all my coolest vintage tops are from this obscure designer
(don't let the Gen Z Depop thrift flippers find out...it's still a overlooked trove on Poshmark).
Good morning! Today’s newsletter starts with a mood-setting vignette about how two mischievous siblings decided to spend their extra hour of sunlight this week, and ends with a secondhand roundup of 20+ interesting tops from an obscure designer you probably haven’t heard of before.
Enjoy.
“Two mai tais?”
I glanced at my sibling, who was equally taken aback by the bartender’s abrupt manner. We’d just sat down at the bar and had a pair of dragon-patterned coasters chucked at us. It was 4pm in San Francisco and still completely sunny outside and we had nothing better to do than kill time into this twinkly chop suey cocktail cave.
We communicated in a language of eye squints and darts that only siblings understand. So let me translate: neither of us were ready to commit to the syrupy rum-pineapple cocktail—Anthony Bourdain approved!!! as the giant posters of the dearly departed chef on the wall kept reminding us.
“We’re still deciding,” I replied in my best older sister voice, as I slid my heavy Acne coat off and bundled it into a woolen lump on my lap.
The bartender slinked away with a mai tai blender in hand. I caught a whiff of the treacly fruit concoction as she passed. My molar tingled in a bad way, and I knew it was not in the cards for me today.
15 minutes and 2 Tsingtao beers later, we learned from eavesdropping that the bartender’s name was Connie. She was an older Cantonese lady with a spiky gray pixie cut and an idgaf attitude that probably comes from decades in the service industry. She’s earned her right to be cantankerous and not check IDs. (Side note: the Connie name binary is hilarious to me, because you’re either an Asian woman or a WASPy white boy aka Connie baby.).
We learned this because two white guys in skinny jeans at the end of the bar were trying sooo hard to chat Connie up with basic Mandarin phrases.
“I don’t speak Mandarin. Cantonese.” she replied flatly.
“How do you say I love you in Cantonese?” white guy #1 replied back with tipsy eagerness.
My sibling and I exchanged wide smirking eyes (broooo are you hearing this??!!).
Anyways.
That was our spontaneous Daylight Savings celebration at Li Po cocktail lounge, which Google describes as a “no-pretenses Chinatown bar attracting a diverse crowd.” The exterior signage makes it look like a new age liposuction clinic concept where the “mapo tofu special” is code for getting all the fat sucked out of your stomach until all that’s left is 6 extra-firm tofu abs. (Kind of
coded).Now that I have set the MOOD, I want to tell you about this cool top I wore—from an obscure designer who is in a class of her own when it comes to elevated shirting.
This topic comes on the heels of this chat thread, started by Molehill reader Kerstin, who asked where we are getting our going-out/fun tops. (Give it a browse, there are some fantastic crowdsourced suggestions!). Personally, my answer to the going-out top has always been some form of a vintage silk Y2k tank top. This can take many forms and I’ve included a few in the shoppable edit below.
But a fun top that is practical, comfortable, versatile while being undeniably interesting? That’s honestly really hard to find. It’s the blank space between striped button-downs/“boho” floral blouses and like…$$$ archive CDG wearable sculptures/Vivienne Westwood corsets.
But I do have a recommendation.
If you like shirting with funky, unexpected details like hook-and-eye clasps or non-cheesy ruffles or a criss-cross adjustable corset tie in the back, you’ll love this designer—
Designer details + secondhand links below the fold: