Cappuccino Thoughts 1: On Beginnings
Light and frothy with a bit of a kick
Welcome to Cappuccino Thoughts with Claire Akkan
I have this style I call cappuccino writing. I said it off the cuff in a job interview once and it’s stuck with me since. Cappuccino writing is the kind of writing I usually like to read—light and frothy on the surface, easy to consume, but with a real kick underneath to get you going.
This is my The Tig (the real ones know), Goop (without the pseudo-science), Open Thread (okay maybe not that good). I love sharing what I’m up to on Instagram, but I miss having an excuse to write—and I want to share more context and thoughts.
Cool cool, but what are you actually going to write about?
I absolutely love doing something new nearly every day. Otherwise, what’s the point of paying that New York rent? A new museum exhibit, store experience, coffee shop….it doesn’t matter how small, I need a hit. I want to create a place to compile those experiences and share them with all of you.
I’m in, when will I see these missives in my inbox?
I’m planning to share weekly updates on my goings-on and recommendations for what you should go do and see, in New York, and elsewhere. Keep a look out Monday mornings for something new.
Got it, so what’s occupying your mind this week?
Just before I left New York for the holidays, I was waiting in Soho for a friend who was running late, so I popped into a trio of stores I’d been meaning to check out for awhile: Staud, Toteme, and The Frankie Shop. I get the sense that these stores started off very iykyk, then the influencers found out about them and they blew up. All three were beautiful and there was plenty to be bought if funds were endless (alas). I’m particularly fascinated by Staud, which is run by Sarah Staudinger (a #girlboss in her own right, but it’s worth noting that she married Ari Emmanuel this year)—it has more color and personality. But if you took the clothes from all three stores out of their usual contexts—the perfectly brown-toned walls of Staud, the white box gallery style of Toteme, the high-low merchandising mix of The Frankie Shop—and put them all on one clothing rack, it’s doubtful that you’d be able to differentiate them, and these are three of the most popular “it girl” brands of today.
All three stores felt like where the younger child of a The Row-wearing mom would shop—monochromatic, chic, harmless. Lauren Sherman did a great podcast about The Frankie Shop I listened to while browsing there. (One of the things I like best about living in New York—easy access to the phenomena that make up the cultural conversation.) Lauren talked about how The Frankie Shop is quite popular with influencers. No surprise there. All three stores felt like the embodiment of the Instagrammification of the world. Neutral, inoffensive clothing that reads well on camera and is easily regrammed and saved for inspo. It’s safe. And there’s nothing really wrong with that. But how about the days circa 2015 when the brand lighting up the fashion conversation was Alessandro Michele’s Gucci, an orgy of colors, prints, and references. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that at the same time as the rise of blandification, Michele is out at Gucci.
Still waiting for my friend, I went across to Ganni. Iris Apfel would be proud. There was a flurry of bright colors and enough different kinds of textiles to make a Joann Fabrics blush. There, the sales associate was styling herself in an outfit that encompassed seemingly every item in the store. A veritable panoply of neon green, bubblegum pink, black and white houndstooth, rendered in neoprene, silk, cotton, and fur. Successful? Maybe not. But interesting enough that it made me go home and think about how I could inject a little more Scandi girl style into my winter outfit choices.
What’s on the bedside table
Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley
From Goodreads: “One night in New York City's Chinatown, a woman is at a work reunion dinner with former colleagues when she excuses herself to buy a pack of cigarettes. On her way back, she runs into a former boyfriend. And then another. And . . . another. Soon nothing is quite what it seems as the city becomes awash with ghosts of heartbreaks past.”
I’m just 50 pages in, but so far enjoying.
Thanks for joining for the first edition! Next week I’m going to share the museum exhibits I can’t wait to see this winter.