ISSUE NO. 1 NOSTALGIA AUGUST 14
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF YOONY CHANG PHOTOGRAPHERS OLIVIA CUPP LARISSA BLINTZ MARKUS SPISKE DAVID HIGGS KARMAN VERDI PATRICK TSOTSOS JOSHUA BLACKBURN NATHAN DUMLAO ANDREEA BADIU BIANCA JORDAN ADRIEN OLICHON XAVI CABRERA JOHN CAMERON ANDREW WINKLER AUGUSTINE WONG ROBERT BREDVED GILES DULEY JAN ANTONIN KOLAR GETTY IMAGE WHITE LIMOZEEN COURTESY OF 444ARTE CONTRIBUTERS DANIELA SORTO JOSEPH MARCZYNSK CHANTELLE HEEDS KAITLYN TIFFANY HEATHER BRAGA JORY SHAREFF EMMA SPECTER GILES DULEY MARY HONKUS SARAH SPELLINGS SUBSCRIBE PEOPLE.COM ISSN NUMBER 1999-8253 COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MAGAZINE OR ANY PORTION THERE OF MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OR USED IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER EXCEPT FOR THE USE OF BRIEF QUOTATIONS IN A BOOK REVIEW.
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PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, NATIONALITIES, AND GENDER LIVE IN THE WORLD. ALL THE PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT VALUES, TASTES, PREFERENCES, PERSONALITIES, AND CAPABILITIES. BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT PEOPLE DO HAVE IN COMMON. PEOPLE MAGAZINE SPECIALIZES IN SHARING THE THINGS ABOUT MEMORIES THAT PEOPLE HAVE EXPERIENCED.
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EVERYONE ONCE HAD A DESIRE TO RETURN TO A FORMER TIME IN ONE’S LIFE, SUCH AS A FAVORITE MEMORY OR EXPERIENCE, WHICH IS OFTEN CALLED NOSTALGIA. IN THIS ISSUE, WE FEATURE FOUR DIFFERENT PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIFFERENT MEMORIES FILLED WITH NOSTALGIA. THESE STORIES ALLOW PEOPLE TO REFLECT ON THEIR OWN STORIES, MEMORIES AND INSPIRE WHILE ALSO ACTING AS A WAY TO KNOW THEMSELVES MORE DEEPLY.
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MAGICAL TIME WARP LAUNDRETTE A love letter to London’s disappearing laundrettes TEXT BY. Joseph Marczynski
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CERAMIC ARTIST STEPHANIE H. SHIH On the meaning of memory and clay TEXT BY. Jory Shareff
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MEET DEVYN An interview with a girl from the 60s & 70s TEXT BY. Daniela Sorto
NEWSTALGIA Missing the daily pleasure of pre-quarantine life TEXT BY. Kaitlyn Tiffany
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
10 CULTURE
BYANT GILES AGAINST INJUSTICE Using his work to speak out against injustice
80 OPINION
TEXT BY. Sarah Spellings
12 PLACE
THE BRIGHT PINK ROOFTOP Dolly Parton-inspired rooftop open in Nashville TEXT BY. Mary Honkus
WHERE WE SHELTER As the world locks down, who will protect refugees? TEXT BY. Giles Duley
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TO HELP FROM BEIRUT EXPLOSION 5 ways to help those affected by the beirut explosion TEXT BY. Emma Specter
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BRYANT GILES AGAINST INJUSTICE Bryant Giles has been making art ever since he can remember. “I started at three years old. I was very quiet growing up, so it was the best way for me to really communicate,” the Chicago-raised and LA-based artist tells Vogue. “Instead of really talking, I would draw.” In the early stages of his career, Giles would use a “blind” technique, in which he’d draw and paint with his eyes closed, until he was finished with the piece–training himself to rely on his memory, rather than on still life subjects, to create. “I was very inspired to remember the world around me so I can confidently work without reference and create my own world.” He’s been using his time to look within, to “[observe] myself, history, my environment that surrounds and those that occupy it,” Giles says. “Not to say I didn’t do so before, as that’s the origin of my work, but it became less over the years.” Making art is the only career he’s ever known. “The ways I’ve profited from my art itself has [taken] many forms.” Giles explains that TEXT BY. Sarah Spellings even before his first show, he learned a kind of guerilla marketing. “I was selling pieces via social media and by word of mouth around my city,” Giles says. “I think the part I dreaded the most was the negotiating aspect.” Reconciling the “value” of art led him to rethink how he labeled the clothing he created as well. “I’ve always hated the term merchandise and I was putting the same amount of emotion and caution into the garments as the pieces on the walls,” he says. Rebranding clothing as art was the only way, Giles said, to reinforce the value of his own work—no matter the medium. Giles’s recent works represent his current emotional state: themes of racism, police brutality, flawed systems, and his interpretation of today’s social climate. “It reflects the heaviness I’m feeling these days,” he says. “I find myself in a loop of reflecting on the immense
