Notes Between Us /003
What we’re reading: AI fatigue, dissolving beauty standards, the quiet end of an era, and more.
It’s early September, technically still summer. But the girls in London are already in tall leather boots, as if willing the season to turn with them. Last week, somewhere between sleep and scrolling, I realised I’ve been receiving Instagram DMs – not new ones, but a backlog, a slow stream from 2016 onward. Most were from men I’ll never meet, proposing arrangements I’ll never accept. Some were from readers, people who once responded thoughtfully to old TIG stories, their messages now trapped in digital purgatory. Hundreds of them, left unseen, unread. You start to wonder what else you’ve missed.
Last night we watched The Roses, the remake. It wasn’t good. I like both actors, have liked them in other things, but this one was thin and hollow and trying far too hard. The script stumbled over itself. It wasn’t funny, as promised, so halfway through we started talking about the original. You should watch that one again. It holds.
This week’s letter is the third instalment of Notes Between Us – a space where we share what's been capturing our attention lately: cultural moments and ideas, fleeting observations, reflections, and things worth pausing for. Our personal marginalia – the notes we'd scribble in the margins of our shared life.
This edition includes an ode to early autumn and the return of structure; reflections on cognitive debt in the age of AI; the shifting ideals of beauty – from augmentation to authenticity; and how changing seasons invite us to think, dress, and live a little differently.
Here's a collection of the meaningful and the fleeting – small moments of thought, art, and life to accompany you through the week.
SEPTEMBER /autumn wish list
Yes, I know, just last week, I was still holding out for summer, still pretending the light would last a little longer, that I hadn’t already seen what was coming. But here we are, a few days into September, and I’m already reaching for the sweaters, the trench coat at the back of the closet, the part of myself that always prefers the quiet structure of fall. Summer has always been my favourite – I’ve said that before, I’ll say it again – but the truth is, there’s something about autumn that works. The clothes are better. The air is cleaner. It’s easier to think when the heat lets go.
Knee Boots // Rivière // Ribbed Scarf Cashmere Sweater // Lip Gloss // Suede & Leather Medium Satchel // Trench Coat // Hyaluronic Acid Booster
Below, for paid subscribers: what weight-loss drugs are doing to modern dating, and desire itself; London’s sterile high streets and the eerie efficiency of urban cloning; inside the aesthetic reset, where filler dissolves, Botox faces backlash, and “Ozempic hair” becomes a full-time job; Giorgio Armani’s only life regret, and what it tells us about time, style, and sacrifice, and so much more.