Five Great Things/August 2024

MNZ x J.Crew, a review. A sandal that gloriously toes the line between 70s/80s style. Non-jean-short-jean-shorts. My new....Speedo!? And a fantastic city (rain) slicker.

Permission granted to ignore the fall shopping hysteria for another few minutes and recognize that we have at least another month of glorious weather ahead! With that said, here are five great things for right now (and later too, of course. Wise purchases only around here!)

And before we dive in, a note that this month’s “5 Great Things” is going to be live for paid subscribers on Sunday and opened up to everyone else on Monday. I’ve had so much feedback from you guys about items in these emails selling out before Pacific Standard time wakes up that I would like to give paid subscribers a bit of a head start as a thank you for making this work and research possible. With that, enjoy this month’s finds!

Disco shoes, but make them walkable!

We have reached peak butter yellow and are now charging through Brat green, which is basically a fluorescent take on Prada’s now-classic ugly green, which is a shade darker than slime green, which LMC coined earlier this year. I will take all your tones and meet you squarely in August with this linoleum yellow slingback, ready to live out all your (my) overly ambitious summer plans in the next three weeks and then usher us into a still warm, but-I’m-ready-to-get-dressed! fall.

I love this little slingback. It’s like a slow motion stroll backwards from the 80s style I’ve been gravitating toward, into the 70s chiffon layers that are sure to dominate this fall. They kind of just…go with it all?

It’s the disco party shoe I imagine I want (you know I’ve been pining for a dance party) but with a short enough heel that I will actually wear. It will look great at lunch. It will look great at cocktails. She’s just ready to GO!

Practically speaking, this heel is wide enough across to comfortably walk on grass, while remaining a proper heel. She is also a textured leather so I won’t have to worry about destroying her after one wear (read: easily wipe-off-able with a dish rag at the end of the day or night.) I’m loving her with casual daytime stuff, and I want to wear her in the evening as well. She is a late summer MVP.

Have you read The Women yet? I’m almost finished. I love how the description of Frankie’s outfits are always described when her fate is about to change. And Kristin Hannah’s protagonists always seem to seep into my subconscious. So naturally I’m gravitating toward wider leg jeans and a little shell of a top, something that would be at home in a 1970s workaday scenario. This outfit sits squarely in the 70s of my imagination and yet still feels very real for right now. I genuinely just feel happy in this! Eileen Fisher top from our summer top newsletter. Last summer’s Polo sailor jeans. I’ve also always loved these, a similar cut! A Metier little carryall and the shoes.

Obsessing over sizing. I ended up with the 37.5 because I did not want the sling back strap to be loose in any way. I’m willing to suffer the tightness in the toes for a couple weeks until it stretches to my foot and gets that perfect hug all around. The 38 would have been more comfortable off the bat, but I was worried it might feel too big eventually. For reference!

How I’m going to wear them for relaxed August work meetings next week. With the shirt that started it all, who could forget her! And Alex Mill shorts. And probably a cute little basket bag too. It’s still summer over here. Chan Luu and Allita necklaces.

Already stirring about how the Miu Miu FW24 show is going to throw our senses of proportion out of wack. Inspired!!!!! Similar cardigans: her from Miu Miu which we love (duh) and her! Old Dries button down, but any crisp blue will do! Vintage Jil Sander skirt, but again, here is a great alt and the shoes.

How I will wear said shoe for an evening cocktail party come September - the month of a million work events. Also me, trying to calm my hair in this 100% humidity of a week. More on that next. For now: Miu Miu cropped button down, a good alt here, here and here, Dissh tank, Sportmax skirt, the shoes. Not visible: MNZ x J.Crew scrunchie.

A summer weight rain shell that looks good with regular clothes

For years I’ve had this very cool techy Mammut gore-tex shell. It’s been sitting in my closet literally since I worked at Lucky Magazine in 2006. I know this, because I definitely took it home off of a shoot. Sorry Mammut! But like, there has to be a statue of limitations on that, so safe to tell you right? :) Anyway, my point is, I love(d) this shell. It was the perfect shade of red, has a very cool sporty logo, with a functional, stiff brimmed hood. But you know what, it is too technical for me. Reader, I have worn it approximately once and was miserable the entire wear. The material too stiff, the sleeves too long, the body too curved at the waist (my classic irk with women’s gear), the brim, too big actually? I don’t need to fit a helmet under it! And the fit too technical. It hasn’t ended up reading “off-in-a-personal-taste-kind-of-way” but just…off. So I have been searching for a city specific rain shell that reads as sporty, but not soooo sporty. It has to look cool with my regular clothes and be light weight enough to wear during a summer city rain storm. And here she is, willed into reality. In reality reality, I ran into the impossibly stylish stylist Brie Welch on a rainy Tuesday night at yoga class and she was wearing it, or something very similar! So I hunted it down. :) Thank you Brie for the rec you didn’t even know you gave me.

Nike windbreaker

She only has a single zip which is her one con (you know I prefer double) but makes up for it with with snaps so you can close only the top, should you so choose. Other features pleasantly include adjustable elastic at the waist so if you zip and scrunch, you can create a blousing effect. So much better than the traditional women’s storm shells from gorp-y brands that hug all the way from the top of my ribs to my mid hip. This feels, proportionally, so much better for non-tech, but tech if I feel like it, usage.

Nothing more rebellious than sandals in the rain. I love a greek/french/italian, I guess the word I’m looking for is…Mediterranean! leather sandal in the rain because it weirdly holds up and starts to mold to your foot. I also have been wearing my Nike x Bode sneaks too just about every day this week. More on those in our non-rain-shoe-rain-shoe newsletter from a while back. Worth a second glance after this nasty week on the east coast. Nike jacket with a grey t-shirt, Alex Mill chinos and Ancient Greek Sandals wedges

With hot weather clothes. Without a second thought.

