ISSUE 12: INs & OUTs 2024
I'm not a trend forecaster, but maybe I am.
Good day, readers!! Welcome to 2024.
We’ve been in it for a little over a week now and I have to say I have yet to fully blast off which I’m gonna let myself off the hook for because we’re still technically in Mercury retrograde shadow aka not quite full steam ahead.
I’m excited to be back and send you all some words!!!! If you’re new here, welcome.
Let’s “get into it, yuh” - Doja Cat.
2024 INs, OUTs, and PREDICTIONS
You’ve seen the IN and OUT lists circulating about. And now, we are going to take a long-form deep dive into mine if you even care.
I love reading people’s IN and OUT lists because sometimes they can be insightful but also, sometimes people spill a little tea or subtweet someone and you’re thinking oh what’s THAT about?? They’re like:
OUT: Telling your deepest darkest secrets to an elephant who ends up becoming a flying sensation around the circus world, leaving you with peanuts.
And you’re like, Damnnnnn Dumbo is in some shit with his girlfriend!!!
You know?
I’m going to structure this as a traditional IN/OUT list, but it will be longer and I will elaborate on some things more. Because we like to chat here. I’m going to group by category and pair any related IN/OUTs with each other.
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO:
STYLE & CULTURE
IN: Berkeley Mom-core
OUT: All other previously trending -cores
We experienced coastal grandma, then a resurgence of early 2000s hell, and this year? It’s all about Berkeley Mom-core. I have always kind of dressed this way, but now I will be LEANING into it. See pic below of Berkley Mom-core:
Fit check:
Chunky knit sweater (this is my prized possession from The Knotty Ones, which are handknit by the cutest Lithuanian knitters you’ve ever seen. I bought this when I worked at a sustainable clothing designer boutique.)
Thrifted Calvin Klein mom jeans that I got in Austin, TX
Fanny pack (one I have is from Andar, gift from friend who works there!!!!)
My Salomon Cross-Trek hiking boots (it was legit an accident I wore these because I couldn’t find any of my other shoes since everything was packed still from holiday travel, so the universe was like haha bitch you wanna be a Berkeley Mom? You’re wearing your hiking boots to Venice.)
simple gold jewelry
sunnies (mine are from CRAP Eyewear)
So you may be asking, what makes this Berkeley Momalicious?
➡️ Thick sweater or t-shirt that is basic yet high quality, like $100 BEFORE INFLATION.
➡️ Jeans, a classic staple. I don’t need to speak on this.
➡️ Hiking boots, which mean you’re always ready to run if your dogs get off-leash while you’re on your midday walk in the forest, on a break from the biotech job people are surprised you have.
➡️ Fanny pack, to strap your valuables down when you need to lift your child out of the car seat and drop them off at bug camp.
Overall, BMC is comfy, accessible luxury tossed in dead leaves and ready to run. And it’s IN.
IN: Emerald Green accents in fashion
OUT: Red accents in fashion
I genuinely think I am a trend forecaster because I really wanted emerald green crocodile booties and then I saw a hip brand come out with that exact thing. We saw red “pop” this past year, but I think we’re gonna be seeing a lot of emerald green coming up. Watch this space.
IN: Reneé Rapp Fandom
OUT: Taylor Swift Fandom
Ok, Swifties - don’t COME for me. I’m talking about societal shifts here. In 2023, we saw culture (and the economy) explode from Taylor Swift (and Beyoncé, but B is always IN, so she is affectionally exempt from this conversation).
And trends swing. And let me just say, I think we are all about to swing for Reneé Rapp. Coming up as a musical theater firecracker and playing Regina George in Mean Girls on Broadway, Reneé has gone on to star in Mindy Kaling’s Sex Lives of College Girls (love), produced a ton of music (her voice is insane), and is now reprising her role of Regina George in the Mean Girls Musical MOVIE which debuts this coming weekend (Jan 12). She is also hosting the first SNL episode for 2024. Reneé is queer, kind of intimidating, and extremely hot and talented. WE LOVE THAT. I’m inspired. And I think the world is about to catch on to how awesome she is and there will be no going back.
FYI, I’ve had this item on my list for weeks, and the day I’m writing this, Vanity Fair drops this caption:
Ya, it’s her YEAR, people. IN.
Now, some more vulnerable ins and outs.
SOCIAL NORMS
IN: Solid friendships that do not require excessive scheduling
OUT: Making plans with friends becoming WORK
I still feel somewhat new in LA, and I do have friends I’ve made doing comedy classes who are wonderful little gems. However, my college besties/post-grad are still kind of congregated on the east coast. They’re the friends who I could call in the past and be like “hey what are you doing in 5 minutes wanna get dinner?” This reminds me of
’s article on why we’d all be happier living closer to our friends.In LA, I’m still in a position where I feel like I need to send a Doodle to my friends to check availability and I can’t just like assume they want to hang out with me at the drop of a hat.
I feel like a lot of people have this dynamic with some friends, and I’m not alone. I think we have somewhat evolved to be afraid of imposing on each other (GOD FORBID WE CALL SOMEONE ON THE PHONE WITHOUT NOTICE).
Well, I don’t care anymore! I want to engage more with people this year and deepen friendships. So if I text you to hang out randomly, you’ve been warned. LET’S JUST HANG OUT ON THE COUCH!
