Nymphet Alumni

In this solo minisode, Sam enters the wilderness of mirrors to unpack Michael Jackson: child star, King of Pop, fairy-tale monster, walking logo, and one of the strangest cultural phenomena of the 20th century. Using Margo Jefferson, Wendy Lesser, Mark Fisher, Foucault, Bakhtin, Peter Pan, The Little Prince, Shirley Temple, Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Fosse, P.T. Barnum, Neverland Ranch, pork pie hats, patent leather shoes, a...

In this episode, we kick off the summer by denominating a colorful attitude toward dress manifesting bicoastally. Epitomized by brands like Emily Dawn Long, Brooke Callahan, and Cleo Camp, Crayola Casual is the funky counterpart to freaky minimalism— accessory agnostic, anti-synthetic, built around hot saturated colors and the art of the easy-on easy-off. We review this aesthetic’s historical antecedents, from fluid dis...

In this episode, Sam is joined by friend of the pod Anika Jade Levy, author of Flat Earth and founding editor of Forever Magazine, for a sprawling investigation into the paranoid spirit of the United States of America. Beginning with the America’s founding fantasy of paradise, Anika and Sam trace how the country’s utopian dream soured into a national aesthetic of suspicion: from Puritan invisible enemies and the feminiz...

In this episode, we’re joined by legendary TikTok creator, Slushy Noobz creative director, and certified #SWAG Dadaism pioneer Chase Rutherford to further interrogate the ideas introduced in our previous episode. We discuss the freedom of default aesthetics and the legacy of normcore, the provocative power of readymades over a century after Fountain, how Kanye anchored the preppy misfit years of Chase’s youth, and how C...

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the less-than-triumphant return of Euphoria and Sam Levinson’s pivot to everythingsplotation Western, Michael Jackson’s new hagiography and the grotesque legacy that transcends it, and recent fashioncore highlights from the literalism of the Met Gala to the nostalgia of The Devil Wears Prada 2. We also discuss the Substack truth nuke that rocked the indie music scene, Olivia Ro...

In this episode, we coin a new term for one of the most interesting creative impulses of our generation: #SWAG Dadaism. Like the original Dadaists responding to the whiplash of industrialization and WWI, a certain subset of young creatives are responding to the vertigo of global instability and breathless technological futurism through fashion assemblage, IP maximalism, and a fearless embrace of all things chopped and random. We co...

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by critical mastermind Caroline Cai (aka Clairolime) to unpack what we’re calling Catalan Chicslop, the downtempo, sophisticated, quietly freaky aesthetic championed by brands like Paloma Wool and Gimaguas. We discuss how this look evolved from avant-basic dopamine dressing, its influences from ‘90s minimalism to early 20th century experimental couture, Barcelona’s ...

In this edition of Study Break, the girls review the latest cultural dispatches, including the newest wave of attention-seeking fashion week stunts (from Fakemink at Balenciaga to Bryan Johnson lurking at Matières Fécales), the Buffalo Bill realness of Robert Pattinson and Zendaya’s Interview Magazine cover, Tyra Banks’s wacky legacy, Hillary Clinton’s bleach-and-tone, the rise of Wuthering Heights womanslop, and ...

In this week’s episode, we discuss Romantasy, the Franken-genre that has conquered the publishing world and defined the libidinal landscapes of a generation of women. We decode the genre’s DNA from dimestore bodice-rippers to high fantasy epics, examine the sociological profile of its authors and audiences, and explore how it’s mutated in the digital age via AI visualizers and high-budget audio erotica. We also ta...

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by actress and generational internet phenomenon Ivy Wolk (Anora, The English Teacher) to discuss her sartorial origins from roller derby to riot grrl to rockabilly, the sorry state of the Theatre, the evolving identity of the character actor, the cult mystique of a volatile decade-long online presence, and why cultural curiosity may be the closest thing we have to world peace. Ivy al...

In this edition of Study Break, we survey the triumph and tragedy of the 2026 Grammys and deliver our official assessment of the Momania (The Moment + Melania) double feature. The declaration of war on Sombr is formally expanded to include newcomer Olivia Dean, and the strange theater of Latino representation in Hollywood comes under review. Elsewhere, several urgent notes are issued to the pop music PR puppeteers who seem to have ...

In this week's episode, we examine a specific brand of dark femininity that feels like a vestige of 2016, embodied through dramatic imagery of luxury accessories, cartoon vixens, and predatory wildlife, and expressed through a paradoxical strain of man-hating male centrism. We discuss this aesthetic’s positioning in opposition to the Clean Girl and how interpersonal dynamics popularized by sex work inform its understanding of...

In the first Study Break of the year, Biz and Sam survey the state of the world refracted through the prism of pop culture. They discuss Odessa A’Zion’s wig allegations, the hypernormal clownery of Nicolas Maduro’s kidnapping, Bella Hadid’s blonde hair omen, and the pop-princess perfection of Zara Larsson. Plus: a meditation on time in the second quarter of the 21st century, viewed through the anamorphic loo...

This week, we herald the coming of the Pastel Grunge Revival, a new wave of candy-colored femininity characterized by an eclectic and deliberately unsettling fusion of childlike innocence and overt sensuality. We discuss the style’s influences— soft grunge Tumblr imagery, cartoon nostalgia, Harajuku fashion, sex worker style, and more— and unpack the social functions of age regression, self-objectification, a...

After a brief hiatus, the Nymphies are BACK!! In this annual ceremony, we honor 2025’s greatest achievements in fashion and culture with awards from us at the Nymphet Alumni Academy of Arts and Sciences, including categories such as Best and Worst Rebrand, Outfit of the Year, Best Sillyboy, and Best Brainrot Trend, featuring exclusive access to our careful deliberation process. We lay to rest dearly departed aesthetics of yea...

In this episode, we’re joined (again!!) by Avery Trufelman, the grand dame of fashion podcasting, to discuss the latest installment of her podcast, Articles of Interest, titled Gear. In this meticulously researched series, Avery dives deep into the history of tactical/outdoor fashion and the ways in which the United States Military and the world of high-tech performance wear continuously influence each other. She answers our ...

In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the return of press tour psychodrama surrounding Wicked: For Good, the concerning midwittery of the Met Gala’s recent theme announcement, DLlegations in the highest office of the nation, and profiles in infidelity and iMessage confessionalism featuring Olivia Nuzzi and Lily Allen. We also review Vanity Fair’s latest Hollywood issue while reflecting on the bygone golden age of H...

In this week’s episode, we develop a theory of Scientifica, a fashion aesthetic that borrows from the visual language of science, with influences ranging from Victorian taxonomy to Utopian Scholastic nostalgia to legacy science-fiction world-building. We examine recent manifestations of this impulse—runway shows that feel like scientific exhibitions or presentations, references to astronomical phenomena and archival dis...

In this episode, we are honored to be joined by pop princess and fashion icon Kim Petras to discuss the world of inspiration behind her newest project, especially the Fashioncore anthem heard around the world, “I Like Ur Look.” Kim walks us through her formative fashion memories, from aspirational MTV programming to inaugural designer grails, and tells us about her latest archival obsessions, including her special conne...