Intelligent and Hot: 7 Books You Should Read in Your Early Twenties

Reading is sexy. There’s something so alluring about slowing down and turning away from the instant gratification that our phones grant us to immerse ourselves in a book. Not to mention the aesthetic of it all. You’ve seen someone book in hand in a coffee shop and found yourself intrigued, admit it. We’re here to foster a love for reading with 7 books we think you should read, all read and recommended by us, because nothing says cool like a book.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Summary

“The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that Esther’s insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.”

Why You Should Read it

Sometimes a book lifts you up and whispers in your ear that you aren’t alone. This is one of them. Sylvia Plath beautifully chronicles the complexities of your early twenties and the unknowing of it all. The book’s honest portrayal of mental health struggles is so deeply human, readers relate to it even almost 60 years after its initial release.

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

Summary

“Trick Mirror is an enlightening, unforgettable trip through the river of self-delusion that surges just beneath the surface of our lives. This is a book about the incentives that shape us, and about how hard it is to see ourselves clearly in a culture that revolves around the self. In each essay, Jia writes about the cultural prisms that have shaped her: the rise of the nightmare social internet; the American scammer as millennial hero; the literary heroine’s journey from brave to blank to bitter; the mandate that everything, including our bodies, should always be getting more efficient and beautiful until we die.”

Why You Should Read it

It’s hard existing in the midst of late-stage capitalism. Tolentino expertly holds a mirror up to how we live and why we do it. This collection of essays speaks on the challenge of self- actualization in a world so hung up on fakeness. If you feel exhausted by social media and the expectations placed on real world young adults, this book is for you.

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Summary

“In Just Kids, Patti Smith’s first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has to the rest of her formidable body of work–from her influential 1975 album Horses to her visual art and poetry.”

Why You Should Read it

I love this book. I went into it not knowing anything about Patti or Robert and left it feeling fully immersed in their rich inner lives. This book proves to me what I’ve always known to be true: sometimes soulmates aren’t lovers. It explores the complicated relationship between lovers turned to friends and a duo that was forever linked to one another.

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Summary

“Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind–and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa’s orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman’s sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil–and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh. But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances’s intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.”

Why You Should Read it

Conversations with Friends explores what happens when love and ambition meet. The book approaches mental health, academics, romantic relationships, and female friendships from the angle of processing complex emotions. Rooney’s matter-of-fact storytelling will resonate with anyone who finds themselves constantly and consistently over-analyzing their every feeling.

Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz

Summary

“No one burned hotter than Eve Babitz. Possessing skin that radiated “its own kind of moral laws,” spectacular teeth, and a figure that was the stuff of legend, she seduced seemingly everyone who was anyone in Los Angeles for a long stretch of the 1960s and ’70s. One man proved elusive, however, and so Babitz did what she did best, she wrote him a book. Slow Days, Fast Company is a full-fledged and full-bodied evocation of a bygone Southern California that far exceeds its mash-note premise. In ten sun-baked, Santa Ana wind–swept sketches, Babitz re-creates a Los Angeles of movie stars distraught over their success, socialites on three-day drug binges holed up in the Chateau Marmont, soap-opera actors worried that tomorrow’s script will kill them off, Italian femmes fatales even more fatal than Babitz. And she even leaves LA now and then, spending an afternoon at the house of flawless Orange County suburbanites, a day among the grape pickers of the Central Valley, a weekend in Palm Springs where her dreams of romance fizzle and her only solace is Virginia Woolf. In the end it doesn’t matter if Babitz ever gets the guy—she seduces us.”

Why You Should Read it

Eve Babitz’s storytelling, deeply witty and often glamorous, offers readers a peak into the life of the 70s party girl. Her candidness on all topics, both risque and not, upholds an attitude of refined carelessness that isn’t cruel, just human. You will find yourself nostalgic for a time and place you have never experienced first-hand. Reading this collection of essays feels like gossiping with an old friend, a deeply captivating, humorous conversation she expertly mixes with an air of closet-intellectualism.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Summary

“Our narrator should be happy, shouldn’t she? She’s young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?
My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.”

