Britney Spears continues to speak her truth, this time admitting she feels like a failure when it comes to motherhood.
After reconnecting with her sons, Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19, earlier this year, the singer and her boys have been spending more time together.
Now, Spears, in a raw confession, revealed a moment with one of her boys confirmed her biggest fear of being a bad parent, just like hers.
4Tony Oudot/Capital Pictures / MEGA
In one of her usual social media rants, the Princess of Pop uploaded a throwback picture of Sean and Jayden as toddlers.
Gushing about their little bodies came out of her, Spears revealed, “Yes, they are mine. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until 5 years ago that I saw they were secretly taken to the beach by my mom and dad.”
The “Toxic” singer recalled being ostracized from the summer outings with her sons, with her dad once refusing to let her go to a diner after getting the attention of the paparazzi. Lamenting the pain, she wrote:
“I felt demoralized to live in a country where it was accepted for people like my mom and dad to live secret lives with my children. It was demoralizing. I honestly went to my knees and cried for two months.”
The Singer Says Everyone Took Advantage Of Her
Spears then painfully looked back at her conservatorship, which ended in November 2021, admitting it stripped her of the right and freedom to truly be herself.
The 44-year-old noted she used to be “unbelievably intelligent,” until she was “brainwashed into an Ignorant system where every goddamn person took advantage of me.”
Calling herself an angel, Spears reflected on her youthful exuberance and passion for life.
However, all that was stripped from her during the conservatorship, and she can’t help but ask now that she’s older, “How the hell would a government allow that?”
Britney Spears Talks Failing Her Kids, Apologizes For Past Mistakes
4Lumeimages / MEGA
The X post then took a somber tone when Spears honestly examined her parenting skills, recalling the moment one of her sons told her he doesn’t personally believe in God.
Although she didn’t reveal the identity, the “Gimme More” songstress confessed in that moment she believed she “had failed as a mother. Nevertheless, Spears, who has had a phase of doubt like her son, declared “there is a Holy Spirit that sits high in the kingdom of heaven…I’ve been there. I’ve felt it.”
The entertainer noted that she wants to turn over a new leaf and apologize to her kids and others about her past mistakes. She also revealed her intention not to participate in the business of music anymore.
Britney Spears Alleges She Was Forced To Perform In The Past
4MEGA
For the “Mickey Mouse Club House” alum, the music industry isn’t the same as it used to be when she was younger.
“Not one time in those 15 years was it ever me,” she wrote. “I was shamed, embarrassed, and forced to do all of it.”
Spears continued, explaining that she was beholden to a good girl image, but life felt better when she was bad. However, her family and the country didn’t like it when she was better. “I’m proud of bringing it up because it’s honestly unbelievably sad,” she noted of her past.
Concluding her post, Spears got philosophical about fame, revealing that she would rather hang out with those not in the public eye. “I want to get closer to God, she declared.
Britney Spears’ Son Denies Claims Of Artist Being Cloned
4Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / MEGA
The “Crossroads” alum’s emotional rant comes weeks after her youngest son, Jayden, addressed speculations of a clone.
After several of Spears’ dancing videos on social media sparked a storm, Jayden took to TikTok to clear the air, assuring fans his mother was very much alive and real.
As The Blast reported, the teenager slammed, “I hop on TikTok, and I see this one video that has 1.2 million likes, and the caption is like, ‘The biggest theory ever: Is Britney Spears still alive?’ Like, bro, you can go to her page and see her right now.”
Jayden, during the Livestream, then criticized the media for pushing “exaggerated and fake” news.
The Fortnite item shop has always been kind of annoying, because it’s never had a consistent inventory you could browse like a normal store. There are more than 2,000 Fortnite skins that have been sold in the item shop, but only a few dozen are available on any given day. But Epic has never been content with just the FOMO angle–the company has been dinged by regulatory agencies all over the world for its “dark patterns” and coercive sale techniques.
In some very significant ways, the Fortnite item shop is in much better shape now because of the changes those agencies forced Epic to implement–like being able to cancel an errant purchase, and knowing exactly when an item will leave the shop. Still, though, Epic continues to come up with new ways to make the Fortnite shopping experience more complicated and annoying, particularly in the past year. Let’s break it down.
Fortnite gift cards no longer exist
You used to be able to buy a Fortnite gift card that would redeem directly for V-Bucks, but Epic stopped making those in 2025. While Epic does still have an item that it refers to as a “Fortnite Gift Card – Powered by the Epic Games Store,” these are not actually Fortnite products at all. Instead, a current “Fortnite gift card” simply grants you credit in the Epic Games Store, and you can spend it on anything they sell on mobile or PC, including V-Bucks. So in reality these are EGS gift cards, and there is no current way to gift V-Bucks directly.
This distinction is important because the physical “Fortnite gift cards” that are sold in stores (in denominations of $15, $30, $50, and $100) don’t line up with any V-Buck purchase amounts. So if you receive a $30 card for your birthday, you can buy a 2,400 pack of V-Bucks and have $7 left over, or you can throw in $7 of your own money and get a 4,500 pack. Epic gift cards do have the added benefit of a 20% rebate in EGS credit when you put it toward Fortnite–but that’s still an additional layer of stuff you have to think about beyond the original purchase, and all it really does is make you take extra steps to counter the most recent V-Buck price increase.
Oh, and if you play on Switch or Switch 2, you can’t even use V-Bucks purchased with an EGS gift card on your device, because your V-Buck balance doesn’t transfer to Nintendo’s systems. Instead, you’ll have to shop in a web browser and then restart your game to receive the items. More extra steps.
Prices are a mess since the latest price change
The latest price increase, back in the spring, was an example of shrinkflation–the prices stayed the same, but the amounts of V-Bucks you’d receive for your purchase went down. It used to be that $23 got you 2,800 V-Bucks, but now it’s 2,400, and the other standard amounts have been adjusted similarly. On top of that, Epic added a new “exact purchase” feature that would allow you to purchase only the specific amount required for the thing you want to buy. That sounds good in theory, but it’s a horrendous value given the way Epic implemented it.
How it works is that it charges you two different rates within the same transaction. Let’s use the new Lil Tecca bundle, which costs 2,600 V-Bucks, as an example. If you use the “exact amount” feature to purchase 2,600 V-Bucks, you’ll pay $27–the first 2,400 costs $23 ($.95 per 100 V-Bucks), and the other 200 costs $4 ($2 per 100 V-Bucks). That might be tolerable in small amounts, but the value becomes increasingly terrible the more you’re spending.
