Happy deep August, Everyone! This is our favorite time of year, when we can enjoy the best of two top seasons: lazy late summer with its deep red tomatoes, crazy sweet corn and thinning beach crowds and the coming fall with its promise, crispness and fresh-start-feeling. That’s where Issue Twenty comes in. We’re embracing the duality of the moment, of wanting the wild, carefree dog days to stay forever and craving the stability, organization, quiet (and of course knits) that come with autumn.
We have ideas for making your work space a place of calm, order and most of all beauty; a truly excellent (and easy) cayenne pepper-flecked margarita recipe that will give you celebrity status at any party you bring it to (LDW alert!); an opera necklace that you’ll love now and in December; a smoking hot trompe-l’oeil idea for your next dinner party; the finest, thinnest Indian Madras shirt you’ll ever wear; and some damn fine chunky cardigans because it’s sweater weather…but also swimsuit weather. And what could be better than that?!
When the late summer winds blow and your hair and skin are as sun-kissed as can be, there is nothing more satisfying to put on. A HIGH-COLLARED RIBBED CARDIGAN sweater is a must-have for the next few months, acting as a perfectly light jacket you can take on and off as the temperatures ebb and flow like the tides. Old Stone Trade’s Cowichan Cardigan Jacket is a dead ringer for Marylin’s (and will be as great now as it is for ski weekends). We also love their Grandpa Cardigan in this heathered blue. Linda Wright’s oversize Crimson Cashmere Kennedy Cardigan comes in fabulous colors and gives you that September-at-the-beach vibe as does the Mini Yacht Cashmere Cardigan from Begg X Co. which also comes in multicolors. And while we think this is one of the few item categories you should spend money on (the cost per wear will be almost nothing!), Uniqlo’s super soft zip-up Soufflé Cardigan is a super solid alternative. It has a nice high neck, comes in off white, sky blue, navy and gray and is also indestructible (and machine washable, thanks to its acrylic/poly/wool/spandex blend, which makes it great for sports, too).
It creates a luxurious sense of calm and order. A LEATHER DESK SET is one of life’s small—but important—indulgences. We think making your workspace an area of beauty dramatically improves the quality of what gets done there. The Geneva-based company Lucrin crafts desk sets that are really the best you can find (thank you, Billy Cotton for opening our eyes!) offering buildable and monogrammable sets in 20+ colors in smooth or pebbled calfskin leather. A generous desk pad provides a soft place for your laptop to land and the stackable paper tray, tidy tray, letter and pen holders are also musts in our opinion. As are matching mousepads for those with desktops, a tissue holder, wastepaper basket and coasters for a steaming cup of tea or gorgeous glass of ice water.
Like your last ocean swim, tennis game or dewy early morning walk, you savor the last cocktails of summer. The newest edition to our Lazy Man’s Cocktail Series (you can find the original recipe in Issue One!) is the margarita mix you should be impressing all your friends with this Labor Day weekend! Simply shake up Trader Joe’s Spicy Mango Lemonade—an ingenious concoction that the grocer releases for just two months each year that includes specs of cayenne paper and jalapeño extract—and add your favorite tequila. (Bringing it pre-mixed to a party in one of these jugs is also a great host gift.) We recommend a 50/50 mix of the two and some microplane shavings of lime rind sprinkled on top. And if you’re feeling not-so-lazy, try rimming your glass (before filling it) with a mix of Tajin and grated lime rind.
It’s light as air, unnervingly flattering and as classic as a gin and tonic. A fine MADRAS SHIRT is something—man or woman—you should have in your closet. Far more refined than a regular plaid, traditional madras is woven in the fishing village of Chennai (formerly Madrasapattinam), India from a fragile cotton strain that forms irregular numbs when it’s loomed, just adding to its charm. First imported to England by the East India Company in the 1600s, traditional madras is vegetable dyed, making its coloring wonderfully mellow and complimentary to any skin tone. This button-down from John Simon, the truly special English atelier on London’s Chiltern Street, is made from pure tissue-thin Indian madras and goes with almost anything but matches most swimmingly with a crisp long white skirt (it’s airy enough to be tucked in without bulking around the waist) or a great pair of blue jeans.