Why You Should Read it

Moshfegh’s narrator is so deeply unlikeable, yet the book is enjoyable despite, or because of, the unabshedly bad person she is. The book uses this unlikeability to show the honest, unglamorous realities of living through mental health struggles and the complexities in justifying bad behavior that surround the mental health conversation. You will find yourself rejecting the thoughts and actions of our protagonist and instead recognizing the lust for life hidden underneath the risk of living even when you don’t want to.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Summary

“Celebrated, iconic, and indispensable, Joan Didion’s first work of nonfiction, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, is considered a watershed moment in American writing. First published in 1968, the collection was critically praised as one of the “best prose written in this country.”
More than perhaps any other book, this collection by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era captures the unique time and place of Joan Didion’s focus, exploring subjects such as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up in California and the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture. As Joyce Carol Oates remarked: ‘[Didion] has been an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time, a memorable voice, partly eulogistic, partly despairing; always in control.’”

Why You Should Read it

Joan Didion remains one of the greatest writers of all time, sharp, witty and personal without oversharing. Her debut work of nonfiction tackles the self, empathy, and the human experience, leaving readers to reflect on their place in the world and the nuances that come with it. Didion’s prose and storytelling capabilities reflect on the reality that we as individuals are both larger than life and also so small, all reflecting back on the idea of respect. Who we are and who we will become are not mutually exclusive, this intentional reflection on Didion’s part prioritizes a dry yet comforting perception of respect for yourself and for others.

Reading is good for you and looks good on you. Let us know if you read any of our recommendations and if you’ve already read any of these books, let us know how you liked it.

The Problem With Micro-Trends: Is It You?

You bought a top from Shein a week after Kendall Jenner went viral for wearing the same thing. Even though hers was probably some designer label, fast fashion brands cranked out their own version in no time at all. After the excitement wore off, it probably ended up stuffed in the back of a drawer, collecting dust alongside other forgotten fad items of micro-trends past. I’m not going to pretend I haven’t done the same thing, we’ve all succumbed to the fast-fashion machine.

These sudden, short-lived fashion trends gain momentum on platforms like TikTok or Instagram and establish themselves as part of the social media experience. So much so, that consumers don’t even take the time to reflect on if they actually like an item before participating in the trend. It’s all part of the plan for companies like SHEIN, who push the idea that consumers have to buy into every single trend to stay relevant online and within their circles. Over-consumption at the hands of micro trends and ultra-fast fashion means an unethical and unsustainable acceleration of the trend cycle.

Breaking Down the Trend Cycle

In the past, the fashion industry created trends based off of the conceptual aesthetics of runway shows in a process called the trend cycle. This is broken down into five stages: introduction, rise, acceptance, decline, and obsolescence. These runway show trends then trickled down into retail stores for the average consumer with early fast-fashion brands like Forever 21 only accelerating this process. Today, though, ultra-fast fashion brands like SHEIN, ASOS, BooHoo, and Fashion Nova take inspo from viral fashion moments to propel micro-trends into the rise and acceptance phases faster than ever before. In turn, willing public with increasing production technology enable brands to offer thousands of new styles per week.

Social Media is to Blame

Fast fashion brands can thank social media for the rise in micro-trends and their extra-stuffed pockets. Information has never been so attainable, but this constant, never-ending feed can turn boring fast. This encourages more interesting and fun topics like micro-trends to enter the zeitgeist, even if the novelty quickly wears off and a new trend enters the space. Of course micro trends wouldn’t exist without the consumers who purchase them, and many blame a shortened attention span. First time experiences is exciting, but with repetition, that excitement fades. This leads to a cycle of consumers making continual purchases in hopes of reigniting that flame of dopamine. Instead they’re met with a feedback loop of quickly churned out, poorly made clothing to keep up with demand.

