In just a matter of days, the coronavirus pandemic has drastically altered the American way of life. Many schools and restaurants are closed, along with museums, aquariums, and movie theaters.
On the positive side, we live in an age where technology offers us opportunities to virtually tour many of these spots from the Met to the Royal Opera House in London. Channeling our anxiety and pent-up energy into more productive and educational activities is never a bad thing, right?
To that end, here’s a running list of way to get your culture fix while you’re stuck at home, socially distance from the world.
Museums
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musée d’Orsay, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Tate, and the Art Institute of Chicago—those are just a handful of the museums who have online galleries available for viewing. Check out Google’s handy arts and culture home page for an easy guide. Or check out their social media pages for some art history lessons.
Art Experiences
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors: The Japanese artist’s exhibit has been traveling the country, but you can get a taste of what it’s like now via video.
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Banksy murals: Check out the street work of the mysterious artist from the comfort of your couch.
Symphonies, Plays, and Ballets
Vancouver Symphony: The orchestra’s final live performance (for a while) on March 15 was live-streamed and is still available for viewing here.
“I’ve been going to Fashion Week for years, and street photographers are still a big problem. They literally won’t take a picture [of plus women]. I know I look cute, but it makes you feel like you don’t belong there, or it was a mistake that you were invited to this place. Up until three or four seasons ago when brands began focusing solely on inclusive galleries, I was starting to feel like I didn’t want to go to Fashion Week anymore. People walk past you, or act like you don’t belong there. It wasn’t until designers started including one or two plus models in their shows—or really trying to make sure people know they’re inclusive—that I started getting moved me closer to the front row. It’s nice to feel included, but it’s also like, I know I’m just here as a token or a pawn. It’s somewhat more inclusive, but it almost feels like tokenism. It’s a double edged sword.” —Kelly Augustine, Owner of August Raye Boutique
Model and author
Courtesy of Leah Vernon
“One time I was in London during Fashion Week. I wasn’t invited to an actual show, but I was to an after party you had to RSVP for. I was there with another huge plus-size influencer in Europe, and another plus-size gal who works behind-the-scenes in the fashion industry. But when we got to the after party and pulled out our phones to show our RSVP confirmations, the woman didn’t even look. She just said, ‘Sorry, we’re not letting anyone else in. We’re at full capacity.’ People were literally walking out the door as she said it. We pushed back and asked to talk to her manager, where we had to wait five minutes for them to finally let us in. Of course, once we got into the party, it wasn’t close to capacity, and we were the only visibly plus-sized women there. Stuff like this happens too often when you’re plus size.”
“At Fashion Week, the seats are one long bench, and each ‘seat’ is a piece of 8-by-11 paper with your name on it. And one bum is supposed to go in each of those seats. I used to just move to the back row—and if you’re in fashion, you understand that sitting in the front row is a status symbol. It’s important for your publication, and it’s also important for you as a person. If you want a promotion, if you want to get poached and go work somewhere else, if you want to show that you are as important as the straight-size editor beside you, your potential new editor-in-chief needs to walk in to that show and see you beside your competition, not in the back hiding. I got to a certain point where I wouldn’t move. I remember one show where I had a quarter of my left butt cheek on the end of the bench, and I did a wall sit without a wall for the entire show. Fashion shows are only five to 10 minutes long, but still, that’s a long fucking squat. I was sweating and shaking, and in my head thinking, I’m not moving.” —Lauren Chan, founder of Henning and former fashion editor
We’re sick of brands pretending they include us—when they don’t
Writer
Heather Hazzan
“Sometimes I’m invited to events, like the launch of a new collection, and there’s nothing in the line that could fit me or any other plus-size person. My fashion writing revolves around plus sizes, so why would I cover that? Even worse is when a publicist tells me how size-inclusive a brand is only to find out their clothes just go up to a size 18. Newsflash publicists and brands: it’s not! And to suggest otherwise is incredibly offensive—plus size typically starts at a 14/16, so you’re barely even dipping your toes in the plus-size market.”
