Nymphet Alumni

This week, Biz is joined by Madeline Porsella and Mabel Capability Taylor of Mandylion Press to get to the bottom of what really happened in the 19th century… From Victorians’ obsession with clothing to why the bohemian weirdo authoresses of the 1800s were actually a bit basic.

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In this episode, we examine the aesthetic of the Dictator’s Wife, a 20th century archetype of conspicuous luxury, scary elegance, and icy detachment. We catalog the aesthetic’s signatures, from exotic furs and bulletproof coiffs to monochrome coordination and maximalist millinery. We consider how rigidly controlled femininity functions as armor and propaganda and survey the historical canon: Imelda Marcos’s infamous wardrobe, Elena Ceaușescu’s ugly-chic vanity crashouts, Asma al-Assad’s Vogue-approved Euro minimalism, and more. We also relate these issues to America’s current political climate, including the “edifice complex” ravaging our nation’s capitol, Melania's beleaguered glam squad, and the gilded tyranny of Mar-a-Lago glamour.

Links:

Image board

Cardi B dictator’s wife meme

Cardi B by Szilveszter Makó for Vogue Arabia

Rama Duwaji by Szilveszter Makó for The Cut

“Fashion Twitter is mad Daniel Roseberry Dressed a MAGA heiress.” by Louis Pisano on Substack

Louis Pisano’s “Couture & Corruption” series on TikTok

Lady Macbeth monologue from Act 1, Scene 5 of Macbeth

“Shoes, furs and hypocrisy: Why we love to hate despots' wives” by Rebecca Seales in BBC News

Bond villain nationality masterlist

“Womanliness as a Masquerade” by Joan Riviere

“Women Behind the Throne” by Camille Paglia

MAGA women research by Style Analytics on TikTok

The Kingmaker (2019) dir. Lauren Greenfield

Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield

Imelda (2003) dir. Ramona S. Diaz

“5 Shopping Sprees So Wild, They Made History” by Maureen O’Connor in New York

Eva Peron Rainbow Tour of Europe cover story for Time

Santa Evita by Tomás Eloy Martínez

“Behind Mugabe’s fall: Gucci Grace versus the Crocodile” by Norimitsu Onishi in The Sydney Morning Herald

“The Vanity Cult of Elena Ceausescu – Hated Wife of Romania’s Dictator” by Matthew Gaskill in Vintage News

“Ceausescu sale: Everything must go” (auction report) by Kate Connolly in The Guardian

“The Party that Toppled a Dynasty and Changed the Middle East Forever” by Jeff Zhou in Young Diplomats Society

“Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert” by Joan Juliet Buck in Vogue

“Syrian first lady Adma Al-Assad’s outfits” by Aya Lowe in Monocle

“How China Fell in Love with Syria’s First Lady” in Worldcrunch

“Armour of Couture” by Szilveszter Makó in Vogue Hong Kong

Gucci Spring/Summer 2026 “La Famiglia” portrait campaign by Catherine Opie

Melania Trump’s “I Really Don’t Care. Do U?” Zara jacket

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In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the coiffed Californian camp of Ryan Murphy’s The Shards, KATSEYE’s continued reign as the queens of sensory overload brainrot pop, and a new cast of nominatively absurd figures including Igby Rigney, Stella Lefty, Chanty Beluga, and Nimrod Workman. We also ponder Ella Langley as the new poster girl of American alt-lite, and we consider the uncomfortable indignity of life after fleeting virality as illustrated by Jools Lebron and the Love Island USA cast. Perhaps most importantly, we pause to mourn the loss of American Founding Mother and universal aphorist Dolly Parton :( Links:

Dolly Parton and her parents sing “In the Pines” (1976)

“Evening Shade” by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton last health update vide on Instagram

TikTok #searchfordolly audition videos (exhibit A, exhibit B)

“How ‘The Shards’ Blew Up at HBO — and Ended Up in Ryan Murphy’s Hands” by Benjamin Svetkey in The Hollywood Reporter

Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere shot by Steven Meisel for Vogue September 2026 Cover Story

Kaia Gerber prompts BBL accusations in Alaïa F/W 2026

Kaia Gerber says she had an exorcism performed on her with a didgeridoo

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 6: The Milf-ification of Billie Eilish (Emergency Roundtable)

First look of Billie Eilish as Esther Greenwood on the set of The Bell Jar dir. Sarah Polley

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Official Teaser from HBO Max

“Happee Birthdae Harry” merch in the Harry Potter Japan Store

Poppi x RushTok x Love Island USA (exhibit A, exhibit B)

Jools Lebron original GoFundMe video and her Jeffree Star read

KATSEYE (캣츠아이) – “Hootie Frutti” (Official Music Video)

KATSEYE choreographer Grant Gilmore on TikTok

GUI GUI on Instagram

Ella Langley –“Be Her” (Official Music Video)

Ella Langley’s Shiner beer collab party trick

Ella Langley feat. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees

“The Untold Story of Sierra Ferrell: Train-Hopping to Stardom” on YouTube

Stella Lefty – “Boston” Review in Pitchfork (“Stick Season” obsession evidence)

Coal miner, union activist, and singer Nimrod Workman performs the traditional Appalachian folk song “Oh Death”

A woman named “Chanty Beluga” introduces herself at a pool party

Evan Lazarus in defense of Chanty Beluga

Bodacious Humphrey Williams

Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez’s wedding shot by Juergen Teller for Vogue

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Hi Nymphies — as summer comes to an end, we’re unlocking an all-time fan favorite: the Loner Girl episode. We hope the Loner Girl, with her layered knits and rich inner world, is a source of back-to-school inspiration as we head into fall. <3

In this episode, we reflect on what we call the Loner Girl aesthetic, an eccentric style epitomized by the vulnerable yet spunky YA protagonistas of decades past, best accessorized with a messenger bag, sneaker flats, and a starry-eyed disposition. We reinvigorate the teen traumacore literary canon, including the works of John Green and Ellen Hopkins, and discuss its associated social phenomena, mental health themes, and expression through personal style. We also take stock of Manic Pixie Dream Girl discourse and discuss early-career Marc Jacobs, “Banal Eccentricity” at Prada, the forgotten appeal of eggplant purple, and our own personal thirteenth reasons ...Links:Image boardThirteen Reasons Why book cover stylingRelated aesthetics on CARI: Hipness Purgatory, Corporate GrungeWhen Miuccia Prada Invented Ugly Chic – NSS Mag (Prada S/S 1996)Marc Jacobs Fall 2005 RTWYour Fave is Problematic: John GreenThe Teen Whisperer (John Green 2014 New Yorker profile)Why John Green Likes Writing for Teenagers (2019 NYT interview)John Green and his Manic Pixie Dream Girls – LA Review of Books Mori-kei – Japanese Fashion Wiki

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe

This week, Alexi is joined by music critic and columnist Ella Dorn to unpack her viral essay declaring Giallobrutalism as the defining visual language of mid-2020s pop, informed by the stylish delirium of Italian giallo cinema and a pervasive unease about surveillance and stardom. We discuss the aesthetic’s formal signatures—cool temperatures, split diopters, painterly tableaux, and more— as well as the rise of early-onset popstar histrionics, the existential glamour of centripetal girls in centrifugal settings, and the decade’s watershed fashion moments so far, from Miu Miu micro-minis to Sandy Liang mega-bows. We also challenge the default Y2K reading of modern pop aesthetics, arguing for a closer look at their 20th-century antecedents, and reflect on our shared past as stans of doomed K-pop girl groups.

Links:

“‘Giallobrutalism,’ or why everything looks like that” by Ella Dorn on Fairyland!

