Recent Reads Ed. 5
Natty Light, Crew Socks, Pizza in Alabama? Debates that rival Trump-Biden
Morning! Before you head out to boats and beach houses, thought I’d drop in the inbox for some Recent Reads as you pull up a chaise and relax for the long holiday weekend.
Cheap Beer, Great Seats
Not sure why I found this internet debate entertaining, but colleges are fighting over who has the cheapest beer at their stadiums. Naturally, we’re talking football, and big football schools, with $2 Natty Light. Now, Vinepair points out that most college students are under the drinking age but we all know that if you are an alum of a big sports school, you are going back year and year to catch a game, nostalgic for those days you were drinking Natty out of a keg at the tailgate. Who is buying all the beer at the stadiums? My hunch is the former frat bro who brings along the kids to indoctrinate them into the cult that is American college football. Future Buckeyes? Score.
Pizza, Crew Socks and Wedding Flowers
Speaking of online debates, The New York Times is at it again after the etiquette about no-shoes debacle, and I’m not referring to their editorial board’s op-ed after the Trump-Biden catastrophe. (Though any informed citizen SHOULD follow that one.)
The Food editors proceeded to post a list of the 22 best pizzerias in the country—without including gasp! New Haven, Manhattan, or more than one in Chicago or Brooklyn. The pizza purists came out for this, wondering why NYT would even touch “one of the most divisive and inflammatory topics to be found in modern America.” And this was the day before the presidential showdown.
Truthfully, this was just as heated. Commenters noted it’s a “nice list of substitutes for real pizza,” taking issue with the fact that in the pictures of the featured pies, some looked to have processed cheese (you can see the wax!) and others didn’t have the right dough rise you get from a proper oven. My own friend questioned the Massachusetts location that served oysters alongside pizza (“no way you can do both well”) and others joked they will next declare that the best bagels are in Iowa. I agree the list is straight blasphemy, but I am a New Yorker after all. I will not be eating pizza in Alabama.
The editors would know such a strong statement would elicit insurrection-level responses. The surprising one for me came from their other discussion on the ankle socks-crew socks war among millennials and Gen Z, respectfully. I personally wear (and love) socks with heels so I was here for the discussion, especially when the Bombas co-founder announced they bridged the gap with a half sock that makes up only 5% of sales. No wonder. Who would wear that? At least go all in on the trends and pull up those socks or live by your tried-and-true, fellow millennials. Sadly, the Style team didn’t allow a comments section here. I was really hoping comedienne Iliza Shlesinger would weigh in.
On Pizza: “One of the most divisive and inflammatory topics to be found in modern America.”
The third fight they decided to pick was the age-old idea that locally grown wedding flowers are better. Blanket statement. Le sigh. I’ve debunked this misconception consistently since 2015, but it feels like the American flower lobby is out to convince couples to pay more for “heirloom varieties.” It’s a super complicated situation. The simple fact is this: you need a lot of flowers for (most) weddings. To get a lot of flowers, without breaking the bank, you need to buy them at the flower markets which source from major flower farms in Holland, Kenya, Ecuador, and other countries. (Yes, a lot of times they are cheaper than the farm down the road even if they came from further away.)
The article uses peonies (of all flowers!) as an example. It’s frankly a luxury to wrap a handful in a bridal bouquet a la Blair Waldorf. Considering peonies are among the most expensive and most seasonal wedding flowers on earth, I’d be SHOCKED if the average bride were booking hundreds of them for dozens of centerpieces from a local grower. (According to The Knot, the average wedding spends just $2,800 on flowers. Those peony-filled receptions you see on Pinterest will blow away that figure by 10x. At least.)
Conveniently, the story left out all discussion of price.
Instead they made it about sustainability. Sustainability is such a complicated topic that it’s remiss to declare a sweeping statement that local farms are more sustainable while all foreign farms use pesticides (as if local ones never do). It’s really not black-and-white. Sure, flying a box of flowers overseas releases carbon emissions. But it’s not like your wedding flowers are going to be sustainable anyway. Cut flowers are the definition of not sustainable. They die hours later. Are we really going to use that as the winning argument? I think not.