Fashionista editor-in-chief
Getty Images
“I realize that this comes from a huge place of privilege, but gifting [is a real issue]. I’ve always been somewhere between a size 12 and a 14, so anytime brands are gifting and I’m asked for a size, I respond with a range. Some of my favorite responses are, ‘It goes up to a 10, but it’s a roomy 10,” which, cool, thank you. A ‘roomy 10’ is still not my size, and also, what a weird thing to say. I think people mean well—they’re taught that to point out any kind of difference in size is rude. I get it. I often call mediums the ‘polite large,’ because if I get random mailers from people who haven’t emailed me for my size and they send me a medium, I know they went and looked at my social. They know I’m not a small, but they were scared to send me a large. If they asked, I would’ve said I need a large, and that’s fine.”
Writer and founder of Rascal Honey
Courtesy of Sarah Conley
“As a size 28, I am consistently pushing the plus-size industry to include larger sizes, which feels extra ridiculous. On a weekly basis, I’m approached by brands who want to work with me and even though I am very open about my size (it’s even in my Instagram bio), I often receive confused and callous replies from brand representatives when I tell them that I’m outside of their size range.”
If you’ve ever heard a clotheshorse friend talk about the glory of double-stick tape and rolled your eyes just a little, please call them up and apologize pronto. The stuff can work miracles. The basic variety at your local drugstore is good in a pinch, but actual versions marketed for wardrobe use have a bit more sticky power, and have become an essential for celebrity stylists who need to keep everything right, tight, and in place.
“Double-stick tape is the best resource—I love to use it for all sorts of things, like keeping a revealing neckline or a men’s tie in place,” says Cat Pope, who works with Anna Chlumsky. “It really adds that extra level of polish to a look. It’s my go-to for keeping bra straps and low cut tops in place. It’s reliable for when my clients are on TV and moving their arms or gesticulating.”
Most fabrics work well with double-stick tape. But there are some that can be tricky. “I would say velvet or embellished fabrics don’t work well,” says Pope. Nicolas Bru, who styles Sofia Carson and Fergie, wouldn’t recommend using it on wooly or rough fabrics, either. Another factor that might affect how effective your double-stick tape is? Your skin, according to Pope: “Things like lotion or sweat can make it tricky to hold.”
You don’t have to stay within the realm of designated wardrobe tape, either: Pope calls Topstick, which is technically grooming tape meant for hairpieces, the “most sticky and my personal fave.” Chloe Hartstein, who styles Kate McKinnon, Diana Silvers, and Antoni Porowski, agrees: “It comes in different widths, the adhesive is strong but not aggressive on skin, and it’s easily removable. You can stock up on it on Amazon!”
In case you’re still skeptical, we devoted some time to brainstorming every super-use we could think of—plus, asked some of our favorite Hollywood stylists for their best double-stick tape hacks. Check ’em out and then cross your fingers they never actually happen to you.
1. Fake a hem. If you’re in a rush to wear something before you’ve carved out the time to take it to the tailor, use a strip of tape to shorten the length to where you want it.
Edward Berthelot/Getty Images
2. Keep bra straps hidden. Banish peekaboo bra straps by sticking them to your shirt. Apply a piece of tape to the top of your bra strap and then push it into the interior of your shirt’s shoulder or strap.
You can be more on top of your sunscreen game than a Kardashian is with contouring, and yet somehow, some way, the sun will find you—always at the most inconvenient time and in a way that’s so brutal, you swear you’re never going to step outside again.
So even though we’ve already armed you with our best sunscreen recommendations and warned you that (like these poor souls) you’re probably putting your sunscreen on wrong, accidents obviously happen. It’s a long summer ahead. Prepare yourself for the worst by knowing how to treat a bad sunburn—and cover up the damage.