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hate. It’s really consumed my work.” Though the process is emotionally intense, Giles says that often results in his most honest work. “I really try to hold on to the kid that was sleeping on the couch with ambitions of owning a studio in Japan. I just had so many dreams and I had so many emotions. I just really want to keep that inner child and still trust myself enough to express how I truly feel. Not censor it.” Giles credits his success to honesty and commitment, which he says should be the only goal for aspiring artists. “I kind of felt like an outcast,” he says of his childhood. “But I’m really proud that I stayed on this route. If you feel like your route speaks to you, then do it, and don’t have any regrets.” In a sense, these personal reflections are the subject of his forthcoming project, “Where Did The Fun Go?” (the opening date is currently contingent on the safety regulations of Covid-19). Here, Giles aims to showcase “the trials and tribulations that is being a human, as we age, the fun often leaves the equation,” he says. “This exhibit is me trying to grasp onto my adolescence through the thick and thin.” Giles hopes that he will be able to show his work later this year, adding, “if we find a way to do it safely.” Until then, he says he will keep on creating. “As an artist, your purpose is to create a voice for those who are voiceless in a society that doesn’t really want to hear them.”
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THE BRIGHT PINK ROOFTOP DOLLY PARTONINSPIRED ROOFTOP OPEN IN NASHVILLE
TEXT BY. Emma Spectar
White Limozeen, a brick-and-mortar love song to country music legend Dolly Parton, has now opened in Nashville after delays due to the pandemic. The rooftop bar and restaurant opened Friday on top of the Graduate Hotel in Music City. The space was inspired by Parton, featuring a chicken wire statue of the singer and decked out in multiple shades of pink. The name comes from Parton’s 1989 album of the same name. The Graduate Hotel opened in January 2020, and the restaurant was slated to open in March, but due to devastating tornadoes in the state followed by nationwide COVID-19 shutdowns, the store opening was pushed back for multiple months. The developer and operator of the restaurant, Marc Rose, says the new place is a mixture of glamour and approachability. “We wanted it to feel really approachable and really feasible for everyone to be there, everyone to have a good time, whether you’re drinking a can of Natty Light, or you’re ordering caviar,” Rose told USA Today. “And if you order that caviar, we expect you to spill it on your shirt because you’re having such a good time.”
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The decor includes the varying shades of bright pink and flashy accents with Fuschia-crushed velvet chairs, crystal chandeliers, and plenty of tassels. Hot pink, fringed umbrellas dot the roof deck and are appropriately spaced to ensure social distance measures that are mandated by the Nashville Metro Area are being followed. A few of the original plans shifted due to the pandemic — table-side salad bar carts are now sanitation stations and all surfaces are regularly disinfected, according to USA Today. White Limozeen has already welcomed their first celebrity guest the Grammy-winner Maren Morris stopped by for brunch Saturday and shared her experience on Instagram. “Social distancing & enjoying a gigantic Dolly Parton sculpture this beautiful Nashville Saturday,” she captioned a photo of herself enjoying a cocktail.
