190: Trojan horse girl

Plus Marie Adam Leenaerdt lands at SSENSE, Net's secret new-in sale, and a last chance at the Studio Nicholson sale.

Jan 23, 2024

Since the year began, most of the shopping I’ve done has been passive; the kind of below-a-certain-threshold purchasing that results from putting together the framework for these sends, opening saved-search alerts from resale sites, and hole-plugging or re-upping on basics. Buying as a byproduct of working so closely with commerce. Buying as habituation.

Naturally, these types of pieces, which slip into your possession through a Trojan horse of distraction, end up being the most powerful and oft-worn things you own.

Here’s what’s drifted into my lair lately:

A pair of Emme Parsons mesh, crystal-foil flats, which may seem like they’d be better suited for a December 31st than a January 23rd, but that I’m imagining with an otherwise smart and casual pair of slacks and a sweater. They were at a very precarious point in inventory when I got them, so I feel lucky to now have them safely among my other shoes.

Speaking of, I got myself the Lemaire boxing boots I’d been flirting with for months, as they seemed to solve on various fronts: as a pair of non-black, non-heeled boots and as the most me path in to the low-profile sneaker silhouette abounding. I also bought a fresh pair of white Margiela Tabi ballet flats (from the Fred Segal sale I shared to the chat), to finally replace my six-year-old pair that I wore everywhere (including in the snow some years). I like the beat-up look, so I won’t be trashing the old ones, but it’s nice to have a crisp, clean set that I can wear ‘til they, too, fall to bits.

My hat collecting continues in earnest, though with consideration: a sheepskin Cawley beret and a Gemsun skullcap. From Gemsun, I completed the look I wore for the brand’s campaign late last year and also adopted this soft-structured navy trench…my weakness.

Some checkout-aisle sale buys have included a Bourrienne Paris shirt from La Garçonne and a By Malene Birger sweater from the Outnet. For my lower half, I got a pair of on-sale FW23 Toteme pants (they’ll go great with the Emme Parsons) and a knit pair from The Row via The RealReal (these match up perfectly with the Lemaires).

Lastly, I picked up a suspiciously well-priced Marc Jacobs vest from the FW02 military-inspired collection (this via Grailed, where resellers go to give up, and resale buyers make out like bandits). At that figure (under $80), I am prepared to reckon with some pit stains at the least, but it’ll be well worth it if it’s ultimately wearable.

It’s been fun, this rapport that I’m having with my credit cards and delivery guys. My closet is at a pretty stable place where I have everything I really need for the physical demands of winter, and I haven’t had any other major expenses lately (flights, etc.). I’m giving myself a little leeway to get the thing without overthinking—why not!—before the full scope of spring deliveries makes me pump the brakes and switch to strategy gear.

