the puffer jacket as self-preservation in 'west end girl'
sometimes, the most emotionally honest breakup outfit might be a michelin man puffer over an ass-grazing silk slip.
Hi! I just got home from a long weekend in Mendocino. The itinerary: eating apple pie, walking along coastal bluffs, and stargazing in a hot tub. It was really soothing, and I will write a newsletter about it soon.
The night before we left, I was packing my weekend bag and scrolling through playlists, looking for something that would energize me through the banal decision-making of what long sleeve tops to pack with my Doen cotton skirt.
That’s when I saw that Lily Allen had a new album out—”West End Girl.”
The 14 tracks chronicle the disintegration of her marraige with ex-husband David Harbour, aka the park ranger guy from Stranger Things. The lyrics leave nothing to the imagination. It’s like listening to a friend pour her heart out.
It’s a play-by-play expose of lies, self-abandonment, and betrayal. You learn every diabolical detail of Harbour’s “pussy palace” (I’ll never look at a Duane Reade bag in the same way again), and sit with every stomach-churning, tight-throated emotion Allen went through.
It was all I listened to for the next 72 hours.
The catchy bits got stuck in my head. I would floss my teeth, humming i always thought it was a dojo, dojo, dojo between molars.
The other thing stuck in my head? The album cover.
Specifically, the pillowy, sky blue, polka dotted puffer jacket Allen wears.
This cover was painted by artist Nieves González. My first impression of the image was that it conveyed a quiet regality. The subject (Allen) appears a bit removed and distant in her facial expression, but assured in her pose. She is grounded. The lighting is solemn like a funeral, but punctuated by the inherent humor and levity of polka dots.
Here’s where I get to say that my Art History minor is totally useful, because the study of images and their contexts can be applied endlessly to our modern world, including—and especially—pop album covers!
The rest of this newsletter explains the artistic efficacy of Allen’s cover portrait (why it hits so hard), and why her oversized puffer jacket perfectly articulates the album’s theme of self-preservation.
Finally, because we are both scholars and shoppers here on The Molehill, I think I figured out who makes the polka dot puffer and the polka dot knee boots. Read it all, below the fold.