Play Like a Girl: Peacock Rocks

Clip: Buffalump, Etsy; Necklace: Betsey Johnson, Amazon

Peacock rocks, but I'm not talking about "Peacock" by Katy Perry (although I do like that tune).  I'm talking about NBC's streaming platform and its not one but two new comedies about all-girl rock groups, Girls5eva and We Are Lady Parts.  

Girls5eva follows four forty-something New Yorkers trying to resuscitate their defunct '90s pop group.  The players include Dawn (Sara Bareilles), the sensible one; Summer (Busy Phillips), the dumb one; Wickie (Renee Elise Goldsberry), the crazy one; and Gloria (Paula Pell), the workaholic one.  It's wacky and witty and reminds me of 30 Rock, which tracks because Tina Fey is one of the producers and also cameos as a faux Dolly Parton.  Indeed, Dawn is like the Liz Lemon of the gang, which is to say that she's no-nonsense yet put-upon and the glue that holds them all together.  The songs are hilarious, and the fashion is fierce.  As a bonus, Stephen Colbert, Bowen Yang, and Vanessa Williams guest star.  Girls5eva is a snarky-yet-feel-good treat for anyone who grew up in the '90s or appreciates Fey's brand of humor. 

We Are Lady Parts is the coming-of-age tale of Amina (Anjana Vasan), a twenty-six-year-old Muslim Londoner academic torn between tradition and joining a Muslim punk rock band.  Amina is my favorite kind of heroine, which is to say earnest, awkward, and always getting in her own way.  She has such a severe case of stage fright that she always vomits -- and also sometimes has diarrhea.  Yet We Are Lady Parts frontwoman Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey) is looking for a guitarist and is convinced that Amina is it, barf bucket notwithstanding.  Passionate and serious about her music, Saira spends the greater part of the series resisting her bandmates' pleas to take to social media, insisting that We Are Lady Parts "is not about being famous; it's about being heard."  Being true to yourself and your art, even when it's hard, especially when it's hard, is a major theme in We Are Lady Parts and one that will resonate with artists and misunderstoods everywhere.  

So, two girl power anthems and two ways to rock add up to heart and limitless laughs.  

Peacock, you've got something new to strut about.

Twice in a Blue Moon: Oh, Spunky

Flannel: So, Kohl's; Skirt: Mudd, Kohl's; Boots: Betsey Johnson, Macy's; Bag: Delia's

Tee: Self Esteem, Macy's

Gummy Bear Flair Necklace

Calling all '80s babies: The Punky Brewster reboot has landed on Peacock!  Although to be fair, Penelope "Punky" Brewster herself, a.k.a. Soleil Moon Frye, says that it's not so much a reboot as it is a continuation.  (I recently saw her on Kimmel and thought, hey, where have I heard that voice recently?  Oh yeah, from a rerun of Friends where that pint-sized brunette beat up on Joey!).  Because in the Peacock spin-off, America's favorite foster kid is all grown up with four kids of her own.  Two are adopted, and one is a foster kid who's a mini Punky, rocking the same scruffy-cute style, only with a blue hair streak and a beanie standing in for the vest.  Izzy is streetwise yet sensitive, a lost little girl in need of a home.  And in the tradition of Punky's own foster father Henry, Punky and her musician ex-husband Travis (Freddie Prinze Jr.) are just the good Samaritans to take her in.  Also like Henry, Punky's a photographer and even lives in his -- now much more colorful -- apartment.  With her bubbly, no-holds-barred approach to life, she's a rock star at tackling parenting issues including gender identity, dating, and drugs.  Travis, the actual rock star, is less talented.  When their daughter's boyfriend denies ownership of a joint on the grounds that he has asthma, Travis quippily reminds him that they make edibles too.  SPOILER ALERT!  The joint turns out to be Travis's, an allegedly forgotten relic from his partying days.    

Still, as much as I'm enjoying this revival about the ragamuffin turned sweetheart, the original series aired when I was too young to remember much of it (not that that stopped me from having the doll, purple vest and all).  So I delved even deeper into Peacock's plumage and watched the first three episodes of Punky 1.0 to find out how Punky and Henry came to be.  The opening shot of Chicago's bleak cityscape emblazoned by the words Punky Brewster in wobbly Crayola letters (so symbolic!) jogged my memory, but Henry's struggle to first accept Punky and then go through the system to become her foster parent might as well have been brand-new.  So I soaked it all in, along with the '80s era screen quality and music.  Although I initially found them to be kind of cheesy, both quickly won me over, eclipsing a story that could've easily been a soulless after-school special to reveal a tale with a bittersweet heart.  Style-wise, it was fun to watch too, what with Punky and pal Cherie's "sophisticated lady" photo shoot, not to mention the social worker's prim pastels warring with Punky's rumpled rainbow.  Same goes for the reboot -- er, continuation -- which features thirty-six-year-old Punky in tie dye, rocker chic tees, and, of course, denim vests.  What's more, her daughter is an aspiring fashion designer who's always whipping up eclectic looks.        

So I was inspired by both shows', ahem, punky and playful palettes to curate this outfit.  The pink flannel, daisy-print baby tee, and granny square bag are part girly '90s, part boho, whereas the ripped denim and (admittedly pink floral) combat boots (Private Punky, reporting for duty!) give it a smidgen of edge.  (True, there's no vest.  But never fear; you can find one back in time here.)  I topped it all off with my new Gummy Bear Flair Necklace, which is a bit of a black rainbow, its juicy bright bears and baubles lighting up the midnight beads and cameo.  It reminds me of another '80s classic TV show, namely the animated Adventures of the Gummi Bears

Speaking of cameos, it would be rad if one of the bears visited Punky.      

Provided, of course, that Travis doesn't get confused and eat him.