Weekend Reads for a Rainy April Saturday

April showers bring May flowers, but when the D.C. area is having freeze warnings and powerful winds at the same time as these showers, it does make it feel as though true spring is eons away.

On Thursday, I hosted my Spring Style Event at the Georgetown M.M.LaFleur. It was so fun, and I realized it's the first event I've hosted since the pandemic. How can that be? It's been five years since I've made any sort of public appearance related to Wardrobe Oxygen.

The pandemic hit this business, then my marriage, then perimenopause dropped in, I got a knee injury, then a back injury, my kid did a year of homeschooling, and then moved on to high school. I had my retina surgery, and my mom died, and my sister and I had to take care of her estate, and now it's spring 2025. Just as I feel as though I'm getting back into the swing of things, these tariffs will significantly hit any industries not yet affected by the federal layoffs, including blogging, content creation, influencing, or whatever you call this job I have.

So yeah, this was the first event since Lockdown, and it was awesome! I met folks who have been reading Wardrobe Oxygen since before my daughter was born, who own clothes I recommended or even owned and sold back when I was doing Poshmark, hair products I recommended for their curls, and a fragrance I recommended for their wrists.

Dear friends also came, as did folks new to Wardrobe Oxygen and one or two folks who didn't know me but are bug M.M.LaFleur customers curious about a special styling session (and corresponding event discount). Everyone was so kind; strangers shared email addresses and chatted about jobs, fashion, and life, and we all helped one another pick out pieces and sizes and gave honest feedback.

It inspired me to do more IRL things in 2025. I've been in quite a funk, and feeling overwhelmed by everything going on in our world, my personal world, and my personal business but interacting with some of you was so lovely, so inspiring, so uplifting.

My 20th blog anniversary is in June. For my 10th anniversary, a friend hosted a party and got brands to provide swag bags, and I did a bunch of giveaways. I haven't felt like doing similar, and June is going to be here before we know it, but it's not about the month, but the year.

So let me noodle on this, because I am proud of this community surviving two decades, and so proud of the very cool, smart, interesting, funny, creative, and special people who read Wardrobe Oxygen and follow me on social. Y'all are pretty badass, and I'd love to connect with more of you, even if we are not geographically close!

Weekend Reads

These 23 Black billionaires are worth a combined $96 billion. (Forbes)

The limits of fashion and symbolic gestures as political tools. (Ridiculous Little Things)

An algorithm deemed this nearly blind 70-year-old prisoner a “moderate risk.” Now he’s no longer eligible for parole. (ProPublica)

Fashion brand Wray is closing — why it’s a huge loss for plus-size shoppers. (Refinery 29)

Tracy Chapman wants to speak for herself. (New York Times – gift link)

Have you heard of FindHelp.org? Find free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more. Search by zip code. It's a good resource to have in your back pocket for yourself or to share with others.

What the Comfort Class doesn't get. (The Atlantic – gift link)

13-year-old accepted into 27 colleges, gets 7 full-ride scholarships. (Atlanta News First)

Are you an AKA or a Delta Zeta? Love pink and green? Check out the latest size-inclusive collection from Dressed in Joy, a collaboration with Britta Tabor.

Even companies that make clothing in America aren’t feeling great about stiff duties on their overseas competition. (New York Times – gift link)

I am lowkey obsessed with this neon yellow bag.

It’s Lauren Santo Domingo’s world. You can live in it too. (Washington Post – gift link)

Tariffs will hurt, but they won't kill ultrafast fashion. (Back Row)

See the new tartan pattern created to honor women accused of witchcraft in Scotland between 1563 and 1736. (Smithsonian Magazine)

Sex-fantasy chatbots are leaking a constant stream of explicit messages. (Wired)

Midlife doesn't have to be a crisis. (Gloria)

Sale Alert and Style Inspo

Chico's has their Spring Style event with 25% off full-price styles. My picks:

