An all-over-the-place assortment of stood-behind products culled from this very website that appear in the November 20 issue of New York Magazine.
Best in Class
A pair of dinky ski goggles can be disastrous, but the skiers and instructors writer Miyo McGinn spoke to had only praise for Oakley’s Line Miner Snow Goggles. They have some neat features (like an interior notch for eyeglasses) and a wide frame for unobstructed views, but it’s their Prizm lenses that stand out. They come in a range of tints for skiing any time of day. One editor owns two pairs: a heavily tinted one to reduce the glare during sunny skiing and one with a clearer lens for runs at night. But that’s not necessary. Sarah Plaskitt, founder of ski travel company Scout, says the lenses are responsive enough that one pair works for most conditions. Megan Amick, a gear buyer for outdoors store Evo, likes them too: “Out of all the lenses I’ve ridden with, the clarity and definition you get with the Prizm lenses set them above.”
Celebrity Shopping
“When I’m in Paris, that’s the way people pronounce my name: La Roche.
They add an accent aigu with an E to the end of it. I made that correlation: Oh, that’s the product and also what people call me. So I started trying their products. They have this double moisturizer that I really love and this lip balm.”
“This is my costume. When I first got ‘scary’ as an author, actually, I was going on the Today show for the first time and I didn’t know what to wear. We were in the store, and my wife said, ‘Maybe a black shirt. Maybe if you dressed in black, you wouldn’t just look like somebody’s dad.’”
“We use these to wipe the dogs. They’re
a lot better than dog wipes, which are expensive and flimsy. We have a bulldog, and she’s always covered in gunk. Just one wipe gets her clean. These are sturdy and don’t dry out her paws and fur. Now that we have a baby, we’re excited to use it on a baby’s butt in addition to a dog’s.”
Our Shopping Cart
I wanted to re-create a look from the Church’s x Miu Miu collaboration—the model is wearing muted pastel tights under a skirt— but it’s surprisingly difficult to find sheer tights in fun colors. I finally tracked some down at a dancewear company called Jule. They’re footless, but they’re basically the same blue-green shade. They do have a back seam, which takes a little skill to get straight, but I’m hoping to pair them with my new Veda x Reformation leather skirt soon. –Lauren Ro
This Thing’s Incredible
No category of shoe more proudly bears the crown of comfort than clogs. I should know—I’m Dutch. But not all clogs are equally comfortable. That hasn’t stopped me from looking for the perfect pair. I started with Danskos, which added some unwanted height. I upgraded to Troentorps, but my walking was slowed to a snail’s pace. Next, a pair of Birkenstock Super-Birkis that made me feel like a hot chef but gave me blisters. I was ready to give up on clogs, but somewhere in the depths of my TikTok algorithm, a chic Upper West Side mom waved a pair of UGG Tasman X’s in front of the camera. There was something unapologetic about these clogs. They weren’t trying to be edgy or ironic or even fashionable. Comfort, it seemed, was priority No. 1. The link lived on my laptop for weeks. Caught between the timeless conundrum—is it cool or just ugly?— I wavered violently. My husband offered little help other than “Looks like something you’d wear.” I ordered them, ignoring countless videos that suggested sizing up. In my normal size, I was disappointed by the chafing, but one size larger fit perfectly. I’ve worn them on after-work walks and to Friday-night movies with friends. I keep waiting for a pain point, but instead these clogs have taken up permanent residence next to my front door. –Erika Veurink
Worth-It Week
We recently asked seven exceptionally tasteful New Yorkers to tell us about an item they bought forever ago—and that they still love (and use) today. Below, a few of these storied products.. –As told to Arielle Avila
“In the ’80s, I was using run-of-the-mill notebooks to keep tabs on my clients’ projects. Then when I started my own interior-design firm in 1988, I spotted these beautiful red leather binders at T. Anthony. I knew instantly I wanted to use them instead. Shortly after, T. Anthony stopped making them, but these Graphic Image ones are a nearly identical replacement. Each notebook gets personalized with gold lettering. The binding makes each project feel special. Every time I place a new one on the shelf, I’m filled with a sense of accomplishment.”
“Growing up, I’d watch my mother do my grandmother’s hair. She would perm it, set it, then take out the rollers and brush out her hair with this Mason Pearson brush. As a child, I loved when my mom would brush my hair with it. I have loads of fond memories attached to this brush. Finally, in my early 20s, I bought one for myself. Since then, it has become a staple in my hair routine. It detangles gently, brings everything together, and takes me back to that moment when I was a little girl getting her hair done. I’ve had it for over 25 years, and it is still completely intact.”
“I moved into a tiny studio in Boston 18 years ago, and my dad was very passionate about getting me a Taiwanese rice cooker. I didn’t have a kitchen, just a sink, so it did a lot of heavy lifting. I’d use it for rice, dumplings, and Chinese sausage. I still use it every day. It’s gone through four moves in Boston and two in New York, and I’ve dropped it a number of times. Despite all of that, it works just as it did when I first got it. I’d even say that I prefer how it looks now. I’ve become so acquainted with it and learned how to make rice exactly how I like it: It tastes just like the rice I grew up with.”
Strategist Beauty Brief
In a recent edition of The Strategist Beauty Brief, a new weekly newsletter in which our beauty writers share their must-tries and can’t-live-withouts, Arielle Avila went on the hunt for a Tarte Shape Tape concealer dupe. She pitted it against Sephora Collection’s Best Skin Ever Full Coverage Multi-Use Hydrating Concealer. Here, how they stack up against each other.
“I started with Shape Tape, swiping it from the inner corner to the middle of my under eye, but a small dab would have been better. It was way too thick. Covered in Shape Tape, my dark circles looked too matte and hidden. It worked, but it took my makeup on an express to “full glam” with no stops at “natural” on the way.”
“A full swipe of the Sephora concealer was still too much, but when I worked it in, it wasn’t thick or cakey. And when I compared the two, my Sephora under eye looked bright and rested. This isn’t
a dupe for Tarte’s—it’s actually better. It’s long-lasting and keeps my under eyes hydrated and glowing.”
I Keep Seeing This
Last year, I went to visit my friend Sunny in her beautiful new house in Irvington and noticed a massive rug in her dining room. It was made of a natural fiber comprising spiraling square panels in a diamond pattern that felt both dynamic and grounding in the stately room. Then, a few months ago, I started noticing the same style of rug in design magazines and on the Instagram accounts of stylish people, including Daphne Javitch and her husband, Pali Xisto Cornelsen. A couple Strategist editors also noticed the rugs popping up in their feeds, so I asked Sunny where she got hers. Turns out it’s the Original Rug, a handmade seagrass rug from Rush House, a company started in 2020 by Liz Strong and Page Mullins. Sunny first saw it in Architectural Digest and tracked it down because she “loved the price point, especially for such a big rug.” The largest size, nine by 12 feet, costs just $425. It’s designed to be customizable. Sunny ordered two and stitched them together herself to create one large rug to fit her dining room. You can also easily remove squares to cut it down to size—or even replace them if they get damaged or stained. Although, according to Sunny, cleaning it is easy enough: “The dog has puked on the rug multiple times, and you absolutely cannot tell.” –L.R.
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