Fortnite caps the price to use the “exact amount” just below that of the next tier of V-Bucks, meaning that if you’re buying less than 4,500 V-Bucks with the “exact amount” feature, you will always pay less than the $37 that a 4,500 pack costs. But since using this feature is so exorbitantly expensive, you’ll reach that cap by purchasing just 3,100 V-Bucks. And that means that using the “exact amount” feature to purchase any amount of V-Bucks between 3,100 and 4,400 will cost exactly $36.49. So if you were to use this feature to buy the Addison Rae bundle for 3,600 V-Bucks, you’d be shorting yourself 900 V-Bucks to save 50 cents.
The price change and the expensive top-up are changes that work in tandem, because so many past shop bundles were oriented around the 2,800 V-Buck pack. I suspect that was one of the reasons Epic opted to shrink the V-Buck packs instead of raising prices again, because it theoretically pushes folks toward the unreasonable “exact amount” purchase or encourages them to get a bigger pack of V-Bucks instead.
Fortunately for players, Epic has been offering more new shop bundles that actually line up with the new V-Buck amounts–Harley and Ivy, The Odyssey, Spider-Man, and David Beckham all received bundles that cost 2,400 or less, taking most of the friction out of the process for those items. But there are still plenty of new bundles that go beyond that price, like the recent Addison Rae, Lil Tecca, and Supergirl bundles.
Shop FOMO is out of control
There are more than 2,000 item shop skins, and just over half of them have appeared in the item shop at any point in the past four months. There are only a few dozen skins available to buy on any given day, there seems to be a limit on how many collabs they can have available at the same time, and the most popular Fortnite-original items rotate through over and over (like Aura, who appears in the shop several days every month) while less popular ones disappear indefinitely (like this cool bag man, who first appeared in the shop for three days last June and has never returned). Even collabs frequently suffer a similar fate–just ask any of the Attack on Titan or Transformers or God of War fans who’ve been waiting years to see those skins return. Similarly, they seem to only sell Star Wars cosmetics in May now.
The takeaway here is that it’s not easy to shop for the things you want in Fortnite, because only a tiny portion of the game’s cosmetics are available at a time. For Epic, that’s always been the point–the FOMO system encourages you to watch the shop change every day and leap into action when something you want comes back. But if there’s too much friction in that process, or if buying stuff routinely requires too much math and other mental effort, it can sour folks on the shop entirely.
Other shenanigans
Along with these broad, all-encompassing strategies, it appears that Epic has also been trying various other, more low-key techniques to boost sales both directly and indirectly.
Since the Great AdiraFNInfo Incident back in the spring, in which Epic sued one of its former contractors for leaking upcoming collaborations, the Fortnite leaks scene has pretty much disappeared. This makes it harder to plan ahead, because we have much less of a sense of whether there’s anything on the way worth saving our V-Bucks for.
Epic has been frequently bringing back items individually, without the accessories that go with them or the bundles they belong to, which has been frustrating for folks who like having the full set. Sometimes they even return a skin and all its accessories but still leave out the bundle anyway, which essentially raises the price of the set.
Over the past few months I’ve noticed a lot of strangely jumbled shop sections, like the above tab from the Toon Takeover section on June 15. It’s impossible to tell with any confidence if the way this whole section was arranged–the above was one of six tabs of items and bundles from Futurama, Adventure Time, and Phineas and Ferb that were seemingly tossed together in a random order–was on purpose or just incompetence. But putting things in an order that people can’t make sense of and deemphasizing the bundles so they look like just another item in the pile sounds more like a sales technique than it does an accident. Fortunately, we haven’t seen this phenomenon pop up since Hot Bat Summer began in late July, so either they fixed the problem or stopped using this strategy, whatever the case actually was.
The thing you have to keep in mind about all of this is that every irritation we’ve talked about here compounds with each other, and it ultimately creates a buying experience in which discerning customers are constantly frustrated, and undiscerning customers are overpaying without realizing it.
Thank the Founders. This article contains spoilers for “Silo” Season 3, Episode 6, “The Drive.”
What’s the real reason behind the success story of “Silo” Season 3 to this point? Could it be as straightforward as the sheer star power of main lead Rebecca Ferguson and the nerves of steel behind her portrayal of Juliette Nichols? Is it the inescapable parallels between this dystopian tale and our own hyper-digital existence in a 21st Century surveillance state? Or has creator Graham Yost simply found the perfect balance between a faithful retelling and an adaptation willing to depart from the original books when needed? We’d say it’s all of the above … and more.
Of all the reasons why “Silo” remains the most underrated show on Apple TV, perhaps it has to do with Season 3 finally confirming — beyond any doubt — who its best character is and why. Make no mistake, Mayor Juliette has to rank near the top of anyone’s list, of course. But we’re willing to accept that the contenders for this title are many. There’s the returning (but seemingly reformed) villain Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins), perhaps, or maybe Harriet Walter as Juliette’s ever-reliable ally Martha Walker. The dark and mysterious Robert Sims (Common) feels worthy of the crown, but is there a dark-horse candidate (or two) in Jessica Henwick’s Helen Drew and Ashely Zukerman’s Daniel Keene?
No, our pick has been a steady presence in “Silo” since the beginning, and this week’s installment only emphasizes why there’s only one name that applies: Camille Sims. Thanks to Alexandria Riley’s committed performance, writing that allows her to be as complex and conflicted as the story demands, and an episode that provides the perfect opportunity to showcase her strengths and weaknesses as a character, we’re making it official: Camille rules.
Camille Sims gets two show-stopping scenes in Silo Season 3, Episode 6
Apple TV
I’ll be honest — I didn’t go into “Silo” Season 3 expecting big things from Camille Sims, of all people. Technically, she’s been a mainstay since the first season, but only later on when the plot begins to escalate and a fugitive Juliette holds her and her son hostage in a desperate attempt to escape the authorities (including, namely, Camille’s husband Robert) in Episode 9. She appears more frequently throughout Season 2, but it hasn’t been until this year that she’s finally come into her own as the unexpected Head of IT, handpicked by the Algorithm.
And what a choice she’s proven to be. Where Bernard spiraled into a suicidal depression at the reveal of the Safeguard procedure, Camille has proved far more capable of getting her hands dirty and making impossible choices. No, none of this makes her a heroic figure, a devoted and trustworthy wife to Robert, or a Mother of the Year recipient for her young son Anthony (Oscar Coleman), who’s doomed to forget everything about his parents should her plan involving Vitamin D (already dumped into the water supply) go off without a hitch. But this sure makes her into as compelling an individual as any other in the entire show — if not the most by far.
She proves this emphatically in a pair of moments in “The Drive.” First, the tension simmering between herself and her husband ultimately boils over when Anthony acts out at school. Robert isn’t wrong when he implicitly lays the blame at Camille’s feet … but neither is she when she calls him out for keeping secrets of his own. But the second one is the clincher, when she takes her frustrations out on the Algorithm itself.