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MAGICAL TIME WARP
LAUNDRETTE
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TEXT BY. Joseph Marczynski
Before washing machines became a ubiquitous household appliance, launderettes were a necessity of life and a common meeting place for local communities. The comforting smell of washing powder and gentle rumble of polished chrome have been the backdrop to conversations between neighbours and friends for generations. The first self-service launderette — Central Wash — opened in London in 1949, before rapidly expanding across the country. Launderettes were widespread in 1970s, but since then, numbers have deteriorated. There are now just 462 stores left in London. Photographer Joshua Blackburn has visited and photographed everyone. For Blackburn, Laundrettes are a breath of fresh air in the homogenised strips of betting shops, chain stores and coffee cafés that make up the modern high street. “Launderettes are so characterful, full of colour, geometry and idiosyncratic qualities,” he says. “The older launderettes, in particular, possess a timeless nostalgia that is irresistible.” “I’ve always loved launderettes. They seem so out of place on the high street; a place where people sit and wait, chatting and reading, rather than rushing in to buy something. I had wanted to try photographing them for a while and started with a few locals. I liked the results and decided to develop it into a project.” But of the hundreds of launderettes Blackburn visited during the project, one clear favourite emerged. “The Maypine Launderette in South Wimbledon tops
the list. It’s a time capsule full of beautiful colours and wonderful American machines from the seventies.” The launderette owners and staff Blackburn spoke to reacted positively to the project — despite being a little baffled: “Understandably, to them, it was just their place of business. Their photogenic qualities were not something they saw. But nine times out of 10 they were incredibly friendly. A bit bemused, but friendly all the same. If you talk to a launderette owner, they know their customers; many return every week. For some people, the launderette might even be the only social contact they have.” Sadly, the days of the humble launderette could be numbered — washing machine ownership in the UK has reached almost 100 per cent as of 2018. Along with spiralling rents, many are struggling to survive. According to Bruce Herring, Chairman of the National Association of the Launderette Industry, soaring rents are a major threat to the survival of the launderette because, “if a landlord can rent a space to a takeaway chain, they’ll make more money, which can force launderettes from profitable locations.” It’s likely launderettes will one day disappear from the city completely. “The cost of running a launderette versus the profit it generates makes it a hard business to work in,” Blackburn says. But his collection is capturing these unique spaces for posterity before they slip away from the increasingly sterile, uniform streets of London forever.
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“I remember laundrettes being a bit like this when I was a kid in the 80s but not with machines as beautiful as this they were a bit more modern ones that you opened at the top and threw your stuff in.“
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“Nine times out of 10 they were incredibly friendly. A bit bemused, but friendly all the same. If you talk to a launderette owner, they know their customers; many return every week.”
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“It’s like a magical little time warp to a forgotten era! It’s run by a guy in his 80’s who inherited it from his father-in-law and the machines are over 40 years old. “
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“For some people, the launderette might even be the only social contact they have.�
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STEPHANIE
TEXT BY. JORY SHAREFF On the forty-eighth day of New York City’s quarantine, just before sundown, I met with ceramic artist Stephanie H. Shih on Zoom. Shih tells me that she keeps “raccoon hours,” working through the night until 7AM. Pretty soon my day would wind down, but hers was just getting started. Shih’s Asian-American ceramic sculptures—intricately-decorated bags of Botan rice, containers of chili oil, countless brands of soy sauce and over a thousand porcelain dumplings—evoke notions of time in the form of diasporic nostalgia, as she refers to it. This immortalized pantry is a well-stocked space of emotionally-charged memories that recount the experience of growing up as a child of immigrant parents who moved to the US from Taiwan in the 1980s. “I look backwards more than I look forwards,” she tells me. Like any memory, it’s the passing of time that creates the charge. This interview has been edited and condensed.
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IT’S NOT ABOUT COMMERCIAL PRODUCT
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WHAT I DO IS MORE ABOUT NOSTALGIA
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Jory Shareff: There is a community aspect to your work—that’s a unique thing for a ceramic artist. Usually it’s a solitary activity. I really enjoy the polling that you do on your Instagram as a way to generate ideas about which objects to make next. Stephanie Shih: I know for a lot of artists, there is a certain aesthetic they want to pursue, and they don’t want audience feedback. They want to make their work and put it out into the world. But for me, I’m very interested in that active dialogue and it’s hugely central to my practice. JS: I can see how this would have a lot to do with exploring your ways of remembering. SHS: People in the Asian-American diaspora are obviously not at home in Asia. That’s not where we grew up. Often, Asian-Americans don’t speak perfect Mandarin, or Japanese, or Korean and so forth. We are at home in America, but we will always be othered here too. Our culture will never be the mainstream culture. For this reason, we don’t really have a physical homeland. There isn’t a place where we can go and feel like, there is where I belong. I like to think of Asian-America as more of an emotional place that exists in our conversations and in our shared memories. To me, that is why nostalgia and memory are so hard to separate from community. JS: Porcelain itself is so fetishized by white potters. Your practice of using this material to make these objects, dumplings especially, seems to confront this idea directly. SHS: What’s ironic is that when I started the dumplings, I didn’t think of it too seriously. I was in a creative slump. I thought, You know what will really sell? Porcelain dumplings. White people will love to buy porcelain
dumplings. It was a way to make money from the way non-Asian people fetishize dumplings as this token of Chinese cuisine. But the project became what it did because the Asian viewers responded so strongly, and I started doing the groceries in reaction to the feedback I received. There were a lot of non-Asian people who didn’t mean any harm, but they made jokes about the dumplings that were really just uncomfortable. I heard things like, “You should sell them in Chinese take-out containers, or egg roll wrappers, or you should answer your phone, May I take your order?” Something they kept saying, half-jokingly was, “You should make them look like they’re dipped in soy sauce.” First of all, soy sauce has become a shorthand, or even a trope, for how Chinese food is seen in America. I also wasn’t trying to make realistic food— I was making a sculptural object. I wanted to do something that was a nod to other Chinese folks who would know that the most important dipping sauce was not soy sauce at all. The first grocery I ever made was black vinegar. I wanted to choose an ingredient I felt would be very familiar to the community, while probably being fairly foreign to another. JS: I love the idea that you’re involved in a private conversation with people who would understand, in an unspoken way, what your work means. Would you be comfortable sharing what it’s been like to develop your voice as an artist in the places where you work and live.
