Men hate the way I dress

Summary

Style-ish Podcast Summary: “Men Hate the Way I Dress”

Podcast Information:

• Title: Style-ish
• Host/Author: Shameless Media
• Episode: Men Hate the Way I Dress
• Release Date: April 22, 2025

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Introduction to the Episode

In the April 22, 2025 episode of Style-ish, hosted by Madison Sullivan alongside co-hosts Joanna Fleming and Anika Joshi Smith, the trio delves deep into the intriguing narrative of Man Repeller, a prominent 2010s media publication founded by style blogger Leandra Medine. The episode, aptly titled “Men Hate the Way I Dress,” explores the meteoric rise and eventual decline of Man Repeller, examining its impact on fashion, branding, and feminist discourse.

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Personal Swaps: Weekly Fashion Hacks

Before immersing into the main topic, the hosts engage in their regular segment of sharing personal fashion hacks and product recommendations, known as “swaps.”

• Anika Joshi Smith shares her excitement about the Ouai anti-frizz cream: “I have the Ouai anti frizz cream and it's $24. A little bit goes a long way...” (01:17)

• Madison Sullivan discusses the benefits of tightlining eyeliner to make hazel eyes pop, recommending the Hourglass 1.5mm liner: “I've been doing it just on the top lid, not the bottom lid...” (03:10)

• Joanna Fleming introduces a clever cooking hack inspired by Barilla’s Spotify playlists: “Barilla, number 78, and you start playing the playlist...” (02:53)

These exchanges not only provide valuable tips but also set a relaxed and engaging tone for the episode.

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Tracing the Rise and Fall of Man Repeller

The core segment titled “Tracing” focuses on Man Repeller and its founder, Leandra Medine. The hosts reminisce about their personal connections to the blog and discuss its evolution.

• Leandra Medine's Beginnings: Launched in April 2010 while Medine was studying journalism at The New School, Man Repeller started as a personal fashion blog on WordPress. Joanna Fleming recounts, “I was like a full-on blogger... an OG blogger girl” (05:01).

• Unique Branding and Voice: Anika highlights Medine’s distinctive tone: “She always poked fun at fashion. She was always a bit different...” (08:24). The blog stood out with quirky headlines like “A chin strap will never get you laid” and coined playful terms such as “birth control goggles” and “arm party.”

• Expansion into a Media Empire: Madison Sullivan reflects on the transition from blog to business: “Man Repeller began to cover beauty, relationships, culture, money and more...” (07:56). By 2012, the site had garnered significant media attention, featuring in prominent publications like The New York Times and Vogue.

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Challenges and Controversies

As Man Repeller grew, internal and external challenges began to undermine its success.

• Personal Life vs. Brand Identity: The hosts discuss the tension between Medine’s personal life and her brand. Despite promoting a persona of repelling men through fashion, Medine was married by 23. Madison opines, “I believe that she can have a blog where dressing a certain way does not need to be seen in isolation to her being happily married...” (20:38).

• 2017 Backlash: A pivotal moment came in 2017 when Medine wrote a personal essay reflecting on Beyoncé's pregnancy announcement, inadvertently revealing her own fertility struggles. This led to significant backlash from readers who felt the platform was shifting away from its core mission. Joanna Fleming summarizes, “The comments... were full of women, suggesting that one woman's celebration would always be another woman's disappointment” (26:46).

• Response to Social Issues: In June 2020, following the tragic death of George Floyd, Man Repeller attempted to address anti-racism but faced criticism for insufficient and performative efforts. Medine’s subsequent apologies and efforts to foster underrepresented voices were deemed inadequate by many, leading to further erosion of trust (28:32).

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Downfall and Rebranding

Amid mounting controversies and internal disarray, Man Repeller struggled to maintain its relevance and integrity.

• Rebranding to Just Repeller: In September 2020, the site rebranded as Just Repeller in an attempt to revitalize its image. However, just a month later, it was announced that the site would shut down due to “financial constraints.” Joanna Fleming speculates, “Maybe things just became a bit much and it was easier to just, okay, I'm out of here” (36:41).

• Leandra Medine’s New Ventures: Following the closure, Medine launched a new venture, “The Cereal Aisle,” a fashion-focused Substack newsletter that has garnered over 159,000 subscribers. This move signifies her return to her roots in fashion writing without the pressures of running a large media company (37:52).

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Legacy and Influence

Despite its eventual demise, Man Repeller left a lasting impact on the fashion industry and digital media.

• Influence on Millennial Fashion: The podcast acknowledges, “For all of Man Repeller's failings, it's not an overstatement to say that the site really changed the way millennial women thought about fashion” (42:25).

• Revival in Gen Z: The hosts note the resurgence of “man-repelling” outfits among Gen Z in 2025, attributing it to a broader quest for self-expression and empowerment: “Gen Z are seeking to repel men... fashion as a form of self-expression” (41:00).

• Continued Influence Through Former Staff: Former Man Repeller employees have launched their own successful Substack newsletters, continuing the brand’s legacy of personalized and authentic fashion discourse.

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Conclusion: Reflections and Recommendations

The hosts reflect on the lessons learned from Man Repeller’s trajectory:

• Balancing Personal Life and Brand: Madison emphasizes the importance of separating personal experiences from brand identity: “Every female should wake up every day... and fuck doing it for a man” (42:49).

• Adaptation and Evolution: Anika commends Medine’s ability to pivot and focus on her passion: “She was already in a place where she was shifting her content... go and do whatever the fuck you want” (37:20).

• Recommendations for Listeners: The hosts recommend following former Man Repeller writers who have launched their own successful platforms, such as Hayley Naaman’s “Maybe Baby” and Jessica Defino’s “Review of Beauty.”

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Notable Quotes with Attribution and Timestamps

• Madison Sullivan (03:10): “I've been doing it just on the top lid, not the bottom lid, unless I do want to go full emo kid for the evening.”

• Joanna Fleming (02:53): “Barilla, number 78, and you start playing the playlist... it's a great branding moment.”

