#this is my inspo to became more unapologetic

[cvrsedslytherin]

Idk what to do with this blog/new HL blog & new writing inspo tho? 😅

Verbal ver. Yeah, this is Diia speaking lol.

Written ver. below. Little bit more details.

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I took a tiny break from this account and left discord to semi detox from the internet basically. (They did find something in the brutal medical test I did recently so yeah. A lot has happened. It came positive but I’m not here to discuss my ongoing health struggles)

What I didn’t realize is… this blog caused my depression to seep in more because staying away helped me somewhat & I kind of want to reinvent myself now. I’m someone who’s kinda unforeseeable… messy af, impulsive as I battle both light & dark.

I’ve been going back & forth on whether to delete this blog. This isn’t the first time. For many reasons, one of them being… I shouldn’t have let this blog become too personal? The biggest regret was showing my illnesses. It put me in a vulnerable and even lonelier position. I wish I never did it but I can’t take back those lengthy posts & erase the memory for whoever saw them. Another reason, again, I just feel like a misfit. Then a private reason… very stupid one, has something to do with another user & me actually crying because I felt hurt lol. 🤡 I’m very sensitive with people sadly.

However, I love writing… & I loved making the videos, screenshots, etc. It’s hard when I love something but the fandom, I don’t feel fully welcome in. I can’t shake off my OCD. End up closing myself off more. I do appreciate any kindness that I was shown & I don’t neglect those few moments. A big thanks to those liking the posts I create myself. Esp the fanfics. I’m most happy for that part. 💚

That’s why, I’m slightly unsure what to do. I have another HL blog actually; anonymous for writing. But Idk if some can figure out it’s me…

This week, I got a book (of poems) that inspired me again.

This one actress, writes dark, raw, ugly yet sadly beautiful all at once— really let it out. It’s like repulsive meets pretty in a twisted way. It actually reached my soul & has me writing A LOT atm. Teaching me new words. Rn, I’m working on a HL fic that I’ll consider my best writing in a long time. Her book was dedicated to those who need to be heard. I haven’t finished as I wanna take it slow but it’s been both a painful yet liberating read so far. While I had previously been inspired on here by someone… that... yeah. Not gonna talk about it. But this actress became my muse? Her poeticism is on another level, imo. Her mind reminds me a lot of my own; I can be unapologetically honest. I think that’s why I resonated so deeply with her poems. And she writes it out so well that I just can’t. I’m in love with her writing. New fav writer.

Few of her less heavy/explicit poems:

I want to build as a writer & bring back the passion I lost many years ago. I was a writer in 2013–2015, I wrote two stories that got thousands of hits. A third was requested but half way through, I suffered a writer’s block & quit. My ability is not what it was.

So will I just stick to my anon blog? Idk… maybe. I will most likely post all my fanfics on there going forward now. Do I delete this one… or abandon it… just leave all my stuff here… or keep it as a secondary blog…

I just wish I had a do-over with this blog & did things a bit differently.

I had already made this post in advance after 3-4 days of thinking… just logged on now & I didn’t expect anyone to notice or msg me on here. So sorry @ravenwind-75 and @ps-cactus 😅 Thank you for the concern on here. 🫶 I’m ok. Well, I’m doing my best. I just needed little time for myself to handle everything weighing me down.

[wonhosmistress]

Aphrodisia;Prologue

(NSFW)

Word Count: 1,196

Warnings: Slight mention of Kinks, sexual BDSM themes, sex work, and lastly, TW! toxic-ish relationship mentions. Think I missed some? Lmk and send me a dm, I'll update this.

A/N:I have no IDEA how long this took for me finish because I’ve been teasing this series for a couple months with the only two teasers I mentioned of Hyunjin. Seems I have a lot of sub!Hyunjin enthusiasts because same y’all. 😩I promise to finish the Hyunjin before June ends and after that I’ll focus more on other members.

Anyways! This is the prologue enjoy this unfiltered, unedited, there will be hella grammar mistakes and I don’t plan to edit it because it’s too much work and I honestly just want to post ASAP. It’s been far too long since I’ve written and had any sort of inspo to write. Thanks to my dear mutual @nirvanawrites111 she gave me hella inspo with her amazing works!! I’m obsessed with her writing please go do me a favor and read her amazing stories/fics.

Also I tried to add the read more on mobile but I’m a dumbass and idk how to work tumble mobile sometimes lmao. So I apologize for anyone that will see this and doesn’t want to see it.

As a result of unsuccessful relationships and partners being concerned about where she went or what she was doing, she became more secretive about her whereabouts. Even though she wanted to be honest and open with them, she hesitated on many occasions; if she were to be bold and unapologetic they would go insane and ask questions like, "Why did you choose this job out of all the others?", "Are you cheating on me?", etc.

Those tiresome scenarios were one of the reasons she was always the one that broke it off with them, and so she took it upon herself to take a break from her dating life to focus on herself.

