Latest news with #TikTokkers
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Men are getting off on the wrong foot with this bizarre fashion trend – here's why it's dangerous
Forget the turf — studs are stomping onto city streets. In the latest bizarre-but-make-it-fashion trend, guys are ditching sneakers in favor of full-blown soccer cleats to grab coffee, hit Trader Joe's or strut through SoHo like it's a Champions League tunnel. Dubbed #BootsOnlySummer, the viral movement sees TikTokkers proudly clicking and clacking through sidewalks and supermarkets like they're late for practice, originally reported by GQ. Advertisement In one recent TikTok video by @unknowncr7ttv, four men showed off their Adidas cleats with the caption: '#bootsonlysummer Landed in the U.S.' On May 5, @danlawann_ followed suit, striking a pose in cleats on the concrete with the hashtag #bootsonlysummer plastered on screen. Advertisement This new trend might look good — but in the long run, men's feet won't feel good. In a recent statement, football boot manufacturer UnoZero warned that the trend is a total foul. 'The studs on the bottom of your boots provide traction on grass or turf, not on asphalt, concrete or other hard surfaces,' the brand warned. Advertisement 3 Men are wearing cleats of all different colors in this latest fashion trend. 'When you take them [the cleats] out of their element, you risk damaging the studs, which affects their performance and longevity […] Damaged studs not only reduce grip, but they can also make your boots uncomfortable, potentially causing blisters or poor fit.' Translation: fashion risks blisters and busted boots. Still, the vibe seems too strong to bench. Advertisement The look, which some are calling 'blokecore gone rogue,' pairs cleats with cargo pants, cutoff shorts or even skirts. 3 Deemed #BootsOnlySummer, the viral craze has TikTokkers — and even celebs — lacing up their Adidas FGs and Nike Mercurials to strut through streets and supermarkets like it's game day. Getty Images While walking in them feels like hoofing it in horseshoes, the streetwear crowd is unfazed by a little discomfort for the sake of the aesthetic. And brands are catching on. Martine Rose's collab with Nike reimagined the Shox MR4 into a football boot/heel hybrid — which the U.S. women's national soccer team rocked ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup. 3 In the latest weird-but-stylish flex, guys are swapping sneakers for studded soccer cleats to snag a latte, stroll through Trader Joe's, or strut SoHo like it's match day at the Bernabéu. Vamos Sports Prod – Meanwhile, as reported by The Standard, sleeker football-inspired kicks like the Adidas Speedcats or Taekwondo trainers offer a less stabby alternative. But for purists, only the real thing will do — even if that means tearing through your cleats on the bodega floor.
Daily Mirror
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'Hidden' iPhone trick deciphers confusing laundry codes and scans clothing items
Coming up with stylish outfits everyday can be hard - luckily these little-known TikTok hacks show how you can easily use your iPhone to create incredible new looks Fashion is constantly changing and it can be hard putting together cool outfits – especially if you don't consider yourself naturally stylish. Luckily, there are a few unusual iPhone fashion hacks floating around online that can help. Understandably, many fashionistas like to gatekeep about their best outfits. After all, you don't want to risk someone else showing up in the same jeans or dress at an event. But technology is catching up. According to TikTokkers, the next time you're itching to copy a fit or a clothing item, all you need is your iPhone. One TikTok user, @seppseats, posted a weird little-known hack to find out the make of clothing items. He said: 'I wanna show you a really cool hack called Visual Intelligence.' Using his shoes as an example, he continued: 'If I want to know what model these are, just take a photo. Then type in 'ask' and say, 'what shoes are these?'' The phone then connects with ChatGPT to show the exact brand and model the shoes come from. The way it works is that you need to activate 'Visual Intelligence' through the control centre, or by adding it to the Action or Lock screen. Simply hold down your iPhone Camera Control button, focus it on the