• Anika Joshi Smith (08:24): “She always poked fun at fashion. She was always a bit different... I will never forget, just being called a man Repeller would be the ultimate compliment.”

• Madison Sullivan (20:38): “I believe that she can have a blog where dressing a certain way does not need to be seen in isolation to her being happily married...”

• Joanna Fleming (26:46): “The comments... were full of women, suggesting that one woman's celebration would always be another woman's disappointment.”

• Madison Sullivan (28:32): “It's in two parts for me... she ultimately did write about that is incredibly vulnerable and incredibly important to talk about.”

• Anika Joshi Smith (37:20): “I think she was already in a place where she was shifting her content, she was shifting what she cared about, she was evolving...”

• Madison Sullivan (42:49): “And fuck doing it for a man.”

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Final Thoughts

“Men Hate the Way I Dress” offers a comprehensive exploration of Man Repeller’s journey, providing listeners with insights into the complexities of building and sustaining a fashion media brand. Through candid discussions and reflective analysis, the hosts underscore the importance of authenticity, adaptability, and the enduring power of fashion as a medium for self-expression.

For those interested in the evolution of digital fashion media and its intersection with personal identity and feminism, this episode serves as a compelling case study.

Transcript

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Foreign.

[Madison Sullivan]

This episode of Stylish is brought to you by uniqlo invest in 100% cashmere for just 129.90. This is stylish, the podcast for all things fashion, brand, business and beauty. My name is Madison Sullivan. Thought. My co hosts are Joanna Fleming and Anika Joshi Smith. How are we, ladies?

[Joanna Fleming]

Hello. Geared up for a traced episod today.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

We can't wait on this fine Wednesday.

[Madison Sullivan]

I love a little trace. This one's not little, though.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

This one's a good.

[Joanna Fleming]

They never are. All right, today we're tracing the rise and fall of man Repeller, a 2010's media publication founded by style blogger Leandra Medine. But before we jump into that, what records do we all have for this week? I'm loving that we're doing the swap every week, by the way.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Same. I honestly, like, take down these notes and I follow through with everything you both say. I do, I do as well.

[Madison Sullivan]

The only thing I'm gonna eat my words on is I haven't bought the Kmart Stanley Duke, mate.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

You need to get this. I left this in the car all yesterday when it was like 32 degrees. It was in the car for six hours and I came back and my liquid IV was still crisp and cold.

[Madison Sullivan]

Yeah, sold.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Six bucks. Best six bucks we've ever spent.

[Joanna Fleming]

What have you got for us today?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Okay, so I actually have an anti frizz one for hair and this is one that I'm quite excited about because I never get comments on my hair being smooth. It's so coarse and frizzy naturally. But I have the Ouai anti frizz cream and it's $24. A little bit goes a long way, so I feel like it's going to last so long, but I feel like it's kind of just given my hair all over smoothness and really helped to get that kind of blow wave salon style at home.

[Madison Sullivan]

Your hair looks great. I also love that you said to get the way to go its way, you know, play on the brand name, that markling brain.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

There it is again.

[Joanna Fleming]

One thing I think you should try that I think you would love is the color. Wow. Dream coat.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Oh, link me.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, I will.

[Madison Sullivan]

I feel like, as I said, I listen to everything that's said on it.

[Joanna Fleming]

You spray it in before you blow dry it. Very smooth and humidity proof.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Okay, thank you. You're giving me that cheeky little look as well. So I'm like, that looks like a top, top secret.

[Madison Sullivan]

Yeah, that's an if you know, you Know, Jo, what's yours?

[Joanna Fleming]

Mine today is actually a little hack that I discovered the other night while Adrian was cooking dinner. I don't cook, by the way. He does all of the cooking in our house. I'm very, very lucky. But I was watching him cook pasta, and I was like, what music are you playing? Because it was just stuff that he normally wouldn't listen to. And he was like, well, Barilla, the pasta brand, have a Spotify playlist that goes for the exact amount of minutes for the specific pasta you're cooking. So, for example, he was cooking, like number 78 is what they call it. And so you just type that into Spotify, like Barilla, number 78, and you start playing the playlist. And as soon as the playlist finishes, which is generally like three songs, that's when you take it out. And it was cooked al dente. And I just think that's a great branding moment. Don't you think?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

That's insane. How did Adrienne discover this?

[Joanna Fleming]

I actually don't know. Oh, I think you saw it on TikTok.

[Madison Sullivan]

Yeah, there's been a video that's gone pretty well on TikTok. I haven't seen it because I'm saying checks out. You're on Cleaning Talk, though, that says if you're cooking Barilla pasta, hey, you should know this.

[Joanna Fleming]

Such a good branding moment. They don't have it on their packaging, though, which I think is a missed opportunity. They should add it to their packaging. QR code.

[Madison Sullivan]

Absolutely. Well, it's my turn then, isn't it? So mine's just a hack. If you own any form of eyeliner. I do have an eyeliner I would suggest to use, though, and it is to tight line the inner lash line. So I've got random two different colored eyes, but I would say I'm a hazel eye color if I had to generalize and put them in one basket together. For anyone who's got hazel, blue, grainy eyes or just really wants to make their eyes pop, I know there's a lot of cat liner going around and a lot of upper lash line. But the inner lash line, if you really want to make your eyes pop, I think it just makes the world of difference. I've been doing it just on the top lid, not the bottom lid. It can go a little bit like. Cause tonight it goes 0 to 100 pretty quick. So personally, just the top one for me, unless I do want to go full emo kid for the evening. But I use the Hourglass 1.5 millimeter liner, which I think is like 34, 35 at Mecca. So that's my recommendation.

[Joanna Fleming]

Tight lining is the one thing I struggle to do with makeup.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Really.

[Joanna Fleming]

I would say I'm generally quite good at makeup. Tight lining. I just cannot get my eyes to cooperate.

