016: Gold jewelry's big boob energy
Plus COS on sale, Bode for 70% off, and Story mfg. at Nordstrom.
One of the many meaningless and baseless tenets I hold about how people dress is that silver jewelry is for small boobs and gold is for big boobs. Similarly, and more widely believed, there’s this notion in fashion of “summer people” and “winter people.” At the risk of having over-self-identified as the former (loves a slip dress, fusses over how my gold jewelry-sized chest looks under chunky sweaters), I’m trying to tip the scales with some choice fall purchases.
The Uniqlo U by Lemaire men's trench I wrote about last week arrived and is the platonic ideal (boxy, drapes off the shoulders, very few trimmings) in-betweener coat maybe anywhere, ever. I got this with the help of a gift card from the brand, though it's only an inch over $100 so it's definitely attainable without.
Similarly, I redeemed a code at Italist, a slightly crunchy Italian boutique aggregator that tends to have bigger, earlier sales, to buy a pair of Hereu woven upper boots—if you think this will silence my Hereu evangelism, you're wrong!
Jil Sander pants from eBay; they arrived with a thick and precise old person aroma and are now airing out on a hanger clipped to the chimney outside my window before going into the dry cleaning tote.
Not to mention things that arrived without summoning from my Chase Sapphire, the best of which: cashmere pants from (of all places) American Eagle spinoff brand Unsubscribed, Ragdoll LA sweatshorts whose brushed fleece interior is comfier than cashmere, a deliriously squishy striped mohair sweater from Munthe (silently mouthing ‘Moownthuh’ over and over at the kitchen table), and a complete set of Ayond skincare—their cleansing balm completely rebranded my dry, tough skin.
What’s new
“He’s lifelong,” I said to my friend Oren, after finding out I wasn’t the first person to send him the Tom Sachs Space Program Retail Lab (S.P.R.L.) in collaboration with SSENSE. “I want to be lifelong.” A literal architect of his own universe, Sachs’ decade-plus investigation into ritual, artifact, and other-world seeking is stopping over at the Montreal retailer with a run of furniture, tools, accessories, and team tees, collectors’ items enjoyable through a designed storefront.
Similarly presenting as if from another planet (though not anywhere in Sachs’ orbit), Ratio et Motus’ fastidiously constructed bags have landed at Nordstrom. The NYC-based brand’s Italian-made leather pieces are elegant and extraterrestrial all at once—the Holster in particular impossible to resist (it was my birthday present to myself last year).
British label Story mfg. is the exact address of the intersection between Bode and Vans. Sustainability and artisan production its north stars, the brand puts out shibori-dyed, tie-dyed, patchworked, embroidered, jacquard knit, screenprinted, drawstrung, and cargo-pocketed pieces that assemble as “weed dealer chic.” It, too, has touched down at Nordstrom.
It’s not a Birkin bag, and maybe that’s a good thing. Charlotte Gainsbourg presents a capsule of quite serious-leaning basics, intimates, and a single leather bag in collaboration with Zara. It’s very sexy-cool-French in the inescapable way in which Gainsbourg is sexy and cool and French, like a Gauloise-smoking clothing line that finds a way to tell you that it never brushes its hair.
Hood By Air’s Raul Lopez was this NYFW’s darling as he presented his comeback collection with new eponymous brand LUAR. There’s still a little while to wait (unless you’re Dua Lipa) to wear the full collection featuring cross-torso skinny leather straps, but the Ana bag is up for pre-order on the newly launched website.
Heron Preston is introducing a fully 3D-printed shoe that’s also fully recyclable, with no glue or byproduct as each pair is custom fitted to the user’s foot by means of an iPhone scan. Going down the galaxy-brain chain, the release plan for the shoe is leveraging the lottery model by asking interested buyers to pay $10 for just the chance to get a pair, with the proceeds going to Global March, a charity fighting child labor in supply chains.
Every time we wonder how far the ‘00s revival winds will blow, I.AM.GIA has been the cultural weathervane telling us “there’s further yet.” The new collection, “Veritas 1.0,” is rife with Cavalli-appointed ruffles and leopard print, mallrat pink, and printed newsboy caps that would make Amanda Bynes snap. It’s even styled out with a not-the-Balenciaga-motorcycle bag.
What Miaou has in common with I.AM.GIA—thong straps and cleavage—departs when it comes to its earthy shades, especially appreciable in its holiday collection, exclusively available on SSENSE.
Ceremonia’s papel picado-like labels are a welcome reprieve to the white box minimalism that plagues cosmetics branding. But more consequentially, the Latinx hair care brand’s formulas are minimally intervening and gentle on strands. As our attention to personal care migrates upwards to treat our scalps as we have our facial skin, these deeply moisturizing products should be some of the top contenders with which to supplement your shampoo and conditioner. And they just landed at Net-a-Porter.