Camille Sims becomes the MVP of Silo Season 3 in her confrontation with the Algorithm
Apple TV
Welcome to the big leagues, Camille Sims. “Silo” Season 3 has taken great pains to depict our newest antagonist as someone with the absolute best of intentions while also having what it takes to go to great lengths and see her mission accomplished at all costs. On the surface, that’s a combination that our main protagonist Juliette shares as well, but with one striking difference. Only Camille is willing and able to damn the rest of the Silo to a memoryless fate by unknowingly ingesting the Vitamin D drugs if it means saving their lives … or what remains of it, anyway.
This is front and center in Camille’s big confrontation with the Algorithm following her disastrous family dinner at home. Having finally reached her breaking point, the Head of IT lashes out at the Silo’s enigmatic decision-maker and accuses it of making a “mistake” by allowing Juliette to send friends to the other Silo in order to rescue the children left behind in Season 2. Camille’s greatest (and worst) attribute is her sense of right and wrong, along with her stubbornness in believing that she’s always making the correct call. But it isn’t until she admits she’s “failing” as Head of IT and as a mother/wife that she’s able to reset, rebalance, and remember why she was picked for this role — because she’s capable, as the Algorithm helpfully tells her.
It’s a rare moment of introspection for Camille, but it may prove to be a turning point. When we next find her ordering Juliette around, we can practically see the clarity of purpose written on her face. Strap in, folks. “Silo” Season 3’s big bad is only getting started.
XRP fell 2.05% in 24 hours to $1.02, the lone red coin among the top 10; every other major is green.
The Senate left Washington without voting on the Clarity Act, delaying the market-structure bill until at least September.
XRP trades within a confirmed death cross, but prediction market traders remain optimistic for now.
The Senate left town without taking up the Clarity Act, pushing the market-structure vote to at least September. Every major coin shrugged it off—except XRP.
While Bitcoin stayed flat, dealing with its own headwinds, and Dogecoin gained 1.38% over the day to be the best performer in the top 10 crypto assets by market cap, XRP dropped 2.05%, the only major token to close red.
On a week that saw it fall 3%, it’s the weakest of the majors by a wide margin.
The delay isn’t just procedural for XRP. The token’s entire 2025–2026 rally thesis rested on the U.S. finally deciding what XRP is. The Clarity Act would sort crypto into securities and commodities and, in drafts Decrypt previously reported, would reclassify XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin as non-securities.
That means these coins would fall under the regulatory purview of the CFTC, widely viewed as the more preferable option by crypto industry observers, rather than the historically tougher SEC.
For Ripple, whose co-founder created the XRP cryptocurrency, that’s the prize years of litigation were about: a federal answer to the SEC’s long fight over whether XRP was an unregistered security. Ripple agreed to pay $50 million to settle its cross-appeal with the SEC, but a statute beats a settlement.
A law settles the question for every exchange, custodian, and regulator at once. Without it, XRP stays in legal limbo—and limbo is what the chart appears to be pricing.
XRP price: What the charts say
XRP is trading at $1.028, roughly a $64 billion market cap, down 0.71% on the day, after a red candle that has kept it pinned just above the $1.00 psychological floor. It’s the second-lowest print on the daily chart since early 2024, above only the $0.9153 low marked last month.
XRP price data. Image: Tradingview
The trajectory is a clean, grinding downtrend. XRP has been in a strong bearish trend since 2025, when it reached $3 per coin. The 50-day EMA (the average price over the last 50 sessions) has crossed below the 200-day EMA (the average over the last 200 sessions) in a formation known as a death cross. XRP’s current price is below both lines, so there’s no average acting as support beneath it.
The Relative Strength Index, or RSI, reads 35.9. RSI is a momentum gauge on a 0–100 scale: above 70 is overbought, below 30 is oversold. At 35.9, momentum is bearish with room for more downside before buyers typically step in.
The Average Directional Index, or ADX, reads 11.9. ADX measures trend strength, not direction: below 20 means the move lacks conviction and chop is common. However, the Squeeze Momentum indicator is still off, meaning volatility is expanding rather than coiling.
No compression means no loaded spring waiting to fire; moves here tend to be slow.
A bull case would appear if a daily close back above $1.10 (the lower Fib zone and first real resistance) and then the $1.13 point of control signal the floor is holding. An advance in the Clarity Act, though not until September at the earliest now, could also ignite some bullish appetite among traders.
Bear case: a break under $1.00 opens the path to $0.9153, the chart’s lowest mark since 2024. A daily close there confirms the downtrend and erases the post-2024 recovery. The current trend is bearish, so this is a very likely scenario.
On Myriad, a prediction market developed by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, traders are currently optimistic on XRP’s short-term outlook. Traders are pricing in 77% odds that XRP stays above $1.00, at least over the weekend.
For now, $1.00 is the line. Above it, XRP is cheap and oversold; below it, the chart says the slide isn’t done.
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The sudden death of Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman has triggered an escalating governance dispute that now threatens to overshadow one of the fastest-growing companies in the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) sector. Court filings in Delaware reveal a bitter legal battle between Allman’s estate and current CEO Ian De Bode over who has the legal authority to control the company following the founder’s passing.
While Ondo continues operating and maintains support from key investors, the dispute introduces significant uncertainty at a time when the company has emerged as one of the leading issuers of tokenized financial products. The case also highlights the governance risks that can arise when founder-led crypto companies lack clearly tested succession mechanisms.
Power Struggle Erupts at Ondo Finance After Founder’s Death
Legal dispute centers on control after founder’s passing
According to filings submitted to the Delaware Court of Chancery, Nathan Allman died in May while serving simultaneously as Ondo Finance’s CEO, sole director, and controlling shareholder. Because his voting power became part of his estate, it could not immediately be exercised until probate proceedings concluded in Hawaii.
The estate argues that this temporary governance gap became the catalyst for the current conflict. Kathleen Allman, Nathan Allman’s mother, was formally appointed personal representative of the estate on June 26, giving her authority to exercise the voting rights attached to the founder’s shares.
The lawsuit alleges that before probate was completed, Ian De Bode improperly claimed he automatically became CEO under the company’s bylaws. The estate further contends that De Bode used a voting agreement to appoint himself as Ondo’s sole director before taking several major corporate actions, including approving equity compensation, hiring advisers, and attempting to expand the board.
According to the complaint, these actions were invalid because the company’s bylaws required board approval—not automatic succession—to fill the CEO position.
Estate says it initially sought cooperation
Rather than immediately seeking to replace the existing leadership, Kathleen Allman reportedly attempted to work alongside De Bode after gaining authority over the estate’s voting shares.
