003: Carolyne Loreé ends the debate on the best white tank
Plus SSENSE's Private Sale, Bottega's new Issue, and yet more Telfar news.
One thing about me is that I am forever asking for things and then begrudging when I get them. This week was busier than the last, which was busier than the last. And actually, instead of having too many things to do, I think I’d like to be responsibility-free somewhere without wifi for a minimum of two months.
I feel like this about things I buy sometimes, too. This week, it was a pair of those Maryam Nassir Zadeh boots with the silver studs that I’ve wanted for a good year or two, but now that I finally got them (the last pair on sale for 70% off at Bloomingdale’s), I’m not sure I even care to deal with them. Do I? Don’t I? Ugh.
The top clicked links from send 002 were the ILYSM tabi launch, on-sale Cecilie Bahnsen x Hereu flats, and some vintage wide-leg jean shorts it looks like someone bought (here’s a similar style). The top Prime Day bonus-send links were the New Balance sale, the best bra I’ve ever owned, and the design-y looking glassware I’ve had for five years—all still on sale.
Feel free to forward this email to someone who might like it. I’ll make it really easy for them to subscribe:
What’s new
After selling out its low-top tabis several times, Margiela and Reebok have released a cutout high-top version available in white and hand-painted bianchetto.
Hooligan fashion is happening lately, first with Martine Rose designing an England shirt with Nike (coming July), and now Aries + Umbro teaming up on a limited-edition collection of apparel inspired by “gabber-rave-football culture.” I won’t explain, but this has big “oy mista! you me dad?” energy.
Balenciaga Music made Ru Paul merch. It’s like $600 for a t-shirt but happy pride I guess?
It’s the season of boxer dressing, and my favorite, Comme Si, just launched theirs in new summer stripes. Another (also great but slightly cheaper) contender in the pattern are these organic cotton Entireworld shorts. On the luxury end, Tekla Fabrics introduced new short-sleeved poplin sleepwear to pair with its own indoor-outdoor sleep shorts. They’re pricier, but they’re from Copenhagen, so you know, oozing with that famous Danish sex appeal.
Lisa is “Gah”-ing directly into people’s ears now thanks to a recent collab with Studs that transformed the brand’s catch phrase into $22 little gold earrings.
Ex-American Apparel designer and creator of some of today’s best womanly and seductive basics Gil Rodriguez has released her top-selling El Chiquito style in the chocolate shade of our times.
Minimalist Israeli designer Nili Lotan whose, dare I say, “off duty” pieces are a thing amongst the celebs has collaborated with Champion on an activewear collection destined to intimidate in Soho pilates studios all summer.
Fabric revolutionaries Pangaia have released an aloe linen collection that’s supposed to be naturally wrinkle-resistant, soft on skin, and cool to the touch. They stay winning me over with their industry-bullying (fine, bettering) technology.
If this were a GQ-worshipping menswear blog (or I worried less about this message getting cut off in Gmail), I’d probably reserve at least 500 words for Knickerbocker x Kodak’s just-released collab. It’s got everything a finer-things seeker desires: fiercely local boutique brand, trendy heritage callback, and all the right fabrics and silhouettes.
Vibrator brand Maude diversified its offerings ages ago, rolling out the usual sexy accessories (lube, condoms) as well as unusual ones (soaks, bubble baths, candles that turn into lube…). They’ve all proven delightfully as good as if not better than some of the competition that’s supposed to specialize in those areas. It just added two fantastic new scents to its body wash line.
What’s on sale
While browsing the SSENSE sale (again, for the millionth time, because it could end unannounced at any moment and that makes me uneasy), I noticed they added a “Private Sale” filter—according to the FAQs this is “made available to selected customers.” It includes a bunch of hidden deals from Gil Rodriguez, Kara, Charlotte Knowles, Nodaleto, etc. Sign into your account and see if you can see it too.
A little online wine shop with a huge personality, Parcelle Wine is having what it’s described as a “yard sale of wine,” meaning it’s clearing out its cellar with 40% off prices. I don’t usually buy wine online because most sites that do that kind of thing seem like they’ve never heard of pet nat or think “flaws” are always flaws. Parcelle gets it.
Everybody’s favorite online neighborhood vintage store The Break is offering 50% off all vintage while they clear out their studio and prepare to make a big announcement. More on this next week.
Mansur Gavriel’s summer sale takes 30% off so many leather shoes and bags in a Pantone-lover’s rainbow.
Cos’s sale just got better, and is now up to 70% off. Expensive-looking knits and swimwear and nearly everything is under $100.
For everyone always asking where to find a “good summer shoe” (and for those of you' who’ll ask where to find a “good fall boot” come the time), the answer is Labucq. A bunch of those very styles were just added to sale. Not to make either seem any less special, but I could basically say the same about Miista, whose sale is now up to 50%.
What else
“ISSUE 02” of Bottega Veneta’s quarterly digital journal, basically just a collection of commissioned artist tributes to the brand, is out now. It features little ceramic sculptures of Bottega products, Travis Scott by David LaChapelle, and bums, among other things. I’m now going to make my whole personality about wanting these pants.
Telfar Clemens is bu-sy, girls. Hot on the heels of his Ugg collab launch came the news that Telfar will not only be designing the uniforms for the Liberian Olympic team, but basically funding their participation. Bra-fucking-vo.
