speedo summer and side parts
+ status totes and a month-old stew
Hi, Ilze here. My feed is telling me that astrology’s having a moment. Think about it—knowing your moon and rising signs isn’t just for the die-hard Co–Star girlies anymore. Just recently, a friend of a friend brought me a drink at a club—when I said “wow, that’s so nice of you,” he goes, “of course I did, I’m a Taurus.” Also, along with birthday wishes this year, I got a few cheery fellow-Taurus high fives.
I once wrote a coursework on how astrology helps people cope with constant uncertainty and the burden of infinite possibilities. Maybe that’s part of why Christianity is currently gaining traction among Gen Z in the US too? So I couldn’t help but wonder (read that in Carrie Bradshaw voice)—are we all becoming more spiritual? I mean, if Co–Star tells me to drink wine today, I’m gonna do it. Ain’t playing with the destiny.
🗞️News
Guilty pleasure alert: Ginny & Georgia Season 3 drops on Netflix today, June 5.
Napoli on the Road in London crowned the Best Pizzeria in Europe 2025
Taylor Swift has officially bought back rights to her records.
Hailey Bieber’s brand ‘Rhode’ has been acquired by e.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion.
The legendary Parisian burger joint Dumbo opens in London
Wolfgang Tillmans exhibit opens in Centre Pompidou (13 June - 22 Sept) with a curitorial experiment. Last visit before Pompidou’s renovation commensing on Sept 26.
Too lazy for a run, but can’t loose your Strava clout? Behold, the Fake My Run app.
Tinder’s catching heat for trialling a height filter, letting paying users pick how tall their matches are. But Hinge has already been doing this for its paid users, so why the fuss?
This WWII bunker-turned-club in Germany was just named best sound system by RA.
Adults, the new sitcom dubbed “Friends for the TikTok gen”, isn’t pulling great reviews—but it did manage to get a few laughs out of Ilze.
PSG win Champion’s League in a historic 5-0 result against Inter-Milan; but resulted in a violent ‘celebration’ in Paris.
Formula 1: Max Verstappen is on the verge of a one-race ban after he seemed to deliberately collide with George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Gukesh Dommaraju defeated World No.1 Magnus Carlsen in chess tournament, with the Norwegian punching the table in frustration at the loss.
Kai Cenat’s four-day “Streamer University” boot camp mixed lessons and content challenges for aspiring creators, drawing millions of viewers on participants’ Twitch channels. Cenat allegedly turned down offers from Netflix and Amazon for the show.
🧂Trends
Return of the Side Part
Yes, indeed - the tyranny of the middle part may be soon over. The younger Gen Z (and some older Gen A) are ‘experimenting’ with the side part again.
The side part is creeping back in; trend cycles tend to loop every 15–20 years, so this early-2000s hair revival is right on schedule. Middle part supremacy might finally be facing some competition.
Time to stop fighting that cowlick.
Speedos
With shorts getting shorter across the board, swimwear’s following suit: trunks are shrinking into briefs. Speedos aren’t just a “gay” thing anymore.
#BootsOnlySummer
Noticing the rise of #BootsOnlySummer —the trend of wearing studded football boots (aka cleats) as everyday shoes (Rosalía wore them with long white skirt)—footwear giants are jumping in. Adidas was first, wrapping the Adidas F50 Adiframe studs in a translucent casing. Now Nike’s joined with its Cryoshot football line reimagined as trainers.
Trader Joe’s tote bags
The US grocery chain’s tote bags are where we pack our hummus and berries for a park day. Just open Vinted—Trader Joe’s totes are in hot demand. In April, Americans went wild for TJ’s limited edition $2.99 mini-totes, flipping them for up to $70 on eBay. Other status totes are more about signalling cultural clout: Mubi, V&A, and iconic European bookstores like Daunt Books in London. Speaking of London, totes from buzzy food spots like Jolene, St John, and Forno are part of the rotation too.
Perpetual Stew
Perpetual stew is bubbling back into trend territory. It’s a “medieval-style” soup that never stops cooking, with people adding new ingredients as it simmers for days, weeks, even months.
First made viral by Annie Rauwerda’s deep dive (and trip to Bangkok’s infamous perpetual stew), it’s now got TikTok foodies brewing their own endless pots.
Gross? Maybe - but if it’s always kept hot and simmering, it’s allegedly safe.
EPIC: The Musical
We mentioned social media collaborative projects briefly back in the early days of PTS, but one that has really blown up is EPIC: The Musical; with over 30 million streams (on average) per song. Songs like “Love in Paradise” and “Would You Fall in Love with Me Again” have gone viral on TikTok, gifting EPIC traction beyond its existing fanbase.
Originally created as Jorge Rivera-Herrans’ graduation thesis, EPIC is a concept album adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. The story is told through nine “saga” albums, each representing a different part of Odysseus’s journey, blending genres from orchestral to pop and rock. The final saga dropped Dec. 2024.
The snowball of attention for this project started in 2021 thanks to TikTok. Rivera-Herrans entire creative process - from songwriting to casting to marketing - all done through/on social media.
Quarantine Zone
“Quarantine Zone” is just a demo atm, but Twitch streamers are playing it like it's the next big launch - honestly, you'd think the dev was handing out checks.
It’s part of a growing wave of simple, oddly specific simulators that are taking over gaming streams. It’s no F1 sim or GTA in popularity per se, but these low budget sims are definitely having a moment.