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WE DON’T REALLY HAVE A PHYSICAL HOMELAND. THERE ISN’T A PLACE WHERE WE CAN GO AND FEEL LIKE, THERE IS WHERE I BELONG.
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CERAMICS AS A CRAFT AND AN ARTFORM HAS EXISTED ON ALMOST EVERY CONTINENT, IN EVERY CULTURE; THIS IS SOMETHING THAT ALL PEOPLES HAVE.
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SHS: Ceramics as a craft and an artform has existed on almost every continent, in every culture; this is something that all peoples have. Especially in Asia, there is a long tradition of pottery still being practiced today. What I see a lot in Brooklyn are white-identified people making historically Asian forms. It’s not that I don’t want them to, or that I think they’re not allowed to, but it made me ask: Why? Why are you making this, as opposed to a Greek amphora? What is it about Asian ceramics that is so enticing to white potters? What does it mean to them, if anything? Something that’s really common with beginner potters, but also with a lot of people who are making table wares, is sake sets. I just wonder, do you even make sake at home [laughs]? Another big trend is the Korean moon jar. JS: Absolutely everywhere. SHS: It really made me wonder: What does this mean to you? I started thinking about what it would look like if an Asian person explored the history of Asian pottery. My first big series was a bunch of vessels based on forms from imperial China: a phoenix tail vase, a bull head vase, conjoined vases—all of this. It’s interesting because now, looking back, I actually feel the same way about that as I do about white people making sake cups. Because, what did that mean to me? Yes, it’s from my culture, but I actually don’t know how connected I am with that history. I was making these forms from my cultural history, but I actually had no personal connection with them. I didn’t realize this until very recently. After that project, I still wanted to bridge this gap between my identity and my art. There was this hole there, and food has always been really important to me. One day I thought—let me try to fold some dumplings. Six dumplings turned into twelve, turned into twenty-four, and now I’m well over 1,000 dumplings. The grocery project was born out of that. Even though I didn’t set out to do this, my art practice has really been reactive to how Asian viewers of my work have responded. I feel like there is very much a dialogue.
The project is what it is today because of all the stories and reactions that people have shared with me. JS: Pre-lockdown, I taught an eight-week beginner class, which was mostly throwing. I got a lot of graphic designers… SHS: I know exactly what you’re going to say [laughs]. JS: …who are so meticulous. Of course, this is a great thing on its own. They desire to work in 3-D because they spend so much time working on a screen. But then they get to the wheel and this idea of perfectionism and symmetry is just so alluring. Even though I’ve been throwing for twelve years at this point, the thing that pleases me most in my own work is when something is a little askew. This is a hard thing to explain to my students who are just starting out and finding their voice. SHS: I think what it is—well, it’s a few things. For one, it’s the design trend of our current time. JS: Everything looks the same! SHS: Everything. I think there is also the idea that this is what is sophisticated. Or, this is what I like because I have good taste. I’ve seen so many people come into the studio with this being their idea of what they want to make. Again, I just return to the question of why. JS: The taste thing is very coded. SHS: Yes! Definitely. JS: The thing that is missing from beginner classes is context—it’s all practice without context. People generally don’t sign up for a ceramics class to discuss or unpack the historical context of objects. I think this would actually help inform people’s practices. SHS: Right. They are seeing and replicating what’s popular. Perhaps it’s this idea of wanting your house to look pristine. In a beginner class, or at a community studio, it’s very hard to unpack what these objects tell us about who can afford them or what they signal.