[Madison Sullivan]

I will literally assault your lash.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, See, other people can do it on me. But even then I'm like, oh, I keep getting too close up in there. But I can happily do the bottom. Yeah. Which is so weird. I can do the bottom. Waterline. I can't do the top. All right, well, that is our swaps for you this week. Hopefully you've all got something out of that. But now you know the drill. Traced is where we take a brand, trend or person and we trace the story that influenced the industry, for better or worse. Today, as we've said, we'll be tracing the rise and fall of the media publication Man Repella and its founder, Leandro Medine. Did you two read Man Repeller back in the day?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Did I ever. I was like a full on blogger. Like I literally would like type every week really, to maybe like get invited to fashion shows. Never really did, but like, I was like an OG blogger girl.

[Joanna Fleming]

Really?

[Madison Sullivan]

Wow.

[Joanna Fleming]

What platform?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

WordPress.

[Joanna Fleming]

Oh, yeah.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I should find my blog. No, no, I shouldn't.

[Joanna Fleming]

No, I shouldn't.

[Madison Sullivan]

One of our listeners will find it for you.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Chat can live out of my MySpace.

[Madison Sullivan]

I was definitely a reader and I actually spotted her wild in 2016 while I was in New York and I saw J. Lo that same trip. And I think I was just as excited for Man Repeller as I was for Jennifer Lopez, which probably says how big and grand she was at the height of all of her success.

[Joanna Fleming]

Absolutely. Well, since 2020, we've seen the resurgence of Y2K fashion amongst gen Z and more recently, a revival of the indie sleaze aesthetic from the early 2010s. A really good example from current times would be Charlie xcx. If you don't know what indie sleaze is, there is also the recent conversations online from debating that actually millennials might be cooler than them, but we'll leave that for another day. I personally haven't seen any of that chatter going on, but I'd love to hear it.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

That's all I hear daily.

[Madison Sullivan]

Any Gen Z's want to tell me?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Thank you so much.

[Joanna Fleming]

And while low rise jeans and Ed Hardy trucker caps and tiny scarves have found their way back into the mainstream, we've also seen the return of another early 2010s style of dressing man repelling outfits. I've got a clip for you both that I'm sure you would have seen or heard before. It's from an interview Julia Fox did with BBC's Women's Hour in 2023. She was on the press tour for her memoir, down the Drain. Here it is.

[D]

Men hate my outfits. They're so mad that I like I'm not like hot like how I was in uncut drums. I hear that all the time. But I don't care because the girls love it. The girls and the gays love it. Whether I was realizing it or not. I think my appearance was very much to please the male gaze in a way. And then something happened. I don't know if it was motherhood or just being thr into the public eye. And I was like, wait, I don't want to uphold this anymore. I want to dress for the girls. And that's really who I'm.

[Madison Sullivan]

You dropped quite the entourage with you today. I mean, our green room's never been so full.

[D]

Not one straight man.

[Joanna Fleming]

So thousands and thousands of TikTok users have since paired this sound with footage of what they call their man repelling outfits. But Julia Fox wasn't the one to coin this phrase. That's why we're going to be talking about the rise and fall of the 2010's media giant Man Repeller and its founder, Leandra Medine today. First, as always, what do you both remember about the media business Man Repella?

[Madison Sullivan]

I recall the Forbes 30 under 30, because I think since I was about 16, I've been infatuated with that list each year. And I remember it going really from a blog to a media business. So there was an editorial team, there were sponsorship, verticals. It very much evolved from it feeling like it was her blog to this is a business with verticals where you could go and explore beauty, fashion, and all those sorts of things.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah, she was kind of like the OG and she was kind of leading the charge when it came to, I don't want to say cookie cutter design, because she kind of repelled against that. And she always had a little bit more of a quirky touch. But the thing that always stood out to me was her tone of voice. She always poked fun at fashion. She was always a bit different. She was very playful with her language, which we'll digest a bit later. But I will never forget, just being called a man Repeller would be the ultimate compliment of all time back then.

[Madison Sullivan]

Great.

[Joanna Fleming]

Well, for those that don't know a lot about Man Repeller let's go into the Man Repeller herself Leandra Medine was born on 20 December 1988 in New York City. She grew up on the Upper east side and attended a private prep school in Manhattan, although in 2021 she told the Cutting Room Floor podcast that throughout her teen years she believed herself to always be on the brink of being homeless, which, as you can imagine, didn't land well with listeners. If you know anything about the Upper east side not typically associated with poverty.

[Madison Sullivan]

The brink of poverty. Not really.

[Joanna Fleming]

Anyway, in April of 2010, while Leandra was studying journalism at the New School, she launched her fashion blog Man Repella, which honestly was probably the best way to describ the entire premise of the blog. I think that's a great name you two would probably remember. The 2000 and tens were a massive time for personal style and fashion blogs. Annika leading the charge and of course for bodycon dresses. Jeffrey Campbell Heels in the Club don't make me mention wet pussy shots again. Remember this was before Instagram. So 2012, I think Instagram came out and it was long, long, long before TikTok. We're in Tumblr era, yeah, big time, leandra told the New York Times in December of 2010. I didn't want to be just another personal style blogger wearing a sequin mini Dr. Highline. The story goes that Leandra was leafing through the racks of Topshop with a friend when she remarked that everything in the store was so man repelling. It was the first conversation that sparked the central premise of her blog, dressing in defiance of the opposite sex. We're going to dive into Leandra and her blog in a moment, but first let's hear a word from today's sponsor.

[Madison Sullivan]

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[Joanna Fleming]

Okay, so here's the official definition of man repeller from Leandra's original blog. Outfitting oneself in a sartorially offensive way that will result in repelling members of the opposite sex. Such garments include, but are not limited to, harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls in brackets C Human rappelling shoulder pads, full length jumpsuits, jewellery that resembles violent weaponry, and clogs. What do you both think of when it comes to man rappelling style? Is there anything that comes to mind straight off the bat that you think yes, that fits the bill?

