Should we care that Hourglass is leaving MECCA?

0:28Shameless Media is Head of Business Development and my new fortnightly co-host. Hi, guys. Hello. Bit of a motley crew this morning, honestly. What a motley crew. Arnica's off in New York. Poor Jo is unwell. Oh, poor Jo. Adrienne did do her skincare routine, which I did enjoy watching last night, though, on TikTok. I saw her post that because she was too unwell to do it herself. So you guys are stuck with me. I'm happy about that. I'm excited. I'm happy to be here. I'm very happy to be here. Arnica's posting beautiful stuff from New York and the three of us are in a studio in Cremont. Well, hang on.

1:02You guys just got back from the UK. Yes. But before we talk about that, I do want to get into what we're actually going to be talking about in today's episode. It's a juicy one and I'm super excited. The first topic that we're going to be covering is the summer I turned pretty and how much the fashion on the show has dominated the zeitgeist and the headlines. We're also unpacking the rumors about hourglass leaving Mecca and we're exploring why the hell a$28 ,000 fragrance has been released. But yes, we did just get back from London. Bit of a whirlwind, Zaz. I know. We got back like the day before yesterday.

1:35So if we and I don't make any sense in this episode, that's why. Jet lag. Yeah. I'm bringing like the fun, crazy sort of like, who knows what I'm going to say energy this ep. I'm just going to lean in. Amazing. And I guess that means my role is the adjudicator. Just to make sure. You're leading. You're leading this entire thing. So if nothing we say says, say, I actually can, you can keep all of that in, edit, okay? Because that is very much the energy I'm bringing today. I was subbed in at the 11th hour. I've just got off a plane, but I am very excited. Before we get into the swap, I do want to acknowledge when we're in London, something that was like really interesting to me when we went shopping that I feel the listeners will appreciate.

2:13We went to Selfridges, which is a really popular department store in London. Zaz, I was blown away about how many Australian brands were on the floor at Selfridges. Like literally every second brand, Dish, Sir, Shona Joy, Beckenbridge, they were everywhere. Yeah. So we've got a wedding coming up and Ray and I can't find anything to wear, right? Black tie wedding. I'm feeling like there's a bit of a lull in, I don't know what it is, like event wear at the moment. If you guys have ideas on where to buy stuff, please throw them at me because I've been battling hardcore. And so we were like, we'll go to Selfridges.

2:45It'll be a different market. there'll be something fresh here. And there wasn't anything fresh, but in the best way possible, because I was so stoked to see brands like all the ones you said, Ray, also like people like faithful. I was so, call me an idiot. I had no idea Dish had a full little pop up, not even a pop up, a full part of Selfridges. It's the Australian brands or bust over there. Yeah. And I think the same was very evident when I was in New York. Like there is a real appetite for Aussie brands. I think internationally we're like considered pretty cool. Guys we're killing it. We also touched on this in our previous Fortnightly Friday episode with With Jean and how dominant they're doing in the US, St.

3:23Agni. I'm just like proud Aussie girlie over here. And I think for me the most fascinating part is that when we were over there in every other industry I'm talking to people about especially media and podcasting it feels very much like Australia is not on the map. So a lot of the conversations I was having there in a work capacity was how hard it is in the arts, be it writing or podcasting, for people to crack markets and that no one actually takes Australia very seriously in many areas because we're just so far. Or if you've capped out the Australian market, that's really as well as you're going to do.

3:55But it feels like fashion is the antithesis to that conversation or that point of view, which I was very excited about. Yeah. Hopefully fashion is now the runway for everything else and, you know, everything else can follow suit. I would love to hear that. What are you guys swapping today? Do you have anything good for me? I do. I have something that I've been sitting on for years and I've been waiting for this episode to drop it. No, I'm dropping it this episode because I get asked this in my DMs so often. And I was like, this is a really handy swap. So I do use an editing app for my photos on Instagram.

4:29I dip in and out of sometimes I edit photos, sometimes I don't. But my go-to editing app is Tezza app. Have you guys, I actually know that both of you have heard of this. But what's your take on Tezza app? Well, firstly, when you're talking about editing, we're talking about filtering. Obviously, I'm not doing it. Just putting it out there for the record just to save your ass a little bit. Yeah, thanks for saving my ass there. No, I'm not airbrushing my photos. I'm talking like that really subtle hue or if I want a film effect. Tezza app has the best curated range of filters and the best thing about it is that you can really choose how high you want to go with the filter or how low if you really want to pull it back and make it just look super subtle.

