A mental deep breath.

This one is heavy on pioneering—and therefore forgotten—newswomen.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn recently that Rachel Beer, the first woman to edit a national newspaper in the U.K., is buried in the town I grew up in. Beer actually edited two Fleet Street giants—the Sunday Times and the Observer—towards the end of the 19th century, and delivered scoops on the Dreyfus affair. But her legacy, much like her initially unmarked headstone, had gone unacknowledged for decades. That’s until Ann Treneman, a columnist at the Times (of London), worked on honoring her at the start of the pandemic. The story of another pioneering woman in media, Alice Travis, also features in today’s newsletter, as well as the question of whether feminists can love fashion; an ode to the elegantly messy autumn; and a poem on the paradox of being human.

^ here’s a cat, for no reason at all. (I think he’s asking you to subscribe.)

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“Can I be a feminist and still love fashion?” Oh my goodness, I love this question! I say of course…but it’s complicated when you factor in supply chain inequalities and a lack of diversity among the top ranks in the industry. Regarding personal style, as Vanessa Friedman writes, it’s ultimately about agency. I don’t know if all of our style preferences can be completely removed from our conditioning. BUT, I think making choices in honour of our internal wants, over external shoulds (and, sometimes, reclaiming those ‘shoulds’), can make style and self-expression one of the best feminist tools. “Do your choices make you feel strong and like the best versions of you? Because in those feelings, real beauty lies,” writes Friedman. Related: “This… ‘stuff’? Oh, okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you.” This Devil Wears Prada scene is my Roman Empire. 

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“Forget the silveriness of winter—autumn’s golden sunlight gives you a flighty good evening kiss just warm enough to trigger an obsessive crush on summer, again. As if to welcome you to the night’s festivities, even though she can’t stay.” I’m making the case for autumn being the chicest season in my other newsletter. Sign up and read here. I make no excuse for the silliness.

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Maybe magic will save us all. That’s part of the premise of this postgraduate degree in occult and magic science at the University of Exeter. As more people ditch organized religion in the U.K. and other parts of the world in favour of spiritual practices (or no belief at all), interest in magic is…levitating (eh), the New York Times’ Jenny Gross notes. “If we are looking for truly new and creative solutions to the problems that we as a society face…let’s cautiously and responsibly try some new or some old ideas that we’ve thrown out,” Professor Emily Selove, who’s in charge of the course, told the paper.

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DING DING DING! Round one: The vintage wide-leg jean takes on the new “90s crop”. I’m extremely partial to a wide-leg moment…but I’m staying neutral on this one. By Colin Heasley.

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Alice Travis was Oprah before Oprah, the New York Times’ Maya S. Cade writes. Travis was the first Black woman to host her own talk show on a national platform in the U.S. and emerged among a wave of Black talent after the Civil Rights movement, but her story has largely been forgotten. “Who are these unknown Black women who walk among us and who without recognition march into eternity through the multitude of lives they have touched?” Travis asks, among a selection of other precious quotes in this piece. 

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You’ve heard of ‘Craigslist Confessionals’. Now, get ready for ‘Xianyu Literature’. Alibaba’s Xianyu is China’s biggest resale app, used by half a billion (mostly) young people each month. With a variety of items sold on it, users can find a tribe of like-minded buyers and sellers sharing not just their wares, but their stories, Rest of World’s Caiwei Chen writes. Some people get personal in listings, such as one guy who explained how he met his girlfriend after a jail stint…which is why he’s selling his laptop.

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ICYMI (I did): Barcelona city guides still have a couple of years until they can change the script for the Sagrada Familia portion of their tours. Completion of the Gaudí landmark is expected in (maybe) 2026, but a major part of its construction has been topped off as sculptures of all four evangelists now stand atop the building’s towers. It’s the architectural cherry on top of an un-iced cake, but after 140 years of building work, it’s a welcome milestone. Related: Here’s a timeline on why the project has taken so long.

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Finally, Jane Hirschfield’s poem on the paradox of being human feels like a mental deep breath.

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Thank you for reading. Share to sweeten someone’s day—and have a lovely rest of your week!

Isabel :)

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