That leads me to my next trend.
IN: Connecting with people IRL who you kind of know or only know from the internet
OUT: Not saying hi to someone who see in person or asking people to get together in real life
I’m sure this is true for a lot of communities, but in the LA comedy community there are definitely people you know of/know who they are but have never spoken to. I’m not super outgoing with strangers, so similar to my friendship renaissance am going to make more of an effort to say hi and get to know people in real life.
I did this recently with someone I’d only ever talked to on Instagram and they were like “wow, thanks for being a normal person and saying hi in real life!” So yes, I’ve tried it, and it works, everyone! I did see Owen Wilson at a café once and I did NOT say hi to him, but I imagine if I did he would’ve said, “wow.” Go say hi to someone you kinda sorta know!
HABITS & LIFESTYLE CHOICES
IN: CARPOOLING
Look, I get it that if you’re in LA or another big city, your friends are spread out. But what if we low key reduced our emissions (haha actually it would do nothing because Big Oil) and got to spend more QT together by carpooling to work, events, or festivities? Think about it, it’s hella romantic if someone says “I’ll pick you up.” You’ll pick me UP? Omg thank you, I feel nurtured. Let’s fucking NURTURE each other and CARPOOL.
IN: TRAVELING BY TRAIN
I think this is going to be a travel as well as commuting trend. We’ve got doors blowing off planes in the sky, and I feel like train travel will become more popular as people seek to slow down the pace of their lives on all fronts.
IN: NEWSLETTERS ;) and COMMUNITY MEETUPS
OUT: SOCIAL MEDIA HELL
No bias, but I think everyone is tired and psychologically destroyed because of social media. I could see the pendulum swinging to people craving more longform content (like newsletters!) and attending in-person hobby-centric events like writers salons, reading salons, cooking classes, etc. It appears that there are trendy “reading parties” that happen in Brooklyn, and this is exactly the type of thing I’m talking about. We’re gonna see more of it!!!! BTW, I am so tired of Instagram, friends. Also I hate how when I post about how the algorithm is doing me dirty, Instagram knows I’m posting that and further dirtiest me. But this is a newsletter so I can SAY THAT. FREEDOM.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Ok, sorry to bury the lede of this entire newsletter’s existence but here we are.
Héalth & Wellnëss.
IN: Posture maintenance and physical therapy as PREVENTATIVE medicine
Typically people will only go to PT if they get injured. (Or if you’re me, a male sports doctor will gaslight you that you don’t have a stress fracture in your foot even though you do and you WON’T go to PT - that’s another story). But I anticipate more people finding either boutique studios or at-home solutions to improve their posture and mobility before they (hopefully never) get fucked up. We already have the burst of Stretch Lab (an assisted stretching studio) and Myodetox (myofascial treatment and corrective exercises) on the uptick, so I could see this expanding more. (Side note, I really want to try Myodetox…my sign up is imminent but like wouldn’t it be cool if they asked me to try for free? Cuz it is a luxury right now.
OUT: COLD PLUNGES
This is probably controversh. Every influencer right now is like “I gotta plunge into icy waters every morning, or I will leave my husband and kids.” I feel that this kind of therapy is highly individualized, and potentially not great for female hormones. Honestly, we will probably see an explosion of cold plunges, but with any explosion I think there will be more people vocalizing “hey, I don’t think this is for everyone??” I’d love to talk to my acupuncturist about this (maybe on the newsletter) because typically Traditional Chinese Medicine favors the body being WARM and not cold because cold = stagnation.
OUT: Mocktails that cost the same as regular cocktails
WTF is going on with this? Now when I go to a restaurant and I think, oh maybe I’ll get a flirty mocktail, instead of club soda….THEY ARE LIKE $15? Duh fuq? I’m sorry, if there is no alcohol in my cup, I should not be paying more than $6. Sorry to get political here everyone, but that is my belief. Like cold plunges, I think we will see the industry take advantage and actually create more elaborate money-making mocktail schemes. But I would hope we also have more people taking a stand and saying excuse me, I am not paying $18 for pear juice mixed with sparkling water. And that is in the United States Constitution.
I’m gonna leave it at that for the INs and OUTs, but I’d love to discuss your reactions!!! Drop some brain blasts in the comments and let’s talk. What resonated with you?? 👇
LAST THOUGHTS
LIVE SHOWS THIS MONTH
You can see me perform with my sketch team DINGER on January 20 when we’ll be defending our title at Page One Sketch Show. You can also come to our fresh and sweet show on January 31 for house team sketch night at The Pack!! Would love to see you there. (Ticket link forthcoming for the latter).
SALTBURN
I didn’t really like it (!) and I’ve been reckoning with what that means about me or what people’s love about it says about them. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts. I basically thought the character twist happened way too rapidly, and it didn’t feel believable to me after the scene where Barry’s character gets…cough, bloody….with the sister. After that, I was like, oh I don’t think I’m on board now? It felt too out of the blue for me because up until then we’d just seen him window creepin’ at college which wasn’t enough to convince me he was a bloodthirsty erotic killer. Pop off in the comments.
Thanks for reading! Love you for being here. Please share with a friend, drop a comment, and have a great start to the year!! See you next week <333
LJ