[Madison Sullivan]

Yeah, I mean if I had to articulate it in an outfit, I'd probably say Carrie at the boys wedding in Sex and the City too. I think it's women in tailored items, blazers, you know, anything that's got shoulder pads or loafers, things that are traditionally male items. I feel like women wearing is a man repelling move.

[Joanna Fleming]

Okay, I sound like that.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Well, I feel like Julia Fox said it herself, it's when we dress for the girls and the gays and not the guys at all. And I think as well, like anything a little bit more androgynous, a little bit more risk taking. Like Man Repella used to always clash and you would see checks and florals and so much eccentric dressing all the time. And I think it was anything that strayed away from what feminine mini skirts, like sequins, Anything sexy should be.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. And not figure hugging.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Not figure hugging at all.

[Madison Sullivan]

I always say it's about dressing for little girls to think you look cool, not for grown men to think you look hot.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I love that.

[Madison Sullivan]

You know, I also love that.

[Joanna Fleming]

But Leandra's unique sense of style, often featuring the clashing patterns and baggy silhouettes and an excess of accessories that you just mentioned, wasn't the only thing that set man Repeller. Apart from the other fashion blogs of the time, Leandra's sense of humor also gave Man Repella an edge that hadn't yet been seen in fashion writing at the time. Here are just a few headlines from the early days of the original Man Repella blog. A chin strap will never get you laid. The Met saw many a soft peen last night. Your lipstick is poppin. His pants are not. And rag. And no boner, which is obviously a play on the brand name rag and bone. Leandra also coined a number of fashion terms that went viral at the time, the most famous of which are probably birth control goggles and an arm party. Any guesses on what either of those terms refer to?

[Madison Sullivan]

I mean, arm party to me just signals like a lot of bracelets and bands. I'm thinking like Kardashian circa 2016 or Iris with all of like the bracelets up to the elbows. But the grandpa goggles. You've probably got me stumped on that.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

It literally reminds me of coachella outfits from 2015 and just all of the arm candy literally all up your arm. And it would be scarves, it'd be bracelets, it would just be stacks of things. Yeah, the goggles.

[Joanna Fleming]

Not sure that's exactly what it is. And the birth control goggles are like those big grandpa glasses.

[Madison Sullivan]

Oh, Chloe. Chloe sunglasses.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Ok, that was me in my boho era. Yes, there was an era of boho for me.

[Madison Sullivan]

Well, lucky you, it's back.

[Joanna Fleming]

Leandra's early writing mixed roasting popular trends in women's fashion with self effacing commentary on her own wardrobe. Reading back over these posts now though, you can really see just how young Leandra was when she started her blog. She was in her early 20s and also just how different the Internet was in 2010. Like, she's pretty foul mouths, she's candid, she's sometimes offensive, and she's fiercely opinionated on everything. I reckon probably because there just wasn't as much fear of getting cancelled. Like you could say a lot more on the Internet.

[Madison Sullivan]

Culture wasn't really around. Well, yeah, not to the degree it is.

[Joanna Fleming]

And social media wasn't what it was now. But within a month of the site going live, Man Repeller was featured on Refinery 29, which was a huge win for Leandra at the time, which took the concept of man rappelling to a much, much wider audience. Within a few years, Leandra took the site from a personal blog to a major brand, as you guys have alluded to already. Here's a quote from Refinery 29 reflecting on the move to turn the blog into a fully fledged media empire. As Man Repella grew, it began to cover beauty, relationships, culture, money and more. Despite becoming known for more than just fashion and shopping, the site still released content predicated on a specific style. Off kilter, quirky and voice, funny, apologetic whose origins trace back to Medine even as it evolved into something broader and more mainstream. Although Leandra had initially planned for Man Repeller to be a way for her to land a 9 to 5 in the fashion industry after college, turned out she didn't really need it because by 2012 Man Repella had been featured in the New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, and Women's Wear Daily. She had over 20, 000 followers on Twitter, which doesn't seem big now, but back then it was really big for the time given this is like pre influencer and over 8, 000 likes on the blog's Facebook page. Again, which was also pretty big for the time. Leandra told Forbes in 2018 I didn't think Man Repella was going to become my career until I realized that I had saved enough money and certainly had a smart and strategic enough business mind to start hiring other people. I thought to myself, I have nothing to lose, so why not give it a try? Reflecting on this time in women's media, did you guys read other fashion blogs? Like, what were your blogs that you read? Aside from Annika writing her own, I.

[Madison Sullivan]

Would have been reading it because had I known about it.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Oh my gosh. I was honestly so obsessed with blogs like on my roster was constantly Sincerely Jules Fashion Toast, Brian Boy and Ealan Kling.

[Joanna Fleming]

I don't know any of those. I'm so not.

[Madison Sullivan]

I know a couple of those. I was a little closer to home like Gary Pepper Vintage Cole Horn Shout out to you homegrown talent. She was the wind beneath my wings but it was her Blonde Salad Amy song. Like I would say those songs style. Yeah, those are the three that I just absolutely aspired to be when I was little.

[Joanna Fleming]

There was one that I followed that isn't around. I think it was called Snob who used to be part of it was two girls. Yes. I can't remember the other girl. So she now does the Bridal Journey.

[Madison Sullivan]

Yes. Yeah. Wow.

[Joanna Fleming]

I was obsessed with their stuff.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

It was like a really cool kind of Tumblr stinner. Yeah, yeah, I know the one.

[Joanna Fleming]

But while Leandra became known as the woman behind Man Repeller, she didn't exactly repel men in her Personal Life. In late 2011, Leandra announced that she was engaged to ABJ Cohen, a financial advisor she'd met a few years prior, when she was just 17 years old and he was around 20. Fun fact for you. AB's grandfather was one of the founders of Duane Reade, the American pharmacy giant. So if Leandra was ever concerned about her family's wealth, she didn't need to be, because her husband's inheritance could have picked up the slack. Leandra and Ab dated for nine months and then broke up for a little while. And then when they reunited a few years later, they decided to make things official. Here's how Leandra described their reunion in her memoir, Man Repeller. For context, she was only 24 when this book came out. The quote reads, as it turns out, dating is actually a complex process of elimination, one that allows a woman to weed out the bad and only permit the good to blossom. As with all gardening, though, the blossoming takes time and sometimes a lot of effort, but almost always results in beautiful flowers, which in turn make for one hell of a floral print.

