Table of contents for June/July 2021 in Harper's Bazaar

RYAN McGINLEY PHOTOGRAPHER “Megan Rapinoe: Changing the Game” Page 84 “When I’m on a photo shoot with a great team of friends and collaborators. My favorite is when we’re outdoors being playful and experimental under Mother Nature’s big beautiful sky. I love being lost in the moment of fashion and creativity, clicking a camera in my hands.” YASHUA SIMMONS STYLIST “Megan Rapinoe: Changing the Game” Page 84 “Ideas of freedom are currently in conflict. I immediately think about the Black, brown, and queer lives that have been taken while living in this ‘free’ country. I question whether true freedom is really only escapism. I suppose I feel the freest when I’m creating or abroad submerged in a new culture. Adventure is freedom to me.” COLIENA RENTMEESTER PHOTOGRAPHER “Full Spectrum” Page…

ANTHONY RAMOS VIVIDLY REMEMBERS THE FIRST TIME he saw Lin-Manuel Miranda’s acclaimed musical In the Heights on Broadway. It was 2010, and his college, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), had bought a block of tickets for its students. Ramos identified straightaway with the show’s protagonist. Beyond their Latin roots (Ramos is of Puerto Rican descent, while the fictional Usnavi’s family is Dominican), they were both New Yorkers and dreamers immersed in the struggle for a better life. “I left that theater with electricity going through my body,” he recalls. “In the context of Broadway, for the first time, I felt seen.” After a year’s delay due to the pandemic, director Jon M. Chu’s highly anticipated film adaptation of In the Heights is set for release in June. In…

DURING THE PANDEMIC, faces have been getting a lot of love—and skin-care sales have soared. But what about the other 90 percent of your skin? There’s a reason it’s not top of mind. “The skin on your body is thicker than the face, so it ages more slowly,” explains Dennis Gross, M.D., a New York derm. The trouble is, people tend to notice cumulative changes all at once—like at the start of the summer season. If you want to see a real visible improvement, “focus on hydrating and stimulating collagen with active ingredients,” Gross says. Here’s how to get glowing. SOFT SKIN 101 “Your body gets drier than your face because it has fewer oil glands,” says Los Angeles dermatologist Nada Elbuluk, M.D. She swears by these rules for dewy,…

THE SHORTS These cycling shorts can hold up to a day’s worth of blood and are ideal for wearing while exercising or just lounging around the house. We like to wear them alone on lighter days and as an insurance policy for when the flow is heavier. Thinx Cycle Shorts, $75. THE HEATING PADS If your heating pad looks like it runs on Windows 98, try these instead. Ovira is an FDA-approved wearable tech device that uses gentle electrical pulses, not heat, to stop the transmission of pain signals to the brain. The eco-friendly Undu Original Heating Pack (not shown) can be slipped into a pocket in the brand’s underwear, so you can keep it close by for continuous and comfortable relief. Ovira, $139. Undu The Original Heat Pack, $70.…

Late into the night of the Moët-soaked celebrations for the 2020 WNBA championship last fall, Megan Rapinoe was letting loose with her now fiancée, Sue Bird, the great Seattle Storm point guard, when she found her opening. “I had gotten wind that one of the WNBA referees could do stick-and-poke tattoos,” she tells me one sunny day in April from her hotel room in Sweden over Zoom. The 35-year-old star soccer player and activist is in a post-practice repose: barefaced in a black hoodie with her faded purple hair tousled like she’s just woken up from a nap and gold rings on her fingers. “I’m not going to use her name,” she says, somewhat soberly, referring to the tattooing ref before laughing. “I’m not even sure they’re supposed to be…

“Going LILAC took me back to one of the most OUTRAGEOUS times in my youth, when I was in L. A. in a PUNK BAND. I can step out of my COMFORT ZONE.” JUDITH ANN WARREN, 67 Last August, Patti Smeed, a retired nurse from Tennessee, took to Twitter to show off her new hair color—cobalt and violet streaked through her white hair. “I am 74 years young and had this done to my hair today. I love it!” she wrote. Her selfies have since racked up more than 362,000 likes, and her Twitter thread was flooded with women over 50 sharing photos of their own dye jobs, ranging from red to fuchsia to arctic blue. “I’m glad I could be an inspiration,” says Smeed, who never expected her tweet…

FEATURED TRACKS 1. “RESPECT” Rotary Connection 2. “HAVE YOU EVER BEEN (TO ELECTRIC LADYLAND)” The Jimi Hendrix Experience 3. “I WAS MADE TO LOVE HER” Stevie Wonder FULL PLAYLIST Since cofounding hip-hop collective (and current Tonight Show house band) the Roots in 1987, Ahmir Khalib “Questlove” Thompson has become a prolific DJ and author, and produced tracks for the likes of Erykah Badu and Jay-Z. His Sundance award–winning documentary commemorating the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, Summer of Soul, arrives July 2 on Hulu. “For Black entertainers, music was the only cathartic outlet we had in terms of grasping the type of freedom that white people had,” he says. To coincide with its release, Questlove curated a playlist around this issue’s theme of freedom, stating, “I FEEL MOST FREE WHEN I’M…

