Month / September 2025

by Lexine

Category Is: Women’s Fall Fashion, 1995

US Vogue cover, September 1995

Shalom Harlow and Amber Valetta on US Vogue, September 1995. 

I was too young to remember what the average woman was wearing 30 years ago. (I was eleven and was more focused on building my pog collection than what Vogue wanted me to wear that season.) It’s a given that the well-to-dos had the latest from the Paris and Milan runways, but I don’t recall my mom or aunts or teachers sporting Gucci’s silk shirts or Calvin’s satin dresses. For those who still own one or a few of those pieces from that season, I legit envy them because those clothes are classy and ageless. Some 90s pieces look dated, but almost everything from Fall 1995 could be worn today and still be stylish. Cases in point: 

Outfits from Calvin Klein’s Fall 1995 show

Ralph Lauren’s Fall 1995 show

Dolce & Gabbana, Fall 1995

Yves Saint Laurent ready-to-wear, Fall 1995

And since pics won’t do justice, three of my favorite collections from that season…

OK, Mugler’s collection may not be for everyday wear (unless you’re Bai Ling), but everything about that show remains STUN to this day! 

by Lexine

A Real Gentleman

A vintage pic of the late, great Robert Redford.

The passing of Robert Redford had me thinking a few things. One: I really, really need to go watch some of his movies (TCM better get a marathon ready). Two: he’s someone who deserves all the memorials–the moments of silence in workplaces, sporting events, and even international parliaments, the tears and heartfelt words from “liberal allies” on social media, the references on how to better troubled young men, etc. And three: I’ve become so cynical over celebrities/public figures (especially the men!) these days that I have almost forgotten that there are/were some true real ones out there.

I don’t need my celebrity faves to me “good” or “nice”; I’d rather have them be real, genuine, even if they’re a little messy or known to be a “diva”. If they’re also nice, great. (I’ve followed celeb news long enough to know who the real nice ones are, and who’s got excellent PR.) Celebs, underneath it all, are humans, and I’m aware they’re gonna fuck up one way or another. And nothing amplifies a celeb fuckup than a celeb existing in the social media era. The bulk of Redford’s career happened way before social media, but there could’ve been some revealing tea spilled by someone who worked with him or knew him in the past. But from all the tributes I’ve read about him (so far), it’s surprisingly drama-free. And I’ve yet to see a single moment of dubiousness from him. No offensive comments in interviews. No pics of him hanging out with MAGA clowns or vile beings. No faking the philanthropy. No abusive behavior (so throw those Brad Pitt comparisons out the damn door; did y’all forget he abused Angelina and her son?!). No spoiled brats for offspring. No moves that got me facepalming. No need for a public image rehab because he’s always been cool. I’ve seen some “nice” celebs that have done one of those things and while I still like them, I’m not foolish to think they’re saints, let alone nice. But Redford? Talk about a real diamond in the rough. He’s seemed like Mr. Rogers, but more gritty and sultry. And here’s one fun tidbit: in Jackie Collins’ Lucky (one of my all-time favorite books), the male lead Lennie Golden is inspired by the looks and attitude of Redford, and he gets the girl (the badass Lucky Santangelo) in the end.

There’s the cliched saying, in regards to celebrity, “they don’t make ’em like they used to”. But it’s true in Redford’s case. He was of that era when celebs had not just talent, charm, and looks, but were not afraid to stand up for what they believed in, regardless of the outcome. Jane Fonda and her politics. Elizabeth Taylor being an activist for HIV/AIDS awareness and supporting the gay community during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. For Redford, he once opposed the development of a coal-fired power plant in a Utah town in the 70s, and the locals there burned an effigy of him, with one calling him “skunkman”. He was also openly critical over Nixon and a guy most definitely on the Epstein list. He was trying to do good and speak truth and some smooth brains still gave him shit. Simply put, he was a real one, and you don’t see many real ones out there in La La Land these days. 

Rest peacefully, Robert. You’ll be remembered well. And at least none of us will get fired for quoting you in remembrance. 🕯️🌹

by Lexine

Quotes Of The Moment 9.10.25

You are under no obligation to mourn the death of people who would’ve celebrated yours.