[Madison Sullivan]

Do you get to call it a floral print when you've found your husband at 24?

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, I think that's where there's a little bit of contention because, yes, she hasn't done a lot of dating. She's kind of met someone at 17 and then ended up with that same person.

[Madison Sullivan]

Call me when you're 30, doll. Call me when you're 30. You want to talk process of elimination? It's interesting even to have a memoir at 24.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan]

She'd obviously achieved so much with Man Repella, but I do think when you're doing something like a memoir, you do need to have some perspective of what is the average person, the age that they're meeting someone or getting married or doing the things.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah, I definitely think as well, like, she's speaking, like, she does sound more mature here. And it's so different to the tone of voice that we've kind of heard from her. Poking fun, a little bit of more kind of candid humor and things peppered throughout.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. But also, being 24, she wouldn't have even had man repella for like five years at that point. So it probably was a little early to release the memoir.

[Madison Sullivan]

But anyway, it's giving major I want to be Carrie Bradshaw vibes.

[Joanna Fleming]

It is a bit. Yeah. And we're going to dive into that a little bit more. So something really interesting about Man Repella is that in arguing for the value of dressing to offend the male Gaze Leandra and her collaborators spent a lot of time thinking and talking about men on Man Repella. And despite aligning herself with a Carrie Bradshaw esque kind of Persona, she was married by the time she was 23, so didn't really have that, you know, late 30s kind of dating experience. Here's a clip from the Rehash podcast where host Hannah touches on the potential hypocrisy at play within Man Repeller.

[E]

Of course it's not unfeminist to be married. This didn't actually have any big impacts on like her or the legitimacy of Man Repeller and its success. It just sheds a light on the actually traditional values that were lurking behind the whole like, you don't need a man, you just need a good pair of shoes thing, which is not unlike Sex and the City. Also, it's not that rare to have this kind of traditional outlook and like, it could be obviously a product of how she grew up and the values she was raised with, but it just feels kind of weird to have this mentality be the foundation of a business that claims to push the opposite agenda.

[Joanna Fleming]

Do you guys agree with that commentary?

[Madison Sullivan]

I wholeheartedly disagree with that commentary. I think two things can be true. I believe that she can have a blog where dressing a certain way or living by a certain value does not need to be seen in isolation to her being happily married or finding someone she loves.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, I agree with that.

[Madison Sullivan]

If she was to go that you should be dressing like this and not pursuing men and fck men.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, sure.

[Madison Sullivan]

That's not what I ever got from Man Repella. It was more about dressing for yourself and how you wanted to feel and look and not with the objective of the male gaze.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan]

Doesn't mean you don't catch the male gaze by, you know, having men repel a ideology.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah, totally. And I think as well when you are dressing and you're dressing confidently, I think that's so attractive in itself. And it does kind of like you never know who you're going to meet. You never know like who you're going to end up with. And I feel like, yep, that's her brand. But it doesn't mean it's like all she's going to talk about and all she's going to be about. I think she can have a life and she can promote that as well. I think maybe as we'll get into a little bit later, it's just like about how she goes about it.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, for sure.

[Madison Sullivan]

Navigation is key.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. Well, as Man Repela grew from Leandra's passion project to a 15 person operation, the brand championed the voices of young women who wrote about style through the lens of their own personal experiences. The roster of writers who filled out Leandra's editorial team grew followings of their own, most of whom are still writing today, and we're going to feature some of them later on in the episode so you can go and check them out. In a 2020 piece on the site's RIS fall, GQ reported, Man Repella pioneered a new type of fashion writing that used the signature women's media format of the Orts, the personal essay, to elevate the style discourse. Man Repella's popularity grew throughout the mid 2010s and reached a fever pitch by the beginning of 2017. In that same 2020 piece, GQ reported, By 2017 the site was just flourishing. They launched merch and pop ups and larger brands seem to be knocking them off. American Eagle's lingerie brand took cues from a Man Repel Pop up and the Wing, a New York based women's club, reproduced a weekend sleepaway camp trip that the site had offered right down to the locations. So you know you're doing something right when there's copycats. But behind the scenes, cracks were reportedly beginning to show. Former employees said that while the business was bringing in a lot of money, they didn't have the fundamental strategy for how to run a business in the first place. They also suspected that Leandra didn't actually want to be the founder of a fully fledged company. She was a fashion blogger, not a CEO. At the end of the day, how often do we hear this when it comes to creative startups? It's pretty common, right?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah, and I think we've talked about it a lot on the podcast as well. I think obviously just working in the industry, creatives are definitely creatives for a reason. It doesn't mean they don't have good business acumen and it doesn't mean that they can't lead a company. But I think as a small business owner, you wear so many hats and there's a constant sense of overwhelm. And I think if you don't have the right support in place, it can be really incredibly hard. And I think as well, when you do take that leap of faith, sometimes you don't actually know what you're setting yourself up for. You actually don't know what it means to run a business until you're actually running the business. And I think that's why you kind of fake it till you make it and you get that, like, cliche, you know? But it is just a lot. And I just can't even imagine how she would be feeling going from candid, outspoken, saying whatever the hell she wants when she wants, and then having to kind of start regulating, pulling back as well as going from solo to managing a full team.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. 100. And also just losing the passion a little bit for it because you're then not doing all the fun stuff anymore.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Totally.

[Joanna Fleming]

It's like, you know, you move up in a business, you start kind of in a social role, for example, you're doing all the fun stuff and shooting all the stories and all the reels and everything. And then as you get higher and higher up, you're suddenly managing a team and you're not doing the fun stuff anymore.

[Madison Sullivan]

It's giving Girl Boss too hard.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yes.

