Drake & Dames-o-ween
Yeah, Dames Nation. We watched the new Adele video.
But we were like
"How can we care about this when there's Rembert Browne's absolutely flawless analysis of 'Hotline Bling' to share?"
We kid, Dames Nation! We could never slight Adele, whose new song and video are actually pretty great (esp. the parts featuring utter dreamboat Tristan Wilds). But Rembert and Drake still get our lede, a little because of how expertly Drake's owl hoodie pays tribute to Dame Sophie's alma matter, but mostly because of how we relate to Rembert's description of Drake's apparent emotional state in the video:
What your are witnessing is Yung Aubrey Bautista absolutely feeling himself, a concept that should not be met with any negative connotations. With that said, that also has very little to do with actual quality. The idea of feeling yourself does not necessarily imply that the dance moves are great. Feeling yourself is simply when you could not be any more a fan of yourself and how you look and what you are doing and, in turn, what you are giving to the world in that moment.
We are feeling ourselves lately, Dames Nation. We hope you like what we're giving to the world in this moment.
Twitter Highlight Reel! 
This is a cake. One that could be eaten. We are not fronting.
Bid welcome to our new, mesmerizing & delicious overlord, video artist Alexandre Dubosc’s cake-as-zoetrope, “Melting Pop”
Take a minute to read this fantastic interview with Maris Kreizman on the high-low mix of her new book, Slaughterhouse 90210.
A tumblr exists called Cats with Roombas. It is a HIGHLY ESSENTIAL tumblr.
#Damespal Rachel wrote a super smart response to some disparaging comments Dame Margaret made about Taylor Swift’s confessional songwriting earlier this year on Pop Culture Happy Hour. It brings out some great parallels between how we discuss Swift and how we discussed Plath, Sexton, and other female confessional poets and is, as a result, Grade A #Damesbait.
Rachel Syme’s impassioned paean to the Beauty of a Perfect Black Turtleneck is both fun and-- to a degree-- persuasive. Dame M. isn’t entirely convinced that it would be right For Her, but she’s definitely going to try on a bunch next time she’s sufficiently in funds to go shopping.
We’re just going to play a polka cover of "Teenage Dream" while admiring the absurdity of these celebrity wax figures dressed in lederhosen.
Another piece of purest #DamesBait from the friends-in-our-heads at Atlas Obscura, explaining the purposes of 20 dog breeds.
Red Winter Permain! Cox's Orange Pippin! Now-rare apple varieties are a) gorgeous and b) have the best names.
The great and glorious Jazmine Hughes wrote about two of our favorite things: dressing like Cookie Lyon from Empire and vanquishing her impostor syndrome! As a result, we laughed, almost cried, and spent a lot of time looking at this leopard print pencil skirt with sartorial lust in our hearts.
And finally! The Most Important Quiz Of Our (somewhat hetero-normative) Time!!!! Find out which Handsome British Actor is destined to be your husband. Related: Living Disney Prince of Devastating Eye-Crinkles Tom Hiddleston is in favor of baked goods. And tea.
Tom is laughing at the very idea that we could mention him and NOT include a gif.
We agree, Tom. A truly risable suggestion.
#Dames-o-ween!!
Your Dames, redubbed MarGAROTTE KILLison and SPOOKY BOO!kover for the holiday season, inspired by Mr. Netflix-and-Chill (featured above) have assembled a whole passel of costume ideas & critiques to share. Something for everyone, we hope!Your Dames are women who have never met a pun costume they didn’t like. Hence we found MUCH TO LOVE in this round up of FORTY THREE excellent ones from PopSugar.Thanks to a tip from #Damespal Anna, we’re in a position to recommend Jessica Quirk’s excellent catalog of assembled-from-her-fabulous-closet Halloween costumes. Her George Washington should be of particular interest <3 <3Another #Damesbait costume: this homemade Hermione skirt, which can easily be repurosed for everyday wear (AND is a great excuse to share this old Dames’ favorite, a rumination on why is Hermione generally read and cast as white).WHICH, in turn, reminded us of this excellent Codeswitch piece on how trying to represent your ethnicity without perpetuating gross stereotypes about said ethnicity can be....exhausting, to say the least.Autostraddle delivers its customary excellence (and diversity!) with this list of queer feminist icons you can be this Halloween…...and Yes! Magazine has some further feminist suggestions that work especially great for kids. (WARNING: Contains PAINFULLY ADORABLE pictures of a little girl dressed as Bessie Coleman. CLICK CAREFULLY!)And because no Halloween would be complete without it, we’re re-sharing this great Buzzfeed round up of NINETY CORGIS IN COSTUME and then we’re supplementing it with a hefty dose of THE PUGS OF MIDDLE EARTH.
