Latest Stories from Flo
Mattel introduces the first Transgender Barbie Doll
The new Barbie is modelled after actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, and is available for online purchase to mark her 50th birthday. Barbie has been a symbol of beauty, controversy, and femininity since Mattel launched the doll in 1956. First came ‘Barbie’ as many of us know her today – with flowing blonde hair, heavy makeup, and an impossibly small waist atop impossibly long, slender legs. In the 63...
What’s wrong with the commercialisation of Juneteenth?
You can already celebrate Juneteenth – a federal holiday marking the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans – with paper plates and party hats, thanks to a swathe of US supermarkets. It’s commercialisation reflects the sanitised version of America’s history that the holiday sought to re-write. Many were elated when Juneteenth was named a federal holiday on June 19th 2021. Like most Black American history, the day that enslaved African-American’s were emancipated...
Love Island is coupling up with second-hand fashion
Love Island – which has faced backlash for promoting fast fashion brands – has collaborated with eBay to dress this year's contestants in an entirely pre-loved wardrobe. Since it exploded onto our TV screens in 2015, reality hit ‘Love Island’ has drawn as much attention as it has criticism. The show has been sponsored by fast fashion brand ‘I Saw It First’ since 2019, but it’s been known for catapulting...
Balenciaga’s Paris sneaker and the problem with the ‘poor aesthetic’
Balenciaga’s latest creation is the stuff of nightmares – a £1,290 shoe that looks like it crawled straight out of a Wes Craven movie. But perhaps the scariest thing about these trainers is that Balenciaga thought it reasonable to launch them at all, co-opting a controversial ‘poverty aesthetic’ to sell overpriced products to wealthy people. No, you’re not seeing things. Those, muddied, shredded, just-been-mauled-by-a-dog-looking sneakers are Balenciaga’s latest footwear launch,...
How reading can improve our mental health
Warmer weather and longer evenings are finally here. A welcome respite from endless winter days, summer is often seen as a chance to get outside and focus on our mental health. And while it may not involve much physical activity, reading a book in the sun may be just the brain food you need. With the change in the seasons comes a change in priorities. Today this is largely driven by...
Can sustainable fashion exist at the Met?
The 2022 Met Ball was a show of sustainable fashion, with guests wearing an array of up-cycled materials, vintage looks, and small-name designers. But with all the stigma burgeoning around the event, has the Met established itself as a tone-deaf distraction from fashion’s biggest sins? In-case you missed it, the 2022 Met Gala took place last week, returning to its annual spot on the first Monday in May since Covid-19...
Opinion – the concept of ‘clean’ beauty is a myth
The ‘clean beauty’ industry has boomed in the past few years, and continues to rise as consumers prioritise ‘non-toxic’ and ‘chemical-free’ formulas. But if our bodies are composed of chemicals, why do we avoid them in our skincare? Nowadays, the words ‘clean’ and ‘beauty’ seem entirely synonymous with one another. TikTok has seen the rise of the ‘clean girl’ trend, whose proprietors are slicking back their hair, combing their brows,...
Opinion – Britney’s pregnancy marks happy end to tragic story
Spears’ pregnancy announcement was welcome news. It also marked the end of her 13-year-long conservatorship, which forbid her from having more children. Sadly, Britney’s story of fertility control is not uncommon. When the ‘Free Britney’ movement emerged with a vengeance in 2019, many were quick to slander members as conspiracy theorists. Britney Spears’ avid fans were convinced the singer was being placed under a legal conservatorship against her will, an arrangement...
Scientists make woman’s skin cells act thirty years younger
A breakthrough in medicine, skin-care, and anti-ageing research could be on the horizon: 53-year-old woman’s skin cells have been altered to look and behave like those of a 23-year-old. Scientists in Cambridge have stunned the medical community by altering the skin cells of a 53-year-old woman to the equivalent of someone almost half her age. Their strategy was developed from the cloning technique used to create Dolly the sheep...
What’s it like to live with synesthesia?
Do you associate certain colours with numbers and letters, or see time as a colourful shape? You might have synesthesia – one of the most weird and wonderful neurological conditions. When I was in my late teens, I asked my mother how she ‘saw a year’. In hindsight, this sounds rather bizarre, but at the time I was convinced I was asking a straightforward question. My mother’s bemused expression answered it...
