You Know I'd Walk a Thousand Miles If I Could Just See You Tonight

Nicole's Fashion Corner, Britney Brûlée, yes...and? Mariah remix

Feb 15, 2024

Hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day!

In this issue:
🖥 MySpace backgrounds that you absolutely need to see
👗 Overdressed newsletter, Taylor Swift’s jeans, AREA’s NYFW collection, the pants that have changed my life
📲 Britney Brûlée, Ariana x Mariah CD, Lisa on The White Lotus, who Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” is really about…allegedly
💿 Gushing about Caroline Polachek per usual

Support Nicstalgia with a paid subscription for less than the crystal-encrusted jeans that Taylor Swift wore to the Super Bowl.

Ice Spice, Taylor Swift and Blake Lively at the Super Bowl LVIII

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Huge thank you to Nicstalgia supporters who I will love forever: Janine, Marie, Liv, and Mitra!💐💐💐

🖥 MySpace University Alumni Update

I’m building out a blog page on my website (that I coded myself lol) so there’s an easily-sharable repository of all of the online and offline things I make. There is nothing that inspires me quite like looking through archives of MySpace backgrounds. Hope these jog a memory for you!!! The absolute chokehold both polka dots and Regina Spektor had on me…

👗 Nicole’s Fashion Corner

I’m so so so excited for the incredible Marie Lodi to launch Overdressed, ‘a weekly fashion and beauty newsletter exploring the varied obsessions and unlikely touchstones that inspire personal style and living fabulously’. As someone who has always made overdressing a critical component of my personality, I cannot wait to read this. (Remember when I found out Marie was both the foremost journalist on Jeffrey Campbell’s Lita shoes and Vacation’s Orange Gelée Revival Project reporter? There is truly nothing she cannot do!!!)

Also remember the crystal-embellished $695 AREA jeans I mentioned a few weeks ago because Pookie wore them??? Taylor Swift wore the same jeans to the Super Bowl. (Btw they’re $795 on their website now…is this…Taylor-induced inflation??) Unlike me, Taylor doesn’t need the dupes due to budgetary considerations. I suppose that, truly, we never go out of style.

Speaking of AREA, their collection was my favorite from New York Fashion Week (even though it was presented by Amazon aghhhhh). “AREA’s Spring Summer 2024 Collection, where eyes not only captivate but also symbolize viewership, unveiling new perspectives shaped by the crucial role of our audience. A play between viewing and being viewed, this collection explores the dynamics of essentials and the extraordinary, reconstructing the interconnection between fashion and its observers.”

I recently got a pair of red snakeskin pants from Puppets and Puppets that have already changed my life despite not having left the house in them yet. Frankly, the pants were still a splurge for me despite the deep discount, but they fit like a glove. A GLOVE!!!!!! The same day I received my package in the mail, founder Carly Mark was featured in The New York Times. The headline struck me: “A Rising Star in Fashion Who Sees No Future in New York”. It detailed that she’s updating her business model, moving to London, and will no longer be producing ready-to-wear [clothes], only accessories going forward. (If they need to liquidate inventory or have a moving sale, I will run there as fast as I possibly can.) I am really looking forward to seeing how Puppets and Puppets evolves, and in celebration of the brand thus far, here are my favorite Puppets and Puppets runway look(s) from each collection:

The last look from the most recent collection (bottom right) is a dress that depicts Carly’s fictional boyfriend – a print shop owner who listens to metal and lives in his parents’ basement in New Jersey. After joking about this character, Carly’s assistant made a visual rendering of this long-haired metalhead with AI program Midjourney. I love when fashion isn’t so serious and technology is leveraged for absurd creativity. Like THIS is how we are supposed to be using AI, people.

📲 I’m Just a Simple Girl in a High-Tech Digital World

My fav things from the internet rn:
Britney Spears announced on X that she has partnered with NYC coffee shop GLACE to create The Britney Brûlée! Ngl I am concerned for Brit – plus I rarely go to the UES and don’t really like crème brûlée – but it’s nice that a portion of proceeds will go to The Trevor Project. I’m also curious about what the project she teased on IG, Sex N Diamonds, will be.

Mariah Carey will be featured on Ariana Grande’s “yes, and?” remix. The CD single is available to pre-order now, and it ships on Friday 2/16. I am FASCINATED that it’s being released as a CD single for $1.99 (limit 4 per customer). It makes a lot of sense – fandoms view these items as collectibles. Fans are also completists; they gotta catch ‘em all. There are literally four different covers of Ariana’s Eternal Sunshine album (out March 8th), available in both an LP format and a CD format. Told ya it’s a Physical Media Renaissance™!!!!!!

As a Blink myself, I’m personally excited by the announcement that Lisa from BLACKPINK has joined the cast of The White Lotus. Season 1 of the show was set in Hawaii, season 2 was in Italy, and season 3 will be set in Lisa’s home country of Thailand. Parker Posey AND Lalisa Lalisa Lalisa?? Count me in.

22 years ago this week, Vanessa Carlton released the iconique “A Thousand Miles”. The song is about a Juilliard classmate she had a crush on who she would not name because they have become ‘a famous actor’ . There was speculation that it could be Glenn Howerton (Dennis from Always Sunny) or even Jessica Chastain. Someone in this Reddit thread (lol a reputable source when it comes to pop culture blinds tbh) said it’s Wes Bentley. The fan is in a Vanessa Carlton Facebook fan group where someone said she confirmed it in an interview a few years ago. Works for me. (Allegedly.)

💿 Welcome To My Island

Since 2019, I will take any and every opportunity to talk about my 30-something idol/crush/role model, woman who also grew up primarily in Connecticut, angel on earth, voice of our generation: Caroline Polachek. (Did you see her modeling in the Puppets and Puppets section above? Call it an Easter egg.) I swear the resemblance between her in the “Dang” music video and me at my SIXPOSIUM presentation was innate/subconscious.

On Valentine’s Day 2023, we were blessed with my favorite album of the year, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, and on Valentine’s Day 2024, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You: Everasking Edition was delivered. Now that’s the gift that keeps on giving!

“Spring Is Coming With A Strawberry In The Mouth” is probably my favorite newly-released song (complete with a “Blood and Butter” interpolation), “Smoke” is my favorite from Desire, “Welcome To My Island” my favorite to sing while driving, and I am wildly entertained by the partial inspiration behind “I Believe” – being moved to tears by a Celine Dion song while tripping in Italy. Also shoutout to Dido!!!!!

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