As elegant as bar soap or freshly ironed sheets, its appeal lies in its subtlety. There are few things more elegant than a naked carefully shaped and buffed nail. And yet in this snapshot age we seem to have forgotten the polish-free manicure though skipping toxic lacquers means you will strengthen your nails (as long as you buff no more than once a month) and enjoy the freedom of unchippable shine while dishwashing, sports playing and generally knocking around town. The best part? If you don’t want to bother wasting time at the manicurist you can do it yourself. We recommend Ten Over Ten’s Two Way Nail Buffer paired with regular use of Dior’s Crème Abricot, a nail-strengthening salve infused with apricot oil and seaweed extract that the French maison has been making since 1963.
The sun is that special shade of August gold, the streets are finally quiet and the smell of the fresh baguette you’re pedaling home fills your nose. A BIKE BASKET is an endlessly simple yet endlessly useful thing. And now that summer is winding down, you actually have time for some long ambling bike rides to grab tomatoes and corn or a fantastic block of cheese and fresh bread to enjoy for dinner. The Nantucket Basket Co.’s versions straps on to any bike with traditional leather buckles and are woven from Lacak Rattan, which will hold a bottle of wine (or two) and any other small treasure you’d like to wheel home.
On those bright but chilly days, you slide them on. Birkenstock’s BOSTON CLOG might just be the ultimate pre-fall shoe. The suede upper gives you fall vibes while while the slip-on construction feels easy and casual enough for the next month of summer: perfect for keeping your toes warm on beach bonfire nights or crisp daytime strolls around town. We love this non-crunchy purple pair and are wearing them with shorts, our favorite cropped wide leg linen pants and this Mini Farrah Fawcett Playsuit. And if you are Birks averse (we know there are lots of you out there), these sparkly lurex party clogs from Simon Miller and these Wellipets clogs from JW Anderson will give you an unhinged-chic vibe for back to school.
In your sitting room, they welcome you like an old friend. Sotheby’s auctioned off the late Duchess of Windsor’s abundant collection of pillows depicting her beloved pugs (she had eleven), one of which was an expressive petit point portrait of her favorite pup, English, which sat on her bed (see above). As you cozy up your interior life for fall, why not throw A NEEDLEPOINT DOG PILLOW on a bed, loveseat or your favorite chair by the fire? We love this chartreuse antique Pug pillow, this French silk tapestry pillow with jumping dog from the 1800s, this set of Victorian Schitzus with a leopard-print boarder, Thierry Poncelet Military Jack Russell and Scottish Terrier pillows, this 20th-century antique Border Collie pillow, this 1960s Whippet, or this absolutely fabulous mini ruffled Pomeranian pillow. Not a dog person? What about this sheep? Hello!
Dangling from your neck like a timeless talisman, it adds endless intrigue. An OPERA NECKLACE—one that hits elegantly at your sternum just like in Edith Wharton’s day—is the perfect piece to add to your rotation as we transition from easy breezy nights out to warm and cozy evenings in. We’re inspired by the ladies of New York society on The Gilded Age (it’s good now, watch it!) who wear this accessory in the evenings with their gowns and we’re also digging how Lauren Santo Domingo wore this Venice Opera Necklace from Le Sundial made with firey red carnelian beads (it also comes in ivory stone and onyx (above)) in Paris recently, and also this one made from ivory-colored jade beads, onyx and sterling silver from Mosquito Studios. They’re great with a clean black shift and some LMBs for a back to school dinner or something more formal come December.
They are the ultimate in trompe-l’oeil naughtiness. We’ve long admired London ceramic artist Alma Berrow’s work (see Issue One), including her life-size gilded EARTHENWARE CIGARETTES. We love the idea of placing one in a favorite ashtray on a coffee table as an object d’art, in a powder room somewhere, or for a very special dinner, placing one at each guest’s table setting in a tiny silver cigarette urn with an accompanying small silver tray for matches (or a sterling match holder or pewter match stick box!!), as was customary for formal dinner service in the Jazz Age, where sterling smoking accessories would sit below the water and wine glasses to the right of the cutlery. Email info@almaberrow.com to order.
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