She had a job that wasn't just any regular job.

OnlyFans? No

Camgirl? No.

A phone Sex worker? No.

Feet pics? No.

Used panties? No

For her working at night was ideal because her sleeping schedule only allowed her to be a night owl. Even before any partner appeared in her life she was still in the process of discovering a whole new part of herself that she wasn't aware existed, and here she was in a dungeon that she had been hired at over a year ago and was one of the few popular dommes among the clients.

"How are you feeling?", She stood next to the man sitting on the loveseat.

"I'm good, Mistress." He smiled at her.

"Would you like some water?" He nodded in response.

She walked towards the room next door and back to the playroom to hand him the bottle.

She crouched down to his level to face him as well to check in with him, "How are you feeling? Was it too much?", she asked curiously as to how she could improve. What she should've done is saved that question for the head domme but she didn't and took the risk.

"No. Not at all. It was perfect, I enjoyed every second of it."

He faced her smiling at him and held her hand realizing he shouldn't be doing that.

"I'm sorry...may I?" She smiled warmly at him not pulling her hands away from his grasp.

"I just wanted to say thank you."

While she had not broken skin or drawn blood, she still left a few red welts on him. She grabbed the first aid kit in the corner and treated his wounds, trying to be as gentle as possible.

"No need to thank me. You went out of your way to give it a shot when you could've easily backed out and I would've still respected your decision. BDSM isn't everyone's cup of tea and so we've learned to respect everyone's decision."

She applied a first-aid ointment to every single red mark on his back; he hissed at the lightest touch, "I'm sorry, I know it hurts I'm just trying to make sure these heal quickly and nicely."

"I know and I appreciate it."

"Done." She stood up and handed him his T-shirt. "Make sure to take a warm bath or shower after you get home and keep applying ointment on the marks afterward.

He smiled at her making his way toward the exit.

"Will do.",

She smiled at him and nodded, seeing him off.

That was one of the roughest BDSM scenes she had done in a while. She would like to take time to make sure her submissive didn't go into a sub-drop, but sadly she couldn't. If it were her, she would go out of her way to remain with every submissive for a bit longer. However, her boss had to remind her that they only came here for a service nothing more. Because of this, she couldn’t be there for more than ten to fifteen minutes with her clients after their sessions ended.

~~~~~

"See you tomorrow night!" Her boss told her as they both headed in different directions.

She silently walked for the next couple of four blocks by herself and finally got closer to her apartment. She walked up the stairs and opened the door to her place. The second she got in she took off her shoes left them at the entrance and hung her purse on the rack.

Exhausted and couldn't even begin to explain how she felt after handling four subs back to back today. It was not an ideal situation for her couldn't handle more than two subs a day because her anxiety and insecurities kept creeping back up on her.

She meditated, journaled, exercised, and even set days apart for self-care plus, she detoxed from her constant electronic use. She ate healthily and did her best to keep her homey environment clean and organized. However, regardless of what she did something inside her told her she couldn't keep doing this.

She craved something new and stable.

She loved domming but maybe because of all her ex-partner's insecurities of themselves as she hid her true identity was reflecting on herself.

Could it be that deep inside she was ashamed of her job and what she did?

Years ago when she discovered the person she truly was glowed with confidence. How could she even be a dominatrix if she wasn't sure of herself and her current job?

Oh no.

She was experiencing not only her anxieties but also a dom drop.

Telling her boss; she was fine could've been a mistake because she was responsible for taking care of her dommes since half of them didn't have a partner to take care of them.

Fuck.

~~~~~

Two years Later:

Two years and a half of learning Korean were a big help during the entire process of her moving across the world. She wasn't fluent yet but could manage conversations with her neighbors, classmates, and strangers. And so here she was, sitting inside a cafe shop a couple of blocks from the Korean class she had just finished attending.

It seemed like only yesterday, she was experiencing the worst anxiety and burnout from only a year of working as a domme which was odd considering that she had never once felt like that before. But it made sense since she kept getting the gnawing feeling that she shouldn't have gotten into the dominatrix world way too early and so she took it upon herself to resign to take time for herself; and continue her future as domme by researching more information about the career, lifestyle, and possibly a new business.

The grueling work of research, language learning, space vacancy, furniture shop, etc made her take a step back and reconsider if she could do this all by herself. Thankfully, after taking a couple of weeks to continue her research she found herself posting on an exclusive adult site looking for dommes to work with her.

After returning calls and doing interviews she had successfully found four dommes who wanted to continue their careers in the kink community and so never once she thought, that she out of all people would be involved with any of Korea's music industry. Especially the ever so sexually frustrated men of Kpop that had an image and reputation to uphold in the industry, their companies, and not to forget their fans.

