Ensemble is no longer publishing. Thank you for your support over the past five years! The website will be available for the next few months – we’ve gone through the archive and curated some memorable stories for you to enjoy. There are so many great reads below but we totally have missed some! Our archive is deep, please go and enjoy it x

Best of intelligence

Poet Hera Lindsay Bird reviews fragrance 

Bread and 12 butters, blind taste-tested and ranked 

Emails from my close and personal friend, Lorde 

Five things a lesbian learned at a blow job class 

Girl, the tariffs: The one where we unpack the trade war and what it means for small NZ brands

Why does the right look so wrong?

Why do smart women watch ‘dumb’ TV? 

Headlines about Jacinda Ardern’s resignation, ranked by how emotional they are

My ancestors weren't in a rush so why am I? 

That's cunt: Is *that* word still offensive? 

Are you there Judy? It’s us, Ensemble 

I'm happy being sad: a defence of sad girl literature 

Pro-hair or insincere: When brands politicise our pubes 

The essentialist gender views of transphobes places limits on all of us 

A local's ode to South Auckland 

Kate Sylvester reviews the new adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion 

How Te Arikinui's Koroneihana wardrobe weaves tradition, authority and hope 

What happens when you’re vocally pro-vax? 

What to do when your fave closes down 

Best of whimsy

Fashion people review the fashion emojis 

The last generation of Duraseal: When longing was sealed in plastic 

Does everyone I know own this plastic stool?

What’s up with all those seal sculptures around NZ? 

Drive on the bright side: Me and my pink car

The unsung star of NZFW: the oversized high heel  

Conversation starters that aren’t about your job 

The dump truck asses with dreamy tramp stamps 

Who’s who in Lorde’s new video 'Solar Power'

The joy of ‘bonkbusters’

My octopus friend

Kirsten Dunst has always been great 

An 11-year-old reviews Disney's Mulan 

I watched 80s TV classic Gloss for the first time 

Cosmic connections and astro nerds, IRL 

WTF is cheugy?

Remember when we dressed like wannabe surfer girls?

Zoe's dad on the gas station sunglasses trend

Why you should be crazy about…. Puzzling! 

What your wallet says about you 

Best of essays

On grieving by Saraid de Silva 

On youth by Saraid de Silva

Learning to leave the party by Georgie Wright

A love letter to Auckland City Hospital by Amber Older

An ode to the close girl summer by Bel Hawkins

Pleasure in a time of pain by Courtney Sina Meredith 

So, you want to buy a grown-up handbag by Sylvia Giles

An ode to Auckland (or, the people I’ve shared it with) by Harriet Keown 

Best of opinion

Kanoa Lloyd knows the reality of being a brown woman in the public eye 

My husband is Samoan, so talofa 

Describing Omicron as ‘mild’ undermines how crap I feel 

On swimwear, size and finally feeling seen

The aspirational age of fashion magazines is over

Wtf, Elle

FFS, Pharmac 

The fall of my media idols

White male saviour complex is alive and well in Aotearoa 

NZ needs to remember what and who we have saved 

Best of stories we didn’t know how to categorise 🤷

Lonely lingerie's descent into QAnon 

What’s going on with fashion darling Garance Doré? 

About last night at Peach Pit

How much does a model spend and make during Fashion Week? 

The badges of Pride 

Death to the 'catch up': Is modern life eroding friendship? 

Best of recommendations and advice

Who stylists have on speed dial for alterations and repairs  

I asked an organisational psychologist how to stop being late all the time

Period undies reviewed, for the uninitiated 

Ensemble Love Line: How do I flirt, well?

Hands off my deck: Aotearoa’s DJ queens on the dos and don’ts of the club 

Stretches to do at your desk, if your neck and back are ruined 

The best vintage stores in Paris, according to Jasmin Sparrow

How to travel with champagne taste on a craft beer budget   

Books in the wild: What Aucklanders are reading 

Best of ensemble-sourced

What makes an activist? 

A decade on: Nine people on why they’ve held onto Alexa Chung’s It 

My feminist awakening 

The smutty books we want to see on TV 

My best secondhand purchase ever 

Girl, so confusing reviewed by 10 women 

Me, back then: The year I first voted

My mother, my self: What she taught me about style  

Where to now for the NZ fashion industry? 