Ella Dorn on Twitter

Fairyland! on Instagram

K-Pop Music Video Analysis w/ Alexi

One on Top of the Other (1969) dir. Lucio Fulci

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971) dir. Lucio Fulci

“Music, Fashion, Film is Charli xcx at her subversive best” by Ella Dorn in The New Statesman

Balenciaga F/W 2024

Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity by Edward Dimendberg

“The realities of being a pop star” by Charli xcx on charli’s substack

Ep. 162: Crayola Casual

Ep. 102: Just Dance w/ Lexee Smith

Nicole Kidman wearing Miu Miu S/S 2022 for Vanity Fair’s 2022 Hollywood Issue cover

Sandy Liang S/S 2024

Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting by Sianne Ngai

“In Defense of the Leopard Print Midi Skirt” in Paper magazine (the original @leopardmidiskirt Instagram account is GONE omg)

New Giallobrutalist canon entries we discuss: YENA (최예나) – “캐치 캐치 (Catch Catch)”, aespa 에스파 – “Switchblade (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)”, Gracie Abrams – “Look at My Life”, ifeye (이프아이) – “r u ok?” , aespa エスパ – “KISS N TELL”

Bang Jae Yeob

LOONA/ODD EYE CIRCLE – “Sweet Crazy Love” (Official Music Video)

LOONA/Kim Lip – “Eclipse” (Official Music Video)

The iconic abandoned Brutalist building from every K-pop MV

Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures by Mark Fisher

Federico Fellini: Painting in Film, Painting on Film by Hava Aldouby

no na - “honk!” (Official Music Video)

no na - “superstitious” (Official Music Video)

Elliot Shields on Instagram (creative consultant on Aespa’s “Kiss N Tell”)

Magic by Jolin Tsai 蔡依林

但是又何奈 by Louise Tsuei 崔苔菁

Rocket Girls 101 (火箭少女101) K-pop plagiarism overview

KiiiKiii on Instagram

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In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the questionable decisions behind the scenes of the Possession remake, the historical accuracy cottage industry reactivated by the release of The Odyssey, the latest in infidelity surveillance via Jay Guapo, and new releases from Adela, Tyla, and KATSEYE. We also highlight a recent cornucopia of Euroweird excellence from the Depardieu family’s blissful film festival outing to the fabulous brainrot opera debut of Beata Mona-Lisa, Greta Thunberg’s perplexingly buxom sister— plus we react to fashion announcements including Marine Serre’s bankruptcy and the upcoming John Galliano–themed Met Gala.Links:

Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner on the set of the Possession remake in New Jersey

Julie Depardieu and Philippe Katerine pose with their 2 sons Billy and Alfred at the Monte Carlo Television Festival (Alexi’s viral QRT)

Billy Blanchard at Jean-Paul Gaultier F/W 2026 Couture via Lyas

“EXCLUSIVE: Marine Serre Seeks Investor Amid Financial Restructuring” in WWD

The Met Announces the Spring 2027 Costume Institute Exhibition, John Galliano: Horizons

“John Galliano Returns to Fashion Via a Creative Partnership with Zara” in Vogue

“An Uncomplicated Man” (review of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey) by Emily Wilson in The London Review of Books

Millie Bobby Brown responds to bad wig accusations on BBC Radio 1

@chthonicthorn on TikTok (Hellenistic practicioner?)

“Greta Thunberg’s Sister Beata Mona-Lisa Does the Splits” by Billy Parker in Interview

Beata Mona-Lisa on Instagram

Pianist Yuja Wang

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 114: Grisch

“The Folk Singer Linda Perhacs Is Found and Is Safe, Authorities Confirm” in The New York Times

Tyla - “THAT GIRL” (Official Music Video)

Nymphet Alumni Ep. 147: Cherry Emoji Dark Feminine

Tyla in custom Phoebe Pendergast polka dot hair clip at Disney with Kai Cenat

“Valley of the Marc Jacobs Dolls” by Carwyn McIntyre in ToBe

“The Surreal, Sublime Worlds of Szilveszter Makó” by Lauren Jackson in The New York Times

Adam Green’s Aladdin - Full Movie (Official) on YouTube

KATSEYE (캣츠아이) - “Animal” (Official Music Video)

