Discover more from All's Well by Nadine Zylberberg
Hi! How are you? Physically, I’m in New York, but mentally, I’m still in Paris, where Coby and I spent a few days last week to celebrate his birthday. We left the kids at home and, for the first time in a long time, went away with no agenda or responsibilities, just three and a half days laid out ahead of us and a whole city to explore. It was amazing, maybe even more so now that those kinds of trips are increasingly rare. I’ll share some of the best things we saw, ate, and bought next week. For now, some pieces that had been on my mind before I left…
Well Read
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What does a handbag designer for Hermès—possibly the most famous (and exclusive) handbag maker—do? Marisa Meltzer recently profiled Priscila Alexandre Spring, the woman with that very job, for The New York Times. Here are some insights from Alexandre herself:
“‘I was looking at a book that was talking about pockets in the 19th century, how men had about seven pockets in their jackets, pockets in their vests and pockets in their pants, and women could have only one pocket that they had to hide under their skirt. And that was kind of the beginning of emancipation of women. When skirts became smaller and tighter to the body, they just took the pocket up from under the skirt and put it outside.’”
‘So that’s how this pocket came here,’ she said, pointing to an angled zip pocket, reminiscent of a slash pocket on a skirt or trousers, on a chocolate brown Arçon. A hook was added for keys or gloves.”
You can find the full piece here.
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And, not to overdo Times fashion coverage, but designer Dries Van Noten announced last week that he will retire. It’s a serious blow for the fashion industry because, as Hanya Yanagihara writes in her 2017 profile, “Van Noten’s great gift is color.” She continues:
“No living designer understands it as well as he does; no other designer has such a rich vocabulary of tone and hue that certain shades, once seen, are impossible to associate with anything other than his clothes. Dior may have had his New Look; Van Noten has a particular blue: brighter than indigo, blacker than a cornflower, deeper than the Pacific. There is also a Dries Van Noten yellow (a rich, yolky marigold); a Dries Van Noten green (the gleaming, dense color of an emerald placed on a square of dark velvet); a Dries Van Noten red (cinnabar-ish and slightly chalky) and a Dries Van Noten purple (a dusty eggplant). But it’s not just the colors themselves that make Van Noten’s clothes so memorable, so resonant; it’s what he does with them, forcing them into strange relationships and juxtapositions that, if you encountered them only as words — persimmon and seashell; compost and moss — might sound unlikely, even occasionally unpleasant. In reality, though, the couplings are revelatory, so effortless that they ask you to reassess the limited way we’ve been encouraged to see color in the first place — why, after all, can’t iris purple pair with camel? Why can’t dulce de leche brown coexist with kelp blue?”
Well Watched
I feel like I’ve been in a TV rut, but suddenly, there are a lot of new shows to look forward to. Here’s what I recently started and/or plan to very soon. Send any and all recs my way; it’s amazing how much television I can consume once children are asleep.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Larry David kvetches for one final season! We <3 Susie Essman.
Girls5Eva: An early aughts teen girl group reunites decades after their moment in the spotlight and tries to make it big again. In true Tina Fey form (she executive produces), there are twenty jokes per minute; even if you don’t clock them all, you’ll laugh your way through each episode. It’s now in its (short) third season.
Palm Royale: I haven’t started yet, but the cast alone—Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Laura Dern—makes me so curious about this story of a woman trying to break into Palm Beach high society in 1969.
Well Fed
I’m back on the birthday cake train, this time with a recipe for those who love Oreos (or cookies and cream, which I learned through this process is essentially… the same thing). Admittedly, I made the first recipe that comes up on Google when one searches “Oreo birthday cake recipe,” but in my defense, I did more research first and ultimately came back to this one. I like that it has chunks of Oreo throughout the cake itself and makes use of crushed Oreos in the frosting. The chocolate ganache in between cake layers and on top helps break up the sweetness a little. Anyway, here it is, along with your semi-regular reminder that making a cake is not nearly as arduous as thinking about making a cake. So get to it! It can also feel very therapeutic. Just please use room temperature butter, always. And send me a picture of your creation (or, better yet, a slice).
Well Drawn
From the depths of second winter, I truly hope that spring is around the corner. Cartoonist Nathan Cooper captures my sentiment perfectly here. Four more days ‘til April!
Well Schlepped
By request (hi, Yaya!)… I want to talk about totes! Every brand and grocery store imaginable gives a tote with purchase these days, so they can be a drag—and can really accumulate in your closet. And yet, a Trader Joe’s $3 mini tote apparently sparked a TikTok-fueled frenzy a few weeks ago, which is to say, we’re not quite done with them. A good tote can still lift your mood and carry all your crap! So, today, I’m here to reignite our collective appreciation of the tote bag, from classic canvas to fancy shmancy.
As far as canvas goes, this six-pocket Amiacalva tote is probably at the top of my list—but maybe actually in taupe? It looks almost like a glorified paper grocery bag. I love the hardware on this Alex Mill weekday tote and this one made from reclaimed sail bags is fun. Then there’s this colorful, though nondescript one from Pacific Tote Company (the “Baggu of Malibu” and a favorite of Sofia Coppola’s. It was founded by her brother, Roman). Rue de Verneuil makes possibly the most elevated of casual canvas totes.
I just came across this waterproof two-tone Cahu tote and I love it so much. They also make a doggy bag with room for your pup to stick his little head out, oh my word.
Mini totes seem to be a thing (ahem, Trader Joe’s) and so, in line with this trend, Last Frame does cool patterned, pleated bags.
Some girls in high school toted these nylon Hervé Chepalier bags as backpacks. I haven’t seen them since, but I’m feeling a comeback! This photo above of designer Phoebe Philo sealed the deal for me. How about this gray and yellow polyethylene version? Or this army green / lime green nylon one? And how do we feel about Le Sportsac these days?
Brigitte Tanaka trades canvas for organza and I can’t even pick my favorite one, they’re all so good. French post? Boulangerie? Poissonnerie? I stopped by her shop, hidden in the side of a church, in Paris last week and it was the best. More on her soon.
I used to think diaper bags were something special, but any bag can be a diaper bag if you stick a diaper, pack of wipes, and butt cream inside. This Kule one is fun for that explicit purpose. I also like this leather Clare V. one which zips (important!) and is a riff off this Miu Miu one (that, if you have $3,800 to spare, why not).
I’m not the most outdoorsy, but my tote search has led me all over the place, even to Epperson Mountaineering, where I fell in love with a kelly green packable tote. This other one comes with vintage NASA patches stitched on.
Moving on to suede, I first saw this grey Sézane tote on Sienna Miller and I’ve coveted it ever since. Simple, elevated, fits everything. The handles on this Little Liffner tote give it an interesting spin. This one from Toteme fits all occasions and lifestyles I feel. Suede gets dirty and messy so easily, but I think that’s part of its charm.
That’s it for now. More soon. Signing off with this photo of Sting channeling the springtime evening vibe I’m after:
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