clothing item and a search bar should come up allowing you to identify the brand. The only caveat is you need either an iPhone 16e, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max for it to work. Another great outfit hack that's gone viral is using your phone to create outfit collages. This can help you identify what's already in your wardrobe and put together new looks. Australian designer Kirsty Irwin revealed how she uses her iPhone to plan outfits. On TikTok, she explained: 'You go to your image, hold down the area where the outfit is, click copy and select paste and categorise them as you wish.' She showed a page in her notes app with her outfits arranged side-by-side under 'event' and 'casual'. 'This helps me keep track of the outfits I've worn and it's also great inspo for when I'm stuck,' she added. She also admitted that she's screenshot other people's outfits before for inspiration. Once you've screenshot the photos, you can also go through the same steps to add them to your mood board. According to Apple, if you have an iOS 16 or later, you can hold down an item or subject in a photo until a shiny white line appears. Then you can save it to your files or copy and paste it over to another document. You can also use your iPhone to figure out how to care for your clothes. The laundry tag is usually full of symbols and it can be hard to know what all of them mean. But TikTok user @itricksmark posted a handy hack to address this. 'Instead of Googling [laundry symbols] one-by-one, your iPhone can decode them instantly,' he shared. 'Take a picture of the laundry tag, open the photo and scroll up. Tap on Laundry care and boom! Your iPhone tells you exactly what each symbol means.' He then showed a results page by 'Siri Knowledge', decoding each symbol. For this hack, you need an iOS 17, according to Apple Insider.
Daily Maverick
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Ibrahim Traoré: The TikTok superstar and his quest to replace Thomas Sankara's legacy
Burkinabe leader Ibrahim Traoré is acting like a rock star. It's not entirely his fault. He's receiving a lot of help from dozens of social media users, especially TikTokkers, who are desperate to anoint him as the best thing to come out of Burkina Faso since Thomas Sankara. Traore must be enjoying it, because even though he is pretending, he knows he's not Sankara. He is an opportunist, happy to capitalise on the current frustration in his country and the Sahel for his benefit. A recent report by The Africa Report summarised Traoré's fictional character: 'In dozens of viral TikTok edits, Traore leads imaginary armies, topples Western empires and is hailed as the 'new Thomas Sankara'. The captions, bold and uncompromising, include 'Africa's Messiah!' 'The People's Captain!' and 'France Must Fall'.' Traoréphytes even invent videos of Rihanna and R Kelly (imprisoned since 2021) serenading the Burkinabe leader with hit songs! Fairytale If he were an elected president, Traoré would have served three years of his first term. When he overthrew the government of then president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in September 2022 due to the rise in Islamic insurgency and announced himself as head of the new Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (PMSR), he promised to hand power back to civilians in two years — that was in 2024. He hasn't said a word about any possible new date since, and if you have seen him recently, you would know why. Apart from the adulation he has enjoyed as a social media fairytale, and dressing the part in stylish fatigues and matching neck scarves, berets, and boots, he has also talked the part. He rallied support by giving speeches — not as many or as eloquently as he has been credited with — against Western imperialism and colonialism, vowing to create conditions at home to stem youth migration and tackle insurgency. Traore has portrayed himself as the new face of the African Renaissance. But talk is cheap. Traoré and the other delinquents He has been in good company. The turmoil in West and Central Africa, which began in Chad, Mali, and Guinea, and later spread to Niger, has disrupted security and trade in the subregion, rupturing the 49-year-old Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Burkina Faso experienced two coups in a single year. After breaking out of Ecowas, Traoré and his