T LOunge for September 18th 2024

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PinJuliet Rose Bar – Munich, Germany

It’s WEDNESDAY, darlings! Let’s celebrate that! It’s getting a little nippy outside and we’re breaking out the Halloween decorations and pumpkin spice. The Emmys and VMAs are in our rearview mirror, which means we can back to celebrities begging you to buy a ticket. Settle in!

How the Set Design of the New Movie Wicked Ventures Off the Beaten Yellow-Brick Road
Foregrounding built environments, the film’s production design blends architectural references to defy expectations
It’s one thing to defy gravity. It’s quite another to defy expectations. Such was the challenge for director Jon M. Chu when adapting the hit musical Wicked into a live-action movie, arriving in theaters on November 22. “My goal was to go beyond the matte paintings, beyond a digital world, and really let the audience step into Oz,” he notes. “The emotions in Wicked are so deep and true. I didn’t just want a fantasy world beyond our reach. I wanted an immersive space where our characters could come to life.” Conceived by production designer Nathan Crowley, the sets nimbly subvert the familiar with the fantastical—layering architectural homages, narrative touchstones, and cinematic razzle-dazzle into an expansive magical realm. “The pitfalls of the history of Oz are immense,” Crowley reflects, referring to past representations of the fictional land onstage, in film, and in literature. On one hand, he notes, “we had to nod our caps to the source material.” On the other, “we needed new excitement, color, whimsy.”

7 most iconic luxury handbags we’re still coveting today
We’re seeing number 7 come back in a huge way this year
‘It’ bags come and go, but the most iconic luxury handbags are (and should last) forever. More than fleeting fads, they’re investments that stand the test of time. To enter the pantheon of iconic handbags, they possess three key attributes: An easily-recognisable silhouette, a pop culture or celebrity association, and a staying power lasting years or decades. Below, a walk down fashion’s memory lane, as we list the five most iconic luxury handbags we still covet today — and why.

The enduring power of red lipstick – and how to pick your perfect shade
Red alert.
Dragon Girl, Ruby Woo, Goldie Red and 999 – they sound like a glossy line up of Bond Girls (or Marvel villains, depending on your mood). That’s the whole point of red lipstick. Depending on what character energy you want to channel, red lipstick is like your – sassy, sophisticated and sometimes scandalous – alter ego.
“A red lipstick can instantly transform the you way look, feel and carry yourself,” confirms Givenchy makeup artist Claire Mulleady. “While a red can tell many different stories depending on the shade and style of the lip, it always conveys a confidence.”

5 luxury jewellery trends you need on your radar
Number three has got us really excited for turtleneck weather.
When it comes to jewellery trends, I’ve always been partial to those that involve large, chunky, gold pieces, so the styles that have emerged on the autumn/winter 2024 runway have got me particularly excited for the arrival of sweater weather. Besides the heavy dose of nostalgia and bohemia, there’s also an XXL quality to every piece – that has made even the most retro items feel bold and modern. I love how Saint Laurent, for instance, leaned heavily into the boho trend, as models wrapped in sheer, earth-toned layers glided down the runway wearing giant stone jewels. Also on their wrists were stacked bangles – a ’90s jewellery staple – but refreshed by going transparent, giving the boho-chic style a 2024 spin.

57 best true crime documentaries on Netflix
True crime documentaries on Netflix come with the kind of real-life drama so gripping that for that hour or so, you forget everything else in life. It’s for this reason that we can’t. Get. Enough. And we’re not the only ones.
We never get tired of discovering how disturbingly screwed up the human race is – the fact that real-life people have committed some of these crimes is truly disturbing but, in some weird way, compelling. I mean, take, for example, Charles Cullen, a former ICU nurse who killed patients while working in various hospitals and nursing homes before being caught. The investigation that led to his arrest is told in Capturing the Killer Nurse. Then there’s also the story of prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh who was found guilty of killing his wife and son. Keeping it family-theme, Lori Vallow, who is accused of killing her own children in the documentary Sins Of Our Mother is also another shocking watch.

Netflix’s Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter true story explained
In 2010, Cathy Terkanian discovered that the child she had placed up for adoption as a baby had gone missing 21 years earlier — now, Netflix has turned her story into a documentary.
Netflix has a knack for finding and telling true crime stories that have to be seen to be believed. Its latest offering, Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter, is no exception.
The harrowing tale follows Cathy Terkanian, who discovered that the daughter she put up for adoption had gone missing when she was 14 — 21 years ago. Although she didn’t raise the baby or even know about the baby’s adoptive parents, she set out on a mission to uncover the truth about what had happened to her. Here’s the true story about Terkanian’s search and her devastating discovery.

