Happy Hour, the recent debut novel from author and filmmaker Marlowe Granados, offers an intriguing; proposition for our increasingly unpredictable times. Protagonists Isa and Gala are whimsical party girls fumbling their way through a summer in New York, entirely unconcerned with the social climbing and career advancement that bog down many young arrivistes. Rather, Granados tells me, "They're motivated by the possibility of having a good time? Think of the book as Bright Lights, Big City for the new decade, a tantalizing blueprint showing the way forward: no ambition, no agita, very little drama-only good vibes.
Vibes, as it happens, rank high among the preoccupations of the creative elite and the leisure class as we enter an amorphous cultural moment that feels awkward and tentative but awfully close to fully revealing itself. The marketing guru Sean Monahan coined the phrase "vibe shift" to describe this latest pendulum swing of the zeitgeist, but evidence of a seismic reset writ large was foretold-after all, rarely has anyone ever lived through a historic global event like the pandemic and emerged doing exactly what they were doing before.
After the austerity of World War II, people flocked to soda fountains and sock hops and twirled their hips to the music of Elvis Presley. Now we find ourselves in a moment when vibrating anxiety has given way to a mass realignment of priorities. Rest has become a tonic rather than a sign of weakness. The understanding that life is meant to be enjoyed has many embracing a carefree life philosophy that lies somewhere on the spectrum between Zen Buddhism and Cartman from South Park shrieking, "Whatevah. I do what I want!"
This story is from the May 2022 edition of Town & Country.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2022 edition of Town & Country.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
As If We Never Said GOOD BYE
A designer restores a historic home by an the glory it enjoyed during its classic Hollywood heyday.
SIR Mix-a-Lot
Look, Muffy, our old clothes are back! A generation consumed with nostalgia rediscovers and reshuffles trad style their way. The new official preppy dress code is here, and one pony is riding high.
Les Robes Dangereuses
In Revolution-era Paris, three radically chic media stars swept away centuries of strictures about what women should wear and how they should live. A new book unveils the other French Revolution.
A Nose DIVIDED
Legends are never made by playing it safe.
Friends of JUDY
For her fans of 30 years, Judy Geib is a jeweler's jeweler. For young designers, she's something rarer: a role model.
Anatomy of a Classic
A 63-year-old icon just got a face-lift. Can you tell?
This Old Thing? T&C Reviews: Barn Jackets
The rags-to-riches tale of how a humble workingman's staple got its high fashion glow-up.
Nellie Oleson, MODERN MUSE
The kids are in couture and the grown-ups are in oversize bows. When did things get so Freaky Friday?
Loromania!
A standard-bearer of quiet luxury finds itself unexpectedly tap dancing in the spotlight, embraced by American hypebeasts, Gstaad Guy, and Kendall Roy. Back in Milan, it's business as usual. There are 100 years to toast.
Steal the Show
How Broadway fell in love with celebrity producers.