Hello Pals,
How is everyone doing? I know, I know, layered question.
I’m currently in my “birth home” of NYC, where eternal slush gave way to spring calm gave way to thunder and lightning gave way to snow. One of my defining characteristics is that I absolutely don’t care about what’s happening outdoors (meaning I’ve basically never had a feeling about the weather, not that I don’t care about climate change or human suffering! Important distinction!) That being said, even I am not immune to the magic of the first true spring day. It reminds me of being in high school in Brooklyn, when suddenly we were out of our parkas and into denim minis, when the super soakers emerged from their storage bins and everyone picked up a self-conscious cigarette so they would have something to do with their hands while loitering on the corner.
It’s also a month until Famesick is out and in the hands (or ears, or e-readers) of anyone who wants it.
I wonder if other writers feel this way—I’m sure many of you do— but to create anything at all I have to summon a sort of willful amnesia, forgetting that anyone else will ever read or see the thing. By the time I realize what has transpired, it’s too late. The train has left the station.
I have to remind myself daily that I do this for a reason, even if it isn’t always clear to me what that reason is. But also, the fact that some of you will be joining me on my mini-tour is the sparkly object being dangled to pull me onward. It’s been a long time since I was in a room, sharing words and laughs with people who just “get it.”
I’m really excited. If I’m coming to a city near you, join me (come for my brilliant conversation partners! Andrew Rannells in NYC! EmRata in Philly! Emily Sundberg in Boston! Naomi Fry in New Haven! Lindsay Weber and Bobby Finger of Who Weekly for the virtual event, coming at you live from my bedroom! And a few more dates will be announced very soon…)
The other day I did one of the most terrifying modern activities available to us. No, it was not riding an eBike drunk, or bungee jumping with a GoPro strapped to my head. Even scarier: going through every photo in my entire phone. I was looking for the images that defined the period of my life that Famesick covers, from graduating college and making Tiny Furniture to the beginnings of Girls, from the feverish joy of early creativity to the dead-eyed stupor of someone who has not been kind to themselves. Then onward, to a period of recovery and new modes of expression that brought the light back (oh G-D, now I’ve told you the whole PLOT!)
I went into the book, just as I went into my photo library, thinking that the desire to make art out of my experiences was the defining narrative of my life. But I came away from this digital deep dive realizing the central theme was actually something very different: Big Weird Coats.
Amanda Lee Burkett wrote an extremely charming piece on what she rightly sees as the garment of the moment: the “fur-shawl-collar-cocoon-cut coat.” It resonated deeply, not only as a person who loves some coat drama but because I have often worn my coat like a hermit crab wears its shell. Starting in high school, when SSRI’s made me so sleepy that I curled into my faux-fur trimmed, military-green parka nearly every chance I got to nap, all the way until now, as my collection of silly, fluffy faux fur jackets plays a similar role to stuffed animals. Comfort objects. Signifiers of an untidy but cozy inner life. The airstream trailer of outerwear, concealing one in style as they move through an unpredictable world.
My obsession started early, with this Izzy coat (designed by Dolly Meckler’s absolutely iconic mother, Jackie Shapiro, the 90s doyenne of downtown children’s wear!)
If you’re a Big Weird Coat person, or perhaps are Big Weird Coat curious, here are some that I have my little eye on…
Links:
By Malene Birger- it’s giving international museum curator who doesn’t want to be beheld but really wants to be understood.
Dries Van Noten understands that a coat doesn’t have to be that big or that weird to qualify as a Big Weird Coat (had to include for inspo, that price is enough to make you black out and wake up in Reno.)
Apparis faux fur is addictively soft, and therefore does double duty as a stim toy. Love how the goofy, childlike fluffiness contrasts with the severe geometry of this one.
Every part of me wanted to gatekeep this vintage Nina Ricci, which is equal parts Penny Lane and Bette Midler.
I mean… Scalloped hem? Odd buttons that hint at a shape found in nature but don’t quite get there? Vaguely matted faux fur? At $54 dollars, someone better run, not walk.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a Big Weird Coat in drag as a trench!
Face/Off! This took a minute to come into clarity for me. But ultimately I decided it was beautiful.
Soon it will be spring. Then, summer (wait, is that the right order!?) We only have a handful of Big Weird Coat days left before you have to take it off or risk seeming like the woman who gave me my driving test on a 95 degree afternoon wearing a massive parka and earmuffs (she’s not why I failed though, as much as I’d like to finger a culprit.)
Use this time wisely.
Stay cozy,
Lena
Your writing brings me so much joy. Cannot wait for the book to come out queen. 🩷
This might be my favorite post. ❤️ BWC forever!