There are few genres of writing quite so evocative as the tabloid headline. For instance: “Florence Pugh STUNS in sleeveless top,” and, “Florence Pugh puts on a STYLISH display in SLEEVELESS number.” The enthusiasm and the gravitas that gets applied to an otherwise unremarkable vest is (in my opinion) the pinnacle of prose. To write about someone going to the shops with the same urgency applied to coverage of, say, a landmark election result is one of the most breathtaking characteristics of digital journalism.
“Yes! Let me click on this photo of Florence Pugh staring at her iPhone for a bit!” I will think. “It will make me feel quite edified? And it will scratch a phantom itch in my brain that I didn’t even know existed!” But what was even more “SHOCKING” than the actor’s choice of tank top (which she wore while running errands in LA and perhaps reaching new heights on Candy Crush) was her choice of shoes: a pair of white, triangular-toed mules that exposed her naked heels.
This is, broadly speaking, the Florence Pugh formula: dress in a run-of-the-mill outfit (that sleeveless top, a pair of cropped gingham trousers) and then pair it with some unusual shoes and sunglasses. Like, for example, the John Lennon specs and the enormous brocade wedges that she wore back in September. It’s all about the deliberately quirked-up feminine. The Guy Fieri hairstyle combined with the Valentino Rockstud handbag. A “STYLISH” display, indeed.