The Grosgrain, Volume 5

Today we're talking about what to wear for Swim Szn, the anatomy of a forever piece, summer entertaining on melamine (!), the bandana print micro-trend, and the ethics of using ChatGPT on Substack.

Hi friends!

I wanted to open this week with a few thoughts about ChatGPT & Substack. Maybe I just fell off the turnip truck, but silly me, I thought everything I read on Substack was written by actual humans! It turns out that many creators are utilizing AI tools to do the writing for them, and the ethics of this have been eating at me ever since.

I appreciate how helpful ChatGPT can be for people selling sweaters or face oil or stationery, because generating written content can be a stumbling block between their product & the public. They’re not writers; they’re making widgets. Use all the AI tools to get that widget in front of an audience!

But on Substack, where your words are the product, shouldn’t you be guaranteeing that what you deliver is 100% all-natural? Maybe this makes me doubly an idiot, but I don’t want to read robot computer words; I want consume the beautifully imperfect thoughts of living, breathing humans.

And so, my promise to you here at The Grosgrain is that every single word comes from me & my caffeine-addled brain. (You can tell because there are typos!) I have deep respect for your free time — it’s limited, so if you choose to spend it with me, I’m going to make it worth your while. Okay, that came out weird, but you know what I mean! The Grosgrain is & will always be original AF.

xoxo,
Heather

---

It’s Swim Szn!

gingham bikini // sunhat // necklace // unseen sunscreen // tinted spf primer // toile bikini // toile one-piece // striped bag // basket bag // powder sunscreen // sandals // sunnies // caftan // towel // earrings // book

Swim Szn is upon us, and while I mean “swim” in a verrrrry general sense — we’re not actually getting in! — we will all go through the kabuki of dressing as if we’re going to swim. (Personally, I plan to be reading an excellent book, adjusting swim goggles & ordering lunch.)