A fall weather ‘fit isn’t complete without a handbag. Be it the trendy mini or classic leather tote in an autumnal hue, this all-important accessory is sure to tie every look in your cold-weather wardrobe together. According to the 2021 fall/winter runways, designers have made cozy and timeless materials a must for fall handbags, from plush shearling totes like Bottega Veneta’s ‘Arco Tote’ or Saunt Laurent’s ‘Le Fermoir’ hobo bag, to luxury leather with Stella McCartney’s ‘Maxi Falabella Tote’ and Fendi’s ‘Peekaboo Iconic Mini.’
Those looking to make a bigger statement can look no further than Gucci’s 100 Horsebit 1955 Small Bag — a romantic take on the luxury fashion house’s monogram — and Marc Jacobs’ Lux Knitted Charm Bag featuring imagery from Sofia Coppola’s 1999 dreamy drama The Virgin Suicides.
As we (well, some of us) welcome the season’s cooler temperatures and the chance to layer our favourite knits, jackets and other sweater weather essentials, shop these 15 fall handbags to elevate your style.
I’ve always felt like Apple Watch users were in a special club that I wasn’t part of. Everyone who has the device seems to love it, forever touting its ability to track their health and fitness progress and keep them connected while reducing screen time spent on their phones. I’ve never had an Apple Watch before and, admittedly, I haven’t felt the need to get one. I’m not big into working out (though I sometimes wish I was), and I have to stay “plugged in” for my job as a culture writer, so I didn’t think an Apple Watch — or the lifestyle it implies — was for me. But ahead of the release of the Apple Watch Series 7 on October 15, I was offered the chance to try out the new device, and as it turns out, I have come away from the experience with a unexpected new perspective.
Aside from the physical features — like the product’s largest display yet, most durable front crystal to date and faster charging capabilities compared to earlier iterations — the Apple Watch Series 7’s new watchOS 8 operating system has some pretty intriguing health and wellness aspects, too. Though at first skeptical of just how much impact one device can really have on my day-to-day life, I actually felt a difference in my physical and mental wellbeing after just one week donning the smartwatch. Here are some takeaways from my first seven days with the Apple Watch Series 7.
Photography courtesy of Apple
My sleep game was no joke
Sleep is a very important part of my day. A perfect night for me, at the ripe age of 22, means tucking in for the night at 9:30 p.m. to enjoy some long, undisturbed shut-eye. But if I’m stressed, I endlessly toss and turn, and quality sleep becomes very difficult to achieve. When I can’t sleep, I find myself reaching for my phone, where I peruse social media or binge watch TV through the late hours of the night. It’s a bad habit that is no doubt a result of my high daily screen time. But since I started using the Apple Watch, I’ve actually been able to achieve longer, uninterrupted sleep.
My Apple Watch forced me to be more intentional about the quality of my sleep. The watch’s Sleep app prompted me to set a goal for my bedtime and include my desired hours of rest. About an hour ahead of the bedtime I set, it would remind me to wind down and prepare for a good night’s rest (meaning no doomscrolling past 9 p.m.!). As I slept, the watch tracked my respiratory rate, heart rate and blood oxygen levels. When I woke up each morning, it congratulated me for meeting my eight-hour sleep target — a small detail but appreciated nonetheless. Can we normalize viewing sleep as an achievement?
Guided meditation reminded me to slow down
The feature I used most on the Apple Watch Series 7 was the mindfulness app — a reimagined version of the Breathe app found on previous versions. Mindfulness offers the option to do Breathe or Reflect sessions. One-minute Breathe sessions guide your breathing by providing visual simulations that coincide with inhales and exhales. In Reflect sessions, you are given the simple task of focusing for one minute while entrancing visuals play on screen. My favourite part of this feature was that I would randomly get reminders throughout the day to slow down and take a minute to do a session. I always obliged — for research purposes, of course — and noticed that these little reminders actually helped to calm the anxiety I often get from working for long periods of time without breaks. It’s like a ready-to-use guided meditation coach on my wrist, something I never knew I needed.
Photography courtesy of Apple
At first, I chalked my newfound ability to chill up to the placebo effect of the jazzy gadget I was sporting. But as the week went on, I noticed the Apple Watch had in fact led to decreased screen time. I’m guilty of getting distracted by my phone — what starts as an innocent notification scan ends with me scrolling through Mindy Kaling’s entire Instagram feed (so many fun cooking videos, how could I not?). With notifications coming to my wrist, I can either dismiss or respond then and there, and the urge to look beyond any one notification dissipated. Plus, responding to messages and emails was sort of fun (what’s happening to me?) on the watch’s new keyboard, which lets you slide a finger to type, and anticipates your next word based on the context of the message.
