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Pearls Before Swine
Laura Mady and Ken Cox’s sliver of a jewelry shop sits right in the middle of the meatpacking district, which explains why they’ve named it Boucher. But it’s also on the well-traveled Jeffrey-Pastis path, so it’s a hit with the plugged-in crowd. Mady’s designs incorporate organic shapes hand-cut by a master stonecutter in Hong Kong. Blue chalcedony (a semi-precious Colorado stone) is Mady’s love of the moment, and she uses it for teardrop earrings or combines it with blue freshwater pearls for a drop-dead pendant necklace (earrings, $250 to $540; necklace, $390).
BOUCHER/9 Ninth Avenue, at Little West 12th Street/212-206-3775
Rain Dots
The fashion elite have decreed polka dots for spring: Not to be outdone, kids can look as cutting-edge as their moms when they go stomping around in Oilily’s dotty rain boots. These splashy numbers are made of rubber, so they’re waterproof; are lined with cotton for comfort; and come in sizes that range from baby to children’s size 4 ($68).
OILILY/870 Madison Avenue, near 70th Street/212-628-0100
Drink and Be Merry
When you quaff your pisco punch from a Propaganda tumbler, you’ll feel more than the usual kick: A crying baby, a clowning kid, a screaming guy appears through the keyhole as you down your drink. Since the Thailand-based design company uses silk-screened decals, these faces will not fade away ($7.50).
E.A.T. GIFTS/1062 Madison Avenue, near 80th Street/212-861-2544
Table Mannered
On the manifestly correct theory that New Yorkers can never get their hands on as many smallish tables as they can use, Kevin Hart has put together a stash. His are handmade in China of jujube wood that’s wrapped in leather, stained to look antique, then set onto a steel frame. These multi-drawer side or bed tables provide lots of room for storing all manner of stuff, from socks to sunglasses to silver flatware ($450; others from $285).
KEVIN HART & CO./31 North Moore Street/212-966-1963
Surface Glow
If you’re addicted to TSE but have to restrain yourself because of the lofty prices, you can now indulge your cashmere jones at TSE Surface. This NoLIta outpost is a spin-off of the company’s haute uptown store, and it’s filled with sweaters that are younger, hipper, and, yes, cheaper. TSE designer Hussein Chalayan oversees the line, but the colors are noisier here – Crush oranges, butane reds, sulfur yellows. Among the luxurious little numbers are cashmere tanks, barely-there halter tops, and neat hooded sweatshirts, not to mention girly cotton skirts and perfect summer dresses. Owner George Casson brags that everything, even two-ply fall knits, will cost less than $500 (from $150 for a cashmere tank top to $395 for a cotton halter dress). (Photographs by Kenneth Chen)
TSE SURFACE/226 Elizabeth Street/212-343-7033