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Getting Married During the Coronavirus Outbreak Means Getting Amazingly Creative


Something old, something new, something borrowed, something six feet away from you—the coronavirus public health emergency has forced countless couples who planned on getting married this spring to make the difficult decision to cancel or postpone their wedding ceremonies. Sure, rescheduling a ceremony isn’t a tragedy compared with the health and safety crisis currently facing the United States, but for couples who dreamed of their weddings for years, spent their savings, or even hoped to honor aging parents and grandparents while they could, shelving a wedding is a wrenching decision.

For some couples, canceling or postponing was clearly the right choice. But for other couples, seizing the moment and getting married now—even if friends and family can’t be present, even if there’s no time for a dress or a corsage, even if the threat of death looms over everything—just feels right. Getting married during coronavirus is nobody’s dream, but it’s been some couples’ lovely, fragile reality.

On balconies, through windows, in the produce aisles of halogen-lit supermarkets—couples have consecrated their love and bound themselves to each other in the face of the especially dark unknown. Here are a few of our favorite stories of couples getting married during coronavirus:

The couple who got married on the street

Reilly Jennings and Amanda Wheeler were married on the street, out a window, in under five minutes, by a friend who also happened to be an ordained Universal Life Minister. After four years together, the Manhattan couple had planned to marry in the fall, they told The Cut, but realizing that one of them might lose her job and insurance, they decided to marry quickly. Wheeler, a fitness instructor at a boutique gym, finished teaching a virtual class from her apartment and showered, and they were ready to go. One bride wore a borrowed jumpsuit; the other wore a jacket. Their officiant read a passage from Love in the Time of Cholera out a fourth story window. The neighbors cheered.

The couple who kept their wedding kosher—by having it in a supermarket

On March 14, the Israeli government banned gatherings of more than 10 people at a time to limit the spread of the virus. The exception was grocery stores, where up to 100 people were allowed to gather. In keeping with that rule, at least one couple got married in a local supermarket, inviting guests and a full band to celebrate on the brightly lit linoleum. Meanwhile, in a city in southern Israel, guests maintained appropriate social-distancing standards at an outdoor wedding by dancing from covered balconies.

The couple who had a virtual father of the bride

It’s a stiff competition, but Joel Young may have had one of the weirdest months of any of us. Young spent a month quarantined with 1,000 other people on the infamous Grand Princess cruise ship. He was released from his tiny cabin just in time to make it to his daughter’s wedding in Arizona—only to be quarantined on a military base in California. “When I called her and talked to her, and told her that I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be able to make it, there were a lot of tears there,” he told Voice of America. The couple was not deterred. They located a remote-controlled robot, popped a tie on it, and dubbed it “Popabot.” Young attended the wedding from miles away through the robot, whose movement and vision he controlled. “You meet a challenge, you find the best solution you can. And you accept what it is, and you move on,” he said.

The couple whose neighbors rallied in support

Anastasija and Josh Davis canceled the DJ. They canceled the venue. They canceled on all the guests who hadn’t yet canceled on them. In deference to social-distancing rules, the Canadian couple got married in Josh’s parents’ living room in front of family and one friend, surrounded by white roses, Insider reports. Then, taking what they thought would be a short ride in their prepaid limo (to be fair, limos literally create a lot of social distance), they saw it—separated by their cars, their neighbors had formed a parade to celebrate the new couple. Friends and well-wishers waved pompoms and held signs with messages like “Nothing stops love.”

The couples who gave their weddings away

A couple in Yorkshire, England, fed their 400-person wedding feast of “hog-roasted sandwiches” and puddings to the hardworking staff of a local hospital. A couple in Miami donated their wedding meal, which they had planned to feed to 170 guests, to a local food bank. A couple in Austin donated their flowers to the senior living center nearby, where the bride’s grandmother and all other residents are in lockdown. A couple in Mississippi did the same. And one in Alabama. And one in South Carolina. And in Arizona.

