Open tabs: February edit
We need a breather amirite
I’ve been exhausted lately, and maybe you are too. Everything Anne Helen Petersen said in her recent piece resonates — what’s going on right now in the U.S. collects in the body.
So … a hard pivot — as I wrote recently, we can’t always be in emergency mode. I thought I’d share some of my go-tos that have kept me inspired. What is this whole trip around the sun for, if not to be delighted?
INTERIORS
I really love the magazine World of Interiors. Its whole mantra is to cover the gamut of living spaces – “from pigsties to palaces.” I love every detail of the magazine – the corny story titles, stunning photography, and the fact that it’s a Conde Nast property that didn’t have a website until the year 2022. It’s best viewed in print, but I did really like this feature on an Art Nouveau home in Brussels that gives off Gaudi vibes.
November 19, a home and lifestyle store in the Lower East Side, is my favorite shop in the city. I go there to buy gifts for others, and inevitably end up getting something for myself too. The owner, Clark, not only has an impeccably stylish eye but is incredibly sweet to boot. Someone should please buy these candlesticks and put me out of my misery!!!
The Textile Trunk is one of my go-to Etsy shops for antique fabrics (I’ve bought quite a few curtains from there, some seen in this post). I love this Victorian embroidery chart – the mix of patterns is inspiring for my own bulletin board at home!
Rajiv Surendra (Kevin G of Mean Girls fame) is a successful YouTuber/all-around renaissance man who focuses on the creative and domestic arts. This video about beautifying his NYC rental apartment is so good.
I’m also a fan of Caroline Winkler, who focuses on interiors. Her advice is empathetic and practical, and I love her wackadoo sense of humor. This cleaning video I probably watch at least twice a month. I also really like her podcast, Not for Everyone.
I started interior designer Beata Heuman’s BBC Maestro class. I love the floral wallpaper she used in her Swedish farmhouse’s dining room.
The joy of Japanese clutter.
Some other open tabs:
Mad about the House: Kate Watson-Smyth is an interior designer whose work is enviable but accessible. If I had more money, I’d do her summer design retreat in Italy – a dream!
A Considered Space: Eleanor Cording-Booth is a House & Garden writer focused on design and fashion. I’ve loved her recommendations on things to do in and around London.
I recently stumbled on Afri-tectural Digest by Kemi, who focuses on African and diasporic interior design and architecture. I really enjoyed this post about discovering that a Haitian queen used to live down the street from Kemi’s London home. It reminds me a bit of Gretchen Gerzina’s “Black England: A Forgotten Georgian History.”
FASHION
Mildew: This magazine focuses on secondhand fashion, which sounds like an impossible thing, to have a magazine that discourages shopping. But truly they pull it off by focusing on things like flea markets around the world, the history of buttons, and ways to mend your clothes.
For fans of: Kapital, Blackbird Spyplane, Batsheva, Bode aesthetics (but eBay budget), grandma’s attic
Table of contents from Mildew Magazine
Orlando Tales: Orlando Tales is a highly conceptual Italian magazine - it focuses on a different literary theme and the magazine is designed like a hotel with every section being a different floor or new perspective on the monthly theme. It takes its name from Orlando Furioso and Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. I loved the issues that focused on Woolf’s Orlando and Dorian Grey — these literary figures are ripe for exploring in experimental, creative ways.
For fans of: Cecilie Bahnsen, Luke Edward Hall, Florence Welch’s Choreomania album
Photoshoot in Orlando Tales inspired by Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando” (image by Luciano Romano)
Colleen Allen’s work (including the red AW24 and blue AW25 outfits in the collage above) feels like minimalist weirdeval.
I’m not usually a polka dot fan, but I love Markgong Shanghai’s SS25 look in the collage above. I am a sucker for matching headwear/outerwear.
Niche tv shows to watch if you love fashion – includes a shout-out to one of my favorites, The Durrells (Phoebe Taylor, YouTube).
J’Nae Phillips’ Fashion Tings on class warfare over the Walmart Birkin.
Kayla Marci’s writing at Haute Garbage has a sharp eye for fashion and culture – really liked this piece about video game pixelation used in fashion inspiration.
I loved Mandy Lee’s piece in Cyclical on fascism’s impact on fashion (and resisting it) (h/t to my friend Shannon for telling me about it).
The Cut asks whether nude concealer lips are back? Please God no — it didn’t look good in the early aughts; why did we ever like the dead mouth look?
CULTURE
The funniest thing to come from SNL’s anniversary push is a ‘reply-all’ email disaster for Lorne Michael’s book event (Vulture)
Getting swallowed by a whale and living to tell the tale (NYT gift link)
Janelle Zara on identity crisis and the art world (but also the culture at large). This line sticks with me: “In this moment where literally everything is possible, now is the time to tell the truth about our ideals.”
Show I’m watching right now: “Severance” S2 (I wrote about the office’s green carpet here)
Books I’m trying to read when my brain isn’t mush: “Outline” by Rachel Cusk, “Office Politics” by Wilfred Sheed
I just have a book rec: "The Good Part" by Sophie Cousens. Think "30 going on 30" but it's set in England and it's "26 going on 42." it's SO poignant and I actually teared up while reading it.
as always, i loved this post and your dedication to the aesthetic!!! thank you for compiling everything in one place for us <3