dress for success: an astro fashion study on the unitedhealthcare ceo shooter & avoiding the surveillance state
in other words, how to dress for a million eyes and never be seen
It’s rare to hear that there’s an assassin on the loose who possesses the stealth and skillset of an Oceans 11 team member. It’s even rarer to hear that the target was someone who everyone collectively understands deserved to be eviscerated from this realm. The most depraved people walking this earth get paid to kill millions of people every day even in their sleep, which is why it always feels like a national holiday anytime any of these depraved individuals on the collective’s Most Wanted list finally get what was always coming to them.
I love spy thrillers, and the only time I’ve seen CEOs meet their overdue and timely demise regularly was in one of my favorite shows, Killing Eve. Quick context for those who haven’t watched: the show follows an elusive female assassin (Villanelle, played by Jodie Comer) chased by a neurotic MI5 detective (Eve, played by Sandra Oh) who is relentlessly obsessed with tracking her down. Obsessive lesbian cat-and-mouse plot aside, the show is phenomenal at walking the audience through how Villanelle and various other hitmen in the show plan and execute their missions to take out powerful world leaders.
Every episode you’re left with this astonished yet curious feeling of “damn… is it really that easy?” Not just in the creative yet easily replicable methods of how characters eliminate their targets, but in the disguises, fake identities, and unassuming behavior that lets them escape without a trace. One beauty CEO asphyxiates in a women’s powder room from an asthma attack after Villanelle convinces her to test a scentless decoy fragrance filled with toxic chemicals. Another CEO is strangled in an elevator with his own tie after rejecting Villanelle who disguised herself as a prospective interviewee for his firm. While we rarely get context behind the motives for why most of the people on the show are targets, it’s always satisfying watching how Villanelle can do her job with such efficiency and inspirational ease in never getting caught.
The badassery of the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter (whose real identity I genuinely think we will never truly know) reminded me of the antics behind most of the Killing Eve assassinations, and honestly, he very well could have been a character that came straight out of the show. He was clever enough to use a silencer, traveled with almost no personal items on hand, escaped through dozens of busy streets on an ordinary bike, and disappeared into Central Park to switch out his entire ensemble. As such, the infamously incompetent NYPD were on Twitter for 72 hours trying to locate the unknown hitman with absolutely zero success (as expected of a department with an $11 billion dollar budget that pays state enforcers to play on their phones during their downtime from terrorizing poor Black and brown New Yorkers!!)
The efficiency with how the shooter was able to not only shoot Brian Thompson in broad daylight without attracting a crowd, but also disappear without a trace as some layman amongst a sea of bustling early morning New Yorkers instantly reminded me of a side character in Season 2 of Killing Eve. Another female assassin was on Eve’s radar — The Ghost. Unlike Villanelle’s flashy, dramatic, and attention-seeking displays of murder, The Ghost was undetectable. She was clean, quiet, and meticulous; easily getting in and out without drawing even a wandering eye of attention.
In the middle of theorizing how The Ghost had been able to kill so many powerful figures during the Peel Investigation, Eve deduces that she "has to be someone who can go about their business without anyone noticing because what they do is seemingly uninteresting. They're not important. They're invisible. It's the kind of woman who people look at every day and never see."
The UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter falls somewhere in the middle of these two assassins. On one hand, he displayed the irreverence and unnerved confidence of Villanelle: he killed in broad daylight and mirrored her cheeky comedic flair by filling his intentionally discarded backpack with only Monopoly money. He was also able to remain anonymous and inconspicuous like The Ghost in his execution. You can find a million and one strangers on any given cold winter morning in New York dressed in a thermal jacket, cargo pants, and a facial covering to keep warm. Who’s going to be paying attention to any of them for longer than a quick passing glance?
While the current update is that the identity of the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter is allegedly Luigi Mangione who was apprehended after a tip came from a McDonald’s worker (see what happens when you don’t follow the boycotts??) we can still take this moment as a glimpse of what anti-surveillance fashion will look like as we get ready for Pluto in Aquarius to meet up with Uranus in Gemini in July of 2025. So let’s get into some subversive attire that everyone should be implementing in their revolutionary capsule wardrobe.
Utility & Multi-Functionality
I have been DYING with anticipation over what fashion and beauty will look like once we’re finally out of the double-earth prison that was Uranus in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn over the past eight years. In addition to the social and ideological shifts we’ll be experiencing during these upcoming transits, the fashion will reflect how we manage to subvert the ever-increasing surveillance state and incoming energy for war and social unrest. Rest assured that there’s no need to fear everyone going full speed toward conservative chic, despite the approaching second term of a Trump presidency.
