Cintra Wilson
Once upon a time, I eagerly looked forward to Thursday mornings, as it meant the publication of a new Thursday Styles section in the New York Times. Far superior to the Sunday Styles segment (which regularly greenlights publication of drivel like this), Thursday focuses more on fashion, recently-opened bars and eateries, and other things that would generally make me envious of New York City living.
Unfortunately, I feel as though the section has deteriorated as of late. There are still some fashion articles, but they seem less numerous than before. Cathy Horyn, whose every article I've probably read for the past five years, publishes more frequently to her "On the Runway" blog, but at the expense of fewer articles. Worse, I feel an increasing "Sunday Styles" influence, primarily via the trendspotting articles. I firmly believe that the genesis of these articles can be traced to a dare . As in, "I just DARE you to write an article saying that male nannies are the new hot thing!" If successful, the article might actually launch the trend, or at least get into the head of a publisher willing to put a book out on the subject. Finally, the trend comes full circle with yet another Sunday Styles piece, this time about the video about the book about the original article about the non-existent trend.
To its credit, Thursday styles has, at the same time, made some noteworthy additions to its format. The aforementioned blog allows for more spontaneous, and more frequent, postings than the normal Times publication schedule allows. Audio slide shows and video postings, narrated by Bill Cunningham, Cathy Horyn and Eric Wilson, help to tie the words of the authors to the images they describe. But first and foremost among these improvements, and one of the main things that keeps me reading, are the "Critical Shopper" columns written by Cintra Wilson.
These columns are the fashion equivalent of investigative reporting, with a nice populist bent. Sure you've seen those heels on a model, but what is it REALLY like to shop at Christian Louboutin?
I first came across Cintra Wilson by accident, when I was looking for a book to read and I came across one with a picture of a blow-up doll on the cover. SOLD!! A Massive Swelling was a snarky examination of our culture's worship of celebrity. I'm bad at remembering any sorts of details about books, and this one is no different, but I remember laughing, and I remembered her name. So when she showed up on the style pages, I was immediately hooked.
Ms. Wilson's articles are light-hearted, and often totally hilarious. You get the impression that she enjoys fashion, but she's too smart to take it too seriously. She enjoys poking fun at the clothes, and occasionally at the sales staff, but she is equally engaging when describing the perfection of an Alexander McQueen dress.
If you want more than just the stories linked above, this will take you to an archive of her reviews.
Once upon a time, I eagerly looked forward to Thursday mornings, as it meant the publication of a new Thursday Styles section in the New York Times. Far superior to the Sunday Styles segment (which regularly greenlights publication of drivel like this), Thursday focuses more on fashion, recently-opened bars and eateries, and other things that would generally make me envious of New York City living.
Unfortunately, I feel as though the section has deteriorated as of late. There are still some fashion articles, but they seem less numerous than before. Cathy Horyn, whose every article I've probably read for the past five years, publishes more frequently to her "On the Runway" blog, but at the expense of fewer articles. Worse, I feel an increasing "Sunday Styles" influence, primarily via the trendspotting articles. I firmly believe that the genesis of these articles can be traced to a dare . As in, "I just DARE you to write an article saying that male nannies are the new hot thing!" If successful, the article might actually launch the trend, or at least get into the head of a publisher willing to put a book out on the subject. Finally, the trend comes full circle with yet another Sunday Styles piece, this time about the video about the book about the original article about the non-existent trend.
To its credit, Thursday styles has, at the same time, made some noteworthy additions to its format. The aforementioned blog allows for more spontaneous, and more frequent, postings than the normal Times publication schedule allows. Audio slide shows and video postings, narrated by Bill Cunningham, Cathy Horyn and Eric Wilson, help to tie the words of the authors to the images they describe. But first and foremost among these improvements, and one of the main things that keeps me reading, are the "Critical Shopper" columns written by Cintra Wilson.
These columns are the fashion equivalent of investigative reporting, with a nice populist bent. Sure you've seen those heels on a model, but what is it REALLY like to shop at Christian Louboutin?
I first came across Cintra Wilson by accident, when I was looking for a book to read and I came across one with a picture of a blow-up doll on the cover. SOLD!! A Massive Swelling was a snarky examination of our culture's worship of celebrity. I'm bad at remembering any sorts of details about books, and this one is no different, but I remember laughing, and I remembered her name. So when she showed up on the style pages, I was immediately hooked.
Ms. Wilson's articles are light-hearted, and often totally hilarious. You get the impression that she enjoys fashion, but she's too smart to take it too seriously. She enjoys poking fun at the clothes, and occasionally at the sales staff, but she is equally engaging when describing the perfection of an Alexander McQueen dress.
If you want more than just the stories linked above, this will take you to an archive of her reviews.
posted by Chris at 9:41 AM
2 Comments:
A different perspective on the NYT's Style sections, from a few years back when Alex Kuczynski was writing the "Critical Shopper" column. What a piece of work Alex K. is, and I'm not just talking about the plastic surgery. One of my co-workers was once seated at a desk close to hers (this is when she was writing for the business section), and had to hear her loudly telling someone on the phone about how she had used a particular kind of breath mint or mouthwash or something, and it had given her boyfriend enormous pleasure when she gave him oral attention. Not the kind of conversation you would usually overhear when you hung around the business desk, which might have been the unsexiest part of the newsroom.
Ugh, I had totally blocked Kuczynski's reviews out of my head. She was always regurgitating the same aspirational nonsense that anyone can get, with prettier pictures, in Vogue or another style magazine.
The story of the mint has added dimension to her personality that I didn't think existed!
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