The July Specials: Vacation Preparation and a Lot of Bed
Plus, I was right about broderie anglaise
I’ve spent the last week laid up due to some annoying-but-don’t-worry-I’m-fine-I-promise health stuff, so even though I’m struggling to catch up on everything I missed, it’s actually the perfect time for July’s Specials to come around. All I’ve been doing for several days is consuming content, so content I shall serve back to you.
ON THE WISH LIST
One nice thing about having had to cancel every social event since the 4th of July is that I’ve had plenty of time to make a list of things I’d like to pick up before I head to Hawaii next month. I’m really not looking to buy a bunch of things I can only wear on a tropical vacation and wouldn’t touch otherwise—just a handful of items that can take me from the pool to the spa to the Shipwreck Bar and back. A few things I’m considering:
LA FAMILLE JACQUEMUS
I feel like I talk about Jacquemus ad nauseam, but can you blame me? The way founder Simon Jacquemus approaches branding and marketing his namesake brand is so playful and aspirational—I just eat it all up. Last month, Jacquemus showed his latest collection, “Le Paysan,” at Versailles, and while the clothes and the setting were beautiful, the thing that really got me was the way the brand promoted the story behind the collection on Instagram. Inspired by Simon’s family history and rural hometown in the South of France, the brand shared cinematic clips of everyday life shot like a movie I’d want to watch, and recreations of Simon’s personal family photos featuring models wearing pieces from the collection. The whole thing feels nostalgic and just like pure summer, and it made me want to book a flight to Provence, STAT.
A RANDOM ETSY FIND
On a recent Etsy quest for vintage crochet bags, I stumbled upon the perfect one: a cream-colored number with a tassel from the 1930s that costs just $30. Just as I went to click “purchase,” I realized that it’s… framed? The bag is almost 100 years old, so I suppose someone somewhere along the way just wanted to preserve it forever, but there’s a big part of me that wants to buy it just to free it and wear it well. What do you think? (One of you is going to scoop it up before I decide, and I have come to terms with that.)
SPEAKING OF SECONDHAND
This week,
’ wrote a very insightful, thorough guide to shopping secondhand on all of the various platforms—Vestaire, Poshmark, eBay, etc.—with tips and tricks for finding gems on each. This is a follow-up to her viral newsletter about how to shop The RealReal—she’s a former employee, so she knows her stuff. Both posts are invaluable resources for those of us who love the hunt.
ANOTHER FAN LETTER
Jonathan Anderson’s recent move to Dior has already given us an abundance of interesting little moments to fawn over, from Basquiat-inspired necktie styling to reimagined book totes to some Loewe-esque still lifes that I’m glad he took along with him. Anderson reissued a ceramic plate from the Dior archives to send as invites to his debut show a few weeks ago and shared a little behind-the-concept video on TikTok. And maybe most exciting to me: he reverted to Dior’s original title-case logo, doing away with the all-caps serif version that just felt like it was trying to emulate its VOGUE and ELLE and L’OFFICIEL lookalikes. I’m excited to see what’s next—Dior sort of fell off my radar after Raf left, but I’m excited once again.
WE LOVE BED
I’ve made loving bed my whole personality since I was a child, and you know what? I’m not mad that everyone (Paige DeSorbo and her squad of Gigglers, for instance) has joined me in admitting that few activities are truly worth leaving bed for. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we spend a third of our lives in bed, so why wouldn’t you make it your favorite place?
Copenhagen-based homeware brand Tekla released a collection of broderie anglaise bedding last month that had me actually wondering if my laptop is bugged, because not only have I been touting the importance of bed as an environment, but I also declared that broderie anglaise is “in” in my 2025 in/out list last January. Tekla is known for its mix-and-match stripes in Scandi-pastel colors, so I’m excited to see them shift a little toward a romantic, old-world vibe. I’ve got my eye on the Anaïs pillow sham.
A REMODEL DONE RIGHT
It seems like LA loses one of its classic midcentury homes to the whims of uninspired buyers every day, so it’s a relief to see that when Reformation’s chief creative officer Lauren Caris Cohan and MRJ’s Matt Jacoby tackled the design of the Kaplan Residence, a 1954 Laurel Canyon estate, they actually managed to make it feel like it had never been changed at all.
The design duo period-corrected the home with vintage Italian fixtures, floor-to-ceiling windows, and plenty of wood walls, breathing life into the little pink house without changing its original intention. What they’ve ended up with is something that feels authentically preserved—not themey or corny, but a real work of art I’d move into in a heartbeat if I just had $3.8 million to burn. (If 75,000 more of you sign up for a paid subscription, I’ll be close!)
Take a peek at a video of the property here.
WE’VE GOT A WINNER
Congrats to the winner of my giveaway with Serviette, Jordan Dilley! Thank you to everyone who entered!
AND FINALLY, A MOOD ASSESSMENT
x
Ali
At the Table With: Tess Sullivan
At The Table With is a monthly interview series that explores the ideas of creativity and personal taste through the eyes of my friends (or people I would like to be friends with). This month’s guest is fashion designer, vintage collector, and creative director Tess Sullivan!
Getting Dressed in the Summer Should Be Fun
Read on for a treasure trove of vintage, one-of-a-kind, and new-but-don’t-look-it pieces—shoes, bags, items of clothing, and more—that are inspiring my own shopping journey this summer.
Saving Everything Yet Finding Nothing
There’s something so, so satisfying about peeking into the way someone else organizes things. I want to know how you stock your refrigerator, how you’ve laid out your closet, and what your to-do list looks like. Give me your digital systems, your handwritten lists, and your tracking apps.
The Tekla broderia anglaise SO dreamy - love the expansion out of exclusively scandi minimalism. Excited to see what's next...
Omggg thank you, Ali!!!! ❤️❤️❤️