Sent Between Friends
AKA my April Recap
Hello and Happy May! My son is a major Star Wars nerd so obviously… May the 4th Be With you.
When you read this I will be fresh off of a long weekend trip to California where my cup was filled getting to spend time with friends and fellow Substack writers.1
We got to spend hours together chatting about everything from archival designer clothes to navigating smart phones with our kids. Making friends (especially as an adult) can be incredibly hard but I feel like I have found 3 friends who were cut from my same cloth; all the stuff that matters is the same.
In the spirit of conversations with friends; I figured it could be fun to reveal what my Fashion Friends and I having been talking about lately both from my trips AND opening up the texts I traded with friends in April about clothes and style revelations. I promise all texts are shared with consent from my friends!
April 1 at 12:18PM
Starting the month off strong with this astute observation by my sister.
Honestly, this is the question we all need to be asking ourselves more and more; do I think this item would look good on MY UNIQUE body. What followed this text was ~864 texts about the Summer House Scamanda.
April 10 at 7:54PM
It’s my son’s 9th birthday and to celebrate he asked for a late-over2 to watch Star Wars with his friends. I’m used to my kids being in bed by 7:30PM so the fact that I still had an hour of kids giggling in my basement drove me to emotional shop.
In my fugue state I bought this incredible necklace that can be worn wrapped, loosely tied in the front, or as a belt. Honestly, patting myself on the back with this one because I’m standing by my assessment that fun jewelry will be injecting new life into my wardrobe this summer. Also, I can envision how this brings movement to flat outfits (a la this piece of advice).
Other amazing options for this type of necklace;
April 13 at 6:55PM
Me touching base with one of my very good Substack friends and fellow devotee to Donni about these taffeta(?) track shorts. We both agree that the shorts will be expensive and that we will be purchasing. Thank goodness I have these to look forward to otherwise I may have purchased the pink Reformation shorts… alas the heart wants what it wants.
A quick aside; having things we are saving-up-for or looking-forward-to can be a very helpful shopping strategy. The truth is that I didn’t shop much in April because I was looking forward to this trip to California knowing there would be lots of time for shopping. Any item that interested me was weighed against having that amount for IRL shopping. In the same way, knowing that I want these particular shorts has deterred me from buying other shorts that have caught my eye. I have more thoughts on this shift in thinking coming in a newsletter next week!
April 14 at 10:21AM
A few months ago, I sent my friend a link to a pair of shoes I was drawn to and, without sugar-coating, my friend basically said, “it’s a no for me, dawg.” Then a creator that we both admire posted a similar pair and I got this very vindicating text.
It’s texts like this that remind me thoughts/feelings about new styles should be “strong opinions, loosely held.” I’m reminded of a post I wrote two years ago about finding the balance between listening to our initial gut reaction when we see a new trend and the reality of exposure (you can read it here).
April 14 at 10:19 AM
My friend texted me about my beloved cropped tee from asking if it was itchy because it’s 30% hemp. To be honest, I didn’t even clock the hemp in this shirt because the fabric is really soft with a great drape.
I sent her this picture of me wearing the tee and she also liked my jeans* which I continue to wear on repeat. (Tip on these jeans; I sized up once but another friend said she preferred it up 2 sizes).
April 16 at 7:08 AM
My extremely stylish friend sent me an outfit selfie and the color combination absolutely blew my mind. She’s in this jersey long-sleeve in a color called pistachio (I’m so sad it’s sold out, but this one is on my radar) and these great sky blue flats.
I’m very into using shoes to play with color mixing in outfits like these strappy, chartreuse ones! Or these cobalt blue flats another friend has bought and keeps tempting me with! Or these red t-strap sandals!
April 20 at 1:56PM
Another touchpoint with my Donni buddy ahead of the Spring III drop about the Pop Cargo Pants. I love the raspberry color but these would be redundant in my closet since I already have silk cargo pants and cotton pull-on pants. (PS- Did you catch my post on pull-on pants last week?)
April 25 at 5:26PM
I’m still laughing at my friend’s new saying; “not my journey” as a way to de-influence from a purchase. One of my posts from ages ago was about dressing for your real life because we are all guilty of buying things for a fantasy version of our life. May we all have the clarity to recognize when a purchase is “not our journey.”
What follows are highlights from my trip which technically took place from April 30- May 3 but I’m including them here because it’s too fresh and fun.
April 30 at 11:32am
I needed to wear some layers on the airplane to save space in my luggage. Wrapping my green-yellow sweater around my new baby pink tee was low-key a gorgeous color combination that I didn’t plan on.
May 1 at 7:02pm
As we got ready to go out shopping in Los Angeles, my friends and I agreed that each of our different outfits would look great with red flip flops (just like my note above from April 16). This pair was beloved by everyone in the group and even made an appearance at our dinner on Maurene Goo.
One of our stops on the day was in Violet Grey where Jordyn Sharfe sprayed this hair perfume and I spent the rest of the day (and late into the night) telling her how amazing she smelled.
May 2 at 3:42pm
During a BIG shopping day, my friends and I walked into Jacques Marie Mage to ogle at the fancy eyewear but we all got distracted by the incredible scent in the store. As we said; “wow, it smells amazing” and the store concierge said; oh it’s all this candle.
Hopefully you enjoyed the highlights sneaking into my texts and some conversations with my friends. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite fashion moments of the weekend. Not more than an hour after a very giggly conversation about calling men “daddy” we saw this guy in the most epic denim jacket with “daddy” on the chest. He said he got it after randomly walking in on the Europhia premier after-party at the Chateau Marmont where on-site embroidery was being offered. Now I know what I want at my next birthday party 😉
While shopping, I told my friends about my latest fixation brought on by Pinterest stalking me with denim that is not quite brown, not quite grey. The color could be called greige (grey-beige) or putty or mushroom. It’s easier than white because there’s less fear of getting them dirty, but it has more personality than a traditional beige. It feels like a pretty dang good alternative to traditional blue denim for summer.
All products featured in this newsletter can be found here. Anything marked with an * was kindly gifted.
I’m putting finishing touches on this on the airplane ride home so bear with any typos!
Are other parents aware of this trend? Google says it better than I can; A "lateover" (or "sleep-under") is an alternative to a sleepover where children attend a party but return home to sleep in their own beds, usually with pickup between 8:30 p.m. and midnight
Going to start saying not my journey too, hilarious 😂
Daddy 😅 I’m dying at that pic and I am desperate, DESPERATE to hear about your cali weekend!