How to treat sunburn:
Stepping into the shower after a sun-filled day can feel like setting fire to your skin, but this is actually the perfect time to fast track the healing process. Before doing anything else, dermatologist Francesca Fusco, M.D., recommends popping an aspirin or Tylenol to immediately reduce inflammation and help with pain management. Then, take a cool shower and wash the burn with an aloe-vera-based cleanser like Naturopathica Aloe Cleansing Gel to remove grime and any sunscreen residue on your skin.
Once the area has been cleaned, apply a cold compress soaked in a mixture of milk and ice cubes to topically ease sore skin. “The cold temperature, the protein in milk, and the pH level will have a soothing and drawing-out-the-heat effect on skin,” Dr. Fusco explains. Try to do this immediately after a shower to combat pain before it really gets bad.
If you’re not about that tomato look, it is possible to keep a sunburn under wraps—you just need the right products. But perhaps to your surprise, foundation isn’t one of them. As hard as it is, fight the urge to put it on, and instead, begin with a light application of green-tinted color-correcting primer. Because green neutralizes redness on your skin, dab it onto the places that burnt the most (most likely the bridge of your nose and under your eyes). Just don’t layer it on too thick. Sheer is the way to go, otherwise, it’ll look caked-on.
How to conceal sunburn and tan lines:
First, step back and take a look at where your burn is the most noticeable. That’s where you’ll be applying a light layer of tinted moisturizer to further help tone down redness. Dubroff says to stick to cream-based makeup instead of powders, since powders are mattifying and could draw more attention to the areas you’re hoping to hide. “A sheer, tinted moisturizer with luminosity properties that’s one shade darker than your original skin color (pre-sunburn) works much better than any full-coverage foundations,” she says.
If your sunburn is less of an allover situation and more of a spot-treatment job, dab concealer onto only the reddest parts of your face. “Use a concealer with a yellow undertone on parts that are super-burnt to help blend it in,” Dubroff says. Translation: If you fell asleep with sunglasses on at the beach, dab concealer around the red ring surrounding your eyes to blend it into the rest of your skin color.
America Ferrera is a relatively new mom, but she’s definitely not a new activist.
She kicked off January 2017 by investigating the realities of health care access in South Texas. By that October, Ferrera had publicly joined the ranks of women saying #MeToo, revealing on Instagram that she was sexually assaulted when she was just nine years old.
This May, she announced the birth of her son, Sebastian Piers Williams, with husband Ryan Piers Williams, and by August, she’d shared with the world—via Instagram—a photo of herself smilingly nursing the baby in public to mark World Breastfeeding Week. In between, the “Superstore” and “Ugly Betty” actress lent her voice to the Families Belong Together movement in Washington. A daughter of Honduran immigrants, she denounced the separations of migrant parents and children as they tried to enter the U.S. via the southern border.
And, she’s no stranger to politics. Ferrera hit the campaign trail back in 2016, and now, true to character, she’s making a return in one of the most contentious midterm election cycles in history.
She spoke to Glamour about her civic engagement—and how we’ve failed at making voting accessible to all—during a recent visit to Nevada to campaign for Rep. Jacky Rosen, the Democrat trying to oust incumbent Republican Sen. Dean Heller and loosen the GOP’s grip on Washington. Here’s what she had to say:
It’s actually been 10 years that I’ve been engaged in getting out the vote for elections, and obviously everything’s different [now]. It really feels like everything is at stake. Everything that I care about, everything that I believe in, the idea that I grew up with about our country—who we are, what we are, and why we are—that’s all up in the air, and it feels truly like, this midterm election [will] be our opportunity to either negate what’s been going on in our country in this administration, or allow it [to] change the very fabric of who we are.
I am most concerned about the wealthy owning our democracy. [It] feels as if very real efforts to disable our democracy are underway. Between the way our rights as voters are being attacked, the way elections themselves are being gerrymandered… I really think that if we don’t show up in this moment, we will [have] missed potentially our last opportunity to really check this administration.
America Ferrera speaks at a Nevada Democratic Party gathering in Las Vegas ahead of the Nov. 6 election. Photo by Celeste Katz.
