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Spittle

The London art scene’s answer to Lady Whistledown’s gossipy pamphlet, Spittle is a weekly newsletter imbuing your inbox and social calendar with a curated breakdown of openings, private views and various schmoozy, boozy events, along with witty cultural musings. Laying out the coming week within a framework of free drinks and exhibition openings, Spittle is neighbourly and niche, offering a somewhat more social perspective to the perceivably impenetrable art scene. Amidst a deliciously pulled-together calendar that’ll ensure you’ll always have something to do with your evenings, Spittle offers an edit of the best articles they read this week, as well as vibes, cultural shifts and observations e.g. “Politics are in for 2025, babies!” Charming and genuinely informative, it’s unfussy so what’s not to love? 

Patterns in Repeat

Most Laura Marling fans will recognise the songstress as the 21st century’s answer to a tropey old woman, speaking in riddles with a scarf on her head. Her Tarot of Songwriting is no different, despite the medium being an online newsletter (not quite the same vibe). Famously allergic to anything digital, Laura’s world is nothing short of mythical—one lit entirely by candlelight, where every phrase lands like a profound maxim. She has an uncanny ability to transform the most mundane daily occurrences, like checking into a motel or assembling flat-pack furniture, into deeply meaningful epiphanies. Her musings are always thoughtful, introspective, and deeply personal, always tied to her craft or her psychological journey.

Songwriting clearly runs through her veins, and she treats her newsletter with the same reverence. At times, we find ourselves envying her ability to immortalise the everyday—but then we remember, this is her job. It’s like if Rodin’s The Thinker had a Substack, or if you were on Nietzsche’s close friends list. For a moment, we’re reminded that our lives, too, are beautiful!

Opulent Tips

The internet’s first invite-only fashion newsletter (sorry no link), Opulent Tips, started by fashion writer and high priestess of good taste, Rachel Tashjian is the beacon of OG fashion newsletters. Opulent Tips is not available for simply anyone to sign up, instead, Rachel maintains a tight group of readers, personally chosen by her on the basis of a few tests such as, whoever can manage to send her a photo of Princess Diana eating a burger first will get their email added to the mailout list. Cherry picked, right? Laid out in a simple email format, Opulent Tips does what it says on the tin and provides history, style musings, cultural observations and shopping tips. Rachel’s gently wry tone of voice plus her indomitable insider knowledge has made this newsletter one of the favourites amongst the fashion community. A pleasure to read and typically rounded off with a wholesome serving on how to live genuinely very well, have those Princess Diana pics at the ready because you’re going to want to get in on this. 

Perfectly Imperfect  

Described as a taste of someone else’s taste, Perfectly Imperfect embodies kitschy early internet aesthetics while covering an impressive and slightly esoteric roster of figures. The idea is to serve you a selection of utterly random favourites from your favourites eg Charli xcx , Ayo Edebiri. From music to cured meats, books to favourite types of wood flooring, the recommendations are varied and hopefully a little strange, but dipping into the idiosyncratic obsessions will always be far more interesting than the surface-level stuff. While posing the question “What are you into?” might not be the most groundbreaking, hard-hitting stuff, having a nosey through someone else’s mind is always a delightfully guilty pleasure. Curating a fleet of singers, actors, writers, and generally pretty cool people, Perfectly Imperfect is good, clean (with a side of grubby at times) fun. 

Buy, Bitch!

Of course, we’re all trying to better ourselves by signing up for a newsletter, in the hope that we can exercise our frazzled attention spans . But BUY BITCH is a ridiculously indulgent, guilt-free embrace of high-speed, low-value consumer culture. The newsletter is an almost satirical, impassioned run-through of everything you don’t need but can’t help but really want, whether that be a container for berries, a mood ring or a surprisingly agile floor mop. Then there’s the ‘Tabs I Bravely Closed’ section, which is just stuff you don’t need and probably don’t want. What’s not to love? 

Nothing, actually. There’s something reassuringly unvain about Gabi Thorne’s self-effacing analysis of what goes through our minds when we choose to part with our hard-earned money.
We may be analysing the pros of this season’s most effective dermaplaning facial... but it’s in a newsletter, so it’s highbrow, right?

Blackbird Spyplane

This newsletter describes itself as ‘Your No. 1 source for “unbeatable recon” into style, travel & culture’ and it has the receipts to match. With over 44,000 followers, the newsletter, which started as a covid lockdown passion project, has become a bible of design, fashion and cultural trends. 

Its popularity lies in its not being a slave to anything in particular. Sure there is a marked nostalgia for 90s/Y2K gorpcore and also a healthy enough appreciation for zeitgeist graphics but it reads more like the musings of two people (Weiner and Wylie) both genuinely interested in all things trending. Even if the tone is a little too bro (find a post that doesn’t describe something as ‘dope’), it’s also familiar. In short, it’s a newsletter that keeps you in the loop, whether you wanted to be or not, with just the right amount of insight and irreverence to keep things interesting.