064: Eckhart Tolle has locked himself in my closet

Plus SSENSE launches books, Norma Kamali's Sleeping Bag coat for 50% off, and a Tigra Tigra sitewide sale.

How much of the fantasy of fashion puts power in the hands of an item we’ve yet to (if ever) wear out of the house? More than we’d care to admit, at any rate. The thing we call expression, aesthetics, personal style—before it ever dances outwardly, it begins as a soft-belly feeling, one that’s riddled with false flags.

It’s not just that trends change and suddenly all the wide-brim wool hat and cork wedges we loved most become proof of our tragic, misdirected taste (the same that, with even more time, seems prescient and good again). We can also misread the root of our desires in the present.

The alternate side of the synchronized shopping conversation from last week—that sometimes we all buy the same thing because we feel mutually moved by its perspective—is that, other times, we buy things we see and feel others buying because we expect them to solve, let’s call them non-pragmatic problems.

To paraphrase a tweet I can no longer find but think about a lot: There’s nothing you can buy that will assert your individuality as much as not buying anything. And even though this is a shopping newsletter, I don’t feel the aphorism contradicts what’s going on here. Selfhood doesn’t happen in the shopping cart (as abs are made in the kitchen or whatever), but the suite of choices we make called style can illuminate and activate other processes within us.

If all of my belongings were lost to a fire or a flood or some other cruelty of fate—and Eckhart Tolle might go even further than that, stripping me of my limbs, my senses, even my thoughts—my identity would necessarily be in tact. But if I were to take a shopping sabbatical and rest on even just a fraction of the things I’ve amassed over time, what I’d be left with would be a tuning key for mood, a dumbwaiter for outward traits.

And wow, what an assignment! To decimate my collection like that, even just as an exercise. In contrast to last week’s “The” items—those garments that take over culturally and earn themselves such shorthand among fellow obsessives—the things we’d keep above all others, those are the “My” pieces.

For me, my Mys (oh my, my, my) are populated by my floor-length Burberry trench from the ‘80s, my MNZ silver Olympias, my low-slung taupe trousers from The Break, my Babaá sweater, my Escada pleated pants, my baggy black Levi’s 501s, my little gold hoop quartet, my Sundar Bay button-down, my Uniqlo U padded coat, my Vince cashmere turtleneck, my Khaite dress with the big puffy sleeves and safety-pinned micro skirt, my Ratio et Motus holster, my tabi foldover boots. (What’s my baggage limit in this assignment?) All the things I’ve written about and posted and lived in many times since this newsletter started—and because I’ve had them for ages, I’m sorry some of the product links are weak.

None of these things are me, but when I put them on, they make me feel more like me, the way salt makes food taste more like itself. Which is perhaps exactly how we should distribute the weight we assign to fashion; to know that clothes have the capacity to emphasize me, not to create me.

Lastly, an exciting note from us: Please welcome Em Seely-Katz to the Magasin team! Together, we’ll be bringing you updates like the ones you see below, plus much more fun stuff coming soon <3

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What’s new

SSENSE launches books

• John Waters went soft on SSENSE, so they launched a books category that’s rock-hard. Like every ecomm platform, the retailer is powering through Q4 with an eye to holiday, lining its impregnable shelves with a yet-untapped (to them) category of sexy, fashion-approved coffee-table texts. And of course its selection is second to none, with AD tour-worthy titles from Taschen and Assouline that range from the thoughtfully giftable (Helmut Newton: 20th Anniversary Edition, SUMO XL, $150) to the exorbitantly collectible (Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh – Ultimate Edition, $1,200). As always, there’s at least something each of us will be adding to our wishlists.

• Cos’ winter collection has settled in on the brand’s homepage, meaning we can all finally relax a little. I’ve shared this before, but it’s almost always tricky for me to change seasons fluidly, getting stuck in all-black ruts while I figure out anew how proportions of heavier clothes fit into each other. At Cos, where the subtleties and statements have been painstakingly balanced and the clothes’ mutability make them equally apt for daytime appointments and weekend dinners, that’s never an issue. Always chic, but never overdressed, Cos is guiding us this season towards long skirts, clean finishes, and comfy sweaters that sometimes chatter out loud.

• In a new exclusive collection for Moda Operandi, Paco Rabanne captures the precise, melancholic beauty of a beach in winter. The Assemblage top is like a pile of shells, sun-bleached by a summer long past, that the wearer came across while wandering a pebbly New England shoreline, gazing at a silvery sky almost indistinguishable from the ocean reflecting its sheen. The garments in the collection, unified in shades of white and sprinkled with luxurious detailing in lace, fringe, and crystal, feel designed for that one last walk on the sand at the end of a December vacation. Moda writes that the collection is “fit for weddings,” but it has the spirit of a spur-of-the-moment elopement. 

• If you have ever experienced the instant horror of when, while searching for your glasses, you sit down and feel an unmistakable “crunch” of metal or plastic, this new sling bag, the result of a collaboration between accessories brand Edas and eyewear titan Warby Parker, is a beautiful sight to behold (through your replacement pair’s lenses). With a glasses-shaped body designed to read unambiguously as “all about optics,” this sling is an exercise in pragmatic ingenuity (the Warby Parker-blue bag can be worn as a belt, cross-body, or shoulder tote) and exemplifies the tried-and-true formula; a nerdy approach to problem solving plus a sense of humor can open up entire new frontiers in accessorizing. Glasses-specific bags have the potential to become an industry unto themselves.