I do suggest there is a time and place to engage in business with a local flower grower: pretty blooms for your bouquet or boutonniere, small arrangements for getting-ready room, or a gift for your wedding party. Have at it. But when we are talking about flanking altars and covering mandaps, cascading down aisles and tables, hanging from the tent rafters, and decorating the getaway car, you simply need more than you can forage in your neighbor’s backyard. As a wedding journalist, I take it on myself to be truthful in the advice I share in my articles so it very much aggravates me to see some myths further communicated. It’s never one or the other when we talk about wedding flowers.
Girlboss Scientologist Housewife (say that three times fast)
I’m all for the death of the #GirlBoss, considering most have been outed as toxic employers and sometimes fakes who had no real business beyond their social media following of becoming any sort of executive. I did, however, imagine Rebecca Minkoff to be an anomaly. Her Superwoman podcast talks about the inevitable “balancing” that is motherhood and career, and I was no stranger to her “affordable” bags back when I couldn’t actually afford the Balenciaga Motorcycle bag that was the IT bag of the early oughts. But it’s all too good to be true, so says Airmail, which published an expose on Minkoff’s connection—and I mean super serious, generations of family, multimillionaire connection—to the Church of Scientology.
Minkoff has apparently not entirely hidden, at least to insiders, of her family’s multi-generational commitment to Scientology but for the wider consumer population, including those purchasing her products, we were fed a story of a struggling artist in New York trying to make it in the fashion industry. What we didn’t get: Her wealthy family was funding her lifestyle and rent so she could be said struggling artist. Her first breaks came from fellow Scientology constituents who were famous and promoted her and her products in the media. When her business started going downhill a few years ago and she had a backlog of bills, she was still a major donor to the church. Apparently even her employees were paid from a company based in Clearwater, Florida—where, coincidentally, the headquarters of Scientology is based.
In her downfall as a #girlboss, sources came out on Glassdoor to note how Scientology “seeped” into the workplace on the regular. Yikes.
Why does it matter? She’s joining the cast of the Real Housewives of New York, which feels a bit, well, icky. Can we stop glorifying those that seem to fail upward? Was there no one else to cast?
Oh wait. I’m guessing the casting director is a Scientologist.
On Driving: “The 26-year-old tech-bro, master-of-the-universe type who won, say, a 1964 250 GT Le Mans at the Monte Carlo auction, but who doesn’t yet know how to drive a stick shift.”
Want to drive a Defender?
Turns out the best place to pick one up is in Virginia of all places, from the Commonwealth Classics team, which is restoring them for cool $100K+. Owner Bill Desrosiers says in this Airmail article that the fabrics can be $30K alone, which honestly sounds cheap in the inflationary times in which we live. In fact, the whole vehicle may be a steal for a dream garage car compared to Ferrari, which is finding they have become such a token item for new money that they opened a school to teach rich tech/crypto dudes how to drive the car they buy. Describing the clientele as “the 26-year-old tech-bro, master-of-the-universe type who won, say, a 1964 250 GT Le Mans at the Monte Carlo auction, but who doesn’t yet know how to drive a stick shift,” Ferrari notes it’s not only a critical skill, but a life-saving service. WOW. Is this the world we live in now? Considering both articles mention Instagram as a motivating factor in showing off these cars (and ostensibly others too), it’s a resounding yes.
Quick Hits
Rubik’s Cube and its 43 million permutations turned 50 years old but it’s not having a midlife crisis. The Washington Post is nearly 150, and it certainly is. Despite being owned by Jeff Bezos and winning too many Pulitzers to count, the publication has become the co-poster child of the media world implosion alongside LA Times and Vice. In other news, freelance journalist Britta Lokting wants you to collect matchbooks, because life is hard and we should enjoy the small things; likewise, the MoMA launched a podcast series detailing 60 years of jazz history in their own sculpture garden and the High Line turned 15—I celebrated with a glass(es) of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs as the Champagne house is a major supporter of bringing indigenous plants back to Manhattan by including them in the gardens of the elevated public park.
High Line or not, pop a bottle of Ruinart yourself. Enjoy the Fourth 🥂
Love your commentary on locally grown vs imported flowers. I'm an avid gardener, passionate about sustainability, and have this conversation with every client. Cut flowers are not sustainable. How you design, prep, treat and dispose of flowers makes more of an impact than buying flowers from a local grower. I had the great privilege of touring Amsterdam growers a few years back, and their sustainable practices are remarkable. That being said, there are some (smaller) florists that grow their own, and to those brave souls I say bravo. Looking forward to your next installment!