Fast Fashion Brands, How Do They Do It?

So, how do ultra-fast fashion brands keep up with demand while turning a profit? Take SHEIN for example, they put a product online instantly, blast it over social media, and then collect feedback immediately. And because SHEIN is savvy in data analytics, they can anticipate how an item will sell before it ever goes into production. The increasingly-accurate algorithms present within these fast fashion brands allow for a more streamlined approach to selling to fashion lovers on a budget. According to Bloomberg, SHEIN generated $16 billion in global sales last year alone. That makes them the top fast fashion brand in the world, outselling H&M, Zara, and Forever 21. Their power in the market is due in large part to their trend-focused product assortment paired with social media marketing on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Many creators film “haul” videos showcasing their fast-fashion packages where they try on clothes and review them. The unbeatable prices from ultra-fast fashion brands make over-consumption possible and further the blind eye towards the issues caused by these companies.

The reality is, the fast-fashion epidemic is a group effort that leaks into many facets of our day-to-day. The cause isn’t solely resting on the hands of these brands. Social media and how we react to it plays a major role in these over-consumption behaviors and the rise of micro trends.

This article is part one of a series on fast fashion, micro-trends, and over-consumption.

Midnights: Taylor Swift’s Ode to the Nuanced Party Girl

After long awaited hype, Midnights is finally here, jam packed with sparkle, synth beats, and crying in the bathroom vibes. Taylor Swift notes that the album is a collection of sleepless nights hence the title “Midnights.” Listening to the album, it’s easy to see her vision.

In an Instagram caption for the album announcement Swift wrote “We lie awake in love and fear, in turmoil and in tears” and “We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t – right this minute – about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.”

The album feels like when you get home from a night out and think about your entire night and everything that has ever happened to you, the good, the terrible, everything. But none of the songs sound in-your-face, stab-you-in-the-heart emotional. They’re all wrapped up in this mod-pop ribbon that will have you asking “am I sad or do I kinda wanna dance right now?” The answer is both.

The album aesthetic is her best yet. Pulling inspo from the 70s, story books, and the twinkling night sky, Swift has entered an era that perfectly encapsulates Midnights. Her looks this era vary from sparkling event outfits to a more intimate 70s style for her day-to-day, beautifully referencing the dichotomy of the album.

Swift’s red carpet and evening looks reference the more self-confident pop songs in the album, namely Lavender Haze, Vigilante Shit, Bejeweled, and Karma.

She entered the “Midnights Era” in this opulent crystal dress at the MTV VMA’s. Dripping head to toe in jewels, she looks ready for a glamorous party. In her song Bejeweled, the chorus exudes self-confidence and her VMA outfit makes reference to it.

Best believe I’m still bejeweled
When I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer
And when I meet the band
They ask, “Do you have a man?”
I could still say, “I don’t remember”

These feminine-pop songs idealize the feeling of being out and feeling good regardless of anyone else. Her moody Reputation-esque song Vigilante Shit calls out how lately she isn’t dressing for anyone or anything, she’s “been dressing for revenge.”

With her “cat eye sharp enough to kill a man” this eras night looks show the glamour and celebrity of Taylor Swift. At the same time, listeners are reminded of their own confidence when dressing up to go out.

But the most interesting part of this era lies in the more intimate songs being represented by the moody 70s aesthetic. With muted colors, wood paneling, and retro decor and furnishings, this side of the album strips away the glamour to reveal a woman full of self loathing.

Songs like Anti-Hero and You’re on Your Own Kid are the kind of emotional tracks we’re used to from Swift. This line from the Anti-Hero chorus discusses a type of distress some of us know all too well.

I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

It seems as if Swift is peeling back the curtain on her celebrity but listeners are also reminded of their own pitfalls. It’s easy to want and to take but it’s much harder to reflect on where we go wrong and what we don’t love about ourselves.