Photography courtesy of Apple
Working out can be fun? This is news to me!
I don’t often go to the gym, but I do get out for plenty of walks. And while some may not consider that to be a work out, my Apple Watch alerted me that it indeed was — vindication at last! On my daily strolls, the watch detected when I was walking and prompted me to start recording an outdoor walk workout, where it would track my total distance, the amount of calories I burned and my heart rate. Seeing my Apple Watch count walking as me fulfilling my daily fitness goals made me more aware of how this mundane daily exercise can benefit my long-term health. It also kept tabs on more intentional workouts; new with watchOS 8 is the ability to automatically detect a cycling workout. When I went on a scenic bike ride over the weekend, the watch not only tracked my cycling distance, but reported my elevation gain, average speed and average heart rate. And for all you fancy gym-goers, Apple Watch Series 7 can now track two new workout types, Pilates and Tai Chi.
Photography courtesy of Apple
Throughout my week, I also learned about an electrocardiogram, or ECG — a test that assesses the timing and rhythm of your heart beat, to make sure it’s normal — which Apple Watch Series 7 is capable of generating. ECGs are used by doctors to gain insight about heart rhythm and detect irregularities. The test is quick and painless, and all of the information about your heart rhythm, including other wellness data like sleep activity and mindfulness minutes, is saved in the Health app on your iPhone to have on hand should you or your doctor ever need to review.
If you’re anything like me, you can be, at times, oblivious of your health. Whether it’s because of an underlying fear that something may actually be wrong, or just plain willful ignorance, it doesn’t matter — it’s always important to know what’s going on with your body. And my Apple Watch forced me to do just that. Overall, the watch made information about my health more accessible to me, and inspired me to be more intentionally aware of my mental and physical wellbeing. It served as a regular reminder to check in with my body — and honestly, I get the hype.
It’s safe to say that the rise of natural hair influencers has helped to revolutionize the textured hair community. If you’re as obsessed with your curly hair as we are, following these eight social media stars is sure to help guide you on your own natural hair journey.
NYC-based hair influencer Sully G details her life as a colour-obsessed curly-haired girl, and her enviable set of locks certainly give a whole new meaning to the term redhead. Sully’s feed is perfect for the natural-haired girl that doesn’t shy away from a new hue and doesn’t necessarily wait for a chair at the salon to open up in order to change up her look. Her Insta reels are fun and informative, and cover off everything from her latest product finds to how to prep your hair for vacation.
This social media powerhouse has been a mainstay among natural hair influencers for over a decade. Isimeme uses Instagram and YouTube to document everything from wash day to drugstore shopping hauls. Her YouTube channel is ideal for those with type 4 hair searching for in-depth tutorials on a variety of styles and treatments, including how to nurse your hair back to health after heat damage, wig application tips, and preparing for a protective hairstyle.
This Afro-Latina is just as proud of her Puerto Rican heritage as she is of her seriously enviable curls. Based in Los Angeles, Gaby, aka @TheCurlyBella, charms on both Instagram and YouTube with easy-to-replicate tips and product suggestions for all her fellow curly-haired girls. If you have type 3 curls and thrive on curl definition and discovering new formulas that will allow for your natural hair to shine, Gaby could definitely be your new favourite follow.
This British beauty’s social media is truly a one-stop-shop when it comes to all things natural and textured hair. Her YouTube channel is brimming with easy-to-follow tutorials on a wide range of styles for type 4 hair, including jumbo knotless box braids, finger coils and top knots. If your skill level is lacking and your schedule is even more so, you’re bound to find some DIY methods here to help you pull off these looks in style.
Toronto-based Shanique Buntyn is one of the OG natural hair influencers. She’s been documenting her natural hair journey from the very beginning and her online following grew dramatically, right along with her hair. She offers up tried and true methods for growing longer, thicker hair and the necessary product recommendations to boot. Her type a/b hair is perpetually in a gloriously defined twist-out or sleek ponytail, and she’s not shy about showing off how to achieve these classic looks.
Based in Washington D.C., Jewellianna, aka @jewejewebee, is a hair, beauty and fitness enthusiast whose inviting Instagram account includes a wide array of to-the-point tutorials and lifestyle content. If it’s natural hair growth tips you’re after, head to her YouTube channel, where you’ll get a peek into her healthy hair maintenance routine, plus loads of tips for nurturing thick hair and defining type 3 curls.
