Eliza Brooke

1 month ago | elizabrooke.substack.com | Eliza Brooke

My first full-time journalism job was at Fashionista, one of the great internet records of the fashion industry. When I think about that time, I feel a pang of nostalgia so intense that I have to stare out the window for a moment or two, dramatically, to recover. I was in my early twenties in New York City, with a mandate to blog and a license to slink around backstage at fashion shows. For me, it was a feast.

2 months ago | elizabrooke.substack.com | Eliza Brooke

Everyone seems to be writing about Bad January in their newsletters, and I am no different. What a wretched heap. I’ve been oscillating between feeling electrified by anger at the new administration and finding myself as limp as a possum. For instance, I felt quite zippy while reading Brock Colyar’s scene report from D.C.’s inauguration parties, which focused on the contingent of Trump fans who are young, internet-savvy, and really excited about the idea of saying slurs.

2 months ago | elizabrooke.substack.com | Eliza Brooke

Before we dive into this week’s main event, some professional news: I have a new website! If you ever visited my previous site, you will know that it was a Tumblr page that just listed all of the stories I’ve written. It was (intentionally) lo-fi and (hopefully?) kind of funny, but I had outgrown it. The new one, designed by the wonderful Bonita Mak, reflects my present-day business much better — and in my preferred color palette of pistachio, tomato, and butter.

Jan 19, 2025 | elizabrooke.substack.com | Eliza Brooke

Like many people, I love those ads Nicole Kidman did for AMC Theatres. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, they play before the movie starts, and they became kind of an online sensation when they were first released. (Go treat yourself on YouTube.) The ads are a schmaltzy love letter to cinema, with writing so overwrought — and a performance so committed — that they go all the way around the bend from embarrassment to inspiration.

Nov 26, 2024 | yahoo.com | Eliza Brooke

My Quest to Make Shopping Fun AgainCourtesy of writerOn a leaden day in October, I stood in front of a mirror on the fourth floor of a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, getting my measurements taken for a pair of pants. The space was elegant and cozy, scaled as though for an intimate conversation at a friend’s apartment, except I was in the studio of designer Patricia Voto.