I think elections and politics being something that is hard to understand and untouchable is by design. I think it benefits the people in positions of power to make it so murky and hard to understand. What all these people in this [field] office do, and what I try to do from the position that I’m in, is to try and make it as easy to understand as possible, and as easy to engage with. There are real reasons why people are disenfranchised. I think the easiest and most beneficial [thing] to a lot of people in power to believe is that, “Oh, people are lazy and they don’t care, and they’re complacent.” But there are all kinds of genuine obstacles that have been intentionally placed to keep people from participating in democracy and mattering in democracy. Sure, when you look at your life and you feel like nothing about our government or the way the system is working is positively impacting your life, of course you’re going to feel disenchanted and cynical about those institutions. That’s only natural and human.
But what we have to remind ourselves, and each other, is that our democracy only works for us if we show up. Getting ourselves to show up and re-energizing people who have been on the margins for so long is the work we have to do to save our democracy right now, because power is so obviously concentrated in the hands of institutions that have been in power for a very, very long time. That’s what’s also so exciting [about] this midterm election, of course—there’s the gravity of it and the necessity of it, but we have an opportunity to wake up on November 7th and make history across the country. You know, the first female black governor in the history of the United States, the first Native American governor in the history of the United States, a majority female state legislature [in Nevada]. There’s so much opportunity to take what has been a very painful and truly devastating couple years and have some light come out of these elections—if we can harness people’s outrage and [get them to] take that to the polls and vote.
Regarding [low voter turnout in midterms], I think there’s a lot of reasons as to why that’s true, and I think the number one reason is our civic education in this country. It’s not accessible, it’s not made accessible, it’s not easy to understand, it’s not easy… You know, voting is the only Constitutional right that we have to register for, that we have to sign up for. [You] don’t have to register to exercise your right to free speech, or register to exercise your right to free assembly, [but] voting, for so many people there are a ton of obstacles in the way. [There have been] last-minute, blatant attempts to suppress votes—and mostly people of color—and this is not new to our history… It’s an illness, and our democracy cannot survive this way.
America Ferrera joins Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), a candidate for U.S. Senate, other candidates, and volunteers at a Democratic Party field office in Las Vegas. Photo by Celeste Katz.
Honestly, [this election] isn’t even about, for me, if it’s red or blue. [I’m] a Democrat. I’m a registered Democrat. But there are plenty of Democrats who need to go, you know? And I’m excited to see some fresh blood in the Democratic party, and I want to see good, decent people running as Republicans. I don’t think this needs to be a country where one party rules. I think we need a democracy that works, because we are doing everything in our power to make it work, to give people access to democracy, not box them out so that it’s easier to stay in a position of power.
One of my favorite and most succinct quotes around all of this is [from farm worker organizer] Cesar Chavez. He said, “We don’t need perfect [politics], we need perfect participation,” and if everybody shows up, and if everybody has an equal say and everyone’s voice matters and counts, [then] we can know what [our] country really [stands] for.
But, we know, in our hearts, that what’s happening in our country right now is not a result of everybody’s voice mattering and every voice counting and every vote counting, because there have been so many blatant attacks to really nullify people’s voices and votes and keep them home, or make their votes not count. And so we have to fix that, and I personally think that’s the only long-term solution…
What I’m saying is: It isn’t about who is the majority in Congress. It’s about, are people educated and enfranchised and resourced enough to participate in the government that purports to be of the people, by the people, for the people? We’re missing the people part—and not because people don’t care, but because we’re not doing our job as a country, as a culture, to make democracy work.
Celeste Katz is senior political reporter for Glamour. Send news tips, questions, and comments to celeste_katz@condenast.com.
In a pivotal election year, Glamour is keeping track of the historic number of women running (and voting) in the midterm elections. For more on our latest midterm coverage, visit www.glamour.com/midterms.
