July Hotline
Dispatch from a very sweaty, poorly dressed girl
I had guests in town for about half of June, which meant I had a great excuse to eat entirely too many meals out and act like a tourist. This obviously meant walking the Brooklyn Bridge, eating 456 Shanghai twice in one day (IKYKY), and getting a ridiculous amount of steps in. I rode the (free!) Staten Island Ferry for the first time - highly recommended activity for a sweltering hot day. The breeze made the entire ride so pleasant despite 90 degree temps, and the ferry terminals were absolutely cranking their AC.
There are very few places I’ll jump through hoops to eat at - really only Don Angie and Thai Diner, with rare exceptions. Though I’ll always miss Uncle Boon’s, I will never understand the “Thai Diner is overrated” crowd. It’s absolutely worth a two hour wait if you go expecting a two hour wait. Have a game plan, and don’t pull up starving! There are dozens of really cool stores within a five block radius to kill time, or you can just camp out on the patio of Mother’s Ruin until you get that blessed Resy text. Don’t let the naysayers keep you away from the crab fried rice and the coconut chicken Thailandese.
On My Calendar…
This Wednesday, I’ll be attending the launch party of the TYPE-XII Tomokazu Matsuyama project and the opening of its special exhibition. Hosted by A-POC Able Issey Miyake, the event (and subsequent exhibition) will be on display at the new IM global flagship store on Madison Avenue. I’m soo excited to finally see the space, which looks amazing, for such a special occasion!
What Else is Happening in NYC Vintage, Fashion, and Art…
To Shop:
🪡 La Coquine is bringing fab European vintage (including bridal & accessories) to a two-week pop up in the East Village at 434 E 9th Street. Open to the public!
🪡 A group of incredible vintage dealers opened up a brand new vintage & antique collective, Trillium, in Hudson! A must-see new addition to Warren Street for any of you escaping the city for the Hudson Valley this summer.
🪡 The iconic Toots Vintage has officially returned to NYC! Tootsies can celebrate with an appointment-only NYC pop up July 10th-12th - RSVP at the link in bio.
🪡 If you’re looking for vintage & designer shoes, make an appointment at The NY Archive’s brand new showroom stat!
🪡 The Isle of Monday showroom is open for appointments! I have a really special selection of rare & archival vintage and designer available exclusively for rent via IOM. If I were invited to any weddings or special events this year, this would absolutely be my first stop! A few of my current favorite pieces on the platform include a heavily beaded lime green mesh Y2K gown, a S/S 2004 McQueen denim skirt, and the leather JPG mini I wrote about in this piece!
To See:
🫧 TYPE-XII Tomokazu Matsuyama project is open to the public from July 9th-August 31st. Three A-POC ABLE 3D-printed sculptures are only on view during the July 9-12 opening window.
🫧 Yves Saint Laurent and Photography, featuring over 300 archival objects and photographs, on view at ICP until September.
🫧 Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses is on view at the Brooklyn Museum until December 6th. This exhibit requires timed tickets for entry.
🫧 Costume Art is on view at the Met for the rest of the year. This is the first costume institute show I’ve seen with entry directly in the Great Hall, which makes it very easy to find. More on my experience below!
🫧 Not technically a fashion or textile exhibit, but I thought this one may be of interest. Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions opened last month at the Morgan Library Museum (one of my all-time favorites). Leonora Carrington, the occult, and Cléo from 5 to 7? Sign me up!
In The Shop…
What’s Selling: Tops! This is never really a main category for me as I’m personally really picky with sourcing, but seemingly every single slinky little tank I’ve put on the racks recently has been scooped up almost instantly. Dresses are a runner up, with skirts seeing a curious slow down despite highly skirt-friendly weather.
What’s Sitting: To my suprise, the oldddd stuff I have stocked isn’t moving. I’ve found over the past couple of years that NYC shoppers are drawn to “new” vintage and “very old” vintage and not much in between - Edwardian cotton and 1930’s slips do very well alongside 90’s designer and Y2K baddie pieces. Not much commotion for the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s right now. So I put out a small selection of antique cotton, filet crochet, bed jackets, and satin tap shorts for summer. In my mind they’re the perfect light, romantic pieces for the heat, but the lack of buyers seems to say otherwise. What gives?
What I’m Sourcing: I’ve changed sizes since last summer, making NYC’s current heat wave exceptionally challenging. Some of my go-to warm weather pieces aren’t fitting me the way I want (if at all), which has sent me on the hunt for loose-fitting tops and breezy drawstring pants à la Kendall Flavin’s latest dispatch (image below).
