Let's get rec'ed
When life gives you lemons, pretend to be a well-read jogger
As I sit here drinking my daily morning iced coffee, I’ve realized I don’t have much to say.
I have been very invested in my Sims family as of late (pray for their finances, as they own a mansion with weekly bills of over 6000 simoleons and all work entry-level jobs, #relatable)—I am so invested I’m not even embarrassed to talk about it. In other news, I am also formally announcing my decision to be Barbie for Halloween this year, because life in plastic is fantastic, as is life in pixels.
To give our contributor Zoë and her lovely words more space, I’ll simply include some readings for you, which I am sure you will read and analyze thoroughly out of respect for my comparative literature degree.
New book from the author of Normal People! Beautiful World, Where Are You is coming out this September, because we all need more disillusioned Irish millennials in our lives. Obviously.
I don’t know why you would, but just in case you ever want to relive the End Times: a crowdsourced plague syllabus, covering all topics from cholera to our dreaded COVID, and featuring all mediums from university lectures to literature, medical articles to podcasts.
The Yellow Wallpaper is out, the Yellow Home Screen is in: an article on digital gothic.
Sex and narrative structure. I think that’s enough said.
And finally, aptly for Zoë’s contribution, a reading list of cultural fashion criticism.
—Alexa
Hey! My name is Zoë, I’m 27, and I’m a copywriter learning UI design. I tell a lot of jokes—whether or not they are good, I will laugh at them—and my photo library is primarily pets, whether or not they are mine. I plan to write product reviews and lifestyle posts for AAOW.
Some of the things that you would find in my bag (usually my New Yorker tote) are RMS Beauty Living Luminizer Glow Quad, Glossier Cloud Paint in Dawn, several brown lip colors, and a really good sunscreen. My sunscreen of choice for the past few years has been Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence. It feels dewy, refreshing on my skin, and is nothing like the sunscreens that I grew up with.
Nice to meet you all!
So, I do a lot of fantasizing. The other day, I was fantasizing about being one of those “people who jog.” It was sunny, the spring weather felt rich and warm, and I felt like I had just returned from winter hibernation.
I’d first heard of the brand Outdoor Voices (OV) last year, around when we had just started quarantining in NYC. OV was doing morning exercise IG lives and I thought that their representatives looked so cute in their athletic wear. Fast-forward to now. Stimulus check in bank, I decided to give their website a peek.
Right off the bat, their website looked fresh, youthful, and used bright colors with imagery like hiking on a mountain trail and doing yoga on the beach. So, I checked out some of their new arrivals and best sellers before deciding on a top and bottom set. The top was the All Day Tank and the bottoms were the Track Pant, both in black and size small.
There were no shipping issues and my OV package arrived at my doorstep at the same time as my pad thai - not ironic at all.
First, the tank. The material is extremely soft, comfortably stretchy, and easy to move around in. I also liked that for an exercise piece it was somehow both sexy (not that you have to be “sexy” while exercising but, hey, it’s an attractive tank) and didn’t make me feel exposed.
The pants are more exciting, though. They’re sleek, super modern, they don’t bunch up at the crotch, and they have very roomy pockets. That last point is what caught my attention the most. Not only are there two enormous front pockets, there is also a zippered back phone pocket, which I think is freaking brilliant.
I’m now dying to get a crop top of theirs, particularly the Athena Crop Top. The cut and color choices are modern, the piece appears easy to pair with a variety of bottoms, and I’m a fan of the high neckline.
If you’re curious about sizing, I’d say to peek around the comment section of each product after looking at the size guide. I was personally torn between the small and medium as a 5’3” woman at an average weight. However, both products in small fit perfectly and neither is awkwardly snug nor too long in regards to pant length.
If you’re contemplating this brand and only want to buy a few things, I can’t rec the Track Pant enough. Wear them while you jog, listening to something fun like Rina Sawayama’s Comme Des Garçons.
—Zoë