You can read LA outfit diary Part 1 here. Those were my fancier looks, these were my more casual/lounge-y ones.

For a matcha run at Maru—

The platonic ideal of a relaxed coffee outfit! Cou cou scoop tank and lounge pants, old Madewell x Alexa chung Lou shirt, peridot ring, vintage LV papillon. And is it just me, or does Maru matcha not taste as good as it used to? I dunno, it tasted more gritty than I remember. But maybe I got spoiled by the hand-whisked lattes at Yume Mori and Forest Tea Bar at home.

Detail shot with jewelry:

Gothic letter “v” octagonal pendant and vintage fish charm on a gold box chain.

For a drizzly morning—

There was rain in the forecast, so I packed this Loeffler Randall zebra stripe raincoat but barely needed it because the “rain” ended up being the lightest of sprinkles. There is always such a huge gap in the market for stylish raincoats and I feel like this year brands started designing weatherproof pieces that still retain a playful spirit. Full review of green flats here.

For a romantic solo dinner—

When I’m traveling for work and have a nontraditional schedule, I often end up on solo dinner dates and I love the time to myself! There are some restaurants that are hard to get into with a bigger party, so I try to take advantage of bar seat availability that comes up. I loved how simple but elegant this outfit made me feel: the cou cou iris slip dress in black (not see through!), vintage trench, vintage velvet prada platforms.

My dinner makeup—

Favorites of the trip were the eadem lip gloss in bissap glaze (I tried to foist a tube on my sister) and the trusty canmake cheek cream in terracotta.

Trying on that Dakota Johnson blue silk dress—

Not something I owned or packed, but worth mentioning this Hai Florence dress in pale blue I tried on at Mohawk General Store. The color is gorgeous! The fabric was nice too but I didn’t like the width of the shoulder straps.

A week later, Dakota Johnson was papped wearing it, and it sold out everywhere. The black version from Hai is available here. It sent me down a brief search for similar silk pale blue styles that might be useful as wedding guest dress season is underway:

• STAUD off-the-shoulder dress, similar to the Rachel Comey dress silhouette I wore in this letter (also part of online sample sale rn)

• Eileen Fisher “Clearwater” colorway

• secondhand Lunya

• Simone Rocha

• secondhand Reformation

• Argent (this one looks pretty much the exact same as the Hai one)

• Mango (not pale blue but a dark periwinkle that looks great with the orange lace trim! Part of 30% sitewide sale rn, this link is filtered for silk pieces).

For lunch at Courage Bagels—

Was feeling tomboy that day so I wore a vintage anna sui baby tee and Levi’s low loose jeans. The orange flame stitch is a custom detail because I got these at a event, by the way.

Two more bonus looks below the fold, ft. my favorite vintage brand for silk going out tops.

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The heavy door slammed behind us.

My shoulders instinctively relaxed, sending my swollen tote bag thudding onto the aggressively millennial terrazzo linoleum floor. My nostrils flared as I caught a whiff of cleaning product. There was a damp spot on the floor that was still drying from housekeeping service. The window was left cracked open, filling the room with the sound of cars whooshing down Sunset.

I bent down and met Maggi’s shiny black eyes through the mesh of her carrier. Once unzipped, she burst out, trotted around the room—careful to avoid the damp spot—did a full body shake, huffed, and stood expectantly by my feet. I plucked her off the ground, gave her a quick paw wipe, and plopped down on the bed. The mattress immediately sank from my weight. Hotel beds are always too soft for my liking (except for the ones in Asia); I’ve never understood why Americans described “sleeping on a cloud” as the pinnacle of comfort. Clouds don’t look like they give you any back support.

Maggi was resting in Sphinx pose with her arms crossed. I stared at her, and she shot back a whale eye. I hugged her tiny form with both my arms and said, “this is our home for the next week. I hope you like it.”

Maggi is my 8 year old rescue toy poodle.

The shelter named her Maggie. We didn’t want her to go through the confusion of learning a new name, given that she’d already had such a hard life and all. So we kept it, but dropped the e, so it’s spelled like the seasoning.

She has the personality of a very prim and dignified old lady. The week we brought her home, my partner and I excitedly bought a giant bag of toys and treats for her to try. Every salmon chip and broth biscuit was rejected. She would stare at a squeaky toy, then glance up at me as if to ask, “what do you expect me to do with that?” So everything was returned or donated to the shelter.

The first (and only) time we hired a poodle trainer, a silvery-haired woman named Maurene, she told us “poodles are usually very goofy, but Maggi is like a little old lady.” Once in a blue moon, Maggi will grace us with a singular act of cartoonish doggie mischief—as if momentarily possessed by the spirit of a golden retriever with no traumatic history—and never do it again.

One year, it was stealing a crisp $100 bill from a drawer (mind you, there were smaller denominations of currency available) and bringing it to her bed as nesting material. She nearly got away with it too. The moment we locked eyes and saw what was happening, she opened her mouth, dropped the $100 bill, and scuttled away from the scene of the crime.

I’ve always wanted to bring her on a trip to LA with me, but it never felt like the “right time.” She is a creature of habit and a picky eater, so it’s easier to keep her in her home routine.

But she’s also a velcro dog who would live inside my skin if she could, and every time I’d go on a trip to LA, I would miss her soooo much when I saw girls with their purse dogs at cafes and restaurant patios. Her #1 hobby is sleeping in the sun, so I figured she would take a liking to the toasty climate.

She is also turning nine this fall, and has gone through a slew of health issues that have made me very aware of her mortality, and how there really is never a “right time” for anything logistically complex. You just have to decide you are going to do it.

So when the opportunity presented itself this month, I decided she was coming to LA with me for a week. It would be her first flight, her first hotel stay, her first time away from the Bay Area, really.

I researched and ordered the most ergonomic carrier tote in anticipation of hauling her everywhere with me, because at 8 lbs, she’s not quite small enough to be a purse dog. I booked our flights on a dog-friendly airline, made a reservation at a dog-friendly hotel, and laid out two suitcases—the big gray one for me, the little cobalt one for her. Initially, we were going to share the one big gray suitcase to keep things less cumbersome.

But between the 3” Prada platform shoes I had to bring and the mega ziploc of prescription kibble, it was already looking like a tight fit. The sooner I accepted that we were going to be two high maintenance ladies traveling together, the sooner I could just do what was needed to finish packing.

So she got her own little cobalt suitcase.

It was astounding how much stuff she needed. Or rather, the stuff I felt I needed for peace of mind: backup kibble, backup pumpkin puree, an emergency doggie first aid kit, a raincoat for the one day of rain in the forecast, her donut bed—because she is the kind of dog that would rather sleep on the hard cold ground than in a weird-smelling hotel-issued dog bed. And her purple wool beret, because it basically weighs nothing and brings joy to the entire world.

In the days leading up to the trip, I felt extremely anxious. Traveling with her was an unknown.

What if she got scared during takeoff and puked and I’d have to hold her ears back and the person next to us was not a dog person and shot us dagger eyes at us? What if she hated being away from home and I had to live with the guilt of seeing her sad, bored eyes? What if the LA bacteria upset her fragile gut biome and she got sick and I had to bring her to urgent care? I wrote down all my anxiety thoughts in a journal, drew a line down the middle of the page, and wrote a new column: “everything that could go right.”

The trip was both easier and harder than I had expected.

The flight was a breeze. Everything went on without a hitch. Mostly because what you are actually paying for with JSX is the convenience—no crowds, no lines, just a quiet low-stimulus environment for you and your dog. We arrived 30 minutes before takeoff. Once boarded, we sat across from a fluffy spotted dog named Olive, who sat quietly on her mom’s lap. I hoped Maggi could smell Olive’s canine presence and understand that being inside a sealed tin tube 30,000 feet in the sky was a perfectly safe and normal place for a dog.

She slept the entire flight, and barely shifted during takeoff or landing. I was relieved. The window seat next to me was empty, so I, trying to bond over a cute memory, plucked her out of her carrier and tried to show her that we were above the clouds. She had zero interest. So back in the carrier she went.

Which brings us to arriving at the hotel room.

Forming a routine away from home was the hardest part. Nothing went “wrong” during the trip. In fact, from a bird’s eye view, it went as smoothly as it could have gone. I know this sounds so obvious, but traveling with a dog is a lot of responsibility.

I prepared a mental checklist: remember to bring my keycard when I take her out to pee, remember to call a Lyft Pet and not a regular Lyft, remember to plan my outings around her feeding schedule, remember to double check whether a restaurant has dog-friendly seating.

But to actually live it was something else. Planned coffee meetings and social plans with friends quickly went out the window because I underestimated how much time and energy dog-rearing on the road would require. My shoulder got really sore and stiff from carrying her around stores, so I scaled back my ambitious vintage shopping plans.

My daily schedule started and ended with Maggi’s walks and feeding. I exhaled with relief every time her stools came out firm. Another day marked SAFE from anxiety diarrhea!!!! This probably sounds crazy to non-pet people, but when I ran out of her chicken topper, I would go to Erewhon next door, buy a pack of chicken breast tenders, cut it up into tiny pieces and boil it at my sister’s apartment while we watched two episodes of XO Kitty, and then pack it in an insulated L.L. Bean lunchbox until we could store it in the hotel refrigerator.

And then there were the tender moments I wish we could have stayed in forever.

Like the first day, when I brought Maggi to the hotel pool area, and she took an immediate liking to the sun-drenched lounge chairs. The outline of her fuzzy brown body popped against the yellow stripes. She got to do her favorite thing—sleep in the sun—only getting up to drink cold water from her portable bowl. I was thrilled by the mere fact that we were in Los Angeles together. We were really doing it.