Pupstar Sonoma is the GREATEST WEBSITE OF ALL TIME. Tweeeeeeeeeeeee As Hell (With Extra Vowels, Like As Though A Ghost Were Speaking!)
This is everything: Wiener Dog Gets Loose in Baseball Stadium, Experiences True Happiness.In Australia, a "whimsical protest" of a rotary has blossomed into GNOMESVILLE, because of course it has.Modcloth is currently selling an adorable ruffled top covered with cartoon sheep. Do with this information what you will.Take a peek inside the whimsical, yet faintly creepy Witch’s House of Beverly Hills (which you may remember from a crucial scene in Clueless - h/t Leila Cohan-Miccio for this one!)Virginia Lee Burton, of Mike [HERCULES] Mulligan & His Steam Shovel fame, also led a group of self-taught graphic designers on Massachusetts’ Cape Ann. The Folly Cove designers’ work is beautiful & singular. Twee is kind of an unfair label for something this sophisticated (but it is super-cozy).Hedgehogs Wearing Hats. That is all.And Finally! This Week in Hamilton
The #Hamilton tag on Tumblr. It just never stops giving. Picture by Fra Franca <3We gather from the daily influx of links you’re sharing with us in the wake of our #Hamildames live-tweet this week that there’s...a continuing degree of interest in this musical. Which dovetails nicely with our own interest. Win-win!Cherished #Damespal Syazwina suggested the need for a Hamilfeels playlist of songs that resonate with the themes of the musical. Dame S. has the honor to be Syaz’s obedient servant, so she got right on it. It’s now that rare playlist that rewards listening in order, as the songs are responses to songs from the Original Broadway Cast Recording.Service journalism from Slate, who sifted through Lin-Manuel Miranda’s YouTube Channel to bring us such priceless gems as his 3rd grade video book report on The Pushcart Wars (that sound you just heard was all the children’s librarians’ hearts not simply melting but being raptured) and the raps he created for The Electric Company (in which he seems to channel David Schwimmer and Busta Rhymes simultaneously for his Hard G persona). Send help.“Well, I’m throwing MY gun in a bucket of water!” Dame M. was on the verge of expiring due to the cuteness of this young Broadway fan’s rewrite of the conclusion of Hamilton, but then Dame S., Self-Trained Cute Doctor, told her to watch it three more times because the poison is the cure, and lo, Dame M. was SAVED.The cult of #HamBio is growing. Place your library holds and join the best book club on Twitter!Jay-Z and Beyonce went to see Hamilton this week, prompting a flurry of speculation about a remix album featuring either or both of them. That would be amazing, if true, but it’s burying the lede, which is that Hova bought two matching A. Ham hats, and now Dame S. is imagining the entire Knowles-Carter household rocking out to the OBCR wearing their matching hats and (understandably) wants to be in the room where it happens.Leslie Odom was on Charlie Rose (with bonus rebroadcast of LMM & Tommy Kail’s earlier interview) Do you ever think to yourself, “gee, I wonder what Alexander Hamilton was doing this week in 1783?” Friend, you’re in luck, because the New York Historical Society has very helpfully put together a log for that precise purpose. Now you can marvel at his accomplishments and feel that peculiar mix of admiration and total inadequacy when you compare your life with his, on a week-by-week basis. You’re welcome!