Cart Curator #24 - Have the Angels Lost Their Wings?
Tomato girl Summer, Sydney's secret to getting the perfect ear stack and the sandal style you will be seeing all Summer.
Hi CC friends,
Jess has returned from Berlin after what feels like being away for a lifetime. Upon my return, it feels like I’ve done a literal time jump and have fast-tracked to the end of the year with the jacarandas out in Brisbane, my birthday around the corner and Christmas decorations out in shops (not mad about this at all).
Nic added another tattoo to her collection, and mostly spent the long weekend running, at the beach or watching Brisbane lose not one but TWO grand finals.
Now, before we jump into things, this borders on Popshop territory but we just had to share two new campaigns.
The first is absolutely iconic, but also, peep the brutal comment section.
Mainly here for Kim Cattrall. What a genius collab - Skims has such a knack for jumping on zeitgeist-y ambassadors at the exact right time.
Enjoy,
Jess and Nicole x
You Asked For It
If your Instagram or TikTok is anything like ours at the moment, you can’t refresh your feeds without seeing a pop of tomato red. This bright shade is undoubtedly going to be the colour of the season, made sweeter for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere who can style it with the warm weather to match.
It started with the rise of the “Tomato Girl Aesthetic” over European summer and has since made its way into both our wardrobes, and into designer collections and celebrities, most notably Hailey Bieber’s “Strawberry Girl Aesthetic” (we have to stop with these food names guys).
In response, our YAFI comes from someone keen to try the trend, looking to find accessible and wearable ways to incorporate the colour into their wardrobe without literally looking like a literal tomato.
Before we jump into it, here’s some inspo.
To start things off, we love a Zara basic and this Gathered Cropped Shirt is a great way to ease into the trend, and could easily be styled with a pair of light wash denim jeans, shorts or skirt.
If you’re willing to commit head to toe, this everyday knit dress from H&M or this sultry mini from Realisation Par are great summer options. We also love this maxi dress from Shona Joy which would be perfect if you are attending a wedding in the coming months (and is quite similar to the now sold out Bec & Bridge dress Nic wore to a Mallorcan wedding here).
Another option that falls into the dressier category is this strapless dress by Pull&Bear (a brand quickly becoming a CC fave for their price point), very similar to the above strapless style worn by Bieber, coming in at under $50 - which we can only imagine is a fraction of the price of her dress.
Shoes and accessories are one the safer ways to bring this colour into your outfit. These bold Gazelle’s would make for such an easy way to jazz up an all-white or denim outfit, and on the dressier scale these heels from Betts also tick the box for nailing the Rosette trend (which we previously spoke about in a past issue).
And to close it out our final category is beauty which, like shoes, is a simple way to gently bring in the colour (and a great way if red sadly isn’t your colour). Nail Polish, like this iconic red colour from OPI or M.A.C’s Ruby Woo Lipstick are both excellent options.
Have a YAFI? Leave a comment or reach out directly via email at cartcuratorsubstack@gmail.com.
Popshop
Our favourite pop culture or industry moment of the week.
After taking four years off from their iconic yearly production, the Victoria’s Secret show made its comeback this September with an all-star cast of models and performers.
Now, before we get into it, a quick reminder that the era of the VS Angel came to a close off the back of endless public backlash the brand received, mostly due to (but definitely not limited too) their ‘aspirational’ catwalk of predominantly white, stick-thin, cis female models. In 2019, their parent brand L Brands stated that they wanted to “evolve the marketing” (whatever that means) moving forward.
After finally admitting they’d fallen behind the times, VS gave into societal pressures and staged the return of their iconic show. Enter The Tour ‘23, their apparent answer to Victoria’s Secret’s problems and the result of their marketing evolution.
So, like us, you’re probably wondering what is it?
“A celebration of women and global creatives who will conceive four fashion collections—designed by @jennyfax.official, @supriya_lele, @melissa.duquev, & @iamisigo—from the vibrant cities of Bogota, Lagos, London, and Tokyo, alongside iconic custom Victoria's Secret designs.”
Now, onto our unsolicited thoughts.
The new VS show seemed overly complicated from the outset and left fans of the OG show a bit unsure of what the Tour ‘23 actually is - even with that stellar description straight from the horse’s mouth.