[bisexual-horror-fan]

How do you get your readers to interact with you? Like, talk to you. I run a smaller blog with less than a hundred followers, and I just can't get any interaction from my readers. It's really disheartening, not because I write for others approval but because I feel like I'm throwing something I love into the void and not even getting a whisper back. If I try and post anything other than a oneshot it gets nothing, not even a note. I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong, do people think I'm scary or intimidating? Please help me and give me some advice on how to get interaction from my followers.

Well hey Anon! You seem frustrated and I can totally understand that frustration! Putting lots of time and love into something to get nothing back can really get you down after a while. So allow me to give some advice on what worked for me. I really want to help but keep in mind that it might not shake out for you the same way, basically your mileage may vary. 

You should ask yourself some questions first and foremost. How sociable are you? How often are you engaging with other writers and reblogging their work and talking to them, giving feedback and comments to them and starting conversations with other users first? A lot of my early interaction was me reaching out to regular people in my notes and to writers I liked and talking and engaging with them and their work as a whole. 

Are you encouraging people to talk to you? Ask games? Calls to action? 

Tumblr and writing communities are very sociable places and having fellow writers, friends and moots will do wonders, not just for engagement and your stuff getting passed around but also for your mood and mental state! Having like minded friends and people who get hyped about your stuff will feed into your mood and make you want to create more and on the cycle goes! Just make sure that you are giving back, if you see something you like from someone else? Tell them! Loudly and proudly, don’t be scared of it! Be unapologetic in what you love, it can be scary but be brave and it will encourage and inspo others to do the same, people have told me so themselves and also, how can you expect people to do that for YOU when they love your stuff if they don’t see you doing it too? You know what I mean?

Part of why I have so many people reaching out, other than the sheer amount I write, fics I post and characters I love, is that I foster a warm and welcoming community space. People tell me they feel safe here, comfortable, like they can talk to me and I do my best to make people feel heard and that they won’t be judged. Kindness goes a long way. 

And adding onto allll of this. Look at what you see in the community? Does anything seem like it is missing to you? I started by writing more of what I wanted to see and turns out a lot of other people wanted to see that too! Or even look at the trends of what people do like, does any of it inspire you? If so, writing it might do you some good because if those things were well liked, people would probably like more! Like that post that goes around about the two cakes, people always like more options!

Also think about your place in the fandom space. What do you provide? For me I think other than the warm and kind space with no judgement the biggest and most obvious is porn, tons of filthy smut. Do your best to make sure what you are making is reaching those who might like it. Tag, tag, tag super well. Also, consider cross posting. I post all my stuff to ao3 and HEAVILY promoted my tumblr blog and tons of people told me they read me there and eventually jumped to my blog after seeing me talk about it so much and THEN we started talking and became friends or moots. 

Do your best to relate to and engage with your fellow writers, get yourself some colleagues, have fun, post and shamelessly reblog and promote your own shit. You gotta be confident in yourself! No one really wants to read a post that starts with “-I know this isn’t good but-”

But many more people wanna read something that starts with, “I had so much fun writing this and I am so into this idea!” 

I know this is a lot but hey, I think that it all counts and stacks, getting engagement like you want is a multifaceted endeavour.  The more people are invested in you, the more they might wanna invest in your writing, also nature of the beast, one-shots are easily consumable and until a more stable base is built getting people into other stuff might be tricky, especially OG writing, just keep talking about it with enthusiasm and be persistent.

Lastly, don’t beat yourself up or compare yourself to others. It’s important to remember I have been doing this for nearly two and a half years, that is a lot of time and I have posted almost 900k+ of writing in that time. A lot of what I see is a sheer numbers game, the amount of time I have been here and the massive amount I have posted. 

Don’t get discouraged Anon! You got this! Also feel free to reach out in DMs if you are comfortable and want more advice or to share your writing.

[charmspoint]

I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THINGS LIKE THIS TO SUBMIT TO YOU YASSS

3 12 15 19 23 (cautiously avoids 18)

I love reading the Lucy Rambles™ ok?

jk do 18 too (pls ily)

Frappe loves reading my rambles >:3 I love rambling >:3 win win situation <3<3<3<3

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year?

The hardest at the beginning yas. I have such a terrible memory for lines and stuff hgvhh uhhh first thing that comes to mind is one I didn't post yet from Satoru's prequel that is impossible to explain without giving away like...the plot...just know it's sad and I like Toji in it, that's it.

More concretely I really liked writing the fluff scene in Cannibalization of the Apex ch 6, where Satoru puts so much effort into changing into something more palatable and then Suguru slowly leads him back from it, leads him back to the form that's most natural to him because he is his Satoru and he loves him just the way he is. The boys really deserved a break and it was nice to write something that was just unapologetically soft and fluffy for a fic that up until that moment had been nothing but pain.

12. favorite character to write about this year?

Should come as no surprise at all

Been brain worming about this mans whole fucking year and I'm not nearly done, please send help.

