STOP THE PRESSES: Harry Styles in a Sparkly Suit is Here to Bless 2021

Jan 03, 2021

Happy New Year my darlings!!!

I know we’re in the middle of a countdown of my top 10 crushes of 2020 (ugh, so last year), but there is something even more pressing!!!

Emily, who so memorably broke the news of Keanu Reeves finding love in the arms of his longtime friend Alexandra Grant, just informed me via the group chat about Harry Styles’ new music video for his song Treat People With Kindness. I didn’t pay much attention initially, but I just watched it and

OH MY GOD

it is incredible and I need to share it with you all RIGHT THIS SECOND, overdue listicles be damned!!

Video description: The video (shot in black and white) opens in an old-fashioned office with 1940s detective movie vibes. The actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, wearing a gorgeous white suit with flared sleeves and a sparkly diamond-patterned jersey vest underneath, finishes a meeting with a man in a suit, strokes his face and begins to exit the room. The camera then pans down to an Art Deco-style neon sign saying “Treat People With Kindness” and then onto a stage. Harry Styles enters the stage wearing a stunning sparkly sequinned jacket, black bowtie and high-waisted white pants with flared ends. He then starts to perform the song (which is poppy and upbeat), singing into an 1940s style micro-phone while looking at the camera and doing highly expressive dance moves. Behind him are five backup dancers wearing black suits and a five-piece band wearing pale suits.

Phoebe then bursts into the room through curtains in an extremely hot manner, and starts strutting confidently own the stairs to the beat of the music while surrounded by people in black clothes dancing around her, one of whom gives her a martini. It is revealed that Harry is performing in a gorgeous Art Deco-style nightclub. The camera cuts back to him, and he jumps off the stage and starts dancing on the tables, finally stopping on top of Phoebe’s table. He holds his hand out to her as an invitation, she grabs it and they both run to the stage, both taking off their jackets to reveal they are wearing identical sparkling vests.

They start dancing together in synchronised moves reminiscent of old Hollywood musicals. They are both wearing enormous grins on their faces. Phoebe does a cartwheel! The whole room starts dancing along with them as the final chorus reaches a crescendo. The video ends with Phoebe dipping Harry (in the way a man might typically dip a woman at the end of a ballroom dance) and then looking to the camera with a beautiful smirk on her face. The camera fades out.

Okay, now that you’ve hopefully watched the video or read my description (apologies to all for the probably inaccurate descriptions of the clothes, I should really have consulted Jessie or Elsie) -

HOW FUCKING DELIGHTFUL WAS THAT?

It’s like Harry knew we were worried about the fresh horrors that 2021 might bring, and decided to soothe us with the video, as if to say, “it’s okay, everything will be alright, when times get tough, just think about me and Phoebe Waller-Bridge dancing like modern-day Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in sparkly vests”. If so, THANK YOU HARRY!

A colour behind the scenes shot of the Treat People with Kindness Music video. Harry Styles and Phoebe Waller-Bridge stand in the foreground looking at the camera with ambiguous expressions. They are both wearing the sparkly suits from the music video. Behind them is the set of the music video and the extras. — SWOON

Look, I’m no expert when it comes to this gorgeous former boyband member, especially compared with many of my wonderful friends, but I’m so taken with this video that I just HAVE to write about it.

First, HARRY STYLES:

A gif from the music video Treat People with Kindness. Harry Styles performs on stage. He performs a move where he leans over with the microphone and at the last second pulls into an Elvis Presley style pose, quiff and all. The backup dancer behind him pull the same move. It's extremely hot.

This boy has serious charisma and we are all powerless to resist, as so memorably described by Jessie in her Crush of the Decade post. But I’ve never appreciated him in quite the same way as I have here.

There’s so much going on - the Gucci jacket!

A colour photo of Harry Styles behind the scenes at the Treat People with Kindness music video shoot. He is standing in a hallway whilst a costumer adjusts his microphone. He is wearing the sparkly suit and looks spectacular.

The eye fucking!!!

A gif of Harry Styles in the Treat People with Kindness music video. It's a close up of use face and he leans into the microphone whilst simultaneously singing and staring intensely into the camera.

The dance moves!

It’s this last one that I’m truly impressed with. As beloved as One Direction is amongst our circle, they were notoriously shit at dancing (especially for a boy band!). Yet here Harry moves with such grace, almost like he’s floating. In fact there’s a bit of an old-fashioned showman in him - a little Elvis, a little Gene Kelly, a little Osmond Brothers.

The best part is the smile on his face. He’s having the time of his life. And that’s his vibe right? He loves being a rock star - the beautiful clothes, the beautiful people, the dancing on tables, the sex, the fun of it all. And that joy comes across in the performance - so much so that you can’t help smiling either.

A still shot of Harry Styles in the middle of shooting his music video for Treat People With Kindness. He dances on a table, with his arms in the air. A spotlight shines on him. It's a wide shot, showing the nightclub set - it's a visually stunning Art Deco-inspired room.

And then there’s the Phoebe Waller-Bridge of it all:

A gif of Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the Treat People With Kindness music video. She gets given a martini which she takes and starts walking in time with two dancers, her head thrown back.

A continuation of the previous gif. Phoebe reaches the end of the staircase and swings around the knob at the end of the bannister whilst casually taking a sip of her martini.

I have to credit the galaxy brain casting on this. The person dancing opposite Harry in this needed to be able to match his magnetism, cheekiness and swagger for the video to work. Enter PWB, who not only holds her own but steals the show. After all, the video ends with her look to to the camera.

A gif of the final shot of the Treat People With Kindness video. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is dipping Harry in a final showstopping move. Her arm is outstretched and she glances to the camera with a knowing smirk.

Together, they’re a supernova of hotness.

I haven’t even mentioned the intriguing gender dynamics of the video but worry not, knowing the internet, there WILL BE ESSAYS to come. I will just say, it’s really nice and fun to see a young male rock star leaning away from Serious Artiste vibes into femininity and extravagance.

A gif of Harry dancing on stage. He turns around and then moves into a graceful ballet-like pose, his hand delicately reaching out behind him. The gif is colourised so it has a pinkish tinge.

It might seem a bit silly to get into raptures over a mere music video but a) what is this newsletter even for if not for that? b) the last year has been full of horrors and we’ve been subjected to so much ugliness. Let’s enjoy beautiful people in beautiful clothes dancing beautifully.

A colour still from the music video. Phoebe and Harry stand next to each other in a dancing pose reminiscent of old Hollywood - their bodies are leaned back and their arms are out. Phoebe looks at the camera with a smile on her face.

’Til next time,

L x

Crushed by an Angel

STOP THE PRESSES: Harry Styles in a Sparkly Suit is Here to Bless 2021

OH MY GOD

HOW FUCKING DELIGHTFUL WAS THAT?