in Outline:
Art of Everyday Silhouettes
Silhouettes are everywhere, whether you realize it or not. In fact, whatever you may be wearing while reading this has a silhouette. Whether purposeful or not, silhouettes determine the way clothes fit on our bodies and can therefore alter the way we’re perceived.
I think oftentimes people aren’t thinking enough about their silhouette when it comes to fashion and are simply throwing on clothes for the sake of putting clothes on. But once you start embracing different silhouettes, the more fun you’re able to have with your clothes. People often get trapped in the mindset of simply throwing on clothes without utilizing the power of silhouettes to their full benefit. The way clothing moves and fits one person’s body is not how it’s going to sit on the next. The more we embrace this, the more fun we can have with our clothes and create more opportunities out of our clothing. With a change in seasons comes a change in all capacities, so why not add some change to your closet? I think it’s best to get some inspiration for different silhouettes from people who are embracing all sorts of silhouettes in a way that we typically don’t see every day. The more we take inspiration, the more fun we’ll be able to have.
Silhouettes aren’t costumes; they’re a part of your identity. And when you start seeing your own wardrobe as a set of tools for shape, space, and storytelling, getting dressed becomes less about covering up and more about creating art. So take these fashion icons as your inspiration, and go have fun and make a statement with a new silhouette or two!
Troye Sivan: Twistedly Sleek
Troye Sivan has mastered minimalist silhouettes with a twist. On stage, he gravitates toward slim, elongated lines that amplify his fluid choreography, often mixing sheer fabrics with tailored cuts. His silhouettes blur sensuality and sharpness, never overly busy but always slightly subversive. Troye uses simplicity as provocation. He mixes simple silhouettes with fabrics that add depth to his outfits
Charli XCX: Party Girl Look
Charli XCX has always allowed her style to be as loud as her music. Her wedding dress wasn’t about perfection; it was about rebellion. It was a messy romance spun into fabric. Another time the star embraced the power of playing with silhouettes was at the Met Gala. Here, the textures not only on the fabric but also within her hairstyle leaned into silhouettes as performance, turning her body into a spectacle. Even offduty, her draped, collapsing fits echo her party-girl energy, as seen in her Party 4 u music video.
Ravyn Lenae: Romantic Fluidity
Ravyn Lenae carries her music into her style with ease. At Lollapalooza, her outfit wasn’t just a costume, but rather an extension of her voice, moving with her. She used her hair as an extension of the outfit to further the silhouette and sculpt the overall line of her look, making the audience even more drawn to her. In silk dresses like this one, she plays with contour. Ravyn’s silhouettes are alive, ever-changing, breathing with her energy.
Helena Bonham Carter: Eccentric Goth
Helena Bonham Carter has always been that girl when it comes to silhouettes. She uses them as stories and an expressive form of self. With them, she shies away from the mundane. By using layers, corseted bodices, and asymmetric hems, her clothing creates worlds that often reflect the work she’s done within the film industry. One moment, she’s regal and gothic; the next, she’s whimsical and eccentric. While others dress for flattery, Helena dresses for imagination.
Harry Styles: Gender Play
Harry Styles treats silhouettes as a way to break boundaries. His famous Vogue cover in a frothy gown layered with a blazer was a silhouette as rebellion: the sharpness of menswear clashing with the expansiveness of womenswear to create something entirely his own. On stage, he takes a more altered masculine form by incorporating trousers and jackets to follow his movement. For Harry, silhouettes aren’t just shapes; they’re statements that gender is no cage.
Nicola Coughlan: Delicate Drama
Nicola Coughlan embraces dramatic proportions and designs, but balances these looks with a softness. She gravitates toward voluminous gowns, puffed sleeves, and exaggerated lines that could easily overwhelm. But on her, they read like modern fairytales. Instead of shrinking into delicate, conventionally “safe” silhouettes, Nicola leans into taking up space. She uses fabric and structure to command attention. Yet there’s always a gentleness woven through, whether it’s the romantic curve of a neckline, the pastel shade of a gown, or the way she carries herself with warmth and humor.