The Weekly

With News Editor

em seely-katz

What’s new

Marie Adam Leenaerdt’s W23 collection was one of the most fun and exciting new items of the season (as was her latest SS24, though I missed the show in Paris). The young Givenchy and Balenciaga alumnus had an immediately apparent expertise in “ill-fitting” clothes that, actually, are exceptionally flattering on the body. Some of my favorites from the brand’s oeuvre—a swimsuit dress, swimming-pool print, and literal, wearable beach cabana—have yet to be released, but SSENSE scooped up the first bundle of SKUs, which include some Balenciaga-like elastane dresses, poetic cape blouses, and imposing outerwear.
Cookwear brand Great Jones found a great partner in Laura Chautin, a Lower East Sider ceramicist with a particularly heart-melting streak of girlhood. Laura’s collaboration with the brand, which follows its last successful Flamingo Estate team-up, includes two Dutch ovens featuring delicately hand-painted florals, the kind of enviable kitchen essential you plop right on the table when dinner is served.
Turns out the beaded crown Leandra Medine coveted in her interview last fall was a harbinger of Bode’s latest arrivals, all operating at a fever pitch of theatricality: an Ottoman-style dress in the burgundy velvet of a curtain call, sheer black silk sexing up a Pierrot-style blouse, and flowers made of metal buttons on a high-necked jacket, a breath away from this chaotic creation by Dauphinette—buttons that transcend any semblance of utility feel definitively 2024.
Firstly, Silk Laundry's new Uniform collection doesn’t fall into the trap of completely neutering its mix-and-match basics as many “uniform” collections are wont to, with bias cuts, built-in slouch, and even a little ruching adding kinetic energy to its monochrome pieces. Secondly, the brand is smartly offering sets of four, six, and 14 pieces—the draw of uniform dressing is straightforwardness, and nothing gets to the point quicker than an entire matching wardrobe available in one fell swoop.
Studio Nicholson’s SS24 collection launches today, its creators citing Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche in 1992’s Damage as inspirations for the modular wardrobe of basics with a focus on louche, sexy tailoring. Seeking toward a “sleeker, leaner,” more androgynous look than seasons past, the studio’s new curve-legged jeans, cotton blazers, slip skirts, and more are another win for the uniform dressers among us.
Ganni’s Lunar New Year capsule follows the trend of brands curating a handful of crimson pieces with no real relation to the holiday. This small collection contains a few of Ganni’s logo knits, same as usual save for red yarn and a smattering of sequins, red corduroys made shiny with rayon, and “performance Mary Janes” (wow) with Vibram soles that look alluringly Old Prada—the only nod to the Year of the Dragon is a $135 graphic tee.
The Skims Valentine’s shop is open for the season, with limited-edition lollipop-red and bubbly pink iterations of the seamless, sculpting thong bodysuit; cherry-print loungewear sets including modal dressing robes; and a five-pack of string bikini underwear embellished with phrases like you’d find on a conversation heart, e.g. “4 U I WOULD.”
Busy launching his namesake label this month, Achilles Ion Gabriel tapped 18 creatives to embellish the Camper Traktori boot, one of his iconic designs for the shoe brand. The one-of-one pairs are “not designed to be worn” but would look so cool if they were, smeared in polyurethane “whipped cream” by iconic stylist Shirley Kurata or painted fervently by the likes of Diplo (?), with all proceeds going toward marine regeneration in the Mediterranean Sea.
Just when it seemed the feeding frenzy had died down, another big week for ballet flats: those in Bally’s new Ballyrina collection range from straightforward satin to sparkly with criss-crossed straps, while the flats cooked up by Salter House x Loeffler Randall are available in blush and black, both embroidered with a bow hand-drawn by Sandeep Salter herself.
Vagabond’s SS24 arrivals have all their bases covered for spring: an Office Siren-coded, pointy-toed kitten heel with gratuitous but glamorous buckles at the vamp; a sportstyle ballet flat with zig-zag elastic straps straight from the Prada playbook; and a pair of silver, double-strapped Mary Jane pumps that duly dupe the $380-more-expensive Carel pair that has wishlist TikTok in a chokehold.
There’s also: Everlane releases the High-Way Curve Jean, its (belated) take on the barrel-leg silhouette that spring up over summer 2023; size-inclusive brand Universal Standard teams up with Henning’s Lauren Chan for a “luxury capsule” of workwear staples size 00-40; Our Legacy x Stussy unites skater and surfer culture with a capsule full of shearling, flannel, and cargo streetwear that’s selling out as you read this; and Pucci launches its first yoga capsule, which looks exactly how you’d expect it to—the brand’s signature swirls are all in blue for its first venture into athleisure.

