The 'Add 2 Cart' Sunday Circular, Volume 3: Summertime Sadness
Watches! Jeans! T-shirts! Bags! Two women with umlauts in their names!
Aaaaand we’re back.
Thanks for all the wonderful feedback on my story about Gap playlists. You can read it here and share your memories of the commercials, playlists, and Gap in general with me. A lot of people have a real soft spot for the brand, as do I.
Last week, we entered that busy-but-not, late-summer period where the feral energy of newly warm days settles into something mellower, maybe even a touch melancholic. It’s giving Summertime Sadness! My hope of locking in to get some work done collided with a flurry of out-of-office emails. My boyfriend is vacationing in Greece without me (lol), my best friends are traipsing around London, and everyone but me was at Copenhagen Fashion Week. I’m stuck in Brooklyn Heights, which feels like a ghost town (assuming it’s been vacated for the Hamptons). Poor me. Still, they filmed a scene from The Devil Wears Prada sequel on my corner, which was a nice jolt of energy in an otherwise lethargic week.
This week, I started receiving emails informing me that fall deliveries are landing in stores, both online and IRL. But I’m not readyyyyy to shop for fall, I thought to myself. Plus there’s a heatwave coming next week! My heart and mind are firmly planted in the here and now, as you’ll see from this week’s list of things I have been perusing. And with that, let’s look at some things I want to buy.
Vintage Adidas Running Shorts, $85
I’ve been wanting some really short three-stripe Adidas running shorts since the spring, but haven’t pulled the trigger. In fact—plot twist!—I have mostly been wearing long, baggy cargo shorts (from Dickies and Polo Ralph Lauren, both eBay finds) and … loving them? Still, the idea lingers. I was embarrassed to think that this was inspired by Harry Styles or Paul Mescal, but on deeper reflection, I’m happy to report that I actually think it’s tied to two people who have a profound, lasting chokehold on me: Chloë Sevigny and Zoë Kravitz, two women connected by incredible style and an umlaut. Whew, thank GOD, imagine if I were trying to copy Harry! Nightmare scenario.
Anyway, finding an appropriately short short (2-to-3 inch inseam) made from cotton rather than nylon, and with an actual pocket, has been an absolute journey. I think I finally found a few good pairs. I don’t know if I have it in me to spend $85 on these, but if you do … well, here they are!
Timex Intrepid Dimepiece Edition, $239
While I’m not a watch person, per se, I am a Brynn Wallner person. And this is her very first watch collaboration (please clap)! It’s giving ‘90s realness (it’s based on a ‘95 style favored by JFK Jr. himself), made in a just-right unisex 36mm (scaled down slightly from the original 46mm), features a stainless steel case, an evocative cream-colored face, and a go-anywhere, do-anything rubber strap. My favorite detail is the flirty little pops of violet on the second hand, the 12 o’clock marker (here replaced with a triangle), and the 9 o’clock activation pusher.
This is what Brynn, who made this in cahoots with Alan Bedwell of Foundwell, said about it: “It looks good on both of us and on most girls, guys, gays, theys... Really anyone craving a sporty, versatile watch for those long, dreamy days in Cape Cod or wherever you ‘summer’ (it works just as well on the mean streets of New York City). Also, it can go underwater up to 100 meters, so don't be afraid to get wet.”
It appears to be sold out on the Dimepiece and Timex websites (which, good for her), but there appear to be some available via Foundwell. Support cool people doing cool things!
Amiacalva Washed Canvas Pocket Tote, $245 at NN.07 New York
I was in Fire Island last week with Justin Berkowitz, who oversees the US operations of the Danish brand NN.07, and he had the best tote bag with him. It’s from the Japanese label Amiaclava, which he stocks at NN.07’s New York flagship at 276 Lafayette in Soho.
It accomplishes the number one most difficult thing for a tote bag to pull off: the perfect handle length. These can be easily slung over the shoulder or can, alternately, be held in your hand without danger of the bag scraping the ground (even if you’re short like me). Also of note: it has plentiful outside pockets, so you can keep all your cords, books, gum, and assorted knick-knacks all sorted. Best of all, it’s made from a rough and tactile canvas that is just so, so good and will, no doubt, break-in over time beautifully.