15. something you learned this year?

I FEEL LIKE I LEARNED A LOT THIS YEAR

I'd gotten comfy with outlining, I became able to write LONG STUFF (Rip), I've gotten good tips on fight scenes and general grammar stuff from my beta, I've even gotten some good tips on sex scenes lol. I've figured out how to edit my work better, how to recognize when a scene needs to be cut or reworded instead of stubbornly trying to make it work, just a lot of little things that I think will make my writing smoother in long term. Before last year I've been struggling with writing quite a bit and then by the end of it I've gotten to writing regularly once again. And a lot of my work then felt very...clumsy and unpolished and just...just gurgling out the trash you know? N I feel like this year has been me getting back to pace, flexing and stretching and figuring out all the ways in which I can move now. I'm really excited for the next year, I hope with all the things I learned this year my quality gets even better >:3

18. current number of wips?

The joke is on you because like yesterday I went and cleared out my wip folder and put everything I don't intend to work on any time soon in my hiatus folder (where my bnha fics went to rot) so as of now I have only 5 wips uwu

Recently I finished up some event stuff so that got sorted out and talentless nana readers should be happy to know assigned lesbian is still in wip folder i just...need to get kicked or something...im so sorry talentless nana fandom...

This of course doesn't count all the gang au fics gathering ideas or your request which is in a pickle jar in the back of my brain but yes uwu i got organized and cleaned everything up so I can prioritize better, new year new me.

19. any new fics to start next year?

Well today I'll be posting the fic I did for jjk exchange so there's that :3. But it's not like a pairing I usually write for so hjbjhvhj.

Next year should take a while to get started, currently I'm most intensely working on my stsg winter exchange piece (reveal early february) and then Satoru's gang au prequel which is nearing end but will take a LOT of editing so it's hard to predict when it will be out. BUT when I'm done with my exchange piece I'm planning to finally slot in dad Gojo for writing and while with Gang au I'm going to wait till I have everything written and edited (and illustrated ;3) to post, dad gojo will follow the same schedule as curse au aka 'a chapter is out as soon as it's done' so either that or my exchange piece is coming out first,

You know, unless I get inspo for a random one shot before that which is always possible.

I feel like 2022 will be a year of long term things >.< I hope the extra wait will be worth it!

23. fics you wanted to write but didn’t?

Opens my hiatus folder

I think my circus AU and 7 days are the most prominent ones I thought of this year but didn't have the time for, but I think I tend to be pretty realistic about when I'll get something out so I've always expected those to take a bit longer and stretch out of this year.

7 days double especially for this because while for circus au I had a concept but knew I wouldn't get to it, I've actually started writing 7 days and I just...mmmm I think I could do better with it so I'm saving my strength for it. I think it could be really good if I give it the right attention so...no rushin.

I might use it when stsg big bang rolls around who knows >:3

Thank you for the ask ily v much <3<3<3<3

End of the year ask game

[ofmara]

*record scratch* *freeze frame* yep, that’s me. BVCNJ hey lads ~ i’m ally, i’m twenty2, my timezone is est, i use she/her pronouns & full disclaimer: i don’t know what the fuck i’m doing! just keep that in mind when you read this.. trash lmao. anyways! if u wanna plot, feel free to hmu on d*scord at HE IS SO BIIIIG 😩👌🏼🧡#2581 or yk use the lil chat thing on tumblr if u wanna start small or w/e FDCNK no pressure. moving on..

mara’s pinterest: here!

content warning: ..none?? who am i???

( ariana grande & cis female. ) oh my god look, it’s mara de luca! she is a 24 year old singer/songwriter from queens, new york. they were first associated with the met cartel 3 years ago, and the tabloids are always saying she is so impulsive & irreverent, but their stans on twitter say that she is actually really magnetic & passionate.

first thing’s first.. i haven’t written a coherent intro in a fucking Minute, so i’m offering premature apologies for the shitshow that’s about to follow, especially since i really waited til the last second to type this out even if this blog’s been Done for a week smh ANYWAYS!

ok so! mara is what i like to call ‘a textbook new yorker’ in that she’s Loud, she Loves Her Family and she’s Unapologetically Herself. my character inspirations for her are joey from netflix’s the circle, fran fine from the nanny, molly gunn from uptown girls and a little bit of cher from clueless sprinkled in there ( mainly bcos of this gifset lmao ). since i came up with her a few weeks ago, i really had so many different personalities for her but like.. let’s keep reading to see that literally all of them were apparently Not True ~

she was born into a very tightly-knit family & grew up constantly surrounded by them. she’s got three older brothers, meaning she’s the Baby of the family, so she’s been uhhhhhh doted on all her life! we stan! that said, she’s never known what its like to be on her own, especially considering that her family was right by her side every step of the way as she slowly grew her career from childhood. she got her start singing the national anthem at a knicks game when she was 8 and slowly built from there. her parents were always suuuper supportive and did all they could to help her achieve her dreams, even though they were struggling to make ends meet.

her parents own a small bakery in queens that they started when her oldest brother was little and have been a staple in the city ever since. though they’re a somewhat popular spot for tourists and locals alike, ny real estate isn’t cheap, so paying rent both for the store and their apartment above it has always been a struggle, especially once they started dedicating a good portion of their money to plane tickets and agents and all sorts of necessities mara needed in order for her dreams to come true. the extra expense was difficult on her brothers as well, though they made a point never to complain when they had to get a second or third job to help pay the bills.

