MeTube: Fashion @MyFingertips

I know what you’re thinking—did I go on a buying frenzy? Well, I did learn the hard way that Sephora can take up to 3 weeks to get through Canada Post these days.

By Alyssa Saturley

Facebook Watchlist has been my single favourite social media hotspot for awhile now. In between Judge Judy doing her thing, whispers of joy-sparking advice from Marie Kondo, and all my favourite celeb chefs—a new topic has emerged: Me.

Thanks to shopping patterns, algorithms and cookies (the less delicious kind) what gets slotted in between my favourited groups and pages is the *most* fascinating, intoxicating stuff.

It started for me two weeks into quarantine when a Joe Fresh teaser for unapologetic Day Pyjamas shot across my phone. Are they going for parody? Is this really happening? Is Covid-19 going to ripple its way through society, firmly embedding itself not only into our current lives but pop culture of the future too?

Later that day, a quick second (okay fourth) glance at Watchlist answered my question.

Before my very eyes the most darling, effervescent young woman appeared. Situated in an unobtrusive corner of her home, cleverly consolidated rolling rack in place, Cristina Surdu captivated me with her playful accessorizing and surprisingly doable footwear.

With topics like Work Dresses and Easter, this Italian bellisima just makes me happy. She keeps her favourite regular shoes and bags on rotation so you come to know them, and seeing which one she’ll pick feels like my own personal Call of Duty (one that, let’s be honest, I can enjoy while escaping Homeschooling with little trips to the Water Closet).

The best part? Collaborations with everyone from Wish to Zara make her looks (or variations on theme) highly accessible to anyone with a Paypal account.

Bloomberg calls it “E-commerce Live Streaming” but I call it a great way to wind down after the little man hits the hay. Am I in the market for a $5.6M rocket launcher? Not just now, but I know where I can get one should the need arise. Her name is Huang Way a.k.a Viya.

I’m literally afraid to log onto her livestream shopping channel. Yes, I’m that suggestable.

From that day forward, total groundswell. I’ve watched Trinni Woodhall apply her lauded stackable finger pots of sparkly balm on the London tube.

I’ve stood (okay, sat...) in awe as the ingeniousness of a young graduate conjuring prom gown magic with duct tape washed over me like my first glimpse of Tom Thomson’s Autumn Garland. Is this dress not spectacular?

Closer to home, Canada’s own Mia Maples posted a neutral smoky eye tutorial back in 2013 that has spiralled into a lifestyle channel addressing the clothing, cosmetic, and home decor needs of nearly 3 million subscribers and growing. The combination of Goddess and the Girl Next Door makes for a riveting tonic.

I know what you’re thinking - did I go on a buying frenzy? Well, I did learn the hard way that Sephora can take up to 3 weeks to get through Canada Post these days.

I was feeling a little shortchanged one day when Instacart informed me that Superstore was sold out of Elf lavender face primer. All primer, actually. I’ve never used primer before (on my face) but apparently I can’t live without it.

Things brightened (other than my complexion) considerably when I fell down the rabbit hole that is Christina Randall. Her YouTube channel Jailhouse Makeup: How We did it! provided me with the attitude reboot I required. If you’re imagining young felons applying wet coffee grounds to their eyelashes, you won’t be disappointed.

In the now infamous cerulean sweater scene from The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep’s soliloquy on the evolution of design spoke truths about the pre-Covid world. Her argument, boiled down, is that everything we own started out as a sketch on a designer’s desk. I have to say, with what I’m seeing online, she’s in for a news flash. Style now begins on the kitchen table.

What will Fashion Week bring us from the streets and catwalks of Manhattan this September? Will Zac Posen return after his hiatus with an even more deconstructed face mask? Is Stella McCartney rolling out a line of vegan nurse clogs? Can you get more pret-à-porter than scrubs?

I can unequivocally state after all this that I have no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.

image: http://la-riga.com/custom-louis-vuitton-face-mask/