Alba is a curly hair content creator whose passion is palpable on-screen. Follow her Insta to keep tabs on how she keeps up her stunning curls, including her first-time foray into hair colour. Her YouTube channel is also a versatile watch and includes everything from five minute beauty routines and curly hair hacks to DIY hair recipes, including her favourite hair growth oil and flaxseed hair gel.
Lizzo is a bona fide style icon. Since she came onto the scene, the “Good As Hell” singer has never been one to shy away from innovative fashion statements, especially when the ensemble involves bearing some skin. Her most recent head-turning look was just this week, when the star stepped out in a crystal see-through dress. The glistening, sheer purple outfit is reminiscent of the famous Swarovski crystal gown that Rihanna sported to the 2014 CFDA awards — even still, it is so uniquely Lizzo. The fashion moment has (understandably) been the topic of social media praise since the first snaps hit the internet. To her fans, Lizzo’s ability to consistently turn these types of risqué looks is a testament to her unshakable self-love. Now, she’s working to help others achieve the same self-confidence. Earlier this year, the singer announced her partnership with the Dove Self-Esteem Project, which aims to address confidence issues resulting from social media use.
Part of what makes Lizzo so great is that her aura of confidence is contagious. From her lyrics of self-assurance to her refreshingly candid social media presence, she seems to have it all together. But this has not always been the case. “My self-love journey was literally for survival,” she says. Since she began to gain popularity within the notoriously critical entertainment industry, Lizzo has become an advocate for body acceptance — not out of desire, but out of necessity — in response to the fatphobia she’s often received. “I thought, ‘If I’m going to continue living in this body, I have to find a way to like myself.’” And that she did. The star has become synonymous with the concept of self-love, and now she wants to help young people struggling to attain it.
Lizzo’s partnership with the Dove Self-Esteem Project addresses how social media can worsen our feelings of self-worth. A key part of the initiative is The Selfie Talk, a guide for parents and teachers wanting to discuss digital photo altering and unrealistic beauty standards with kids and teens. One of the tools available for download is Dove’s Confidence Kit, a self-esteem resource written by experts in the field designed to help parents and teachers navigate these difficult conversations. The kit was developed as a result of shocking survey findings — like the fact that by the age of 13, 80 per cent of Canadian girls have downloaded a filter or used an app to change the way they look in photos, or that 37 per cent of girls between ages 10 and 17 say they don’t feel confident posting a picture of themselves without editing it first.
“It was much easier before Instagram and TikTok,” says Lizzo. “My heart goes out to young people growing up in a world that’s constantly showing them who they should be.” The singer notes that trends in women’s body types have fluctuated through the decades — and this contributes to falling self-confidence. “Women’s bodies have always been seen as a trend, and this is inherently an issue. It’s so important to find love and acceptance within ourselves, because then no matter what movement or trend comes along, we know that we’re good.”
As for Lizzo’s role in changing the conversation, she’s ready to move past talking about her appearance. “My body has been politicized since I stepped onto the scene wearing leotards. It was shocking to see in 2015, but now you all know what it looks like. You’ve seen it naked, in couture and at the Met Gala. Let’s stop talking about it and normalize bodies just existing.”
Yes, you read that correctly. The gory horror series that has taken the internet by storm is now influencing people’s wardrobes.
First, some background. Netflix’s most popular TV show to date, the Korean thriller follows a group of debt-ridden citizens who compete in a series of high-stakes children’s games for the chance to win a life-changing cash prize. However, don’t be fooled by this simplistic synopsis. The nine-episode journey is a mix between the plot of The Hunger Games and the violence of a Quentin Tarantino film, as a game of marbles can result in a shooting spree with masked VIPs cheering in the background.
While the series has quickly become a must-see, Squid Game costumes are similarly becoming a must-wear. According to the New York Times, searches for green tracksuits — the players’ uniforms and perhaps the most iconic ensemble from the series — have doubled since the show’s premiere in mid-September. White slip-on Vans have seen a 7,800% spike in sales. And the hashtag #SquidGame currently has 37.3B views on TikTok.
So we’re calling it — Squid Game is going to be the Halloween costume of 2021. Think about it: Easy to find, comfortable to dance in, and warm enough to survive the late October weather, Netflix’s overnight hit was made for trick-or-treating.
But the question remains, if this is everyone’s go-to ensemble, how can you stand out? TikTok has your answer. Whether your Halloween style is a casual nod or Comic-Con-worthy cosplay, FASHION has rounded up our favourite TikToker-created Squid Game costumes.
