#46: Letter of Recommendation
A food-fashion style icon, a faultless fall playlist, and two glossy lip balms.
Yesterday I spent 20 minutes retroactively changing the numbers of almost half of my newsletters — somewhere in the teens I skipped one, then proceeded to omit the 40’s altogether. So, that was my start to the week; I hope yours has been a little more exciting.
Now, however, I get to tell you about my favourite things from August, so things are looking up. And unsurprisingly, this list is very fall appropriate.
Read on for style inspiration; essays on giving birth and ugly design (respectively); a new Chinese brand to have on your radar; followed by beauty, TV, and listening tips for the cosier, sedentary weeks and months ahead.
I’ve followed the Los Angeles-based chef Nancy Silverton for years, but I was more focussed on her baking than her incredible style. I’d coin her look ‘Eccentric Italian art grandma’ — she loves printed shirts, baubles, round glasses, and labels like Marni, Gucci, and Prada. In older photos, she’s pictured in a lot of denim and sweatshirts, so it’s delightful seeing how she’s come into her own as an older woman: see this The Cut interview, where she drops the chic and deeply relatable line “I have developed a deep desire to wear stylish clothes.” When it comes to the ongoing personal style discourse and pressures we feel to form a cohesive sartorial ‘brand,’ Nancy is a comforting reminder that one’s style only gets better and more personal with time (and yes, financial success, if you are Marni/Prada inclined). Now I need to pay an in-person visit to her favourite store, Noodle Stories, even if for the name alone.
- ’s beautiful recounting of giving birth to her baby Sunny made me weep. It also terrified me, as I’m sure will be the case for other women my age with no children of their own. Difficult but mandatory reading, whether or not you have a uterus or are planning on having a baby one day.
I’m the kind of person who subscribes to every news/retail newsletter under the sun and proceeds to delete most of them every morning. It’s hard to rationalise, except now I can say I opened the Gentlewench email one morning and discovered Into the East, a Chinese brand I’m grateful landed on my radar. They don’t seem to have many stockists, but the aforementioned London store stocks this stunner of a sun dress, which is already out of stock, and one of the most beautiful vests I’ve ever laid eyes on (made of ivory tussar a.k.a. wild silk, no less).
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