Let them eat cake: The party outfits of birthdays past 

My first New Zealand Fashion Week 

11 busy people on mental health and wellbeing 

An oral history of NZFW locations 

The cringe and nostalgia of vintage school ball photos 

Best of clever fashion writing

The best Prada shows, ranked by NZ's biggest Prada nerds 

We have a button problem 

We took the 2023 Auckland Central candidates to fashion week

Jacinda Ardern and the art of power dressing and political image making

Jacinda Ardern knows the importance of NZ fashion but it wont define her 

‘Women are allowed to change too’: Penny Pickard reviews The Super Models 

Thank god Air NZ has finally updated its uniforms 

On Kate Sylvester’s closing, and the state of NZ fashion now 

Reading between the lines of New Zealand Fashion Week

NZ Fashion Week has changed, and that’s okay 

Colour of the Year is a worn out cliche we just don't need

NZ fashion confronts culture of silence as fresh misconduct claims surface  

How can the NZ fashion industry be safer? 

#WokeWashing: The problem with fashion and activism 

We need to talk about fashion's waste problem

‘Everything is political and nothing is more political than what you are wearing’ 

A model reviews the shows

What I learnt from 10 years as a fashion editor 

Best of clever beauty & wellbeing writing

My street smells like... 

Why I'm tired of ‘natural beauty’

Hey Sanskruti Naik, you have good hair 

Coming clean: Why my ‘everything shower’ is everything to me 

My fucking period

Beauty and the beef: Why animal-based skincare is on the rise

We can all learn from Robyn Malcolm’s candid life in beauty

I’ve been cancer-free for 19 years, but you’re never truly free of it

We tried an at-home IV vitamin drip

How Covid, QAnon and white supremacy destroyed the wellbeing industry

What it’s really like getting braces as an adult 

Perimenopause is not fun, but it's inevitable 

What happens when you don't wash your hair for six weeks? 

The fantasy of Fantasy 

Artist August Ward’s ultimate guide to a flawless fake tan 

Why I need to nail a signature manicure, like these icons

Why are so many ‘beautiful people’ anti-vax? 

Are injectables changing the face of acting in New Zealand? 

Date with the night: The welcome return of messy makeup 

Going deep on going blonde 

These makeup looks are the antithesis of a WFH aesthetic 

Best of cool people

The future is bright for the formidable Shaneel Lal 

Melanie Lynskey has been ready for this moment for years

Rose Matafeo reluctantly settles into stardom

Jacqueline Fahey has something to say about - and through - her clothes 

At home with the legendary Miranda Harcourt

The liberation of Zoë Bell

Chelsea Winstanley is ready to write her own story

Lorde, in a new light 

If you need The Beths, they're on Karangahape Road 

Ilona Maher is changing the face of rugby, and TikTok 

Erana James knows where she's from, and where she’s going 

Please take Kimberley Crossman seriously 

The passion of Nazanin Boniadi 

Roseanne Liang has something to say 

Dr Anjhula Mya Singh Bais on trauma and transformation

Director Molly Manning Walker wants sex to be fun 

Just say fat: Your Fat Friend with Aubrey Gordon is the film we all need to see 

Ahi Nyx has a burning desire to weave 

Saraid de Silva and Julie Zhu would like to talk 

Getting ready for All Points East festival with musician Molly Payton

Partying with Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau

On the road for summer with Jessica Clarke 

Best of fashion shoots

Holiday state of mind: Our favourite summer swimwear 

Next stop: Fashion for all kinds of commutes

Family, fashion & fun with sisters Tarsha and Gemma Orsman

Ensemble says VOTE! 

Joyous winter dresses for the season ahead

A weekend road trip with Ngahuia Williams and Holly Rose Emery 

Chaotic bin day outfits are as creative as fashion gets

Masks are cool and you should be wearing one 

A new-season fashion joyride into spring 

A new wave of BIPOC creators on the highs and lows of the ride 

Busy chic: Handbags and workwear that get the job done 

Curls, claws and culture: The personal power and glamour of Pacific hair styling 

This with that: Colour-blocking doesn’t need to be complicated 

All dolled up with Roxie Mohebbi 

Claiming this energy: Makeup inspired by crystals 

New romance, new-season with the wonderful Emma Boyd 

Model Tanaka Nyahwa always finds the bright side 

Accessories with good aura

Serving four seasons in the city of dreams  

Slouching towards autumn 

Fashion terrarium: Bringing the heat to the dunes

Fresh faces, bright minds: A moment in the sun with Lola and Jed