For singer and actress Katharine McPhee Foster, being a mom is her most joyous role. "cherish it all — even whenthe babywakes me up at night!" Though her priorities have shifted, self-care is important. "I try to enjoy life, reduce stress, and stay mentally healthy, "For self-care, Ketharine takes baths, pampers her skin, eats healthy, and exercises, "I appreciate what my body has done, and I love how I feel in my skin. "To keep her skin smooth, Katharine enjoys waxing at European Wax Center. "Waxing makes me feel fresh, and gives me pep in mystep. "Find out her favorite European Wax Center services, and see what makes Katharine feel her absolute best.…

Face VALUE A classic SILVER TIMEPIECE with a LINK BRACELET is the ultimate in UNDERSTATED LUXURY Blue STREAK Make waves with a MONOCHROMATIC WATCH in the season’s warmest color VACHERON CONSTANTIN’S NEW MANHATTAN FLAGSHIP Swiss luxury timepiece maison Vacheron Constantin has unveiled a new flagship store in New York. Located on East 57th Street between Madison and Park avenues, the 4,500-square-foot space spans two floors and offers services like an in-house watchmaker. Shop a curated assortment of men’s and women’s timepieces, from more traditional, minimalist styles to those featuring precious gemstones, including Vacheron’s Égérie Self-Winding Diamond Pavé watch, with more than 900 diamonds set in 18-karat pink gold. Vacheron Constantin Égérie watch. 877-701-1755. GUCCI GRIP Marking Gucci’s entry into high watchmaking, Alessandro Michele’s new range features 10 styles, including the…

I’M THE YOUNGEST OF SIX KIDS BORN TO A SINGLE MOM. At times she made really bad financial decisions and we would often get evicted, or our phone would get disconnected, or our lights would be turned off. All of it weighed on me tremendously. It also fueled this need to understand money. I thought: “If I can understand it, I can make good decisions. If I make good decisions, I’ll be secure and therefore free.” Because my mom was always working to make ends meet, I figured out how to make my own way. I found my own orthodontist when I was in fifth grade because I had a fang on only one side of my mouth. I went to the consultation alone, and he told me I needed…

FOUNDRAE JUNETEENTH MEDALLION Inscribed with the Roman numeral date commemorating the effective end of slavery in the U.S. on the front and “Social & Racial Justice” on the reverse, Foundrae’s 18-karat gold charm benefits the Loveland Foundation and the Lower Eastside Girls Club, two non-profits working to uplift Black women. REPOSSI/ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE Repossi’s collaboration with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation takes its inspiration from talismanic jewelry pieces the photographer and visual artist made from found objects in the 1960s, reinterpreting them in patinated gold, diamonds, and pearls. CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES Christian Louboutin has collaborated with Idris and Sabrina Elba on a 20-piece collection to support organizations fighting systemic racism, including the Gathering for Justice, which seeks to end childhood incarceration. MANOLO BLAHNIK MADISON AVENUE Manolo Blahnik…

SOMETHING SWEET Sol de Janeiro made a splash with its iconic Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, a skin-tightening product with a great fragrance; the caramel and almond notes are so addictive. Now there’s another way to wear the scent: Brazilian Joia Dry Shampoo ($24). FRESH START Kevin.Murphy Scalp. Spa Treatment ($42) removes buildup, a must for the long, sweaty warm-weather months. BRUSH OFF Cindy Crawford’s new Meaningful Beauty hair range targets all signs of hair aging, including pesky grays. Root Touch Up ($45). SILENT TREATMENT If you’re in the market for a new hair dryer, consider L’ange Le Styliste ($279). This smart tool memorizes your speed and heat preferences after each use, and it weighs less than a pound, making travel a breeze. Even better: The motor is quiet enough that…

MODEL: MAYOWA NICHOLAS; HAIR: ALLIE J FOR BUMBLE AND BUMBLE; MAKEUP: CHIHO OMAE FOR M.A.C COSMETICS; PRODUCTION: NATHALIE AT KRANKY PRODUKTIONS; PROP STYLING: GERARD SANTOS. SEE WHERE TO BUY FOR SHOPPING DETAILS.…

Early one morning in February, Kelis’s 11-year-old son, Knight, walked into the main house on the farm where they live two hours southeast of Los Angeles, and said, “I see a foot hanging out of a sheep’s butt.” Until that moment, Kelis hadn’t even known that the sheep was pregnant. Like so many of us, whenever Kelis doesn’t know how to do something, she consults YouTube, whether it’s for guidance on canning the fruits and vegetables she grows on her farm or helping a sheep deliver a lamb, when she realized that the sheep was, in fact, pregnant and in labor. Kelis called her sister, who is a veterinarian. Kelis’s sister asked if she had gloves. She didn’t—not the kind she’d need for the task at hand. But necessity is,…