ANYWAYS she grew up veryyyy close to her family and the sacrifices they made on her behalf didn’t go unnoticed, so the first thing she did when she finally Made It was buy them a bigger space for their bakery ( since her parents Love working it even if its rough sometimes, buddy ) and a new house so ;) we love a Family First mentality!

HOWEVER!! when mara first moved to LA in like?? 2015 or something?? idk timelines.. but anyways when she first moved to LA she was.. how u say.... Depressed cos like even though she was Living Her Dream as the artist she’s always wanted to be ( she lived in queens w/ her family up until after her first Big Break cos she’s a big time daddy’s girl ) .. she was essentially on her own since her family stayed in nyc :/ yk, where they live? yeah. so she was on her own for the first time... Ever & it was scary and stressful and essentially, she wasn’t doing great mentally or emotionally, even if she put on that *ari vc* fake smile.

that was untiiiiiiil she got her first ~ hollywood boyfriend ~ aka someone famous who helped both with her career and as a salve to the constant loneliness the bitch always feelin. long story short, he didn’t last long, but she Needed to feel Wanted so she got Another ~ hollywood boyfriend ~ until it became, like, Her Thing to Always be attached to someone in the tabloids and the press and on Entertainment Tonight. we love a codependent bitch! that’s also kinda how she got to be part of the met cartel cos she immediately attaches herself fully and completely to everyone she meets & falls a little bit in love with every person who has ever said hello to her, so.. Yeah! most of her friendships were likely formed because she just would not leave them alone ( she’s clingy and needy As Fuck, but she knows she is, so she’s constantly worrying about it aka she’s always wondering if people really like her cos she’s been said to be “too much” and “annoying” by some people who.. weren’t interested in being her friend ) anyways.. feel free to lmk if u want ur chara to hate her cos she will fully have her feelings hurt but still want them to like her cos shes a, say it with me kids, people pleaser ~

its v clear why i thought of joey & fran for inspo ( espeeeeecially fran, now that i think about it: i.e. constantly searching for love, lovingly obnoxious ) but as for why she’s like molly gunn... bitch is uhhh naive as fuck and will trust anyone who is even a little bit nice to her so peep her constantly seeing everyone through rose colored glasses and immediately feeling like her heart is broken when they turn out to be someone completely different lmao! also yk in the little mermaid when ariel was like “but daddy, i love him!” ??? YEAH, that’s mara to a fucking T, m8!

i could quite literally go on and on for hours, but to keep it short and sexy, here’s her stats page & i’ll follow up with a list of some little tidbits of info.. some Quirks, if u will..

she hiccups when she cries & BOY does she cry often BVJNCDKM

cannot cook a single mf thing to save her life? yeah.. her parents wanted to let her work in the bakery but .. she burned everything so she was cashier ;)

can quote the entirety of bring it on: all or nothing & as a segue from that, she is very chatty during movies if she’s with even one other person but Silent when she’s alone

will challenge anyone and everyone to mario kart wii as long as she gets to play yoshi ( she has a vendetta against baby peach )

is Constantly Freezing, so she’s always in thick socks and turns the heat up high when she’s at home

has a cavalier king charles spaniel named piper ( yes, i'm using a fc for her dog )

i’m gonna b p selective with which ari songs she’s released both bc i dont like All of ari’s songs & for character purposes ( rip in peace, sweetener )

is classically trained on the piano and sometimes just plays classical music for fun, making up silly lyrics at parties and whatnot lol she’s just Fun & Quirky like that

owns every season of the o.c. on dvd

she has a car but i havent decided if she ever drives it ( or what kind it is, tho i assure u my virgo ass will be researching it at some point ) since she really just barely passed her driver’s test

is constantly in the tabloids for one dumbass thing after the other mostly as an excuse for me to make tabloid edits but like... i love that for her & will 100% be down to include any and all of u if u lmk u wanna be in one

and many more, but i’m really just sitting here rambling UGH EW so lms for plots cos i’m unprepared & i don’t have any wc’s! very on brand for me, i must say

[fashiontrendin-blog]

Menocore is the New Normcore, and It’s a Lot More Comfortable

http://fashion-trendin.com/menocore-is-the-new-normcore-and-its-a-lot-more-comfortable/

Menocore is the New Normcore, and It’s a Lot More Comfortable

The other day I found myself fantasizing about moving into a lighthouse. In this not uncommon fantasy of mine, I am rocking a breezy yet put-together white outfit, the perfect menocore ensemble. Early summer is the perfect time to get into your 2000-present day Diane Keaton inspired looks, so I figured this post deserved to fill your feeds once again. Originally published in July of 2017 it is a timeless beauty, much like a good pair of linen pants. – Nora 

All I want is to dress like Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give right now.