5:09you introduced me to Tezza I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure you introduced our entire office to Tezza I also just used like the one uh filter cocoa because you do that I just fully ripped off like if you actually go to our Instagram accounts and compare you'll probably see that all the shading is the same because I just copied but also you taught me about the blur effect I remember last year when we went to New York for work and and Michelle Annabelle and I spoke about this on Shameless we wanted to make it look like we were having a really fun wild time so we just blurred a lot of our photos. Wait, I don't know about this.

5:41I have Tezza. I've used Tezza, but I didn't know about the blur. So you know how it's kind of like the, I sound like a dickhead saying this. Whatever. The cool girl dump aesthetic where they always have an occasional photo in there that's blurred. Looks a bit like in motion. In motion. I'm so on the go. I was just captured in this candid position. No, it's all fake. It's in the Tezza app and you can blur your photos to make it look like it's just done that in the camera. Fantastic. That's a great hot tip. It is a real good hot temp. So everyone needs to download Tezza app if you want to fake it until you make it with the blur effect.

6:15But also if you want really, really good subtle filters for your photos, Tezza is my go-to. What about you, Mads? My swap, ironically this week, given we are about to talk about them, is Hourglass. And I thought about this while I was actually doing my makeup to come in today. The Hourglass holiday palette. I know they get a lot of hype online. I know that they're kind of viral. And so, you know, naturally that makes most people sceptical if something's actually good. But I have reached for that every day since I first got it, given what we're about to talk about. I don't know if it will be available this year at Mecca, but if you can get your hands on one, it's got a setting powder, a blush, a bronzer, a highlighter, like everything you need in a compact little palette.

6:55And I know we're all having a love affair with creams, but I really do love a powder as a little bit of like a slick face 3pm shine girl. I'm an oily gal. I'm always on to the powders. Also, perfect for traveling because it's everything in one palette. I'm kind of off the powders, guys. I'm fully on the creams. Cream bronzer, cream blush, cream everything. So this is the one that's kind of like, this is going to sound really dumb. I think Michelle has this. It's got like the swirly blush, the swirly bronzer, the swirly highlight all in the one palette. So they're baked powders. It's a particular way that they do it, but it is designed to hit the light in different ways.

7:32So the way that hourglass actually bake and press their powders is different. Very technical, boring way to explain that. But yes, and they usually have like characterization kind of on the outside of the palettes each year. I would say it's a marble effect. That's it. Wait, what did I say? Swirly roundy. I thought that was cute. I'm not the technical beauty person in the room, but I am very happy to be here. Well, you are in Jo's seat. So today you kind of get the pseudo habit. Pressure's on. Pressure's on. I wanted to swap in something very quickly. it's a podcast episode of the Aspire podcast with Emma Greed.

8:03Anyone who's heard me speak about anything will know that all I'm speaking about at the moment is that show. I am listening to it on repeat. This episode that I listened to recently was an interview with Donna Langley. I had actually personally never heard of Donna Langley, but she is the chairperson of Universal Studios, which means she is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. I know a lot of our stylish listeners, particularly the people that tune into your episodes on Fridays, guys, love Korea and brand and all of those kinds of things. I think they will adore this episode. I, for one, have never properly been across the machinations of Hollywood as an industry, how films are made, the business of it.

8:43It's really fascinating. She seems incredibly impressive. It's not like she was this person that kind of grew up in LA in the film business and you know landed that job she kind of came from the UK and just climbed the ranks to become a hugely powerful person so I don't know if you guys have listened to it but it's amazing I haven't it sounds like a non-traditional trajectory compared to a lot of people who are in Hollywood rife with nepotism as well and obviously very male dominated industry so I'm super curious to listen to that also I just want to shout out podcast recs in stylish I feel like we need to be doing more of them.

9:17So thank you, Zara, for bringing that to the table. I agree. And I also am loving everything that Emma's putting out in the world, just from a branding perspective, from a podcasting perspective. I was listening to her recent episode with Jessica Elba and just absolutely adored the conversation. I love the format. I love the flow. I'm with you, Zaz, but I am not up to date. So that's now on my list. It's funny because when she started her podcast, this is a bit of a tangent, but I was kind of wondering why, you know, someone like Emma Greed didn't have to be front facing when she's building these incredible companies.