There was also that day my sister and I got matcha lattes and went to Barnsdall Park. It was a random weekday, so parking was easy and we snagged a perfect spot to lay our picnic blanket. We laid down and Maggi sat between us, gazing down at the city. The first time I ever went to Barnsdall was in 2017, when a few of my friends and I decided to picnic on the Fourth of July and stay late to watch fireworks. One of my friends made baguette sandwiches with tarragon butter, and I got lost around the Hollyhock House looking for the bathroom. Nearly a decade later, here I am with my dog. I was acting like one of those parents whose kid gets into their alma mater for college, and when they visit campus for freshman move-in week, the parent can’t stop going on and on about “this was where I did XYZ.”

At Barnsdall, we laid under the blooming purple jacaranda trees and patted Maggi’s tummy as she lay on her side contentedly. She even met a friend there—a tiny brown toy poodle named Chocolate who was half her size and twice her age. Chocolate’s mom was also Asian woman so there was an instant familiarity between us. We ran into Chocolate again outside our hotel the next day.

After a week, Maggi seemed to get into the rhythm of life in LA. She befriended the valet guy, a smiley man named Carlos who would ask her que pasa! every morning as she sniffed and marked the sidewalk succulents. Her trots were starting to look more confident, the way they did at home, and she knew how to lead me back into the hotel entrance. I told her “this is your Eloise at the Plaza era.”

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandma, who passed away last year. There was a conversation I had with my mom about her a long, long time ago. I don’t remember if it was before or after my grandma’s cancer diagnosis, but my mom said that she really wanted to bring her on a cruise, just the two of them. It was unsaid but understood that it was a bucket list trip, something to experience while she was still physically capable of it.

But my grandma’s health circumstances changed fast, and the cruise trip never happened. The window had closed. I don’t know if my mom dwells on this, but I do. It was the first time I truly saw that something had been “too late.”

Until Maggi came into my life, my dread towards mortality had always come from seeing my parents and grandparents get older. I didn’t grow up with pets, so I didn’t know how much I could love an animal. I didn’t know how sad and scared I would feel the first time the vet said she had to get bad teeth extracted, or when they “found something” on her ultrasound, or the day we waited for a call from the surgeon to tell us know the gallbladder removal went.

She is eight now, and I feel a sinking pit in my stomach every time I think about the fact that her time on this earth is significantly shorter than mine. For a long time, I refused to accept her signs of aging because it made me too sad. The redness in her fur hasn’t faded, it’s just the lighting today…I don’t think that’s a new sunspot, she’s probably always had it…

The decision to bring her on this trip with me was, in a way, an act of acceptance. That we don’t have all the time in world, that her fur has faded and sunspots multiplied, that she is getting older. The truth I didn’t want to face was that there probably wasn’t going to be a better or easier time to take this trip together.

Because of the kind of dog she is, I wouldn’t say that she had an absolute blast or anything like that. I think she thought it was interesting, curious. A new place with different smells. I do know that she felt loved and cared for the whole time.

On the flight home to Oakland, we sat behind Kristen Bell, who saw Maggi and cooed, “so cute, so cute” in her unmistakable cartoonish Anna voice from Frozen. If Maggi were a human girl, this would have been akin to meeting a real life Disney Princess or Santa Claus.

But she is a dog, so she does not give a fuck about celebrities. She just stared at Ms. Bell with the white crescent of her whale eye.

xo viv

Thanks for being here. You can find me on IG and TT. My wardrobe recs are saved here—unless it’s vintage, of course ;) I may earn a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

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Some dog-friendly travel tips that made things easier:

*None of this is sponsored, and I paid for the trip myself.

• Flying on JSX gave me the biggest peace of mind. The plane itself is small and not particularly fancy, but their process makes door-to-door travel extremely efficient and low-stress. You don’t have to follow the TSA liquid rules, you don’t have to worry about lost luggage, you can have your well-behaved pet sit on your lap during cruising altitude. I have a general referral code that gets you $100 off your first flight: 2R1V0B

• The Cleverpup Transit Tote ($130) was a lifesaver. We used the size M. Maggi loves the teddy bed insert, it’s firm and supportive unlike most carriers. The straps are pretty ergonomic and I love the thoughtfulness in the zipper design—it’s hard to explain, but it “expands” towards the front so that you minimize the risk of zipping the fur on their head! Definitely designed by a pet lover.

• Dog-friendly hotels I had bookmarked: Sunset Tower, Cara Hotel and Silverlake Pool and Inn. I ended up going with Silverlake Inn because Sunset Tower was too far from the places I’d be spending most of my time, and I read too many online reviews mentioning that Cara’s courtyard hosts a lot of parties and weddings and can get extremely loud at night. The staff was super accommodating to pets.

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The difference between Season 1 and Season 2 of Beef is this: while the former was contained in its regional scope, i.e. “what happens in LA stays in LA,” the latter pops the bubble, forming a red-string whiteboard of connections between the manicured golf courses of Montecito and the sleek urban fortresses of Seoul.

I loved Beef Season 1 for its spot-on characterization of Southern California Asian-American archetypes (read my S1 costume design newsletter here). Like, what other show was giving us MOMA grandmas in Pleats Please and Noguchi nepo babies in Marni cardigans??! Season 2 just landed on Netflix and I binged the whole thing—twice, for research purposes—over the weekend.

This time, our motley crew is made up of three couples, each representing a different generation and set of cultural attitudes towards money and status:

• Gen Z Ashley and Austin, employees at a country club in Montecito, AKA where Meghan Markle and Prince Harry live IRL

• Elder millennials Lindsay and Josh—she’s a freelance interior designer and he’s the general manager at the country club (sort of a hetero Armond from White Lotus)

• Billionaire boomers Chairwoman Park, who accounts for 2% of South Korean GDP, and her younger plastic surgeon husband

Costume designer Olga Mill made each character feel sharply realistic. What really stood out to me though, wasn’t the clothes, but the intentional use of jewelry.

Almost every single character wears a necklace. Set against the show’s exploration of class tension and capitalist critique, these necklaces seemed to function as amulets or talismans—signaling the characters’ inner motives and desires.

In this newsletter, I’ve catalogued and analyzed every noteworthy necklace in the entire show—all 24 of them.

In some cases, I figured out who makes it and linked the item, or found a similar vintage style. Unsurprisingly, writing this letter gave the jewelry bug and I ended up ordering two things from the Laura Lombardi sample sale which ends today: a box chain choker and a flat bar links chain.

****WARNING!!!! LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!!! FINISH WATCHING THE SHOW IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!****

Lindsay

Between her floral print Doen dresses and breezy Cord Studio printed sets, Lindsay reads as a California boho-riche woman. She has the kind of financial dysphoria where she’s actually very well-off, but feels poor because she’s always surrounded by people who are richer than her (and her husband spent her entire inheritance, so there’s that…). She wears Adanola sets to tennis, Isabel Marant coats for desert rat cosplay, and the Monastery red light mask for her nighttime ritual of drinking wine and micro-cheating with an ex in her DMs.

She also has the best necklaces in the show. This is how we first meet her character:

The necklace and earring set, an old design by ORA-C, features a fish-shaped pendant and floral-shaped earrings. The fish is known to symbolize prosperity and abundance in many cultures, so this necklace represents her relationship with material wealth. (In Episode 1, her husband Josh also wears a fish pendant, which I’ll get into later!). They’re both after a generational bag, the kind where you can drop $300K on a country club membership.

Lindsay’s dress also resembles the dusky Dutch and Flemish oil paintings in the show’s title cards. In totality, her outfit has fruits, flowers, and fish—all symbols of the abundance she wants to attract or obtain through a little white-collar crime.

Lindsay’s most-worn piece of jewelry is this blue evil eye pendant on a choker chain. Can’t find the exact one but this $86 one is very similar, and I also like Chan Luu’s version with the fish and pearls!

The evil eye is meant to protect its wearer from the jealousy and envy of others. In a way, it says “I’m sooooo successful/beautiful/blessed that I need to be protected from your envy.” But the kicker is that the country club women are not envious of Lindsay, it’s really the other way around!

She wears this necklace when she’s feeling status-insecure around people who are richer and more powerful. Ex: she wears it at the country club during the first meeting with Chairwoman Park.

Then, during her little teatime chat with country club queen bee Ava and her posse, Lindsay wears two evil eye pendants. Similar version of the longer gold necklace here.

This is a moment where she feels small and embarrassed, after realizing that Woosh, the young hot tennis coach, was not just sending flirty texts to her…he was working every woman at the country club in hopes of shilling Korean sunscreen (#affiliateking).

Next up, my fave Lindsay outfit—an Ozma alpaca cardigan & Nasty Gal green ribbon trim satin tank. It’s sort of Practical Magic, no?

When I saw this necklace onscreen, I knew the show was leaning into overt thematic symbolism.

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As I was packing for a hectic week in LA, I thought “what would make me feel most like myself?”

Between my itinerary of interviews, events, seeing old friends, and traveling with an 8 lb dog attached to me at all times, I needed clothes that felt tried and true. I was already stressing over logistics like…how to procure boiled chicken breast for Maggi’s meals (if you have a picky poodle you KNOW the struggle)…and how to time car rides from Silverlake to Beverley Hills to Pacific Palisades during rush hour. It was not the time nor place for outfit experimentation!!!

So I threw almost every green dress I owned into my suitcase.

It was my uniform for dressier looks (events, going out to a nice dinner, etc.) but I also wore a lot of casual lounge clothes which I will cover in another newsletter. Suffice it to say, if you saw a frazzled lady on Sunset Junction getting coffee in sunglasses, an I <3 NY souvenir t-shirt, glorified pajama pants (they’re pointelle so that makes it acceptable to wear in public), Keen flip flops and what looked like a black duffel of dirty gym clothes (actually a covert dog carrier), that was me.

Here are the four green dresses I wore in LA, plus a pair of green silk ballet flats I bought on the spot my first day there—and wore for the rest of the trip!

Green Dress #1

Let’s start with this vintage one.

