This roundup of things we liked this week originally appeared in the October 5, 2023, edition of the Secret Strategist newsletter, a weekly email where we share the stuff our staff — plus a rotating cast of writers, design-world people, and various others with very good taste — would otherwise keep to themselves. If you want to get our picks straight to your inbox each week, sign up here.
We naturally had cold-weather shoes and coats on the mind this week, as we’ve learned it’s best not to wait until it’s ten degrees to buy these things. We’ll keep digging up more over the next couple of weeks (we’re still slightly stumped on the boots front), but for our first batch … read on!
This Week’s List
* We’re very interested in getting our hands on some vintage track pants — STRAIGHT-legged, not tapered. We’re thinking ’70s Adidas — these are good, as are these, and especially these. Cheaper, and kind of cool, are ’90s Abercrombie & Fitch track pants, such as these, these, and these.
* If you’re a person of any gender who is stumped on a nice, cold-weather shoe, we’re big fans of a simple Paraboot over here. OR, hear us out, these puffer-topped Merrells!
* Also, we’re really loving Troentorps, a lesser-known Swedish clogs brand. They’re like No. 6 or Dansko, but instead of being stapled, they have cool, eye-catching studs. These are Dansko-ish (but studded), and these are No. 6-ish (but studded).
* Hidden in Chris Black’s recent column is this really cool, affordable winter puffer from Rab. We like the thickness, we like the color, we like the hood. If you have a ton of money to spend, though, maybe get one of these Sofie D’Hoore guys (so nice).
* We also wish we had $2,259 for this dress from this beautiful store we just learned of called Dahm House …
[Editor’s note: This dress is no longer available.]
* Our editor Chelsea Peng, naturally, noticed this mushroomy lamp in the background of promo photos for the new Safdie/Nathan Fielder show, The Curse. Production designer Katie Byron told us it’s CB2! (More specifically: the Kahlo Silk Table Lamp, which retails for $199.) While it’s SOLD OUT, we tracked down a PAIR on Craigslist. The owner, apparently, “gets compliments on these lamps all the time.” (Another mushroomy but more space-age lamp from Laurel Lamp Company here in green and here in black.)
* Garrett Colton first told us about apple juice in a can from a brand called Lovely Bunch when he was in L.A. a few months ago (“the best apple juice I’ve ever had”), then last week we saw it pop up on Chase Hall’s Instagram. So, cool new apple juice in town!
* And two store openings: Natural Selection in Dumbo, selling Indian crocheted shorts from Harago and John Molesworth ceramics, and art book store Friend Editions on Eldridge. Also: There’s a Geminola pop-up this Saturday and Sunday, October 7 and 8, at 105 Grand Street in Williamsburg; we’re hoping she (Lorraine Kirke, mother of the Kirke women), brings these beaded lampshades.
Check These Out Too
Fritz Haeg, the stylish artist and founder of Salmon Creek Farm, a retreat-farm-commune in Northern California (which incidentally just announced its new winter programming), shared eight things he likes:
* Thai fisherman pants: Brilliant baggy pant design of flat panels that fold, wrap, and tie — both architectural and dancy. I wore out a few after a decade of daily wear.
* 2. Suspenders: Holding up pants that are too big for you — comfy and sexy. Belts bind and never feel good.
* Babaá & 11:11 & Dosa: Led by visionary clothiers/artists Marta, Mia, and Christina respectively, using fibers, textiles, and dyes that respect the land and people who produce them. The designs, the weight, the fit, the cuts, the fabrics, the colors, love, love, love. Lucky to be friends with all three of them. Love these drawstring pants. [Vintage Dosa is really good.]
* Layered rugs over rugs wall to wall: I still can’t afford to properly install ‘real’ flooring in the SCF cabin addition I built for myself a few years ago, so it’s just an endless patchwork of eclectic vintage thrift rugs covering the raw plywood subfloor. Somehow it works? I especially love any type of rag rug — most cultures have a version of these, the last place textiles end up after use as clothing and then rags. I’ve made my own as an art project.
* Undyed clothing: Never been into wearing whites at all, especially with the endless dirty work at Salmon Creek Farm, but every seven to ten years, I enter a dramatic new wardrobe era, shedding layers … which is now undyed organic fiber, off-whites head to toe. The environmental impact of synthetic toxic textile dyes, yuck. (Industry of All Nations seems to do it well?)
* Wood pegs: Long rows or walls full of them. Like the Shakers, but not for chairs. Hang whatever is in circulation, what you wear every day, what you want to look at, what you love at that moment, no stress about putting things “away.” It’s a daily art installation. At SCF we use little foraged driftwood bits screwed to the wall, so cute.
* The SCF tee: Our resident caretaker Ethan was on the roofs of all eight cabins throughout last winter patching leaks and spreading tarps during the California deluge. So he’s dropping a special limited-edition screened vintage tee from the Great 2023 Save-the-SCF-Cabins-Reroofing fundraiser.
* Ponchos: Forever fascinated by the simple gesture of the single woven panel of fabric draped over the body. It goes from wrap to bedspread and makes you feel at home anywhere. Always have one on my bed. A perfectly respectable flowing garment for a man experimenting with some gender fluidity. (I spent an entire winter — while in a deep funk — knitting 30 large triangular poncho-like panels inspired by the Parangoles of artist Hélio Oiticica.)
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