No one dreams of getting married in a pandemic, but it is nice to know that there are still creative solutions, and generosity, and lots and lots of flowers.

Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour. You can follow her on Twitter.





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The Gig Economy Forces Women Freelancers to Get Creative About How They Calculate Their Rates and Value Their Time


Women are trapped in a bind—socialized to believe that the worst thing we can be is an inconvenience and at the same time made to compete in a workforce that punishes those who don’t name their own needs. Erica Greenwald, an event production freelancer, says that each time she’s asked to price her hours, she weighs her own financial concerns with the desire to make a good first impression on her clients. “You don’t want to come off as pushy or thirsty, because people make snap judgments all the time and you’re just trying to get a gig,” Greenwald says. “It all comes down to power dynamics, and sometimes I feel empowered to advocate for myself, but more often than not I accept what I can get.”

In other industries and in Silicon Valley in particular, there’s been a push for salary transparency—but Bolles, Salvo, and Cowan all say that for freelancers, talking money is still largely taboo. Justin Gignac, founder of the 65,000-member freelance platform Working Not Working, encourages the creatives he works with to share information about their rates to ensure they’re getting fair pay. He consistently finds himself urging the women he knows to up their prices. “I encourage the women in the room to say yes to the jobs you think you’re not qualified for and ask for the money you don’t think is reasonable, because the men you know aren’t afraid to do either,” Gignac says.

In 2017, Cowan reopened her photography business under the new name “The Blonde with the Smile” and again she’s navigating the minefield of putting a price on her time. Three months ago, a corporate representative called her to book a last-minute gig for an event, hosted by a software company at the Jacob K. Javits Center. Cowan was told that she’d come highly recommended and was asked to name her price. She floated $550 an hour.

“The woman on the phone was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ and immediately, I cringed,” Cowan says. “I was like, ‘Shoot, I’m going to lose this gig.’” But instead, the voice on the line told Cowan she wasn’t charging nearly enough. The male photographer she’d been hired to replace had billed $2,000 an hour, and that’s what the company was ready to pay. “That call changed the trajectory of my life. If I’d been on the phone with a man he would’ve said, ‘$550? That’s great!’”

Since then, Cowan has turned down offers that would barely cover her next meal. When she worked minimum-wage jobs, she was focused on how to make ends meet. Now that she prices out her hours, those rates are also tangled up in conceptions of her own professional value. Billable hours have to add up to more than the rent plus food. But those calculations are challenges (and opportunities) to assert that a woman’s time isn’t available at permanent discount.

Emma Goldberg is a writer whose work has been published in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Economist, ELLE, and the LA Review of Books, among other places. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

April is Financial Literacy Month on CNBC. To mark it we don’t just want to talk about the wage gap or the disadvantages women still face in the workplace. We want action—to the tune of $10,000. This month we’ll explore what women can do to net a cool $10K. That means strategies to save more and spend smarter, tactics to negotiate not just at work but on health care, home decor, and more, and stories to inspire your inner CEO.



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Khloé Kardashian's Fans Are Rallying Around Her in the Most Creative Ways


We’ve all seen the headlines from the Daily Mail and TMZ about Tristan Thompson allegedly cheating on Khloé Kardashian this week. No one involved has confirmed or denied anything yet, though that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from speculating about their relationship. Still, we don’t know these people personally—so until one of them comments, it’s best to take everything you read or hear with a grain of salt.

One fact about all this, however, is undeniable: Kardashian’s fans are incredibly loyal. It’s only been two days since these stories first popped up, and her followers have made it clear they’re sticking by her—regardless of what’s true and what isn’t. The ways they’ve rallied around her have been large, sweet, and very creative. Here are just a few things fans are doing to show they are unequivocally Team Khloé.

People magazine reports that several Kardashian fans showed up on Thompson’s home turf—a Cleveland Cavaliers game—to show their solidarity with her.

