A little about me, hello! Plus a lot of unique bags, Ashley Olsen in Nike's, the best hair clips, good vintage Etsy shops + more
How working in casting ignited this Substack
There are some new people here, hello! Thought I would give a tiny intro about myself and how this Substack came to be.
For the last almost 3 years, I worked as a casting assistant at Nike in Los Angeles and the best part about coming into work was the very stylish people who worked on set plus the models from all over the world with incredible style and always with the perfect jeans!! Coming into work consisted of, “I love your shoes where are they from, omg your bag is so cute, WHERE are those jeans from they are the perfect length I LOVE YOUR HAIR,” and so on and so forth. I loved that part of the job.
The first person I ever featured on this Substack was actually a model I met on set, Ravyanshi. She is an effortlessly cool girl!! I photographed her at her hotel and learned about all her favorite things. I started this Substack around the same time that I started working at Nike and having the opportunity to meet so many people of all different cultures and backgrounds from artist to stylist to models to photographers, art directors, makeup & hair artist and beyond- you can’t not be inspired.
I also attended Frieze in LA around this time and the people watching!! I was floored, I could have spent all day in there. So many incredible artist to discover. I believe it’s happening this weekend.
Flash forward to now, I quit my job at Nike and decided to travel to Europe for 3 months and had the opportunity to assist with the casting of the Aaron Esh show during London fashion week. I think those few days sparked more fashion inspiration in me than any experience I’ve had before. We saw hundreds of models from across the globe- this was the only point in my life I genuinely considered picking up smoking. I wanted to mess up my hair and smear my lipstick and have a glass of wine with a cigarette and go to Glastonbury in wellies with my rock n roll boyfriend. London fashion is in a league of its own and to watch it all in action was a dream.
I stayed in East London for the first half and Notting Hill for the second half and it was interesting to see how vastly fashion differs between areas. Walking everywhere was my absolute favorite, you can’t help but feel creatively energized even on the way to the grocery store. Don’t get me started on the train rides…Overall, highly recommend quitting your corporate job to go travel abroad while you still can. Currently looking for ways to move back. And that’s where I am at as of today!
Now back to regularly scheduled programming!! Here we go!!
Wear: As I said in my last Substack, I have been hating all my jeans and the pair I ordered from Zara that I posted about were not impressive- you may like them if you are around 5’6 or shorter but for people 5’8 and above it was a no go.
Ideally, I would stumble into a vintage store and try on a pair of 501’s that would be fitted and embrace my arse perfectly while being a bit looser but structured on the way down. And the LENGTH, they would be 32-34 inseam, at least for me, to elongate the legs.
I love how the Khaite and Nili Lotan jeans fit but they are $$ so looking for alternatives. I also keep this screenshot from Jean Genie in my notes on my iPhone with my measurements so if I ever am browsing eBay or Depop, I am prepared.
These Ruadh jeans (the Quinn) look perfect but they are $500.
A model on set around 5’10 had a pair of straight Redone jeans on that were perfection. I think you have to order and try on a few pairs to find the right fit.
Morgan Stewart’s jeans are great here. Assuming they are vintage of some sort.
This small independent brand encyclopedia is amazing, I found so many cute little bags I have added to my wishlist.
I have the Modern Weaving bag in white (sold out now) and I love it, I always get asked about it when I wear it. Love the black. I think these are all so fun to add to an outfit.
Also this one by Suryo!
These little Hermes towel clutches by LilyEve crafted from one-of-a-kind vintage towels are so fun!! And sustainable.
Kye Intimates Spring/Summer collection- love this top.
The RealReal joined Substack! I love this.
I bought this Splendid turtleneck via the recommendation of Leandra Medine and it’s the best turtle neck I own. It’s $60 and the perfect fit, I got a size small. I specifically like how high the neck comes up. It’s very chic!
I saw a girl wearing this Zara men’s sweater and thought it looked super high quality and flattering. I also love the butter yellow-ness.
I’m so upset I missed out on this Zara trench coat.
Devon Lee Carlson for Sandy Liang.
I love the color of this cashmere Jenni Kayne sweater.
I like this men’s vintage Christian Dior button up via Depop (size large, $100).