One of the benefits of dealing vintage & designer clothing means that I can go on a bit of a secondhand shopping spree with the safety net of selling anything that doesn’t work out for me. I have a handful of wide-leg elastic waistband pants (mostly in cotton, silk, and linen) and super drapey tops currently en route, with the hopes that at a least a few of the items get to stay in my closet. Luckily, anything I like enough to want for myself is typically a good sign that it’ll sell easily, so what doesn’t fit me can go to one of the three NYC stores I’m currently stocked in.
In My Closet…
What I’m Buying: You already know how rare it is that I buy anything brand new! I generally only make exceptions for independent small designers and the occasional necessary basic. My little sister was recently visiting from Hawaii, and we spent a day walking from the LES to SoHo. Having a visitor inspired me to stop into stores that I usually just breeze right by, one of them being the new-ish Zemeta on Orchard Street.
Zemeta specializes in indie Asian brands, mostly Korean, Chinese, and NYC local labels. The selection is definitely super youthful, with Y2K-inspired design mostly in the $100-$160 range. I tried on a couple of pieces, including a super cute pair of striped shorts that showed the bottom half of both ass cheeks (not for me, but maybe for you?). I ended up buying this black cotton-blend tie-front tube top (below) for $150-ish. I actually used it for a styling job last week and haven’t worn it myself yet, but I think it was a good buy!
What I’m Wearing: Nothing very impressive, to be quite honest! It’s just too damn hot. I’ve been leaning heavily on a small rotation of loose cotton pants, including the 1930’s pinstripe pajama pants (above) and a pair of indigo tie-waist HaaT pants I picked up at an Issey Miyake sample sale in the spring.
On My Mind…
What I’m Reading: I absolutely adored Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. Unsurprising, as I also absolutely adored the other two books of his that I’ve read so far (Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day). Klara was brilliant and heartbreaking and strangely nostalgic, though I haven’t quite been able to put my finger on that last one.
For what may have been the first time ever, I actually had to put a book down for being too grotesque. I only made it about 25 pages into Agustina Bazterrica’s Tender is the Flesh before I felt too queasy to continue. I’ve read a lot of horror (including gore!), but something about the meat of it all just grossed me out too much to keep going. Maybe I’ll pick it back up one day.
I pivoted to a different type of ick with Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho. I’m only a few chapters in, but so far quite delighted with the off-putting 90’s satire. I’ve actually never seen the movie, so I’m going in blind-ish! I didn’t realize how aggressively this book would drop name brands - this is actually a very good who’s who of vintage designer if you’re looking for a crash course on labels to look for from the 80’s and 90’s. While I wasn’t surprised to see names like Armani and Ralph Lauren, I was excited to see Ellis nod to lesser-known (in 2026) brands like Susan Bennis/Warren Edwards and Krizia.
What I’m Watching: Nothing, tbh! The only movie I watched in June was How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the 100 Fashion Films Project and to indulge in a little nostalgic Knicks fever during the Finals.
On Display…
What I Saw: I managed to squeeze in a museum visit on the very last day of June! I headed up to the Met to see this year’s Costume Institute show, infamously “made possible by Jeff B***** and Lauren Sánchez B****.” After recovering from the ick of seeing their names in large print at the exhibition entrance, I had to admit I was pretty impressed with the show overall.
The exhibit featured custom mannequins made in collaboration with artists and models of varying body types. It was beautiful and inspiring to see disabled bodies, fat bodies, pregnant bodies, and otherwise marginalized forms dressed to the nines in a fine art setting.
What You Can See Outside of NYC:
🫧 (Antwerp, Belgium) The Antwerp Six is on view until January 2027 at MoMu
🫧 (Getaria, Spain) The Givenchiaga Family is on view at the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa until February 2027
🫧 (London, England) Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art is on view at the V&A until November
🫧 (Venice, Italy) The Only True Protest is Beauty, the inaugural exhibition at Fondazione Dries Van Noten, is on view until October
You may have noticed that I was quieter that usual online throughout June. I only published two pieces here on Substack last month, and haven’t posted on my Instagram grid since June 3rd. While I’m all for people stepping back from online life, it feels a bit different to go radio silent (ish) when you have people paying for your work! I have some personal stuff going on that I wanted to share here exclusively with my paid subscribers. Your support means to the world to me, and I really want to be open with you about what’s going on in my life and give you a good reason for having slowed down on my writing recently.