[Madison Sullivan]

I feel like the most important thing when a creative creates a business that moves from passion to company or scale is to decide what they want their role in that business to be. Because if it is to remain a creative, you need to bring on the right team to be able to delegate those tasks that are going to zip the creative juices out of you and protect the piece.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. Are you guys across the downfall of Man Repella?

[Madison Sullivan]

Yes, somewhat.

[Joanna Fleming]

Okay, a little bit. I'm gonna run through it for those that don't know. So just as Man Repella hit its peak, Leandra was involved in the first of a series of scandals that would tarnish her public percept Persona and ultimately lead to the demise of the business. In 2017, Leandra posted a personal essay to the site titled the Problem with Social Media Announcements. It was a personal essay surrounding Beyonce's recent pregnancy announcement. Although the essay wasn't really about Beyonce, it was a little bit more about Leandra. Here's a snippet of that essay. Wednesday had all the makings of a pretty good day. I woke up, made a coffee cocktail of beans, cacao, and cayenne pepper. And as I drank it, I filed copy for not one, but two stories that weren't due until Friday. I felt like Bradley Cooper in Limitless. But then I checked Instagram, which is when all bad stuff happens, to learn that a very pregnant Beyonce was posing amongst various floral arrangements on a backdrop that resembled a blue sky. Amelia, who's Man Repella's head of creative, called it the news and photo spread that could save us all in 2017. That is probably true for a lot of people, but for me, it was a curiously annoying reminder that I'M not pregnant in.

[F]

Every now and then an IT shoe is born, and when that happens, best believe everyone in the stylish office is wearing them to work on the weekend and everywhere in between. If you're the same, here's a hot tip. JD Sports have just released the newest it shoe, the New Balance 471. These were the sneakers of the 70s, with the details, materials and colors all coming from the New Balance archives, but they've been reimagined for our modern tastes. Seeing as it's physically impossible to own too many pairs of sneakers, something I think the whole stylish team would agree with, we'll definitely be adding these to our collection. The very chic New Balance 471 is now available in store at JD Sports. Thank you so much to New Balance and JD Sports for making this episode of Stylish possible.

[Joanna Fleming]

Leandra went on to speak about how a pregnancy announcement from anyone, let alone Beyonce, served as a painful reminder of her own fertility struggles. And while she did acknowledge that her reaction ultimately had nothing to do with Beyonce, readers weren't exactly overly supportive of her take. The comments on the original post and Man Repella's Facebook page were full of women, suggesting that the idea that one woman's celebration would always be another woman's disappointment. Eventually, Leandra took to social media to share an apology, which she later added to the original post. And although this scanner was relatively small in the scheme of Man Rapella's lifespan, it did signal a shift in the way that the brand and Leandra were perceived. Now, this wasn't as common in 2017, but it's a lot more common now for women to be a bit more transparent about their feelings around infertility struggles. So do we think the backlash and subsequent apology were necessary here? Do you think if this happened in 2025 that there would be the same response to her being like, like, I'm struggling. This was hard for me.

[Madison Sullivan]

I think this is incredibly nuanced.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Madison Sullivan]

It's in two parts for me. One is she's used what is now a media business to speak about her personal experience, which I think may have been where the distaste came in, because Man Rappella has eclipsed her at this point, and yet she's brought it back to herself. The nuance for me is that ultimately what she did write about that is incredibly vulnerable and incredibly important to talk about, and in 2017 was not a live discussion. I think we're in a very different climate now. Yes, seeing something like the Beyonce Thing is very disappointing. My own personal experiences, I can attest to that. My challenge for her is that it probably wasn't the point of the business for her to share her feelings like that when there are 15 other employees and it is becoming a source of truth. Media escapism.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan]

For the audience.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah. 100% agree with you. I think vulnerability is so beautiful. And I agree that Man Repella was probably not the platform for her to be doing it on. Kind of like how she was already shifting what she was wanting to post about on content. I get it. She's evolving. Her life is changing. She's now married. She's gonna be outgrowing a lot of what she was originally doing on Man Repella, but I don't think that was probably the platform for that.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

And the apology. We see so many apologies. We've talked about so many apologies. I think it's shit that she did have to apologize, but at the same time, she's probably not the right platform.

[Joanna Fleming]

Ye. Well, 2017 was a big time of change for women's media. And in the wake of Donald Trump's election win, many people looked to women run outlets like Man Repeller for activism driven content. And although readers assumed that Leandra called herself a feminist, she actually never explicitly referred to herself that way, which is interesting because, you know, you run a business called Man Repella, people are going to automatically assume feminist. But she never actually said that. And within the shifting political landscape, the question of where Man Repella belonged and who it belonged to emerged to set the scene, here's a quote from Vox op ed titled why Feminism didn't lose in 2016. Donald Trump's presidential election victory and Hillary Clinton's loss was a devastating blow to feminism. America had a choice between its first woman president and an alleged sexual predator, between women's rights, a human rights, and grab them by the pussy. Between telling our daughters they can do anything they want and telling them that anything can be done to them by powerful, entitled Men. 2017 saw a rise of the MeToo movement, which gave women a platform to speak about the abuse they'd suffered at the hands of men. In this context, the idea of dressing to repel men became inherently political. Another quote from the GQ piece we referenced earlier read Leandra. Madine Collins sought to brand the site as feminist without explicitly discussing politics. It wasn't until the women's March in January 2017 that it became apparent that as a brand called Man Repeller, we needed to be supporting that movement. Previously, Madine Cohen would Rather not talk about politics until she had to from a brand perspective. There were also rising tensions within the company over its editorial perspective. As we said in the early days, man rappel. Leandra kind of adopted this Carrie Bradshaw esque Persona and rejecting the idea that women needed to adhere to patriarchal constructs. But by the late 2010s, Leandra, as we've spoken about, was happily married. And her interest had strayed from the self effacing fashion commentary she was really known for to insights on relationships and married life. And that shift in tone led to a bit of a lack of trust from Man Repella's audience. A lot of readers felt like they were promised one thing and then the site grew and they received another. Leandra and her husband actually feature in a number of Man Repellers YouTube videos from the mid 2010s. Here's a clip of one titled Love and Fungus. Leandra Medine and her husband Ab. In the video, Leandra and AB are essentially just sitting in bed talking about their relationship. Clip. We'll play the clip for you now.