Court filings state that she appointed herself to the board, adopted an interim policy allowing ordinary business operations to continue, reaffirmed De Bode as president, and requested access to basic corporate information such as shareholder records.
The estate claims those efforts failed after De Bode and the company’s outside legal counsel allegedly refused to recognize her authority or provide the requested documentation.
According to the filings, Kathleen Allman subsequently expanded the board and convened a meeting on July 24, where directors voted to remove De Bode from all company positions. She was then appointed interim chair and interim CEO while the board begins searching for a permanent successor.
The estate argues that its objective is not to permanently control Ondo Finance but to stabilize corporate governance during the leadership transition and ensure normal business operations continue without disruption.
Ondo CEO rejects allegations
De Bode has firmly rejected the estate’s claims, describing the lawsuit as harmful to the company and its broader ecosystem.
In comments provided to CoinDesk, De Bode said the legal action was “regretful” and argued that the allegations lacked merit.
He also maintained that Ondo Finance continues to receive backing from its board, lead investors, and the Ondo Foundation, adding that the leadership team remains committed to executing Nathan Allman’s long-term vision for expanding on-chain financial markets.
Separately, Ondo’s board emphasized that the company remains focused on serving customers and supporting ongoing business operations while searching for a permanent successor to its late founder.
Court decision could shape company governance
The estate has requested an expedited ruling from the Delaware Court of Chancery, arguing that uncertainty over corporate authority could affect numerous business decisions.
According to the filings, unresolved questions surrounding company control could influence contracts, spending approvals, equity issuances, and other significant corporate actions if competing leadership groups continue asserting authority.
For now, however, the court has not ruled on the allegations, and the claims presented represent only the estate’s version of events.
The eventual outcome may establish not only who governs Ondo Finance but also how Delaware courts interpret succession disputes involving crypto companies whose founders simultaneously hold executive, board, and controlling shareholder roles.
A critical moment for a leading RWA platform
The legal dispute comes during a period of rapid growth for Ondo Finance.
Founded in 2021, the company has become one of the largest tokenized real-world asset platforms, offering products such as USDY and OUSG while expanding tokenized access to traditional financial instruments. Under Nathan Allman’s leadership, Ondo reportedly grew to manage approximately $3.5 billion in tokenized RWA products.
More recently, the company announced initiatives to tokenize U.S. securities, including products linked to Micron stock and BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF through partnerships with Broadridge and Oasis Pro. It has also worked with regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on compliance frameworks for tokenized securities.
Those developments have positioned Ondo as one of the industry’s most prominent bridges between traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure, making the current governance dispute especially significant for institutional participants monitoring the sector.
Market watches governance risks
Although Ondo Finance has stated that operations continue normally, the leadership dispute has attracted attention across the crypto market.
Some market observers have pointed to increased token transfers to exchanges and heightened selling activity following news of the lawsuit, suggesting investors are reassessing governance risk alongside the project’s long-term fundamentals. Reports also noted that ONDO experienced notable price volatility in the days after details of the legal battle became public.
ONDO Price Performance (Source: CoinMarketCap)
Whether the dispute remains an isolated corporate governance issue or evolves into a prolonged legal confrontation could prove important for investor confidence. For a company widely viewed as a leader in bringing traditional financial assets on-chain, restoring governance clarity may become just as important as continuing product innovation.
Brooklyn Beckham has left fans unconvinced after re-sharing a cooking video in which he fills a pan with seawater before making tomato pasta on a yacht.
The 27-year-old originally posted the TikTok last summer but shared it with followers again this week, according to The Sun. He is currently holidaying in the south of France with his wife, Nicola Peltz.
Their trip comes as Brooklyn and Nicola mark the first anniversary of their vow renewal, which they reportedly intend to celebrate in future instead of their original April wedding date.
@brooklynbeckham Tomato pasta ❤️❤️ @Cloud23 ♬ original sound – Brooklyn Beckham
In the footage, Brooklyn announced that he was making tomato pasta before collecting water from the sea at the back of the boat.
He then used the water to cook the pasta and added his own Cloud 23 hot sauce to the dish.
However, some viewers were more interested in where the water had come from than in the finished meal. They raised concerns about possible contamination from the yacht and questioned whether it was suitable for cooking.
One person asked: “Isn’t the ocean water dirty?”
Another joked: “Is boat exhaust the secret ingredient?”
A third added: “Pasta water with a hint of burnt boat fuel please, sir.”
“Hi, quick question. I haven’t got the sea in my back Garden. Will tap water do?” another asked.
However, there was some support for Brooklyn. “Nasty jealous comments have a day off trolls; grow up, honestly,” one fumed.
Brooklyn came under fire (Credit: Linnea Stephan/BFA.com/Shutterstock)
Resurfaced video follows anniversary celebrations
The clip was not filmed during the couple’s latest holiday. Brooklyn first shared it last summer before bringing it back to his social-media page this week.
According to The Sun, Brooklyn and Nicola have been spending time in the south of France with his godfather, Elton John. Members of Brooklyn’s estranged family have reportedly also been holidaying a few miles away in St Tropez.
The couple recently celebrated a year since renewing their vows in August 2025. The ceremony reportedly involved Nicola’s family and the couple’s friends, but no members of the Beckham family.
An unnamed source told The Sun that Brooklyn and Nicola now associate the vow renewal with happier memories and plan to mark that date publicly rather than their original April 2022 wedding anniversary.
Read more: Brooklyn Beckham promises to ‘always protect’ wife Nicola Peltz amid family feud
What do you think of this story? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and then let us know your thoughts! We want to hear from you.
Published: August 07, 2026 at 10:30 am Updated: August 07, 2026 at 9:58 am
by Anastasiia O
Edited and fact-checked:
August 07, 2026 at 10:30 am
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In Brief
Gate tops global inflow rankings, launches Moonshot AI Pre-IPO, expands stock futures, and posts record SOL staking in a packed release week.
Gate is putting up competitive numbers across several key metrics simultaneously. According to DefiLlama, the exchange recorded over $36.6 million in net inflows over a single 24-hour window, claiming the top spot among centralized exchanges globally, and ranked in the top three for both 7-day ($75.23 million) and 1-month ($61.64 million) cumulative inflows. Gate CFD reached No. 1 globally by weekly trading volume, surpassing $200 billion, with gold-related instruments driving much of the momentum. Against this backdrop, Gate is set to launch its most high-profile Pre-IPO offering to date — subscription access to Moonshot AI, the company behind the Kimi AI assistant, implying a $50 billion valuation. Here is a full rundown of this week’s updates.