Very cute St. Agni bag for $251 via The RealReal.
This Phoebe Philo bag (insert crying face). Kind of reminds me of this Balenciaga bag I also love.
This Forte Forte jacket on Alice Pilate.
The Olsen twins (aka The Row founders) are never spotted but a rare sighting of Ashley was fun to see!! And she is wearing the Nike V2K in all black, woowww kind of surprised but I also have these in the silver/white combo and they are truly very comfortable.
Jewels: I was sent over these beautiful pieces by Shashi and they have become a part of my daily rotation. The casa chain necklace, great with tees and well basically everything and the gaia pave necklace.
They also have this really cute jade carnelian necklace on Shopbop that I love.
This braided spiral necklace via Etsy is a beauty.
Casa Shop (who I post about frequently) just dropped some new arrivals and I LOVE her vintage jewelry. These earrings!!
Cool Mondo Mondo ring on sale on Ssense.
Chan Luu also has some beautiful pieces- love these disco earrings.
Skin: I saw (on TikTok) Olivia Jade us this foundation stick and I love the packaging it also looked so smooth and blendable so I am adding it to my “to try” list after I finish up my Westman Atelier stick.
This Aesop buffing bar is eliiiite. I go between this and my favorite Soft Services bar.
Hair: These are literalllyyyyy the only hair clips that actually hold my hair in place all day/night. They are by Crown Affair and they have made me hate every other hair clip even the fancy ones because none of them grip like these!! They have new colors now and I am loving the white ones.
A beauty of a scrunchie.
Home: This Italian chalet via Elle Decor.
This double mirror closet in Melbourne spoke to me.
I love this thin vase that Paige Wassel posted on her stories.
Art: I was inspired by this beautiful divider Madelynn Furlong posted.
I found this one that sold for 4k on Etsy, it is stunning!!
Keeping an eye on this one selling for $985.
This very sweet one via 1st Dibs. Key words to search, “vintage, screen, divider, Japanese 6 panel, 2 panel, antique, etc.”
Some really good blue’s happening at this vintage art table book store on Etsy.
I want this egg.
Reading: If you read Demon Copperhead, you will appreciate this.
Reading is forever cool and I love all the book clubs popping up. We all need to keep reading more than ever so anything that makes you excited to have conversations about books is a win.
If you are looking for a book club to follow it can be overwhelming, so many from Dua Lipa to Reese to Kaia Gerber, Dakota Johnson, Oprah, Natalie Portman- I love browsing recommendations and can tell if someone has similar taste to me. I trust Pandora Syke’s recs and she likes Dua Lipa’s book club the best!
This was an interesting and hard read. Esquire interviewed 12 men on how they see the world, specifically this past November’s election and the why behind how they voted. As Ochuko Akpovbovbo put, “the most interesting culture journalism considers the conflicts between the different layers of individual identity.”
I’m almost done with Crying in H Mart and think it’s such a beautiful book, a truly incredible writer. How she intertwined her culture, music, mouth watering food, horrible loss and illness, family dynamics and everything in between was something else.
Watching: Elsa Peretti. Such an incredibly talented woman, I loved this read.
It’s interesting a lot of comments on YouTube videos of her say “I would not have known her if it were not for the Netflix show, Halston.” As someone else in the comments wrote, “the question it raises for me is, why are the great women artists overlooked for egotistical male artists and designers? She was treated as a bit part in the Halston story, but the more I learn about her it is obvious she was an astonishingly talented and uniquely spirited woman and led a far more interesting, philanthropic and productive life than Halston.”
I’m about to go watch the new Bridget Jones movie, Mad About The Boy, with some hot cocoa + extra marshmallows. We need our comfort movies, I also heard it was really good and be prepared to cry?! We’ll see.
Listening: This amazing song and album. It genuinely quiets my brain. You can listen and watch on YouTube as well. The visuals are so lovely.
Ingesting: I made this recipe (thai coconut ramen) and it was delicious. Anything with ramen noodles or noodles in general, sign me up.
That’s all for today, thanks for reading. Happy weekend! x
thanks for the zara jeans follow up! sorry they pretended to be long :/