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JS: You aren’t a production potter, but you do hand-build objects that are often in a series. I know you’ve been making soy sauce sculptures in great volume for what was supposed to be a solo show, until the quarantine happened. Can you tell me more about what drew you to soy sauce specifically? SHS: I was talking to this Vietnamese-American restaurant critic and they said, “It’s almost like you’re working up the courage to make soy sauce, because you know that if you make it you’ll be inviting a lot of these micro-aggressions and problematic comments.” That really resonated with me. I hadn’t thought of it that way, and I think they were right. It took me a long time before I ever made my first soy sauce, and when I did, I made it as a giant gallon tin. I wanted it to be familiar, but not something that most white people would have in their pantries. When I crowd-source about groceries through Instagram polls, the question is usually something like, “What’s the brand that you prefer?” I want to make sure that I’m representing all the different people within the diaspora. Typically, all the answers coalesce around one or two brands. For sesame oil, it’s always Kadoya. For oyster sauce, it’s always Lee Kum Kee. But soy sauce was the poll I got the most varied responses for. There is such a huge breadth of brands. There were so many types of soy sauce mentioned that I’d never
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heard of. For example, in Southeast Asia—in Malaysia or Indonesia—they use a type of sweet, thick soy sauce called Kecap Manis. Once I learned of the huge diversity of soy sauces, I knew that it was notable. Our brand loyalty to the soy sauces was very different from the other ingredients. I want the project to represent that diversity. JS: In thinking about what drives you to return to the studio, it reminds me that I’ve been making the same bowl shape for maybe ten years. SHS: I like that! JS: It’s the one thing that I really enjoy making. Are there any shapes or objects that you return to, time and time again? SHS: That’s an interesting question.I wouldn’t say there are forms, but I do think there are concepts I come back to. I don’t make very much functional work and I’m really a baby about having to paint the same thing twice—I hate to do it. I think that no matter what happens with a project— no matter how long it goes on for—identity will always be central to my body of work, because it’s central to my life.
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NO MATTER HOW LONG IT GOES ON FOR—
IDENTITY WILL ALWAYS BE CENTRAL TO MY WORK
BECAUSE IT’S CENTRAL TO MY LIFE.
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meet PEOPLE
a girl from the 60s & 70s
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Devyn
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“Three important things in my life would be, music which inspires my fashion, fashion which is my biggest creative outlet, and people.”
Many teenagers are into fashion because it gives them the opportunity to express themselves and their unique style. In a school of several thousand students, it can be hard to stand out. But that doesn’t keep students from trying to find the creative expression that best works for them. And where do they get the inspiration for that expression? For many students, that inspiration comes in part from Devyn, a Chicago-based YouTuber, Instagram influencer, model, and blogger in the vintage fashion scene. Her outfit is always on point and she gives plenty of great advice on how to do the perfect 60s/70s makeup. She’s gained a lot of popularity in the past few years, amassing an incredible 70.2k Instagram followers and 91k subscribers on YouTube. We had the opportunity to chat with Devyn recently about her retro/mod style and the inspirations behind it.
Who are you? I am Devyn Crimson, and “who is that” you may ask well, I am a freelance stylist, makeup artist, writer, and sometimes model with a passion for rock ‘n’ roll (especially that of the 60s and 70s). And now I’m living in lovely city, Chicago.
How popular is 60s/70s style in your city, Chicago? I would say there is a good sized subculture. Not super mod or psychedelic or anything like that. It’s more like a 70s country rock kinda vibe or kinda punk in some ways.
Which do you prefer: 60s or 70s? It changes a lot! In the winter I tend to go more toward 60s mod inspired looks whereas in the summer I am way more 70s. Keeps things fresh that way and I feel like mod styles are easier to pull off in colder weather and the summer makes me want more of a bohemian laid back look. I used to always say 60s but the more I think of it now I don’t know if I could choose!
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What inspires you the most? Music and nature inspire me the most for my “what” category. I am almost always listening to music and I love creating mood playlists. I also grew up in a rural area so I really appreciate nature and peace when I am at home.
When did your interest in vintage fashion and music begin? I had always been very interested in vintage and vintage styles but I started dressing in vintage-inspired fashion going into my sophomore year of high school after I heard the Beatles and fell madly in love with them! ‘Hey Jude’ is what initially sparked my interest and it was all history from there on out.
