Tag: debra bass
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Harvesting California stories
My first byline from Southern California is appropriately about my favorite season: wine harvest. Many years ago, I lived in Northern California and worked for a newspaper nestled in Sonoma County. It’s ironic that I never covered the wine harvest during my three-year tenure at the Press Democrat, but now that I’m on the opposite…
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Millennials marvel over TV antennas because broadcast TV is still a thing
When the Wall Street Journal reported that millennials discovered a new “hack” to get free TV and they explained that the new “hack” was a plain old antenna, we laughed and laughed and laughed. I half suspected that this was an exaggeration. I don’t have cable. I own an antenna, although it looks more like…
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Guys red in the cheeks over Hanky Panky
OK, so in a newsroom that’s largely populated by men, I had to pitch a story on a woman who helped popularize thong panties. Yeah, awkward! Actually, I handled it a lot better than one of my bosses who could not bring himself to say, “panties” during the editorial budget meeting. This, of course, still…
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Bridal bubbles, budgets and backs
Every year it was a challenge to feature a pretty girl in a white dress and tell a different story. Some years worked better than others, but one of my favorite issues included our bride in a bubble because it was great imagery for the metaphorical bubble of bride brain that can be all consuming.…
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Men embracing the F-word
When I covered fashion I was always talking about the curious vanity sizing that accommodated women who all wanted a smaller size and men who usually wanted a larger size. “Small” shirts are never plentiful in the men’s section but you’ll find tons in the women’s department. And the size is really only relative to…
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Should nipples really run free?
This was a tricky story to write because my first reaction to the notion of women walking the streets topless is, “nope,” not interested in seeing that. That’s usually my reaction to guys walking topless, too. I mean maybe if there were an office that handed out permits based on aesthetics and strict adherence to…
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St. Louis has fashion houses?
Technically, yes, St. Louis has many many fashion houses. As do most towns with enough population to sustain a few sports teams. These houses are no Valentino or Chanel, but everyone started somewhere. It was fun to talk to these companies because they’ve all been asked with incredulity, “Why St. Louis?” and “Will you…
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Milan, Paris, New York … St. Louis?
I write a lot about the potential for St. Louis to become a viable fashion hub and I don’t really think people take me seriously. So I was thrilled when St. Louis Fashion Week announced the creation of the Midwest Fashion Conference. When people hear the word fashion they usually think “frivolous,”…
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Scary battles silly and sexy every Halloween
This Halloween feature first appeared in my paper at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (check it out because there’s a cute behind-the-scenes video by yours truly on our site) and then it started popping up at the Chicago Tribune, the Pueblo Chieftain (which is apparently in Colorado), the Texarkana Gazette and the Pioneer Express among other places. So a…
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I promise, I won’t let this go to my head
My blog is now multi-award winning and I know that it’s got everything to do with multimedia (thanks to the editors who coerced me into doing more videos). I inconceivably beat out The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog to win Best Entertainment Blog, https://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/editor-publisher-announces-the-2014-eppy-award-finalists/, among news sites in the division of 1 million unique…
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When skies turn gray, your wardrobe shouldn’t
I don’t really think many people look good in gray. It’s an odd hue that doesn’t compliment many skin tones, but it’s comforting. There’s something anonymous and cozy about gray. It immediately reads as mature and appropriate. I think it’s mostly boring. Except for a slim fit gray men’s suit paired with a crisp, white…
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The hypocrisy of vanity sizing critics
I’ve written about this topic before but it’s rarely from the most popular perspective. People love to hate vanity sizing, but the logic is topsy-turvy. People want companies to use the “real” sizes instead of trying to trick people into buying more because they feel an ego boost from a smaller size.…
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Tribal is the new neutral
I didn’t plan for this to run on the Fourth of July, but I wish I had. I didn’t panic and resort to some compilation of red, white and blue. I didn’t even have to rewrite any of the copy to make it fit with the holiday. But I did add the subhed (the line…
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#STLStreetStyle video series
I love that it gives you license to stare at total strangers without the fear that they’ll catch you doing it.
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You don’t have to be pretty
There are many ugly truths about being female in this world. It’s 2014 and there’s still much progress to be made. To be female comes with a list of expectations about femininity that can feel oppressive. The most egregious expectation is that we should always strive to be pretty and if possible, very pretty.…