Margot Robbie, The Sims And Our Endless Appetite For Nostalgic Adaptations
A new film based on the 2000 computer game shows that our obsession with nostalgia is reaching fever pitch.
A vibrating heart bed. A pool without a ladder. A glowing green crystal. If any of these objects spark so much as a flicker of recognition somewhere deep within your psyche, you’ve most likely played one of the best-selling live simulation video games of all time: The Sims.
For the uninitiated, its publisher Electronic Arts describes the game as a world in which you can, ‘create unique characters, build dream homes, and let chaos unfold’. It was first released in 2000, has since sold more than 200 million copies worldwide and is generally considered to be an iconic piece of pop culture history. To this day, YouTubers attract millions of views from playing the game online.

How The Perfect Couple Masters Nantucket Rich
And a shopping guide so you can, too.
“I was determined to get the wealth right,” showrunner Jenna Lamia tells T&C, “meaning people would be driving old Saabs with sand on the floor rather than brand new Mercedes, and they would be wearing shoes that they leave on the island and just wear every summer. I wanted to get that Nantucket wealth right, which is not showy.”
The clothes, naturally, had to reflect this very particular brand of Old Money by the Sea. As you may know, this is a place where a certain pair of $115 pants in a very specific faded red hue—also known as those famed Nantucket Reds—carries more social currency than a Patek. And, as Hilderbrand says, “the more beat up they are, the more authentic they are.”

Why Prince Harry Could Receive a Huge Inheritance Now That He Is 40
Reports from when the Queen Mother died suggest that a Trust Fund set up in 1994 will now pay out.
When Prince Harry walked away from royal life, he cut off any form of official funding that working royals receive in lieu of their duties. However, he of course remained a part of the family, and as such is now believed to be eligible to receive a hefty inheritance from the Queen Mother’s personal wealth.
Reports following the Queen Mother’s death in 2002 have resurfaced in the past few days as Harry has turned 40. The April 2002 stories from The Guardian newspaper and the BBC reference a Trust Fund set up by the Queen Mother in 1994 of £19 million ($25 million) designed to benefit her great-grandchildren.

A Definitive Guide to All Types of Perms
How to find the right curl for you.
During the ‘80s, tight, springy curls were everywhere, and perms were a regular feature of hair salon menus. In the ’90s, they took a backseat to straighter styles and treatments, but today, perms are back and better than ever. With more curl-creating variations available today than in years past, there’s a type of perm for nearly every imaginable wave or curl and hair type and texture.

With Want, Gillian Anderson Urges Women to Get in Touch With Their Sexual Fantasies
Sex Education may be over, but Gillian Anderson isn’t done plumbing the depths of female sexuality. The actor tapped into her inner Dr. Jean Milburn with her new book, Want (Abrams), a modern answer to Nancy Friday’s 1973 book My Secret Garden: Women’s Sexual Fantasies. After sounding a call for women and femmes from around the world—whatever their age, race, religion, sexuality, or socioeconomic background—to share their most private sexual fantasies anonymously, Anderson compiled just a fraction of the responses into an anthology grouped into chapters by theme, delving into BDSM, voyeurism, sex with strangers, and beyond.

The 10 Best Cozy Cocktails to Make This Fall
Let’s get autumnal.
Fall, more than any other season, seems to invoke visceral, specific sense memories around the food flavors that emerge during this period — baked apples with warming spices, sweet potatoes and candied pecans, tender figs and tart cranberries. It’s harvest season for everything from walnuts and almonds to figs, pears, and pumpkins, and the autumnal yield is rich and abundant.

Your Cutting Board May Have 200 Times More Fecal Bacteria Than a Toilet Seat
The internet has been all over this — but is it actually true?
If you’ve been scrolling through food videos in recent years, or spent time reading about kitchen cleanliness on the internet, you might have heard a frequently quoted statistic: “the average cutting board has 200 times more fecal bacteria than a toilet seat.”
It’s a shocking statement, so it’s no surprise that it gets a big reaction every time it’s shared. Aesthetic nurse practitioner and content creator Miranda Wilson posted about this revelation last November in an Instagram reel that has now accumulated 20.6 million views to date. But she wasn’t the first to terrify audiences with fears of feces on cutting boards — the information has been shared online at least as far back as 2014, when the Huffington Post covered common sources of bacteria in home kitchens, such as cutting boards and dish towels.

Is Culture Dying?
The French sociologist Olivier Roy believes that “deculturation” is sweeping the world, with troubling consequences.
It’s common nowadays to talk about the “culture wars.” The notion is that we’re profoundly divided about the kinds of people we want to be, and that we express these divisions in everyday, sometimes petty ways. But, in Roy’s view, this framing is wrong. It would be more accurate to say that there’s a war on culture; what we call the culture wars are just skirmishes among the ruins. Hold this idea in mind, and you may find yourself seeing the ruins everywhere. Many houses in my neighborhood, for instance, fly variations of the American flag—rainbow flags, Blue Lives Matter flags, Thin Red Line flags, and so on. The flags are part of the culture wars. But, going by Roy’s account, they also reflect how much the “sociological grounding” of common culture has eroded. Less and less in our culture is self-evident—the phrase “our culture” might even seem suspect—and so the American flag, which should have some intrinsic, unchanging, obvious meaning (isn’t that the point of a flag?), has become a more fungible outward-facing sign, perhaps not too different from the campaign placards that we put in our yards. Flags are just vocabulary. Why not let them multiply?