fellow delinquents in the Sahel have pursued a singular mission of cutting off the noses of their Sahelian francophone ties to spite the faces of French business and political interests. To be fair, it's a moment of reckoning for decades of brazen French insensitivity, compounded by President Emmanuel Macron's lack of charity when he described the relationship between France and Francophone West Africa as 'part of a civilising obligation'. Trouble speaking French Which was self-interested nonsense. France has accumulated a notoriously poor record on the continent that it can hardly be proud of. In Niger, for example, Tom Burgis writes in his book The Looting Machine that French state-owned atomic energy group Areva's profit from uranium is twice Niger's GDP. The shameful French footprint is the same in Burkina Faso and throughout the region. Fourteen Francophone countries, including the troubled ones — Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Chad — hold 50% of their reserves in the French Treasury. This arrangement has been widely criticised, but if the work 'shame' is in the French dictionary, it doesn't exist in Macron's version. It is this background of despair and frustration, especially among the continent's youth, that has fostered fairytale messiahs like Traoré, who have managed to replace French hegemony with a mix of fussy state control and Russian suzerainty, with the Chinese just around the corner. If it's not Sankara… Traoré is not Sankara, a fact that may be lost on Burkina Faso's predominantly young population, as well as millennials and Gen Z across the continent, whose forlorn search for role models tempts them to canonise an impostor. Of course, both are soldiers, similar in age and rank and usurpers of constitutional rule. But that's where the similarity ends. Like the demagogues before him, Traoré and significant sections of the military and political elite from Maurice Yaméogo to Blaise Compaoré have been complicit in the misery of their citizens, feeding them a diet of pseudo-ideological jingoism and West bashing, but offering no genuine alternative. Africa — anglophone, francophone, or lusophone — shares a similar heritage of exploitation; a few of its people, especially the political elite after independence, collaborated with the colonialists to compound the problem. Hard to beat Where Traoré is trading French hegemony for Russian control, for example, Sankara offered something different. In Burkina Faso: A History of Power, Protest and Revolution, Ernest Harsch said of Sankara: 'In a conscious effort at nation building, the revolutionary government also promoted a new national identity… that revolutionary project succeeded in altering the contours of the state and social and political life.' Whereas Sankara attempted to forge a proudly African identity, deepening regional integration among Ecowas countries, Traoré and his cohorts have, by exiting, put at risk the estimated $596.42-billion in trade within the community, excluding informal trade among citizens, which constitutes 30% of the transactions, not to mention the impact on regional collaboration on security. Sankara pursued radical economic self-sufficiency, agrarian reform, and social justice by outlawing female genital mutilation and promoting women's rights. He rejected foreign aid, regardless of its source, even if it came without strings attached, something that Traoré would be happy to overlook if it came from Russia. What matters I get it. With jihadists controlling about 40% of the country's territory (it's the most terrorised country in the world), and with climate shocks compounding its misery, the challenges are as different as the times. That is why what Traoré needs now is not clout chasing or AI propaganda by Russian-backed Wagner, but a sober-minded commitment to turn around the fortunes of his country, one step at a time. For three years, Traoré's stock has risen amid algorithmic populism expressed in languages he neither understands nor speaks, with minimal institutional reforms, if any, and no prospects or commitment to return the country to civilian rule. 'His rhetoric,' The Africa Report said, 'still falls short of real, measurable improvements in security and civic freedoms. There's a gap between his message and the reality on the ground, something that will ultimately test his legitimacy and legacy.'