Gold and Metals
Gold is the macro story of the week. Gate’s XAU futures posted $255 million in 24-hour volume and $309 million in open interest, placing the platform among the top two CEXs for gold derivatives by both metrics. Tether Gold (XAUT) spot volume on Gate reached $11.44 million, ranking second industry-wide. Gold CFD (XAUUSD) rose 0.13% intraday with a session high of $4,304.09, while GDX gained 7.48% and GLD added 4.12% on the day. Gate pioneered Metals Perpetual Futures and CFD sections for the industry and covers gold, silver, and platinum across 24/7 USDT-settled trading.
gStocks and Global Equities
Tokenized equities on Gate gStocks logged strong single-day performance. Fluence Energy (FLNCG) led with a 24-hour gain of 19.23%, followed by MiniMax (MINIMAXG) at 15.38% and AXT Inc. (AXTIG) at 13.46%. SpaceX (SPCX) rose 6.11%, with Gate’s SPCX perpetual futures posting $243 million in 24-hour volume and $85.5 million in open interest — placing Gate among the top two CEXs in that contract. Hong Kong-listed equities also moved: TOKYO CHUO AUCT gained 40.54%, APEX ACE HOLDING rose 28.03%, and SANHE CONSTRUCTION GROUP climbed 22.68%. Gate Stocks supports over 12,500 global equity and ETF assets across U.S., Hong Kong, and Korean markets, with 24/7 trading and fractional share access from 0.01 shares. A recent BlockBeats feature highlighted Gate’s integrated TradFi account structure, which brings together four equity product categories under one interface: Gate Stocks for real equity allocation, gStocks for tokenized flexibility, stock perpetual futures for hedging, and CFDs for multi-asset exposure — combining crypto-native infrastructure with traditional financial access.
New Perpetual Futures: Stock Section Expansion
Gate Futures Stock Section launched 21 new perpetual futures contracts across two tranches this week. The first batch, live from August 6, included KIOXIA — Japan’s only tier-1 NAND flash memory manufacturer with deep ties to AI data center storage demand — alongside YJTECH, LONGSYS, DSBJ, WUXIAPPTEC, HTGD, TFC, SHTECH, UNIS, BOE, and FENGHUA. A second tranche followed on August 7, adding CJS (China Jushi), SINOCERA, TUNGSTEN, LUXSHARE, CCTC, SYTECH, TFME, ZTT, LETTALL, and PERIC. All contracts are USDT-margined with 1–20x leverage.
Pre-IPO: Moonshot AI (KIMI)
Gate Pre-IPOs Phase 3 centers on Moonshot AI, implying a valuation of approximately $50 billion. The subscription window runs August 11–13 (07:00 UTC), priced at $105–$115 per share. KIMI Asset Certificates are Mirror Notes designed to track changes in Moonshot AI’s enterprise value and will be distributed with 100% unlock on August 17. Subscribers using GUSD can simultaneously earn a 3.8% flexible U.S. Treasury yield during the subscription period. A dedicated secondary market for the certificates is expected to open approximately one month after distribution, enabling holders to trade at real-time market prices or hold for long-term appreciation tied to a potential IPO or other exit event. Fees include a 5% underwriting service fee and a 20% performance fee on excess returns.
Staking and Yield Products
SOL Staking on Gate set a new record at 660,600 SOL staked, with a reference APR of 7.91%. Gate’s holdings of World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) are approaching $400 million; Soft Staking for USD1 now carries an estimated 12% APR, effective August 6, with no lock-up and daily reward distribution. Gate Launchpool Project #369 (SNDKG/SanDisk) is underway through August 20, with over 15,364 ETH, 934 BTC, and 750,958 GT already staked across three pools, sharing 80 SNDKG in total rewards. The platform’s four-tier USDT program adds further options: USDT fixed-term Earn offers 3.8% (7-day) and 4.0% (30-day); GUSD Flexible Treasury Bond offers 3.8% annualized with flexible redemption and a 100% APR bonus for new participants. A Convert New User Exclusive Campaign runs through August 13, offering eligible first-time converters up to 100 USDT in rewards.
Gate Polymarket: Esports and Prediction Markets
Esports prediction trading on Gate Polymarket is gaining momentum heading into the final stretch of the Esports Trading Season (through August 10, 200,000 USDT prize pool). The featured matchup is T1 vs. Dplus KIA in the LCK Round 3-4 Legend Group, with T1 carrying a 56% predicted win probability. In the LPL 2026 Season Championship market, Bilibili Gaming leads with approximately 64% prediction support. Gate Polymarket ranked second globally by notional trading volume as of August 6.
Gate DexBuilder: Event Contracts Infrastructure
Gate DexBuilder, the platform’s DEX infrastructure arm, officially launched its first Event Contracts Builder alongside a $3 million grant program open to developers, Web3 applications, media platforms, quantitative systems, and entertainment products worldwide. The initiative provides integrated infrastructure — APIs, SDKs, market creation, settlement, and liquidity support — so partners can deploy event contract market products without building underlying systems from scratch.
Research, Macro, and Institutional
Gate Institutional’s latest weekly report notes that the Fed’s sustained hawkish stance put pressure on crypto markets, with BTC and ETH declining approximately 2.8% and 3.6% respectively, while U.S. equities extended their recovery. Spot BTC ETFs recorded net outflows; spot ETH ETFs posted modest net inflows, reflecting resilient institutional demand for Ethereum. Gate Research published a separate analysis on crypto platforms’ role in IPO access, arguing that the competitive edge lies not in returns from individual listings but in the ability to secure genuine primary-market allocations — enabled by stablecoin infrastructure and lower subscription thresholds. In Gatecast Episode 4, Ondo Finance Managing Director Min Lin discussed the RWA landscape, pointing to tokenized stocks and ETFs as the next major frontier given the U.S. equities market’s approximately $69 trillion scale. Finally, Gate Alpha Hot Tokens Competition Phase 58 launches August 8, with $40,000 in Robinhood ecosystem airdrop rewards available through August 11.
Disclaimer
In line with the Trust Project guidelines, please note that the information provided on this page is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other form of advice. It is important to only invest what you can afford to lose and to seek independent financial advice if you have any doubts. For further information, we suggest referring to the terms and conditions as well as the help and support pages provided by the issuer or advertiser. MetaversePost is committed to accurate, unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice.
About The Author
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
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Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
I tellitec Solutio s Celeb ates 25 Yea s of Tu i g Tech ology I to Busi ess Adva tage
Fou ded f om a accou ti g fi m whose clie ts kept aski g fo eal tech ology help, I tellitec has spe t 25 yea s helpi g o ga izatio s get mo e out of the tech ology they al eady have.
“Twe ty-five yea s late , that’s still the whole job. Helpi g o ga izatio s use tech ology i tellige tly, ot just use mo e of it. Eve ythi g else we’ve built follows f om that.”
