Haters Will Say It's Photoshop
Behind the scenes with Mrs. Bieber for the latest cover of Vogue, and some more news you can use
Well before I accepted the assignment to profile Hailey Bieber for the summer cover of Vogue (out today, go read it!), I nearly tripped over her on Melrose. Well, not her, but her direct influence. (And one rather large poster of her person.) Obviously, as a person who is relatively “online," I had intersected with her influence plenty of times before, in the oversized blazers and understated makeup and pilates-core and pearlescent nails of Gen Z on TikTok and Instagram, but this was the first time it was [as the kids may but likely do not still say] IRL. Meaning that in February I found myself sidewalk-blocked by a patient posse of excited young women in baggy jeans and baby tees, slicked back center-parted buns, glossy pouts, and perfect almond shaped manicures, all queued up and ready for what I soon discovered was the Los Angeles pop-up of her sell-out skincare line, Rhode. I’d say 80% of them had the cell phone case.
Bieber, who is either the face or direct inspiration behind countless currently viral beauty and fashion trends and often holding down the homepage of several tabloids at once, was an easy hang, and didn’t particularly hold back, either—even when it came to tricky topics, like the scary turn her labor took, confronting (and ultimately accepting) a body she didn’t recognize post-partum while in the public eye, and the sheer amount of vitriol she still receives from the faceless online hordes and the tabloid media, 7 years and a baby later, simply for being happily married to Justin Bieber. But yes, before you ask, her skin (and eyebrows!) really are terrific. The photographs, by Mikael Jansson, and the styling, by Tonne Goodman, are also very exceptional, as you might expect!
I think the story came out well, and features one of my favorite quotes I’ve ever received from a subject’s spouse (“I’ve done a lot of dumb things in my life,” sayeth Justin, “but the smartest thing I’ve ever done was marry Hailey”), but I could certainly always go longer about the current state of the internet and the way it tends to treat famous women—let alone the way everyone else just sort of goes along like they must deserve it. LaineyGossip had a smart post on this, I thought, in early April, when it was revealed that there may have been some moolah incentivizing the digital pile-on by Hailey’s haters. Cui bono? One doesn’t like to conspiracy theorize but boy, the internet makes it easy….
Anyway, read the story and let me know what you think. If you’re interested in a little more behind the scenes, I had fun chatting with my editors on the Vogue podcast about it. (I had less fun being caught in some paparazzi photos trundling along behind Mrs. Bieber, but that’s another story for another time.)
In other news:
The delightfully dog-friendly(!) Pendry Newport Beach has just launched a new private charter experience on a 34’ Sea Ray Sundancer (appropriately) called the Aperitivo, available for marina and coastal cruises and lovely summertime hangs. I went along for a ride last week and brought this cute tote, which I would recommend for the next time you want to maybe just briefly nod to the nautical. (It’s neoprene, so perfect for the beach.) I haven’t spent really any time in Newport before and particularly enjoyed seeing Duke’s Point, the location of John Wayne’s house until he died in 1979 (AD has a look inside from when he owned it) from the water, though the current owners live in what was rebuilt after it was torn down, and as you can see in this TikTok, the landscaping is far heavier on flowers than we can imagine Duke was. I am hearing more and more about how this summer Americans are really amping up for domestic travel, rather than, say, storming the beaches of southern France or Italy again—I’ll believe that when I see it, but this kind of thing (a daytrip an easy drive from LA!) ticks such a box easily, and gets you away from the potentially toxic runoff situation along the westside? A nice diversion to consider.
Speaking of flowers, Burberry celebrated their latest Highgrove collection last week at the always perfect Flamingo Estate, for which I was thrilled to tag along and even briefly play beekeeper. (Meaning I wore the suit and peered around, see above.) A National Library of Medicine study found that beekeepers in Malaysia live markedly longer and healthier lives than non-beekeepers (as evidenced by telomere length, which usually indicates longer lifespan), likely due to consuming so many bee products. Another reason we must protect pollinators! (Unfortunately royal jelly just always makes me think of the Roald Dahl horror story, but maybe I’ll get over that.) It’s the fourth iteration of Burberry’s Highgrove collection, which is inspired by the private gardens of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla—British artist Helen Bullock visited the grounds and did lovely painterly illustrations now on everything from silk scarves to fetching party pajama sets. (My favorite is the classic khaki trench whose typical lining has been swapped out for something sweetly sunny, just what you’d want to see on the kind of dreary day you need a trench.) FWIW, this is also a great “forever” leather jacket.