1 BINGE LISEY’S STORY Adapted by Stephen King from his own bone-chilling 2006 tome, this J.J. Abrams–produced miniseries centers on a famous novelist’s widow (Julianne Moore) who becomes the target of a violent stalker obsessed with her husband’s work. Arriving June 4 on Apple TV+. 2 MAKE EVERY DAY A CHIC PICNIC Wicker, that whimsical woven style, gets an elegant update for summer courtesy of Celine and Giorgio Armani via leather straps and compact silhouettes. 3 LISTEN TO ANCIENT DREAMS IN A MODERN LAND Alt-pop songstress Marina, previously Marina and the Diamonds, releases her fifth studio album, which she wrote and coproduced, on June 4. Standout tracks include the soaring anthem “Man’s World,” in which she traces the subjugation of women and the LGBTQ+ community since the Salem witch trials,…

ARTISTS CALIDA RAWLES AND AMY SHERALD AND WRITER TA-NEHISI COATES have been friends since the mid-’90s, when Rawles and Sherald were studio mates at Spelman College in Atlanta, and Coates was an undergrad at Howard University in Washington, D.C. But beyond their shared history, there are central notions of personal, physical, political, and creative freedom that they’ve each explored in their work. Rawles is perhaps best known for her intricate, large-format paintings, which are built around images, based on her own photographs, of Black bodies submerged in rippling water. Aesthetically, the pieces reverberate with a kind of spiritual calm. But they are also loaded with political meaning, made in conscious reference, Rawles says, to the enslaved Africans who leaped from America-bound ships during the Middle Passage in fatal acts of…

IT USED TO BE THAT BUYING CLOTHES secondhand was the domain of vintage lovers or those simply looking for a more affordable price tag. The pursuit required sifting through racks and, for committed thrifters, visiting multiple consignment shops. Today, thanks to digital resellers, buying second-hand has gone mainstream. In fact, by 2023 more than a quarter of the pieces in our closets could be pre-owned. That stat is courtesy of a 2020 study by Boston Consulting Group and Vestiaire Collective, the Paris-based luxury resale platform. “Secondhand businesses like Vestiaire Collective and the RealReal are helping to define a new era where secondhand is as good as, if not better than, new,” says Maxine Bédat, founder and director of the fashion policy think tank New Standard Institute and author of the…

MARIE DUTTON BROWN STARTED HER CAREER in publishing more than 50 years ago. She founded her literary agency, Marie Brown Associates, in 1984, and is one of the few Black women agents in the industry. “I have been strengthened by this journey, and I have learned to honor the fact that I’ve been given this responsibility,” she tells Miami University senior Sara Bey, who spoke with Brown for Hearst’s Project Tell Me, which aims to document the lives and stories of older Black Americans through a series of interviews conducted by emerging Black writers and reporters. The following is an edited and condensed version of their conversation. I graduated from Penn State and taught junior high school. Loretta I Barrett, an executive editor at Doubleday, came to one of our…

IF IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU LAST THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR PERIOD—WE GET IT. It’s easy to go on autopilot after your first cycle. However, the conversation has evolved in the past few years. “Talking about your period is no longer taboo thanks to a new guard of experts,” says Charis Chambers, M.D., an ob-gyn based in Columbus, Georgia, who goes by the handle @ThePeriodDoctor. Social media has played a key role, as a result of ob-gyns becoming Instagram influencers and an influx of #PeriodTok videos. Talking openly about menstruation is the mission of the growing period positivity movement, which aims to make sure that everyone (including men) is literate about this basic function. Speaking up about our bodies isn’t just moving the cultural needle, it’s potentially life-saving. “The American…

At its best, FASHION is the embodiment of FREEDOM, style, the ultimate DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. But as recent history has shown, what CONSTITUTES freedom can represent very different things to DIFFERENT PEOPLE. It’s a subject we return to throughout this issue, which looks at WHAT IT MEANS to be free—PERSONALLY, SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY, POLITICALLY—and how the concept of freedom REVERBERATES in all of us.…

COVERS Newsstand Prada top, $655. prada.com. Repossi earrings, $950–$2,700. saks.com. Subscriber Loewe shirt, $1,150. loewe.com. Prada shorts, $835. prada.com. Repossi earrings, $950–$2,700. saks.com. New York Vintage combat boots, $650. 212-647-1107. Internal S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA. sweater, $2,200. ssense.com. Repossi earrings, $950–$2,700. saks.com. New York Vintage combat boots, $650. 212-647-1107. CONTENTS Page 19 Loewe shirt, $1,150. loewe.com. Prada shorts, $835. prada.com. Repossi $950–$2,700. saks.com. New York Vintage combat boots, $650. 212-647-1107. Chanel skirt (worn as dress), price upon request. 800-550-0005. Moschino Couture earrings, price upon request. moschino.com. Serpenti Viper ring by Bulgari, $4,650–$12,800. bulgari.com. Carolina Herrera gown, $4,490. 212-249-6552. Serpenti bracelet by Bulgari, $26,400. bulgari.com. Vera Wang bodysuit, $1,050. 212-628-3400. Lanvin dress, price upon request. lanvin.com. Repossi ear cuffs, $2,800–$3,500. saks.com. The Only Jane jumpsuit, $550. theonlyjane.com. Jennifer Fisher hoops, $550, and…