Culture

Red soles, red flags: Jaden Smith and the celebrity takeover of high fashion

Smith’s appointment has raised some serious questions about the extent to which nepotism and celebrity is superseding artistic talent in the fashion industry at present.

Culture Victoria Corfield -

Remembrance, resilience, and reflection: Lubomyr Melnyk, the ‘continuous music’ pioneer

On the 23rd and 24th February, the Ukrainian composer and pianist, Lubomyr Melnyk, returns to Oxford for a performance at New College.

Culture Ruaridh McEwen -

Techno, tragedy, and medieval monologuing: ‘Brew Hill’ in conversation

Pecadillo Productions’ ‘Brew Hill’ watches the deterioration of the romance between Nat (Trixie Smith) and Gordon (Jem Hunter).

Culture Charlie Bailey -

Will 2026 finally kill the clean girl?

The clean girl has become ubiquitous throughout celebrity culture, magazines, and social media in recent years. Her brand prescribes a lifestyle, a kind of idealised minimalism.

Culture Beatrix Arnold -

Latest

Tales from the Household: Lockdown

Monday, 6:32 p.m. The email arrives saying someone in the house has tested positive and you’re going into isolation for 14 days. We lead...

Society Eats: Hungary

Hungarian cuisine is a prime example of excessive gluttony - that is exactly why it is worth trying

Cherwell Recommends: Feminist Fiction

"Each of this week’s recommendations demonstrate that female voices are far more nuanced and diverse than fiction has traditionally led us to believe."

History of Science Museum reopens

Oxford's History of Science Museum has re-opened, heralded by an Islamic metalwork exhibition. The focus of the display has been themed to highlight the...

Identity and Identicality in Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half

"Tender and thought-provoking, The Vanishing Half offers a reflection on whether a person can choose who they are. In a world where Stella and Desiree represent black and white, Bennett embraces the grey area of personal, racial, and gendered identity."

A Letter To Those Whom my Light Will Guide, In Honour Of Those Whose Light Has Guided Me

"What you are, is complicated. And I love you for that, Because you are complicated, Because you are raw, and soft, and broken."

Government blocks Oxford from Tier 2 status

According to Oxford council leaders, plans to place Oxfordshire under Tier 2 COVID-19 restrictions have been “blocked by the government.” This comes after Ansaf...

Paying Attention

"I wrote that the world feels too much of everything, that I am so lucky to be in it."

Time spent in Oxford

"The photographs on the walls show people years ago in the same spot. Did they feel the same, love the same, breathe the same. It seems impossible that they did, even more so that they did not."

Ode to the Sunflowers my Dad bought for me

"You – yellow in 5 Acts, yellow in division to make up a whole – belong to the morning"

Cherwell Recommends: Historical Fiction

"This week’s recommendations each represent a unique “texture of lived experience” to perfection, proving that historical fiction is a genre full of excitement and experimentation, and one that also demands to be taken seriously."

Freshers’ Flu – Why My Mum Invented COVID

"Two cultures, both alike in dignity In times of (un)fair Corona, where we lay our scene From ancient tradition one plans to be set free where alcohol makes the liver unclean From forth the fatal minds of these two foes Parents worry they'll lose the apple of their eye; with misadventures and revealing clothes Do with Fresher's Week her dignity will die."

Satire: A Letter to the Neophytes

"Matriculation (a corruption of “Matron’s lactations”, a common public-school ambrosia) is a ceremony that takes place every year in Oxford, marking the final severing of the students’ weak connection to reality."

Review: Midnight Sun

"Even as a firm member of Team Edward, 756 pages of Edward tormenting himself over a girl is fundamentally tedious."

Four Children

"And I sat with my back to the skies as I mouthed out a prayer to the winds and imagined them ghosts; for where I sat, half-anaesthetised, four children had used to sit"

A Prize of One’s Own: do we really need the Women’s Prize for Fiction?

”Since the prize’s inception, it has faced backlash from women and men alike, with accusations of misandry thrown at the gender criterion and with some critics suggesting that the prize is patronising and belittling to the women that win it.”

‘The Most Important Thing to Do is to Keep Creating’: In Conversation With The Cast And Crew of ‘Songs From The Old World’

It is no secret that Covid-19 has put a strain on the UK's live theatre, especially given recent restrictions legally limiting public indoor gatherings...

Culture

Red soles, red flags: Jaden Smith and the celebrity takeover of high fashion

Remembrance, resilience, and reflection: Lubomyr Melnyk, the ‘continuous music’ pioneer

Techno, tragedy, and medieval monologuing: ‘Brew Hill’ in conversation

Will 2026 finally kill the clean girl?

Follow us

Support Student Journalism

Explore

Follow us

More