Cheryl Shops

Fashion is always cyclical, and after the maximalism of revenge dressing, dopamine dressing, and Barbiecore, 2023 has felt like a shift back to minimalism. If you want to get deep, part of it can be seen as a reaction to economic trends (high inflation, high interest rates, general panic about signs of a recession, etc.), when people get more conservative about how they dress and tend toward the classics versus pieces that shout luxury. But on a more surface level, I think people just get tired of their clothes and want to try something new. The thing about quiet luxury is that it's positioned as an uber-rich thing, like how the characters on Succession dress. Anecdotally, there is some truth in that; I have known some incredibly wealthy people who exclusively wear threadbare clothes from L.L. Bean and wouldn't be caught dead in a designer logo. I have also known heiresses (I'm talking literal future billionaires) who'd never say no to a rhinestone, bright color, or bandage dress. It's true that money can't buy taste, but taste is also subjective. Quiet luxury is still wealth-signaling; it just depends on what your flavor of wealth-signaling is. That said, my style has always leaned more toward minimalism than maximalism, so if this quiet luxury trend means I have more viable clothing options out there, I'm all for it. Here's what quiet luxury looks like to me. 

It's been awhile since I've done an honest review of any skincare, for several reasons. I got a series of IPL facials earlier this year, which I would not entirely recommend because they've made my already reactive skin sensitive AF, and literally every new product I've tried since then has given me a rash. This bummed me out on many levels, because, one, no one wants to go through life with splotchy, irritated skin, and two, I really enjoy finding skincare products I love and telling you about them. So it was with an understandable amount of trepidation that I cracked into a box that Elemis sent me earlier this year. Elemis is a high-end British skincare brand that's been around for years; while not impossible to find in the U.S., it's a little more under-the-radar, e.g. not in Sephora or most department stores. But it turns out that, like many foreign brands, Elemis feels like a little secret that Britain has been keeping for themselves. In other words, this is a really good skincare line. Here are my honest, unfiltered thoughts about the three products I've been using nonstop lately.

This is my actual skin, in good lighting, with no filter. I am wearing only mascara and lip gloss.

I've lived in my San Francisco apartment for nine years, making it the longest I've ever lived anywhere as an adult. While I've definitely experienced some life changes here—my ex moved out, I lived here alone for several years, then Sean moved in almost five years ago—I hadn't done much to update the décor that entire time. We kind of absorbed much of Sean's furniture and bought some new things over the years, but what really set things in motion was the Jenni Kayne rug I bought myself for my birthday earlier this year. (And yes, you know you're in your 40s when your birthday present to yourself is a rug.) While I had been obsessed with this rug for months, I hadn't considered how it would make everything else in the room look...not quite right. In other words, instead of pulling the room together, it kind of tore it apart. But that turned out to be a good thing. I decided to completely overhaul my living room design and make it the cozy, cohesive, intentional space I've always wanted. Here's a tour of my new and improved living room.