It seems impossible that anyone could want to bring low-rise jeans back.

Right? On that point, we thought we were safe. They require a bikini wax and low-coverage underwear; they feel like they’re perpetually on the brink of slipping off your butt. Sitting down in them, much like sitting down in a hoop skirt, requires a keen sense of spatial awareness and precise, practiced movements. They are designed to present the full, uninterrupted length of your abdomen for public scrutiny. Low-rise jeans were a terrible mistake, of course.

Anyway, as Vogue confirms, they’re back! Along with scarf tops, glittery butterfly clips, shrunken tees, Ed Hardy shirts, and so many other early-aughts trends that were, in our recollection, miserable to grow up under. Generations of adolescents have struggled to master the current fashions and put in a good showing with their peers, but were any other era’s so inherently daunting?

Neither of us missed Y2K fashion; it’s associated with little but middle-school social anxiety and the unbridled fatphobia of the time. But to stay relevant, to feel still young and alive and full of possibility… would we venture back?

In this episode, we briefly discuss vibe shift survival anxiety (remember that discourse? It was a million years ago), and then really dig into our high school fashion memories, our feelings about low-rise jeans, the gendered aspect of the vibe shift and fashion trends, and more!

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We’ve been reading…

“Checkout 19” by Claire-Louise Bennett!!! Just read it.

Also, sometimes I like to read literary criticism, when I’m strong enough to do so without sinking into a depression because I almost never write it anymore, and Lauren Oyler has an extremely sharp review of the new Jennifer Egan book Are in Harper’s. Lots of gems in it: “It’s true that being on the internet is a huge waste of time that could be spent reading and writing, plus there’s what it does to language—the way it manufactures clichés through the repetition and imitation it encourages. Yet the desire to waste time is ultimately a human one; it allows us to pretend we have an unlimited supply.” -Claire

I’m still working my way through “Foreverland.” Still really enjoying it and — surprise! — we’re going to have Heather Havrilesky on the pod to discuss it! -Emma

We’ve been watching…

Oh, so many things I’m dying to talk to Emma about. “The Gilded Age”! “The Dropout”! And, most baffling of all, “The Courtship”!!! (We will be covering the latter on Love to See It during the offseason of “The Bachelor” — join us.) -Claire

Truly cannot wait to discuss “The Courtship,” especially its absolutely bonkers ballroom dancing elimination ceremonies. I’ve also been catching up on the “RHOSLC” reunion. -Emma

We’ve been listening to…

Susie’s interview on “The Viall Files,” to get some more insight on the woman who broke “The Bachelor” and put it back together again, sort of. She’s extremely charming and thoughtful in the interview, is justly critical of Clayton but also owns her own mistakes, offers some insight into her mindset going into the fateful fantasy suite conversation, and does her best to make the case that her boyfriend is actually a good dude who is working on himself. -Claire

“Biohacked: Family Secrets,” a new podcast about donor-conceived children and the complicated history and ethical implications of making conception a massive for-profit industry. Like most things under capitalism, the answers are fucking complicated. -Emma

We’ve been buying…

High-waisted shorts that fit me like a glove. I had to size down a couple — Madewell’s sizing is a mess lately — but for once, no waist gap. Summer is coming (in two to three months)!!

I also optimistically resubscribed to Nuuly, hoping for a March and April with some actual outfit opportunities. (Our first date night of 2022, perhaps? My first hangout with a friend since last December? A park jaunt on a day warm enough that I don’t need a fully zipped parka and hat over my clothes?) I learned that Levi’s Ribcage jeans are unforgivingly true to size, unlike most denim brands I’ve worn lately, but otherwise my selections have been winners — though the outfit opportunities have yet to materialize. -Claire

As I said on the podcast, I was recently informed that showing your ankles is now cheugy, so I panic purchased some fun socks from Lele Sadoughi. A dumb purchase? Perhaps. But turns out I really love them? And they look so cute with loafers. At some point I’d like to pair them with formalwear and some platform heels. -Emma