In "The Look," OC friends drop by to try on our favorite new arrivals and tell us about their wardrobe preferences and current projects. This week, Jeanine Celeste Pang interviews Alexis Wilkinson.
As the first African-American president to helm The Harvard Lampoon, the Ivy League’s 139-year-old satirical publication that has run a decent joke or two from the likes of Andy Borowitz, Colin Jost, and Conan O’Brien, 22-year-old Alexis Wilkinson has been called “living history.” Or, what she calls “old and curmudgeonly.” The Milwaukee native, who just finished her one year as editor of Lampoon (and launched this genius digital parody), takes a break to chat with Opening Ceremony about Twitter versus Instagram, collegiate style, and finding those “big girl pants.”
JEANINE CELESTE PANG: What do you find funny?
ALEXIS WILKINSON: I'm an economics major, so I see jokes with rules and structure. For instance, there's the rule of three; specific versus general (“poodle” is funnier than “dog”); and certain sounds that are funnier than others, like “K” (“kangaroo”), and “P” ("penis"). Anything unexpected is funny. Comedy is a very human coping mechanism to dealing with absurdity, and to derive some sick pleasure in something random or sad in our lives—that’s crucial.
Tell us about Harvard style.
Harvard is an interesting case. It's going to be way preppier than another school. People wear the "I just stepped off a yacht" thing with boat shoes. Everyone has Hunter boots and a North Face. Then there's the other side—if you're kind of artsy, then you might be the sort to wear Opening Ceremony. It looks purposeful. It says, "I believe in this. I will defend this!" And if you're not dressing well and it's finals, then you're in pajamas.
Pajamas = softwear. What was your last memorable purchase?
I buy so much weird stuff on eBay. I purchased a pair of Wonder Woman-looking boots for Halloween—red and mod—and now I’m thinking about just wearing them around.
What looks are you into at the moment?
I really like sweatshirts with weird things on them. I have a Peanuts sweatshirt that I really like. I have a Boondocks sweatshirt. I also have a T-shirt that says "Articulate As Fuck."
You thought being on NPR last winter was going to be "a one-off thing," but since then, you've been featured everywhere from NBC's "Today" to
As the first African-American president to helm The Harvard Lampoon, the Ivy League’s 139-year-old satirical publication that has run a decent joke or two from the likes of Andy Borowitz, Colin Jost, and Conan O’Brien, 22-year-old Alexis Wilkinson has been called “living history.” Or, what she calls “old and curmudgeonly.” The Milwaukee native, who just finished her one year as editor of Lampoon (and launched this genius digital parody), takes a break to chat with Opening Ceremony about Twitter versus Instagram, collegiate style, and finding those “big girl pants.”
JEANINE CELESTE PANG: What do you find funny?
ALEXIS WILKINSON: I'm an economics major, so I see jokes with rules and structure. For instance, there's the rule of three; specific versus general (“poodle” is funnier than “dog”); and certain sounds that are funnier than others, like “K” (“kangaroo”), and “P” ("penis"). Anything unexpected is funny. Comedy is a very human coping mechanism to dealing with absurdity, and to derive some sick pleasure in something random or sad in our lives—that’s crucial.
Tell us about Harvard style.
Harvard is an interesting case. It's going to be way preppier than another school. People wear the "I just stepped off a yacht" thing with boat shoes. Everyone has Hunter boots and a North Face. Then there's the other side—if you're kind of artsy, then you might be the sort to wear Opening Ceremony. It looks purposeful. It says, "I believe in this. I will defend this!" And if you're not dressing well and it's finals, then you're in pajamas.
Pajamas = softwear. What was your last memorable purchase?
I buy so much weird stuff on eBay. I purchased a pair of Wonder Woman-looking boots for Halloween—red and mod—and now I’m thinking about just wearing them around.
What looks are you into at the moment?
I really like sweatshirts with weird things on them. I have a Peanuts sweatshirt that I really like. I have a Boondocks sweatshirt. I also have a T-shirt that says "Articulate As Fuck."
You thought being on NPR last winter was going to be "a one-off thing," but since then, you've been featured everywhere from NBC's "Today" to