Issue #004: The Spread

big girls, butter yellow, and book club

Welcome back to The Spread

and welcome to The Composite! You may have noticed things are looking a little different around here. When I started writing on Substack, I thought I would mostly be writing about reading and books - and I absolutely will be writing about those things! As I quickly realized I wanted to expand those horizons to include some of my other interests, I was worried that I lacked a strong identity and conviction in this space. But then I realized that my own favorite Substacks are not one dimensional. People are not one dimensional. I’m giving myself permission to discover my place here with the understanding that my niche doesn’t have to be so narrow.

I always dreamed of working at a magazine, helping to craft fashion and beauty culture and beyond. When I was a young consumer of these publications, they didn’t include people who looked like me or stories that challenged societal norms and expectations. So welcome to my mini magazine of sorts, The Composite, which means “made up of different elements”. The main elements you’ll find here are books, bodies and culture. I’'ll be writing about what I read, the insidiousness of diet culture and beauty standards, fashion and its lack of inclusivity, and general pop culture at large.

I’m still working through many details of what The Composite will contain (I’m lowkey obsessed with the name I can’t lie), but here are the series I’m currently dedicated to:

• The Spread: A longer form weekly download of what I’ve been doing and what I’m recommending with a more personal touch (you are here!)

• The Digest: A short form weekly sharing of all sorts of links that I think you’ll enjoy as much as I do, designed to replace your AM social media doom scroll

• The One: A deeper dive into the one thing I think you should know about this week with accompanying article, podcast, and book recommendations

• Monthly Reading Wrap Ups: A rundown and review of all the books I read every month

And then whatever else I feel inspired to share!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here and supporting me. It truly makes my day when you like or comment on these pieces and open up the door for conversation and community. Being an engaged subscriber is the best way you can support me at this stage in my journey.

So without further ado, let’s get into this week’s Spread.

*quick note - I highly recommend downloading the Substack app or reading on a desktop or phone browser for the best, most visually appealing reading experience. Not necessary by any means, but reading directly in email loses a little of the magic in my opinion.

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📖 Parable of The Sower | Octavia Butler | Sci Fi | Finished

📖 The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo | Contemporary Fiction | Currently reading and absolutely loving - talk about a family SAGA

Next up on my TBR are the 3 library holds that all came through at the same time, as they always do. Long Bright River, Ours, and Parable of the Talents. After those, I have a physical copy of The Wedding People to read. And after that I want to get my hands on More, Please and The God of the Woods. I’d say I’ll try to get to them all this month, but realistically I know something else will worm its way in there and this list will go to the wayside.

And if you missed it, here are full reviews for everything I read in June + July.

Uglies Book Club!

The Uglies series is a dystopian YA book series from my childhood that is being turned into a movie starring Joey King, Chase Stokes, and Laverne Cox. The movie releases on September 13th, and I’m getting a group together to do a reread ahead of the premiere. Whether you read it and loved it as a kid, or you’re a Hunger Games fan eager to fill the void (The Uglies actually predates the Hunger Games with a 2005 release date) I’d love to have you join us! Leave me a comment below and I’ll be sharing more details soon.

Uglies is set three hundred years in the future in a post-scarcity dystopia. The government provides everything, including abundant plastic surgery. Citizens are considered “uglies” until their 16th birthday, when they undergo massive surgical transformation to become “pretties”. The main character learns about the dark underbelly of this society, and rebels against the conformity and corruption lurking below the shiny surface.

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I’m aiming to use better discretion in my purchasing, so I’ll share precious few items here that have really caught my eye - mostly so that you can dissuade or persuade me accordingly.

Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream + Taming Wand | Dae | $18

I first heard of this product from the Gloss Angeles podcast and I was immediately intrigued. If there’s one thing I hate doing, it’s my hair. In the summer I find myself wearing a low bun more often than not to avoid heat styling in hot weather, but my bun leaves much to be desired. I want to pick this up to help tame my bangs back and attain that chic, slick back look the girls all love.

PS: I LOVE how Sara & Kirby partner with brands to leverage their audience as a test + review group for products. It’s so smart for everyone involved, and I haven’t seen anyone else doing something like this. It certainly worked on me! I also just love them and recommend this pod to any beauty lovers. They recently chatted about Blake Brown Beauty + the return of the UD Naked Palette + interviewed Victoria from the DCC.

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This section will be an amalgamation of products, rituals, and more - anything that I’m just really into.

J.Crew is buttering me up 🧈

I'm a little too obsessed

I have been admiring J.Crew from afar for a while, waiting for the right time to invest in a few pieces. I really enjoy their general marketing and brand aesthetic, but their current series of butter yellow Instagram posts are enticing me to finally level up from Old Navy to the chic older sister brand. I wrote in The Digest earlier this week about these yellow flats, and I almost included the Edie bag as well, depicted above in buttery sculpture form (very impressive tbh). Food in marketing is still going strong and these posts felt like they were targeting me directly - it might just be the reason I purchase that Edie as a little present to myself.