The 70s are an important juxtaposition to the sparkly, shimmering aesthetic of the dancy songs. The 70s was a period of unknowing and transformation, filled with turmoil and reflection but also great strides in self-realization.

This album tells its listeners that you’re allowed to be many things and feel many feelings. You don’t need to shrink yourself to fit into the box that others have made for you. We all leave the house on Friday night feeling our best only to return a little let down.

You’re on Your Own Kid sums up the greatest message of the album in the bridge.

‘Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned
Everything you lose is a step you take
So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it
You’ve got no reason to be afraid

Be unabashedly yourself, enjoy things, feel your feelings. Be sparkly and fun but allow yourself to be moody too, it’s okay. Taylor Swift said so.

The Glitter Index: What Does Sparkly Fashion Say About Financial Recessions?

We knew this was coming. Three years out from that pesky global pandemic that changed everything forever, a recession may finally catch up to us. But if our economy is doing poorly, why is the fashion in my local shopping mall so sparkly? Let’s unpack it.

The Great Depression and Hollywood Glamour

When we think of periods of economic distress we usually envision those Great Depression documentaries our 6th grade teachers put on instead of a lesson plan, which, fair, but even the 1930s didn’t mean depressing fashion, at least not for everyone. Those impacted the most may have worn the standard dress at the time, but celebrities adopted their own set of fashion standards.

The 30s were the golden age of Hollywood in a time when the public needed an escape from the harsh realities of their financial situations. 1929 saw the first year of the sound era. Up until this point film was strictly silent, but as the U.S. economy was taking a tailspin, the film industry was making huge technological strides resulting in sound-inclusive movies: the talkies. This innovation coinciding with the stock market crash of ‘29 meant movie studios needed to act fast before the film industry tanked alongside all other major industries of the time.

Movies in this era were showy and ornate spectacles, an ironic thought considering this period was influenced by general gloom and despair. However, movies allowed a defeated public to forget about their troubles and focus on the beauty of spectacle. This glamorous escapism saw fashion trends such as bias cut gowns, exaggerated shoulders, cinched waists, fur, costume jewelry, and, of course, glitter. These styles allowed audiences to live through the fashionable lifestyles depicted on the silver screen.

While in this period the public did not adopt the fashion of their favorite movie stars, it’s important to assess why. The mass manufacturing of apparel as we know it today did not exist in the 30s. The average dress in 1935 cost about $8 with the average monthly earnings coming in at a little under $80. Now let me blow your mind. That $8 dress would cost $173 today on a monthly income of $1,733. This is especially shocking when considering the cost of living was an estimated $4,000. It’s no wonder the public didn’t splurge on shiny new apparel.

70s Disco Fever

Let’s fast-forward a bit to disco balls and the 1970s. The start of the decade signaled an end to post-WWII economic expansion and the start of a western recession lasting from 1973 to 1975, though its effects lasted into the 80s. This was a time of social upheaval, war, poverty, civil unrest, racial protests, and a promise that those coming of age at the time wouldn’t be as well off as their parents. History repeats itself, yadda yadda yadda.

At the same time as this economic and societal downturn, though, the Bee Gees emerged from a disco ball, or something like that. Disco was born. The music evolved from the Philly Afro/Latino R&B scene and the New York underground dance community. Typified by synthesizers, beats, horn sections, and electric piano, disco was made for dancing, and the clothing reflected that notion.

Fashion trends at the time favored bold colors and body conscious silhouettes featuring rhinestones, sequins, feathers, and, drumroll please, glitter.

Disco music and its resulting fashion influence liberated its audience of marginalized, working-class people. The funky beats and carefree attitude provided a sense of escapism during a period of financial uncertainty. And because clothing was cheaper and more accessible, the public could actively participate in the trends of the time.

