Fugs & Pieces, September 2nd, 2016

Happy Labor Day to our American readers! We are kicking off a long weekend here, but we will be back with regular postings on Tuesday, September 6th. Enjoy your weekend, and until then, please partake of the following:

– The Los Angeles Times is doing a longform, six-part piece at the moment that is utterly fascinating and well worth your time. It’s called Framed, and notes: “she was the PTA mom everyone knew. Who would want to harm her?”

– While we’re on the true crime beat, over at Town & Country: Looking Back at the Preppy Killer Case, 30 Years Later

– This piece by Stacy London at Refinery29 is so good and spoke to me very deeply. It’s called Why Dressing Your Age Is Bullshit (& Other Fashion Myths Debunked!), but it’s actually about aging as a woman, especially a single one. You should absolutely go read the entire thing, but this bit really resonated for me: “What’s so bad about growing older when it’s revered in almost every society except ours? (All of you who hate my gray streak because you say it makes me look “old”? I don’t see why that can’t be a compliment.) Of course we want to stay strong and healthy as long as possible, but young? Why don’t we embrace age for all of its positive attributes? Because to value those things above youth and a particular kind of beauty requires a change in thinking (and seeing) much like changing the way we perceive a woman like me. You don’t need to ask me about my feelings on marriage or children. You can invite me over to dinner parties, even when it’s just married couples. (I have a boyfriend, but even if I didn’t!) Really! It’s okay! You can ask me about politics, the stock market, the best movies of the 1970s, what I think of this election, and of course whether or not you should keep the dress you wore once three years ago. (The answer to that is OF COURSE NOT.) I don’t want to be defined by my age. But I consider it to be a great asset. You can ask me about heartbreak and disappointment, about triumph and fear and courage. I’ve had more experience with it because I’ve had more TIME to have experience. And I want my style to reflect that experience. “

– Very sad to see Gene Wilder died this week, but I enjoyed this memo from him, at Letters of Notes, which details his many thoughts about his Willy Wonka costume.

- At Lainey, allegedly, Hiddleston is still on the list for the new Bond. It’s an interesting look at the entire process of casting this new movie.

– Also at Lainey, this is fascinating: There are some pretty serious allegations that Leonardo DiCaprio’s charities are not totally on the up and up.

– This is fun, at Fashionista: See 50 Top Models In Their Runway Debuts

– Also fun: A variety of Cosmo employees each wore Juicy Couture sweatsuits all day to see what reactions would be. (In part, reactions were, “damn, that looks comfy.”)

– This is a good read, at LitHub: I Love Soap Operas (And They Made Me a Better Writer)

– At Celebitchy, SCANDAL: Casper Smart refuses to leave Jennifer Lopez’s home & she’s cut him off.

– Fascinating, at The Guardian: Lost in the Great Fire: which London buildings disappeared in the 1666 blaze?

– At the New Potato, get the very last bit of goodness out of summer with all of these tomato salad recipes.

– I loved that SF Girl By Bay did a Wear This Here based on Sketch, my fave place for tea in London, and one that plays a part in a very important scene in The Royal We (although the room pictured in the post is not the room in the book; it’s the room next door. Details!).

– Over at Pajiba: The Year’s 7 Best, Must-See Under-the-Radar Films, So Far

– At Revelist: The 24 most fashion-forward characters of the ‘90s, from Alex Mack to Shelby Woo. SO MANY HATS.

– Look at all these lovely polka-dotted rooms! [Design*Sponge; which also turned 12 this year. Happy anniversary!!]

In case you missed anything at GFY this week, here are some highlights!