9:48If I was kind of, you know, advising from afar with the little expertise I have, I would say, if you don't have to be public facing running a company, don't do it. So I was really fascinated by this decision. Now that I've consumed so much of her content, I genuinely wonder if she was watching so much of the content being put out about career and business by men, often for men, thought, I can probably do this better for an entire market of women that aren't being spoken to. And it's kind of taking part of that Diary of a CEO audience and saying, I'm going to tailor this, but to a more female audience so that they can relate more.

10:25I think that's reflected so well in the guests that she has as well, very skewed to fashion and beauty, but also a lot of female founders. Obviously, we're all massive fans of Diary of a CEO. How their content strategy has shifted over the last year has left this gaping hole and has filled it. I completely agree. Before we get into the first topic of today, we are going to throw to the sponsor and then I am very excited to talk about The Summer I Turned Pretty for about the fourth time on a podcast in the last month.

11:01Okay, guys, before we get into it, I do just want to clarify up top, As always, you know that all of our editorial content is free from influence from brand partners, but we wanted to be transparent and acknowledge that we have promoted the Summer I Turn Pretty across the Shameless Media Network. Now, the highly anticipated finale of the Summer I Turn Pretty drops tonight. And we thought it was the perfect time to discuss the fashion on the show because it's been a huge discussion point this season online in our group chats. It is absolutely everywhere. And when we were prepping for this episode, Zaz, I'm going to throw to you quickly because I feel like you were one of the main drivers in us talking about this in Stylish.

11:39Obviously, you've talked about it a lot in Shameless as well. And it's a huge conversation in pop culture. Well, it was funny, Rhi. You and I were sitting on a plane and we were like, what are people talking about at the moment? I mean, just to break the fourth wall, it's never like a science on how we come up with stories for shows. But you and I were like, well, what have we been talking about amongst ourselves? We were like, well, we've been talking about the clothes that Belle Lee's been wearing on The Summer I Turned Pretty. And that's when we knew it was a segment for Stylish. Exactly. And the third season of the show, I feel like, has been a mammoth culture moment.

12:09It feels like everyone you know is watching it more so than the previous seasons, particularly millennial women, which is very much our audience, and trickling into that Gen Z audience. And those who aren't watching it are probably being assaulted by memes. Honestly, you cannot escape this online. Wet Look hairstyles, that's very much Taylor's shtick in the series. Waspy Watchers, Hello Conrad and Preppy Pajamas, that's Jeremiah, have been trending each week. So I wanted to talk to you guys about how fashion has actually pushed the narrative forward and crafted characters in the show. So let's start with one simple question.

12:42Who is your best dressed character and why? Mads? Conrad Fisher. I knew it. I am single. I am into a man yearning. I am into a man that looks like he knows fashion. Like this guy is presented at every turn. And I feel like his wardrobe has really transformed this season and very deliberately. But yeah, hands down for me, oh, Conrad Fisher be still my beating heart. Mads and I are the same. Really? Conrad, coastal chic. What do you mean simple? All we're after is a man in vintage Levi's. Yeah, that's simple and chic. With a belt and a slutty little watch. It's just so well put together. I mean, I'm going to deep it in a second, but it's just the real sort of kind of vintage-y look.

13:26It is actually the P. Johnson look. Yes. It's like the full P. Johnson look, but over in America. And I am into it 100%. You're clearly not going to say Conrad. Yeah, come on. Who's not? Mine is actually Laurel. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I feel like she's the chicest woman ever in this season. She's really evolved and leveled up in the fashion game. She's giving the robe really clean, sleek, no labels, really fresh look. I love it. She's my standout this season. I do want to deepen Conrad. All right, let's deepen this. One thing that I feel like I've noticed as the season has progressed with Conrad is this nod to this nautical theme.

14:04And Mads, I'm looking at you right now wearing boat shoes. I feel like you're taking a page out of Conrad's book. This nautical theme of what he wears and it feeling for me, it feels like it really reflects Cousins as a place. And Belly's happy place is Cousins. Conrad's wardrobe is symbolic of her happy place and it's a bit of foreshadowing. Am I going way too deep on this? I don't know that I'd gone there. I think I had gone more that he had this, like, relaxed nature because we're seeing him as a character become more vulnerable and relaxed, but it still feels refined, which I think he is. Like, he is in this show positioned as the golden boy who is getting his life together.