NEWARK, DE, August 07, 2026 /24-7P essRelease/ — I tellitec Solutio s, a t usted e te p ise esou ce pla i g (ERP) adviso a d eselle , ma ks its 25th a ive sa y this week. Fo a compa y that’s bee a ou d a qua te ce tu y, the milesto e is ‘t about looki g back. It’s about how fa the team’s expe tise has come alo gside the tech ology it suppo ts.
I tellitec did ‘t sta t out as a softwa e compa y. I 1986, the team was pa t of a accou ti g fi m, a d clie ts kept comi g back with the same p oblem: thei accou ti g softwa e was ‘t wo ki g the way they eeded it to, a d they could ‘t fi d a yo e who could help them fix it. The fi m’s team stepped i to solve those p oblems a d b i gi g thei ow CPA k owledge, was quite good at it. That expe tise quickly tu ed i to its ow busi ess, a d I tellitec Solutio s was bo , ot to sell softwa e, but to help clie ts use the tech ology they al eady had mo e i tellige tly.
“That’s the pa t of ou sto y I’m p oudest of,” said Rick Somme , P eside t of I tellitec Solutio s a d a membe of the fou di g team. “We did ‘t sta t out t yi g to sell a yo e a ythi g. We sta ted out solvi g a p oblem ou clie ts actually had. Twe ty-five yea s late , that’s still the whole job. Helpi g o ga izatio s use tech ology i tellige tly, ot just use mo e of it. Eve ythi g else we’ve built follows f om that.”
I the yea s si ce, the tech ology I tellitec suppo ts has cha ged almost beyo d ecog itio , f om o -p emise se ve s to cloud- ative platfo ms, f om ma ual data e t y to automated, eal-time epo ti g. The team behi d it has ‘t cha ged ea ly as much. Fou tee membe s of I tellitec’s team have bee with the compa y si ce its ea liest days, a d thei expe tise has g ow alo g with eve y shift i the i dust y. That te u e has become o e of the fi m’s sha pest adva tages: mo e tha two decades of patte ecog itio , put to wo k o whateve platfo m a clie t happe s to be u i g today.
That g owth shows up i the umbe s as well. The fou tee -pe so team has g ow i to a 42-pe so p actice today, a d I tellitec is ow ecog ized as o e of the leadi g Sage a d Mic osoft pa t e s i the i dust y. No e of that g owth would have happe ed without a st o g etwo k of othe tech ology pa t e s, i cludi g Poi tClickCa e, Solve , a d ma y othe s, whose platfo ms I tellitec has helped clie ts put to wo k ove the yea s.
“The tools we use today look othi g like the o es we sta ted o , a d ho estly, that’s the fu pa t of the job. The e’s always somethi g ew to lea ,” said Tom Roge s, Se io ERP Adviso at I tellitec a d o e of the compa y’s fi st fou tee employees. “But the i sti ct fo what a clie t actually eeds has ‘t cha ged si ce day o e. If a ythi g, havi g see so ma y platfo ms a d so ma y t e ds come a d go makes it easie to tell clie ts what’s actually goi g to matte fo thei busi ess, a d what’s just oise.”
I tellitec pla s to ma k the a ive sa y th oughout the yea with co te t spotlighti g its team, its clie ts, a d lesso s lea ed ac oss a qua te ce tu y of ERP impleme tatio s a d suppo t. As the team sees it, the goal has ‘t cha ged si ce the begi i g: tech ology is o ly as good as the guida ce behi d it.
About I tellitec Solutio sI tellitec Solutio s is dedicated to delive i g top-tie ERP softwa e solutio s to busi esses a d se io livi g commu ities atio wide. We specialize i busi ess applicatio s a d cloud tech ology to suppo t o ga izatio s of all sizes. Si ce 1986 a d its fo mal establishme t i 2001, I tellitec has ise as a disti guished pa t e of Sage I tacct a d Mic osoft Dy amics. Ou holistic app oach is ooted i a deep u de sta di g of clie t ope atio s, e su i g we c eate cutti g-edge, impactful solutio s to p ovide value fo yea s to come.
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The post Intellitec Solutions Celebrates 25 Years of Turning Technology Into Business Advantage appeared first on Web3Wire.
The CLARITY Act’s future hinges on resolving disputes over stablecoinyield and DeFi treatment, not Bitcoin’s regulatory status, which is widely treated as a commodity
Executives like Michael Saylor are reframing the debate to emphasize the need for clarity in the broader digital-asset market, rather than just for Bitcoin, ahead of the Senate’s return in September
The bill’s stalled momentum may be affected by the reassurance from prominent voices that Bitcoin’s success is not dependent on the legislation, potentially altering the pressure for its passage
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has restated his position on US crypto legislation as the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act slips past the Senate’s August recess. “Bitcoin doesn’t need CLARITY. America needs clarity,” Saylor wrote in a post on August 7, a compressed version of an argument he has made repeatedly: that the world’s largest cryptocurrency will succeed regardless of what Congress does, while the rest of the country’s digital-asset framework hangs on the bill.
Bitcoin doesn’t need CLARITY. America needs clarity.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) August 7, 2026
A Restatement, Not a Reversal
The one-line post is not a new stance. A week earlier, on July 31, Saylor publicly backed the bill ahead of the recess, writing that he supports “advancing the CLARITY Act through bipartisan work to establish clear, durable rules,” and adding that “Bitcoin will succeed with or without legislation, but America needs clarity for digital assets.” The August 7 message carries the same logic in fewer words. Both separate two ideas that are often conflated in the debate: Bitcoin’s own regulatory position, which Saylor treats as settled, and the broader market’s need for a framework, which he treats as urgent.
That distinction matters because Saylor is Bitcoin’s most prominent corporate advocate, and his company holds one of the largest Bitcoin treasuries in the world. When he says Bitcoin does not need the legislation, he is speaking to the asset’s status as a widely held digital commodity rather than dismissing the bill—which he continues to endorse for everyone else.
Why Bitcoin Sits Outside the Fight
Saylor’s framing reflects a real asymmetry in what CLARITY would and would not change. The bill’s core job is to divide oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, resolving whether a given token is a security or a commodity. Bitcoin is the one asset where that question is not seriously contested; it is broadly treated as a commodity, and no version of the bill alters that consensus.
The provisions that have actually stalled the legislation have little to do with Bitcoin. As The Crypto Times has reported, the unresolved disputes cluster around stablecoin yield—whether and how platforms can pay rewards on stablecoin balances—along with DeFi treatment and ethics provisions covering federal officials. Those are the fights holding up a Senate vote, and none of them touch Bitcoin’s status. That is the gap Saylor’s slogan exploits: the bill is contentious precisely in the areas where Bitcoin has no stake.
