you might mistake this $50 silk skirt for vivienne tam š
the week's digest of fashion favorites + secondhand brand intel
Hi!
Just finished episode 3 of Pluribus. Love the premise of the show (philosophical quandaries of The Good Place meets the mystery of Severance meets the ālove letter to New Mexicoā of Breaking Bad). Thereās a funny Herve Leger costume design moment in episode 2, did you guys catch it? I thought it was a hilarious use of the bandage dress to satirize straight male fantasies in the age of AI girlfriends/sex robots.
Also watching I Love LA and enjoying the fashion cameos like Margiela Tabis, the Mondo Mondo heart necklace, and Aralda Vintage. LA readers, what do you think of the show so far?
New work out this week:
I wrote a short essay for ELLE about how Hitchcockian vintage accessories were my gateway into fashion. One reader said that they felt the editorial photographs were underwhelming (valid opinion!). This was my first time writing a story to accompany a photoshoot, and it got me thinking about what makes a editorial partnership of words and images really sing.
As an Alexa Chung diehard, I had a ball styling some looks with her new Madewell collab. Out of the entire collection, Iām wearing the striped Lou shirt mostāitās surprisingly suitable for short arms (flip the cuff up once) and the cotton weave feels higher quality than the Sezane Max Shirts.
The rest of this newsletter covers some fashion favorites, including:
a graphic tee that reads SAKE AND SOUP
initial thoughts on the Alex Mill canvas tote
a secondhand silk brand to know if you love 90s Vivienne Tam (but are priced out)
how iām getting a pink silk dress tailored
About that graphic teeā¦
I found this red-on-true-blue vintage Hanes tee on eBay and hit ābuyā without hesitation, because Iāve never seen such a charming phrase on a tee. Sake and soup is so specific. Like yes, how did you know those were my winter interests?
I actually donāt own many menās fit graphic tees, so I kinda struggled to style it. Tried tucking it into jeans but there was too much fabricā¦.tried a floaty silk skirt but it just made the thickness of the tee exaggerated in a lopsided way? Imagine a potato on top of an bonito flake. It needed a bottom with heftier material, but with a waistband I could tuck the tee into.
The only solution I liked was this midi leather skirt (gifted) from the Madewell x Alexa Chung collection. Something about the primary colors against a black leather skirt really worked for me. The effect is crisp and campy, like a Roy Lichtenstein painting.
On Thursday, I decided to treat myself to a nice solo lunch out. Waffled between Ebiko (for the torched salmon nigiri) and Rose Pizzeria. Went with Rose because I wanted to actually sit down and eat something hot. When I bit into the first slice of pepperoni basil pizza, it was just what I needed. I think we should normalize ordering a pizza for solo lunch and bringing back leftovers in a big box. As I was loading my car, I noticed how the kelly green letters on my Alex Mill canvas tote (gifted) looked against the food court vibe graphic design of the pizza box. When they asked me which colorway I liked, I tried to pick the most Molehill-esque combination available.
The chat has been abuzz with tote and backpack rec requests lately. I am unqualified to give commuter bag advice because I donāt commute on a daily basis (anymore). If I did commute I probably would wear a backpack because my tense shoulders would suffer from the inherent weight asymmetry of a tote.
Currently, I use totes to run errands and bring my laptop to cafes. Iām testing out a bunch over the next month, and will share more. Re: the Alex Mill canvas tote, my pros are that itās (1) more spacious than most and (2) has snaps so you can adjust the shape and keep the top somewhat secured. However, my cons are (1) the canvas gets wet in the rain and (2) perhaps you actually want something more compactā¦itās massive. I love it for grocery runs because itās sturdy enough to hold all my kabocha squashes :)
A silk dragon print skirt that 3 people have mistaken for Vivienne Tam (itās not!)
Snagged this awesome silk skirt on Poshmark for $50 last month and couldnāt believe my luck because it looks like a Vivienne Tam piece with the dragon print that swirls from the hips to the ankles. Discovering this brand felt like a cheat code.
This is because of my biggest life regrets is not starting a Vivienne Tam collection earlier, when prices were a little more accessible. Nowadays I have accepted Iām pretty much priced out of the vintage mesh Vivienne pieces. Had I known prices were going to get so high, I would have started buying back in ~2019ish.
Itās so competitive on eBay too. Idk, I just think $900 is a painful amount to spend on a Kuanyin dress, as much as I love the meaning of her work and regard her as a once-in-a-generation designer. (Highly rec her book China Chic).
But this silk brand uses Buddhist/Chinese motifs in prints, similar to Vivienne Tam: