Cappuccino Thoughts 25: On the Jubilee of June!
Recs for fashion, culture, and coffee this month.
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Hello! Thanks for joining me for issue #25. If you’re new, welcome! I truly love having you here. I’ve got big plans for the next 25 (Cap Thoughts walk around New York?!).
Next week will already be July, so it’s time for this month's recommendations.
June recs
Fashion
-I stumbled upon Eye Candy, a tiny yet amazing vintage store selling glasses, jewelry, and bags. While I was there, a costume designer was talking to the owner about buying pieces for a TV show she said she couldn’t name. I’m jealous of those actors!
-On а recommendation from my friend C., I visited 2nd Street Vintage in Chelsea which has a good selection of designer vintage if you’re willing to cull through the racks.
-I bought this Goe oil from Save Khaki United, partly because it smelled nice, more because the packaging was beautiful. (What can I say? I’m a sucker for good branding.) I slathered it all over sunburn spots when I came back from Türkiye, and I was soft and moisturized by the morning. I highly recommend.
-A NYC-based menswear startup I follow on TikTok (I know, I know, but I’m trying to keep up with the youths) was having a pop-up in Chinatown. I ended up buying a contrast-collar Oxford button down that I’m going to make F. share with me. It looks super preppy (in a good way) buttoned up on him, and I plan to wear it oversized with a black tank and white jeans.
Culture
-As you may remember from way back in issue 6, I am on an unofficial mission to see every bookstore in Manhattan. I did myself a favor and took off any chain stores (Barnes & Noble, Hudson News), strictly comic book stores, or stores only selling books in languages I don’t speak. By that count, I have now been to 32/58. This month I hit Codex and East Village Books. Both sell mostly second-hand books, though I’d say Codex has a more curated selection and I’d recommend it more highly.
-This month was a great one for art. I visited the Gagosian for the Richard Avedon exhibit (on until 7/7, so run over), which was as good for the people watching as it was for the fashion photography. I popped to the Gagosian uptown with my friend M. to see Chris Burden’s exhibit—given that he’s mostly a performance artist, it was interesting how the gallery chose to exhibit his work, mostly through videos and scripts that gave a sense of what it would have been like to see live. I also saw the Wangechi Mutu exhibit at the New Museum on the day it closed, and was pleasantly surprised that the museum was packed with people trying to get their last look. Her work took over the whole museum, so it was a truly immersive experience befitting the surreal artist.
-The most special art exhibit of the month was seeing Donald Judd’s studio and living space in Soho on a guided tour. As I mentioned when I tried to go earlier, it’s possible to walk into the ground floor, but to see anything more, you have to book ahead. (It’s not expensive, but spots fill up fast because only six people can go at a time.) He really lived his vision: every floor felt like one of his rectangular sculptures come to life. On the third or fourth floor (there were no pictures allowed, so it’s hard to remember totally accurately), he put pine flooring on both the floor and ceiling, so it feels like you’re in a liminal space. But what really took my breath away was the art from his contemporaries. He traded for work from the likes of Frank Stella, Donald Flavin, and Claes Oldenburg. (My junior year dorm room overlooked Oldenburg’s Lipstick Tank. Truly my peak.) I gasped out loud when I walked into the top floor room, with no lights except a site-specific Flavin piece lining the windows that overlook the Soho streets. The guide recommended coming back during different seasons to see how the light impacts the experience. I’m dying to go back into that room during an early sunset in the winter, when the sculpture would be the only source of light. I am also inspired to add Marfa, Texas to my art pilgrimage list to see the Judd Foundation there. Later this summer, I’m keen to see Picasso at the Guggenheim after I catch up on the controversy, Georgia O’Keefe at the MOMA, and Van Gogh’s Cypresses if I can find a time when the Met won’t be mobbed. And I’m devastated to have missed Kehinde Wiley’s show, which I just realized closed last week.
-In other experiential moments this month, I did semi-successfully weave that basket, thank you so much for asking. It was a great evening with Closely Crafted, the fashion nonprofit I’m a board advisor to. As I’ve said before, there’s something wonderful in being unapologetically bad at something. The vibe was laidback and everyone was just sitting on the floor, happily weaving and chatting away. I was somewhat more successful figure drawing (hopefully my drawing partner wouldn’t disagree).