14:42He's going to therapy. He's finishing his medical degree. Wow, now I'm deepening it. But I think I was going more that angle of, like, it's that maturing. He would iron his shirts. Like, they would hang up. Yeah. I don't know that I went to Cousins, but now that you've said it, really got my little brain ticking. I feel like both of you are bang on. And I think with costume, you actually have to deep it. That's why I was so excited to talk about it because there is nothing accidental about costume in any television show. That's why you have dedicated costume designers. They're trying to create worlds with an outfit.

15:10And so when I was looking into the costume designer for the summer, I turned pretty. A woman called Jessica Flady spoke about how, and I actually found an interview with her in 2022. So in season one, and she spoke about Conrad style then and And what she was basically saying was he was the least interested person in fashion in the show at that point. That was like very deliberate. What they wanted to create was a wardrobe that looked like almost it was created or curated by his mother that he would just pull out of cupboards and just throw on. And now as you look at him, he feels distinctly grown up and it feels very much like they've tried to move away from our mum put it together to know, as you said, Mads, this is a really mature guy who's got his life together.

15:53he wears belts and watches and tucks his stuff in. And it feels effortless to me, but really intentional. And I feel like that is him in a character, like quite effortless, but also quite serious and intentional. And I feel like when Jeremiah looks like he's trying quite hard, Conrad looks like he doesn't in his clothing. Can I read a quick passage from JQ? Go for it. They wrote a whole piece on Conrad's style. and the writer Trish Nariki wrote, each episode Conrad continues to pull out pieces that have women on my For You page feeling like a man in Victorian times, hello Mads, seeing an exposed ankle for the first time.

16:30Clearly we're tired of seeing modern men throw on a graphic tee and wide leg pants and call it a day. These are the kinds of clothes that differentiate a boy from a man. Love it. Oh, the boy from a man just hits because I think it is the difference. Like you say you go for dinner with a, I'm talking to two married women. These are not my target audience. right now. But you go for dinner with a guy who's got a t-shirt tucked out with a pair of jeans and sneakers on. Like there's no thought behind that look. He tucks that in, he puts on a belt and a shoe that's like slightly more dressy. I think there's something about that that feels like you've cared.

17:05And so for me, there's this stark contrast between Jeremiah kind of, even when he is dressed up in a suit, kind of looking like he's cosplaying in his dad's like suit. I think it's very deliberate. It's 100 % deliberate. And with Jeremiah, it's almost the juxtaposition is he's trying to dress like Conrad. Like he's trying to emulate his style, but it's falling flat. And there's also this frat boy element to it, which drives me insane. And I think contributes to this narrative that Jeremiah is not the perfect person for belly. And obviously you've got the scenes that play out, which suggests that, you know, what happens in Cabo stays in Cabo.

17:39Not really. It doesn't stay in Cabo at all. Mind you, not everyone knows though in the show, which is driving me crazy. The other piece of that is his friendship group. They're so boysy and frat-like. And when you see them together and they've all got their outfits on and they're very Albuquerque-y and fit, it's just giving me... The ick? The ick. Well, I'm pretty sure that really unlikable friend of Jeremiah's, whose name I don't even know. I don't think we're meant to know his name, to be honest. I'm pretty sure he was wearing some variation of a pink polo the other day, which also feels incredibly deliberate.

18:10And Jeremiah's singlet tops, it's all very showy and loud. and so I think that's what makes Conrad's style sing even more. I would like to talk to you guys about Belly because obviously as like the main character in this show, I've really enjoyed the way that they have styled her because I feel like what she gives to me is, however old she's meant to be, like 21, 22, something like that, she very much gives a 21 or 22-year-old who is actually kind of yet to find her style who is trying to dress herself in something that's still individual. Like you look at her and Taylor and they don't dress the same, right?

18:50But you can still see that they're still yet to find their style, which is exactly how I felt at that age. I mean, I'm still trying to find my style at 31, but you can see they're not copying each other. They're different, but they're still not fully grown into themselves yet. This is what I think Jess has done really well and makes it feel believable to the viewer because you can put yourself in that situation and go, I can look back and reflect on when I was younger and see that that was me. I was doing that. I was trialing different things, whether it be, you know, the micro mini skirt with the sneakers.

19:19Like that was such a common look back when I was younger. But then even with their hairstyles and their makeup as well, Taylor's hair feels so intentional this season. The way it has shifted over the last few seasons for me is still an example of her also exploring herself, but also her character development. It's like she settled down with Steven and all of a sudden her hair's looking, is reflecting more of like a mature sort of effortless look, whereas before it was very, what's that? Like crimpy sort of style. She would do that a lot. It was very young. It was very, yeah, it's interesting how it plays out, not just in the clothes, but then also the hairstyles and the beauty on belly.