The realization dawned on me as I surveyed my closet at the beginning of summer. After a few weeks of mulling it over, I decided to pitch it as a style story.

“I want to style three looks inspired by the aesthetic of a middle-aged woman on a low-key beach vacation,” I said. “You know: lots of linen, tiny spectacle sunglasses, maybe a bucket hat, cozy knits, everything super flowy…” My voice trailed off as I searched my coworkers’ faces for a flicker of recognition.

24 PHOTOS click for more

“So many people are getting into that Eileen Fisher aesthetic lately,” said Amelia.

“Yes!” I said. “Exactly! It’s kind of a thing right now, right?”

“Maybe that’s why I keep dressing like a retired masseuse,” said Leandra. “Drawstring linen pants, open button-downs…”

“Yeah, very relaxed,” I said. “Unselfconscious-cool. Picture a 50-something-year-old woman who doesn’t care what other people think and just wants to be supremely comfortable.”

“Is this the new normcore?” Haley asked.

“Maybe,” I said. “I’m trying to think of how to describe it in that same vein. Middle-aged…menopausal…Menocore??”

The name stuck. Every time one of us walked into the office wearing an outfit resembling that of a mom in a Nancy Meyers movie or an eccentric ceramicist exiting her beach house studio or Blythe Danner on a solo bird-watching expedition in 1997, someone would inevitably say, “Well, well, well. Aren’t you looking menocore today?”

Sup

A post shared by Anna Z Gray (@annazgray) on May 2, 2017 at 9:38am PDT

I started seeing menocore everywhere. I became obsessed with documenting it. My bookmarks folder on Instagram overflowed with evidence: billowy pants sporting elasticized waist bands, head-to-toe ecru, well-loved market bags, loose tops with bold prints, exposed bras, clunky sandals or sneakers, loose ponytails secured with scrunchies, a porcelain bowl of freshly-cut pineapple sitting on rumpled white bedsheets, jewelry that looked like something a kid might make in art class, unapologetic sun protection for unapologetic sun protection’s sake, tarnished gold barrettes and sequins just for the fun of it.

Like normcore, menocore isn’t tied to a particular designer or brand, but unlike normore, it doesn’t have an obvious uniform — no boxy jeans + turtleneck + clogs formula. Yet under the umbrella of menocore exists two archetypes: On one side of the spectrum, there’s the very neutral, head-to-toe white linen, rolled-up khaki pant cuffs, life-on-the-beach vibe propagated by middle-aged style icons like Diane Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg and Lauren Hutton. On the other side of the spectrum, there’s the tropical print, silk cargo pocket, plastic bead jewelry, clashing print, cerulean satin jogger pant, waistless kaftan-wearing vibe espoused by the likes of Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, Miuccia Prada and Lucinda Chambers. Current pre-menopausal aficionados of the first look include Lucia Zolea, Nella Beljan, Subrina Heyink and Virginia Calderón; of the second: Frewa Wewer and Laurel Pantin.

“For me, the look is a sort of shapeless dress that shows my décolletage (I will always love a little cleavage), my massive jumble of gold and sentimental necklaces, flat strappy sandals and semi-frizzy hair,” said Pantin, Editorial & Fashion Director at The Coveteur. “I like the term menocore. When I’m shopping, I definitely have a mental image of an older Italian woman who wears a lot of Marni, Dries, classic shirts unbuttoned low, LOTS of old, gold jewelry and a big, overgrown garden.”

Menocore is by no means limited to these stylistic personas, though. I see plenty of outfits that combine them, and that’s what I tried to do while styling the shoot inside this feature. I think of them more as the minimalist and maximalist points on either end of menocore’s all-encompassing rainbow, with lots of variation and individual interpretation happening in between.

What I love most about the movement is how it pays long-overdue homage to an age bracket that is often ignored by the fashion industry. Our attention to youth has always been very much intact, and the octogenarian subset joined the zeitgeist awhile ago thanks to icons like Iris Apfel and blogs like Advanced Style, leaving women in the middle relatively invisible. Menocore is finally giving them the spotlight they deserve.

“Growing up, my mom was always my barometer of taste, always focusing on great pieces rather than trends,” said stylist Danielle Nachmani, who frequently incorporates what I would call signature menocore items into her shoots — bucket hats, thick gold hoops, khaki pants, linen blazers, etc. If the normcore-fueled proliferation of mom jeans was an ode to the clothes our mothers wore in their 20s, menocore is a tribute to the clothes they wear now. And it’s not just a fashion statement — it’s a mood. Or, at the very least, a projection of one.