— Derek Powazek (@fraying.bsky.social) 2025-09-10T20:56:40.309Z

and

Violence is always wrong and so is promoting harmful ideologies such as racism, misogyny, homophobia/transphobia, and white supremacy (and promoting it all for profit). Thus, I send my condolences to those affected in the Colorado school shooting (a news story that is heinously being buried by mainstream media) and that’s it. If one wants my respects in their death, simply put: don’t be a disgusting asshole in life.

by Lexine

A Passport Saga

My 1st ever adult passport. Guess how long I had to wait for it? 

Confession: I never had an adult passport until this year. I know I had one as a child since I remember taking trips to Canada, South Korea, and the Philippines then. As an adult, all my trips have been domestic, with only one trip done by flight, and I flew way before the Real ID requirement. While adult me has wanted to take international trips, they were never within my budget, and so I never bothered to get a passport. Until this year, and it’s not just for travel needs (I have plans on taking a birthday trip to Vancouver). As a Bi woman of color with a look and skin tone that may make “Border Patrol” curious, I felt like having a passport would also give me some peace of mind, whether to prove citizenship or to get TF outta here if I need to. Along with cuts to federal agencies thanks to evil broligarchs, I couldn’t have picked a worser year to apply for my first-ever passport! 😵‍💫

*Appointment Date: 5/12/2025*

Since my birthday is at the end of October, I had plenty of time to get myself a passport. I applied for Routine processing, booked my appointment in advance (I refused to take a chance with walk-ins), and had all the necessary documents and the $160 money order.  A pro-tip: if you need a birth certificate, it’s better to go to the office of vital records of the county you were born in and buy one (or multiple copies, if allowed) there instead of having it mailed to you from the state, if you can. It’s cheaper, no notary service necessary, and you get your birth certificate on the spot. I happen to live 40 minutes from the county I was born in, though I wish I knew this before I applied to get my birth certificate in the mail way back in February this year. (It arrived in the mail in late April; a two-month wait is typical.) I just went to the city hall of my birth county to get more copies, as I needed another one for my Real ID application. 

Anyway, back to my passport appointment: I had it at my local post office, and some crotchety old guy looked over my papers and also took my passport photos. We had to do a few takes because the first few photos came out blurry. There’s more on this that I’ll share later. The guy told me to visit travel.state.gov three weeks after my appointment to check the status of my passport application, which would be early June. 

So, early June arrived, and I checked the status of my application. I got this:

webpage of the US passport application status that reads: Not Available

(Note: this isn’t my pic, but the message was the same. *source*)

I didn’t sweat it. I had well over four months before my planned trip to Canada, and I also opted for Routine processing, so I figured I would see an update by the six-week mark at the soonest. That six-week mark was end of June, and here’s what I saw then:

webpage of the US passport application status that reads: Not Available

Same message. OK. I’m still within the 6-8 week processing timeframe. Maybe in the 7th week I’d get an update? 

It didn’t help that I was reading other people’s passport stories on Reddit and this site. Some, if not many, were getting theirs on time, if not sooner than me, and they too also applied for their 1st adult passport and used Routine service. When the 8-week mark arrived in mid-July, I found myself checking the status every day. And, I shit you not, I got the same “not available” status message every damn time. I checked to see if my money order got cashed (it did, a week after my appointment). I went to my local post office to see if my application got sent in (it was, to some office in Irving, Texas). I even contacted the offices of my local congressman to help me out (they tried but couldn’t). 

Though my travel plans were still over three months away, I began to fret. Did my application get lost? Or was it received but the agency is being lazy in processing it? Why didn’t I apply for a passport two years ago? 

Continue reading →

by Lexine

September’s Star Face

Yasmin LeBon on the cover of the premier issue of US Elle magazine, September 1985

Though Elle magazine had been in existence since 1945, the publication was only sold in France before expanding to other countries in the 1980s, with the States getting its own edition in September of 1985. Their minimal use of cover blurbs and promoting models of color on their covers were big reasons why I once favored Elle more than Vogue, especially in the 90s when Vogue gave the same two or three white models a cover four times a year. And while many 80s fashion mag covers look dated nowadays, the simplicity of this cover (simplicity in 80s fashion?), with that pop of yellow in a backdrop of black and Yasmin giving FACE, makes it quite the timeless image.