Amid all this talk of color, there’s truly no one who does it better than Jess Hannah. Outside of her thoughtful and clever jewelry collection (which includes a beautiful ring that can also been described as a fidget spinner), J.Hannah elevates nail polish to a fine art form. The brand’s earnest investigations into color theory have landed it a well-matched partnership with The Met. This week, the ongoing project turns to a curation of under-appreciated works of surrealism, which can now say that they inspired a set of three nail polishes. My uncle always says, “buy a suit in a color no one knows what to call,” and I’d like to extend that wisdom to manicures.
There’s also: Susan Alexandra curated a gift guide at Nordstrom, and it’s great for design-y Jews; Farfetch curated a gift guide on, well, Farfetch obviously—it includes the Off-White belt, lol; Saks celebrates Gucci’s 100th anniversary by expecting us to buy Gucci; like every other fashion house before it, Chloé succumbed and made a Moon Boot; BalenciaCrocs have evolved, they’re boots now; J.W.Pei, the under-$100 bag brand celebs wear even though it’s sold all over Amazon, launched a line of trippy monogram styles; Ganni works towards extending its plus size offerings with a collab with 11 Honoré; and Nomasei turned my favorite shapewear-esque boot of theirs into a thigh-high—it’s so hot!
What’s on sale
COS’s sale is here, and everything that’s included is down to 50% off. Yes, there are some late summer pieces—the green knit shorts I saw everywhere in August are under $45—but the markdowns are cross- and cusp-seasonal on the whole. A mint linen trench coat, layerable drawstring neck dress, and XXL puffy moon bag: all half off.
Same goes for this & Other Stories sale, which has 70% off full-length puffer coats, popcorn tops, croc boots, and silk panties for under $100.
If you recently moved or are re-nesting, the de facto place we shop for house things until Zara Home becomes more easily available stateside is having a sale. Urban Outfitters is running an up-to-40%-off sale on over 1,200 home things. No one is asking you to get a constellation tapestry, but these colorful juice glasses look like they could be from Home Union, and this lounge chair might even be better than the ones at Sincerely, Tommy. It’s a miracle, too, that this couch everyone has been telling each other they actually kinda want is on sale and that this mutable vanity is under $450.
Side-stepping into extremely mainstream ecomm turf here, but Target Deal Days, the brand’s answer to a Columbus Day sale (without having to say that) is on and ending tonight. AirPods are on sale, but so are some Magasin faves, these Aalto-like cushioned plywood stacking stools and Weleda Skin Food.
Good American gets clicks every time I write about it, so because of that, and also because I do get and respect the Kardashian hustle and believe it turns out quality products as though it were its own accountable economy, I’m here with news of a sale. It’s in its final hours and starts at $25 for bras, knits, jeans, the works.
Levi’s is having a 30% off sale, to which I literally just said aloud, ugh, such a shame, but only because I read the copy on the 501s Original Fit product page. (“Close your eyes. Think “jeans.” Now open. They were 501s®, right?” babe shut up!) The discount isn’t bad at least, bringing the jeans down to $69 with free shipping.
Hereu, who (once again) I refuse to shut up about on principle, has landed at Vasquiat, sort of. The spring collection is up for pre-order and, as with most of the site’s advance order items, you can save 20% by buying ahead. The business model allows for more precise manufacturing and orders, which cuts down on waste. Plus, obviously, you pay a bit less, yay!
There’s also: I found Bode for 70% off in two places—this tee for $73 and these pants for $346; The Always Pan is on sale again and it’s still the best; lots of core wardrobe Vince is on sale at Nordstrom; Frankie Shop is on sale at MyTheresa; and MNZ is up to 60% off at Luisaviaroma.
What else
Perennially chic and lore-spinning toilette company Officine Universelle Buly 1803 has been adopted into the LVMH family. Having received some funding from the luxury Goliath in 2017, 200-year-old Buly is already operating at a global scale, with 25 stores worldwide and an ecommerce operation. Still, the impact of the acquisition was made quickly apparent, with key LVMH-friendly retailers—Matchesfashion, Net-a-Porter—showing the brand as “Coming Soon.”
Mirror Palais’ swim launch hit with the tremendous, terrifying fanfare we’ve come to associated with the brand—with the smaller sizes, at least. Marcelo Garcia, who adjusted his sizing stock to offer more curve and plus sizes than ever before, is noticing the Ls and XLs getting snapped up slower. Where most of the fashion world tends to overlook this end of the grading scale, what’s left in MP’s stock is a great opp to grab the market’s hottest that’s actually made to fit.
One for NYers who hang out in Dimes Square who’ve graduated from the watermelon slushie: Tom of Tom’s Juice is opening a store on East 4th this coming Friday. Celery juice and stubby jars galore.
A final prompt to you—
Gifting season’s on its way in. And alllll the data that floats through ecomm blogs and inboxes is pointing to people shopping earlier this year. My questions to you are: What are you looking for in a gift guide? Who do you need help shopping for? Do you end up shopping for yourself during holiday season, too? (Judgement-free zone, btw.)
You might guess I’m mapping out my coverage plan, and while I usually collect my feedback through Instagram Story polls, I’d love to engage you here. Hit reply to send me all your thoughts and wishlists!