19:58Have we clocked the red lipstick? Oh, I feel like it was the first thing I clocked. It's also like so classic 21-year-old, 22-year-old goes to Paris and the first thing they do is put on a red lip. Like, I remember the first time I went to Europe and thinking that was so, like, French girl chic. Well, I did the same thing with a beret. Well, Taylor's wearing a beret. Taylor wore a beret. I found myself sort of eye-rolling to be like, God, girl goes to Paris, wears a beret. And then I was, like, hitting myself across the head because it's like, no, that's the most believable thing of all. Yeah.

20:30You've done that. And I say you, I mean me. I've done that. Yeah. You cosplay the place that you go. 1000%. I still sort of do. I kind of do that too. Yeah, it's funny. In that 2022 interview that I found with the costume designer, Jess, she kind of said at that time that it was really important for her and Jenny Han that the clothes didn't get ahead of Belly's transformation, which I found really interesting. And at no point do I feel like the clothes have kind of outmatured her emotional intelligence. Agree. And I think what I have found really interesting as well is that I feel when we see Belly in Cousins, she leans more juvenile in the way she dresses than we have seen in other scenes when she's been at college or when she's been at dinners and things like when she was at the memorial we had different hairstyles and dresses and things like that but in cousins I feel like we're seeing her really lean into those like juvenile sun dresses and little like denim shorts with sneakers much to your point really like those young looks that we all kind of remember doing at like 17 18.

21:30Even the flashback to the Christmas scene and she's in flannel pajamas and has chocolate all over her face. She's 21. She looks like a 14, 15 year old. I feel like when she goes back to cousin, she's going back to that inner child and she's embracing that. And that comes out a lot in what she wears. I read something really interesting from a culture and fashion writer by the name of Viv Chen. She has a newsletter called The Mole Hill. And Viv Chen noted, and I found this is quite a specific thing to observe, but I found really interesting that Belly wears a lot of Doen when she's around Conrad because, you know, if you aren't across the brand, Doen, it's very ethereal, very frilly, quite girly.

22:11Imagine like a woman running through the countryside in a dress. Yeah, quite whimsical when she's in these scenes with Conrad at Cousins. And I thought that was a really interesting thing to note because that fits more with kind of the image that he's putting out, that really kind of beachy ethereal, slightly ethereal with the vintage Levi's look. It's also ethereal in the sense that they have this romance that's a bit unattainable. And I think for so long, it's been the childish dream. And, you know, Conrad's always been my crush. So it plays into that as well. Yeah. The other shout out I've been seeing is that she's been wearing a bit of Cezanne since she got to Paris.

22:47Yeah. OK. Paris, I think, is a stark contrast to what we've seen from her as well. And I think that they have very deliberately perhaps even gone more juvenile than they have previously to really contrast to what we're seeing in Paris. We're seeing her in heeled boots. We're seeing her in miniskirts. Like it's a very clear evolution, elevation from where she's been. She's maturing. She's growing up. And the Paris outfits reflect that. The haircut. Well, we're about to see quite. If this is like a little trim, I'll be filthy. I'll be so filthy. They're rage baited us. They have made us assume that she's going full bob.

23:23Full bob. Okay, so the brand Girl in Me has to bring up the partnerships. Please. Of course. Of course. How could we? Our partnerships queen has to. So the Hollywood Reporter confirmed a few brand partnerships have played out this season. Coach, Solid and Striped, Steve Madden and Catbird, which was the jewellery brand Belly's iconic or not so iconic ring, was featured. Yes. So I remember when the Coach partnership was actually announced just before the season three launch. This was such a smart move for Coach. We've been talking about Coach a lot on the podcast and how much they're really going after that Gen Z audience.

23:59This felt like a very smart move for them to be capturing that younger demographic by aligning with the summer I turned pretty. So what makes up the Coach partnership? Basically, it extends beyond traditional advertising. So for those of you that don't know, Prime Video is actually owned by Amazon. In addition to the paid ad features that they have running in the episodes in the US, they also launched a bespoke collaboration inspired by the season. So this was playing on the fact that university is also a huge part of the storyline and setting. So they have this bespoke Finch University range that you can actually shop in their Amazon store.