[G]

I don't know anybody who goes to Mykonos.

[Madison Sullivan]

Yeah.

[G]

And is in bed every night at 10:30pm except for us.

[Madison Sullivan]

Well, you had a great many crazy days though.

[G]

Pelican watching. Oh, was that a movie?

[Joanna Fleming]

Relax.

[G]

And we're on vacation.

[Madison Sullivan]

What? I know.

[G]

No, I. I don't regret it. I'm just saying I was expecting like, I was expecting us to like have some cocktails and in the dance, our.

[Madison Sullivan]

Own table, but I'm not the drinker, so.

[G]

I know, I know. I'm just saying that I find it unusual that my parents had a more robust social experience.

[Madison Sullivan]

You keep using robust too much. Me, it's not supposed to be used like that.

[G]

This is turning out to be a non robust evening. This. This night is not. Does make sense.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

This is the opposite of robust.

[G]

This night is the opposite of robust. I'm gonna robust your ass.

[Madison Sullivan]

Dare to say robust one more time.

[Joanna Fleming]

What do you guys think about a site called Man Repeller? Them producing content, you know, having her produce content with her husband.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I think we've talked about this before, but you've engaged a community. You have got followers for a reason. If I'm following Man Repella, I want to see fashion. I want to see what you guys are wearing in Mykonos. I don't want to hear about how robust or not robust your relationship is in bed before 10.30pm in Mykonos.

[Madison Sullivan]

I completely agree. It's also what we've spoken about. About brand founders and brands, where one starts and where one stops. She should have. You got to just leave the relationship vlogging out of this. I think her getting married is completely separate to her live vlogging about a robust or non robust evening and Mickey also dancing on tables and who's the drinker.

[Joanna Fleming]

Although devil's advocate, I would say maybe her mindset was okay, I've had these people follow me from a certain period in my life who were probably also on a similar journey in their they might be the same age, they might also be meeting someone, they might also be married and may also find this content entertaining. Yeah, so that's my mindset is that she might have just been trying to keep up with her audience and what they're interested in rather than sticking to the same stuff that she was doing. She might have just been trying to innovate.

[Madison Sullivan]

It's a really worthy challenge. I would challenge it back by saying, were they reading the data? Were they checking who their customers were? What content was being responded to? Or was this a case of her ego getting in the way of thinking? She was Man Repeller. Man Repeller is me. I am Man Repeller. You follow me? You follow Man Repeller. So you just want to know my life?

[Joanna Fleming]

Well, the business pressed on through the late 2010s, collecting a few more faux pas along the way. They debuted a merch collection in 2018 that many readers felt was a bit overpriced and too niche to actually wear. But do either of you remember this merch? Because I actually think the T shirts were kind of cool.

[Madison Sullivan]

I did not recall this merch.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I don't remember this.

[Joanna Fleming]

So they've got these cool T shirts, like colorful T shirts, and they've got the Man Repeller logo across the front. There's one with hands holding a knife and fork that are kind of like cutting into the logo. There's another one with like a fruitcake on it. I thought they were kind of cute. I don't see why they're too niche.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Okay, I'll look them up.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, I thought they were kind of cool. But anyway. In June of 2020, after the tragic death of George Floyd, Man Repella began sharing anti racism resources to Instagram, a distinct departure from their previous approach to political and civil rights events. Man Repella followers were quick to criticize the company for preaching advice rather than examining their own biases and contributions to systemic racism. Leandra then posted a letter to the site in which she shared how Man Repella planned to foster underrepresented voices and talents moving forward. She also apologised for the business's failure to self interrogate. In the letter, she wrote, I have a lot of listening and learning and growing to do before I will truly know how to thoroughly make a sustained impact in the fight to eradicate systemic racism. The letter was in turn met with even more backlash. Manrapala's audience didn't believe that Leandra had actually addressed how she planned to eradicate the racism within the business. Former employees also began to share their own experiences with racism within the company to social media. So Leandra wrote another letter in this follow up. She said, the letter I published on Monday provided an insufficient explanation of how I plan to change the way Man Repella operates, but I did not address the way that it already has operated. Shortly after this second letter, Leandra announced that she would be taking a step back from the business on Instagram, she wrote, Man Repella was founded to celebrate self expression in all of its forms, but it has become clear that I've failed to deliver on this mission. The team deserves a chance to show you what Man Repella can be with me on the sidelines. So I'm going to take a step back and let them show you. So this all happened in June of 2020. By September, the site had debuted a flashy new rebrand with a new name, Just Repella. But just one month later, it was announced that the site would be shutting down as a result of what Leandra called financial constraints. Do we think that was true or do we think things just all became a bit much and it was easier to just, okay, I'm out of here.

[Madison Sullivan]

I think it all became a bit much. So a lot of listeners may not know this, but she actually invested in Drunk Elephant. She was one of the earlier investors.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I did not know that.

[Joanna Fleming]

Such a fun fact.

[Madison Sullivan]

It's such a fun fact.

[Joanna Fleming]

Thanks for bringing that today.

[Madison Sullivan]

You're welcome. That's my other swap, my tidbit, if you will. So I think personally she had a lot of wealth in her back pocket, or wealth that was growing. For those who don't know, Drunk Elephant was sold to the Shiseido group group in 2019 for 840 million USD.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Wow.

[Joanna Fleming]

Okay. That is curious timing then.

[Madison Sullivan]

Curious timing and a lot of backlash and a lot of cash incoming. Surely you're sitting at home going, is this all worth it?

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah.

[Joanna Fleming]

And do I really need to be doing this every day? If I've got a pretty penny that I'm sitting on and I'm on The front line.