“Menocore is such a great term for this,” designer Lucy Akin said when I reached out to her over email. Akin is the creator of Ciao Lucia, a brand new, California-based label I flagged during my research. “Fashion is reflecting our need for an escape from our current reality,” she said. “When the state of the world, or the political climate, feels uncertain, it’s only logical that we would want our clothing reflect ease, maturity and confidence. I turn 30 next year, and with Ciao Lucia, I was channeling an older version of myself who has life a little more figured out. My goal was to make a collection that felt happy and calm, with classic silhouettes and flowy fabrics. The overall look is timeless, comforting and comfortable.”

I agree that this movement goes beyond clothing, which is why I mentioned that photo of freshly-cut pineapple sitting on rumpled white bedsheets in my aforementioned list of examples — not because of what it was (chopped pineapple is not particularly remarkable), but rather, because of what is was not. It was not some trendy frozen cauliflower smoothie, or chia parfait dusted with ashwaganda powder. It wasn’t something that took hours to make, or something that ascribes to “shoulds.” It was something a mom might prepare as a snack for her kid or for herself, and therein lies the sweetness – literal and figurative.

Like the bowl of pineapple, the style element of menocore is also defined by what it is not: trendy, prescribed, price-dependent, impersonal. It started off the runway, propagated by regular people just living their lives and dressing in clothes that made them feel like the best versions of themselves (regardless of trend or designer name). Now that its begun to proliferate across industry darlings, indie designers and social media “inspo” accounts, I wouldn’t be surprised to find traces of menocore finding its way onto the runway, ever-so-subtly, come September fashion week.

“People are gravitating toward a simpler way of life in general,” Marie Dewet told me. She and her mother are the co-founders of Maison Cleo, one of the small, fledgling labels that, like Ciao Lucia, I consider representative of the menocore movement (and also a product of it, to some extent). “Not just with the clothes we wear, but also with the food we eat, the way we decorate our homes, the way we live our lives. “The thing about simplicity is that it doesn’t have to be boring, or even minimalist. It’s more about stripping away the noise.”

New York Magazine called normcore, “The aesthetic return to styles [we] would’ve worn as kids reads like a reset button—going back to a time before adolescence, before we learned to differentiate identity through dress.” In fascinating contrast, menocore is the aesthetic leap to styles we would embrace as middle-aged women, taking us forward in time to a more marinated version of our selves, our mothers and our world.

Or, I don’t know…maybe we all just wanted to start wearing comfier pants.

Photos by Edith Young. Modeled by Hema Barbosa of MSA Models; follow Hema and MSA Models on Instagram @gemzb_ and @msamodels. 

[empireintheair]

– by ChiChai@Empire –

Throwback Thursday to ChiChai@Empire and Chris@Empire’s trip to Japan in May 2017

Our strongest memories are often transformative moments that affect us for the long run. One of my transformative moments was the first time I strolled down Upper Haight Street in San Francisco. My mom and I were visiting my uncle who lives around the corner.  And,  what meant to be a lunch date became one of my transformative moments. Little did I know that my fifth-grade soul would fall in love with streetwear and urban art that day.

Growing up, little girl fashion choices were often limited to forced structures of what girls “should” be a.k.a. most tees had phrases like “Babygirl” or “Angel.” Please watch this video to get a better idea of what I mean (and how even with simple t-shirt slogans, the social construct of sexism is embedded onto our psychology).

Upper Haight Street showed me that the idea of how girls “should” dress didn’t matter. With stores like Stussy SF, FTC, and TRUE, I saw for the first time t-shirts with art. No cheesy slogan, no cute ass puppy, none of that. These tees had pure artwork on them. Not only did the little artist in me leap in excitement, I was enthralled to see the women working in these shops. Seeing women rock streetwear for the first time was like the first time seeing women who didn’t give an f about being in a male-dominated industry. To me, it was as if their confidence rocking streetwear made the statement “I’m equal and/or better.” I knew instantly that I wanted to be part of that world.

Me on Haight Street in front of a piece by SF artist Sam Flores(2012)

As other California streetwear-lovers know, we blessed. We have LA, SF, and Oakland where urban brands thrive i.e. Hellz Bellz, Benny Gold, Illest, Oaklandish, and way way way more. Over the years, while I dove deeper in love with fashion, I dreamt of visiting a particular street across the seas for another transformative moment: Takeshita Street.

As all streetwear-lovers know, Takeshita Street of Harajuku in Tokyo, Japan is a large slice of streetwear heaven on earth.

Many know Takeshita as being brightly lit with pink storefronts selling staple Harajuku clothing, such as frilly skirts and loud platform shoes.

