This roundup of things we liked this week originally appeared in the September 7, 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.
It’s Brimfield’s September market right now, and our photo editor, Liana Blum, told us about two of her favorite vendors (who sell stuff outside of Brimfield too). And then one of our colleagues in the culture department had thoughts for us this week as well on some particularly special sheets and waffle towels.
This Week’s List
* First on the Brimfield front: Liana’s quilt guy, “Cats on Quilt.” She bought one recently for $60 over Instagram, and it arrived in five days!
* She also discovered a vintage kids’ clothes vendor at Brimfield called Kid Gloves — EXTREMELY AMAZING STUFF, like these 1940 Princeton toddler tops and ’70s cord overalls. They do story sales.
* One of our Vulture editors, Madeline Leung-Coleman, told us that “everyone who sees the movie Passages, which is hands down the sexy adult movie of the season, comes out raving about the movie’s bed linens.” This makes sense, she says, “because the film largely takes place in beds. There’s a blue set, in particular, that everyone is obsessed with.” So we sent Strategist writer Lauren Ro out to identify them — she soon learned that they are these linen ones from Merci, owned and loved by the movie’s set decorator, Pascale Consigny, herself!
* When we told Madeline this, she was delighted, because she, as it turns out, is a Merci superfan and owns and loves the brand’s waffle towels! She describes them as “a tight waffle, very soft, nicer than any other I’ve tried.”
A Few Random Other Things We’ve Stumbled Upon
* A Paola Navone Ghost Slipcovered Armchair for a lowly $300 on AptDeco! These things go for $2,000 new! It has a little tear, but you can either sew it up or get a new slipcover through ABC Carpet & Home.
* These candles, from London shop Garnet, are unreal. In fact, everything from this shop is pretty unreal.
* One of the founders of unisex clothing line Ijji, Nick Sugihara, started a furniture company. Pretty. Website coming in a few weeks, apparently.
* Our writer Lauren found out about the site ReSee recently, and she describes it as a sort of “better RealReal,” containing “nice, curated designer stuff. They have a huge selection of Phoebe Philo Celine. I have a bunch of stuff saved. Like this wool Miu Miu dress from 2021, a Prada silk skirt ensemble from 2005, and these Celine heels from 2015.”
* We wrote about these Skechers a few issues back (spotted outside a coffee shop in Boerum Hill) and would like to report we’ve now spotted them again, this time in white, on a host at Cafe Gitane! Very cute. And in a moment of free association, they made us think that white Supergas / white socks might look nice this fall.
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.
