Wear, Watch, Want #86: The Timed Royal Workout Edition
Wear: Athleta Uptempo Top
During Athleta’s Black Friday sale I went a little nuts. Nuts, in this case, means buying a pair of leggings and two shirts. The leggings are great (hot tip, if you like a pair of 7/8 leggings but don’t like the look of 7/8 leggings you can just buy them in tall. This, admittedly, doesn’t work if you ARE tall). The shirts, however, are so great that I bought two of them. The Uptempo Top is so comfortable, and now that I’m walking the dog in the freezing cold (the temperature has not dipped below 40 but I have diseased joints OKAY) these shirts keep me warmer than anything. They have thumb holes, which I now expect to be in every long sleeve top, and I get sad when my sleeves are thumb-hole-less. One of my favorite things about these shirts, though, is that the bottom hem is kind of weighted, You know how they sew weights in the hems of royal dresses so that their skirts don’t blow up in a breeze and embarrass an entire country? The Uptempo Top HAS THAT! It’s very slight - more like a slightly thicker hem than one full of weights, but it’s great to have if you want to wear this top running, or walking your dog in a gale. I bought the grey and the “auberge” and they’re both in regular rotation. Probably worth full price, if you’re feeling wild.
Watch: The Favourite
Any filmmaker looking to make a period piece should use The Favourite as a reference. I love a period piece, and I particularly love a self-aware, comedic period piece. The Favourite is based on actual events - apparently historians debate whether Queen Anne’s female companions were BFFs or lovers but come on, aren’t we over the straight-washing of history by now? ONE WOULD HOPE.
This film has it all: A killer dance sequence, Rachel Weisz in this outfit, an About a Boy reunion, and Olivia Colman. I love Olivia Colman so much that her being in the cast of anything makes it 50% better to me, no matter what.
The Favourite is also such a delight because each of the female leads, Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone, get to just go nuts. Their characters are interesting, complex, and each have a distinct point of view. Again, how in 2018 is this still something revolutionary? If you’re not into seeing great performances from talented women, every single shot in The Favourite is a feast for the eyes. The level of detail is just stunning. I’d recommend seeing The Favourite in a theater if you can - seeing all those lush details on a big screen is a real treat. And when you’re done, read the Wikipedia page for Queen Anne - a figure I knew absolutely nothing about and now I feel a real sympathy toward.
Want: Dusk to Dawn Light Bulbs
I live in a dark neighborhood. The streetlights are super far apart, and houses on my street have like, one or two outside lights, so even if everyone turned theirs on it wouldn’t make a huge difference. Also, I live so far north that now the sun starts setting at about 4pm, and by 5 it’s - in terms of natural light - the middle of the night. I found out that there are LED light bulbs with sensors built in to them so that when it gets dark, they turn on, and when it’s light, they turn off. This would save me from regretting not turning on my outside lights before I leave the house, and also worrying about forgetting to turn them off. Basically what I’m saying is that I’m afraid of the dark AND lazy/forgetful.