Are there any musical artists or films that inspire your style? Oh plenty! I take inspiration from everywhere especially music and art. From the 60s, my favorite group is The Beatles. They got me into vintage fashion and classic rock, but the Kinks are right up there with them. I feel like The Kinks are really underrated for how their sound evolved and for how long they were together and creating new music. From the 70s, I am really inspired by the Alice Cooper Band. I love their avante-garde style and their performance art. I am also very inspired by glam rock — go big or go home, am I right? Of course, there is also all the beautiful ladies of the GTOs, Star Magazine, and the every-lovely Pattie Boyd who influences me so much!
Have you met any classic rockers or any other people involved in the scene? What were they like? I have met so many! I have friends all over and it’s pretty awesome. I’ve met online friends from Texas, Chicago (before I moved here), New York, Los Angeles, The Netherlands when I was touring with my boyfriend there, Nashville… the list goes on and on.
I mean for the most part everyone is awesome! There’s always going to be difficult people no matter what their interests are so you really can’t judge an entire person based off the music they’re into or what clothes they wear. Everyone is pretty cool though!
What’s your top 5 songs that immediately come to mind? Ooh this is a fun one! Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest, On the Road Again by Canned Heat, Alright by Supergrass, Love Grows by Edison Lighthouse, and The Wild One by Suzi Quatro.
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“I am almost always listening to music and I love creating mood playlists.”
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Hey Jude, don’t make Take a sad make it better. Remember into Then
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it bad. song and to let her your heart. you can start to make it better.
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“I surround myself with people who are so talented in different ways and are really reaching for their dreams which is what it’s all about.”
Who inspires you in your everyday life? As for “who” my boyfriend is a big one. He is such a hard worker and in most ways the opposite of me so his view on things is always refreshing and sometimes eye opening for me. My friends are also some of my muses; I surround myself with people who are so talented in different ways and are really reaching for their dreams which is what it’s all about. My mom has been my muse since day one. She has always created a safe place to experiment and learn and grow. She is also a creative genius so being around her I try to learn a thing or two.
How did you get into modelling? I started modelling just from my own room I guess haha. I didn’t really think of it as modelling; I just wanted to dress up and do my makeup crazy and share it with the internet. Over time though you pick up little tips that make things easier or you kinda hone in your skills. You know, just doing something a lot you’re bound to improve. Out of high school I went and was signed to a modelling agency in the Twin Cities but never really did anything with
it. Then, moving to Chicago gave me lots of opportunities to work with other creatives here, and of course in LA I wanted to take advantage of my time there and get as much work done. I am a person who likes to be busy haha.
What do you like most about being an influencer/blogger/model? I love the freedom. I didn’t always work for myself and I have had a job ever since I was legally able, and before that I worked for my mom. I used to have a classic 9-6 office job and although my co-workers were awesome and I didn’t mind the work I just couldn’t handle being trapped in that chair all day everyday. I do more work now than I ever did then but like I mentioned before, I love to be busy– especially if it’s my own projects! I also love the people. I am a big people person coming from a family with 5 loud and very expressive siblings… I love people! I am always unlimited! A completely free spirit. Of course, there are things I have to do like pay bills and such, but I am open to do what I please. I create the art I want to create and if people like it, that’s wonderful. But what I do is for me.
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Devyn with her boyfriend, Andrew Bockelman
Devyn with The Knee-Hi’s members
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How do you think being an influencer/blogger has helped you outside of social media? I really think it has helped my career, I mean I wouldn’t be able to style people from all over without the platform I have. It’s also introduced me to so many friends… including my boyfriend. I have been able to travel so much which I am SO grateful for, and I think as much as it can be hard on self esteem I think I have learned a lot about how to love myself even when people can be hateful (which isn’t often, luckily) and how to appreciate myself when I am feeling less than. Being online with all these amazing people sometimes you can feel like you’re not good enough or get an imposter syndrome kinda thing and even though we can all slip into that once in a while, whenever I do I try to ask myself why I feel like this and grow from it. So, I think it has taught me a lot about myself and helped me grow into a more loving and accepting person.. not just of myself but of others as well and that’s all I could really hope for.
What is your proudest moment? As of now, I am most proud of how I have grown, and finally achieving my goal of being my own boss and working from wherever I want because that is the dream for me!
