The Curiosity Dispatch - #012

10 things I’ve consumed, discovered, bookmarked, lusted over, etc to expand your search terms, outlook, desires, personality, knowledge

Eartha Kitt, 1968.

Happy Friday, friends!

If you’re new here, welcome to “The Curiosity Dispatch” — a weekly round up of things I’ve consumed, discovered, bookmarked, etc etc. This year we’re concentrating on developing our personal style/taste/world through getting curious. That means breaking past the algorithms, going down rabbit holes, trying something new, revisiting something we don’t like, and seeing where our thoughts and feelings end up on the other side.

With February being Black History Month, I thought I would make this week’s edition focused on 10 of my favorite Black creators that inspire me in the art, food, style and fashion corners of the world wide web. We owe so much to the Black community for not only birthing, but nurturing the majority of the cultural norms/trends/customs/rituals/traditions we observe in America today.

In the pursuit of knowledge/wisdom/know-how and developing personal style, diversifying my digital (and IRL) consumption has not only prompted me to continue to self educate/self reflect, but has broadened my knowledge and extended the boundaries of so many topics that are new to me, my world and the environment I was raised in.

This list is just! a! tiny! baby! small! highlight!!! of some of my favorite folks to follow.

Let’s dive in.

1. Amanda Murray | @londongirlinnyc

   

   Probably my favorite “fashion” follows on the internet. When Amanda posts to her stories, I am immediately seated and ready to listen. She has incredibly thorough and extensive knowledge on designers, collections, celebrities, culture, and regularly does deep dives into some of the biggest moments in pop culture history and the people and clothes that shaped them. I frequently find myself referencing something I’ve learned from her and Mike is very used to hearing me start a story with “Well, LondongirlinNYC was talking about XYZ the other day and did you know…”
   
   Her personal style is refined, distinctive, and purposeful. You can tell she puts just the right amount of thought into every piece she wears, even if it’s something casual like jeans and t-shirt. I have screenshotted so many of her looks to reference when I’m getting dressed and feeling unmotivated. If you’ve been wanting to be moved by fashion but find the majority of outlets you follow letting you down, I would highly suggest diving into her world. She’s also a fellow May Taurus girly, which is the icing on top for me ♉

2. Symone | @the_symone

   

   We can’t talk influential style without mentioning the season 13 winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Symone. She’s beauty and she’s grace, she’s the Ebony Enchantress!!
   
   If you’ve never watched Drag Race, I would highly recommend starting by watching her season (or you can at least watch this YouTube recap of her journey.) Witnessing her find strength in her voice, step into her confidence, and utilize her power was not only deeply compelling to watch, but highly motivating to those of us who feel shy to really showcase our inner artist and freak! I tend to always fall for the “look queens” but Symone has it all - style, humor, swagger, and killer dance moves. Drag is art, and I am always inspired scrolling through their Instagram and seeing the thought that goes into every red carpet, show, and party look.

3. Sophia Roe | @sophia_roe

   

   Sophia is one of the few people where my queer soul is very torn between having a “legitimate heart palpitating very very gay” crush on her versus a “holy shit you’re just so freaking cool” girl crush on her. Either way, she’s really, really fucking rad.
   
   I love how candid, emotional, sincere, and straight forward she is about her upbringing, trauma, forging her own path, and the stress of living, surviving, and thriving in these certainly crazy times. She is lucidity among the insanity and her cooking videos are therapy in and of themselves. I love seeing other people’s creative processes, thought patterns, and experimentations in refining their art and while I’ve never physically tasted her food, I can tell she is mastering her gift. Just don’t watch her videos when you’re hungry because it’s torture lol

4. Chrissy Rutherford | @chrissyford

   

   Warning: following Chrissy will make you suddenly wish you were splitting your time between New York and London. Or maybe that’s just me.
   