-After I was very kindly gifted a digital camera (to take my bag product shots), but was lacking the necessary wires, I went over to B&H Cameras near Penn Station. Maybe you already knew this, but I just learned that it is the largest camera store in the world, going through a whole city block. If you have even a passing interest in photography, you’ve got to check this place out. Floors and floors of cameras of all types. The sales associates were also very kind and showed me how all the camera parts fit together after I looked at them completely blankly (unlike the sales associate at a different camera store, who looked completely horrified when I showed up with a roll of unwound film asking for it to be developed. I’m learning!).
-Over on the food end of the spectrum, my friend J. took me to Union Square Café for lunch as a thanks for a favor. (I would take all payment in the form of fine dining). We had the loveliest lunch—so often iconic spots like that have snooty service and float by on their reputation. Not USC. The food was lovely and the service even better.
-I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is I finally had a decent taco in New York. The bad news is it was in Bushwick (well, bad news for a Manhattan maniac like me). I have been thinking about the birria taco at Nene’s since I ate it (as well the bumping Friday night playlist).
-In other updates from Brooklyn, I met my friend K. for a drink before our book club in Greenpoint at Milk and Roses, which I didn’t even realize was also book-themed. Gorgeous decor made it feel like a 1920s speakeasy with better lighting. Also in Greenpoint is the cute restaurant Sereneco, perfect for an outdoor apéro hour with a side of people watching.
-I cannot believe I am mentioning Bushwick and Dimes Square in one newsletter (what kind of sick hipster have I become), but the vibes are vibing at Le Dive. That is all.
-Much more on brand for me, the final food rec is the rooftop at RH (fka Restoration Hardware) in Chelsea. It is, as you might expect for a furniture store, beautifully decorated, and the meal was lovely too. I spent three hours cackling with my hilarious friend L. over Arnold Palmers. A great time.
Coffee
-Should you find yourself way (WAY) uptown, Buuni was a cute Ethiopian coffee stop with a real community feel.
-The Roost is a coffee spot that turns into a bar at night. (I love that. Why haven’t we learned more of that from the Italians yet?) It’s right next to Stuytown, and my favorite Stuy resident M. and I tried to order their famous iced vanilla Vietnamese coffee but they were out. :( Just means we’ll have to go back!
-Also on the Euro beat, La Cabra felt so Scandi and actually reminded me of one of my favorite bakeries in Frankfurt, Germany. The décor is a gorgeous minimalist aesthetic without being too pretentious, and the whole place smells like cardamom buns. The coffee was also excellent. Highly recommend.
-Okay confession time: I live above a Starbucks. So that does mean that occasionally I have to break my commitment to independent third-wave coffee spots and capitulate to the entrancing smell of those slightly burned beans emanating from my lobby. This month I discovered the White Chocolate Macadamia Cold Brew and, oh boy, it is the most refreshing drink ever on these 80-degree days. Do with that what you will.
New bags available!
Finally, I can share some of the bags I had produced in Türkiye. (Guys, they changed their official name and this is what we’re all supposed to call the country now). I absolutely love the details on this bag, and that I can sell it at a more reasonable price point. Handmade by artisans using cast-off leather and lined with a vintage silk scarf, this everyday chestnut-brown bag has peeks of the colorful scarf on the underside of the handle, inside the pockets, and lining the interior of the bag. With a secret pocket on the side exterior, it's everything you need for a day out and about.
Go ahead, show a little lining.
$200, simply reply to this email to purchase, or visit my website.
Look of the week
What’s on the bedside table
I just started Embassy Wife by Katie Crouch and am loving it so far. It’s about a “trailing spouse” (someone who follows their partner abroad) at the American Embassy in Namibia. She’s uprooted from her high-flying job in Silicon Valley to follow her less successful husband on his Fulbright there. But his reasons are not what they seem? I’m not totally sure what will happen yet, but I love the characters they’ve set up, from the powerful Oshiwambo woman Mila, to the social climbing American Persephone. Politics play out as much in the schoolyard of the International school as they do in the Embassy. As a former Russian Studies major who once dreamed of a life of diplomacy (uhh….thank goodness I’m not responsible for American-Russian relations right now), I’ll always be fascinated by State Department stories.
Okay, Substack is telling me I’ve reached the email length limit, so I guess we’re done here! Next week I will be going to my first baseball game since my family uninvited me from attending with them because I would bring a book and just read. Do you think the Mets frown on making my Goodreads goal?
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