Tom's Guide
11-05-2025
- Health
- Tom's Guide
I took a 20-minute coffee nap to prevent the afternoon slump — and the effect surprised me
A nappuccino is the current -ccino trend having a moment across social media with sleep physicians, TikTokkers and professional athletes touting about its benefits. This trend involves drinking a coffee and then immediately taking a 20 minute nap to get over the afternoon energy dip many people experience thanks to our circadian rhythms. As with all the latest sleep trends, our team wanted to try it out. So, after busy bank holiday weekends, our sleep writers Eve and Becky decided to try it out. Feeling low on energy, their lunch breaks provided the perfect opportunity to test whether an afternoon coffee nap could help them power through the day. Here's what happened... A nappuccino simply means to nap after drinking a coffee. So, if you usually reach for a cup of coffee or take a power nap when you need that quick boost of energy, why not combine the benefits of both with a coffee nap? According to Dr Cheri Mah, a sleep scientist and professor at Stanford University of Medicine, the effects of caffeine take about 15 minutes to kick in. If you manage to doze off within 5 to 10 minutes after drinking your coffee, it has the potential to increase alertness and productivity, with the perks of a quick rest and the energy from the coffee kicking in as you wake up. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. I often find myself in the clutch of a post-lunch energy slump, and was excited to test whether a coffee nap could help me through. So, this Thursday after lunch, I drank a cup of coffee, set an alarm for 20 minutes, put on my SOMO sleep mask and took to the sofa for my very first nappucino. I don't usually tend to have a problem drifting off, nor am I sensitive to caffeine. I often enjoy a Sunday nap and fall asleep quickly at night, even when I drink coffee after 2pm. By the time I logged back on to work, my brain was feeling less foggy But nodding off during the work day seemed a harder task. Granted, that may have been because I found it difficult to switch off while thinking about what I would write in this article about my nap, or because I wasn't sleeping on the best mattress for my body. I didn't fully drift off before my alarm buzzed. Nevertheless, it was nice to take the time to lay down and relax. By the time I logged back on to work, my brain was feeling less foggy than it did just before lunch. I wondered if the mid-day half-snooze would wreak havoc with my bedtime, but by the time 10pm rolled around I was feeling tired again and, like Becky, didn't have trouble sleeping. Although the coffee nap helped me over my afternoon energy dip, I'll be sticking to my usual tactic of a lunch break walk as I find movement and fresh air better clears my mind. I was sceptical about the potential benefits of a nappuccino since I find it difficult to fall asleep quickly, so 20 minutes didn't feel like enough time. Nevertheless I tried to squeeze it in on my lunch break. Being a coffee lover, I consider caffeine as an indulgence, any part of the day. However, over the last couple of years I've had to lay off the coffee as it's been wreaking havoc on my sleep if I drink it in the afternoon, so this was right on the edge. I had my favorite cup of instant coffee, set my alarm for 20 minutes and got right into bed. As expected, I couldn't fall asleep but remained in a state of rest, leaving the stresses of the day behind temporarily and allowing myself to relax. "Are my 20 minutes already up?" was the first thing that came across my mind when I heard the alarm go off. I got up, stretched for a bit and logged back into work. I sensed that the veil of grogginess in my head had lifted, giving me better mental clarity and energy to finish my day. But, this is where trying the nappuccino really took me by surprise. I expected myself to remain active and awake at night (because of the extra rest and caffeine), but I was able to drift off into peaceful slumber at my usual bedtime. It's safe to say, I had a well rested and restorative sleep all night. While it's true that we didn't fully drift off during our 20-minute nappuccino, the mental clarity it followed was clearly noticeable. We felt alert, focused and ready to power on through the rest of our day The combination of a power nap and caffeine worked well for us in terms of shaking off the sluggishness we often feel after lunch — without disrupting our nighttime sleep. We felt alert, focused and ready to power on through the rest of our day. The only drawback? The timing needs to be just right. Nap any more than 30 minutes and your efforts will be in vain. Forcing yourself to go to sleep within 5 to 10 minutes after having your coffee can be a tricky task too. But overall, we were impressed by its benefits and think it's definitely a trend worth trying. Want to hop on the trend and try a 'nappuccino' yourself? Here are three steps you can follow to get the most of a coffee nap: The first step is to pick your favorite coffee beverage. It can be anything from an espresso shot to an iced latte. The key is to sleep immediately— within 5 to 10 minutes, before