Happy Monday! I hope everyone is staying cool or by some body of water enjoying a delicious Campari soda.
This weekend, when I wasn’t in my apartment basking in the AC’ed air, I was at Metrograph, where I watched The Warriors (1979) for the first time (there’s one more showing on Aug 14th!). It’s part of Metrograph’s series “This Night Has Opened My Eyes,” which is comprised of movies that feature a nocturnal voyage of sorts. The series feels quite fitting with the current Odyssey of it all, and I couldn’t help but think of Odysseus’s journey as the Warriors battled rival gangs, the police, and sirens as they make their way from the Bronx back to Coney Island.
Before I got to Metrograph, I was bopping around the LES in search of coasters, and I’ve come to think that, on the interior front, we’re in a bit of a coaster drought. All I’m seeing on the market are either comedy-pilled versions that resemble slime or something that can only be described as “quirky,” or terribly cold and austere Brutalist slabs that don’t match the Cape Cod/English countryside/Moroccan feel I’m going for. So, if you have any suggestions in that department, let me know. I’m all ears!
Still in the realm of the home, today’s send consists of quite a few home goodies, which is relatively fresh territory for CYAS. Perhaps it’s more so a sign of this time of year, when it’s so hot that getting dressed is more so a means to an ends. By extension, we’re either spending more time at home or in some state of leisure, which again requires less in the clothing department.
Plus, I’m somewhat ignoring the onslaught of fall ads. I’m not ready to fully let go of summer just yet and accept the impending chill! Nonetheless, today’s letter is chock-full of not only some great home finds, but also the cobalt shirt I know we’ve all been hunting for, a fun pair of sunglasses, and an update on the George magazine market.
Blame it on Michael Rider’s Celine, which has this power of making clothes in a singular, rich hue seem so intoxicating. I would have never thought I’d pine for a grape leather trench, but thanks to Rider, that’s all I can think about. But I digress.
I have been thinking incessantly about a solid blue shirt, but not just any blue. Not cornflower, French blue, lapis, or even cerulean. I’ve been longing for cobalt, which, to my eyes, feels like the quintessential shade of the color. True blue, if you will! Originally, I was going to get one from Charvet with a tonal monogram, but my appointment was already running overtime, I was late to another appointment, and I knew that if I asked for one more thing, I would have been there another hour. Since then, I’ve been on the hunt. I came close to getting one from Skall Studio, missed out on this one from Jamie Haller, and then there’s this one from Proenza Schouler in the exact shade, but the price made me pause.
Then this one from Every Other Thursday walked into my life, and I’m ooo so happy! It’s a great French cotton twill shirt with a nice worn-in quality and a relaxed, but not too oversized, fit. To play into the color clash that I would say is a defining aspect of Rider’s Celine, I think it would look great with a green t-shirt and perhaps pink pants in lieu of your run-of-the-mill jeans.
I am very particular about home scents and, for the most part, stick to fragrances that fall within the same family, usually on the woody, more natural-smelling side. I typically burn Astier de Villatte’s Hollywood or Tucson incenses throughout the day, as well as rose forward candles, (my go-to is usually this candle from Flamingo Estate) or my tried-and-true fresh mint candle (that also reminds me of grass) Trudon’s Abd El Kader. But this room spray from Nonfiction is the outlier in my usual home scent rotation. It has notes of rose and sandalwood, which I think keep it within the realm of scents I typically gravitate toward, but it’s also a gourmand, something I usually avoid.
When you first spray it, you’re immediately hit with something fresher and more floral, but once it settles, I find that it envelops the room in this creamy sensation that makes me think of those strawberry-and-cream hard candies seemingly everyone’s grandmother toted around with them. It’s less that the notes of the candy and the spray are comparable and more that it recreates the sensation you would get sucking on the candy itself.
I feel like, with everything going on with cyclospora, I have found myself washing my fruits and vegetables more than I probably ever have in the past. I also use the hand soap from this line, which feels like a step up from Mrs. Meyer’s.
$13.90 at Koala Eco | $12 at Revolve | $16 at Anthropologie
This fragrance launched a few weeks ago, but I got to try it a few days or so before it actually came out. What I like about it is that, in many ways, it encompasses the scent of my dream fragrance, which is basically a combination of Costa Brazil’s Aroma (which, to me, smells like sex on a tropical beach) and something with notes of rose, (like Frédéric Malle’s Lipstick Rose which is my current rose go-to).
Byredo’s Future Memories has that sensuality I love in Costa Brazil’s Aroma, with orange blossom, musk, and labdanum. Surprisingly, the vanilla, which is again something I tend to avoid in fragrances, brings out this creamy softness that doesn’t temper any of the allure coming from those heady, perhaps more masculine-leaning notes. It enhances it. Now, the only thing that I think would for sure make this my dream fragrance is a hint of rose, which would serve as a nice bridge between the more masculine- and feminine-leaning notes. If that were to ever come to fruition, Byredo, you heard it here first :)
$235 at Byredo | $275 at Selfridges
When it comes to sunglasses, as I’ve mentioned in previous letters, I typically stick to the same styles, usually an aviator of sorts or an updated take on the Wayfarer. With that in mind, I don’t usually look for a new pair each year, and when I do, they have to offer something really special. For me, that usually means some sort of adornment, like these from Valentino, which feel like an update to something you would get from Alain Mikli (and these also very much fulfill that fantasy). There’s something about the subtle outlining of the frames with enamel wisps and rhinestones that makes me think of something Nomi Malone would wear. Also, with us no doubt entering our big ’80s redux, thanks in part to The Shards, these feel right at home within that landscape.
$515 at Valentino | $515 at MyTheresa | $364 at Farfetch | $365 at Cettire
I simply adore any top with an ounce of ruffle. There’s something so romantic and ethereal about them that makes my heart swoon. I love this take from Alex Mill in deep forest green, which feels like a color you typically wouldn’t see this style of shirt rendered in. For the most part, they tend to come in soft pastels, but rarely anything as dark and saturated as this! This would look fantastic paired back to a brown utility pant and huaraches.
Periodically, I check the market for the going prices of George magazine. I’m currently on the hunt for the Robert De Niro issue at a reasonable price (I think I found one, but I’m waiting for the dealer to accept my lowball), and during a recent market check, I was quite shocked to see that prices had dropped significantly since the Love Story craze blew up the resale value to eye-watering levels.
I, of course, knew that the prices some people were charging couldn’t last forever, but I surely overestimated how long it would take for things to return to normal. Perhaps I was a bit too optimistic about the population’s attention span. Nonetheless, if you were looking for that 1996 issue featuring Drew Barrymore in Marilyn Monroe drag on the cover ( which, from my quick research, is still going for hundreds of dollars on average), or even the inaugural issue (which I think is the more important one to have) perhaps now is your chance!
That’s all from me today! Have a great week, we’ll chat again later in the week!
XX
JJ
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