shit i bought and liked no. 24: “be yourself” 101
Shitters! Thank you for your thoughtful responses to the last newsletter. Though this week is a bit of a return to what you’ve come to expect around here (products! yippee!), caring about systemic racism wasn’t a box to check on my content calendar. As you probably have gathered by now, a) there is no content calendar, and b) (important follow up from last time) it isn’t sufficient to read a couple books and call the job done. You have to DO THINGS. Pay attention to the news even if you like the false sense of comfort you get when you opt out. Figure out what the fuck matters to you and how to do something about it. And for the love of god VOTE up and down the ballot (and know that this is the bare minimum for all of you reading this).
Contrary to what you may now believe, I didn’t actually start this draft with the intention of yelling at you—it’s actually about a pair of $14 bike shorts that I will be wearing from now until the end of work from home. And no, there is no good segue from the above rant to the shorts. Believe me, I tried, and you do not want that version of this draft.
Prior to purchasing, I thought the bike short trend was NOT for me. For tall skinny people, sure. But every trend is for tall skinny people, so that’s not really saying much. I basically thought there was zero way on the face of this planet that anyone without the lower body of a twig would find bike shorts to be anything other than wildly unflattering sausage casing, and I was fully prepared to shit talk myself into never wearing them in my life. But for some reason (most likely the existence of the return policy), I decided to try them, and beyond now having new go-to wfh-wear, I’m very glad that I did.
We all know that we should wear and do what we want and what we like. Duh, given, “be yourself” 101. But that (obviously) doesn’t always translate to what we actually do. In the q especially, I’ve noticed my internal monologue getting more negative and critical than usual. I’m sure a lot has contributed to that—the change in circumstances/routine, relative isolation/confinement, skyrocketing screen time (watching people on Instagram basically ignore the pandemic?? Is everyone having a life without me???)—but if you’re like me, you’re not always considering why you’re being mean to yourself when you’re in the thick of it.
I’m not going to lie to you and claim that I bought a pair of bike shorts and poof, my problems went away, but my initial hesitation to wear them made me think about all of the above for long enough to a) fuck it and buy the shorts, and b) now be regurgitating these thoughts at you. So as I’ve said over the past 24 of these newsletters, maybe good things do come from impulse buys!
Aside from being a conduit for a short email monologue, the shorts themselves really are nice. They’re buttery soft, not restrictive, and though I wouldn’t wear them for sweatier activities, they’re great for lounging or a walk. I sized up and originally purchased in black (duh), but I think I’m going back for round two and grabbing marsala (because you should wear colors if they make you happy!!).
As always, let me know what you think if you try them out, and if someone forwarded you this email or you’re reading this via Twitter, it would be extremeeely cool if you subscribed so we could do this more often
And speaking of shorts, I’m in the market for a new pair of sleep ones (after YEARS it is time to retire my tried and true discontinued DKNYs), but the search has led me down a complete rabbit hole of disappointment. Where are the soft, comfy, not too sexy, but still cute sleep shorts?! Who makes these!! I’m looking for a wide waistband, barely there elastic, jersey-ish preferable over a cotton boxer. And no prints! Fuck prints! Heathered jersey or gtfo! If no one sends me an answer fast, my business partner (hi Rae) and I will be forced to become sleepwear moguls and fill this hole in the market. Catch us on Shark Tank coming soon!!!
-Priyanka
If you purchase products from this newsletter, the corporate behemoth selling them might toss me a couple bucks, which would be kinda cool.