It says something that the biggest breakout star of The Bachelorette this season was a guy nicknamed Grocery Store Joe who left on the first night. While I get the attraction to Joe Amabile, part of me wonders if his popularity would have lessened had he stuck around long enough to ruin the illusion. Because let’s face it: The majority of guys competing for Becca Kufrin’s love were extremely good at digging their own graves.
Look at Jordan Kimball with his golden underpants and Blue Steel poses; he seemed to be there for fame, or at least a sponsored Instagram campaign. Then there’s David Ravitz, who seemed more obsessed with Jordan than Becca. Still, I’d rather have them than Chris Randone and his entitled whining or Jean Blanc, who said “I think I’m falling in love with you” then took it back as soon as it wasn’t reciprocated. These guys suck, but they’re no better, or worse, than many other past contestants—male and female—in the Bachelor Nation universe.
A real problem, though, emerged after this season’s premiere, when news hit that Garrett Yrigoyen, an early frontrunner, has a history of liking bigoted memes on Instagram. Once enough fans called him out, the contestant deleted the offensive account and created a new, sanitized profile before issuing an apology: “I am sorry to those who I offended, and I also take full responsibility for my ‘likes’ on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive,” he wrote. When asked about the controversy, Kufrin told E! News, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions…I would hope that [people] would stay open and respect me but also stay open and respect these 28 guys that went along on the journey with me.”
PHOTO: Paul Hebert / ABC
Becca Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen
Yrigoyen didn’t commit a crime—unlike Lincoln Adim, which we’ll get to—but he’s not the first contestant to face backlash because of social media. (Remember Lee Garrett and his tweets?) The problem is that it’s hard to root for Kufrin and Yrigoyen’s love story knowing that he once liked a post implying a school shooting survivor was a crisis actor. He was in the final two and, spoiler, won. This, for me, diminishes the fantasy the show thrives on selling. As Ashley Spivey (The Bachelor, Season 11) tells us, “When I saw Garrett’s likes on hating a liberal, which is what Becca is, I found it hard to believe their love story.”
Earlier this week, contestant Leo Dottavio addressed his own controversy. “There have been some recent stories about me that have garnered attention and I want to address them,” he wrote in an Instagram story. “I want to start by saying no one has ever accused me of sexual harassment. No one has ever come to me in any way and told me I made them feel uncomfortable. However, I am not a perfect person nor have I ever claimed to be.”
But that’s not the most troubling part of this season: That title goes to Lincoln Adim, the contestant who was convicted of indecent assault and battery. After that news broke, Warner Bros., the studio behind the franchise, issued a statement: “No one on The Bachelorette production had any knowledge about the incident or charges when Lincoln Adim was cast, and he himself denied ever having engaged in or having been charged with any sexual misconduct.” Warner Bros. added that the studio was investigating why the background check did not include this information about Adim.
Since then, he wasn’t invited to the dishy “Men Tell All” special, nor was the controversy addressed in any way on the show. Harrison told Glamour.com, “There really isn’t much to explain about Lincoln other than he lied, he deceived, he committed a crime, he’s not here, and he’s removed from the show and the franchise.” Kufrin says she “never” felt unsafe around him, with the caveat that she was always surrounded by people.
It seems incredible that something this serious slipped through the cracks, especially since Glamour.com talked to several former contestants, all of whom said the casting process—which includes a background check and mental and physical health evaluations—is very thorough. Nobody we talked to ever felt unsafe on set. Even so, that doesn’t excuse what happened.
“You’re supposed to be really transparent with [the background check] because they’re going to find out anyway,” Michelle Money (The Bachelor, Season 11) tells Glamour.com. “That’s why I’m really confused by this lack of information [with Lincoln]. Even if you lie, that’s their job to find out. I just think it’s really irresponsible.” (ABC and Warner Bros. both declined to comment on the vetting process.)
