Cosmo’s Former Art Director

May 20, 2016 8:32 AM

There is a radical feminist thrift store in Denmark run by the former art director of Cosmopolitan magazine. I learned this by accident. (Michelle Goldberg, Slate)
posted by Think_Long (13 comments total)

I HAVE FOUND CRONE ISLAND IT IS REAL AND IT IS IN DENMARK

Seriously, great little story. I just want to know more.
posted by Miko at 8:37 AM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]

I love the idea of a feminist thrift shop! What an interesting life she's had.
posted by tuesdayschild at 8:41 AM on May 20, 2016

I initially read this as "Costco’s Former Art Director," and was like "Huh."
posted by schmod at 8:43 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

“Helen Gurley Brown is famous for encouraging women to be skinny,” Hauser says. Hauser’s book describes a dinner Gurley Brown once served to a Cosmo writer: a single shared hard-boiled egg, lettuce, and a dressing of mineral oil—a laxative.

Brown gets praised routinely as a feminist (or at least a quasi-feminist) and advocate of sexual liberation, but this isn't the first thing I've read that paints her as an enforcer for the patriarchy.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:14 AM on May 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

This is the best thing I've read in... a long time. I can't express how much joy that little article just gave me. Thank you for posting.
posted by latkes at 9:33 AM on May 20, 2016

Man, I need to sit down and think about what I'm doing with my garbage life.
posted by boo_radley at 9:45 AM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

For non-Americans, opening Slate in incognito mode let's you bypass the article limit. At least it works for me.
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 10:37 AM on May 20, 2016

Wonderful story. There’s a video on Vimeo of the shop and Lin van Roe speaking, obviously in Danish but it’s nice to watch anyway to get an idea. And here’s a short interview where she talks about her designing clothes and stuff from recycled materials - and ooh this photo.
posted by bitteschoen at 10:53 AM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

I have often considered Denmark, because it just seems so civilized there. If only it weren't so cold.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:10 AM on May 20, 2016

I moved to Copenhagen right at the start of last winter. It's really not that cold.
posted by shelleycat at 11:13 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed that very much.
posted by scratch at 11:30 AM on May 20, 2016

Dark. It is dark, not cold.
posted by nat at 6:09 PM on May 20, 2016

That is true, it is very dark for three or four months. But then the other eight or nine months have days as long or longer than anywhere else I've lived which kind of surprised me. Not how long they get overall, but that part where they are already as long as a 'normal' summer day (to my southern sensibilities) by early March or so.
posted by shelleycat at 11:06 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]