A Broader Bitcoin Chorus
Saylor is not alone in drawing this line. Investor Anthony Pompliano made the same case in more detail in late July, arguing that Bitcoin already enjoys effective regulatory clarity as a non-security store of value held by hundreds of millions of people and that the CLARITY Act matters far more for stablecoins and yield-bearing products than for Bitcoin.
Pompliano went further, framing the real battle as one over who gets to offer stablecoin yield — crypto firms or banks — rather than over whether crypto needs clarity at all. The through-line among these Bitcoin-forward voices is consistent: the bill is important, but its stakes and its fights belong to the rest of the market.
That view sits in tension with the broader industry and the administration, which have pushed hard for passage on the grounds that Bitcoin and everything around it benefit from legal certainty. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly urged the Senate to move the bill, and industry groups have spent weeks defending it against critics. The Bitcoin-maximalist position does not oppose that effort so much as reprioritize it—clarity for America, not a rescue for Bitcoin.
The Timing
The restatement lands at a low point for the bill’s momentum. The Senate left for its August recess without taking up the CLARITY Act, having left it off the pre-recess schedule in favor of other priorities, pushing any action into September at the earliest. With the legislative clock reset and the same unresolved disputes waiting when lawmakers return, figures like Saylor are using the pause to reframe the argument on their own terms—keeping the pressure on for passage while insisting that Bitcoin, at least, does not depend on the outcome.
Whether that message helps or complicates the bill’s prospects is unclear. It reassures Bitcoin holders that a stalled bill is not a threat to the asset, but it also hands skeptics a talking point: if the industry’s most visible voices say Bitcoin does not need the legislation, opponents may ask why the rush. For now, the bill’s fate rests where it has for months—on the stablecoin, DeFi, and ethics questions that Saylor’s slogan pointedly leaves out.
Disclaimer: The information researched and reported by The Crypto Times is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Investing in crypto assets involves significant risk due to market volatility. Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR) and consult with a qualified Financial Advisor before making any investment decisions.
Complex but Simple: How to Dress Like Daniel Z Baraka
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Friday, August 7th 2026Tags: Style
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By Manish Puri
Daniel Baraka Zaluke is a Nashville-based photographer, stylist and creative consultant. He also just happens to have incredible personal style. His Instagram page is a terrific inspiration – especially for those guys who have built up a good collection of staples and are starting to think about how to be a little more creative, how to wear more colour, and how to bring their personality to a look.
It turns out I’m not alone among the PS readership in thinking this; Daniel was a popular nomination in our 2026 award for best-dressed people. So I’m sure you’ll be as pleased as I was that Daniel agreed to sit down and chat about his style: how he evaluates ‘the rules’, his uniforms and practical tips for the shorter gent.
I think it’s quite telling about the way Daniel approaches clothes that he, very kindly and without asking, went off and photographed some looks especially for the article. I had planned to use some of his Instagram posts, but Daniel concedes he’s a bit of a perfectionist. And I think you’ll find that same desire to elevate everything a notch throughout these outfits.
On mixing worlds
Daniel, it’s an absolute pleasure to speak with you. You live in Nashville now, but am I right that you weren’t born in the US?
Yeah, I was born and raised in Congo, central Africa. I didn’t move to the US until I was 17 years old.
The Congo is where a lot of my passion for clothing comes from. It’s a national affair. You inherit it from the culture, essentially.
And now I think about menswear all the time. I tell people it’s my disease.
So that love of just presenting yourself right every day sounds like a part of the Congo that you’ve brought with you to the US.
We don’t have much, but we take so much pride in how we present ourselves.
I remember an episode of Anthony Bourdain where he was in the Congo [Parts Unknown, S1 E07], and he asked this guy what’s the first thing you buy if you’re very very poor and get a little money.
The Congolese guy said the first thing would be soap, so you could look clean. And then you’d keep a dollar to buy a shirt or something to look smart. It’s a matter of pride and dignity.
I imagine compared to some of the sapeurs [followers of the fashion subculture La Sape] in the Congo, even your most adventurous outfits might seem relatively restrained?
They are extreme in all the best ways – they have a certain freedom. They’re not burdened by the rules of dressing, so they take risks. It’s a huge inspiration, but moving to the United States gave me a bit more access to education about clothing and helped me develop my taste.
In the US, there’s no institution that’s as venerated as Ralph Lauren. So coming here, I really got into Ralph and studied his style. I love the tension in his outfits and the way he mixes different worlds.
I think you can see that influence in my style. That mixture of worlds is very important to me. When you have everything in the same code, it’s boring. I can appreciate it and I can respect it, but it’s not me. When you mix two or three worlds, that’s when an outfit becomes interesting.
The layered look: Shirt: Tom Ford; Vest: Vintage Ralph Lauren; Jacket and jeans: Buck Mason; Shoes: Bowhill and Elliott; Tote: Ghurka
On layering
I think this outfit is a great example of you “mixing worlds”. I can see military, tweedy country and a super luxe shirt.
Yeah, the jacket is a linen P43 that Buck Mason made which is perfect. I love the weight of it. The shirt is this 100% silk shirt from Tom Ford, which is unbelievably light. It’s almost like a black tie silk shirt with a band collar. And the vest is a linen/silk/wool blend, and has a country feel. I love this mix of elements.
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at your outfits and there’s always so much to enjoy, they’re very rich in details. However, and I don’t want to demystify or oversimplify things, you often return to certain motifs: cream trousers to ground a strong poppy colour, monochrome fits – usually all navy or black – and, as is the case here, really chic earth tones.
Absolutely!
I want my outfits to look complex, but be very simple for me to put together. I never want to think for more than like six or seven minutes about what I’m going to wear. It has to be quick.
I think if people were to analyse my outfit, they’ll see some very clear themes.
The rare two-piece: Shorts, and marinière: Buck Mason; Shoes: Stubbs & Wootton; Tote: Ugly Gull Co; Glasses: Wesley Knight
And one of the ways you make things look a little more complex is with layers – you very rarely wear just a two-piece outfit like a shirt and trousers or T-shirt and shorts. How does layering work in a Nashville summer?
I love layering!
The thing I find very interesting about the United States is how people treat the day as if they’re spending so much time outside. But usually you go from your apartment, down to the garage, you get in your car, you drive to work in an AC building. You’re in perfect conditions for 90% of the day.
In fact, sometimes layering is more called for in the summer, because they overcorrect and the buildings are very, very cold. I’m freezing. Like, yesterday was the hottest day in Nashville, and I still had a jumper around the neck just to add a bit of dimension to an outfit. I love knitwear, in my perfect world I’d wear it every day.
Knitwear and velvet slippers? The latter is almost ubiquitous in your outfits.
It’s one of my signatures I guess. I love them because they work with everything. I wear them with sweatpants, I wear them with denim, with chinos, I’ll wear them with a black tie rig.