• Shorts: The Brigitte are 10″ long but not frumpy and get great reviews, and these denim trouser shorts look expensive and comfortable.
• Jeans: Chico's jeans are awesome. I like these wide-leg white jeans, these cropped white jeans, I own these wide-legs and they're a great spring/summer weight and look really cool, I own a couple of pairs of these classics,
• Linen: I am such a fan of Chico's linen; if in doubt size up for tops and size down for pants as linen can both shrink and stretch. This wrinkle-resistant shirt is a personal favorite; I cuff the sleeves 1-2 times and own several colors. Same shirt, but in pretty candy stripes. This dress would be so great for hot summer days and comes in petite.
• Tops: These refined tees are truly perfect, hold up well, and come in a range of colors. I own several Microfiber Tanks from Chico's, they're pretty awesome. And this Pima cotton bateau-neck tee is elegant, refined, and classic in great colors and for sale around $30.

M.M.LaFleur is having a spring sale with a lot of great pieces at great prices up to 40% off. Plus use code ALISON15 for 15% off your purchase. This is what I wore to my event Thursday:

jacket (14) | tee (L) | jeans/pants hybrid (14; used the interior snap feature to shorten to my height) | scarf (worn as belt) | earrings | lipcolor | tote | similar boots

The pants are made from what M.M.LaFleur calls “Better Than Denim.” Made from 96% organic cotton, they come in half a dozen different colors. There are snaps built into the hem to shorten the pants (either for flats and heels, or for shorties). The regular inseam is 30.5″ but there is a very deep seam if you wish to lengthen. How else I plan to style them:

• With the M.M.LaFleur sweater from this post as they're very similar and the same tone.
• With a denim shirt (any wash would work)
• With a black turtleneck sweater, leather belt, and boots
• With a white ground Breton top (obvious contrast so it looks purposeful) and colorful sneakers
• With a silky ivory blouse and wood-heel brown sandals
• I'm thinking I may head to Poshmark and look for a gently used Better Than Denim jacket to make a casual suit-like outfit. I've seen some in navy and black and a striped tee underneath would pull it together.
• With this muscle tee in Pink Berry and my ecru Birkenstocks from last summer
• With the black tee in the collage above and a black blazer (I have this one and like it very much)

See/Hear/Read

I know everyone is talking about Season 3 of The White Lotus (Max), and especially the finale. But really, this season was the best yet. And the finale was so well done. If you haven't watched this series, know you don't have to see the previous seasons to understand this one. And consider treating it like a book club, sharing the experience with friends. Get together for the finale and have plenty of time for post-watching discussion because it can get deep.

My husband and I started watching The Residence (Netflix) and gave up halfway through Episode 1. It felt too witty you won't get it intelligent private joke Wes Anderson. But then my friend Elisabeth shared she loved it so much she has watched the entire season twice. And that it didn't make her laugh out loud, it made her actually chortle. So we tried again. So glad we did. We're not yet finished, we enjoy spacing it out.

My husband said I must let you know The Residence is a Shonda Rhimes production. When you know it's by Rhimes (who also did Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and Bridgerton) and if you know her stuff, you likely will fall in love even faster. And if you don't know her stuff, stick around until you've finished at least two episodes; it does get better and the characters you're so annoyed with will make more sense.

For Your Entertainment

I went down a YouTube rabbit hole this week looking for today's music video. I came across so many artists, songs, and videos I'm turning it into a separate article for tomorrow. But I still needed a video for today! Opening YouTube, the Al Gore Rhythm knew I'd be down with a new video from Garbage, and I thought you would, too. The title is depressing, the lyrics are not. And below the video was this quote from lead singer Shirley Manson regarding the song:

“I love the title. The band sent it me and I was like, “This is great. I’m keeping that.” But the lyrics are an action against that title. Because if we allow our fatalism or our negativity to really take over, we will crumble. It’s about a city, in my case, Los Angeles, but it could be anywhere where bad stuff is happening. After the George Floyd murder, which is one of few things in my life that I wish I’d never seen: I was changed entirely by seeing the footage of that cop kneeling on George Floyd’s neck. In Los Angeles there were huge protests and a lot of upheaval after that. Above our house in Hollywood, there were helicopters all day long, for days on end. It was really precarious, chaotic and terrifying.” – Shirley Manson