013: Going down an eBay rabbit hole with Houman Farahmand
Plus 34 Labor Day sales, Kiko Kostadinov's almost-gone bags, and J.Kim exclusives.
This is an information-dense send, due in large part to the volume of Labor Day sales happening right now (welcome to this rare Monday edition!), plus all of Houman’s really insightful vintage reccs. Because of the space limitations put into place by Gmail, this intro will be even briefer than usual, and again, no Footnotes. Womp.
My only buys were these last minute SSENSE sale grabs: an Ahluwalia beaded polo and Salomon sneakers. Last week’s top clicks: Jacquemus boxers, the Nonna sale, and a leaning coat rack.
Forward this email to five friends or you’ll have five years bad sex (or whatever we used to say in the chain mail days).
What’s new
Nordstrom may not be the homepage-worthy destination that SSENSE is, but I have to give credit to Olivia Kim for her championing of more experimental designs through the SPACE: Emerging and Upstart Designers arm of the company. We have her to thank for the stocking of SC103 bags, and can now welcome Olivia Cheng’s Dauphinette to the mix. I’ve been following her resin-preserved real flower garments and nature-celebrating textiles for years, and despite all of her independent success, it’s a feeling akin to pride seeing her propped up by such a major retailer.
However, credit where credit is due. One of the latest exclusive collections to land at SSENSE comes from J.Kim, whose similarly foliage-inspired pieces captured a ton of interest over the past year, including an unexpectedly delicate quilted puffer jacket in the style of Uzbek folk craft.
Chopova Lowena’s AW21 collection has landed at Matchesfashion, and the British-Bulgarian punk designers have put us in touch with our desire. Its latest necklaces (I have and adore the Oklahoma) are just titillating.
Kiko Kostadinov Trivia bags, as designed by the label’s womenswear lead Laura Deanna Fanning, have landed at Dover Street Market and are already nearly sold through. The red colorway is still available, but not for long.
Also: Labucq’s F21 shoe collection, UNIQLO x Hana Tajima FW21 collection, Musier Paris releases FW21, Mudd Pearl launches bracelets, and Bevza’s FW21 collection is here.
What’s on sale
It’s a bank holiday, which means lots of sales. (Oh, capitalism!) Here’s a brief overview of the best ones broken down by category.
Multi-brand
Best deals: Net-a-Porter is up to 80% off, including a Christopher Esber dress for $207 and more similarly worthwhile finds. IMO this is the best sale out of everything today.
Get up to 60% off at Nordstrom, including a handful of pieces from SPACE, the division that brought you SC103 and Dauphinette.
Nordstrom Rack is extending an extra 25% off clearance in its Clear the Rack event. Spotted some good Balenciaga and Chloe.
The MNZ store sale has increased its discounts up to 70% off and is ending soon.
Moda Operandi added a sale-on-sale with an extra 20% off with code SALEX20. Lots of Khaite, Jacquemus, Wandler.
The Outnet is offering an extra 30% off a selection of items, discount taken at checkout
La Garconne’s End of Summer sale similarly extended an extra 20% off sale with LGsale20. I spy Lemaire, Studio Nicholson, The Row.
The Maimoun sale continues with 30% off sale using ENDOFSEASON. Features Maryam Nassir Zadeh, Mari Giudicelli, and many new brands to discover.
Mr. Larkin’s warehouse sale goes hard on Paloma Wool, Shaine Mote, and of course its own puffy pieces.
Multi-boutique platform Garmentory has aggregated its stores’ sales in one easily shoppable place. Just too many good brands to count.
Fashion
Best deals: Camper offering 50% (!) off full-priced items from a generous selection of shoes with code LABORDAY21.
Take an extra 25% off sale at Vince with SUMMER25 for a total discounts up to 70%.
Everlane is offering its summer styles up to 50% off, as marked. Almost all of these still work as transitional or even fall/winter pieces.
Good American is doing extra 50% off sale items for up to 80% off. Lots of jeans, sweat sets, bodysuits, and knits.
COS is offering a tiered sale: 20% off when you spend $250, 30% off when you spend $350.
Reebok is having a generous sitewide sale with 40% off for non-members (but if you happen to be one, 45% off) with BTSEXCLUSIVE.
It’s buy-one-get-one-free at & Other Stories with 2FOR1 this long weekend, out of nearly 500 pieces from a designated shopping section.
Take 20% off everything at Marimekko, which, might I suggest, would be a very iconic look to choose this fall and forever after that.
Get an extra 30% off Cult Gaia sale styles with SUMMERFOREVER. Iconic dresses included, as are shoes, coats, and bags.
Collina Strada is giving an extra 20% off sale applied at checkout. Lots of squiggly pastel sweats and cleverly a-romantic lace.
Dutch label Gauge81 is giving up to 30% off its Bella Hadid-Hailey Bieber-loved sexy stretchy satin going out pieces.
KkCo’s hosting a sneaky (no mention on the site) sale of 20% off everything except Ceremony with BYESUMMER2021 at checkout.
Kes, which dominates in silk, cashmere, and fine cotton at reasonable prices, is giving 25% off everything barring face masks, automatically applied at checkout.
Jonesy is hosting a 24 hour sale on its Insta-loved undies and bralettes that ends tonight. Get 15% off everything with LABORDAY.
Banshee Swim is 20% off sitewide with LABORBABE. Big fan of these “uncensored” nips-out sheer pieces.
Wold Circus’ fine gold and silver jewelry is an additional 20% off sale with EXTRA20.
Take 15% off all Notte jewelry with ENDLESSSUMMER. You’ve seen these Y2K pieces on Lauren Santo Domingo, Ashley Benson, and TikTokkers, probably.
Beauty
Best deals: Rael makes period-related products including my favorite sheet masks of all time. It’s dropping everything down by as much as 50%.