I found it on Poshmark a few weeks ago—it was unbranded, which actually made me more confident that I liked it for what it was and not because it was from a “cool” y2k designer. The chiffon overlay panel down the middle of the dress was interesting to me, something that set it apart from a monochrome silk dress. The flecks of purple also reminded me of the wisteria blooms in Berkeley.

This is how I styled it to interview a subject for the LA Times. As a freelance fashion writer, there isn’t really a dress code for meetings like this, so you’re sort of left to your own judgement. And it depends on who you’re interviewing and where it’s taking place.

I was going for stylish but a bit nerdy, so I layered a cashmere cardigan with flower buttons over the dress (which had thin straps) and bright red thong heels (old Sies Marjan). All my notes, chargers, and a change of clothes were packed in my Alex Mill tote.

Green Dress #2

Wrote about this one in my newsletter on heat wave outfits last month, it’s the 90s slip from Silk Laundry. They’re also running an archive sale right now (kinda picked through but I love this pink skirt). I did that thing where you lose track of time at the pool because the air is sooooo hot and nice on your skin, so then you have 15 minutes to shower and make your dinner reservation. This dress was just super easy.

I layered my favorite vintage trench coat over it, which my little sister described as “very Nicole Kidman.” Re-wore this about 3 times on my trip.

Green Dress #3

I wish I could bottle up the feeling of sunshine, martinis, and overall glowiness in the photo above and huff it to get me through winter. This is the silk slip from Comme Si. When it was released last month, I couldn’t stop thinking about the chartreuse and olive trim color combo, and how the neckline had a sporty feel. It was a splurge for sure, but I am very happy with the quality and wearability.

Green Dress #4

Remember when I said I packed an outfit change for after my interview? This is what I changed into for an event that night—an off-the-shoulder dress and my vintage Celine fish clutch. It’s an old style from Rachel Comey called the Lyas dress. The fabric is linen which I actually do not usually like…but what can I say, Rachel did some kind of magic with the draping.

I felt like a glossy peanut inside a delicate wasabi coating.

I recommend checking out her dresses if you’re stuck on options for a wedding guest outfit that isn’t Reformation. I skimmed the website and this is my favorite—simple tank top shape, but kind of artsy and weird.

Lastly, a bonus for paid readers: a review of these green silk ballet flats I bought on the first day there, and wore for the rest of the trip…

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Hi! For my last day in LA, I decided to walk through Erewhon’s Silverlake location and tell you about what people are wearing.

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I pass by a lady power walking in black capris and 2 lb weights in each hand. We exchange a neighborly nod of acknowledgement. I continue my voice note after she’s out of earshot.

“But I loved that peridot pendant you sent on Instagram. Actually, I have a bespoke peridot cabochon ring in progress from Emilie (softgoodstudio), and I am SUPER excited about it.” Cecilia understands my jewelry taste so well and we’re both obsessed with peridot cabochons.

Last November, I emailed Emilie with a bespoke request and this reference image:

It was finally ready for pick up this weekend. I’ve come to appreciate how long it takes to make a whole ring from scratch.

Of course, Emilie nailed it. She worked with me to select the perfect shade of ugly-chic green peridot, and designed it with a sealed smooth underside (it’s a sensory thing for me) and no gap between the ring and stone.

The ring is baubly and smooth, looks like a plump boiled pea, and seamlessly blends in with my other legume-inspired jewelry pieces.

It is a luxury to commission bespoke jewelry that is perfectly tailored to your tastes and creative vision. I’m grateful to have had the ability to save up for these investments—and they really are a investment because they are solid gold and appreciate in value, as opposed to clothes.

For context, I’ve worked with Emilie twice on bespoke rings, and pricing is typically the $1000-$1500 range. But it really depends on what you’re requesting and the complexity of the design. I think it’s a great option if you want a non-traditional, unique-to-you engagement ring without the bridal industry markups—I know this is a hot topic in the chat!

Here’s how I’ve been styling it:

They’re almost the same ring, but the size and proportion difference creates visual interest when worn together. The smaller one is from Loren Stewart (they do periodic sitewide sales). I call it my big gem & little gem, or the mom & the bebe.

The jade jellybean was my first bespoke piece from Emilie! These are my most cherished and personal pieces, and I think you can tell up close that they were made by the same person. I’m also giddy over how the celadon jade color looks against the murky apple green in this lighting.

And here’s another green gem ring stack, without the big cabochon ring. Just to show how I mix and match.

The pinky ring is a vintage 10K gold piece I found on Poshmark for $80 and got resized at Aster in Oakland, the small emerald signet is Catbird (current gold pricing is WILD because I got it for a bit over $300 a few years ago).

Below the fold for paid readers: 25 secondhand jewelry pieces inspired by my green ring stacks. Lots of green gemstones, cabochon rings, and legume-inspired shapes.

• These are all pieces I would wear, and align with my existing jewelry style

• A mix of fine jewelry and costume jewelry, bc I love both!

• Most pieces are under $100

Here is a sneak peek of what you’ll find—

Enjoy!

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Today I had a moment that felt quintessentially California: driving down Telegraph Avenue with my low gas light on, eating a chocolate concha as granulated sugar crumbs fell on my lap.

This is what I wore for my very casual 80 degree Saturday. I couldn’t be bothered to wear any makeup. I was just trying to be comfortable getting from point A to point B, hence the baggy Levi’s and Keen flip flops.

But this pink tank top, with one strap partially covered by a blue gingham tote (kindly gifted from Sandy Liang), singlehandedly carried the vibe of the outfit.

I had actually only bought this tank top last winter to hit an order minimum on a holiday sale on natural fiber base layers. (It’s priced at $84, but I had a 30% discount).

I remember coming across this strawberry milk colored tank on the website, and thinking, hmmm this has potential! The pink colorway drew me in but what made me add to cart was the fabrication. It’s a merino wool and silk blend, which I love, and felt justified the higher price point for a basic tank top.

With the extremely warm spring we’re having this year, this has been an easy top to wear with jeans on comfy-cute outfit days.

It feels like if Cou Cou and Smartwool had a baby, which is a great descriptor of my Bay Area style sensibility in general!

It’s from

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But now, at 31, I’ve mellowed out on sample sale FOMO. I have also simply lost my tolerance for long lines and getting shoulder-checked by fellow bargain huntresses. Sample sales are a younger woman’s game; I’m happy to watch the chaos and thrill from afar.

So, today’s newsletter is written by guest contributor Rosa Jisoo Pyo, a style, culture, and beauty writer in New York City. She has written for Vogue, Teen Vogue, Dazed, The Cut, and more. We have been long distance pen pal friends for a few years now, and met for the first time IRL when I was at NYFW this winter!

Handing it over to Rosa now :)

P.S. If you are Mika, Ellen, Bridget, or any of the gals in line who posed for a photo or gave a quote for the story, email me at [vivthemole@gmail.com] for a comped month’s subscription.

It’s trench coat season.

Both classic and cropped versions littered the line to the Sandy Liang sample sale.

When I came on Friday at 3pm, only ten-ish people were ahead of me in the line. I was gobsmacked. TikTok videos of the sale, which started two days ago, showed lines snaking through the streets of Chinatown. People waited hours before the 12pm opening. One woman even took a bus from Boston. But I was inside in less than twenty five minutes.

While I waited in line, I met Ellen and Bridget, who were experiencing their first Sandy Liang sample sale. For them, there was no budget, no hard limit. They simply had to see what was in stock.

Ellen wanted the red flower arm wristlet and a pair of the designer’s signature satin ballet flats. Bridget wanted the big bow purse in cream. I wanted a pair of silver nautical shell hoops and maybe a hair clip.

I saluted them as I went inside, and they wished me luck in finding the earrings. To enforce the no photo policy, dot stickers were placed over our phone cameras. Those with oversized bags had to place them in a designated area.

And then we were in.

An electric green sheer tulle dress greeted me.

Among it were three long rows of racks separated by garment type and, vaguely, by size. The left side of the room had jewelry, socks, and accessories. The wall in the very back had purses. A small room in the back right was filled with shoes. It felt like one of those carnival fun houses, but for coquette-ish wares.

A classic JBL black speaker was plugged into the wall and awkwardly stood on its side like a pointe shoe. The windows were covered with brown paper with its corners held down by pink tape. There were flimsy mirrors here and there, but we were not allowed to try any clothes on, just press the hangers against our bodies.

It was a bit ludicrous for the hundreds of dollars people were spending, but hey—sample sale rules.

I approached the closest rack on the right. Tempted by the Delia dress, which was marked down from $475 to $200, I snatched it up in an XS just in case—again, sample sale rules. However, the unlined nature of the white dress and drop waist caught me off guard. Five minutes went by before I recognized how much I didn’t need it, and with wise embarrassment, put it back on the rack.

Suddenly, my relationship with everyone around me changed. As soon as I walked in, a resource-guarding, scarcity mindset took over.

What happened to that measured, cool-headed girl in line?

It’s peak NYC sample sale season, and I’m bombarded with online content about them—Alaïa, Issey Miyake, KOTN, Sandy Liang. So, I coveted even when I did not necessarily need or want. And what did I want? Oh, right, the earrings. So I floated past the bright colored fleeces, tailored suit jackets, and pleated skirts.

Simply put, the jewelry section was run through. “People came in here with a game plan when it came to the jewelry,” said a woman behind the counter.

Among the leftovers were: chunky charm bracelets, prize ribbon earrings (which were only sold in gold), a Chinese character pendant for the word dragon on a thin ribbon, pink dragons printed on oversized pink-hued pearl earrings, and more. I showed a photo of my beloved seashell earrings to the lady behind the counter.

“They ran out yesterday,” she said. I texted Viv a screenshot of them and expressed my sadness. She thought they were cinnamon rolls.

Untethered by want, I wandered around. While the clothing could not be tried on, the shoes could.

There were designated “try on shoes.” Someone with extraordinarily neat handwriting wrote out a list of every shoe available, if there was a try-on pair, and what sizes they had. (I felt a wave of tenderness for them. They must love to write too).