Did You Know About This Afro-Latino Who Dedicated His Life To Preserving Black Culture?
Afro-Puerto Rican historian Arturo Schomburg, after whom The Schomburg Center For Research And Black Culture in Harlem is named, was one of the greatest influences preserving our history in the U.S.
It’s Latinx Heritage Month, and in the wake of the right wing’s attempts to erase Black history, ESSENCE wants to make sure that you know about one Afro-Latino who spent most of his life dedicated to preserving our history.
In 1874, future activist, curator, historian and writer Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was born in Puerto Rico, the son of a Puerto Rican merchant father of German descent and an Afro-Caribbean mother who hailed from the Danish West Indies.
Growing up, Schomburg grew up studying in both the Danish Virgin Islands (now the U.S. Virgin Islands) and Puerto Rico, where he spent most of his childhood.
At 17-years-old he immigrated to New York City where he was an active supporter of Puerto Rican and Cuban independence, and even co-founded Las Dos Antillas, a political club. At the same time, Schomburg was continuing to develop his interest in the study of Black history.

Issa Rae Releases “Braeve” Collection With Jewelry Brand Cast
The intentional collection is a dream come true for the multi-hyphenate and entrepreneur.
Issa Rae has revealed the “Braeve” collection with San Francisco-based jewelry brand Cast. The intentional collection designed by Rae is comprised of pieces that can be worn on the day-to-day and also items ideal for evenings out with friends. On the terrace of a striking guest room at 11 Howard during New York Fashion Week Rae detailed candidly how the collaboration came together. Initially, she says that she had worn Cast on multiple occasions before the partnership came to fruition.

Are Americans generous?
New research sheds light on changing patterns of US giving and volunteering.
For 20 years, experts have sounded the alarm on the decline of charitable giving in the US. Then came the pandemic, which led to a wave of new donations and volunteers to nonprofits. For some leaders, this was a sign that perhaps the retreat from philanthropy was reversing course.
But it’s clear now, according to a substantial new report released today by a group of nearly 200 philanthropic leaders, that Covid-19 did not bring about any lasting reversal of declining charitable giving — and many of the trends identified in the 2010s have only since accelerated.

‘American Crime Story’ Turns to Sports With Aaron Hernandez Saga
The buzzy FX series delves into the N.F.L. star who murdered a friend less than a year after playing in the Super Bowl.
Hernandez has been the subject of multiple books, true crime podcasts and documentaries. But his story is getting the Ryan Murphy treatment in a new 10-part anthology series, “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” premiering on Tuesday on FX and Hulu. Its showrunners are trying a playbook similar to one used for dramatizations of other well-known scandals like “The People v. O.J. Simpson” and “Impeachment,” about former President Bill Clinton’s sexual improprieties. But this time, they’re grappling with new terrain: pro football.

Looking for a New Way to See Iceland? Bring Your Knitting Needles.
In a country with more sheep than people, a D.I.Y. wool journey — from sheep farms to yarn shops — makes perfect sense. Our writer brushes up on her knitting on a driving trip from Reykjavik.
I spent my second day in Iceland in a hotel on the outskirts of Reykjavik, trying resolutely to knit. Gathered around a coffee table with me were Ragga Sjöfn Jóhannsdóttir, my instructor, and my friend Lindis Sloan, both experienced knitters who fluidly worked the yarn with barely a glance at their hands.
And then there was me, gripping the needles as I struggled to maintain the proper tension that would allow me to transform two skeins of local wool into something resembling a headband. My progress was excruciatingly slow, but a couple of hours in, a red ring of textile with pink diamonds was beginning to emerge.

What It’s Really Like to Be an Assistant During Fashion Week
Equally as integral to the show as the people on the runway are those along its sidelines and behind the scenes, ready to jump in at any moment.
To say a little behind-the-scenes chaos yields an effortless Fashion Week show would be an understatement. Behind a presentation no longer than 15 or 20 minutes are months of ideation, countless last-minute fixes, and teams of dozens. While a game of who’s-who unfolds as celebs and industry A-listers take their front row seating, just a curtain away is a scene far busier and less glamorous than the sheen of the catwalk.
College student and NYFW-first-timer Sydney Staton found this out first hand earlier this month, as she assisted Tibi’s Spring 2025 Ready-to-Wear show. The experience, she says, taught her “just how much work goes into it all.” Staton explains, “The show has perfect music, the models look perfect, the outfits are perfect, but in reality, this has been weeks in the making.”

[Photo Credit: julietrosebar.com, goddardlittlefair.com]

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