Issue 13: Consider clothes that address your phobia

Pioneering exposure therapy via fashion.

Jun 03, 2025

I was watching a live sale of Iris Apfel’s jewelry and clothes on Whatnot (hosted by Studio Two) and she had a bunch of lucite bug bangles, which were going for hundreds each—one even sold for $1,500. Here’s a photo of Apfel wearing one from her collection.

Someone in the chat mentioned that the bangles were by Kolos Studio, so I went straight to the source (their Etsy store) and bought 3 for $195 total—they sold out of jewelry that night because of the one comment.

I’m terrified of beetles and think wearing these could be effective exposure therapy, because there’s no better positive association for me than cool clothes and jewelry. The beetles are safely encased in epoxy and cannot hurt me.

I didn’t end up winning any of Apfel’s jewelry that I bid on, but after lurking for hours I managed to score this green pony hair skirt by Chris Benz for $265. Here’s me wearing it with my bug bangles, as she would have done.

Tank is old Ted Baker, bag is Vivienne Westwood and flats are Schutz.

Allow me to prescribe you with a purchase to help you overcome your own fears:

For fear of rodents (musophobia), consider this embossed rat print dress from Tory Burch’s 2025 RTW collection.

For fear of birds (ornithophobia), here’s a $890 life-like pigeon clutch by JW Anderson that is basically the fashion equivalent of Maury bringing out a plate of pickles.

For fear of spiders (arachnophobia), I recently did a shoot for Atlantic with my friend Georgia (she took this pic) and we included these amazing pearl spider earrings by Annette Ferdinandsen. Wear these every day.

For fear of sharks (galeophobia), this spotted shark print dress by Roberto Cavalli will help you regain control by becoming what you’ve always feared.

For fear of the dark (nyctophobia), throw on these Miu Miu Enigme sunglasses and don’t take them off until you’re cured—if that doesn’t work, make it even darker by wearing this hat.

For fear of death (thanatophobia), constantly be reminded that one day you and everyone you know will die with this iconic skeleton bracelet by Vivienne Westwood.

Things I like:

These Oakley Plantaris sunglasses I tried on at Livestock in Montreal. You can remove the nose guard but it’s the part of my face that burns first so it works.

I bought these KOTN shorts and they’re incredible. Here’s the pant version that I also just got in black.
This hat the aforementioned Georgia was wearing by Keenan Ferguson, and this 💥 ring my friend Daria was wearing that they made.

The two rings on the right are made by Daria

I’m obsessed with r/perfumesthatfeellike. I got really excited about finding a perfume that smells like a dirt road in Florida but then I got the sample and it’s not that good.
Wearing my bowling shoes as the good lord intended: while bowling.

Things I’m resisting buying:

Anything from the Acne Studios sale.
A few things from Depop; this Jacquemus linen suit with rings all over it that you can hook things to (fuck it sold before I published this but someone should DIY this) and this Moschino grail ($3,000 but appropriately-ish priced).

A necklace from Vesper Obscura.
This almost $800 dumb Balenciaga carabiner earring. 👀

I’m thinking in the next issue I’m going to talk about H&M collabs over the years because it should be studied.

Going Broke

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