[Madison Sullivan]

I'm on the front line. I'm the face of the backlash.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan]

I've got to write the apology. I've got to write the apology. After the apology, I've got to write the disclaimer for the next apology.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan]

What are your thoughts?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I think she was already in a place where she was shifting her content, she was shifting what she cared about, she was evolving. And I think this just makes sense. Let's leave Man Repella where it was back in its heyday. You've got so much cash now, go and do whatever the fuck you want.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. Although in saying that her creative brain must have been itching over the time that she wasn't doing Man Repela because In February of 2021, she launched her next venture, a fashion substack called the Cereal Aisle. At the time of recording, the Cereal aisle has over 159,000 subscribers. The serial aisle is kind of like a grown up version of what the original Man Repella blog was, without the birth control goggles or the parties. In it, Leandra shares styling advice, interviews, and the occasional peek into her personal life. From the outside, it seems that that was really all she ever wanted to do. She didn't really want to run a company, she just wanted to write about fashion, which I think is totally fair. And I mean, thanks to Drunk Elephant, she's been able to come back to her roots and just enjoy writing rather than running a company.

[Madison Sullivan]

Seems like it's also worth just noting that she probably never meant for this to become a company. She's a young woman who is doing something that she loves and someone opens up a checkbook offering for paid sponsorships to build this conglomerate. Of course she's thinking, this is fantastic. And so much of her personal self was gifted into that or required of that to succeed.

[Joanna Fleming]

Oh, it absolutely wasn't her plan in her early 20s when she was, you know, setting this up so that she could get a 9 to 5 job in fashion, that she was going to be running this business.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I think it's also quite interesting because now in this day and age, we encourage people in their 20s, take risks, jump into it, dive head first, start a business. And I like reflecting on my journey. It wasn't until I was deep in my 30s, deep within my business that I was like, holy shit, this is a lot. Yeah, of course your passions change. Of course things change. You've gotta have to pivot and evolve. And so I do find it really interesting that she kind of, I guess what we'd kind of been leaning on throughout the episode is that all she wanted to do is back to what she was passionate about. Yeah, I kind of respect that as well.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan]

And maybe it does highlight your point, Joe, given that she has pulled back on so much personal sharing in this evolution 2.0, that maybe it was her just trying to evolve and adapt for Man Repella to give so much of herself and her robust Mykonos evening.

[Joanna Fleming]

Well, if any of you are major fans of Man Repella, some of their staffers are actually really big on substack these days as well. Hayley Naaman, the site's former features director, runs a newsletter called maybe Baby in that she shares personal essays and advice, particularly pertaining to the choice to start a family. Harling Ross Anton, former Man Repeller editor, runs Gumshoe, which is a styling publication focused on shopping smarter. And Jessica Defino, who is a former Man Repeller writer, runs the Review of Beauty, where she reviews the beauty industry prioritizing people, not products. They're all really great reads. I would recommend checking those out if you were a fan of Man Repel or you like that kind of content. We'll leave those links in the show notes so as we said at the top of the episode, man repelling outfits are trending again. What do we think this says about the legacy of Man Repel? Why are Gen Z seeking to repel men in 2025? I mean the list is long. Do I need to even ask?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I think I love how it always comes back to fashion as a form of self expression. I admire how just strong willed and a strong sense of individualism. I think Gen Z have they hero authenticity. And I think when we reflect on the OG Man Repella, what she was doing in her hayd, that was at the heart of it. That was kind of what it stood for. So whenever I see the little trend on TikTok pop up I always am like oh yeah, I was part of that.

[Madison Sullivan]

I do think there's a depth in this as well. That is the current political landscape.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Absolutely.

[Madison Sullivan]

And we have a really dark side of the Internet, which is the manosphere and feel like women have never felt more vulnerable. Which is ironic because because it's also a time when we should be the most powerful. It's the least women have ever needed men. The gender pay gap is still very alive and well, but we're inching closer and think women's reliance on men is a lot less than it would have been in the 40s or the 50s. So I feel there is a political element of we are dressing and showing up a certain way to take our power back in a time when it is being challenged. And we're frustrated by those challenges because it's 2025.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan]

And maybe the millennials were onto something all those years ago. And the Gen Zs are just much like fashion, you know, comes around. Perhaps the same political challenges of that time are also here, unfortunately alive and well as well.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. I mean, for all of Man Repella's failings, it's not an overstatement to say that the site really changed the way that millennial women thought about fashion.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

For sure.

[Joanna Fleming]

It was hugely influential at the time. And Leandra's mission for the business might not have been super clear once it became what it was, but her mission for her own personal style was to dress for you and you alone.

[Madison Sullivan]

Yeah.

[Joanna Fleming]

And I think that that's just something that we can all get behind totally.

[Madison Sullivan]

And separate her getting married, separate the content that she later did. I think every female should wake up every day going, what do I want to wear? And what makes me feel, however I want to feel, whether it is sexy or sophisticated or powerful. And fuck doing it for a man.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Amen, sis. What do you say? Retweet.

[Joanna Fleming]

Retweet. That's a wholesome note to end on.

[Madison Sullivan]

Jo, thank you so much for taking us through TRACE today.

[Joanna Fleming]

My pleasure.

[Madison Sullivan]

They are never easy episodes, but that is all for this week's episode of Stylish. Thank you very much for joining us. And Gen Z's, if you do think we are cooler than you, please feel free to let us know.

[Joanna Fleming]

Send us a dm.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Tell me why.

[Madison Sullivan]

Thank you so much, Joanna Fleming and Anika Jojoshi Smith, an absolute pleasure as always. Remember, you can drop us an email anytime at style-ishameless media.com or you can slide in over at our dmstyle_ishau. And we of course cannot forget to thank our audio engineer, Liam Clayton and the shameless media team, head of podcast Lucy Hunt and senior podcast producer Kate Emmerburg. And of course, the MVP of every traced episode, our researcher Chloe Wilson will be right back with you next Wednesday. See you then.

[Joanna Fleming]

Bye bye.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

This podcast was recorded on Wurundjeri land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.