The pearl-toed mule looked out of stock. There was an array of mesh ballet flats still up for grabs. There were a few satin ballet shoes in white left. I hoped Ellen got a pair.

Something I must say is that Sandy Liang has an affinity for beautiful buttons.

On coats, they lined up perfectly against each other like fish scales. I spent a minute or so running my finger down them in all their pearlescent coolness. After flipping through a rack, I saw a skirt that looks like satin underwear sewn over a see-through fabric. I was intrigued, but with none in my size, I passed. Another skirt appeared. A long, black, shiny skirt with two layers of what seemed to be sheer organza fabric on the backside. It emulated Prada with its modern-day bustle ruffle and structured tailoring.

I was excited until I flipped open the skirt and found out the lining and all were made from polyester. A beautiful skirt, but not worth the $250 for me.

There were two dutiful boyfriends. One followed his girlfriend like a lost dog while the other actively helped his partner pick things out. The perfect viewing of the nonchalant versus chalant boyfriend. Powering through each rack for the sake of journalism, there were pieces from their New York City Ballet x Heaven and Gap collaboration. As I left with nothing, I saw a pile of unwanted recital socks in a lucky red.

Afterwards, I went to Tompkins Square Park to meet my friend from Cleveland, Ohio. Jeff gave me a blueberry cinnamon roll and the pastry reminded me of the earrings I had wanted. We meandered to Cha-An tea house and sat down. A woman was wearing a pair of gold prize ribbon earrings, which caught the light and winked from across the table.

I hoped us Sandy girls got what we wanted.

xo viv

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If you’ve never heard of FRUiTS, I recommend reading this excellent well-researched overview. But the main thing you need to know is that it was a popular Japanese street style magazine founded by photographer Shoichi Aoki. He photographed real people in real outfits—and the result was something so authentic and refreshing that it rose to global sartorial influence.

As Kimberly, the author of the linked piece above wrote, Aoki stopped publishing FRUiTS Magazine in 2017, “citing that there simply weren’t enough interesting people to photograph anymore.”

In the year 2026, there is something delightful about flipping through a fashion magazine and seeing people who look like me, who aren’t celebrities or models or influencers, and recognizing that contagious spirit of uninhibited self-expression. Of course, it makes you want to emulate the colorful outfits, the barrette-adorned hair, the frosty eyeshadow makeup.

But I don’t think we can ever recreate the magic FRUiTS exactly again.

That era has passed, and the fact that I took these photos on self-timer on a tripod for a digital newsletter is proof of how social media has changed fashion forever. I can dress like a FRUiTS girl, but that doesn’t make me a FRUiTS girl.

And that’s ok—because there has to be more to fashion than nostalgia. At some point, when you have collected enough past references and 90s moodboards and vintage pieces, you have to do the work of creating your own meaning.

So that’s what I’m doing, figuring out how to be a Molehill girl.

The section ahead includes partial sponsored mentions from Sezane.

One thing about a FRUiTS girl is that she loves to layer. While I don’t really wear a lot of skirts over pants, I appreciate the flare shapes that culminate with a dramatic bell bottom and sky high platform sandal. Love the embrace of print here, and how the purples and pinks are echoed throughout the outfit elements.

My take: Vintage Vivienne Tam mesh top, vintage Gucci suede pants, Nomasei platform heels, vintage LV Papillon.

You know when you grow up with a sister or a best friend, and you each pick your signature color that you get to have a monopoly on wearing? This is what I imagine is the backstory behind these girls.

One is the red friend and one is the blue friend, and they stick with that color, from their eyeshadow to their socks. The red Minnie Mouse polka dots feel really cheerful and charming to me, as are the chunky bead jewelry and single white flower tucked in her bun.

My take: Cou Cou scoop tank, Madewell floral brooch (similar Etsy option), vintage belt, Sezane silk polka dot skirt, Sezane bangle set.

I was drawn to the ethereal glamour of her outfit—a long white dress can read fancy, but maybe she simply dressed with the belief that “every day is an occasion.” We will never know! Witchy feminine details, like the red lace straps and the beaded choker necklaces, convey a sense of her style.

My take: Silk Laundry Carrie silk dress, vintage Collette Dinnigan lace slip (as seen in Practical Magic), old Gray Matters pumps, vintage Gucci velvet purse.

Where to start?? I love everything about these outfits: the sheer layering, the cotton candy crochet, the white lace trim at the hips, the gazillion barrettes in their hair. It creates an eclectic, spontaneous effect really speaks to me. There’s also something funky about the white platforms—it’s almost giving 60s space cadet?—filing away on my spring moodboard.

My take: Vintage Anna Sui camo tee, Sezane silk tank top, armwarmers from jp ebay, Silk Laundry mesh skirt, vintage Prada platform sandals.

This feels like a Sandy Liang runway look, mostly because of the babydoll cut sailor collar dress. The styling of the bandana with the star barrettes and side part hair feels very 2026 cool girl editorial. Everything old is new again. Love the bright red backpack straps (she’s a busy girl with places to be), and whatever those awesome mummy wrap boots are.

My take: Vintage Anna Sui polka dot top, Sezane poplin blouse, vintage Issey Miyake sheer aqua skirt, Loeffler Randall Gemma clogs.

Coming next for paid readers: what really happened in the Sandy Liang sample sale line. Upgrade if you don’t wanna miss the full scoop. An annual subscription comes out to $1.15/week.

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xo viv

Thanks for being here. You can find me on IG and TT. My wardrobe recs are saved here—unless it’s vintage, of course ;) I may earn a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

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I didn’t feel prepared to turn on my “summer outfit” brain so soon in 2026, but here’s what I threw together and liked. No surprise, the most comfortable looks were natural fiber clothes. Documenting these for you, but also for me, so I have some ideas for what to pack for upcoming summer travel.

1.) Silk Mesh Skirt and Pointelle Cotton Tank

Silk Laundry is a brand I’ve been curious about trying for a long time because I love a well-executed silk dress, so I was genuinely GEEKED when they mailed me some gifted pieces (which I got to pick out!).

I immediately loved this gray-periwinkle silk mesh skirt (on sale rn for $85), because it’s so rare for see-through mesh fabrics to be made out of 100% silk rather than poly or rayon. It reminded me of the navy sheer mesh skirts as seen on HAIM. The elastic band is thin so it doesn’t dig into skin, I took my normal size (S).

I layered it over Oddli Swim Shorts (not a natural fiber, but I found the level of butt coverage to be the most comfortable for doing errands around town), which got a compliment from the girl at the pasta shop.

Kept the top exceedingly simple, with a Cou Cou pointelle scoop tank over an Oddobody cotton bralette. The proportions and fit meshed together nicely, I think. Wore this fit for errands around Oakland and Berkeley, popped into Warby Parker to try on sunglasses for wide faces and these Willetta sunglasses were my favorite, but I didn’t buy them.

2.) Silk Slip Dress with a Floral Brooch

Another Silk Laundry piece I wore straight out of the mail…the green is gorgeous, though looks a little less bright in-person vs. online. This is their bias cut 90s Slip, and I found sizing to be flexible. I’m wearing an S for a more relaxed fit, but XS could have worked too for a form-fitting look. The magic of bias cut fits!

P.S. I was thinking about the green silk outfit from Great Expectations when I picked out this color.

Brought in some color play with my neon green Soft & Wet silk bralette that’s many years old (brand has sadly shuttered, but I searched for a similar cut in 100% silk and this one from Papinelle fits the bill). The olive and neon green combo speaks to me so much—and I know it’s similar, almost too similar, but the Comme Si silk slip is on my wishlist.

I was dressing for dinner out with friends and wanted to spruce up the neckline, hence the brown floral brooch (Alexa Chung x Madewell, sold out). BUT this Etsy shop has good reviews and a colorful selection for about $30 apiece. I have this blue one in my cart. Added a glint of gold to the neckline with my Loren Stewart octogonal pendant with an graved gothic “v” initial.

Tied a striped button-down around the waist (also old AC x Madewell), which I draped on when it got breezier at night. Vintage LV Papillon is from a secondhand store in Japan, and I wore my Loeffler Randall jellies for the first time since last summer. I don’t care if jellies are on the “out” trend list this year since they had such a hot moment for the past two summers, I’m gonna keep wearing mine!

3.) Black Cotton Slip Dress

My most-worn and easiest outfit…the Cou Cou Iris cotton slip dress in black. That’s it. Breathable, has a waist tie string if you want a more fitted look, could wear as a nightgown but also looks like a normal dress out and about.

Maybe I add a necklace—like my Elsa Peretti Halston bean—but oftentimes it was too hot to think about accessorizing. Catch me walking my dog in this and crunchy ass Keen flip flops.

xo viv

Thanks for being here. You can find me on IG and TT. My wardrobe recs are saved here—unless it’s vintage, of course ;) I may earn a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

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My eyes are closed. I’m lying on a striped beach towel on a wooden platform lounger, limbs splayed out beneath direct sunlight, face covered by the protective brim of a pink umbrella. The synth-y wail of a Cocteau Twins song is playing in the background, but I can’t make out which direction it’s coming from. It doesn’t matter. My skin is warm, my bones are warm, everything is good.

This is how I spent last Saturday at a bayside sauna in Richmond called good hot. It’s one of the Bay Area’s coolest and most welcoming wellness spaces. Against the backdrop of a wellness culture that’s obsessed with wealth-flexing and self-optimization (SF tech bro immortality biohackers), good hot stands out for its mission of inclusivity, centering “the comfort of queer, BIPOC and bathers of different abilities.”

Everything about good hot’s visual language is very lowercase letters, very round shapes. The website gives you a sense of its eco-artsy-minimalism vibe, which is even more evident in person. You reserve one of their saunas ahead of time—ideal for small groups—and show up with your suit and towel and snacks. When we first pulled up in the parking lot, I thought, this feels like a mini Sea Ranch, with the wood beam design elements and beach rocks as reception desk decor.