The 27-year-old forward was met with immediate backlash when he hit the court to play for a total of 30 minutes. Ultimately, the Cavs lost to the New York Knicks, 110 to 98.

Fans who couldn’t post up at the Cavs game last night are taking to Twitter to show their support for Kardashian. Most of their messages are various shades of “Leave Khloé alone.” Their posts are reminders that there’s still so much about this story we don’t—and may never—know.

No, Kardashian’s fans aren’t professional fact-checkers, but their messages knocking down false reports and trolls send an important message: Don’t believe every rumor.

Related Stories:

Khloé Kardashian Went All Out With Her All-Pink Baby Shower

Khloé Kardashian Gave Tips for Looking “Thin AF,” and I Kind of Expected More From Her

How Kris Jenner Reacted to Khloé Kardashian’s Pregnancy





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Céline Just Announced Hedi Slimane As Its Next Creative Director


When we learned that Céline’s hugely influential creative director, Phoebe Philo, would be leaving the brand after 10 years back in December, her replacement was a mystery. But it was finally announced on Sunday morning that Hedi Slimane, formerly creative director of Dior Homme and Saint Laurent, will take over as the artistic, creative and image director. He will oversee women’s fashion, leather goods, and accessories—and introduce menswear to the brand. Philo’s final collection will be shown in March, and Slimane’s first presentation of men’s and women’s clothing will take place in September.

“I am enchanted; what a great choice,” Karl Lagerfeld told WWD of Slimane’s hire. “It will be great.”

Slimane, 49, started his fashion career at Yves Saint Laurent before he was hired by LVMH in 2000 to create Dior Homme, where he was known for his sharp tailoring. Seven years later he made his way back to YSL and rebranded it as Saint Laurent, where he was criticized for featuring a shockingly thin model in a Spring/Summer ’15 British advertisement. (The ad was banned for being “irresponsible.”)

While at Saint Laurent, Slimane introduced his rock-and-roll style to the brand. “At Saint Laurent, Mr. Slimane became famous for collections seemingly aimed at the young and the fretless, including the musicians, models, and hangers-on he met in Los Angeles, where he made his home and where he relocated the Saint Laurent studio, The New York Times wrote in an article Sunday announcing Slimane’s hire.

Under Philo, who was named British Fashion Council’s Designer of the Year in 2005 and 2010, and the CFDA’s International Designer of the Year in 2011, Céline was known for making beautiful, androgynous clothing and leather goods for working women—though Slimane’s new direction might shift the aesthetic even more toward the millennial demographic. He’s moving fast, too: According to WWD, “the first freestanding Céline men’s boutiques are to open as early as 2019.”

According to the New York Times, Slimane will work from Los Angeles, like he did when he oversaw Saint Laurent. There will also be a studio and atelier in Paris, but Philo’s London studio will close.

Related Stories:
–Céline’s Phoebe Philo Is Stepping Down as Creative Director
–13 Genius Outfit Tricks to Steal From Celebrities This Winter
–6 Details That’ll Make Your Outfit Look More Expensive



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This Shape-Shifting Sex Toy Is Perfect for Creative Types


I had the most romantic night in bed molding voodoo dolls made from the guts of an exploded dildo with my boyfriend. It was so sweet! His doll even has a hat it can wear. I’m gushing, but the Dodil reminded me that we’re the cutest couple ever, even if we enjoyed ourselves for reasons other than prescribed by the manufacturer.

The Dodil is a dildo that you can mold to your own preferences over and over. The idea behind the product is that you get countless dildos within one, and can mold it to fit your body and mood. Prefer a spiral shape? The Dodil can do it. Interested in twisted tornado penetration? The Dodil’s got you.

