Retail Therapy 028: Gnomecore & Social Omnivores
The podcasters are dressing like they're in 1840s England.
Listen to today’s Retail Therapy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube (see above), and anywhere else podcasts are found.
It’s been nearly a month since the Retail Therapy crew congregated in the studio together — and yes, the vibes have shifted significantly since then. Let’s dive headfirst into it.
It’s called “gnomecore,” losers.
Well, as it turns out, the podcasters are dressing like gnomes. As are the project managers, the graphic designers, and everyone else in between.
While things were shifting gnome anyway (see: tiny beanies), that popular GQ shoot with Christian Bale really solidified it. And now, @_gnomecore is perpetuating it. Here are some prime examples of how gnomespiration —
Absolutely cannot wait for the next cold front to blow through so I have an excuse to layer a mohair cardigan over a cashmere sweater only to top it off with a tiny beanie.
Social Omnivores and Conscious Consumption
Not to be the insufferable person who talks about Dry January constantly, but yeah, I’m doing Dry January. Or, well, at least I was doing it until this past Friday when I fell off the rails due to a well-timed couples dinner.
What I’m doing on-top of Dry January, though? Pescatarian January. Fish and vegetables only. And a lot of bread. A lot of bread. I love it.
But as January wears on and we all begin to imagine our lives without the constraints of being “dry” or “pescatarian,” I started to see a little bit of myself in the recent Bon Appétit piece about Social Omnivores.
Here’s what they had to say about it all:
They're vegetarian, but only when they’re home. Meet “social omnivores": They eat plant-based at home, when it’s in their control, but socially, they still indulge in mom’s brisket or a friend’s birthday dinner. It’s different from following vague flexitarian or reducetarian principles, which both eschew clear-cut rules in favor of generally reducing meat consumption. Social omnivores have one very clear boundary: They never buy or cook meat at home. Though they all have different motivations for cutting back on animal products, the social omnivores @alifrancis.me spoke to also have their reasons for indulging in meat socially—they find value in uninhibited culinary adventures and prefer to put aside their own ideals for the sake of their hosts or dining companions.
Am I going to dip my toe into the Social Omnivore game once January ends? Honestly, probably. Only for it to all come crashing down the first weekend of March Madness where I ingest 3,000 light beers and enough chicken wings to cause a nationwide shortage.
As always, we closed things out with our wishlists and imminent cops.
To begin 2023, we are going to hit the reset button on our wishlists and make them a bit more digestible for the year ahead. To access the complete version of our 2022 wishlists, look no further than our final Listener Digest of 2022.
Will’s Wishlist (2023)
YSL Patent Tortoise Le Loafers ($895) — Link (A note: Someone pleeeeeeeease send me a reasonably-priced alternative to these as I will never be able to afford them.)
Barrett’s Wishlist (2023)