Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked Michelle Li to share some recommendations on Perfectly Imperfect.

Michelle Li is a New York City based stylist, writer, model, and art director. Currently, she’s the Senior Style Editor at Tradesy (an online luxury re-sale platform), and before that, she was the fashion and beauty editor at Teen Vogue where she handled all creative direction, styling, and feature writing for all fashion and beauty editorials. I’ve been a fan of her style for a while and know she has killer taste. Lucky for us, Michelle is here to tell us what she’s been into.

Without further ado

Michelle Li (instagram, website)

📽️ A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

An amazing movie that is a little bit over 3 hours long (something I wish I had known when I went to watch it alone at Metrograph on a Sunday night). The scenes are beautiful and above all of that, a really meaningful movie. It’s an epic story about a young boy in Taiwan set in the early 1960s. I replay the scenes in my mind constantly and it’s become something that I’m constantly reflecting on about how to tell a violent story, beautifully. 

🍙 Fong On

Will go out of my way to come here!!!! Fong On makes makes silky tofu and feeds my obsession for 白糖糕 (sticky white rice cake). They recently started making little mini coconut rice cakes and I think about them constantly because they remind me so much of my childhood of eating microwaved rice cakes out of a ziploc bag on the way to school. Definitely a big comfort food for me and I’m so happy I found somewhere that makes them perfectly.  

📺 Atlanta TV Show

This feels timely since the new season just released. It’s an amazing show that is hilarious, witty, and cleverly subtle in its messaging. The writing is fantastic and so is the soundtrack. I always recommend it to anyone who will listen to me talk about it for the 23904823 time. Also a big fan of Lakeith Stanfield. 

🥬 Sakara 5 Day Detox

Hear me out!!! I never thought I would be the person that loves plant based meals and ~wellness~ but wow, they’re really good and actually filling. I just tried the 5 day detox this past week and first off, it’s amazing not having to think about what you’re going to eat and second, it really makes you feel so good. I would open one of the containers for the Cashew Burger or Beet Rawvioli and dread eating it but then be so pleasantly surprised that I found myself curious for what was next. The dressings and flavors are honestly amazing and I love lentils now! I learned something new about myself and anything that can do that for me, is a win in my book. Consider me changed forever. 

📚 The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir

My friend Courtney let me borrow this book when I had just ended things with someone (in November! That’s how you know I’m a really slow reader haha). It took me a long time to get into it but now I’m deep in it and love all of the little learnings that have helped me process some of my own emotions. The book goes through three stories about the decay of passion amongst a lot of other things that women endure. Simone de Beauvoir writes about growing old and being vulnerable. All of the important things! As someone who loves finding new ways to talk about my feelings, I have been taking my time reading it and trying to soak up every story because once you read a book, you can never read it again for the first time.

Follow Michelle on Instagram

Perfectly Imperfect is a free newsletter featuring curated recommendations from real people. Subscribe for posts like these in your inbox twice a week.

More Perfectly Imperfect Dasha Nekrasova ∙ John Wilson (HBO) ∙ Sarah Squirm (SNL) ∙ Chris Black ∙ Hunter Harris ∙ Kaitlin Phillips ∙ Samuel Hine ∙ Brynn Wallner ∙ Madeline Quinn ∙ The Drunken Canal ∙ Walter Pearce & Honor Levy ∙ Aaron Wiggs ∙ Annie Hamilton ∙ Dean Kissick ∙ Rachel Seville Tashjian ∙ Alex Delany ∙ Susan Alexandra ∙ Hari Nef ∙ The Ion Pack ∙ Jon Caramanica ∙ Caroline Calloway ∙ Alison Roman ∙ Andrew Savage ∙ Throwing Fits ∙ Petra Cortright ∙ Jason Stewart ∙ Caveh Zahedi ∙ Catherine Cohen ∙ Nicole McLaughlin ∙ Liana Satenstein ∙ Blackbird Spyplane ∙ Naomi Fry ∙ Patrik Sandberg ∙ Cat Marnell

Follow Perfectly Imperfect on Instagram

Join the Perfectly Imperfect Discord

Want to get in touch? → Email or DM.

Follow Tyler, Alex, & Serey on Instagram