Marie Claire

What does identity mean in 2023? Is it who you are? How others see you? Who you want to be? Can your identity be lost? Changed? Taken from you? The following pages aim to answer these questions. In Beauty 3.0 (page 40), writer Mattie Kahn explores the ramifications of being able to choose how we represent ourselves physically online. On page 102, Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson addresses the challenge of playing their onscreen character, Van, while working out how to communicate their own identity to their castmates in real life. Then there are the eight women in our story Seasoned Style (page 96) who know exactly who they are, thanks to the decades of experience under their very fashionable belts. As for this page, inspired by a prompt tied to Ernest Hemingway…

The first time Alina Khan ran away from home she was 11. Khan, who was assigned male at birth, spent the early years of her childhood in Lahore, Pakistan, exploring her female gender identity—dressing up, role-playing as a girl. But that left her ostracized by her peers, neighbors, even her own family, leading her to run away multiple times throughout her early teens. At the age of 16, when the emotional and physical abuse at home became too much, she left for good, with no money and no plan. Eventually, she found shelter and guidance in the form of the “Khawaja Sira” community, a network of transgender individuals within Pakistan. “People were constantly asking me why I am the way that I am,” she says matter-of-factly in her native tongue Urdu,…

The death of the Work Voice—that slightly sing-songy, totally fake tone most often used with co-workers, clients, and managers— happened a few years ago when TikTokers jumped on the trend of using their “real voices” versus their “customer service voices.” The viral demonstration seemed like a challenge to the buttoned-up ways people felt pressured to present themselves at work during a time when so many people were clocking in from home. When pandemic puppies and meetings from bedrooms and awkward roommate cameos reminded bosses their employees were people. But the rise of professionals opting to be more authentic at the office is part of a broader movement that began, at least in part, in 2018 when the book Bring Your Whole Self to Work by TEDx talker and corporate consultant Mike…

Ruby With a warm and spicy profile that's both sultry and a bit smoldering, Tom Ford Cherry Smoke Eau de Parfum ($240) will surround you in a cloud of red. The richness of the fiery shade has the power to bring out your seductive side and help you laser focus on your mission, romantic or otherwise. “To wear red is to sit in your power and know your worth,” says Merrick. “It's femininity—on your terms.” Violet Chloé's Rose Naturelle Intense Eau de Parfum ($110) is on a mission to minimize environmental impact via a 100 percent natural origin composition, which is what makes it the perfume equivalent of the color violet. As Merrick explains, violet auras emanate from humanitarians. “Violets are visionaries with big dreams, goals, and intense intuition,” she says. “They want…

On October 25, 2020, my finger hovered over Instagram's Post button. I was about to share a series of selfies I'd taken with Julia, the woman I'd begun dating a couple months earlier—in them, we were on her rooftop, our faces close together, cracking up as we failed to center ourselves in the frame. I'd told a few close friends about her. The rest of the world had no idea about her existence; no idea I was attracted to women, period. Among my 8,000 or so Instagram followers: my conservative parents, religious family, professional contacts, friends from all walks of life, strangers who followed me after reading my thriller books. The caption wasn't a heartfelt Coming Out. It didn't even identify Julia as my girlfriend (“Bad at selfies,” it read, because…

The idea for Cheekbone Beauty came to Jenn Harper in January 2015 in a dream. “I had a literal pop-out-of-the-bed-in-the-middleofthe-night dream, where Indigenous girls like me were covered in lip gloss,” she says. “They had the rosiest little cheeks and I remember them filled with joy, and laughter.” After waking up from that powerful and vibrant vision, Harper immediately grabbed her laptop to figure out how to make a lip gloss, while also making sure she was doing good with the profits it made. She ultimately wanted to make something in honor of her grandmother. The name came to Harper that fall, as she was listening to a business podcast with Spanx founder Sara Blakely. In it, Blakely shared the memorability of the “K” sound, which inspired Harper. That tidbit, combined…