gross hot strikes again
hot HEAD that is
hi gorgeous,
welcome to What Is This Regarding? where we take a critical lewk at wtf’s going on around us. one of my first newsletters ever was about my all-time favorite aesthetic: Gross Hot. You know the look. oiled up, over the top, and oozing va va voom all over everything.
lately, we’ve seen the fashun girlies parody + prioritize this lewk, from skims and nadia lee cohen to CPG brands like vacation (and everyone else who is ripping them off)
this aesthetic has given way to something coming just after the porny + corny greasy 70s/80s, the next gen of the legacy: gross hot club kids.
bare with me. my logic is that everything is a pendulum so naturally we’re all just doing the next thing… again. also tbh pretty much i everyone just wants to be julia fox so club kid aesthetic it is.
club kids come from a dance hall legacy, celebrating individuality in marginalized communities, people who find each other to form a chosen family. they exude SO much love and joy that it’s impossible not to feel it rub off, or maybe that’s just the roll-on glitter.
these spaces may not APPEAR “gross-hot” on the surface, definitely not nearly as obviously as glistening muscles or a tan so bright there aren’t enough days of sun in the year for it to be natural… but it is SO oppulent, SO individual, it can ONLY be described as hot. and because it’s often made with craft glue or an entire can of hairspray, it is, by definition, also gross.
the glamour served so abundantly by club kids in painted faces of yore and also of today suggest that we’re entering a post-aesthetic era, one that will be more fun, more fraught with chaos, and more honest than ever is upon us. and I am fkn here for it.
SO here for it, in fact, that I’m continuing the legacy of the party monsters who paved the way for all of us to wear glitter and/or latex in all situations. One where trash definitely = treasure. and i’m not alone, bc someone agress: PAPER MAGAZINE!!!!!!!!
today’s iteration of Gross Hot is this club kid meets craft club — the muppets pulling all nighters partying their fur off. it’s remembering that life is only worth living if we’re being maximum silly. Living life for the ha ha’s.
some may say it’s gross to lay in new york’s dirty snow. I will say it’s Gross Hot™.
<3
i love u like i love dreaming that someday JLo will be wearing hothead,
amy
Follow my brain dump @amymazius
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P.S.
THE WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY WILL BE CONTACTED VIA DM TO GET THEIR BAR OF SUDSY SOAP!!!! YEE THE FUCK HAW!!!!!