First was the Tour ‘23 Launch Event at the end of August, where we were fed footage across socials of the ‘winged women returning back to their planet’, with It Girls in the making Iris Law and Lila Moss giving pared back old school VS angel vibes. On TikTok our feeds were flooded with GRWM videos (in amongst the chaos of fashion week content - whoever decided it was a good idea to hold this during fashion week needs to be fired).
To be honest the pink carpet for the launch event was incredibly underwhelming (both in fashion choices and diversity) with most attendees heavily working VS lingerie into their looks (duh), of which nobody really wowed, leaving us feeling like we were missing the sparkle we have all come to associate with the VS show - before the show had even aired. Things were not looking good.
Cut to now - and on 26th of September, the long-awaited Tour ‘23 launched exclusively with Prime Video. If you are yet to see the commentary around this Cami Twomey summed the show up pretty well and The Cut was, well, definitely not wrong.
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A comment on the August announcement post also sums things up pretty perfectly, but in taking a scroll of the comments, they are all much of a muchness and provide the overall verdict: people weren’t loving this new version of the show.
This comment read:
“I don’t get it honestly. I think it’s funny that y’all decided to change the entire format of the show and the entire marketing strategy to include a more diverse cast, when you could’ve just maintained the old one, with all its glitter, glamour and wings, and made space for those models there. Like genuinely all you had to do is cast more kinds of women to walk the runway and everyone would’ve been happy. Instead we got this weird rebrand nobody asked for and what seeps to be a savage x rip off.”
We’re going to be extra honest with you, the readers, now. We loved Victoria’s Secret and their shows. We drank the Kool-Aid and watched the shows on repeat multiple times (usually many years after they originally aired). We lusted after the robes that the models would wear backstage, and we watched all the BTS videos on YouTube, from the castings to the DogPound training videos. And because we really couldn’t get enough, we then would also go and find the models’ own YouTube channels and watch their fitness and eating regimes to see how they prepared to walk the runway. Healthy behaviour? Unsure. But as marketing fanatics, the brand they were able to develop fascinates like no other. In retrospect, they were the first brand to really turn their “staff” into influencers, a tactic that many brands have attempted to emulate since.
Victoria’s Secret turned a yearly fashion show into an iconic pop culture moment that filtered down into so many aspects of our lives. At the time they set the beauty, YouTube, fitness, and fashion trends for years to come. Everyone knew what Victoria's Secret was and the faces that represented it. If, like us here in Australia, you didn’t have a proper store in your country, it instantly became a necessary pit stop on any O/S trip - stocking up on fragrances, lingerie, and the aforementioned robe that then converted to social currency once you returned home.
With that all in mind, after watching the Tour ‘23 we honestly feel a bit sad. For us, the sparkle is definitely gone and appears to not be coming back. Overall this show/documentary felt complicated and confusing, constantly switching between location shots in Bogota, Lagos, London, and Tokyo, spliced with the collaborative clothing collections being made, to then artistic clips - one including Naomi Campbell reciting poetry - to super commercial shots of the ‘angels’ strutting around a room in pieces that are now available to shop on the Victoria’s Secret website.
It’s already been said and we will say it again, a more diverse and inclusive runway would have made the iconic format of the show perfect. With the rise of TikTok we are seeing so many diverse creators and models gaining a platform and shooting their shots in the modelling world, and this would have been such a powerful and iconic moment to give aspiring models a platform to kick start their careers and spread their message in the BTS and piece to camera shots á la the OG show.
We’re interested to know what you thought of the Tour ‘23 - love it or missed the mark?
Add to Cart
What’s sitting in carts, or what’s been checked out.
Jess
Okay no surprises here, we are massive Heaven Mayhem fans at CC and I recently saw Founder Pia Mance wearing the Bean Belt on TikTok and fell in love. I have been on the hunt for a new belt and hadn’t been wowed by anything I had seen until I came across this belt. Such a simple style but would definitely add something to a basic outfit of jeans and a white T-shirt - my bread and butter.