Photo by Christina Berlina

It’s also known to have cutesy themed cafes and dessert stands. Chris@Empire and I stopped by a Sanrio one out of curiosity. Not gonna lie, it was pretty yummy.

Back to streetwear…

What makes Takeshita Street a streetwear heaven– after passing through its more froufrou side– is its seemingly-endless shops of urban fashion. The shops here push the boundaries beyond the basic pairing of tee + sneakers. The graphics printed on the apparel ranged from classic placement to experimental; all the locals had a unique silhouette by their layering and curation of clothes; and the brands and those rockin them were unapologetically and confidently themselves.

Strolling through Takeshita Street went beyond my expectations and was indeed another transformative moment for me and my personal style.

Here are some of the favorite stores Chris@Empire and I visited:

Kimono Kabukis

Takeshita not only includes the shiny and new, it also has thrift stores reviving older gems. One of these thrift stores is Kimono Kabukis which sells vintage kawaii kimonos.

They invite its buyers to bring kimonos into the contemporary world. Example A: how steezy is this mannequin tho?

Example B: From their Instagram

. Nu Skool Riot . #kimonokabukis #kimonokabuki #kimono #haori #yukata #harajuku #kawaii #キモノカブキス #原宿 #かわいい #着物 #羽織 #浴衣 #love #fashion #saijoshirt

A post shared by Kimono.Kabukis (@kimono.kabukis) on Jul 8, 2017 at 12:12am PDT

. Rude boy !!! . #kimonokabukis #kimonokabuki #kimono #haori #yukata #harajuku #kawaii #キモノカブキス #原宿 #かわいい #着物 #羽織 #浴衣 #love #fashion #saijoshirt

A post shared by Kimono.Kabukis (@kimono.kabukis) on Jun 24, 2017 at 1:22am PDT

Billionaire Boys Club

Billionaire Boys Club is on the more luxe side of streetwear (i.e. it’s pricing.) But with two big names as its creators, visiting this store was on our list of must-visits.

Trend-setters and musicians Pharrell Williams and Nigo founded BBC in 2005. It has three storefronts on three different continents, adding to the rarity and value of the brand. The store’s layout was clean-cut with out-of-this-world accents to match its astronaut logo.

Undefeated

We’ve been to Undefeated  in San Francisco and Los Angeles so we were curious to see what the Tokyo one was like.

It was on the cozier side but it was grand nonetheless. With its wooden fixtures and well-lit glass cases, the store’s handsome setup made us feel as though we were about to buy suits and jewelry.

But nah. I bought a  Tokyo exclusive long-sleeve with an Edo-like painting fused with Undefeated’s logo.

Stussy

Stussy is one of my favorite brands. Ever. It was one of the first streetwear brands I heard of (reference back to intro) and I’ve stayed loyal to it since. I remember thinking when I was younger, “If Shawn Stussy can make a living off his handwriting, so can I!”

Christopher and I have Stussy city shirts from Vancouver, Seoul, Seattle… best believe we were going to get one that said Tokyo on it.

Stussy Tokyo has three floors. THREE! The two bottom floors showcased its apparel and home goods…

whereas the entire top floor was dedicated to the ladies! *screaming*

P.s. To the lady in camo on the left that works for Stussy Women’s– you are an OOTD-inspo.

Kickslab

While I geeked out about Stussy having an all-ladies floor (another example as to why representation matters!) Christopher’s jaw dropped as his inner shoe-head revived.

According to Christopher, Kickslab has several original Jordans and other hella rare sneakers. Christopher– who used to have about 150 sneakers– said this is the largest collections he’s ever seen.

BAPE

Last but definitely far from least is A Bathing Ape a.k.a. BAPE, another creation of streetwear icon Nigo.

This was the biggest of all shops we visited that day. Standing at three glorious stories, BAPE’s signature bold colors and gorilla-camouflage patterns create a youthful escape.

Can we take time to appreciate the storefront of the bottom floor? Because the bottom floor solely featured the Baby Milo collections, the window displays were made to resemble vending machines with giant Baby Milo + Friends plushes. (If this was real, I would’ve played. Lost. Cried a bit. Then repeat into $20 deep lol.)

More details from the upper floors:

Me literally dropping onto a BAPE couch after shopping *please note that we saved up for a year for this moment*:

We spent nearly the entire day roaming around the neighborhood while admiring and indulging in the local fashion. This streetwear kid’s dream-com- true did serve as a transformative moment. Now that months passed since our visit to Takeshita Street, I’ve been inspired to push my own boundaries. Harajuku’s inspired me to push boundaries for my own style as well as Empire’s.

Me wearing the Empire in the Air hoodie layered with a kimono from Kabuki Kimonos

TBT to a Streetwear Kid’s Dream: Takeshita Street - by ChiChai@Empire - Throwback Thursday to ChiChai@Empire and Chris@Empire's trip to Japan in May 2017…