Marie Kondo

Friday

Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Slow down, shop less and style more: lessons from Allison Bornstein

That Allison Bornstein’s family all operate in care is no surprise. True, Bornstein, thirty-five, a stylist and rising social media star based out of New York and Los Angeles, is the odd one out. Her father and brother are doctors, her grandfather is a psychoanalyst and her mother was once a therapist. But the services she offers are not so different from the shrink’s couch. Bornstein has created a dedicated following on TikTok and Instagram for her tips and scripted reels, in which she implores us all to craft self-love around our clothes. To slow down, shop less, and style more. And in the world of stylists and influencers, who make careers out of telling people to consume, consume, consume, Bornstein is quietly radical.

allison bornstein

Sunday

James Jeffrey

The Kondo effect in politics

The decluttering crusade of home-organizing guru Marie Kondo has taken on a life of its own. Kondo’s effort to shame us into tidying up our drawers, closets and desk spaces began as a harmless inanity. But it’s now intruding nefariously into every realm of existence. First, we were told that folding our underwear would spark joy in our lives. Now, we face a proliferation of magazine articles advising us to declutter ourselves of ‘unnecessary’ or ‘toxic’ friends. Clearly, not all friendships are healthy. But these assessments appear driven by market forces: they focus on what you can gain from a friend in terms of efficiencies and profit. Where does it stop?

kondo

Thursday

Kat Rosenfield

No, Alison Roman isn’t racist

The cardinal rule of a good milkshake-ducking: it's not over until the duck has been declared racist. So it goes for Alison Roman, the popular (or formerly so) New York Times food writer who earlier this month became a loathed and villainous avatar of privilege after some ill-considered remarks about celebrity lifestyle-empresses Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo sparked a storm of backlash. The scandal ultimately became big and beefy enough to make the mainstream news: Teigen announced to her 12 million Twitter followers that Roman's comments had wounded her. Roman apologized, and then apologized again, and then stopped posting at all. The tide of takes inspired by the controversy will keep rolling until June.

alison roman

Saturday

Ryan Boger

The anti-KonMari method: the case for material attachment

Recall a time when you re-encountering something that once held major significance in your life. Maybe it happened when you took a trip back to your childhood home. You pulled an old book bag out from the attic, or that soccer ball you practiced with during your high school playing days. If you’re anything like me, finding yourself in those situations can bring back a flood of lost memories. Some good, some bad – but ones that still mean something to you.With nostalgia and a sense of that significance seemingly superficial things can have in our lives, I’ve come to a startling conclusion: I think it’s OK to be attached to 'stuff.

marie kondo konmari

Monday

James Delingpole

I could watch Marie Kondo forever

‘Talk to your crows!’ This precept should inspire us all as we begin the big, unknown adventure that is 2019. It’s going to change my life, that’s for sure. My wife’s too. That’s because we’ve both sat, increasingly enthused, through the first episode of Netflix’s eight-part series Tidying Up, presented by adorable Japanese tidying up sensei Marie Kondo, whose charming if rudimentary English I have just cruelly satirized. ‘Talk to your clothes,’ is what she was trying to say. Coming from a Western presenter this would sound like so much New Age airy fairy drivel. Coming from a beautiful Japanese woman with the serene aura of a Shinto temple nun, on the other hand, it comes across, somehow, as deep, wise and true.

marie kondo