What’s on sale

Running alongside Net-A-Porter’s ongoing, now-up-to-70%-off past-season sale is a much less conspicuous landing page of freshly arrived items eligible for a 20% discount right off the bat (taken at checkout). Reader favorites like &Daughter sweaters and silk Leset pants feature prominently, and the more you dig, the more gems arise: Tibi nylon pants, a tailored Connor Ives gilet, those silver Tove pants I can never forget…
Studio Nicholson has sent our warning flares that its sale is coming to a close, meanwhile adding a last batch of pieces to its deepest reductions of 50% off. As spring inches closer, I’m now more seriously than before considering these ripstop trousers, parchment-thin tank, and (very Studio Nicholson-y) stiff, A-line trench. A good outfit all together, even!
The Dries Van Noten sale is slowly drying up, but still available are a viscose shirt dress in elegant greige, a leather turtleneck bib to be worn under a trench or as a medieval-armor-style top layer, and several styles of platform shoes like this pair in a golden jacquard print—the streets have been saying that Jeffrey Campbell Litas are regaining a youthful cult following, but these 40% off Dries pairs are their evolved iteration.
One of the most inventive interpretations we’ve seen in the recent blazer renaissance is available in the Collina Strada up-to-80%-off sale—the plaid jacket with sloped shoulders and a floral appliqué at its hem has a matching pair of trousers for the full fantasy suit. Velvety ruched trousers and a mesh top printed with dolphins and sporting a sculptural wire detail at the chest are similarly quintessential Collina, going for $350 and $165 respectively.
No. 6 Store’s sample sale features the shop’s in-house label, with plenty of winter offerings and footwear like 25% off snake-print clogs, but also includes deep cut pieces like a fluffy-skirted Vladimir Karaleev drop-waist dress for $128, cross-front corduroy trousers by Emma Rothkopf for $217, forest green Projekt Produkt sunglasses for $188, and pages more.
As my mind is on Copenhagen Fashion Week ahead, Mark Kenly Domino Tan hosts a studio sale that draws a selection of excellent gray, cream, and brown staples down to half off—this five-pocket skirt, sculpted wool blouse, and dashing men’s wool coat sit in my cart expectantly.
We’re passing along a “private invitation” to shop Esse Studios’ Edition No.9 at 30% off with EDITION9GIFT—its ineffably sexy dresses, like a slouchy drop-waist halter or an off-the-shoulder with a cascading fringe skirt are the main focus of the capsule, but pieces like a cream-colored “scarf shirt” and citrine satin trousers are just as worthy of consideration at the discounted price.
From frenetic ERL puffer coats down to $415 from $1,400 to understated Kiko Kostadinov knits under $200, the Dover Street Market AW23 sale takes up to 70% off a slew of big-ticket designers’ best pieces from last season and offers up a $34 Online Ceramics t-shirt announcing the promotional “death” of John Mayer, if you’re in that very specific market.
La Collection’s final markdowns take 50% off a selection of the brand’s sophisticated neutrals—a wool-linen blend long-sleeved dress is $648 from $1,295 and matches a cape-like scarf in the same material, trousers in crepe silk match a satin blouse, and a scarf is actually a bag, if you can believe it.
Get an extra 15% off Bevza’s winter sale with ENJOY15—the famous braid dress is under $300, as are several other of the brand’s siren-ish offerings like a seafoam-green sailor-style dress in organic bamboo fabric and a little black dress with a halter neck made of soft, plush chains.
Closed, a jeans brand I can respect for attempted to be something other than new vintage Levi’s, has an assortment of its signature, fly-label denim on sale for up to 70% off. Men’s and women’s jeans and RTW are comfortably below the $200 range.
The 6397 warehouse sale is full of wardrobe essentials, most under $200—a mahogany silk charmeuse slip skirt is $140, wide-legged jeans in a sophisticated dark rinse ring up at $150, and perfectly-cut jersey tees like this one in gray hover around the $50 mark.
The cold-weather offerings of the Rodebjer winter sale almost make it feel okay that warm weather is still so far in the future—an oilskin coat with a detachable cape looks well worth its $332 price tag in beauty and versatility, several mohair-alpaca knits are going for under $200, and pieces like these $76 split-hem leggings are surefire investment pieces for winters to come.
There’s also: A friend of the newsletter clued me in to a 30% off sale at 1309sr—punky, femme shoes and improbable moccasins for true originals—with PRIVATE30 at checkout; Veronica De Piante’s expert tailoring with a side of incorrigible flirt is marked down by 50%; the SVRN sale has an ad-hoc collection of pieces from beloved brands like Wales Bonner, Feng Chen Wang, AVAVAV, and more for as low as $34; take up to 60% off your order at checkout in the HommeGirls sitewide sale on stripey pajama sets and iconoclastic business wear like a collared shirt that buttons down both front and back; tons of subtly subversive shoes in the vein of MNZ-meets-CamperLab are down as much as 70% in the Studio Léméls archive sale alongside dozens of sub-$200 bags; the luxurious leather purses and pouches in the Are Studio sample sale top out at $340; Nakedcashmere’s new sale items range from cable-knit puffer vests to ribbed midi skirts, all 30% off; take an extra 15% off the Shaina Mote sale section with EXTRA15 for trench coats as low as $160 and linen dresses under the $100 mark; and Gabriel for Sach’s archive sale has plenty of bags, including one that calls to mind the Kiko Kostadinov Trivia bag for a third of the price, but it also features tons of pastel resort wear that dips far under $100.

I may earn some money if you make a purchase through one of the links above.

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