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Back with another potentially questionable shoe choice, however this time Nicole has confirmed that she does actually like these. I’ve been noticing the ‘fisherman sandal’ popping up increasingly over the past year with everyone from The Row to Prada dropping different takes on the style. Zara has just added its take into the mix (sorry I know we mention Zara prods so often but they are just too good) having just dropped their Flat Leather Cage Sandal which is a great flat option for summer, with both Ecru and the Black on my wish list.
Nicole
There is nothing better than finding a perfect fitting t-shirt, and this COS basic ticks all the boxes. Well structured, defined collar and a selection of seasonal colours outside of black and white or black and white stripe. I love the pink or emerald green versions for an easy pop of colour, but the coloured stripe styles are right up my alley, to style with a tailored pant for work or a denim short for the weekend. COS is not a brand usually on my radar (namely because their stuff is usually super tailored or oversized, both tricky to wear as a short girl seeking non-corporate clothing), but they’ve got some excellent finds at the moment.
Topshop Sleeveless Knit Dress via ASOS
Speaking of brands I forget about Topshop usually sits off my radar which would be less shocking if I hadn’t worked there/given the best years of my life to the brand for four years. And, I almost always forget they were resurrected by ASOS. I came across this knit dress during a scroll of the brand, and think it’s such a sophisticated take on the crochet trend that is going to be big this Spring/Summer.
Beauty Counter
Prod of the week.
Jess
Glossier Body Hero Daily Perfecting Cream
Okay so during my work trip I made a little detour to London for a couple of days and while shopping around Covent Garden I made a pit stop into Glossier. I will preface this by saying that I’m not the biggest fan of Glossier products having tried a decent amount of the range, however, my scarcity mindset got the best of me with the brand still not being available in Australia and I picked up a few bits including the Body Hero Daily Perfecting Cream.
I usually have quite sensitive skin so didn’t know how this would go given the scented formula but I absolutely love this product with the glow it gives the body and it’s fast absorbing non-sticky formula.
Devastated this isn’t available in AUS so will need to con a friend to pick it up during their travels or post over from the UK but definitely worth the hassle and the price tag!
Nicole
As soon as I step out under the sun, I instantly tan (yes, I’m always wearing SPF don’t worry!). Which means that as the seasons quickly change, as they have over the last two weeks, I’ve jumped about three foundation shades darker. I normally, and prefer to, bronze with a cream product of which this Mecca Max stick is my current favourite. However, I recently dug up my NARS Laguna Bronzer to help make my foundation less pale, and I was quickly reminded why not only I love this product, but it is such an iconic bronzer globally.
I’ve tried both the classic formula and the Matte Version (which sadly by the looks of it you can’t get in AUS anymore),and both are both equally great. This is such an easy to use product, and with one swipe I can quickly bronze my face and also run over my eyes for an easy shadow. They now have several shades available, so if you’ve previously tried this when they only had the one, make a note to give it another go.
One to Try
Recent openings and discoveries.
Metalia is an artistry-led Piercing Studio in Sydney’s Paddington. Their philosophy is to change the way you get pierced, turning jewellery into art - which is quickly evident by their curated ear stacks. Jess will be back in Sydney in a few weeks time, so we will be attempting a visit here.
Lottery Win
A girl can dream.
Tory Burch is making a comeback - mark my words. I know most of our minds immediately go to the pair of flats unboxed by every US 2000’s YouTuber as part of a “What I Got for Christmas” video, but my FYP has been flooded by some of their newest items, including the Pierced Mule that recently debuted as part of their Spring/Summer ‘23 runway.
These mules are sooo cool and looking at them you would never guess that they are Tory Burch.
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IYKYK
Super specific recs and niche hyper-fixations.
Gelato Messina Cone-ception
It is well and truly gelato season, and Messina is our go-to. If you haven’t tried the flavour Cone-ception then GET TO A STORE NOW. The flavour started not only as one of their limited-edition specials, but was actually a rare customer suggestion that made it out of the comment section and into one of the best flavours they’ve ever made (that’s their own words too). Waffle cone gelato with cone crunch and waffle choc chip - need we say more. Here’s hoping that customer that suggest this flavour is getting a lifetime supply.
If you’re new to Cart Curator, take a read of some of our recent editions.