We chatted the weird and sudden prevalence of Barbie collabs last week, but this time it’s Space Jam. Forever 21, Tommy Jeans, Gap, and Bloomingdale’s (plus three more under embargo) are all evidently hawking Lola Bunny (a.k.a. Zendaya!) gear in advance of Space Jam: A New Legacy hitting HBOMax July 16.
Carolyne Loreé’s glam summer wardrobe
Complete with micro minis, silky drawers, and oh look! cocks.
Carolyne is a Brooklyn-based photographer whose work you’ve more than likely saved on Instagram. She’s the glammest person I know and once threw an ‘80s working woman-themed birthday complete with actual brick antenna phones and picked everyone up from their Manhattan offices in a limo for boozy power lunch. Carolyne always understands the assignment.
L: So you got some vintage Gucci sunglasses. C: Yes, I got them from The RealReal. I was actually putting it off for weeks because I kept thinking I could find a better deal somewhere, but I couldn’t. I was looking for a specific oval shape and I wanted them to be not too small but not oversized. They’re really quite basic, I mean I think a lot of brands now are doing the shape. I love the textured Gucci square on the side. Yeah, I thought they were fun and reminded me of middle school or something. My plan is to wear them on a ferry ride to the beach with a scarf wrapped around my head.
I’ve been wearing a lot of chopped Hanes men’s ribbed tanks, which is a nice basic. It’s so light and perfect for summer, and if they get dirty that’s okay because there’s a million of them in a pack. I feel like everyone has the debate of like, what is the best ribbed white tank. Did you ever go down that rabbit hole or did you always know Hanes were the best? For me they’re good because the armpit holes are really long for guys’ arms or chest muscles or something. I have really broad shoulders and I can’t wear a lot of ribbed tanks for women, because they’ll be like this [gestures into armpit], and it really makes me uncomfortable and self-conscious. I get the small and kind of stretch it out at the bottom, because I like them to be tight on my boobs but then hang a little off. Sometimes I even like to use the part that I’ve chopped off as like a little slutty mini skirt to wear around the house, but it’s way too short to wear out, it’s really fun. It’s cute for a fun selfie, but my butt is literally like… it’s not practical for walking. Maybe if I had a trench on and just got somewhere and sat down. Or just no walking, you can stand and then the party happens around you. Could totally do that, it’s like, I’m not taking a single step.
It’s too hot to wear them now, but I recently lucked out with three really good pairs of jeans, which is something I had been struggling with lengthwise. I got them at No Relation Vintage in East Village. Are they vintage Levi’s? Yeah, one pair are Levi’s, it’s kind of funny because I had never seen this before, but it’s called This Is a Pair of Levi’s. I looked it up and apparently there were a few years in the ‘80s where they were doing that, and I’m feeling it’s because a lot of other brands were doing knockoff Levi’s or similar styles, and maybe it was in response, like THESE are a pair of Levi’s. But they fit really nicely, even though I haven’t been able to wear them because it’s been like 90 degrees lately.
How about your shoes? I’ve been wearing these slides with a one-inch heel 24/7, they’re really comfy. This brand gave them to me, they’re called Aupres, I think they’re based in Lisbon. They have a bunch of really cute Mary Janes that I really wanted, but I got these because I knew I’d wear them all the time to walk Ollie and that type of thing. Once I broke them in, now they’re so comfy.
My friend who owns a vintage shop called Guesthouse, Megan, gave me these really pretty high-waisted silk panties that are sort of oversized but I can snatch them up, and I’ve been wearing them with little bralettes or a chopped-up tank top around the house. The brand is Valerie Stevens Pure Silk. I’m on the lookout for a matching little ivory silk bralette, and then I want to wear it to the beach as a little silk set. Do you know Soft and Wet Undies? Yeah! I feel like I immediately thought of them. That’s actually genius, maybe I’ll look and see if they have this color.
Oh! Something else that I just got that I’m actually really loving I can show you, I just had to shoot some self portraits in them. It’s this London-based designer called Krystal Paniagua. She came up with these chicken bikinis, she’s a knitwear designer, and it’s reversible so you can wear the chicken on the front or back. Oh my god that’s hilarious. It’s so funny, and I was really having a lot of fun taking photos of it. It’s a little cheeky, like I didn’t really get it. It’s like a cock. Yeah, when I showed someone the pictures he was like, “nice cock,” and I was like, “ohhhh!” And then I liked it even more.
Footnotes: A place for food and wine.
Like David Cazso’s work, his coffee ritual is multidisciplinary. I first admired his brew last Monday via Instagram Stories, where it featured an Alessi espresso maker with the word “LUNES” scrawled atop the photo. I’d later learn that in the context of his present exploration inspired by his native Mexico, Monday stands for calla lilies. On Tuesday, perched on a teeny burner were twin porcelain cups nestled into a Gemini Express double-espresso maker, featuring a heavy scribble reading “MARTES”—David’s Tuesday meditates on river stones.
Naturally, I invited myself over, and by VIERNES we were in his studio sipping cafecitos juntos. He shared with me photos of his family’s coffee maker collection, Bialetti mokas of all sizes, all old and gorgeous, that reside in the Mexico City home he built for them over the past six years. An architect by trade, David told me how the dome on the Alessi pot was originally inspired by the cupolas of Italian churches.
The coffee, brewed from Counter Culture grounds from Dimes Market, drank rich, tasted like red fruit, and—of course—made way to orange wine.