The last time in recent history that Uranus was in tropical Gemini was 1939, right at the beginning of WWII. As such, the major theme for fashion at the start of the 1940’s was utility fashion. Throughout WWII’s six-year span and several years beyond, various measures were taken to conserve resources and ration clothing materials. Uranus in Gemini, symbolized by twins, foreshadows shocking fashion and aesthetics that will feature split or dual looks, versatility, and clothing that can function in two ways (note: the two-piece swimsuit, aka the bikini, was invented the last time Uranus was in Gemini post-war back in 1946).
The past few years during Uranus in Taurus emphasized a global desire for sustainable fashion. Eco-friendly textiles, ethical business impacts on the environment, sustainable sourcing, DIY and knitwear revival have been the circulating themes of how the fashion landscape has changed. A hallmark of the Utility Scheme of 40s fashion was the extreme emphasis on mending your own clothes, where unless something was completely threadbare, it could be repurposed. Being that Trump’s trade tariffs threats are already circulating before his inauguration and given how 88% of the US fashion market is imported fast fashion, this historical astrological pattern will quickly manifest in the imminent future.
The significance of utility this go around with Uranus in Gemini will require folks to start getting crafty specifically with concealing their identity from the surveillance state. If we’re taking a page from the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter, having alternate clothing options will be a necessity, especially if there are any planned or unplanned moments of revolutionary action. As clothing hauls fade into obscurity, reversible clothes and garments that can function in more than one way will be the norm for one’s aesthetic as well as one’s security. Can you alter your clothes so that they can become two or three looks in one? Can you construct additional features to conceal your identity at a moment’s notice such as built-in goggles, masks, gloves, or other elements that can provide anonymity? Do your boots have detachable pockets? Can your jacket turn into a shoulder bag? If not, I’d start looking into some sewing tutorials on YouTube to get a head start on this transit.
Special FX and Unconventional Makeup
It’s almost impossible to go out without being greeted by the omnipotent presence of a CCTV camera in your face if you live in any major city or suburb. With the expansion of the surveillance state looming around the corner at a disturbingly fast pace, outmaneuvering the constantly updating AI algorithms whose sole purpose is to farm data off our identities will become a pivotal focus of the future of fashion and beauty in the upcoming years. Gemini is the trickster archetype; completely adaptable and cunning in their ability to easily switch up and outsmart their adversaries. Thus, it will take a bit of creativity for us to become undetectable in plain sight using the magic of anti-surveillance makeup.
That being said, allow me to introduce you to CV Dazzle: a disruptive camouflage that was the first documented anti-surveillance aesthetic strategy to successfully avoid computer vision algorithmic detection. Created in 2010 by the Berlin-based artist Adam Harvey for his master’s thesis at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, CV Dazzle was designed to “break machine vision systems while still remaining perceptible to human observers.” Harvey is without a doubt a pioneer in design in the age of mass surveillance, releasing annual projects that showcase the adapting nature of anti-surveillance fashion that keeps the ever-updating algorithms of this surveillance state on its toes.
The beauty of CV Dazzle is that designs and patterns are completely adaptable to each individual given their environment and the algorithms they interact with. Subverting the surveillance state through hair and makeup was previously unfathomable, and since its conception, computer algorithms have been working overtime to recognize anti-surveillance aesthetics.
While the original patterns shown in the Sunday Review article from 2013 haven’t been in use since 2016 due to breaches from adapting AI technologies, the concept of CV Dazzle sent a shock to the security industry for its innovation and creativity in avoiding surveillance detection. Since its conception, new anti-surveillance makeup methods have been played with and studied for anyone to adopt into their daily life.
Below is a handy list of style tips to avoid the Viola-Jones algorithm for facial detection.
Coincidentally, the majority of style tips for subverting facial recognition technology (at least via Viola-Jones detection) already involve mutable Gemini-related themes. Asymmetry and dual-toned makeup to create a split identity through mix-matched designs, patterns, and shapes on the face are reminiscent of the traditional twin archetype of Gemini. Being that facial recognition only computes the probability of how much one face looks in comparison to others, makeup that involves prosthetics, contrast inversion, or facial coverings significantly affects the accuracy score of facial recognition computations.
Anti-surveillance beauty during Uranus in Gemini could look like:
bold lines, patterns, and shapes to distort the natural proportions of the face
dual-toned makeup to alter facial contrast and highlight areas
prosthetics
special fx
optical illusions
mismatched circle lenses with varying diameters, colors, and patterns
obscure facial symmetry
Testing optimal distortion techniques that could hide a face from surveillance technology is no easy feat, but the development in research over the past decade has informed us on what features these algorithms rely on. Key observations found that these systems operate with a heavy reliance on analyzing “the dark areas around the eyes, the symmetry, the stability of the nose-bridge, and the darkness under the nose. By using makeup and hairstyling the dark and light areas can be reversed to lower the probability of detection through the various stages of the haar cascade profile, a multi-stage detector that uses around 20-25 stages of scoring during the detection process.”