What is your dream job? I am living it! I just want to create art, love, and travel. As long as I am creating and with people I love, I am happy. I am a very easy going person. I don’t have any set plans for my life and that’s the way I like it. I have a lot of things I think would be cool to do but nothing like “be a doctor” or “have three kids” whatever comes to me is how it should be and I’ll be happy with it and make the most of it. Just keep doing your part every day, be kind, be positive, and work hard. Things will fall into place.
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What is a must-need in your closet? Boots! I am all about some beautiful vintage knee high boots, and hats!
What’s currently in shopping cart? Well seeing that I only shop from thrift stores, nothing! Haha! But when I have more free money to spend I will absolutely be buying a gorgeous jumpsuit from Miracle Eye, my favorite vintage brand.
What tips do you have for aspiring vintage fashion bloggers? Biggest tip is to be you! Don’t copy another person, modern or from back in the day, note by note. There’s taking inspiration and putting your own signature on things and then there’s straight up trying to be someone else which will never bring success because there’s already one of those people. The world needs something new and that something is YOU! Don’t give up, ever! People are probably going to doubt you and maybe they’re people who are close to you but to really accomplish something all you have to do is put in the work and truly believe that you can do it. You’ve got to believe it in your core that this is the person you want to be & the person you are… and that really goes for anything!
What advice do you have for someone who wants to create their own vintage wardrobe and collection? Start with good basics items that are versatile and slowly add is statement items. Getting vintage accessories are great to add a retro touch to an outfit. Also, just
study the fashion of the time so you know what is authentic!
How would you describe your style? I try to be historically accurate most of the time. I don’t want to look costume-y (as much as that is possible). I love fashion history and learning about different trends and subcultures of the time which I think helps to shape my own style. I can’t say anything specific like “mod” because that depends on my mood really. In the morning, I like to listen to music while I get ready and whatever music I am feeling that day is how I will create my outfit. Each outfit is like a way to display different versions of myself and the music helps to tell the story! However, it’s always 60s & 70s style-- early 60s through mid 70s really and that’s about where I hop off the train though, fashion wise. I like some 90s because the 1990s did the 60s a lot just in a funky way which I can get down with.
As Devyn points out, finding a unique sense of style is a journey, but it doesn’t have to be one that you take alone. We are all influenced by what we see or hear around us. Don’t be afraid to try things out. Clothes and style are an important method of personal expression, and it’s all worth a shot!
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i just want to sit at the bar and read a book and eat w potato the menu is serving Since the start of social-distancing measures in New York City, I’ve made a habit of scrolling through my Instagram profile every night, thinking about how bizarre it is that I was standing near my friends whenever I wanted to only a month ago. It already feels impossible that I used to enter bar bathrooms with abandon, look in the mirror, wipe errant makeup out of the corners of my eyes, and touch my mouth to get the wine stains off. Last week, I spent two full minutes stroking a free postcard from the pizza place I went to on Valentine’s Day. The sight of a crumpled movie-theater receipt in the bottom of my purse made me grab my knees. I’m nostalgic for February, which feels ridiculous. These days, daily conversation is a mix of horrifying news and deep regret that we took so much for granted when going out and about was uncomplicated. “I just want to sit at the bar and drink a margarita and read a book and eat whatever iteration of potato the menu is serving,” the writer Emma Specter tweeted recently. The journalist Scaachi Koul asked, poetically, “remember going to Sephora / walking around for twenty, thirty minutes / just/touching things …” Referencing an old meme, the comedian Gabe Gonzalez tweeted a photo of a Dunkin’ Donuts store captioned “feel like pure shit just want her back x.” Instagram feeds scan similarly, stocked with throwback photos, remember-whens, and odes to “what I already miss.”
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r and drink a margarita whatever iteration of g There’s no word for pandemic-induced nostalgia—nostalgia for things that hardly seemed to matter only a few weeks ago but that isn’t really in the “past”: We will have them again, though no one knows when. I’m not even sure this counts as nostalgia, or if we should call it something else: “newstalgia,” maybe. Or something better if you have ideas. So far, the thing I miss most about New York City before the coronavirus is a night out that goes all over the place—the kind where you gather people as you go and visit multiple locations and take several cabs and maybe lie down in public somewhere. I am also viciously bitter that I can no longer kiss outside. This nostalgia may not feel good, but, according to Krystine Batcho, a professor of psychology at Le Moyne College, it’s kind of good for me. Nostalgia was once regarded as uniformly terrible. It was originally a medical diagnosis, coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer, a 19-year-old Swiss doctor. He defined it very narrowly, as homesickness for a native land that became so severe it led to physical symptoms. It wasn’t until the 1950s that psychologists started talking about nostalgia as a feeling broader than homesickness, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that the term took on a more bittersweet connotation.
