After I finished reading Leandra Medine’s book, “Man Repeller: Seeking Love. Finding Overalls.” last week, I had no doubt in my mind she would be my next Woman You Should Know.
I was first introduced to Leandra’s blog, “Man Repeller,” by one of my blogging students (did y’all know I’m a blogging teacher?), who told me it was her favorite blog to read.
Since that day, I kept reading Man Repeller quite religiously, only to find out that Ms. Leandra has made quite a name for herself in the fashion world. Her unique sense of style, as well as her coined term “Man Repelling” (the idea that one can wear such high-fashion that it repels the opposite sex) makes her a blogger the designers want to impress—they want their looks on her blog.
Umm…yes, please! I’m super jealous of anyone that gets to blog full time, especially if they get free designer swag out of the deal. But that’s neither here nor there.
Anyway, when I saw she was putting out a book of essays, I jumped on it. And by “jump on it,” I mean I put it on my Christmas list and Santa got it for me. Between freelance gigs, I devoured it as quickly as I could, which was easy, as I just love her witty writing style (I was literally LOL-ing while reading, sitting in my bathtub, which resulted several “Eat shit & Die” looks from kitty Blanche).
While all of the essays have their moments, I related so much to one called, “The Peplum,” in which Leandra gets engaged (!) and debates on how, or even if, she should tell her blog readers:
I ran through various scenarios for breaking the news. I’d never so much as mentioned the state of my love life with the one exception of sharing the story of inception of Man Repeller. It was supposed to be a fashion blog—with a message, yes, but that message was not check out my dating column. I wanted it to be a confidence-boosting vehicle that allowed freedom of expression through fashion that induced new levels of buoyancy through the act of man repelling. The initial idea was girls as single because they want to be single and because they choose to be single—because fashion is more consuming than a relationship. And, most importantly, because we now live in a world where being single is no longer an excuse for coupled friends to sigh their heads in pity. No. Being single is as self-indulgent as buying a fifteen-hundred-dollar bag just because. It’s a conscious decision to maintain freedom.
While I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about breaking the news to y’all that I’m engaged (wow, that felt nice to write), I sometimes dream about it. Especially when I’m watching Hallmark movies.
Check out Leandra’s instagram for lots of man repelling fashion…like this purse I’m drooling over:
The Bitter Lemon 