Blocking the detection stage of AI programs for surveillance also blocks their facial analysis algorithms, which includes emotional analysis and facial recognition (yes, there is a difference between facial recognition and detection.) To put it plainly, if a face is not detected by the algorithm, it effectively blocks the subsequent recognition algorithms, and thus a person’s identity remains anonymous in the eyes of the computer and the state since there isn’t a legible face that a database can scan for an identity match.
New CV Dazzle designs have since been conceptualized and tested against new algorithms with positive success rates, with each lookbook becoming more unconventional and futuristic than the last.
When it comes to obscure and unusual aesthetic choices, FKA Twigs is the first person who comes to mind. She’s often photographed sporting makeup that follows the anti-surveillance aesthetic playbook to a tee, particularly by distorting her forehead and nose bridge area with contrasting patterns that disfigure the composition of her natural features. Shadows, optical illusions, inverse contrasting, and warped lines that spread across her face in all directions are facial recognition software’s worst nightmare, and she’s become an expert at imagining new subversive looks that camouflage with an added layer of cyberpunk realness.
I’m curious to know if these continuous aesthetic choices have anti-facial recognition in mind, and I’m even more curious to know if her own iPhone regards each of these looks as completely different individuals in her camera roll. Regardless, she’s a fantastic case study of what anti-surveillance alternative makeup and hairstyling can look like.
In addition to Uranus in Gemini, Pluto in Aquarius will be adding emphasis on alternative, otherworldly, and unusual style choices to push the collective into becoming extremely unorthodox in how they adorn themselves. Aquarius is unconventional, rebellious, alien — the ‘other.’ There’s an uncanny valley effect when it comes to cosplay makeup, which was always Aquarius-coded in my opinion: Human-like, but just a few degrees off that it’s foreign and slightly unsettling. Seeing the current ‘Arcane’ style makeup trend circulating on TikTok as a response to the final season dropping last month is already giving us an early sneak peek into the uncanny yet clever ways that anti-surveillance makeup can manifest. What if looking non-human, either by replicating your favorite animated character’s features or simply looking like a fictional NPC from their universe, wasn’t only reserved for places like TikTok or Comic Con? Cosplayers, while they might have originally been considered dorky or uncool to the generally uncreative population, will rapidly become the new vanguard of beauty trends in a world where your identity is the ultimate commodity.
As an archetype, Aquarius takes pride in unconventional aesthetics, in contrast to its sister sign Leo who lives for traditional ideals of glamour. What better way to challenge conventional ideals of beauty than by intentionally creating irregularities on your face rather than concealing them? By showing clear evidence of artistic alteration instead of chasing the illusion of natural perfection? There’s an entire genre of videos that reveal how various types of popular internet makeup are rendered flawlessly on screen but look heavy-handed, blunt, and obvious in real life. While we can appreciate the motivation behind these videos is to ease frustration in the skills of the average makeup wearer, these makeup techniques will become a necessary skill to create camouflaging looks that completely morph into an alter-ego.
In the most literal sense, becoming two-faced to subvert the surveillance state will become a defining aesthetic marker of the upcoming Uranus in Gemini transit.
Concealing Identities
While a partial or complete identity swap is certainly doable, the most extreme forms of anti-surveillance makeup can be a little ambitious for everyday usage. We won’t always have the time to adopt a completely new persona or draw an ornate face-distorting motif before a 7 am class or clocking into work, hence why opting to conceal ourselves from view almost entirely will be the alternative and more readily accessible option in anti-surveillance fashion.
Fears surrounding the unknown and the unseen have historically been driving factors in Islamophobic sentiments, particularly when it comes to Muslim women’s fashion. In 2024, misogyny, orientalism, and ableism all join forces in creating a disturbing sense of entitlement to seeing women’s faces in public, as much of the hostility that hijabis and niqabis experience mirror the same vitriol directed towards those who still practice COVID-consciousness via consistent masking. We’ve already spoken about the importance of masking in our Uranus in Gemini: Covid edition post for obvious health reasons. And with H5N1 on the horizon about to kick all of us into gear to prioritize disability justice, covering your face will serve as a lifeline for collective healthcare as well as for subverting the surveillance state.