It’s just a perfectly serene little spot overlooking the bay.

For the duration of your reservation, you can alternate between the wood sauna and a cold plunge in the bay (I stuck a foot in the water and decided a cold plunge was NOT in the cards for me). Afterwards, you can socialize and sunbathe over a kettle of peppermint tea from Oaktown Spice Shop. Our group pooled together some rice crackers, tangerines and nuts, and the group next to us were pros because they brought metal bowls and prepared some kind of orzo salad thing. Next time, I would pack a pesto turkey sandwich and some vinegar chips.

I’m interested in how wellness spaces connect with sartorial trends, such as the way stolen Wi Spa shirts have become a cultural signifier in pockets of LA.

So, I put on my trendspotting cap at good hot to observe how people dress at the Bay Area’s coolest sauna. Here are my notes.

Sauna Totes

Everyone brought a sauna bag, most of which were canvas totes big enough to store a towel or two, a change of clothes, and other personal knick knacks. I saw a Sandy Liang x Baggu cursive embroidery tote from that collab wayyy back when, and a monogramed L.L. Bean tote.

There were a few totes from local institutions like SFMOMA and Tokyo Fish Market. And some patterned Baggus were in the mix as well, which are ideal for carrying damp clothes. As for me, I brought my Alex Mill tote.

It’s not a place for flashy bags. Although, the girl carrying the Sandy x Baggu sauna tote also had a Fendi logo purse in the cubby area!

One-piece maillot suits

There was a pretty even split of one-piece and two-piece suits (I’ll get to those later), but in general, one-piece suits skewed towards a maillot style. Think tank top straps and higher cut legs. Styles tended to be classic and simple. When you’re sitting in a 175 degree sauna, you don’t want any large metal rings or embellishments burning your skin.

• Andie Swim Laguna suit (XS-3X)—saw sooo many classic black swimsuits with low cut backs.

• Left on Friday (XS-2XL)—dark brown was another popular color, this particular suit is giving Berkeley clog mom.

• J.Crew Nia gingham suit (0-24)—printed suits were on the subtle side, like a checked gingham or small polka dots. The wide straps also make this passable as a bodysuit that I’d style with a pair of silk pants.

• LIDO ombre print suit (XS-XL)—directly inspired by the woman I saw taking a cold plunge in the most vibrant sunset ombre printed suit!

• Summersalt Black Ruched Backflip suit (2-22)—love this deep V plunge neck take on a classic black suit.

• Araks Berry Luna suit (XS-2XL)—saw someone in a contrast trim suit similar to this one, very sporty and feminine at the same time.

• Damson Madder checked Lilibet suit (UK6-UK20)—this printed suit is giving Oakland girl with microbangs who goes to North Light after her appointment at Pony Studios. I might order it.

• Baserange brown heart cutout suit (XS-XL)—this also feels bodysuit-passing, and would be versatile tucked into a cotton skirt or low rise loose jeans for summer.

Quirked-Up Bikinis

Think: mismatched sets, unexpected colors, and a decent amount of cheeky swim shorts. Saw one girl wearing men’s floral print board shorts with a bikini top and black Teva Hurricanes.

Below the fold, 8 suits from small independent brands inspired by the bikinis/two-pieces of sauna scene:

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1). Pick a signature seasonal flower

Spring does not officially start until the first vase of pink tulips graces the coffee table. I have decided that this specific color and flower is my seasonal favorite. Sometimes I’ll mix with other stems (ranunculus girlies wya), but I always come back to pink tulips.

I think the Full Belly Farm bouquets at Monterey Market (top photo) have the best price-to-quality ratio (better color vibrancy, stem hardiness, overall freshness), but Trader Joe’s flowers (bottom photo) are good value for what they are.

2). Deal with your cardboard boxes

A pile of cardboard boxes waiting to be broken down, recycled, and turned into more cardboard for more online e-commerce is the ultimate representation of the doldrums of modern life. It just never ends. Here is my current cardboard pile, which is honestly not that bad compared to the leaning tower of pisa/jenga situations I’ve built up through avoidant neglect.

I set aside 20ish minutes and bust out my mini pink box cutter to gaslight myself into thinking this is a fun, cutesy task. It feels like a huge achievement after everything’s been cut up and tucked nicely into the recycling bin in a space-efficient way. It makes me feel like a really good citizen.

3). Maintain a colorful fruit bowl

If the kitchen is the heart of the home, then the fruit bowl is its heart of hearts. Every week or so, I pick out everything that has gone bad (a moldy lemon is the usual culprit), compost it, wash the fruit bowl, and arrange the rest in a satisfying color gradient. Tbh it could use some limes for a splash of green!

4). Organize your desk

*This section includes a sponsored mention from Burga.

It is a constant struggle to keep my desk clear. At any given time it’s strewn with hair ties, lip glosses, receipts, post-it notes with newsletter ideas, color pencils, and 1099 forms (the bane of tax season). Last winter, I ordered two green Bisley under-desk storage cabinets, plus a smaller yellow desk cabinet (this model is 25% off rn), and they’ve been an organization lifesaver. Perfect if you have a lot of crafting stuff or collect paper ephemera like me.

Here is one of my stationary + tech accessory drawers. Doesn’t have to be perfect, I just need to be able to see where everything is.

Check out my favorite fawn print powerbank from BURGA here and get 15% off all products with my code VIVX15. The dual charging (magsafe + cable) comes in clutch when I need to charge my phone and a portable mic for a day of on-the-ground reporting!

5). Indulge in a shower orange

If you’ve never heard of a shower orange, let me change your life. It’s when you bring a whole orange into the shower with you and peel it and eat it…in the shower. The hot water steams the citrus rind so everything smells zesty, and it brings a delightful added sensory dimension to a self-care task. I like doing a shower tangerine or mandarin—something with a thinner peel and easy slices. Try it and let me know what you think.

6). Bookmark recipes from my favorite cookbook

With each change in the seasons I often find myself stuck on what to cook for dinner. Despite letting seasonal produce guide my grocery shopping, I feel rusty. Like, am I forgetting another way I could use this extra basil? Should I commit to buying a whole bag of fava beans to make falafel from scratch, or will I get overwhelmed once the food processor and tahini gets involved and wish I just ordered takeout from Fava?

So, I flip through my trustiest cookbooks—Salt Fat Acid Heat is a classic—and bookmark recipes that are (1) realistic for my energy level and (2) reliably delicious. Lately, that has been pesto from scratch with canned chickpeas and a store-bought rotisserie chicken. My pesto is made with Brightland olive oil and a LOT of raw garlic.

7). Burn pear incense

I don’t like all incense. Sometimes I go to a natural wine bar or fancy “concept store” and I get a massive headache from whatever incense they’re burning. Scent is very personal! Luckily, my partner and I both love the pear scent from Ichiko Ichie, a Japanese incense brand that we stumbled upon in Osaka a few years ago.

It’s crisp, green, and pleasant. It soothes my nervous system and feels familiar. It’s what home smells like.

If you are traveling in Japan, you can order it online and they’ll ship it to whatever city you’re staying in—that’s how we restocked on our incense when we were in Fukuoka last winter. It is expensive to buy outside of Japan, unfortunately. If you’re in the US, Brooklyn Tailors in NYC carries it.

8). Grow something

My friend passed the gardening bug to me, so now I’m in that stage where you’re obsessed with seed packet art and googling what does it mean to SOW a seed (this reminds me of the line from Schitt’s Creek about FOLDING the cheese).

I limited myself to a realistic haul of (3) seed packets from the local nursery, and sowed two dozen California poppy seeds this weekend. They are supposed to be pretty resilient to all soil types, which will be good for my morale as a beginner.

I’m not expecting to have much of a green thumb, but it feels good to touch dirt and I can always try again if they don’t sprout…having a low-stakes gardening project gives me something to look forward to every day.

Molehill Miscellany

• EADEM sent me their Lip Softening Balms in a few shades, and Bissap Glaze is 1000% the reddish-brown shade for my complexion. The color does not last as long as a lipstick/lip stain, but the formula does what it says in that my lips do feel noticeably softer after application.

• This March heat wave has me so sluggish, sweaty and craving a bowl of cold noodles. I’m living in my Cou Cou cotton slip dress and Lunya silk slip dress.

• Bay Area readers: ReLove in Oakland has a great collection of Dosa silk pieces in stock right now.

• Friday’s newsletter is about my recent trip to good hot, a bayside community sauna with signature design details like porthole windows and the exclusive use of lowercase text signage. Paid readers will get access to the whole article, which includes an in-depth edit of my favorite swimwear brands.

xo viv

Thanks for being here. You can find me on IG and TT. My wardrobe recs are saved here—unless it’s vintage, of course ;) I may earn a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

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Today’s newsletter is inspired by a reader message I received two days ago:

It was in reference to this piece I wrote last October—one of the most beloved Molehill letters to date!—about the cozy, witchy charm of the fictional Owens sisters' outfits.

I had always thought of the movie as THE sartorial blueprint for Halloween/fall vibe dressing, but the timing of this reader’s message made me realize…Practical Magic is actually a movie about spring fashion, too!

From Sally and Gillian’s cardigan-over-slip dress outfit formula to Aunts Frances and Bridget’s proclivity for lush patterned layers, dressing like a 90s witch is perennially in style.

This newsletter will focus on the clothes, but Practical Magic is a mindset more than anything. It’s a lifestyle rooted in plants, sisterhood, and the magic in the everyday.

This can look like brewing a morning cup of mint tea with local honey, or trying to grow a wee dill plant on your city apartment windowsill. Or dancing in your room to Mazzy Star songs in organic cotton underwear after a shower. Or having a girl’s night over homemade pesto pasta, followed by laptop time on the couch for parallel play AKA eBay browsing together. Oh and midnight margaritas, OBVIOUSLY!!!

Below, an updated (and improved!) guide to Practical Magic dressing—spring edition. It’s a looong one today.