It’s a good work bag, beach bag, I could see it being a great gardening tote (shout out to Cathy Horyn’s Prada gardening back featured in Arch Digest this week), gym bag, you name it. The fall delivery just landed, and it comes in really rich, unique colors from an inky black to French blue to a mustard yellow to, my personal favorite, oxblood. If you’re in New York, I highly suggest you go visit and check it out in person, along with the rest of NN.07’s collection. If you’re not in New York, email ny@nn07.com and maybe they can make something happen. Not making promises, but the squeaky wheel does get the oil.
Vintage Whole Foods “Bread & Circus” T-Shirt at Intramural, $40
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Bijan Shahvali this week, purveyor of one of my favorite online vintage emporiums,
. His specialty is rare graphic T-shirts, many with tongue-in-cheek energy, and a lot of ‘90s and ‘00s Hollywood merch (ugh! so good!). We were discussing my current obsession with Broadway merch tees, and he told me he recently found a cast and crew shirt from a production of Les Misérables that featured the tag line “All this for a loaf of bread?” Incroyable!There are a lot of shirts to like on his site and Instagram. There’s a Metropolitan Museum “shoes” shirt dating to the late-90s, a lightweight wool button-up in a perfect shade of brown, a throwback DKNY … the list goes on. I love this Whole Foods tee that says “Bread & Circus” on it because I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of “bread and circuses”—the Ancient Roman concept that if you give people just enough food to eat and some distraction, you can get away with f*cking them over. I think that may be happening to us right now! That Whole Foods went from earthy mom and pop grocers to a soulless supermarket owned by an evil billionaire only adds to its irony (to me). AN-Y-WAY I highly suggest you scan Bijan’s site and Instagram page. He’s got the goods.
AGOLD 90s Jean in Force, $238
So I’m not really a jeans person these days, and yet, I recently got my hands on a pair of AGOLDE—mostly because a lot of my lady friends own and love the brand, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about—and I have to say … wow. The brand is starting to flesh out their men’s assortment and, man, can I tell their really focusing on the details. The 90s Jean, in particular, has me looking forward to cooler days, where I will go full-blown Brad Pitt 90s mode. Fabric is a very soft, lived-in cotton, but not too smushy or limp (a hard balance to strike). The inseam is a respectable 29 inches, great for a short guy like me. The cut is perfectly straight (unlike myself). You WILL be seeing these in the coming months, be forewarned.
Urban Outfitters BDG Bonfire Cropped Cotton Tee, $29
I do not believe in the “perfect T-shirt” discourse that is often bouncing around the Internet like a pinball. I believe that all God’s tees are perfect in their own special way. But I do want to make a quick call out to a T-shirt I’ve recently discovered, one that I like so much I just bought multiples in different colors.
Ok, fine, I’ll say it: BDG, which is Urban Outfitters’ in-house line, makes a shirt so well proportioned that I have been reaching for it again and again and it may, indeed, be… perfect? It is technically “cropped” but for a 5’7” short king like myself, it hits right at the waist, a beautiful thing that helps make that golden 2:3 outfit ratio an achievable dream at last. It also isn’t so cropped that it, like, shows my stomach, unless my arms are raised above my head (which does happen when I’m dancing because I’m a Millennial).
I have the tee in gray and black—I wish they had a crisp white, but they only offer an off-white, and customer reviews hint that it’ll be too yellow for my liking. The gray is a very light shade, though, and works for me. And there are like 9 other colors, though I usually stick to the classics (navy, black, gray, white). I’ve also purchased the muscle tank version, mostly for the gym or beach days, but maybe I’d get a little spicy with it on a very hot day. The aforementioned Justin Berkowitz wore one with pleated pants, and it was giving Pedro Pascal at Cannes. A very good thing indeed.
*I am experimenting with affiliate links, but please know that I really, truly, swear-to-God want to buy everything I feature. I will say that I am possibly a shopping addict, so make of that what you will!*
Omg that Bread & Circus tee! I remember when the Bread & Circus by our house became a Whole Foods 🤣
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