Doechii: Boldly Disrupted
Doechii uses silhouettes to channel performance and dominance. Her style is sharp, playful, and often armored with futuristic cuts or exaggerated volume. Whether she’s in a structured bodysuit that sculpts her frame or oversized outerwear that exaggerates her presence, her silhouettes always read like power plays. Doechii bends clothes to tell a story not only about herself, but what she's come from and worked towards
Timothee Chalamet: Romantic Rebellion
By rejecting traditional menswear silhouettes., Timothée Chalamet has made red carpets unpredictable. From backless halters to flowing, sequined jumpsuits, his silhouettes redefine what “leading man” style looks like. Oftentimes, men on the red carpet will wear a “traditional suit,” but Chalamet disrupts that. He plays with fragility and sharpness, often leaning into cuts that highlight delicacy, which allows him to rewrite masculine codes with every appearance.
Zendaya: Silhouette Chameleon
Few people have mastered the art of the silhouette quite like Zendaya. With the help of stylist Law Roach, she has turned the red carpet into her stage, using shape as a storytelling device. Zendaya doesn’t stick to a “signature” look; Zendaya’s power is her adaptability. She shows that silhouettes aren’t about one “flattering” formula, but about embodying whatever role or mood she wants to step into.
Fresh Starts, Fresh Minds
EmmaLu
Theres a slight crisp in the air that screams back to school Whether youre actually going back to school or not I feel like this is an extremely transitional time and a moment for you to check in with yourself and what you want to accomplish before the year ends You might be remembering some of your New Year's goals and realizing you have done as much as you wanted or youre entering a new stage of life and need to gather your thoughts to be the best version of yourself
Wherever youre at in your life if youre going back to school starting a new job, or continuing doing what youve been doing take this seasonal shift as a way to center yourself
Oftentimes we allow social media to absorb our minds even if we don’t realize thats what were doing I often find myself watching videos that give me a brief moment of motivation and make me start thinking about all the things I want to do in my life but in the morning when its time for me to actually do those things Im back in the same routine Now in some ways these videos are beneficial because they inspire us but if it becomes a cycle of watching and not doing, we’re not pushing ourselves to follow that new routine or hobby Whatever your goal is its important to keep in mind during this transitional period that you really can do the things you set your mind to
That being said oftentimes it can be difficult to know where to start if you’re trying something new One of my favorite things to do when Im about to begin a new chapter of my life is to really center myself and be honest about what I want to achieve
This can look different for everyone but one of my favorite ways to do this is by using creative outlets to form my goals Creating a collage of sorts whether it is digital or physical, can really help you visualize these goals and allow you to think about your priorities I personally love cutting up old magazines and creating a physical collage that I can hang up next to my workspace so that every time I glance over it can act as motivation for myself
The next thing I love to do is meditate on it
Meditation can be extremely useful if youre anxious about entering a new chapter of your life or if youre just overwhelmed with things There are so many podcasts and YouTube videos that provide guided meditations for all sorts of topics My favorite ones are about grounding yourself where you are and truly visualizing all that you want to achieve When you close your eyes and really imagine what it is that you want to achieve, you can connect with that goal and allow yourself to truly see yourself doing it
Another one of the things that you can do to get in the right mindset is writing I recommend this to all of my friends Keeping a personal journal is so beneficial to keeping yourself organized and sane Its also a great way to write out your goals and really connect with yourself When we put our thoughts on paper it allows us to really think about the things going through our minds and see them in a new way
I also like to write about the things that I want to let go of that no longer benefit me To counter this I write out things I want to bring in and accomplish within this new chapter of my life This also allows me to create boundaries for myself whether that be with relationships habits, or work I know what I will and will not accept This way you can also look back in the future and see how far youve come or what you still need to work towards
There’s a stigma that when you put yourself first that you ' re selfish and in a way thats true When you put yourself first, you are choosing yourself over other things but sometimes that is the healthiest thing that you can do When you have a strong relationship with yourself before you enter a new chapter of your life youre allowing yourself to experience that new chapter to the fullest
No matter what this next chapter looks like or wherever youve come from to get to this moment allow yourself the time to connect deeper with yourself so you can become the best most thoughtout version of you