KATSEYE EP 3 ‘WILD’ (Wild heart ver.) teaser images on Instagram

ADÉLA - “Ain’t In LA” (Official Music Video)

Gabbriette in custom Matières Fécales bridal

Andrea Mauri @babedrea33 on Instagram

“Married elite NYC lawyer, 45, is caught red-handed with underling, 29, in passionate Central Park rendezvous” in The Daily Mail

“How Leopold Aschenbrenner, the ‘golden child’ of the AI trade, was laid low” in The Financial Times

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In this episode, the ladies welcome America’s favorite game show host Ben Mora for a survey of the interior design landscape among Millennials and Gen Z. They discuss how bedroom stratigraphy reveals the history of interior design fads, the never-ending influence of the long ‘90s, the tyranny of mid-century modern, blackout curtain pleasure caves, Pinterest boards, the housing crisis, various gay predispositions, and more!

Interior Motives

Seeking Derangements

Ben’s profile in New York magazine!!

Printed out Pinterest Moodboard TikToks

$4,300 in missing rugs, online shame, 7 hours in NYPD custody: A stooping story

Samantha Wynn Greenstone (girl who married a gay guy and had a baby)

BBL Arab Gays

Tasteslop by Nemesis

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In this edition of Study Break, we go deep on Sombr’s ED summer track “My Body Isn’t Ready,” make the case for Obsession star Inde Navarette as this generation’s Dead Wife Montage Stacy, and extol Erling Haaland’s universal Homo Erectus charm. We also assess Olivia Rodrigo’s and Gracie Abrams’ claims to girl-loserdom and the influence of children’s literature on men’s fashion week.

Links:

sombr - My Body Isn’t Ready (official video)

James Blunt - You’re Beautiful (official video)

James Blunt’s 13 most savage tweets

Olivia Rodrigo - honeybee

Olivia Rodrigo addresses the “baby boy, honeybee” allegations

Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (official video)

Gracie Abrams - Look at My Life (official video)

Gracie Abrams - Daughter From Hell album art

Grace Abrams - The Secret of Us album art

Dior Men’s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Celine Men’s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Prada Men’s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Worldpeace DMT - Love Yourself (official video)

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In this solo minisode, Sam enters the wilderness of mirrors to unpack Michael Jackson: child star, King of Pop, fairy-tale monster, walking logo, and one of the strangest cultural phenomena of the 20th century. Using Margo Jefferson, Wendy Lesser, Mark Fisher, Foucault, Bakhtin, Peter Pan, The Little Prince, Shirley Temple, Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Fosse, P.T. Barnum, Neverland Ranch, pork pie hats, patent leather shoes, and white spats, Sam pursues Michael as a figure of inversion: the child who was an adult, the adult who became a child, the Black man who became white, the man who became a woman, the innocent who became the guilty. Along the way, she considers the glamour and horror of child stardom, the maternal diva archive, the carnivalesque body, the freakshow of Wacko Jacko, and why Michael’s legacy remains endlessly unresolved.

Stargirl’s 100th episode, we love you Emma <3

On Michael Jackson by Margo Jefferson

On Michael Jackson, with Shannon Taggart by Weird Studies

The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson, edited by Mark Fisher

His Other Half: Men Looking at Women Through Art by Wendy Lesser

Moonwalk: A Memoir by Michael Jackson

The Autobiography of PT Barnum by PT Barnum

Rabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin

r/LeavingNeverlandHBO

My Family, The Jacksons by Katherine Jackson

Michael Jackson’s Interview in Gold Girl Magazine, 2002

Michael Jackson - Thriller (Original)

Who’s Loving You - The Jackson 5 on The Ed Sullivan Show

Interview with Suzanne de Passe, Motown Costume Designer

Human Nature, Wembley ‘88 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson’s This Is It

Sylvester Stallone on Michael Jackson

Bob Fosse, The Little Prince, and Michael Jackson

The Little Prince

MJ Productions’s Letter to The Little Prince

Marianne Williamson officiates Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding to Larry Fortensky

