Gen Z trends, the sudden virality of Chili’s, and a cigarette renaissanceCasey Lewis recommends a few of her favorite Substack postsThis week’s edition of Substack Reads was curated by Casey Lewis, who writes After School by Casey Lewis, a youth culture cheat sheet, on Substack. Casey is a former editor for Teen Vogue, MTV, and New York Magazine, founded a media company focused on Gen Z, and now works as a brand strategy consultant. Her most popular recent posts include “Tokyo Tinder and Great Zynpression,” “Proteinmaxxing and Gossip Girlcore,” and “Camo Hoodies and Cargo Sweats: Back-to-School Special” If you enjoy Casey’s edit today, be sure to subscribe to her Substack. I started After School by Casey Lewis three and a half years ago to serve as an external brain. An interest—obsession, really—with youth trends has been the throughline of my career. I grew up on a steady diet of teen magazines, dog-earing emerging trends to seek out at thrift stores, and had a fashion blog when I was in high school. (Back then, Blogger was the only option, but these days it would have been on Substack.) I was an editor at Teen Vogue and MTV, and I had a few stints outside of the media industry working at youth-focused market research firms. Trends have always come and gone. But around 2020, the trend cycle had become so accelerated, thanks to apps like TikTok, that I found it harder than ever to keep up. I was consuming hundreds of headlines, but I wasn’t retaining anything. Writing After School five days a week has allowed me to keep track, and make sense of the many trends, memes, and societal shifts that surface. This past week, I had the honor of hosting Substack Presents: The After School Debate Club, wherein some of my favorite people on the internet—Nolita Dirtbag, who writes Medium Rare; JP Brammer, who writes ¡Hola Papi!; Kareem Rahma, who writes Another New Thing; Substack’s own Randa Sakallah, who writes Good Hang; Joe Hollier of The Light Phone; and Adam Faze of Gymnasium—debated hot-button trend-adjacent topics like: Zyns or cigarettes? It was an incredible night (there was even a marching band and cheerleaders!) and the first of many Substack debates. Make sure to check out Jessica DeFino’s next week. Ahead, you’ll find a few of my favorite recent posts about youth trends (and a few related topics). Fodder for the next After School Debate Club, if I’m lucky! COLLEGEWelcome to Bama Confidential— Anne Helen Petersen in Culture Study RushTok, a phenomenon that occurs annually on TikTok, involves sorority hopefuls and active members alike documenting their OOTD (“outfit of the day,” in TikTok parlance), GRWM (“get ready with me”) sessions, and day-to-day experiences as they endure sorority recruitment, known as rush. Anne Helen has tirelessly covered and analyzed RushTok for several years, with a special focus on Bama Rush, which takes place at the University of Alabama. This year, she published a whole five-part series, each installment wilder than the one before it. I went through rush almost 20 years ago—at the University of Missouri, not Alabama, and largely pre-social-media, so my experience was quite different—but reading Anne Helen’s posts (and watching TikTok after TikTok) brings a swell of nostalgia along with great relief that I’m no longer 18.
STYLEOnly boring people get bored— Laurel Pantin in Earl Earl by Laurel Pantin I worked with Laurel more than a decade ago at Teen Vogue, and I remember being in awe of how cool she was. Nothing has changed—if anything, she’s cooler—but these days, she generously shares her cool-girl intel on Earl Earl, her twice-weekly Substack. (I also read her parenting newsletter, Your Mom, even though I am not a parent.) Laurel’s style is thoroughly her—chic yet accessible, smart yet playful—and so is her writing.
CULTUREI know what you did last summer— Ochuko Akpovbovbo and Arden Yum in as seen on I love this post co-authored by Ochuko Akpovbovbo and Arden Yum, both of whom have must-read newsletters on Substack. The two young writers asked their readers how they spent their summer, and the results are fascinating: Many of their readers traveled within the U.S. for their summer vacations, most readers spent between $1,000 and $5,000 on their summer plans, and, Brat summer aside, there was a noticeable shift toward more restrained—sober, even!—activities.
VICESI asked my Gen Z sister about trends and back-to-school shopping— Caroline Albro in Brand Baby Now, this is my kind of journalism. Caroline Albro, a marketer by trade, writes about brand strategy from a Gen Z perspective for her newsletter, Brand Baby. In my favorite recent letter of hers, Caroline interviews her 18-year-old sister, who just graduated from high school, about back-to-school shopping. I highly recommend you listen to the audio recording, because the conversation is so incredibly charming, but Caroline has also published the transcript, which features a bunch of gems.
VINTAGEWhy a vintage Victoria’s Secret panty costs $150I’ve always admired Amy Odell and I kind of can’t believe our luck that she publishes her opinions (and extremely perceptive reporting) on Substack. When I was a journalism student, I remember being utterly in awe (and very jealous) of every word she published as the founding editor of The Cut. Those were digital media’s glory days: Gawker, Cityfile, Imaginary Socialite, Fashionista, Socialite Rank. Speaking of nostalgia…
FOODThere’s a reason Chili’s is all over your FYP— Rachel Karten in Link in Bio If you don’t spend a lot of time on TikTok, you may not know that Chili’s—the casual dining chain that’s vaguely “southwestern,” whatever that means (I guess that they have both burgers and quesadillas?)—is having a moment with young people. The “triple dipper,” a deal that’s been on menus for years, has become an unlikely social media sensation. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen a “triple dipper & yap” TikTok on my FYP, I’d be able to buy, like, five triple dippers. In this piece, Rachel Karten notes that the triple dipper’s virality on TikTok accounted for roughly 40% of the chain’s sales growth this past quarter (!). The reason it’s suddenly so popular is, I think, because (1) it’s a good value—young people don’t have a lot of money! (2) it’s comfort food at a time when we could all use a little comfort, and (3) the diner-ish aesthetic of every single Chili’s makes for vibe-y social content. Here, Rachel interviews the social media manager at Chili’s, who’s been making the most of the brand’s sudden virality.
SOCIAL MEDIAApps won’t make you friends— Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick in The Trend Report™ There’s chronically online, and then there’s Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick. I love his newsletter so much. Kyle is writing about a lot of the same subjects as many writers on the internet, myself included—memes, trends, zeitgeisty moments—but both the format of his newsletter and the way he approaches these topics are wholly unique. I like to read his letters from start to finish, and then I’ll go back through and re-read my favorite bits, which are often such precise (and occasionally scathing) observations on modern society, they physically hurt a little bit.
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Gen Z trends, the sudden virality of Chili’s, and a cigarette renaissance
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