Highbrow Lowbrow is back! Check out last month’s hot and not so hot trends…

Denna Nazem | Design Editor & Eliza Crowder | Assistant Online Editor  

HIGHBROW:
Celebrities:
Bruce Jenner: After months of anticipation, Bruce Jenner’s ABC Special with Diane Sawyer aired in late April. An interview mainly focused on his gender transition, the 20/20 special revealed Jenner’s true identity and was one of the bravest moments captured on television in a long time. Jenner is famous for his superb athletic abilities, receiving the gold medal for the decathlon in the 1976 Summer Olympics, and for being the patriarch of the infamous Kardashian family. Jenner is praised for his decision to make this alteration to his life and has been receiving positive feedback and support from all across the nation.

Beyoncé: Don’t be fooled, Beyoncé is the perpetual highbrow celebrity, but recently, she has reminded those who may have forgotten that she is Queen Bee. She shut down the fashion event of the year, The Met Gala, with a stunning sheer and jeweled dress. Kim Kardashian rocked another beautiful sheer and jeweled dress pretty much identical to Beyoncé’s Met Gala dress from last year. Let the “who-wore-it-best” debates begin, but whenever in doubt, our highbrow celebrity Queen Bey takes the cake.

Fashion:
Flowy shorts: As the weather continues to warm up, girls at Menlo and the rest of the world have been sporting flowy shorts of all different colors and prints. Flowy shorts are a highbrow way to keep cool, yet fashionable on hot spring and summer days – they are the definition of effortless stylish. If there is one fashion item to pick up this season, flowy shorts would definitely be it.

Pastel hair: This new beauty trend is either a hit or a miss. Many celebrities like Kate Hudson and Hilary Duff have stepped out rocking their new pastel hair and we love it. Pastel hair is a highbrow trend for the spring and summer, only if it is done in a classy and minimalistic way – the more neutral the look the better. The quickly approaching summer is the perfect time to try something different with your hair!

Technology:
Snapchat Emojis: This month, Snapchat launched a new update that included an emojis feature. Many users were initially outraged at the disappearance of the best friends lists on the app, so this new feature was an attempt to make up for this change. This new feature displays an emoji by your snapchat friends if you are on a snapping streak, best friends, #1 best friends, etc. – see the image below for a description of each emoji. Snapchat has succeeded in creating a new way to view best friends that tops the long gone lists.

Entertainment:
Gilmore Girls Reunion: If you were one of the many that finished watching the Gilmore Girls series thinking, “IS THIS IT?!”, there is good news. There is going to be a Gilmore Girls Reunion! It was announced this month that our favorites from the cast have signed on to do a reunion for the ATX Festival in June. Whether you are Team Logan or Team Dean, there is bound to be something for you. We can’t wait!

Fads:
Kardblock: If you’re one of those people that can’t stand anything having to do with the Kardashians, the new adblock entitled “Kardblock” is the thing for you! The “Kardblock” browser is an adblock for the Kardashians, meaning that anything associated with or mentioning the kardashians will not appear in your browser or any site you may choose to visit. Kardblock is still in progress, but anyone that is interested can sign up by entering their email address on this site: http://www.kardblock.com.

LOWBROW:
Celebrities:
Madonna & Drake: This past month, during the Coachella Music Festival, the crowd and world was sent into a frenzy when 56-year-old Madonna planted a large kiss on 28-year-old Drake. Drake responded with a disgusted face that prompted Madonna to regret the kiss all together. We are not a fan of this lowbrow pairing.

Fashion:
Overalls: If you’ve been shopping in the past couple months or so, you may have glanced around the store and noticed a pair of overalls hanging on a rack. Trust us, you are not the only one to be surprised and somewhat worried that this long-ago fashion trend is coming back into the stores. Overall (see what we did there), we don’t suggest picking a pair up, but if you are one of the few who can actually rock this outfit, go for it!

