“Watch three runway shows per night instead of watching Netflix. Find an online community that revolves around fashion, then post and read in it every single day. Open up Netflix, Tubi, Amazon Prime, Hulu, literally all of them, and then search ‘fashion documentary,’ and watch literally all of them.”

If you want to know absolutely everything about fashion, here’s how you do it according to a militant 15-part plan outlined by Bliss Foster, renowned fashion critic and runway connoisseur.

“Prolific fashion writers promise a quick relaxing escape with all of the quality, yet none of the commitment, of fashion books or magazines”

To me, this routine seems impractical at best and impossible at worst. Combined with back-breaking reading lists, accumulating lectures, and eternal essays, this plan isn’t looking feasible. It’s not just the work – I find that after a four-hour library stint, you couldn’t pay me enough to generate the mental energy to analyse one runway show, let alone three. So how do you stay in touch with fashion, alongside a brain-numbing degree? Here are some low-effort, quick and easy articles, podcasts, and Instagram accounts that transformed fashion from a post-study chore to being a highlight of my day.

Podcasts

I often put on a podcast from the moment I’m out of bed to help me limp through the pre-lecture morning routine. Here are some fashion podcast favourites:

1. Avery Trufelman’s podcast, 'Articles of Interest’, gets into the weeds of things with a different topic each week; from pointe shoes to prison uniforms, Trufelman is perfect for getting up to your ankles in the big ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions of fashion. Why do we love denim so much? What’s the ‘point’ of pointe shoes? And why can’t we just leave some fashion trends alone? (80’s, I’m looking at you.)
2. If you’re already stuffed to the brim with heavy academic content, Mina Le’s chatty yet informative ‘High Brow’ is a perfect, light audio snack for your ears. 'High Brow’ feels like a conversation with a cool, fashion-conscious friend, who updates you on her life in NYC’s fashion scene, while briefing you on the most current goings-on of the sartorial world.
3. If you’re looking to get into the fashion scene, ‘Dansplaining’ by Danny Lomas and Jordan Rason invites big names in the industry - think GQ’s style editor Zak Maoui, Levi’s Design Director Paul O’Neill - to sit and chat about how they got their foot in the door.

Substacks

In between supervision readings, Substacks of prolific fashion writers promise a quick relaxing escape with all of the quality, yet none of the commitment, of fashion books or magazines.

“While we can’t all be spending several hours a day consuming runway footage, that doesn’t mean we have to give up fashion completely”

1. The cutting and straight-to-the-point tone newsletter ’Back Row’ written by writer and journalist Any Odell offers a refreshing palate cleanser to academic reading. ‘Back Row’ isn’t afraid to cut into the ‘dark side’ of the fashion and entertainment industry. A particular standout newsletter was Odell’s deep dive into the tumultuous history of Gucci.
2. In a similar vein, 'The Unpublishable’ by Jessica Defino delineates everything that is wrong about the beauty industry, from ‘teeth serum’ scams to the unkillable cult of skinny.
3. On the other hand, 'Magasin’, by InStyle’s writer and editor Laura Reilly, is a much more laid-back affair. Reilly writes up weekly updates on what she’s wearing, artfully styled and paired together, which often provides glimmers of predicted trends on the horizon. (Also, every issue of her Substack is completely free – an increasing rarity amongst growing celebrity Substacks).

Instagram

After an exhausting day shuffling from lecture to supervision to grocery run to meetings, I put aside part of my day to simply curl up in bed to look at pretty pictures.

“It’s not just the work – I find that after a four-hour library stint, you couldn’t pay me enough to generate the mental energy to analyse one runway show, let alone three”

1. Diet Sabya’s (@Dietsabya) Instagram stories serve the best (and worst!) of Bollywood cinema and fashion, coupled with the page’s signature snarky commentary that makes for a fun scroll-through.
2. There’s little fashion content out there that’s more entertaining than the Instagram stories of Vogue writer José Criales (@eljosecriales), who documents the multitudes of runway shows he attends, all posted with meticulous comments on standout looks.
3. However, if weeks of writing down your opinions in 1800-word chunks has made the thought of any opinion at all a little bit sickening, then you can find yourself on the account of fashion illustrator Jenny Walton (@jennymwalton), a master stylist and a vintage aficionado. She’s most often capturing her carefree, creative fits, often composed of Old Prada, Miu Miu, or vintage Marimekko, within her La Dolce Vita fantasy of an apartment in Milan. (She also has a Substack where she breaks her vintage pieces down in even more detail!)

While we can’t all be spending several hours a day consuming runway footage, that doesn’t mean we have to give up fashion completely. This short, non-exhaustive list of things has helped me keep up (passably) with a world I adore, and during those exhausting, never-ending terms, these short moments of indulgence have become more precious than ever.