There’s a famine of beauty and a surplus of sameness

Musings on Met Gala, Cannes Film Festival, and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

Let’s jump right in, because I have a lot of thots about the state of beauty and fashion. Thanks in advance for coming to my TED Talk!

Met Gala Humdrum

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but at this year’s Met Gala, only a handful of celebrities and designers let their imagination and creativity take center stage. As for the others? Well, they either didn’t care about the theme and wore standard black-tie attire or they dressed in nearly identical outfits. Even a fashion powerhouse like Zendaya fell victim to that vapid sameness, as she and Anna Sawai showed up in similar white pantsuits (and so did Madonna, Laura Harrier, and Lewis Hamilton, but I digress). Don’t get me wrong, each outfit was polished and pretty on its own, but it’s fashion’s biggest night, and that’s what made the final cut? … As Miranda Priestly would say, “That’s all.”

Moreover, imaginative beauty looks were nowhere in sight. In years past, body gems, geometric liner, wild updos, excessive blush, and vivid shadows rivaled a celeb’s fashion choice. But this year’s Met was underwhelming. What I saw on the red carpet was the same plump lips, the same slicked-back hairdos, the same barely-there foundation, the stretched, latex-smooth skin, and the same basic wispy lashes and brushed-up eyebrows. In other words, boring.

What used to be a fashion extravaganza, filled with audacious, out-of-this-world looks, turned into a snooze-fest. Which is ironic given the theme, ”Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” a celebration of Black dandyism and how fashion is often used as a form of self-expression and resistance. That night, I kept telling friends that the lack of flair, fantasy, and fashion were clear signs of a recession. But now, I realize it’s much deeper rooted. The restrictive beauty and style standards we’ve normalized and therefore, have enforced, have transpired into a uniformity that’s bland and basic.

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Control…err, Cannes Film Festival

Speaking of boring fashion, the Cannes Film Festival decided to enact a repressive dress code a mere 24 hours before it officially kicked off. And to that I say, diabolical! Among the many new rules, however, two stood out to me the most: “No nudity” and, more shockingly, “No voluminous outfits or large trains.” Excuse me? Why is there a vendetta against extra fabric??? But this brings me to the same point I had about the 2025 Met Gala: With confining rules comes dull, monotonous dressing. The number of celebrities wearing sequined strapless dresses is proof alone.

Secret Lives of (Carbon Copy) Mormon Wives

Uniformity isn’t just taking over major star-studded events. We’re seeing this homogeneity impact everyday people. After binge-watching the second season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, I truly had a hard time distinguishing who was who. I know it’s a running joke that the TikTokers look like carbon copies of each other, but the resemblances were uncanny.

It’s like they all walked into the same doctor’s office and asked for the same “glow-ups.” Not to mention, they all dress the same and have the same hairstyles, so it’s no wonder I couldn’t tell them apart. There were a few moments, however, that took me aback (okay, there were lots of those moments because this season is so unhinged, but for the sake of this piece, I’m talking about their uncanny valley looks). For example, during Mikayla’s confessionals, I didn’t hear a word she said. Instead, all I noticed were her lopsided lips (which I assume was due to a side effect of her lip filler and not some poor lip liner mishap). There was also a scene when Demi starts “crying,” but her face doesn’t move at all. She practically looked psychopathic and not because her behavior was called into question, but because it seemed as though she was trying really hard to emote, but her face was too frozen. Like when The Joker laughs, but he doesn’t move his lips.

But the craziest makeover of all goes to Taylor’s mom, who looked completely unrecognizable following her plastic surgery procedures. And it was quite telling (re: heartbreaking) when, just a few days post-op, she asks Taylor if she looked like her. This one comment may have been said in jest, but I think there was some truth behind wanting to look decades younger, almost as if she showed a picture of Taylor to her surgeon and said, “I wanna look like this.” Either that or the beauty standards are so fucked up we’ve reached the point where a mom is competing with her daughter over appearances.

All in all, it’s quite concerning that these women, who live pretty normally (aside from maybe Jessi), feel the weight and pressure of adhering to a restrictive beauty ideal. Which, let’s also be real, is a huge problem within Mormon culture, but also society at large. It just goes to show that when beauty standards are limiting and the margin for imperfections is minute, it affects even the most “normal,” everyday people. And, dare I say, the uniformity makes everyone look strange and, worse, lifeless?

New Skincare and Haircare, Oh My!

Looks and fashion aside, branding and packaging have also become indistinguishable. I did a double-take after receiving Reframe, a new skincare line from LeBron James’s wife, Savannah James. What took me by surprise was the packaging, which looks nearly identical to other skincare brands: Murad, Curology, StriVectin, Dr. Idriss!, Josie Maran (the new rebrand)....the list goes on.

I had the same reaction to Shakira’s forthcoming hair care line, Isima. While the packaging has yet to be revealed, the font was reminiscent of Reframe, Amika (hair care), and Dyson (also hair care). Even the messaging behind Shakira’s brand is similar to what we’ve heard before. Earlier this year, she explained her frustration over the lack of curl-friendly products, saying, “I've tried every single hair product on the market. There are not many out there that can deal with damage, moisture, frizziness, [and] shine.” Now, I’m not saying it’s easy to find products for curly hair types, but we are living in a world where we have more options available than EVER. In fact, it’s become a common complaint over how oversaturated the market is. These days, it’s detrimental for new brands and legacy ones to stand out. Unfortunately, formulas, packaging, basic origin stories, and star power just don’t cut it anymore. Yes, it’s a tall order, but see what I mean when I say beauty and fashion are limiting now???

Burn, baby, burn!

Last but not least, I want to talk about burnout. It’s no surprise that overconsumption has led to monotony and, therefore, an absence of interesting fashion and beauty. This mindlessness, paired with restrictive ideals, is (partly) to blame for our burnout. Think about it: if you’re spending so much time, money, and energy on beautification methods, only to be met with lackluster results, then is it even worth it?? Probably not. And I don’t know about you, but I feel like shit when I’m mentally and physically drained. It’s absurd when you think about how much effort goes into looking like you barely did anything. Like, we’ve been pushed into doing all this beauty work just to channel the “clean girl” aesthetic. 😭😭😭 Make it make sense.

All that to say, uniformity is boring, predictable, and somehow time-consuming. 🤡 (that emoji is for me.) So, I’ll leave you with the wise, wise words of André Leon Talley: “It’s a famine of beauty, honey! My eyes are starving for beauty.”