Technology:
Tinder Plus: Why some people spend $19.99 per month for an online dating app is truly a mystery, but it seems to be popular among many groups of people, specifically those age 18 to 24. Tinder is an app in which you can scroll through pictures of people in your selected region and decide whether or not you are attracted to them. The phrase “ignorance is bliss” is quite applicable when using Tinder, due to the fact that if you don’t “like” someone, they will never know! However, if you and another person both “like” eachother, then you make a “match” and have the option to meet with one another. Tinder Plus includes two main features that are unavailable in the regular version. First, Tinder Plus has the ability to go in “reverse mode” and reevaluate people your originally didn’t “like”, and it also allows for matches to be created among people across the globe.

Tidal Streaming: This past month, the new music streaming website, Tidal, created by Jay Z, was released. While the product does have some perks such as exclusive content and videos by greats like Beyoncé and nearly doubled spotify royalty payouts, some new reports have shifted Tidal towards the Lowbrow category. Tidal is unnecessary addition to the music streaming market. It claims to be a music streaming company, for the people, by the artists, but that is far from the truth. The money made from the service, which right now is exceptionally low, is mainly going to the top tier of artists, people like Jay-Z himself, and is no more friendly towards indie artists or the ones they claim to be helping. Tidal is also incredibly overpriced, justifying this by claiming the music is “high-fidelity lossless streaming.” While this may be great for a few audiophiles with an expensive pair of open-back headphones, the average commuters, students, or athletes are fine with Spotify quality streaming. This higher fidelity streaming also costs the consumer more to stream. Tidal is an unneeded and costly for most people. Go back to rapping, Jay-Z.

Entertainment:
Derek Shepherd Dying (Grey’s Anatomy): After 11 year of devotion to the hit drama Grey’s Anatomy, fans across the nation were shocked and inconsolable when one of the show’s most loved characters, Derek Shepherd, passed. Shepherd was a charming, incredibly talented neurosurgeon that fell in love with the show’s main character, Meredith Grey. Shortly after saving the lives of three people in a car crash, Shepherd got hit by a car and tragically lost his life due to the unpreparedness of the nearest hospital. Although fans suspected that Shepherd would leave the show soon, no one expected his death to be his reason for leaving. After watching faithfully for 11 seasons, fans are very frustrated with the outcome of one of the most well-liked characters in the show and are starting to wonder if the show should have discontinued a few seasons ago.

The Fight: This past weekend, over 3 million people paid $100 dollars to watch the very much anticipated “Mayweather vs. Pacquiao” fight, but the viewers’ high expectations were let down due to the defensive styles of boxing on display. This fight was among the most watched and highest earning fights of all time, with the best seats selling on StubHub for more than $300,000 and the worst seats selling for $5,000. Floyd Mayweather, the champion of the fight, is not the most well-liked figure, due to him having multiple house arrests and restraining orders. However, there was one good thing that came from this fight! Although Manny Pacquiao isn’t the better boxer, his decision to donate half of his earnings to charity created somewhat of a good outcome from this anti-climactic fight.

Fads:
Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge: If you have seen any tabloids in the past couple months or the comments on any of Kylie Jenner’s Instagram selfies, you would know about the drama and controversy around her lips. Thousands claim she has gotten lip injections, while she continues to deny these rumors. This past month, the Internet has exploded with the so-called “Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge” which is basically a test to see if you can get your lips to look as plump as Kylie’s by using a suction method. Besides the fact that this challenge is pointless, it also is dangerous. Doctors everywhere warn against this challenge. To list only a few dangers: you can burst a blood vessel which would cause permanent damage to the appearance of your lips and you could also shatter the shot glass used to do this challenge and get deeply cut by the shards of glass. This challenge is definitely not worth it, as the plumping only lasts an hour, but bruising could last weeks. If you are desperate to get the look, please avoid the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge, pick up a lip liner, and watch this makeup tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvgmTaWF5L0.

Check back next month for May’s best and worst trends!