The Maryam Nassir Zadeh x J.Crew Collab is GOOD

I was hesitant, I’m not going to lie. Took me a few days to decide to pull the trigger. But I am so pleasantly surprised. I was even so happy with my first purchase (tee, dress, scrunchie) that I went back and ordered the swimsuit! I started with the pink linen slip dress and the black cap sleeve tank, which I bought to wear together. But have enjoyed them separately as well, as it turns out.

We will start with the dress. It’s a wrinkly linen. These photos are post steam. It is meant to look this way, which I love. Live and let live fabric! And now that I’m well versed in the world of dressing transparently (literally), I was ready to wear this out of the bag. The fabric is beautiful. A weight that falls nicely but isn’t too flimsy. I’m really happy with the cut, proportion and material. *I’m wearing a size small.

MNZ x J.Crew dress and tee. Spanx boy shorts, Ancient Greek Sandals wedges

With a tank instead of a tee…mine is an old RRL tank I got at a sample sale a million years ago, but just get the J.Crew one if you dont have a cami! No need for multiple orders. Granny sandals. Epperson Mountaineering tote which we talked about in this newsletter. I strongly stand by my rec!

The t-shirt underneath is paper thin, and I mean this as a compliment. It has been a godsend the past few sweltering weeks. It’s cut in a way that you can just wear your regular, most comfortable bra without worrying about the straps showing, if you care about that. And the neckline is wide enough to show off a little collar bone and let your necklaces hang delicately along the seam. I have been wearing it most with my big khaki shorts and Tevas or K. Jacques. A perfect uniform to play assistant manager at my son’s lemonade stand last weekend. We were very cute. He made $18! *I’m wearing an XS.

The tee, with Doen shorts and sandals.

The scrunchie, I have simply not taken off in two weeks. Nothing else to even say. Just that it’s pure fun and I accidentally even slept in it two nights ago. She will be a constant from now until Labor Day, or until I lose her, whichever comes first.

The scrunchie. My constant companion. Perfect with a baseball hat and tennis skirt. Great with pajamas. Great with khakis. what can’t she do!!??

And finally, the swim. It was sold out in my size at my first go of an order. But I put myself on the waitlist and secured one when the returns started trickling in from the frenzied launch day orders, I assume. I wanted the pink but was fearful that it was too close to the color of my pinkish skin so responsibly went with blue. Guys, it’s good!! The fabric is thick! It appears flimsy but is actually a wonderfully heavy duty, kind of shiny material on the skinniest strap of all time. Heaven. It’s not “supportive” but I’ve moved passed that and accepted my post-nursing décolletage and no longer care. It’s higher cut in the thighs than I’m used to, butwas so sold on the fabric and floss-like straps that I cut off the tags, leaned in and jumped in. The best surprise of all is that it stays in place much better wet than dry. So go ahead, make a splash!

Felt extremely cute at the TWA Hotel last weekend in the swimsuit. Highly recommend this adventure. $50 for an hour but kids are free and honestly, money well spent. We beat the heat and now my kid can name just about every airline. Including but not limited to Etihad (a double decker!), “France Air” and DHL. BTW, I’m wearing a size 4, and it fits just right.

Non Jean Short Jean Shorts

A pair of chambray clam diggers (delightfully already on sale!) have been a late summer hero around here. Throw on with t-shirt and flip flops for camp drop off and look relatively cute. Or actually cute with a black tank, bohemian button down and summer sandals. I think they’re going to be great this fall with a blazer and loafers too - when it’s still 82 and sunny but I’m ready for a lapel. They are slightly giving me Chloe vibes…as we get closer to fall, I’m realizing I’m all in on Chemena Kamali. Give me blush tones, gauchos, some ruffles along an open neckline! I’m ready. For now, I’m enjoying these as a slightly more styled jean short.

The shorts with a Vince tank, Havaianas and a Brunello Cucinelli men’s belt.

The shorts with a Alix of Bohemia shirt and the Row sandals. This is what I wore to and from the TWA hotel on the AirTrain last weekend, over said MNZ swimsuit above.

How I will wear them come September! With my old Gigi blazer, beautiful alts here and here, a Frances de Lourdes tee and Bally loafers (more on these in September.)

Get Yourself A…Speedo!?

On my quest for family friendly, skinny strapped, full coverage but still semi-fashionable swim this summer (and lets get real, every summer) I happily stumbled on Speedo’s training suit in two new and fantastic colors: these flattering shades of neon red and blue. I decided, at $68 (plus 30% off promo) it was worth trying. They seemed to have gotten the memo that we all want sporty…but not actual sport swimsuits. This style is retro-adjacent which we have now talked about ad nauseam in the past two weeks, in an early 90s olympic kind of way.

I ordered both colors to see which I’d prefer and I think I’ll just keep the “siren red” since I’m doing the MNZ in blue. Both look great peaking out of a cotton tank, and both passed the reach and squat test, essential if you plan on chasing a child in said swim. I will recommend sizing up, though. I went off the size chart and ordered a 30, based off my measurements and am exchanging for a 32. It’s nice and high cut at the neck but very low cut at the back area, which is making me want a little extra fabric. I also just don’t like my swim all that tight. If you do like a tighter feeling suit, or are an actual Olympian, just take your size on the chart.

I promise I’ll stop talking about swim now. I just really have been on a mission this summer. Until next swim season though, I’ll probably be wearing this under the MNZ slipdress.

The Speedo entering my family swim rotation

Until next week.

Yours TRULY,

Becky