The Late Aughts and The Clubbing Era

That brings us to the aughts, an era of tabloids, reality TV, Paris Hilton, and the Great Recession. The 2000s were heavily impacted by Y2K and the tech boom that filled closets with shiny blacks fabrics and colorful metallics. The 2008 recession resulted in 8.7 million Americans losing their jobs and a general negative financial impact for the U.S. economy.

Although the attitude of the time wasn’t great, (ask any late 90s, early 00s baby how many times they overheard their parents yelling about money as they played Wii Sports Resort) a hot new music genre entered the scene.

Breakout artist Lady Gaga released her escapist anthem “Just Dance,” a song of a generation down on their luck. The song describes Gaga forgoing her problems and instead dancing her worries away. The emergence of club music pushed the narrative that life is what you make of it, so dress like it. So, the 2000s look focused on embellished rhinestones, chunky costume jewelry, bubble skirts, lack of brand labels, and statement pieces. OMG I almost forgot, glitter too.

In the midst of the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression, moments of carefree fun and a “Just Dance” attitude resounded through the public.

Great Recession Number 2: Electric Boogaloo

That brings us to today. If we adhere to the standard definition of a recession, two consecutive quarters of economic downturn, then the U.S. entered a recession in the summer of 2022. However, the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit tasked with citing a recession, has yet to name one as of October 2022. But, if we look at what’s hitting the shelves in fashion departments across the country and what I am referring to as the Glitter Index, one may be looming.

The Glitter Index is the phenomenon of a rise in sparkly, showy fashion signaling a period of economic downturn. It’s similar to the lipstick effect, the theory that in times of economic crisis consumers are less willing to make large purchases and more likely to spend on lower-cost frivolous items like lipstick, nail polish, and perfume.

The Glitter Index is a mark of escapism for the worried public. Walk into any trendy apparel retailer and shoppers will find sparkle, chrome, and metallics galore. It appears that stores are pushing a dancy, escapist aesthetic to a public facing major financial inflation.

This is especially interesting given the sudden reintroduction of house music like Beyoncé’s 2022 release “Renaissance” and opulent films like Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” hitting theaters. To top it off, we’re seeing a return to 70s nostalgia in both fashion and nightlife, with new dance clubs popping up in major U.S. cities and the introduction of concert-style dance parties a la Gimme Gimme Disco.

We are a public who have lived in uncertainty for 3 years, it only makes sense that we re-adopt the carefree facade of recessions past. If one thing is for certain, it’s that escapism will never die.

Winter Trend Predictions, If You’re Into That Type of Thing

Here’s everything we know about what trends to expect this cold season so you can stave off that seasonal depression in style. Think individualist, everyday decadence, and out-of-the-box thinking. We love to see it.

Sensory overload but make it fashion.

Styles with unique textures that are asking to be touched. Perhaps it’s the result of a pandemic barring all tactility or maybe we just want something to do with our hands. Either way, this is the season for girlies who shop by saying “that’s cute” while touching fabric.

Occasional Occasion-wear

Tap into that part of the psyche that says “overdress.” Exaggerate your wardrobe that combines decadence with everyday fabrics. It’s almost 2023, don’t shy away from the dramatics.

Florals? For Winter? Groundbreaking.

Nature inspires this season with silhouettes, prints, and color. Think about a more sensual approach to nature dressing this season, focusing on conceptual ideas that keep the look dark and brooding.

Minimally Boring

Timeless silhouettes with slight twists that reinvigorate their place in the market. Confidence is key here, experiment with proportions in the details. The look should say “I’m barely even trying and I look better than you.”

Liberal Arts Student Core

Dark academia is getting a retro makeover. 70s inspired colors and details make for a smarter, more adult look that favors studious optimism.

Rockstar Girlfriend

Freedom of expression and sticking it to the ‘rents, this trend focuses on youth rebellion and vintage nostalgia. Leather, catsuits, biker jackets, and chunky boots. If the fit wouldn’t look right on the back of a motorcycle, you aren’t doing it right.