Why do people alter their appearances? On vanity and curiosity

I wrote for The Guardian about one of my biggest mistakes of 2023 - but there's even more to the story than what went live. In this video essay, I explore further why people seek to alter their appearances and whether society needs to expand its understanding of vanity. Bonus content includes true stories from an increasingly absurd existence: about glow-ups, the Breaking of the Pact 2.0, and that time I was mistaken for a pile of schoolbags. For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbours, indeed.

"I broke a pact, dyed my hair, and faced a long dark night of the soul..." Welcome to what ended up - very surprisingly! - being one of my favourite ever mistakes.

Time stamps:
00:00 - What is vanity anyway? (& video introduction)
00:54 - One article, two versions - and the potential for further oversharing
01:44 - Why the article exists - humour, confessions, and questions to answer
02:31 - The story begins...
03:54 - Personal - and starkly contrasting - experiences of beauty privilege
05:03 - Don't dye your hair on the precipice of an existential crisis
07:12 - So what did I learn? (on vanity, ageing, and existentialism)
09:55 - Pressures associated with ageing that women face (+ some keeping perspective)
11:26 - Anxiety, vanity, social capital, and compassion
13:08 - "It reminded me of death!" - on appearance and mortality
15:00 - My fellow silvery-haired friend and I meet again
16:11 - TREACHERY
18:26 - Some closing thoughts
18:41 - MORE TREACHERY
19:05 - Further thoughts about hair dye decisions and the nature of vanity + conclusion

Also - a big thank you to The Guardian and the lovely, talented editors there for commissioning and working with me on this piece. I'm really happy it found a home with you. https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...

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