I did a very fun Q&A with Margaux, who at the moment makes a whole host of perfectly wonderful spring or summer-ready shoes. (The Demi Jane in ecru woven leather are my favorite, perfect for when you want to be a bit more polished than sandals, or your pedicure is less than pristine.)
I came across this great summer tote and there’s something really gratifyingly directional about it. Jane Birkin goes to the office!
These Korean hairbrushes are functionally fabulous and smell divine, like palo santo, or something (I don’t know why, maybe it’s the beech wood they’re made of?), which is something I never knew I cared about until I had it in my hair daily. (There’s one for wet hair too, if that’s more your use case.)
Botanica, in Silverlake, is wonderful and well-known for its local produce-forward menu, but I went with a friend on Sunday for the first time in a while and had what was hands down the best scone of my life. (Ginger and chocolate!) Just a heads up, should you be in the neighborhood and craving a really-worth-it carb. I also bought a bag of these sea moss dusted peanuts on my way out, and couldn’t be happier. Umami greatness.
I finished Marianne Faithfull’s autobiography. It’s a great summer read, dishy and druggy with lots of good fashion and side characters. (And eye-popping Stones gossip, obviously…) I don’t know what it is about summer, but autobiographies are really the thing. At the recommendation of a friend I’ve since moved on to My Three Fathers by Bill Patten (not to be confused with this great Ann Patchett story), about his childhood and “the elegant deceptions” of his glamorous, complicated mother, the writer and “saloniste” Susan Mary Alsop. That friend pointed out that it happens to feature a surprise paternal reveal that is nearly beat for beat the same as the one delivered by Susan Sarandon in the great 2002 movie Igby Goes Down. (If you haven’t seen that, well, go correct that immediately.) So far, so excellent.
We “attended” the streaming premiere of Black Sea on Metrograph. It’s a great movie, largely improvised, and co-directed by Crystal Moselle (The Wolfpack, Skate Kitchen) and Derrick B. Harden, who stars. A charismatic barista from Queens finds himself stranded in a seaside town in Bulgaria with no money and no passport—and he’s the only person of color for miles. It’s really charming, deeply humane, really wonderful. A nice story about connection in a world that feels increasingly discombobulated.
Christie’s auctioned off some incredible 21 pieces of JAR jewelry at Hotel des Bergues in Geneva on May 14, none of which have come to auction before. What the peerless Joel Arthur Rosenthal (“the Faberge of our time”) can do with metal and stones is hard to comprehend until you see it in the flesh. Remember when Ellen Barkin sold $15 million worth of JAR pieces given to her by Ron Perelman in 2006? I do! (“I was an accessory, being accessorized.”) She kept one diamond ring, apparently, which JAR had given her himself. Anyway, the auctions are always fun for those with a budget/ hankering for heavy armament because there’s no guarantee that the man himself will sell to you, even if you have all the money in the world. His whole thing is that the piece has to fit the client. (No, there’s nothing chicer than that.) The diamond, enamel, blackened silver and gold wrap around "Apricot Blossom" bangle, below, went for $2,840,124, nearly ten times its pre-sale estimate. Hard to tell from photos, but it shows the flowers in all the stages of blossoming, from closed buds to full bloom. You can see it (and the insane JAR diamond necklace that closed the sale and went for 5x its estimate) in glorious motion, here.
NPR discovered that parrots like to FaceTime! It’s sort of heartbreaking. I can't think about parrots without remembering when I dipped my toe into the world of serious parrot enthusiasts (among other devoted "pet moms").
I loved this story about the Kharkiv opera from Der Spiegel. Kharkiv is in Ukraine, 30 minutes from the Russian border, and this follows the brave performers and workers who keep it open and running for a 400-seat folding chair audience in the basement that still regularly sells out. Slava Ukraini!
Once peace has returned, Tulusov hopes to bring international artists to the city and maybe even start a festival. For someone who has an unexploded Russian rocket on their roof, Tulusov’s dreams are grand. But that’s how everyone here sounds.
That’s all I have for you right now. I’m in the thick of planning some last minute summer travel and scheming how to jam the most use out of the least possible articles of clothing for multiple weeks at a time and exfoliating using this decadent tool that also looks slightly dangerous... Wish me luck. Are you still planning to go abroad or are you sticking close to home this summer? Let me know if you’d like more vacation/packing/planning/plotting this summer, or if you have other things on your mind you’d rather dig into. I always love to hear from you. xx ATC