the caffeine enters your system and you start to feel the effects of it. Depending on time, you can set your alarm for 20-30 minutes. However, if this goes up to 45 minutes or longer, a nappuccino might turn out to be counterproductive. This is because you can fall into a deeper sleep by then and might struggle with sleep inertia when you wake up — a state of feeling groggy and sluggish. By the time you wake up, the caffeine has kicked in, boosting your mental clarity and energy levels. Give yourself a few minutes to reset, breathe and stretch before jumping back to your day. Done right, a nappuccino can become a nifty tool in your sleep arsenal which can leave you feeling calmer, refreshed and ready to take on the rest of your day. The short answer is yes. Studies show that naps not only improve your mood and energy levels but also lower blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Napping is an effective way to get over the afternoon slump when there is a natural dip in your circadian rhythms (the body's internal sleep and wake cycle) and pay back your sleep debt which occurs due to lifestyle factors like shift work or caregiving or any health conditions. However, excessive napping during the day will just take away your sleep hunger. The result? A vicious cycle of sleep deprivation at night and exhaustion during the day due to lack of enough rest. Keeping your naps short (20 to 30 minutes) is the best way to maximize the benefits without disrupting your sleep pattern. If taking a nap or opting for caffeine isn't for you, these other tried-and-tested steps will help reduce the post-lunch slump... As your body's fuel source, the food you get determines both how energised you feel and how well you sleep. Making healthy food choices at breakfast and lunch time can help you avoid sugar crashes in the afternoon. Complex carbs like whole wheat bread, brown rice and oats, break down more slowly in the body, offering more sustained energy release than simple carbs like sugary sweets which offer quick energy peaks. Therefore, packing your meals with complex carbs alongside other nutrients will help you feel your best. Your energy peaks and troughs through the day are governed by your circadian rhythm, or internal body clock. Exposing yourself to natural sunlight early in the morning, shortly after waking up, suppresses the sleepy hormone melatonin. This helps regulate your sleep-wake hormone cycle so you have sustained energy through the day and feel sleepy come evening, helping you fall asleep fast and bag good quality sleep through the night. Ultimately, sleeping well at night will give you sustained energy through the day. Taking a lunch break walk outdoors can energise you just as well as a coffee nap, especially if you work at a computer. The natural daylight and fresh air can blow away the cobwebs so you can back to work feeling refreshed to tick off your afternoon tasks. Plus gentle exercise like walking is associated with a number of sleep benefits including reducing the risk of sleep apnea by 10% and promoting deep sleep. Therefore, walking plenty during the day contributes to better sleep hygiene and improved sleep quality so you feel more energised throughout the day.
Business of Fashion
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business of Fashion
The Secret to Influencer Longevity
Mary Orton has been posting about fashion for over a decade, first on her own blog, Memorandum, and later on Instagram and TikTok. She has some advice for influencers hoping to hold onto their audience beyond the next viral microtrend: don't try so hard. Or at least, make it look easy. 'The audience is smart, they know if you are trying to maintain a facade and be something you're not,' she said. 'If you're waking up every day, thinking 'What can I create for my audience?' That is really hard to sustain versus just sharing your real self and the way you evolve over time.' In the creator economy, the hunt for the next big thing is never-ending, and competition to be the 'it' influencer of the moment has never been fiercer. Since the pandemic, the number of Americans working in content creation has multiplied nearly eightfold, from 200,000 in 2020 to 1.5 million last year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Many are chasing the same dream, of blowing up overnight on TikTok, then raking in brand sponsorships and affiliate income. It does happen. Few, however, are able to translate early success into a lasting career. Algorithms change, and so do audience preferences. One month, they're obsessed with the lives of wealthy young women living in lower Manhattan; the next, those same creators are the face of 'boring' New York TikTokkers. Even the national political mood can halt a promising influencer career in its tracks, as many Black creators discovered as the swell in attention around the racial injustice protests of 2020 gave way to a White House-led backlash. 'It's more difficult to get a brand's attention and maintain it, and even to get more followers and appear in the algorithm,' said Ayana Lage, a content creator and writer. 