3 Minute Thread: Melissa Kenny

"Going outside to see what people are wearing feels more refreshing than refreshing my feeds"

Meet Mel Kenny, OG cool girl of the first wave indie mag variety, the kind of person who popped out of the womb wearing Comme and burbling ‘Miuccia’ instead of ‘Mama’. Speaking of mothers, make sure you take a few minutes to enjoy her mum’s Instagram page, especially the sassy, life-affirming captions. It definitely isn’t run by Mel… 👀 Oh and this one, her social media alma mater.

She also writes a sexy tennis newsletter, and brings the most excellent voicey vibes to lots of your favourite brands. Anyway, here’s Mel in some Miuccia. Doesn’t she look great?

Who are you?

Hi, I’m Mel. I’m a brand strategy person and a writer. I write a newsletter about tennis called Hard Hitting. And I guess I’ve collected clothes kinda forever.

What are you wearing?

Ottolinger t-shirt, Prada jacket, thrifted $10 coat, Dirk Bikkembergs pants under a Prada skirt, Marni shoes. Probably this bra from Amazon.

Why did you choose this outfit?

I have a big thing for this jacket. It’s one of the first things I bought (from Tokio 7 for like $250) when I moved to New York 7 years ago. The skirt is cool too, you can wear it a bunch of different ways. I included a second gratuitous skirt look 4U too!

Where did you wear it/ where are you planning to wear it?

I think I wore it to work, which either means going to my shared studio space in Chinatown, or a coffee shop to rub shoulders with the other digital nomads in my neighbourhood. Not an original thought, but either is infinitely better than staying in sweats all day and working from bed.

What’s the best style lesson you’ve learned over the years?

Maybe this is a jaded answer but I came up in 2010s media. My first degree-related job was writing for Oyster magazine online. It was the era of street style and blogspot and lookbook.nu and Susie Bubble and Tavi and and and… it was fun! Interesting looks on the internet feel scarcer now; style feels flatter.

Maybe not so much a *lesson* but going outside to see what people are wearing feels more refreshing than, erm, refreshing my feeds. That’s also I guess a lesson about being a person in the world so there’s that?

One person you think has great style?

Julia Hobbs always looks magnificent.

Best life hack?

I’ve never regretted sweating.

Your favourite person to follow?

I like my explore page when I can groom it to be all tennis videos.

One recommendation to read/ watch/ listen/ see or do?

I’ve had this video of Camille Paglia roasting Susan Sontag saved forever. I’m obsessed with how snide she is, and also the cadence of her speech. Otherwise, I always return to the film Tampopo, it’s both wholesome and racy, or anything Cassavettes.

Follow Mel on Instagram and subscribe to her newsletter.

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