PHOTO: Paul Hebert / ABC
Becca Kufrin and Lincoln Adim
It’s hard to ignore that this could have been bad. As AshLee Frazier (The Bachelor, Season 17) points out, “You’re putting people’s lives at risk. Had Becca picked this guy [Lincoln] in the end, that’s not fair to her because he faked it all the way through and it turns out he could possibly hurt [someone]. Accidents do happen, but you have to be more careful.”
So, what’s next for the franchise? Going forward, how can they prevent this from happening again? We asked several former contestants and came up with six ideas, below.
Triple Check Contestants’ Social Media History
This seems like a given, but how else do you explain Yrigoyen getting through? Of course, it’s possible producers knew about it and cast him anyway—but this issue has caused blowback twice now, so maybe it’s time to take a deeper dive and a harder stance. “Even employers Google,” Robyn Howard Jenkins (The Bachelor, Season 17) points out. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t go through someone’s [social media] because you can find out plenty about them.”
Background Checks Could Include Talking to Friends, Family, and Other Associates
We got mixed reports on this while talking to former contestants. Howard Jenkins says she doesn’t know whether or not production talked to her friends. (“They didn’t talk to the girl that signed me up [for the show], which in my opinion would have been their first step.”) But Spivey says she remembers providing character references from former bosses and a landlord. “I think they talked to my family and friends,” she added. Whether this is common or not, it seems like a reliable way to suss out undesirable candidates.
Be More Sensitive to Potential Candidates’ Mental Health
During her season of The Bachelor, Money got the villain edit. She was able to shake it off—she later appeared on Bachelor Pad and Bachelor in Paradise—but that might not come so easy for others, even with the available on-set therapist. (Money says she talked to hers every week.) “My struggle always comes back to the way they edited me on my season of The Bachelor, which was so inconsistent with what really happened,” she says. “They’re really lucky that I had a strong sense of self to begin with. I wasn’t someone who was mentally and emotionally unstable enough to have it destroy my life, but it could have. I think [we should take] into account that these are people’s lives, and not all humans are strong enough to being portrayed as something they’re not. You have to be really sensitive to people’s mental health. This experience is a complete mind-fuck.”
Look Harder to Find People Who Aren’t in It for the Instagram
There will always be a contestants like Kimball to provide soundbites and humor on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette—but lately even the fan favorites may or may not be there for “the right reasons.” Of course, people can lie their way in, but recruiting quality candidates is one way to gate keep. “I think my season was one of the last where people were in it for the ‘right reasons,’ Frazier says. “It started shifting toward social media and wanting to be famous. Now I have a really hard time believing—not that they can’t find love, because I absolutely believe in that—but the majority that go on the show now aren’t there for anything but to find some celebrity. People from my season didn’t really care; some even went radio silent [once the show aired]. I think now more than ever, [the producers] really need to be careful because they’re pulling in different people.”
Reveal the Contestants’ Names Sooner
Hear us out: Every season, sites like Reality Steve reveal the names of contestants before the show airs. If the public had the names even sooner, they could do the grunt work of calling out problematic cast members. “I don’t see a negative to releasing the cast earlier,” Spivey tells us. “I think it would inject something new and different into the show that they haven’t done before. Maybe people can get behind a character more before a season starts. But it’s not only that: You find out things about the person that are wrecking the season while they’re airing.”
Set Up a Hotline
Spivey also suggested a hotline for people to call in to report contestants’ alleged abusive or sexually harassing behavior. “It’s not always easy for people to come forward in those situations,” she explains. “But I feel like a hotline is a great way to do that. Of course, you can’t just get the call and remove the person [after a season has filmed], but they might look into it more or maybe not figure the person prominently in the show.
Will these ideas solve everything? Probably not. After all, few people really know how the Bachelor and Bachelorette casting processes work or the decisions that are made behind doors. (Though many, including ourselves, have done our best to find out.) The point is this: The franchise has always had its ups and downs, but it’s survived this long by listening to fans. And what they’re saying right now is that The Bachelor and The Bachelorette‘s fantasy has turned into a nightmare.
Anna Moeslein is a Glamour Senior Editor. She writes The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise recaps.
