Blog Posts by The Cut

By Kat Stoeffel

Co-habitating, unmarried romantic partners don't know how to refer to each other, the New York Times Style section reports. These long-term lovebirds are under the impression that couples can outgrow "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" (a majority of Cut bloggers' grandparents disagree) and are resorting to silly neologisms like fusband, for fake husband. These terms are an insult to the English language, which is rich with synonyms for "my no-longer-a-boy-/girlfriend who won't marry me." Use the Cut's handy guide to find which one is right for you.

Exclusive on TheCut.com : Surprising Results of Jackie Kennedy's Caviar Diet

Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Term: Partner
Good for: People waiting to marry until their gay friends can.

Term: Baby daddy/mama Good for: Yuppies who listen to rap.

Term: Gentleman/lady friend Good for: Grandparents.




More on TheCut.com : The 50 Most Scandalous Dresses in the History of Fashion

Term: Lover Good for: Oversharers, mature sex writers, PDA addicts.
Term: Trick

Read More »from How Old is Too Old for ‘Boyfriend’ and ‘Girlfriend’?

BY ALYSSA SHELASKY

Laura Leigh Semon had never considered sex with a woman - let alone a romantic relationship - when she met Samantha Goettlich, her "little sister" at AEPhi. Then, one drunken night in the dorms, everything changed. Nine years, several affairs, and one surprise marriage proposal later, the two brides to be tell their love story.

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The Cut
SAM I didn't have many friends at Emerson College after I transferred there sophomore year, so I joined the tennis team. The girls on the team said I should join their sorority. I was like, "I am so not a sorority type," but I needed to find less weird Emerson people to hang with. At the rush meeting, all the girls hated me because I was totally cocky - and, um, might have had a tongue ring at the time - but for some reason, this girl Laura was there in her Yankees hoodie, fighting for me to get a bid.
LAURA Sam seemed like a pain in the ass. At first I didn't really like her,

Read More »from True Stories: She’s Marrying Her Sorority Sister

By Charlotte Cowles

The Brooklynettes do not walk, they bounce, and usually in unison.

Dina LitovskyWhen five members of the dance team arrived at Barclays Center's 40/40 Club before practice last Thursday night, they bobbed up to the table in a straight line, like birds in formation. They all wore gleaming black spandex tights, black Adidas sneakers, and black-and-white hoodies zipped to the same mid-chest height to show the tops of their sports bras, which were emblazoned with the Brooklynettes logo in graffiti-style writing. Their makeup was TV-ready, with thick strips of false eyelashes and liquid eyeliner. They looked like real-life Barbies, only with better posture and brighter smiles.

Exclusive on TheCut.com: 50 Most Scandalous Dresses in History


The cleverly titled dance team affiliated with the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, the Brooklynettes began their first season at the new Barclays Center in Prospect Heights this fall. Ten of them stayed on from the former New Jersey team,

Read More »from Meet the Brooklynettes: The NBA’s Edgiest Dance Team

Those jet-black curls, lip-pencil-lined pout, and that impeccably drawn cat eye will forever be synonymous with Elizabeth Taylor. Unfortunately, the hair and makeup team behind last night's showing of Liz & Dick missed some of these beauty signatures. They even forgot to cover up LiLo's freckles, and Lohan's own puffed lips and cheeks clearly were best suited for late, White Diamonds-era Liz.

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Despite the movie's failings, we have found solace on (where else?) YouTube. Click through to see how some of the site's best hair and makeup artists nailed their version of our favorite screen queen. One even managed to pick up her daughter in between powdering her cheeks to peachy perfection. Clearly, that's better parenting than the original could pull off.
Above, here's Liz deftly applying her own heavily lined eye makeup in a scene from The Driver's Seat.

More from TheCut.com 40 Women That Women Find

Read More »from Five Ways to Re-create a Liz Taylor Look

BY KAT STOEFFEL


The first thing you need to know about Missouri senator Claire McCaskill's daughters - who were widely applauded this week for bringing buttoned-to-the-top collared shirts and red lipstick to stodgy election-night fashion - is that they are not the McCaskill girls. Their last name is Esposito.

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Ninety-Two Years of Women Voting - in Pictures
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"My mom didn't change her name when she got married," explained 23-year-old Maddie, the one in the pleated dress. "Either time." A recent New School graduate, Maddie left her job at a New York nonprofit this year in order to help out with her mother's bid for reelection against pro-life extremist Representative Todd Akin. Lily, with the crown braid, turns 21 on Monday and is majoring in sociology and gender studies at Hunter College. After McCaskill's race became the most prominent electoral battle against the GOP rape caucus, Maddie and Lily gamely added "election meme" to their résumés. The Cut asked the sisters

Read More »from Claire McCaskill’s Stylish Daughters Talk Todd Akin, Huntsman Girls, and More

There are all sorts of reasons that shoes turn ugly. And all sorts of reasons we turn to ugly shoes. Feet, themselves, are an anatomical oddity, and ugly shoes either sacrifice aesthetics for podiatric practicality, or ignore function for the sake of fetish and fashion fantasy.

Read More »from The All-Time Ugliest Shoes in the History of Fashion

Today's election is the most image-driven in our nation's history, if not the world's. Pictures from every campaign rally, public appearance, and doughnut-dispersal have been tweeted, blogged, and examined for clues on what each candidate stands for. Meanwhile, both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney have been out in full force to support their husbands' campaigns, and their presence has been felt to a degree unprecedented by previous first ladies and those who hope to become one.

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Getty Images


Few, if any, Americans will vote based on what Ann or Michelle wears. However, both women's public images are vastly important to their husbands' campaigns. Both of them have made dozens of appearances on behalf of their husbands; Ann has been particularly visible in the last 30 days, working persistently to reverse Mitt's lagging appeal to female voters.
Newsweek's Robin Givhan wrote yesterday that the media's parsing of Michelle's

Read More »from Ann Romney V. Michelle Obama: Two Women, 30 Days

Ladies, congrats on being coveted. Both presidential campaigns and most pundits agree that women are some of the most sought-after voters in this election. But for all the shout-outs to the ailing grandmothers and hardworking moms of America, it's not totally clear what's at stake for women in 2012. We might all agree that women are an important voting bloc, but there's little consensus on which issues and priorities we collectively care about.

Exclusive on TheCut: Ninety-Two Years of Women Voting - in Pictures

TheCut

Still, the lack of analysis on what women stand to lose (or gain) on November 6 has been pretty surprising. NARAL tracks reproductive-rights votes, Emily's List points the way to strong female candidates, and NOW offers a compare-contrast between Romney and Obama. But what about the big picture? If candidates at all levels are trying to appeal to women, what's in it for us? How will the 2012 election affect the way we reproduce (or not), the way our workplaces Read More »from What’s REALLY at Stake for Women on November 6?