Itâs said that your favourite rapper has a favourite rapper, your favourite director has a favourite director; so, who does the local cool girl think is cool? Who, if anyone, does a girl that shops at Gina Tricot and Free People think is a suitable match for herself?
SHE SAID WHAAATT?Â
This question came to me amidst my blatant admiration of a girl ahead of me, standing next to the door, as I was about to leave a lecture theatre. She had layers in her hair, Miu Miu glasses, and an outfit that was quite literally something I would find on my Pinterest board. Walking past, I heard her say to her friend something about, ââŠmy boyfriendâ and it immediately struck me: who could this man be? Would he be the Calvin Klein to her Intimissimi, the Arcâteryx to her Salomon? Images flew by of this mystery man, but none of them landed. I had concluded that whoever it was, he unfortunately couldnât close the âswag gapâ between himself and the vision in front of me. Â
PLEASE, JUST, DONâTÂ
I began thinking of this phenomenon later in the evening and my mind immediately turned to celebrity couples. And, let me tell you, this isnât new. Although nowadays we have Pete Davidson and his long line of celebrity girlfriends, in the â90s we had Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett. After knowing each other only three weeks before meeting each other at the chapel, the public couldnât get their mind around how this couple came to be. Articles at the time described Lovettâs mop-top hairdo in every reference to the couple, whilst also debating who the star of the relationship was: romcom princess and beauty queen, Julia Roberts, or country singer, Lyle Lovett? After two years of marriage, the couple ultimately went their separate ways.Â
An arguably worse (and more up to date) celebrity couple has got to be Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco. From Selena kissing Bennyâs visibly dirty feet, to Benny sharing embarrassing details about their relationship dynamic to other men on podcasts – it does make you wonder what she sees in him, and why canât she do better? Maybe Paul Rudd’s character is right when, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, he says, âwe accept the love we think we deserve.â
UNDERSTANDING IS ATTRACTIVE, COMPASSION IS SEXY
On the flipside, Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin are a great example of two people who effortlessly knock the socks off all other celebrity couples (except Benny, who didnât have any to begin with) with their genuine relationship and compatible pairing. Whilst not only just looking consonant, the connection between the couple can also be seen through the way they treat each other too. At the 2025 Victoriaâs Secret fashion show, Dylan Sprouse wore a small yellow ribbon pin on his lapel to show solidarity with endometriosis and to spread awareness of the condition â even handing out more pins that he had brought to other attendees. His wife, Barbara, had undergone endometriosis excision surgery in June, just four months before walking down the catwalk as one of the showâs angels. Additionally, Dylan Sprouse was recorded talking to media outlets at the show, describing Barbara as a âtough cookieâ and emphasising how proud he was to be her husband.Â
Maybe the cool girl isnât an unattainable concept, defeating even the most valiant of men. Perhaps the cool girl is so cool because her boyfriend bought her those Miu Miu frames for Christmas, and she tried on her Free People jeans with him when the new store opened up in Edinburgh. Maybe the reason I couldnât imagine who the significant other to a girl like that could be is because I simply didnât know the story, jumping to a conclusion based on judgements I didnât even know I was holding. I couldnât identify the love that might have been there. Or maybe Iâm being too lenient, and the correct answers were, in fact, my initial thoughts.Â
WHY AM I SO QUICK TO JUDGE?Â
Why do we like to see attractive couples together? Well, perhaps we like to see couples who physically complement each other because, arguably, couples are supposed to complement one another. Your significant other is supposed to rally you and support you, and you should do the same for them. When we see âmismatchedâ couples, we question the dynamic as a whole because there is no other information readily available to us, nothing else to give us a nosy insight.Â
In my opinion, personal self-worth is clearly reflected by the person you choose to date. Maybe it is a romantic view, but shouldnât your âother halfâ be, well, the half to your whole? Especially now when we can be independent and self-sufficient, we need not rely on another person for anything else except companionship, so why not pick someone that can benefit your life instead of embarrassing you on a podcast? Why not pick someone who is just as invested in the absurdity of the Desperate Housewives plot as you are? Why not pick someone you aspire to better yourself with?
As a final note, I believe that with true affection and appreciation for yourself, you should accept the love you think you deserve.Â