Botanical Print

This lilly of the valley print set Sally wears is the epitome of spring earth witch. It’s from 1998 Blumarine, and it’s like Narnia where a vintage grail will only appear online if you are NOT looking for it…

Here are some secondhand pieces to brew herbal tonics in.

BODE Lily of the Valley Shirt — XS, $200. I’ve never owned a BODE piece, but the brand is all about craftsmanship. This shirt is what I imagine an off-duty Chez Panisse cook would wear with those brown oiled leather Dansko clogs.

Josephine Chaus Silk Green Leaf Skirt —Size 12, $20. Excellent price for vintage silk, would look adorable with a simple white tank top and straw hat.

Y2K 100% Silk Botanical Fern Halter Slip Dress — Size 2, $48. I love a bias cut. Wear this to a spring wedding. It would look so rom-com heroine styled with a cream colored thong mule similar to the Sandy ones, or these Blumarine green butterfly ones that are sadly not my size.

Ann Taylor 90s vintage sheer silk blouse — 6P, $34. The silhouette gets the little details right: the fluttery-ness, the V-neck, the keyhole on the back. A sheer moment is so pretty and the purple adds a witchy feeling. Wear this with low (ish) rise relaxed jeans.

Botanical Leaf Crochet Trim Cardigan—2X, $35. Love the mix of olive green and the brighter, almost silverly flecks in the leaves. I’d style it with these green sneakers I have that are a close color match.

Diane von Furstenberg 100% Silk Leaf Print Skirt —Size 2/4, $43. Picturing this with a green cardigan for something work appropriate. Maybe in this chartreuse shade or a bright melon green.

Garden Fairy Florals

Botanical vs. floral gives a very different energy, which is exemplified by the difference between Sally’s herb witch fit and this Victorian garden fairy look Gillian is serving here (it’s 50% the white sheer gloves). The former is more earthy and tangible, the latter is more floaty and ethereal.

Here are pieces that nail the fairy-like aura you’re looking for in the sea of secondhand floral prints.

Vintage silk floral skirt with three ruffles—size 4, $32. The placement of the ruffles!

Calvin Klein bias cut floral midi skirt—size 8, $22. Somewhere out there is a person who looks gorgeous in dusty mauve, and that person is not me. I love the ~mystique~ of this print.

Vintage 100% Silk Floral Whimsigoth Skirt—2XL, $34. Feels more 2000s than 90s, but the ditsy daisy print still gives garden fairy.

Moschino Cheap & Chic floral silk midi skirt - Size 8, $163. The colorway is a little too saturated for the Practical Magic universe, but I’m biased because I have this print in the cami version! This is like, if the witches time traveled to 2002.

Vintage Embroidered Sheer Silk Side Zip Pencil Skirt — 4P, $20. The colors in this skirt are so 90s it reminds me of the curtains in the house I grew up in. If you told me this was a vintage Prada design, I would believe you. The combination of the silk and sheer texture is perfect. With pencil cut skirts like this, I think you could do a sexier cami shape with some lace to offset the primness.

Floral Embroidered Cardigan

Below the fold, breakdowns of more Practical Magic style references + 18 more curated secondhand links/styling ideas. The Molehill doesn’t use affiliate links below the paywall. Thanks for your support!

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The best thing about spring is fresh flowers and seasonal produce—and the best place to experience it is a Bay Area specialty grocery store.

When the blueberry mountain made its spring debut at Monterey Market, all the locals in their Eileen Fisher capris and Osprey backpacks clamored around to fill their compostable bags by the handful. This will happen again with the English pea drop, and again with the Blenheim apricot drop. (People really lose their shit over the apricots).

Botanical reverence is deeply engrained in our way of life here. And it’s my biggest style influence, especially when it comes to color combos. When I wear pink and green, it’s because I’m inspired by the ballet slipper-hued tulip bouquets from Full Belly Farms. When I wear a burst of orange, I think of the California poppies sprouting on the sidewalk. When I wear shades of yellow-green, it’s an homage to the sourgrass weeds that blanket every grassy park and hiking trail this time of year.

Today’s newsletter covers the four building blocks of my early spring wardrobe, which are heavily informed by the fruits and flowers I see in my daily life.

1). Colorful leather flats

If I’m rushing out the door and don’t have time to fuss over my shoe choice, I’m slipping into a pair of these. I am a secondhand Martiniano loyalist (the best deals are on jp ebay and the occasional TRR fluke pricing).

Freda Salvador’s woven take on the ballet flat may seem simple, but it’s a staple in my shoe rotation because of its specific design details, like high the vamp is and how the woven structure accommodates wider feet.

The metallic pink vintage Miu Miu’s are more for the vibes than for comfort, but it’s still a pretty great walking flat.

If I’m wearing a colorful leather flat, the rest of my outfit can be simple and I’ll still feel like myself.

2). Relaxed denim for park days

I plan to spend a lot of time at the park this spring.

Usually, I remember to pack my picnic blanket, but sometimes a girl spontaneously ends up in Dolores Park with a burrito and mandarin Jarritos and it’s best to be wearing jeans that can handle some grass stains and rolling around in the dirt…ya know?

This specific Levi’s style is incredibly comfortable and baggy-legged enough to do impromptu downward dog in:

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Reader, I am in a great mood.

It’s Saturday and I’m lying on a picnic blanket in my yard. It’s hot enough that my skin and hair feels warm to the touch after 10 minutes outside, but not so hot that I feel sweaty. I could fall asleep to the smell of jasmine blooms and the metallic twinkle of the neighbor’s wind chimes. Everyone in the Bay Area seems to be a in a great mood lately, because spring is in the air.

Yesterday I had what I would consider a perfect solo afternoon in San Francisco. Here’s my itinerary of where I ate, shopped, and people watched in the Civic Center/Hayes Valley area. I plan to write more Bay Area city/neighborhood guide newsletters this spring and summer, so follow along for all the hyperlocal recs!

This newsletter covers:

• where to go for your next leisurely 2 hour lunch

• the best jeans I tried on at APC

• a tucked away boutique that carries Simone Rocha and Cecilie Bahnsen

• spots to know for sweet treats and baked goods

• + seeking your theories on why SF men are a leading demographic for baseball cap sales…

9am: Have breakfast with my mediocre homemade matcha and admire the blooming tulips I got from Monterey Market.

I’m new to making matcha, and currently experimenting with the hojicha and ceremonial blend from Rocky’s. It’s quality stuff—very aromatic and rich—but I’m still struggling with the milk part. Like what kind of milk to use, how to get the barista level foam, how to get the ratios right.

10am: Dentist appointment. It’s just a routine cleaning and goes smoothly.

11am: Get to the BART station. Of course, the Milbrae train departs right as I’m tapping in, so I have to wait another 15 minutes for the next one. Grumble. I tighten my trench coat around my neck as the gust of train-arrival wind hits.

12pm: Get off at Civic Center and walk down Market Street to Zuni Cafe.

I’m very familiar with this stretch of the city, because I used to work in the City Hall building before COVID-19 hit. As I pass by my old lunchtime haunts, I think about how distant that existence of writing policy memos in Everlane loafers feels now.

I couldn’t get a reservation but luckily, they’re able to accomodate my walk-in party of one. The hostess seats me between a pair of “ladies who lunch” tables. Everyone is gossiping with white wine, caesar salad and shoestring fries.

I order the same but opt for the english pea bucatini instead of the fries because I am a hoe for seasonal produce.

And ugh, the lunch is SO leisurely and indulgent. I stare the yellow awning between sips of my riesling and feel the warm air waft in from the side door propped open with a firewood log. The women to my right turn out to be a group of wine judges, and they’re talking about how drinking for competitions is an endurance sport and their tips for getting through 5-6 hours of wine tasting.

This is the second time I’ve eaten at Zuni, and it’s always a fanciful experience, perfectly paced for a lazy 1.5-2 hour lunch.

1:15pm: Saunter over to the APC store in Hayes Valley, where I have an appointment to try on their denim styles and pick out a gifted pair. I am walking down Gough at a snail’s pace because (1) I am very full and (2) I am not in a rush.

I try on all the jeans and they are all too long on me, but Aubrey the store manager reminds me that they offer hemming. My favorite dark wash jeans I own would have to be the Studio Nicholson Neive and the Auralee Hard Twist (here’s a pair on TRR), so I’m mentally comparing every style against these.

Ultimately, I liked the straight leg Domino style the most—they fit veryyyyyy similar to the Auralee pair, down to the permanent crease down the front. The wash is just a bit darker, and the pant leg is a little bit wider at the hem.

Making sure I can bend and lunge in them.

The raw denim runs small, so I sized up to 27 from my usual 26. I also folded the hem up by about 5 inches. They’re getting tailored and will be mailed to me next week.

My favorite tidbit of the APC store visit was actually my chat with the store manager. I asked him what the clientele was like in the SF store and what product categories do the best in terms of sales. His answer surprised me.

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Happy March! The weather’s starting to get really nice in the Bay. Like, let’s get a matcha and lie on a blanket in the park all afternoon nice. Let’s eat acorn noodle bowls outdoors at Joodooboo at 7pm nice. Was I depressed or did I just need a sunny 68 degree day nice!

This weekend, I decided I was ready to pack away my cold weather gear for the year. I got a bunch of stuff specifically for the New York tundra last month but frankly, as long as I steer clear of the Outer Sunset in June (iykyk), I won’t need my merino wool base leggings for a loooong time. As I was separating my extra thick seal blubber heat tech from my all-weather thin heat tech and fishing out wool snoods from my drawers, it hit me that my family could actually use all this stuff.

My parents are traveling to see the Northern Lights. They’ll be the first in our bloodline to be in the Arctic Circle and I think it’s really cool. My sibling caught the snowboarding bug, and it feels like they’re out on the slopes every other weekend nowadays.

