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Welcome back to Shopping Journal, a weekly feature where Racked editors share what they're buying and where.
I don't want to make this Shopping Journal too meta, but I have to admit I've been real in my head about it. I've written before about how I'm less... let's stay stylistically adventurous/inclined than my colleagues, and so far I've only contributed one entry to this series — it was about buying books (books are great, buy books!). For the last couple of weeks, I've been telling myself "this week, you go to a store."
It shouldn't be that hard, but it is. My body and I have been having a post-winter fight and, like you, I'm buuuuuusy. While there are a number of very nice boutiques in my neighborhood, Cobble Hill, many of them stock clothing I would never dream of wearing (I'm looking at you, LF), and the rest make me feel, frankly, poor and/or fat. Except for one: Article&, on Smith Street.
As someone who likes to simplify things by going to only one store, Article& is a blessing and a relief because it has all the elements I need: clothes that achieve my ultimate desired look, which is something between a young French woman and Catherine Keener, in my size and price range (as in dresses under $100, bless).
On my recent, Monday evening trip, I immediately confessed the whole game to the lovely store owner, Lara Fieldbinder. "I need clothes for work but not the normal way!" With her help, I tried on most of the store and could have bought it all. I walked away with two dresses, a romper, a pair of mules, and a candle. Phew! Shopping achieved.
The next day, I went to the store's site and ordered the Marisol Midi Dress in what I hope is my size. Is this going to be like, a habit now?—Meredith Haggerty, senior editor
A lot of my so-called shopping is really just browsing and researching — very little purchasing actually occurs. This week was no different, as I went shopping ("shopping") for really fancy art with absolutely zero intention (or ability) to buy anything. It was still very fun!
My friend Emily is a specialist in the contemporary art department at Sotheby's, which held its sales this week and had its lots on view at the York Avenue headquarters the weekend before. Auction houses are essentially the most expensive stores in the world, and I always love going to the sale previews. So do billionaires like shipping heir Stavros Niarchos, who was also at Sotheby's on Saturday and who dated the incredible mid-aughts trifecta of Paris Hilton, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Lindsay Lohan.
It's totally insane to see price tags (well, in this case, bid estimates) in the millions of dollars as you shop (again, "shop"). In some alternate universe where I collect Important Art, I would have bid on an (amazing! rare!) glass Alexander Calder mobile, a pastel George Condo, one of the Louise Nevelsons, and an iridescent Tauba Auerbach painting. I would be very good at being very rich.—Julia Rubin, features editor
I do about 90% of my shopping on Instagram, and I'm constantly researching things to buy that I see on stylish girls that I "stalk". For the past month I've had my eye on Loeffler Randall's Maren clog sandals with large thanks in part to this Instagram snap, and when I heard that the brand was having a sample sale I crossed my fingers that they'd be there.
After previewing the sale for Facebook Live, I grabbed them up in the nude color. I'm already plotting all of the easy-breezy spring outfits I'll be able to style around them.—Callia Hargrove, social media editor
Holy crap, Scoop NYC is closing. The 20-year-old boutique may not be now what it was in its glory days, but it's still weird to picture Soho and the Meatpacking District without it. Those seasonal closet clean-up sales will sorely be missed, too. But the silver lining? I had an impetus to spend a rather large gift card I received earlier this year.
I headed to the Washington Street store — my boss's former workplace — on Monday afternoon, which was already plastered in liquidation signs just hours after the closing news broke. Just a couple of shoppers were milling about, seemingly dazed by the looming signs advertising the 10% storewide minimum discount; as of this writing, it's been bumped up to 20%.
I proceeded to carefully scan through each and every item on the racks, which already felt a little empty (maybe they stopped placing orders in anticipation of the shutter?) to make sure I didn't miss any gems. Let's just say that there weren't a lot of them.
After picking up literally everything they had left, I ended up in the dressing room with a bunch of things I could potentially take on my Hawaii vacation next month: a Timo Weiland off-the-shoulder floral tunic, a T by Alexander Wang clingy black dress with elastic shoulder straps, a Current/Elliott gray tank top with an open back, Rachel Comey wooden-heeled sandals, and a Mikoh blue-and-white bikini that leaves little to the imagination.
Deciding that the Timo Weiland top didn't have the right fit (I wish there weren't shoulder straps!) and the Rachel Comey shoes too expensive to justify at over $300, I headed to the register with the rest, where I found exactly what I needed: Hanky Panky thongs, rolled up and ready to go. I grabbed the exact number to max out that gift card and walked out with my haul in one of the store's signature plastic bags, unsure if I'll ever step inside a Scoop again.—Laura Gurfein, Racked NY editor
My mom recently visited and we went to Warby Parker as a post-High Line power-walk comedown. My mom wanted to get her glasses adjusted because they were "driving [her] crazy." They fixed them in a cool 15 minutes!
We didn't buy anything there, but here's a potentially useful PSA: Boys are real cute in the Warby Parker store!! Stop by this weekend to mingle, if that's a thing you're into.—Kenzie Bryant, entertainment writer
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