And again, this goes back to simplifying the wardrobe, I don’t have to think too much when I’m getting dressed. If the weather allows it, I’m probably wearing velvet slippers.
I have lots of other shoes, tons of loafers and boots. I just find lacing shoes to be exhausting, so exhausting.
The summer uniform: Shirt: Vintage Hermès; Sweater and Jeans: Buck Mason; Belt: Kaleidoscope; Shoes: Belgian Shoes; Journal: Smythson; Glasses: Jacques Marie Mage
On uniforms
Another way to keep an outfit looking complex but simple to prepare is to have a uniform that you can play with. Do you have one?
Yes! I have a question I ask people when I’m doing personal styling work with them: if you were a comic book character, what would your outfit be? Like when you think about Tintin, and he’s in his adventures, he’s wearing the blue sweater with the pants. It doesn’t mean that’s what he’s always wearing, but that’s his default outfit.
For me, in the summer, it’s a white band-collar shirt in linen, a pair of jeans and some slippers and a jumper around my neck. My winter uniform is a pair of cream chinos or cords, a button-down shirt – probably light blue or a butcher stripe – with a navy cardigan and a navy chore coat.
You seem to wear a lot of band collar shirts.
This is a vintage Hermes shirt that I got from my father. He gave me two of the same exact shirts. They’re wide and billowy in all the best ways. They fit unbelievably well, the way they attach the sleeves to the body of the shirts is so masterfully done. I cut off the collar on the shirts because they were a bit worn out. I do that a ton.
I love simple pieces. Actually, I love simple pieces and complicated pieces. As I love to layer, the bases have to be simpler, and so a band collar makes sense in a lot of my outfits.
Do you have the collars removed by a tailor, or do you just cut them and singe off any loose threads?
I cut them myself and I’ll burn the edge off a little bit the first time, but after you wash them you’re still gonna get a bit of fraying. Personally I really love the fraying, I think it adds a bit of texture, a bit of life to the outfit.
This is something that I’ve noticed, people treat ready-to-wear clothing as if they’re buying ready-to-eat meals. But you’re not, you’re buying ingredients and they need to be cooked.
So I’m always modifying my clothes a little bit, whether that’s cutting off the collar, changing the buttons, changing the zipper. Maybe that dishonours the designers, but I already gave them the money.
Ha, indeed. Well, if the clothes are the ingredients, then maybe changing little elements is your seasoning.
Yeah, if I didn’t modify any of the clothing a little bit, then I’m just eating a salad, which isn’t bad. Sometimes, having a salad is good.
But this Lemaire jacket (above) is a good example of cooking. When I got it, it was very pale blue. I really love the design of it – I think Lemaire has some of the best cuts in menswear right now – but I wasn’t sure of the colour.
I got it because I got a great deal on it, so I was like if I keep it, I have to dye it. So I dyed it this warm brown, and I love the way it turned out. I use a mix of Rit Dye All-Purpose colours – I never use a single dye as the base colours lack depth. It’s a unique piece. Nobody else has it. It’s my own. [Daniel kindly shared a detailed step-by-step guide of how he dyes clothes which I can add to the comments]
Navy studies: Jacket and Vest: Anatomica; T shirt: Informale; Pants: Buck Mason; Belt: Jean Dessel; Shoes: Fortela Smoked Bone
On navy studies
I wanted to ask you about the ‘navy studies’ series on your Instagram page where you wear an entirely navy blue outfit. Can you tell me more about that?
That’s an exercise that started when I was working with clients. I would show them an item in two colours and they would say: I already have so much navy in my closet. I should go for the green.
And I would tell them, no, you shouldn’t. You should go for the navy, because it sounds like you gravitate toward navy. This is going to make your closets much easier to navigate than adding this whole other colour which you’ll have to figure out how to build around.
You know, you could be the most stylish person in the world and wear navy exclusively. And so, I set out on this adventure where I started my navy studies, and I was just going deep into how I could make it interesting.
Were there any particular lessons you learned about materials or textures?
One thing I’ve learned is that the weight of a garment matters. You can have a full outfit in the same exact shade of navy and in materials that don’t contrast too much in texture, but if the weight is different, it will come through.
Like, even in the winter, I would wear a light silk summer shirt as a base with a lambswool sweater. I’ve found that menswear sometimes encourages people to spend more and acquire more, but that’s not reality for lots of guys. This way you can get a bit more mileage out of some clothing.
The rules: Coat: Vintage Polo Ralph Lauren; V neck: Rubato; Pants: The Anthology; Belt: Alberto Luti; Shoes: Bowhill and Elliott x Bryceland’s; Glasses: Jacques Marie Mage
On the rules
Forgive me for asking, it’s not always easy to gauge from photos, but is it fair to say you’re not the tallest guy in the world?
Oh yeah, I’m super short. I’m like, 5’ 5” most of the time, 5’ 6” on a very good day.
There’s just a lot of bad advice for shorter guys on the internet, mostly surrounding lengths of coats. And that is to go shorter because you don’t want it to swamp you. But that ignores proportions. If you’re 6′ 5” and your coat reaches down to your mid calf, as a 5’ 5” person I should be able to do the same, and it should have a similar effect.
The advice on patterns is definitely accurate. You don’t want massive patterns. Mostly, because your body cannot accommodate very big patterns. You’ll have the pattern repeating just twice. That’s not good.
However, the key piece of advice that’s not talked about enough is the importance of sleeve length and hem length. As a short person, I cannot afford to have sleeves that are too long. That changes everything about the way that a jacket or a coat looks. The sleeve length has to be perfect, if anything, almost veering to the shorter side.
This is especially true in the US, where I think the typical sleeve length is longer. Vintage is great, because very often the sleeves are shorter already. For example, the sleeve on the vintage Ralph Lauren polo coat I’m wearing here was perfect and needed no adjustment. On trousers, I’d recommend no break, or a half break if you’re adventurous.
So, I’d strongly advise the shorter guy to invest in getting those two things adjusted for them.
I love that you don’t take rules at face value, but examine them to see if they make sense for you.
I think there’s lots of rules in menswear that don’t make a ton of sense. Like wearing snuff suede with off-white pants, a combination that some people swear by. Over time, I’ve realised that on black skin, a dark brown suede, like I’m wearing here, works better. It breaks up the visual line better than snuff suede on black skin.
And it’s not necessarily like I set out to break the rules when I wake up in the morning. It’s just you start to notice a lot of the rules obviously were designed by white people for white people. So there needs to be more voices in menswear that are challenging these rules that are considered almost universal, because sometimes they’re just not.
Daniel is @danielzbaraka on Instagram
Manish is @the_daily_mirror on Instagram
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