Hello, Reader. ChatterBlast Creative Director Matthew Ray here! I’m excited to introduce a new blog series from some of our greatest thought leaders as they share with us their vision of a post-pandemic world. Each week, we’ll be treated to a prescient vision from Spring/Summer 2021. Let’s welcome my pal Kristin Detterline, the Editor-in-Chief of Philadelphia Style Magazine, who sends us a message of hope, highlights, and haute couture.
Hello from the future! It’s Memorial Day weekend in 2021.
After months (and months) of Zooming for every work meeting, birthday party, and late-night dance session, it’s surreal to be surrounded by actual humans – even if we are still practicing social distancing in the shallow end of the pool.
The world weathered those Uncertain Times in 2020 and emerged very certain about many things: our core values, a renewed appreciation for family and, yes, that we need our hair colorists more than ever. No matter how many YouTube tutorials we suffered through, beachy-blonde highlights are best left to the professionals. Tackling our roots — and, wait, are there more grays than before?? — requires their deft touch.
But scouring drugstore shelves for boxed hair dye did help us get reacquainted with the drugstore beauty brands of our youth, now more popular than ever. Why have we been shelling out $70 for Christian Louboutin mascara exactly? The “Easy breezy beautiful CoverGirl” slogan should have included “budget-friendly.” It’s a fraction of the price of prestige brands and a favorite of makeup artists.
We can get in front of those magicians much easier these days, too — or really any celebrity expert for the right price. Now Pat McGrath, Jen Atkins and Tracy Anderson are booking FaceTime consultations with a quick DM. Our local cosmetic surgeons have also jumped on the virtual bandwagon. Zoom has been good for business: Those endless weeks spent staring at ourselves in the black mirror revealed every forehead wrinkle we had been too busy to notice.
We stared inside our closets a lot last year, too, and surveyed our wardrobes with a Marie Kondo-style ruthlessness. The impulse purchases that no longer sparked joy are now fueling the booming re-commerce market that the RealReal and Poshmark helped establish. Good news for us — we are still waiting for shuttered department stores to reopen.
All the athleisure looks we clung to during our stay-at-home sojourn are tucked away in a drawer until further notice. In 2021, the fashion pendulum swung the other way. Formal wear — preferably from a rising sustainable brand — is back. Picture Stella McCartney designing looks for Dynasty’s Alexis Carrington. Even a quick trip to Whole Foods is an opportunity to dress like you’re going to Ball on the Square.
Yes, friends, the fashion future’s so bright in 2021, we’ve gotta wear shades. And a mask.
