My Latest Snag: Roop Furoshiki Bag.
I mentioned this in a post-script yesterday, but am so excited about my latest handbag acquisition — the Roop Furoshiki bag. These silky beauties are hand-made using only remnant or vintage fabrics, and they remind me of the Ascot bag from The Row — but cost under $100. I snagged one of the last ones on the internet (still one or two available here) in black and white polka dots, though founder Natasha Anjo (seen directly below styling her own bag) has already mentioned that she will be re-stocking in mid-June with a pink gingham style and a gorgeous marigold confection, among other styles. I am planning on wearing mine with a form-fitting LBD and on-trend kitten-heeled mules, for which I am still on the hunt. Considering these from new-to-me label Studio Amelia or a pair by lust-worthy label By Far.
Roop is a London-based, black-owned, eco-conscious business.
You’re Sooooo Popular: The Best Face Mask.
The most popular items on the blog this past week:
+Are you tired of hearing me talk about this face mask? Ha.
+This is the only thing I want to wear these days — breezy midi dresses that allow for ease of movement and…discretion as I chase my children around Central Park.
+Prettiest blockprint dress at a fantastic price.
+One of mini’s pairs of summer sneakers. Love that they can be worn with sundresses (have loved easy-to-care-for pima dresses in traditional shapes, like the one here) as easily as shorts.
+I guess many of you are celebrating first birthdays just like we did with Hill — with this epic ride-on vintage sportscar.
+Nightgown day dresses for life.
+This Zimmerman-esque dress is around $100 and so chic. Also love this pretty style from the same collection.
+These custom family portraits by a black artist are absolutely amazing — I originally included it in my Father’s Day gift guide roundup, which I since took down and will plan to re-feature next week.
+Mad Hippie vitamin C serum — I’m testing this in substitution for the much more expensive Vintner’s Daughter and am loving it so far. Very impressed with the results.
+Best bra, on sale in select colors, here.
+This $11 toddler swimsuit is a must.
Weekend Musings: Breezes That Have Not Come.
We have over-extended the brief “windows open” season in our apartment, walking around in denial as water glasses sit in pools of condensation, we wipe sweat from our brows, and I toss and turn at night in search of breezes that do not come. This is in part because Mr. Magpie has been attempting to research the best window air conditioning units for our pre-war apartment, contending with inputs like BTU and square footage, while also waterlogged at work and balancing a one year old boy on his hip and a three-year-old daughter at his feet. Things just take longer these days. Oddly, I have not entirely minded in the case of purchasing our window AC units (and yes, I know how odd it is that renting tenants are responsible for their purchase — it was something we could not negotiate into the lease). Aside from the kitchen, which frequently achieves boiler room status if we are both running the dryer and cooking, much of our twelfth floor apartment remains temperate, especially the dining room, which tends to circulate air on even the stillest of days, and in which I have spent many hours this past week reading, reflecting, talking to friends and siblings, and collecting thoughts over a half-formed puzzle while the children are asleep or napping or — on occasion — blessedly preoccupied with something on their own.
The open windows have also amplified the continued seven p.m. cheers for front line medical workers and essential employees in the era of COVID quarantine, the chanting of protesters walking down Broadway, the applause of neighbors leaning out their windows in solidarity, the smashing of glass in the middle of the night, the jarring absence of ambient traffic and street noise on the evenings during which we lived under curfew, and the still-frequent wail of sirens signaling clashes over racial injustice or the ferrying of ill coronavirus patients to the hospital across town.
These are the sounds of New York City in early June 2020.
Collectively, they project the discordance of many million people tossing and turning at night in search of breezes that have not yet come.
Good Reads.
There were several excellent pieces by Roxane Gay this week — a bone-weary reflection on this week’s events, a love letter to her fiancee, and an ode to the jigsaw puzzle.
Post-Scripts.
+Speaking of puzzles — I am working on this one, though in addition to pre-ordering one of the ones Roxane Gay suggests in her Wirecutter article, can also recommend anything from Pomegranate Puzzles? The quality is incredible and I love looking at reproductions of art masterpieces. This looks fun, this looks impossible, and the floorboards on this classic will preoccupy me for days.
+At the suggestion of a thoughtful reader (thank you, MK!), I have created a Magpie Book Club page at Bookshop, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores, which is especially meaningful right now, as many face COVID-related closures. I have added a couple of the books I am reading/planning to read and shared a few of my absolute favorite books from the last few years of reading. You can find reviews of many of them here.
+I can’t decide which dress to buy from new-to-me label Fanm Mon, whose embroidery and ruffles are totally up my alley. (I also love that the brand is run by a husband and wife team.) This is the perfect everyday dress to wear with neutral slides (or these for much less) and I’m dead over the embroidery and puff sleeves on this linen number, which I would wear with a heeled sandal like this or this. Fanm Mon is a black-owned business.
+Two great picnic finds, for your next at-home (or in-park!) picnic: these acrylic rosebud glasses and these melamine covered bowls, which are basically perfect for transporting snacks for little hands.
+Speaking of picnics: this LemLem dress. Love the way it’s styled on the site, with an oversized straw fringed clutch (look for less, or go for broke with the Jacqemus fringed bag I have been drooling over since last year). LemLem was founded by supermodel, businesswoman, philanthropist, and native Ethiopian Liya Kebede. All products are handmade by artisans in Africa. This gauzy beauty (on sale) is dreamy for the beach.
+Love this sweet tank ($65).
+Another amazing nightgown dress.
+Will be ordering one of these limited-edition linen tops from Le Petit Organic for mini when re-stocked next Friday. Le Petit Organic is an NY-based black-owned business.
+Adorable everyday dress for a little one ($20).
+Great bath gear for children.
+Lacoste polos on sale — perfect Father’s Day gift (size up). I’ll be republishing the father’s day gift guide this upcoming week, but the sale on these polos ends 6/8!