Good afternoon, Thursday.
There's no need to express disbelief at the horrible shooting yesterday in California. I'm not sure how many times we can become enraged that these awful and senseless tragedies keep happening- like all of you, there are simply no words anymore. I pray we can get through this. A future that looks like this is simply not an option.
So today I'm going to try and take this post somewhere else and talk about something much more shallow and light- "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills", whose new season premiered this week on Bravo.
So Yolanda Foster, mother of supermodel Gigi Hadid, has Lyme Disease. A really bad case of Lyme Disease in fact. She's holed up in some apartment in Hollywood (it's since come out she's getting a divorce and selling her Malibu mega mansion) trying to get well. But the other ladies on the show want her to come to Lisa Rinna's birthday bash in Bev Hills, so she arrives. Without a stitch of makeup. With no hairdo. And with an outfit most of these ladies would wear on a very down day, certainly not to a fancy dinner with "Harry Hamlin".
Then all of the ladies chatted incessantly about her looks, and how awful it was she came to a party looking this way. It's like they were more offended by her lack of makeup than they were sympathetic about her condition. It's true she did not look her best, but to thpse Bev Hills babes, not wearing makeup is a cardinal sin. And every time I watch the show, I find it cringeworthy not only for their catty ways, but for their awful aesthetic. If I had their money, there is no way I would be wearing goopy pink lipstick or bad sunglasses, let alone a maxi dress to showcase my fake boobs (don't have those by the way...settle down). Which brings me to the real housewives of Brooklyn.
I happen to live in an affluent part of the BK, where alpha moms take Pilates and take lunch and shop and gossip. They are all very rich and very stylish, but man- what a difference when it comes to a "look". In my neighborhood, wearing too much makeup, or really makeup at all other than a dab of mascara and some organic tinted moisturizer would be vulgar. And truth be told, most Cobble Hill housewives would not be caught dead with trout mouth or clothes that are too tight, too pink, or age inappropriate. Bear in mind- these women are gorgeous and thin and could probably wear whatever they want- but their look is dependent on loose basics that leave everything to the imagination- think booties with voluminous tops from Rachel Comey or Ulla Johnson or Black Crane, thick tights or leggings, or boyfriend jeans and their husband's cashmere sweater, in the requisite navy, black, or grey. I see these women every day and not one of them looks like Kyle Richards or Lisa Vanderpump, and for this I am eternally grateful. And though I am neither a housewife or rich, I like living somewhere where less is much, much more. (Not when it comes to cost of living of course- have you priced a Brooklyn brownstone of late? It rivals Bel Air). I found the show so insipid (even more than usual) and that a group of women would take issue with a beautiful woman who simply did not have the energy to put on makeup, but perhaps wanted to see her friends? Ridiculous. Not to say the BK housewives are not on the meowy side, but at least they look cute. Not a housewife but think of someone like Kerry Diamond of Cherry Bombe, pictured below, who epitomizes an effortlessly cool Brooklyn chic, or Ulla Johnson and friends, who take modern boho to the next level.
What a difference a coast makes, even if you're not "really" a housewife. Cause that's what's up this thoroughly Brooklyn kind of Thursday back East. Yours, in keeping it real. XO