Elizabeth Taylor surprises Michael Jackson with an elephant

Abnormals, Freaks, and Michael Jackson: Foucault, Baldwin the Truth of the Grotesque by Brad Elliott Stone

Nymphet Alumni’s Ep. 157: American Freakshow

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In this episode, we kick off the summer by denominating a colorful attitude toward dress manifesting bicoastally. Epitomized by brands like Emily Dawn Long, Brooke Callahan, and Cleo Camp, Crayola Casual is the funky counterpart to freaky minimalism— accessory agnostic, anti-synthetic, built around hot saturated colors and the art of the easy-on easy-off. We review this aesthetic’s historical antecedents, from fluid disco formalwear of the 70s (Halston, Stephen Burrows) to globalist chic sportswear of the 80s (Esprit, United Colors of Benetton). We also discuss Downtown New York’s Maryam Nassir Zadeh as the missing link, classics of rainbow urbanism including Sesame Street and the Vignelli Subway Map, our predictions for an aerobics renaissance, and the creative exuberance of a season of parades, pop-ups, and pennants.

Links:

Image board

Cleo Camp

Brooke Callahan

Emily Dawn Long

Rummage Stretch

“Vintage Sportswear Will Crush Your Alo Yoga Sets” by Liana Satenstein for Neverworns

Allegra Samsen on Instagram

Ventriloquist Sophie Becker for Paloma Wool

“The Accidental Trendsetter” by Emilia Petrarca in The New York Times (Emily Dawn Long profile)

“The Sisterhood of the Unraveling Pants” by Sarah Shapiro in Puck (on the rise of the easy pant)

“The Sexy Sincerity of Maryam Nassir Zadeh” by Rachel Tashjian in Harper’s Bazaar

“How Does Maryam Nassir Zadeh Stay in Business?” by Madeline Leung Coleman in The Cut

“1970–1979” from FIT’s Fashion History Timeline

“A 1970s Fashion History Lesson: Disco, Designer Denim, and the Liberated Woman” by Lilah Ramzi in Vogue

“The Halstonettes” by The Museum at FIT from the 2015 exhibit Yves Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the 70s

“Stephen Burrows, the CFDA’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Winner, in the Words of 7 of His Closest Collaborators” by Laird Borrelli-Persson in Vogue

“The Radical History of Sesame Street” by Figgy Guyver in Frieze

“The Quintessential Urban Design of Sesame Street” by Anna Kodé in The New York Times

“Towards a Better Way: The “Vignelli” Map at 50” (Digital Exhibit) – New York Transit Museum

Supergraphic Ultramodern – Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute

“The rise and fall of Esprit, San Francisco’s coolest clothing brand” by Joshua Bote in SFGATE

“opening ceremony’s founders on how esprit changed fashion (and the world)” – i-D

“Esprit’s Brand Books” by Jill Singer in Sight Unseen (on Esprit: The Comprehensive Design Principle from 1989)

“From Plain Jane to Esprit: The Making of a California Icon” by Bertrand Pellegrin

“Benetton: Celebrating a Colorful History” by Amanda Kaiser in WWD

“History” – Gap, Inc.

“Khaki Swing” – 1998 Gap Commercial on YouTube

Something Wild (1986) dir. Jonathan Demme – Official Trailer

Excerpt from Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There by David Brooks

“Everything You Need to Know About the Battle of Versailles on the 50th Anniversary of the Event” by Laird Borrelli-Persson in Vogue

“Fashion” - The 1973 World Book Year Book

“Yanks Pull Off Paris Fashion Heist” by Eugenia Sheppard in The Los Angeles Times

Big Bad Wolf workout class on TikTok

Aerobics by Kenneth H. Cooper

エアロピクルス｜Aeropickles on YouTube

“1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship Opening” on YouTube

Audrey Hobert live performances: trenchcoat reveal, mini trampoline

Audrey Hobert x Fishwife Tinned Fish Bundle

“Forget Euro Summer. Brands Are Having a Wet, Hot American Summer” by Madeleine Schulz in Vogue (pop-up economy write-up)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe