Capsule #10 ft. Lia Chiarin

Hello loves

Happy it’s Friday, happy the sun came back to London :)))) hope you’re all feeling good. I’m mentally preparing for a trip to France next week where I’ll be driving on the opposite side of the road for the first time. Keep me in your thoughts!

In today’s issue we’re talking about: tattoos, fun outfit inspo from artists on tour at the moment, and the crinkly swimsuit agenda. I guess this is our summer issue?! There’s also a Paul Mescal appearance, who I’m manifesting as a future special guest.

Artist and production designer Lia Chiarin is also here to tell us what's Hot and Not ❤️‍🔥

I’m already excited for you to read next week’s newsletter, which is a special New York edit written from across the pond…

All the love, and thank you for being here!

Holly

This week’s canon event is…

Getting your first tattoo! Tattoo veterans please skip this section as it may read a little cringe to you, especially since I’m talking about getting a small arm tattoo that can be easily covered. But if you’re in the camp of “I’d get one but not sure what so I probably never will”, read on. As a teenager I used to (temporary) tattoo myself a lot and beg for airbrush ones on holiday. By the time I was old enough to get a real one, I was worried about my choices going out of style (to be fair I’m glad I don’t have the peace signs I used to be obsessed with) and spun my wheels trying to come up with the perfect tattoo - something chic, meaningful, impossible to regret.

A few weeks ago my best friend and I joked that we’d care less if we got one for each other, and quickly it became a reality. We headed to Reverse Cowgirl Tattoo in Bethnal Green, and had a simply gorgeous day. It all felt really right, really calm. The studio was playing music from Frank Ocean and Men I Trust, and Shannon (@dollydovetattoo) soon felt like a friend. As I lay on the table for my ink, it all felt more in the realm of self care and pampering than scary-forbidden-activity-that-will-prevent-you-from-ever-getting-a-job.

I think it also forces you to accept that, if you wait for everyone’s approval on something, or wait to feel certain you’ll love something forever, you literally won’t do anything.

Feeling invigorated by…

Some excellent onstage fashion from artists touring this summer. Suki Waterhouse at Lollapalooza. Hayley Williams on tour with Paramore, styled exquisitely by Lindsey Hartman. And of course we’re still thinking about Rina Sawayama’s sheer dress for Elton John’s Glastonbury set, à la Kate Moss in 1993. Some performance looks just don’t translate to everyday dressing for the rest of us (love you Gaga), but each of these looks gives us suggestions of ways to spice things up when we’re dressing for fun. Showing your underwear is a good place to start.

We’re also getting a good look at concert goers thanks to the Eras tour, and it’s been kind of fun seeing celebs look like totally normal people (Emma Stone, Adam Sandler). I do want to shout out Kaia Gerber who sported a chic little tailored top, in that sort of grey that makes you feel okay about September being around the corner.

Something that’s here to stay…

Crinkly swimsuits! I first properly saw these years ago from Hunza G, a British brand who make (expensive!) but good quality swim stuff. Also just found out they dressed Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman! What a legacy. More recently, the ‘it’ brand has been Youswim - the products are similar, but the colourways feel a bit more current and their core messaging around sustainability cuts through really well. But ultimately these bikinis and costumes will stick around because they are so practical. Most of them are one or two sizes across the board, and the fabric can stretch so much. I know women even wear the same stuff throughout pregnancy, and they wash well (no baggy bottoms). A good investment!

And I’ll leave you with…

Paul Mescal in a wife PLEASER for Harper’s Bazaar. Yes we’re calling them pleasers now.

This week, Lia Chiarin popped into Capsule to share what’s 🔥hot🔥 and what’s not 🙅‍♀️ …

Lia is an artist and production designer from London, currently doing a stint in New York. Her Instagram is better than most people’s!

📺 Watching: The documentary Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop, recommended by my friend and colleague Mary, and Ryan Gosling eating a Greggs sausage roll.

📖 Reading: This article from Sarah Manavis for The Guardian on the limits of ‘sad girl literature’ (a genre I am well acquainted with!) and the young female authors who are trying to write more complicated stories about women. Off the back of it she recommends four novels - Nicole Flattery’s Nothing Special; Sheena Patel’s I’m a Fan; Rachel Connolly’s Lazy City; and Eliza Clark’s Penance. Having just read Yellowface, I liked the way in which Manavis affirmed the role of publishing and book marketing in steering what we read.

🎧 Listening to: Sundial, the long-awaited new album from Noname. She’s too good!

Brownie says more hair adornments, more of the time! In the UK at least, it’s taken a while for summer to arrive. This week it feels like it’s landed, and Miss Brownie wants us to carry on feeling those sunny vibes with hair accessories - floral and otherwise. Don’t worry about carrying them into to September, she says, we all deserve it.

If you’d like to adopt Brownie or one of her friends, click here to learn more.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear how you’re finding Capsule - let me know here. See you next week 💋