I want to clarify that any melting of the Dodil was purely my own fault, and not the fault of the manufacturers. I went rogue with their nice toy and did not follow instructions. This aquamarine pleasure device comes tucked into a thermos with a very detailed instruction booklet. My first thought upon reading the instruction manual was, “This would be a truly depressing night if I were single.” The Dodil makes you work for the dildo shape of your choice. Unlike vibrators (the Dodil doesn’t vibrate) which are more or less instant orgasms right out of the box, you need to take your time with the Dodil. You have to run it a hot bath and then give it some alone time. After that, you have to massage it. And then you have to give it even more alone time. And then, eventually, you can put it inside you. Since I screw up the instructions on Easy Mac, I handed everything over to my partner (who is an excellent chef) and asked if he could “just deal with this.”

After boiling water, you fill up the matching thermos with it (be careful not to burn yourself). Then you plop the Dodil inside the thermos, pour out a little bit of the hot water, and screw on the thermos cap. (The instructions claim that you cannot use the thermos for food or beverage, but it’s so cute I was tempted to—it could theoretically hold a ton of coffee.) After the Dodil is happily relaxing in its bath, it needs to sit there for half an hour. When you take it out the countdown begins, as you have 20 minutes to mold it into whatever shape you like. The toy comes with an orange string that you can use to wrap around the toy and set it to your liking. The Dodil truly puts the “toy” in sex toy. Molding it is fun! It’s like grown-up Play Dough.

Now, the instruction booklet clearly states in step five of the third section: “Do not pull on the Dodil, rather squeeze and stroke, to make the inside material move.” However, it’s really tempting to pull on. When you’re playing with a malleable sex toy, the question “how long can I make this thing?” popped into my head so fast I can only assume it was instinct. I held onto one end; my partner held the other; and we pulled each side, giggling at our dildo tug-of-war.

And that’s when the dildo exploded.

The outer silicone cover burst open with a pop, and the lava-like inner core of (thankfully) nontoxic thermoplastic seeped out. If I had just spent an hour of my time trying to cook myself a dildo I would have been bummed, but my partner was there so it wasn’t exactly a necessity. That’s when we used the goo to make voodoo dolls.

Let me again be clear that it is entirely my fault for not following instructions, and anyone who does follow them could truly have not just one, but multiple orgasmic experiences masturbating with the Dodil.

PHOTO: Dodil

The Dodil in some of its variations (when used correctly)

Upon learning what happened to our Dodil, the company quickly and kindly replaced mine. For my second attempt, I was alone and just boiled it in a pot like spaghetti (the instructions say that’s chill). After it was finished cooking, I pulled it out of the hot water with tongs and sat in my bed with the hot orange string ready to create a dildo fashioned from my imagination. I squeezed (no pulling) and shaped it with the orange string in an effort to create a spiral. When it hardened—it took about an hour or two, but you can speed up this process by dipping it in cool water—mine looked like a strangled tadpole.

In conclusion, I am the wrong person for this toy. My dishes look dirty even after I wash them. My cats have better handwriting than me. Attempts at learning to knit have ended in snapped knitting needles. As such, I need my sex toys to deliver orgasms as quickly as possible with minimal effort, which is why I adore wand vibrators.

And it’s a shame, because the Dodil is multipurpose and has a really wonderful, silky-soft feeling. After it hardens into one shape, you can re-boil the toy and harden it into another for endless possibilities and a reasonable price point of about $95 USD for the whole kit (the company is Swedish, so it’s sold in euros from Dodil’s site).

The Dodil would have a good home with someone who excels at crafts and is patient. For those who suck at making macaroni and cheese and enjoy sex toys that don’t make you work for your orgasm, however, skip this one. Fortunately, even an exploded dildo can create a night of romantic bonding between you and your partner. We had such a good time with the dildo goo that I have nothing but love for this product, even if it fundamentally wasn’t the right fit for me.

More:

—With This Warming Wand Vibrator, Winter Won’t Be the Only Thing Coming

—The 2017 Glamour Sex Toy Awards

—`The 15 Biggest Sex Inventions of the Year



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