Sinead O’Dwyer’s Copenhagen FW Collection

this collection also featured CPFW’s first blind model (see left)!

I mean come on!! I’ve been in a very disheartening mental place this week while doing some research for a piece about the (abysmal) state of plus size fashion, and this revitalized me. Not just flat stomached, tiny waisted, big hipped hourglass “plus” models, but big women with familiar proportions, on the runway and looking fucking great. This is what we need more of. See all the looks here. Also, that green blob behind them is a female form sculpture and it’s all so very cool. NYFW has been so boring for so long - take me to Copenhagen baby!!!

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I’ve been working hard to reduce my social media doomscrolling these days, which means I’m reading more articles and consuming more intentional content - which I LOVE. These are the things that caught my attention this week.

Some quick picks:

🌸 Blake Lively’s questionable choices started when she signed onto It Ends With Us - and it’s not just fashion. IYKYK

💿 Speaking of - remember last week when I said Britney is everywhere?

💧Here’s What a Microbiologist Thinks of the Seine Olympic Swimming Situation

📖 I haven’t decided if I’ll read the new Casey McQuiston yet - any thoughts?

👚

Corinne Fay

absolutely nailed it with “When The Collective Taste Doesn't Include You”

If you like this quick picks section, be sure to check out my new weekly send, The Digest, a lovingly curated list of links to replace your AM social media doom scroll.

Lit Girl Summer Lives On

It’s been written about incessantly here on Substack, but it’s interesting to see Lit Girl Summer headlines from a major publication as we’re approaching the end of summer. Firstly, the article mentions a Substacker (

Lauren Marie

) which is indicative of how much traction the platform and its incredibly talented writers are gaining. But what I liked the most about the piece was the positing of Lit Girls as the answer to the Girl Boss. Yes, we’re burnt out. Yes, we’re exhausted by the internet. Yes, we’re daunted by the increasingly dystopian world we’re living in. No wonder we’re turning to books for escapism and an analog replacement for the inundation of digital entertainment we consume on the daily. And of course, there’s a new sort of social currency to being a Lit Girl, a status symbol becoming more covetable by the minute.

“Why we should all be concerned about ‘artificial’ women”

We all grew up in a world that foisted (foists) unrealistic beauty standards on us, and that was without the vast visual imagination of artificial intelligence. Now we have a new weapon in the war against women’s psyches: AI generated images of women that are indeed unrealistic: because they are literally not real. Once upon a time, we simply compared our bodies and faces to those of supermodels in print magazines. Now, we are forced to determine whether the images making us feel inadequate are something that even exists in the real world. These artificial women have entire personas, Instagram pages, and… real jobs? Highly recommend reading

Alanna Duffield

’s piece, and staying vigilant.

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My new bedtime show

is Lizzie McGuire and it was the best choice I’ve made in a long time. Past choices have included Family Matters, Reba*, Full House - anything nostalgic that I’ve seen enough times to know exactly what will happen. Even though I’m not as familiar with this one, something about Lizzie is really scratching my brain in the precise right way and I wish they’d followed through with the reboot. Also, I loved Hillary Duff in Younger (rewatched that this year too) and I’d love love love to see her in more things.

*Side note: any fellow Reba fans here? And did you see she’s coming out with a new show!?

As a lover of 90s / early 2000s movies

I can’t believe I’ve never seen Uptown Girls, but I finally watched it this week! I deeply related to Dakota Fanning’s character and I was also very inspired by her chic style, particularly her sunnies. I understand why people loved this movie - it has heart and it’s impeccably stylish. Brittany Murphy was really something special.

Last fall I rewatched Gilmore Girls

and this fall I feel a Gossip Girl rewatch coming on. I won’t take any opinions to the contrary - these are firmly fall shows. There’s nothing like a Thanksgiving Gossip Girl episode to get me in the seasonal spirit. Plus Penn Badgely was in my neighborhood this week, Blake Lively is literally everywhere, and Leighton Meester was just cast in Rachel Sennott’s upcoming HBO comedy pilot, so it feels like the Gossip Girlies are summoning me.

I also was just alerted to the existence of Project Runway Junior

and I have one question - where is Tim Gunn these days!? I miss him.

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That’s all for this week, folks. I’m dropping a poll here for you - when you answer these, it gives me invaluable insight into how I can make The Composite a better place for you. I appreciate your participation and the time you took to read today. See you soon!

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*There are affiliate links in this post. If you purchase an item through these links, I’ll earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support*