As the eldest of three, I was raised to be resourceful about sharing clothes and constantly assessing what could go in a hand-me-down pile. My mom and siblings can share most of my clothes and shoes—we’re not all exactly the same size, but for things like stretchy leggings and headwear, it works. Same goes for some of my close friends. It makes me happy when my loved ones are comfortable borrowing my clothes and vice versa. I love sharing clothes with the people I love!!!

So I decided to make a communal family cold weather gear kit of sorts. But it’s less hand-me-down, and more “we have REI co-op at home,” because a lot of the stuff is honestly in pristine condition.

Today I went to my sibling’s apartment carrying a big Santa sack of cold weather gear to give them first dibs. Here’s what they picked out to borrow indefinitely—

First up, these lug sole weather boots which I initially got for the New York snow, but have not been worn since I’ve been back in California. I know my siblings’ tastes very well and knew they would loveeeeee these. It made me so happy when they were like, “these are so cute wtf!!!” As a big sister it never gets old spoiling your little littermates with nice things. Drink a hot cocoa at the lodge in them for me please!

Next, they tried on the moss green wool snood that kept my head warm in New York. That was a keeper too. I think this design is ideal for people with bangs because it minimally presses down on them, unlike a beanie. I hate beanies. I also like how you can tuck it into a coat collar, or let it layer over (pictured below).

The last cherry of the pick was this magenta pink, orange trim lightweight down puffer from Mont-bell that I got secondhand for $35 on Mercari. If I’m gonna do a sporty down jacket, it has to be in fun colors! (Green is also nice). I got it because a reader shared a cold weather layering tip: wear a thin down jacket underneath a big oversize wool coat to look stylish.

I can vouch for quality of Mont-bell jackets. My sibling held up their magenta REI brand down puffer and side-by-side, you can tell the Mont-bell one is a thicker fabric, the down “rolls” are puffier, and the zippers/velcro are more thoughtfully designed. I know we’re coming out of winter, but it’s a great secondhand outerwear brand to have in your back pocket for the future.

Last but not least, check out these cashmere armwarmers my sibling upcycled from a shrunken tank top I gave them a few months ago. Don’t they look great? The tank top was cut along the side with sharp scissors, sewn to create a “sleeve” and the thumb holes are made by one precise scissor snip. No unraveling or fraying cause the cashmere was so finely knit and also shrunken/dense from washing.

Other things in the cold weather kit:

• Heat tech sets

• Cashmere/wool long socks

• Merino wool base layer from Dilling

Final thought—I think we should treat our wardrobes more like libraries. Try to keep your clothes in wider circulation beyond just yourself. I guess that will be one of my goals for 2026. Beyond cold weather gear, this seems very useful for occasions like wedding guest outfits. If you’re a close friend reading this and you ever want to borrow a piece from my closet, just lmk!! <3

As always, I’d love to hear your stories/thoughts of sharing clothes as a form of intimacy in the comments.

Molehill Miscellany

• I always look forward to new seasonal colors from Oddobody underwear. The periwinkle “fog” is pretty.

• Sirene in Oakland has a different lunch menu every day; I tried the soppressata sandwich yesterday and it was a perfect bite. Fluffy airy bread, generous swipe of pistachio pesto.

• My hair is getting long and it gets greasier faster. There’s just MORE hair for dirt and oil to cling onto. It’s an adjustment using 3 pumps of Hairstory new wash instead of 2 (and I only used ONE when I had a short bob) but these are the trade offs of long hair I guess! I also want to book a deep scalp cleaning soon.

• Anyone else watching Survivor Season 50? I read this Allure article about how “even the Survivor contestants are snatched now” wish I wrote it because it’s that good. But also, Jeff Probst should be a part of this conversation as the “face” of the show for decades.

• A reader sent me this update re: CBK-mania on eBay. I think Love Story is the biggest fashion-y TV show at the moment and we cannot escape it. Preparing myself for the aftershock of tomorrow’s episode.

xo viv

Thanks for being here. You can find me on IG and TT. My wardrobe pieces and recs are saved here—unless it’s vintage, of course ;) I may earn a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

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What is the first thing you would do after pulling off a $110M gamble?

The only time I smiled during last night’s Industry finale was seeing Sweetpea Golightly’s answer: ordering McDonald’s fries with caviar on them, and graduating from secondhand Prada to “actual fucking Prada.”

It was a brief flash of joy and levity in the season’s darkest episode yet. Everyone else took the plunge into the depths of desperation (Whitney applying wig glue in a seedy Best Western) and depravity (Yasmin completing her chilling transformation into Ghislaine Maxwell). These characters are so far gone in their soul rot that they’re numb to their private jets and luxury shopping sprees and hotel suites.

In contrast, something about Sweetpea being excited to celebrate with caviar-loaded fries felt so…normal. It almost felt like innocence—or whatever semblance of it could exist in the hellscape of this fictional world.

The destruction of Tender should feel like a massive achievement for Harper Stern, my favorite TV anti-hero. She has spent the season trying to land a financial short that would further cement her position as a top dog in this 1% elite society. But as Sweetpea and Kwabena hug and jump and scream giddily over the $110M windfall, Harper’s body language remains hardened. Her expression reads as relief more than happiness. She retreats to another room and cannot help but give Eric a call to relay the news. He does not pick up. Her face finally breaks into tears as she sits in a puddle of abandonment and loneliness, wearing last night’s club clothes.

“I don’t even know if she has hobbies,” muses, as he analyzes Harper’s “empty ambition” in his recent newsletter. She might have fancier clothes and digs compared to previous seasons, but she still lives to work. Her passion is insider trading. Can you imagine Harper ever baking banana bread? Or reading a book for FUN??

By the end of Season 4, we can see those financial crime wheels turning in her head as she plots her next target, her next gamble, her next win.

Harper’s wardrobe is a masterful window into her character arc; I wrote about her corpcore evolution in past seasons here.

I’ve always found Harper’s wardrobe and presentation to be the most compelling out of all the Industry women, because she’s such a chameleon and keen observer of social codes. While Yasmin’s wardrobe is a predictable luxury fashion Substack dream blunt rotation (Bottega, MaxMara, The Row, etc.), Harper’s is a bit more unexpected. In this season, she wears Chanel and YSL bags, but also Nili Lotan barrel leg jeans and Completedworks earrings. And my personal favorite, a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier conical bra denim jacket!

To understand Harper’s sartorial psyche, I interviewed costume designer Laura Smith.

Our conversation is centered on this bespoke three-piece Savile Row suit that Smith designed for Harper. It epitomizes who she is at the start of the season. She wears it for her entrance scene, stepping out of a black car with a Hugo Boss coat draped over her shoulders and a new micro braid hairstyle, which points out is “one of the most expensive and labour-intensive braided styles available.” She oozes money and power.

Below, we discuss:

• Why gray is Harper’s signature color and what it symbolizes

• Why Season 4 Harper never wears button-down shirts or blouses

• How Harper’s outfit repeating was inspired by Donna Karan’s 7 Easy Pieces

• How Harper’s mentor/father figure Eric influenced her wardrobe choices

Interview has been edited for concision and clarity.

Viv: Tell me about your design choices for Harper’s custom three-piece suit. The criss-cross neckline in particular is quite unexpected, and the fact that it’s sleeveless (as opposed to a traditional button-down shirt).

Laura: The suit for Harper came from something Mickey and Konrad scripted about the way Harper looks as she exits her car and we follow her through the halls of Mostyn Asset Management. (Serving cunt, basically.)

It had to read as a complete turn from where we met Harper at the start of Season 3. It was why it could not be a traditional button-down shirt. Harper has done shirts and blouses and they are packed in her past—they did not serve her. It had to be a look that took up space in a particular way. It had to feel light, taut and mobile.

It felt important talking with Myha’la to give the look a femininity, because we have rarely seen Harper in such elevated heels or in a skirt. We discussed her pragmatism, and working with the modular wardrobe of Donna Karan—the 7 easy pieces. This is something Harper may have been aware of in her own mother’s world.

It felt right to have the suit explode and break up and reform after Harper’s relationship with Mostyn Asset Management breaks apart.

Viv: This is a bespoke Savile Row suit, it’s a major status flex for Harper. To ground it in material terms, how much would a suit like this cost?

Laura: Anything from £8,000 ($10,700) to about £22,000 ($29,500). There are three tiers: ready to wear, made to measure and bespoke. This is the bespoke price bracket.

Viv: Was there a particular reason why you chose gray as her signature color? Harper wears a lot of gray suiting and silver jewelry in Season 4.

Laura: Yes—this silver grey is a tone we haven’t seen worn by any of the leads in this way. It cut through tonally in the world of Mostyn Asset Management and shine in the world of Al Mi’Raj Pierpoint. It felt like an understated but elegant tonal range for Harper. It made her visible and distinctive in moments like the Alpha Conference.

Viv: I interpreted the color as a metaphor for moral grayness and how Harper is always operating on the edge of legal vs. illegal. In their final argument, Yasmin justifies her choices to Harper with her worldview of “both, and”—to her, trafficking young girls is both “exploitation and opportunity,” Eric is both “a man and a monster.” Nothing is black and white, everything is gray.

Viv: I love that throughout the season, we see Harper wearing individual pieces of the suit, treating it like a modular part of her wardrobe. What was the intention behind these outfit repeat/remix moments?

Laura: It spoke to her pragmatism. It’s one less choice for Harper in a system of a multiplicity of choices, where each has to be right and well-timed. A suit like this also has a way of being worn and supporting the wearer. These clothes give confidence, but it also takes confidence to wear them. It’s a reinforcing feedback loop.

We took the block of the suit and translated it into the boucle tweed dress in episode 6. The intention in the story was that Harper was meant to do the CNN interview that Eric goes on to do. She is wearing a look that calls back to the skirt suit look we see at the opening.

Men’s relationship with their suiting is that they will often return to a favourite suit, often having two pairs of trousers made for one suit in a bespoke context. These are all things you gradually become aware of in this world.