Sephora is up to 50% off plus free shipping with FREESHIP. Sale includes Sunday Riley Good Genes and other cultish formulas.
Vegamour, the hair-growth brand with formulas is every category, is 25% off sitewide with SAVE25. I use its shampoo, conditioner, and dry shampoo religiously.
Tracee Ellis Ross’ hair brand Pattern is 20% off sitewide. Curly haired folk, watch this space if you aren’t already a loyalist.
Cle Cosmetics (as previously recommended here by Quinton Mulvey) is offering two for one Vitamin C Elixirs.
CBD beauty and wellness brand Prima is extending 15% off sitewide with LABOR.
Sigil Scent (as previously recommended here by Alexis Badiyi) is slyly offering 20% off sitewide with LDAY20.
Shopping Houman Farahmand’s cinematic universe
From Kramer vs. Kramer to Legally Blonde, six trends one vintage expert is sourcing for fall.
Houman didn’t know the world would actually be ending soon when he named his traveling vintage project Ending Soon. But that prescience would soon prove to extend to an invaluable understanding of what people want to wear, when. Harnessing the same instinct that ushered him across continents (for love) and off the high board of a secure job (for passion), Houman jumped headfirst into a career dealing carefully sourced clothing from bygone eras in Italy, California, and over the internet. Through its Instagram account and at popups in Paris, New York, and LA, Ending Soon curates menswear, womenswear, and menswear-inspired womenswear. Here’s Houman on some of the top eBay search terms he’s tracking to stock his fall collection, out this October.
I go into these crazy rabbit holes where I just research and research and research and find things; I am always running out of space on eBay. I had several sheer pieces in my summer collection, like sheer bottoms. It's easy to find sheer tops, but I don't really see sheer bottoms as often. I had this maxi skirt with this long, long slit from the ‘90s. One of my clients came in and she was like, “Oh, this is beautiful.” So I started talking about the skirt and I found myself, along with my other sheer bottoms, talking about the same thing, which was that this is obviously amazing for summer, but in the fall, when it gets a little bit colder, it would be wonderful to throw on an oversized sweater that acts as like a tunic. So that being said, I'm looking for a lot of sheer skirts and pants. I had these beautiful sheer, navy Giorgio Armani palazzo trousers that sold super quickly in Paris.
Magasin’s picks: Joseph Ribkoff Pants-Tank Set / Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil Bollywood Print Pants / Jil Sander Swim Skirt / Dolce & Gabbana Brown Lace Skirt / 1920s Black Velvet Bodice Dress
Selma Blair's character in Legally Blonde, Vivian Kensington. I remember the first time watching that movie, I was blown away, like, this style is everything that could possibly be—a fitted button-up with a high collar, shrunken knit vests, trousers, pearls, headbands, and just being super Waspy and prim and very ‘90s Chanel. That is a whole look.
Magasin’s picks: Sigrid Olsen Sport White Cotton Cable Knit Vest / Escada Margaretha Ley Wool Pleated Front Pants / Aquascutum of London Tartan Check Beret / Freshwater Real Pearl Necklace Japan / Gucci Cashmere Turtleneck Sweater
I have pages and pages and pages of argyle. I bought a beautiful oversized argyle polo sweater, and in LA it's great because it's hot here during the day, but at night it cools down and it's so fun to throw this big argyle sweater over shorts. It inspired me to want to add that as a part of my collection here for fall.
Magasin’s picks: Gianni Versace Wool Blend Crewneck Sweater / 1960s Jantzen Mohair Sweater / Hunters Run Handknit Geometric Argyle Sweater / Koret Short Sleeve Sweater / Ralph Lauren Cotton Vest
I had a lot of baggy silk shorts that I brought from Italy, and that’s another thing that I was having a lot of conversations about with customers: shorts. I work for Lemaire on a freelance basis, and it's interesting, it was only when I started working for the brand that I truly understood the philosophy and ethos, how it translates to this concept of lifestyle pieces that can be interchangeable. Lemaire is very much about flowy, about not constricting, allowing for ease of movement. And so a lot of what I had in the summer collections were baggy trousers and shorts. I love the way they feel to put your hands in the pockets and walk and move with them.
Magasin’s picks: Ralph Lauren White Pleated Front Bermuda Shorts / Tommy Bahama Silk Olive Green Shorts / Talbots Camel Wool Short / Michael Kors Black Wool Culotte Shorts / The Row Ivory Silk Culotte Shorts
I'm also looking for ‘70s and ‘80s tall, high-heeled boots. I recently rewatched one of my favorite films in the whole world, Kramer vs Kramer, 1979 with Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman, and there were a lot of heavy wool skirts that went over high-heeled boots with blazers and blouses in creams and beiges. I usually don't have shoes—my store is traveling, which makes it a little more of a challenge—but I'm going to make it a point to this season.
Magasin’s picks: Prada Black Suede Kitten Heel Thigh-High Boots / J.Crew Contrast Stitch Leather Boots / Bottega Veneta Leather Pointed Toe Boots / Marc Jacobs Knee-High Calf Hair Boots / Chanel Mary Jane Boots
For fall, I really want to have a nice, beautiful selection of versatile blazers. When I was a young kid going through thrift stores, blazers were one of the pieces that I would always look for. I had a shit ton of blazers in every fabric and every color you can imagine. They’re one of those pieces that, when I put them on, I feel like a completely different person — I feel very regal and very elegant and very confident. I definitely want to share that with others.
Magasin’s picks: Georgio Armani Collarless Cream Check Blazer / Hermès Lambskin Leather Blazer / Louis Feraud Blazer Jacket With Matching Coat / Vivienne Westwood X Comme Des Garçons Blazer / Moschino Cheap And Chic Herringbone-Pink Blazer