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In the 1990s, Batcho was among a group of researchers who argued that nostalgia could be a positive emotion—that it was a self-soothing tool for adapting to discontinuity. I wrote to her to ask if my sudden obsession with the velvet paintings at my favorite bar—which I went to days before everything shut down, to stare at strangers and memorize stupid eavesdropped conversations—was nostalgia or something else. “The present phenomenon you describe does qualify as a form of nostalgia,” she said. “Even though the ‘past’ is so recent.” In studies of nostalgia, even 4- and 5-year-old children understood the idea of missing something from their past, she told me. “One toddler said he missed naps with his mommy. Not surprisingly, some missed special toys or a pet. Their past couldn’t have been that long ago, since they hadn’t been alive all that long.” Batcho added that sudden and unexpected life changes can bring on pangs of nostalgia, because one of the primary functions of the emotion is to help us create coherent mental narratives of our lives—even when the world around us is changing rapidly and in ways we can’t control. You were once the person who visited your grandmother and hosted dinner parties, and you’re still that person, even though you can’t do those things right now.
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Nostalgia for something recent is definitely a phenomenon that predates the pandemic, says Clay Routledge, a professor of psychology at North Dakota State University who has studied the benefits of nostalgia. In studies he’s conducted with college students, they often talk about feeling nostalgia for things they did only a few months back, before they moved away from home. “Even though that was recent, it was still separation, and a connection [they] longed for,” he told me. People can also feel nostalgic for things that will eventually come back, he said, citing the example of military deployment. “You could be sent away and be like, ‘Well, I know I’m going to come home in six months or a year,’ but still have nostalgia for home.” What we’re experiencing now also qualifies as nostalgia because it has many of the traditional triggers, he said—boredom, loneliness, feelings of meaninglessness, or reminders of the reality of death, if any of those sound familiar. But the good news is that nostalgia also reinvigorates belief that life has meaning by reminding you of a time when it tangibly did. It can help you remember that there are people in your life who care about you, that you have felt better than you do now, and that you will be able to feel good again in the future.
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call it newstalgia, call it temporary nostalgia, call it whatever you want And while nostalgia for hanging out with friends or sitting in a grungy movie-theater seat can be tough while you’re holed up at home, it can also be a powerful motivator to make plans and come up with new ideas, Routledge said. “Even though you’re thinking about the past and it’s past oriented, there’s also a component of it where you’re preparing for the future.” Someday, I will probably once again tell a friend a secret over a third glass of wine—in person, not over Zoom. It’s something I once did without really planning to, but now nostalgia is making me want to do it on purpose. Maybe I’ll send a Google Calendar invite for 2021. In the past month, if you’ve noticed yourself FaceTiming with friends you’ve never FaceTimed with before, or texting incessantly with family members you ordinarily rarely talk to, this could be why. When people feel socially isolated or bored, they feel nostalgic, which reminds them of their relationships. “Nostalgia has this power of making you be like ‘Oh, I feel separated or alone, that’s not good, people are supposed to be together,’” Routledge said. It’s totally fine if you’re missing the extremely recent past, when you could look at your friends up close and go to Dunkin’ Donuts. Call it newstalgia, call it temporary nostalgia, call it whatever you want. It’s good for you, so go ahead and soak in it a little.
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7 FUN THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR FRIENDS DURING YOUR NEXT VIRTUAL HANGOUT
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WATCH MOVIE TOGETHER AND CREATE DRINKING GAME
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INDULGE IN A FAKE AWARD SHOW AND WALK A VIRTUAL RED CARPET
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HAVE A THEMED LUNCH WITH YOUR CO-WORKERS
VIRTUAL KARAOKE NIGHT
GIVE YOUR ROOMIE IMPROMPTU HAIR CUT
PLAY VIRTUAL BEER PONG WITH YOUR FRIENDS
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FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE SAME BOB ROSS EPISODE TO CREATE YOUR OWN
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KEEP YOUR DISTANCE
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LAUNDRETTE STEPHANIE H. SHIH MEET DEVYN NEWSTALGIA
BRYANT GILLES AGAINST INJUSTICE THE BRIGHT PINK ROOF TOP WHERE WE SHELTER TO HELP FROM BEIRUT EXPLOSION