   While I love Chrissy’s very chic, very classic style, I really love following for her down-to-earth personality, self reflective writing, and deep love for astrology. Her newsletter, FWD JOY, focuses on finding purpose, self care/wellness, and diving deeper into astrology/human design/etc for self discovery. There’s just something about her vibes that I feel drawn to, and when she’s got a video or story with sound, I will actually make the effort to turn my phone off silent and listen!!

5. Lewis Hamilton | @lewishamilton

   

   Lewis Hamilton is one of those people where you enviously wonder how they’re good at absolutely everything, no matter their experience level, no matter how hard it is. Lewis is just the epitome of cool cool cool.
   
   Not only is he the most successful and only Black driver in the history of Formula 1, but he’s also the best dressed (in collaboration with his stylist, Eric Mcneal.) While I follow Formula 1 fairly closely, the real highlight of every race weekend is seeing what he’ll wear upon his arrival. I hope he does something in the realm of fashion when he eventually retires because unlike a lot of celebrity collabs, I feel like he could do something genuinely unique and creative given his sincere interest in clothes and giving a voice to indie and diverse designers.

6. Yaminah Mayo | @spicy.mayo

   

   Speaking of cool cool cool, Yaminah is a *vibe.* Her stories, humor, commentary, memes are always top tier funny and her style is approachable but uniquely funky and fresh. I love the silhouttes, color palettes, and textiles she mixes together and frequently screenshot her outfits for inspiration and things to hunt for on The Real Real late at night.

7. Tiffany Thompson | @tiffanylthompson

   

   Even though I feel Tiffany’s interior design style is more sexy, sleek, minimal, luxury than I tend to lean towards in my personal life, I love watching her creative process, attention to detail, and precision in design. She’s another person who seems to make magic with everything she touches and she has this razor-sharp yet subtle confidence that comes through when she speaks about her talent, expertise and work that I find very inspiring and motivating as I try to find and strengthen my voice. (Her significant other, Julian Gaines, is an incredible artist, as well. Talk about a power couple!!)

8. Cristina Martinez | @sew_trill

   

   Speaking of art, Cristina Martinez is an Afro-Latina artist out of Tacoma, WA that beautifully showcases Black and Brown resilience through figures, florals and color. I love the glimpse we get of motherhood, family, and creating a space and home that encourages, play, imagination, and creativity. Her significant other, Al-baseer Holly, is also an artist. I think they’re a great example of how you don’t have to sacrifice who you are and your aesthetics because you have children. They’ve made a space that feels very welcome to messes while being uniquely them and it comforts the perfectionist in me.

9. Eric Adjepong | @chefericadjepong

   

   Not only are we a Top Chef household, but we do love a good, cheesy Food Network show. And I’ve been happy to see that Eric is rising in the ranks of chefs hosting new shows because I could listen to his soothing voice all day! This is another case where I wish you could taste food through the screen because his food always looks incredible and my nose tingles at the thought of what magic it must smell like. He’s currently working on his first cookbook, which I will be buying immediately.

10. Brandon Graeter | @petshopboy

    

    Last, but certainly not least, my favorite of favs, petshopboy. I was introduced to his side splitting/deeply funny/wonderfully snarky Instagram stories years ago by my dear friend Gianna, and I have been thrilled to watch his internet presence bloom over these last few years.
    
    If you love Bravo and the housewives, you will love him and his commentary on just about everything. If you don’t know where to start, he has highlights on his page of some of his best work, including a saga about him falling for a cowboy, which I follow very, very closely every time there is an annual update. His takes are so spot on, I would follow him pretty much anywhere. He also gets serious when he needs to, and is a great voice for the importance of voting, protecting LGBTQ+ rights, and calling out hate. I would also recommend his podcast.

Well, there you have it. Again, this is just a smol baby list of some of the people I admire and look up to in their corners of the internet, who have helped me expand my world views, style, taste, interests, and experiences. Who are some of your favorites? Let me know in the comments✨

As always, thanks for reading. I’m glad you’re here.

I’ll be back next week sometime.
Until next time,
xo,
G