'Black creators have a similar experience of huge-name brands approaching us with these gobs of money and now that is not the case.' For the influencers who make it, the reward is a loyal audience that will stick with them (and buy products they recommend) no matter what. The trick is making it through those difficult early years. For that, longtime influencers say the key is to balance evolving one's brand to meet the industry's constantly changing demands, and retaining what people liked about you in the first place. 'People have seen the rise and fall of these women, and that's very human,' said Erin Webb, founder of Dehanche, a Paris-based belt brand that saw direct-to-consumer sales shoot up 200 percent after getting shoutouts from veteran influencers Ariella Charnas and Leandra Medine Cohen in the same week. Building a Business Many of the longest-lasting creators in the industry built their businesses one post at a time. Much of that comes down to reliability: Followers should know generally what sort of content to expect from you, whether it's fashion, beauty or lifestyle and when to expect it, posting on a regular cadence. Today, many emerging content creators get started with a viral video. That can be a tricky act to follow. 'If you're focused on virality, you're not going to have a long-lasting career,' said Christina Jones, the executive VP of talent at UTA-owned influencer management firm DBA. 'If you go high very fast, you can go down very fast.' While virality brings in views — and yes, followers — it ultimately means 'you're just hitting a new audience each time,' Jones added. Exposure matters as a tool to convince people to stick around. Most of all, though, they should recognise the voice. Even as your life changes, there should be consistent threads throughout. That's especially important to keep in mind as a creator business grows. When influencers start working with more high-profile brands and building up a team, they can become more conscious of what they're posting, at times losing the candid or casual tone that drew followers to them in the first place. Influencers should not only be mindful of retaining their voice, as well as crafting the right team, according to Jones, including 'people that disagree with you sometimes.' Executing the Perfect Pivot An influencer's business is more malleable, and they are increasingly seeking out ways to diversify their income beyond the standard sponsored content deals. When inbound brand deals began dying down, Lage started a Substack and ramped up freelance writing. Meghan Donovan, who started her blog Wit & Whimsy 20 years ago, launched a travel consultancy called En Route to Rêverie after receiving endless requests from followers for travel recommendations in Paris, a city she visits regularly. It now makes up a significant chunk of her business — seventy percent of clients already follow her — and allows her to connect with followers in a different, less public-facing way that helps her avoid burnout. 'I really like the idea that I am touching every aspect of their trip,' she said. 'I'm helping them plan it and booking their hotel, but I also am helping them plan what is in their suitcase.' Creators also routinely shift the type of content they're creating, without losing the qualities that won them their audience initially. Influencer Jennifer Lake, for instance, rose to prominence on Instagram during the 2010s for her brightly-coloured outfits shot against similarly-hued outdoor walls and murals — catnip for that moment in social media, where curated, bold looks were favoured. Those are still part of her content, but as platforms have prioritised video and less stylised content, she's incorporated more travel-centric Reels, as well as more casual at-home outfit shots. At the same time, she's also conscious of what platforms make sense for the type of content she produces. Despite its growth potential, she's been less focused on TikTok because she wants to focus on Instagram and her blog, which she remains active on because she feels it's important to have 'something I own' that isn't subject to the whims of a platform's algorithm. That mindset, however, should apply not just to the style of content produced, but what you're talking about generally. Donovan said she is just as selective with what products she recommends as she is with what brand partnerships she takes on. She only will share a product with her followers when she's had ample time to test it, and will mention them over and over to underscore the validity of her suggestion. (It's also helpful in securing deals, too, she said — brands want to work with creators who are organic fans.) 'I feel like I'm only as good and relevant as my last recommendations,' she said. 'Constantly shilling the hot under $50 item is a good way to get money upfront, and even potentially grow, but if you are sharing new things all the time, people remember what they've seen you talk about.' In that sense, consistency helps to build trust, which Donovan and Lake underscored as the absolute most valuable commodity as an influencer. 'This is such a relationship business,' added Lake. 'It's not a one and done interaction, a single comment, a single share, a single DM interaction. It really is about building our journey together.'
