Issue 9 - The cute by day, hot by night myth
Investigating Seventeen magazine's strangest series.
It all started when:
Who remembers “cute by day, hot by night!” from Seventeen magazine? The series showed you tips on how to dress transitionally throughout the day, but they weren’t suggesting a cami under a cardigan or changing into heels—the outfits were totally reconstructed, going so far as to shift a piece of clothing around your body to wear it differently and adding other fancy embellishments to elevate it for night.
My friend Devon was going on a date directly from work, prompting this text and reminding me of the lunacy of this series. A lot of people I’ve asked remember it despite the fact that it only ran for a few years, and I think it’s because it was ridiculous but dazzling. I wanted to be so busy and versatile that I could reinvent myself on the go.
The cute by day, hot by night girl didn’t have time to go home and change, so there needed to be outfit v1 (cute) and outfit v2 (hot) that she could create on the spot. She tossed her flats under her desk and grabbed her emergency heels and clutch from her giant purse. She replaced her short sleeve hoodie for a going out top with a chunky belt. That beachy untamed hair? She’s pulling it up into a chignon. Cute —> Hot.
It’s funny to look at today because the line between day and night clothing is so blurred. A good outfit should (literally) stand the test of time and need very few tweaks, if any, to become night appropriate. It’s like in the Edwardian era when women had different outfits for morning, noon and night.
I realize that the point of this series was just to show you clothing to buy and the repeated items are probably by advertisers, but you have to admit the narrative is distracting.
Before I get into what Devon wore (and what I wore because I tried it too), let’s quickly look back on this nuts series from Seventeen. Thank you Internet Archive’s Magazine Rack—I read so many Traumaramas in the last week while searching for these.
Early 2000s
I found “cute by day, hot by night!” and sister topic “dress em up, dress em down” as far back as 2005.
This example from October 2007 suggest you cuff your jeans during the day and roll them out at night. “Throw on a short sleeved hoodie” and transition to night by trading your “beach bag for a clutch, and flip flops for heels.” Adding a statement necklace and bangles was always a part of the formula, as was being by a beach.
In July 2008, it’s suggested that you hike up your skirt and transform it into a dress. She had to carry 2 (!!!) belts for this transitional look. She changed her upper arm bangle for another upper arm bangle. Shockingly, the bag is the same.
It’s clear that Seventeen was indicating that you go directly from the day activity to the night activity and change in a bathroom stall somewhere. This quote confirms it: “Make your favorite clothes do double duty: With the right accessories and some sneaky styling tricks, they can take you from hanging out to a hot date.”
The 2010s
In 2011, Seventeen abandons the notion of transitional dressing as a way of displaying clothes, and pivots to the much more effective “1 Piece 4 Ways,” which fucking ruuuuuled.
How we realistically cute by day, hot by night-ed
Because we’re regular people, our transitional outfits were much simpler. We did however honor some of the core principles of “cute by day, hot by night!” including shoe swapping, removing/adding a cardigan, and trading in a big bag for a smaller bag. Here’s how we did it.
Not pictured: the fact that I still had to bring my huge tote from outfit v1 with my day clothes in it to the night activity (one of the many reasons why transitional dressing doesn’t make sense, you can’t just leave tons of stuff around everywhere).
Anyway, here’s other things I like:
Umbro has come out with literally 5 collabs in the last few weeks, idk what’s going on over there. Supreme, Slam Jam, Front Office, LC23, AKOMPLICE…there might be more I haven’t seen. The best two are Supreme and LC23, I think I need this blazer and tie (made in Italy in Marzotto fabric).
All this talk about cloaks is making me want a cloak. Megan Stalter’s Perfectly Imperfect just came out (anyone who recommends Cheesecake Factory is a trustworthy source), and in it she recommends Fashion Brand Company. This cloak is linen, so it’s a summer cloak.
I took some of my own advice and bought leg warmers. They actually keep your legs warm—who knew!
