On Cutrone

Kelly Cutrone is scary. At least, that was the first impression when she made her first early appearances on The Hills. Cutrone was a harsh, stark, contrast to the colour-corrected perfection of that TV show, dishing out incredibly frank orders and making cast members cry as a matter of routine. Cutrone would of course go on to a greater role in faux-reality folllow-up The City, and then her own show on Bravo, Kell On Earth. But her book, If You Have To Cry, Go Outside, is perhaps the best presentation of the Cutrone Manifesto, which boils down effectively to "suck it up", and "don't bullshit me". She readily acknowledges the eternal fakeness of the fashion business, but continues to build a very successful PR operation in that industry with her company People's Revolution. Not bad for a former meth-head!

What struck out most in the book was her ongoing emphasis on the fact that being truthful often 1) gets you in hot water 2) makes you come off as an asshole 3) but long-term, is the best way to go with things.

It's about calling out the guy in the airport who's being abusive towards his kid, it's about standing up for yourself at the risk as coming off as a prick, and it's something too many of us resist-confrontation-for the sake of preserving relationships that may not be worth it.

In her words:

"Speaking the truth has made me some enemies. But it has also gotten me much further than I would have otherwise progressed in life."

"...sometimes the truth just hurts. You can either let someone be protected from reality or let them be sculpted & birthed by it."

"Sometimes in life seasons don't come in order; instead of fall, winter, spring, summer, we get three winters in a row. (By my second winter I tend to feel like a cavewoman frozen in a glacier). But that doesn't mean spring won't come eventually."