• I love when friends make their companies kiss: Laila and Nadia Gohar’s Gohar World and Rafael Savvy’s Casa Bosques team up on a chocolate, uhm, bar? The edible sculpture is shaped like a lace hand, in the style of Gohar World’s glove-appliquéd apron and is a strong contender for “best host gift that isn’t a candle or wine.”

• There’s also: Comme Si’s poplin boxers get lengthened out as sweats alternatives for a crisper lounge option; the Marni x RETROSUPERFUTURE collaborative unveils its third collection for fall ‘22, with over 50 styles of characterful and assertive specs; Costa Brazil brings its scent expertise to a new Hand & Body Wash that competes on an olfactory level with Byredo’s and Aesop’s equivalent category-leading products; the raffle to secure a pair of Aimé Leon Dore’s latest New Balance sneakers in nuanced neutrals is live until 11/2; Hiroshi Fujiwara brings the colors and shapes of mid-’80s Japan’s hip-hop scene to LN-CC in the 7 Moncler Fragment collection; Pangaia and Victor Victor launch an “earth-friendly” and dog-forward capsule collection made with responsibly sourced materials; those obsessed with the makeup-brand brainchild of twins Simi and Haze Khadra can finally shop a selection from their much-hyped line, Simihaze, at Sephora; Maison Kitsuné and Eastpak drop a six-piece capsule of bags, from duffel to backpack, in the brand’s “Camo Fox” print; luxuriate in bedding inspired by puddles, flower beds, and bananas with Dusen Dusen’s new duvet and sheet sets; and ace&jig is back with another fall collection that pairs unexpected, evocative color combinations with autumnal plaids and stripes to keep your outfits bright even when the days start to gray.

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What’s on sale

Tigra Tigra by Levi Walton

• A lot of people got to know Tigra Tigra through its high-kick dress, a completely-up-my-alley silk, long-sleeved dress with an exaggerated opening along the side seam that traces all the way up to the hip bone. The Gujarat, India-produced pieces can always be recognized by their motion-heavy textiles, dyed and patchworked together like sensuous wearable collages, crafty and heavy on the one hand, but carefully revealing on the other. It’s not the type of brand that hosts sales, rather the type that sells out of its limited runs too quickly and you end up scouring resale sites for just the chance to shop it, but right now it’s for some reason offering a hidden 30% discount on everything with code SECRETSALE. I bought a pair of these hip bone-framing picnic pants if you feel like matching, plus the home goods section isn’t to be missed.

• Norma Kamali’s Sleeping Bag Coat debuted almost 50 years ago (50!!) and it’s hard to find an item that’s inspired as many thinkpieces or trend timelines as it’s still causing today. Some say the YZY GAP round coat is a direct pinch, which I’ll leave up to you to decide, being that the message here is you can get one for 50% off right now. The Norma site is being somewhat cryptic about the sale, but depending on which style you add, you might see the discount reflected in your cart. It’s a minefield, a free-for-all, exactly what you’d expect from a such a storied piece with as hectic a history at this steep of a discount.

• This is a little wild west, but LN-CC has opened up early access to its Singles Day sale (an 11/11 shopping holiday big in Asia) for its newsletter subscribers. While it doesn’t seem to work on already-discounted items, I’m passing along the 22% off code they gave me—LN_SDH-2FVO-AAUG-KW— though I can’t promise it’ll work more than once, at least someone will enjoy a quick break on the site’s lush fall edit.

• Shoes to put away for next summer and boots primed for fall are both available in the Dear Frances sale section, with an additional 20% off with EXTRA20. The leather Leo Sandal is a not-too-trendy option that will definitely be wearable come summer ‘23, and the Verona Boots in black are perfectly aligned with the knee-high craze of the moment but have enough positive reviews and classic design elements to be considered a worthy investment given the bonus discount.

• Adidas is offering discounts of up to 50% off items from its archive of collaborations with brands and designers such as Noah, Jeremy Scott, and Y-3. To access the deals, shoppers must sign up for a free “membership” account on the website and bypass some of the more gimmicky or actively disturbing items for sale (sneakers with teeth did not need to exist), but the intrepid may be rewarded with brand-new, sub-$200 kicks–if there are any left in their size.

• Nili Lotan is for girls who graduate from Reformation but want to keep cheeky, sexy, American sportswear-styled apparel in their lives. As effortless as a capsule wardrobe, as luxurious as the country club, Nili Lotan, whose current end-of-season sale is up to 40% off, is full of new favorites awaiting discovery.

• There’s also: Saks’ fall sale ends tonight (and includes some pieces of Le Creuset cookware for $100+ discounts, if your autumnal vision board happens to include homemade stews); take 30% off full-priced items at Luisaviaroma with HLW30; women in New York who know what’s what are paying attention to Deveaux—currently up to 80% off, the brand’s archive sale has just unrolled an extra 15% off; Sephora’s annual holiday sale dropped a month early, but not for everyone—Rouge members can be the first to shop; Belle the Label is offering 20% off sitewide with NEWCUSTOMER, in case the phrases “holiday vacation” and “Miami Basel” are relevant to you; tees for $15, dresses for $30, and more deals abound in the For Days warehouse sale up to 70% off, all in rich hues and classic cuts; Playful Promises’ warehouse sale ups the ante to 85% off of lingerie with embellishments ranging from embroidered seashells to fluffy pink feathers; though “secret” in name only, Parade’s secret sale offers colorful undergarments for as low as $4; there are plenty of fall/winter pickings left in Rita Row’s online sample sale including gorgeous trench coats for less than half of their original price; and Coming of Age’s entire stock of beloved silk taffeta and nylon-based wares is 30% off (you’ll se the discount when you add to cart).

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