Talking with Ken about Eric’s relationship to suiting, he felt it was like armour—it changes the way you stand. Transposing this into Harper’s world was also important in terms of the information a mentee takes from their mentor.

Viv: Did Myha’la end up keeping the 3-piece suit?

Laura: Yes!

xo viv

Thanks for being here. You can find me on IG and TT. My wardrobe pieces and recs are saved here—unless it’s vintage, of course ;) I may earn a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

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Hi! It’s been a while since I’ve covered my personal secondhand finds, so today’s letter covers my top 5 scores of the year so far. Paid readers get the full list and access to the secondhand sonar doc, where I’ve dropped 30 links to similar pieces you can shop.

1). Gaultier Tiger Print Coat

This one takes the cake, no question. I was searching for animal print outerwear last month on jp ebay and froze when this fur-trimmed fabulosity appeared on page 8 out of god knows how many. It was during one of those listless glum winter nights where you’re zombie-clicking “next page, next page” on ebay with a TV show playing the background, just frying your dopamine receptors to a crisp but then AHA! You see something a listing that jumps off the screen, and you know you’ve struck gold.

It’s a vintage piece from Gaultier’s Jeans, a diffusion line from Jean Paul Gaultier. If it looks familiar, it’s because you might have seen it on FKA Twigs.

The exterior is a glossy velour fabric, and the print is a cheeky combination of tiger stripes and camouflage. The inside is lined with quilted padding, so it has a nice weight to it and keeps you warm. The only thing I would dock points for is that the front closures are just three little hook-and-eye clasps, and they aren’t very secure.

It arrived in time for my New York trip, and was my most worn coat that week! It was also a hit among the faux-hemian characters in the Bowery lobby.

2). Apple Green Martiniano Heels

Honestly, I got these because they were well-priced on TRR ($75, rare for Martiniano shoes) and the color spoke to me. The pointed-toe and nub heel were a departure from the glove flats I know and love, but the supple leather is distinctly Martiniano. Because the leather is super soft, you might see a slight anatomical outline of your toes (which I think is cool and avant-garde lol).

I wore them out for dinner at Rose Pizzeria last night with vintage Levi’s straight leg jeans.

3). Romeo Gigli Tinted Sunglasses

These are a find from Rite of Passage in Brooklyn. I wasn’t planning on shopping sunglasses, but they caught my eye because of the jello red tint. Once I tried them on, I couldn’t stop grinning. They were equal parts groovy and cunty. The nose pads are comfy, and the frames don’t slide off my low nose bridge.

Tinted sunglasses like these have actually been such a winter accessory MVP for adding color and visual interest above the neck.

4). The Perfectly Drapey Slouchy Trench of my Dreams!!!

Trench coats have always been tricky for me. I am 5’2”, so the excess length on trenches usually make me look like a child detective, when what I want to channel is Harper Stern. Also, I spent years thinking Burberry was the gold standard of trench coats, but they always felt too stiff and preppy for my taste!

I have never found a trench coat that drapes and slouches perfectly, without drowning me in fabric—until I slipped into this one at Ebreo, a new-ish Italian menswear vintage shop in Brooklyn. Not my usual haunt, but I went in thinking “maybe I’ll fit some pieces from some short kings!”

And I’m glad I did, because from the moment I saw THIS trench hanging from the wall, I knew I had to try it on. The fabric just looked so nice—soft but not limp. The shoulders (which are usually a stiff and boxy pain point for me) looked gently sloped and relaxed. The shop guy took it down off the wall for me.

My hands pawed over the fabric. It was, without a doubt, the nicest cotton I’d ever felt on a trench coat. Medium weight, double-lined in certain areas, but soooooooo soft—the results of years of washing and wear, I imagine.

I put it on. I really did feel like Harper Stern.

I had to know who made this trench, because the quality and craftsmanship was undeniable. I’m proud to report that I was committed to buying the trench before checking the inside tag, which is how I know that I genuinely love it and not just because it’s from an iconic designer!

This trench is by

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Ok, all done?

If anyone said they were willing to pay more than $100, I’d be curious to hear why.

The “reveal” is that this is a vintage 1996 Prada skirt worn by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and it’s listed at $1400 (or best offer) on eBay.

On the listing, the first image you see isn’t the brown skirt clipped on a bebe hanger on the back of someone’s door in shoddy lighting, but an old 90s photo of JFK Jr. and CBK in the said skirt.

The skirt itself looks fine—it’s made of wool and probably well-constructed, but that’s not what prospective buyers or looky-loos like me are really interested in. The seller knows that the allure of the skirt comes from the mythology and obsession around its wearer. So the CBK tax must apply, to the tune of $1400!

How CBK-mania is showing up in the secondhand fashion marketplace:

The “a famous person wore it” pricing markup on secondhand sites is nothing new, but since Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette premiered this month, “CBK style” content has reached a fever pitch across the fashion internet.

On eBay, where I spend most of my time trawling for vintage designer, I’ve seen an increase in Prada, Yohji, and Calvin Klein listings that have the words “Carolyn Bessette Kennedy” in the title, regardless of whether she actually wore the item or not. Sellers know what they have, and they're using the show's popularity and the spike in interest to justify higher prices.

Here’s another noteworthy example. This Calvin Klein Collection Spring 1995 Silver Slip Dress worn by CBK, Kate Moss, and Christy Turlington is currently listed at $20K on eBay. Completely out of reach for the vast majority of people, but hey, 239 girls can dream.

Out of curiosity, I did a reverse image search and found that this listing (same seller) was priced at $12K in November of 2023.

That’s a price increase of $8K, or 67%. I don’t know for sure when the price went up, but I know for certain it was driven by the recent hype around Love Story.

Who is actually buying these insanely expensive pieces? If they weren’t already sourced by the show’s costume designer with a Hulu budget behind them, who does that leave as a viable buyer? I’d love to hear your theories.

IDK CBK

To backtrack—I didn’t even know who CBK was until like, last year when those initial show teaser photos came out and everyone hated the fast fashion-y costumes. I knew of her in the sense that her name came up in history class, but I wasn’t aware of her status as a style icon. As shared on Notes, CBK was never a style reference for me either—so it's been fascinating to watch the speed and magnitude with which people are now emulating her tortoiseshell headbands and black turtlenecks. CBK cosplay has become a full-blown trend on TikTok, and I feel the same way about it as I do about Carrie-fishing.

Love Story is a visually beautiful show with excellent needle drops. My favorite scenes involve the Calvin Klein office…I like the way the elevator doors are shot and the specificity of the office layout. It reminds me of the Mad Men treatment of TV office sets—not my house, but I know my way around!

The acting feels a touch corny at times (take a shot every time we get a ~casual~hair tousle), but I am invested in the story and will continue to watch it through the end. My final thought: I can appreciate CBK's style and its onscreen depiction, but it won’t be influencing my personal style.

• The Heaven Mayhem bean shaped necklace now comes in GREEN. It’s glass, not jade, but a fun way to experiment with the jade bean look if you’re pining after the Elsa Peretti version…

• For my Industry-heads, I have a dedicated newsletter on Harper’s Season 4 style coming soon, but in the meantime you can catch up with my analysis of her Seasons 1-3 style here.

• My siblings have influenced me on Rocky’s matcha. My LA sister was like “it’s the good matcha they use at Community Goods” and my TCM herbalist sibling was like it’s just “rich and dimensional, bright and creamy.” So now I have a few tins on the way.

• Sandy Liang has a collaboration with bag maker Porter Yoshida & Co. launching on 9/27, 6am PST online. I have high hopes for this collab because Porter Yoshida has a solid reputation for craftsmanship, but I’ve always found their bags too utilitarian/too “menswear-y” for my tastes lol. Maybe the girls will finally get their dream laptop tote out of this crossover.

• interviewed me about my 12 favorite things.

• The first thing I like to cook after being away from home is a batch of dino kale pesto, over whatever pasta shape I have in the pantry. I blend 1 bunch of dino kale, ~3 cloves raw garlic, and adjust lemon-flavored olive oil/lemon juice/salt/pepper to taste. I love the sharp garlicky herby flavor profile and I can always use the fiber after not getting enough veggies on the road. Also, the verdant pesto in bright yellow East Fork bowl makes for a satisfying Molehill color combo.

xo viv

Thanks for being here. You can find me on IG and TT. My wardrobe pieces and recs are saved here—unless it’s vintage, of course ;) I may earn a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

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“The Molehill was the first paid Substack I ever subscribed to. I’m from the Bay Area and now live in New York, and initially fell for Viv’s sartorial style. What’s kept me is her writing — genuine, thoughtful, and fun. She offers fashion inspiration that feels unique and deeply engaged, yet never intimidating. It’s stylish, smart, and completely accessible.” — Isabelle

Attending fashion week was never a top objective for me.

My job might be industry-adjacent-ish, but at the end of the day it’s not a necessity for me to be there. NYFW seemed like a cool opportunity to see a high concentration of creativity and style inspo in one place—but nothing I’d travel across the country for out of pocket during one of the more expensive weeks for flights and hotels. (For reference, accommodations for my international 2 week trip to Tokyo cost roughly the same).

I’ve even heard of people going into credit card debt to “do fashion week” as a networking investment…which then never paid off. But you would never guess, based on how glamorous and successful their photos made it all seem.

So as my freelance writing career grew, I was firmly resolute in attending NYFW on my own terms. Which meant that my attendance would be contingent on booking paid jobs/assignments that would cover the costs—and then some.

This year, it finally happened.

Today’s newsletter is the fashion week AMA issue, where I answer the most common reader-submitted questions, like:

• How do freelance writers land paid assignments at fashion week?

• How does getting invited to shows and events actually work — is a fashion Substack enough to get you through the door?

• Can you be normal and chill there or do you to be On at all times?

• & more behind the scenes camera roll tidbits!

Let’s get into it.

How do freelance writers land paid assignments at fashion week?

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