CCTVs aren’t the only cameras folks will need to be mindful of avoiding. Traditional street photography captured by everyday pedestrians continues to serve as one of the biggest obstacles in tackling surveillance culture. Folks going about their daily life can turn into a nationwide meme in 24 hours simply because someone covertly took their photo or recorded them to share across social media. Countless grassroots activists and radicals from the 2010s, back from the Furguson Uprising to the Black Lives Matter protests, have been identified, targeted, and murdered by the state after their photos were spread by protestors and journalists in moments of revolutionary action. The zionist regime is notorious for developing drone technology to locate and bomb Palestinians who continue to record the daily horrors of genocide for the international community.
Fortunately, anti-drone fabric has already been conceptualized and developed. Adam Harvey’s 2013 ‘Stealth Wear’ line included not only anti-surveillance hoodies, but hijabs, burqas, and cloaks developed to prevent one from being spotted by drones circling above the wearer. The line features garments designed with flexible and thermally reflective silver-plated synthetic fabric, all of which reduce your thermal signature when observed by a long-wave infrared camera. The downside is that these garments sold for several thousands of dollars (however, this drop was over ten years ago, so further research on sourcing and creating these textiles for future use is a necessity.)
Another anti-surveillance garment is the ISHU scarf designed by Saif Siddiqui, which uses a highly reflective (but extremely pricey) fabric that obscures the wearer’s features by reflecting light emitted from camera flashes, leaving behind only a silhouette in the captured photo. The scarf can run you almost two grand, and Adam Harvey’s ‘Stealth Wear’ has a similar price point with his collection running between $500 to $2,300. Cheaper anti-surveillance fabric alternatives are available, such as aluminized mylar blankets, but recreating these designer’s original materials for optimal subversion will take a bit of skill and practice replicating at home.
As we get waist-deep in these upcoming transits, incorporating semi or full-figure concealing garments into an ensemble won’t always be reserved for religious affiliations, and will soon become vital to protect against bodily threats due to environmental, health, or surveillance reasons. And thankfully, acquiring, purchasing, and/or creating anti-surveillance textiles will be more mainstream and accessible in the coming years.
The Plutonian Leo-Aquarius axis over the next twenty years will be challenging and deconstructing both our desires and motivations around being perceived in public. Under the surveillance state, striving to be ‘the main character,’ especially out in public, will have deadly consequences if you aren’t taking active precautions to conceal your true identity. This transit will create an ‘us versus them’ dynamic in society, so not everyone will be rushing to adopt anti-surveillance aesthetics as we head into hyper-fascism. Even when it comes to masking for strictly health purposes, the ableist social pressure to go out maskless for the sake of protecting others’ false sense of normalcy is felt daily, and in many cases is a deeply isolating experience (Aquarius). In a subversive turn, concealing your identity draws even more attention (Leo) than showing your whole face.
Seeking refuge among a sea of strangers won’t always translate as being a mindless sheep in society. In the case of the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter, being just another face in a crowd could be the difference between a life of freedom or a life behind bars. As such, anxiety over anonymity will be a prevailing theme in the cultural zeitgeist, from the state seeking to track down revolutionaries, to oppressed folks encountering fully masked far-right militias looking to antagonize and assert dominance. Choosing when to show your face, who can see your face, and what kind of face you’d even be showing in different scenarios will be a running theme over the next several years. Primed from years of using non-selfie avatars, randomized display names, and befriending anonymous internet friends, nobody knowing who you are both on and offline will end up saving your life.
It’ll be a hot minute before the verdict of Luigi Mangione’s case is determined. I still believe that the real assassin is somewhere on an island far far away sipping piña coladas on a gorgeous beach miles away from the depravity of American society. At least I hope that’s where he is right now. He could be my neighbor still out and about running his daily non-murderous errands around the city for all I know.
Whoever or wherever he is, the hysteria behind his successful efforts at anonymity should signal to all of us that Big Brother is ready to kick itself into overdrive during these upcoming transits, and as such, we need to prepare accordingly so we can maneuver right under their nose. If you’re in the process of creating your 2025 vision board, don’t forget to take a page from the Hannah Montana/Miley Stewart handbook and start brainstorming your alter-wardrobes to go along with your alter-egos. You’ll need it for the next time a CEO joins Brian Thompson on the one-way elevator to hell. <3
-dana ✩
this is a post i’ve been waiting for!! i’ve been thinking about how fashion and beauty will change in the next few years and this is very realistic! i think within these transits, there will also be a heavy emphasis on possibly not existing on the internet as well! possibly deleting our digital footprints as much as we can and choosing to go more analogue. loves this post <3 also fka twigs is a great example!! many people have and may adopt her style of makeup to fight surveillance .
such a great post—sharing w the homies !! thank you for this work <3