What I Can't Live Without: December 2023 Edition
A monthly catalogue of obsessions
On Tuesday, I was asked to appear on CBC Radio to give my expert opinion on Pantone’s 2024 “Colour of the Year,” Peach Fuzz. Without mincing words, I absolutely hate it. It’s a weirdly unflattering light pinky orange and I have no idea who would want to wear it or purchase any household goods in this colour. It’s somewhat pacifying to look at, sure, which perhaps explains Pantone’s bizarre characterization of the colour as a move towards “empathy and understanding” and highlighting our “desire for togetherness.” But this forced spirit of optimism comes off as cloying, inauthentic, and tone deaf given the state of the world. It’s as if Pantone wants to bring people together, but have forgotten that the act of choosing a colour of the year is primarily a marketing gimmick rather than some prophetic vision of the year ahead. If I were to decide on a colour of the year, I would pick a rich deep green, a peacock-y blue or even a bright crimson with warm orange undertones. People are tired of the light, airy colour palette that has ruled the design world for the past decade and are craving something a little bit less bland, a little bit moodier and more interesting. Peach fuzz feels a bit like cocooning oneself from reality, which I don’t think is a good idea.
Anyways, onto the good stuff.
What I’m Considering
O’Connell’s Red Shetland Wool Sweater
I found this sweater, sold by O’Connell’s a family-owned clothier in Buffalo, NY, while immersed in an internet k-hole search for the perfect red crew-neck sweater. I’m obsessed with the fact the website looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2008. I imagine this is the kind of old-school store where the floor is carpet, the only salesperson on the floor is the 63-year-old son of the guy who owns it and there are no other customers in the store…aka the ideal retail experience.
Hannah Isolde Prudence Petticoat Skirt
I’ve been wearing a secondhand Aritzia(!) white midi-length skirt non-stop and the time has come in which I have convinced myself I need a second, for when the first one is in the laundry. This Hannah Isolde is the platonic ideal of a petticoat skirt, with the tender little lace ribbon near the bottom — very coquette but not in a corny way.
If you’re unfamiliar, Maguire is a Canadian-owned company selling made in Italy leather shoes for unreasonably good prices. These silver flats have been on my wishlist since the summer but they have sold out TWICE so I haven’t managed to snag a pair. Yet, that is. Now imagine an outfit consisting of aforementioned sweater, skirt AND these shoes? I would be unstoppable.
What I Actually Bought
For months, I’ve been meaning to make a pilgrimage to M+F Linen Bazaar, an extremely old-school store on College Street that has zero internet presence and is filled with moldering boxes of pantyhose that date back to 1983. Obviously I love this kind of thing but for whatever reason I had never been!! But as soon as I saw this outfit reel of @doubleexposure wearing a Salter House nightgown, I knew I needed to get my butt there ASAP. I ended up with two pairs of very cute pointelle 100% cotton underwear ($5/each) and an extremely trad-looking nightgown ($45). Salter House could never!
What I’m Reading/Watching/Enjoying
Charisma is a Service, Adrienne Matei (The Atlantic)
I loved this story on “vibe popes” aka people who use their charisma to benefit others by Adrienne Matei. Frankly, I would like to think I am something of an online vibe pope; someone who puts their life out there as a source of entertainment for others. I am at heart a court jester, juggling a series of spinning plates for a crowd, every time I post an outfit photo. Sometimes I question where this impulse comes from then I remember that my dad’s career before I was born was was literally “magician,” so performing for a crowd comes naturally.
The Silent Partner, Daryl Duke (1978)
A friend suggested I watch this after I mentioned being on a “Toronto movies” kick…aka Take This Waltz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World etc etc. I had never heard of this movie before but it’s set in the basement of the pre-renovation Eaton Centre (which is SO BEAUTIFUL and looks like a Victorian greenhouse?!) and features young Elliott Gould playing an uber-telegenic bank teller who engages in an increasingly twisted game of cat and mouse with a thief, played by Christopher Plummer. It’s delightfully clever and the perfect “alternative Christmas movie” viewing for people who have seen Die Hard one too many times.
What I’ve Written
Photo by Sarah Bodri
I Inherited A Vintage Coat—And An Incredibly Moving Story (Chatelaine)
This story, about a very special coat that was given to me, has been in the works for an entire year. I’m delighted it’s finally out, as I think it’s one of my favourite pieces I’ve written this year. My fellow vintage clothing enthusiasts will no doubt enjoy it.
The wildest stories from the legendary 888 Dupont art squat (Toronto Life)
I don’t have a byline on this which kinda stinks but I had the absolute best time interviewing former residents about what it was like to live in the Ultimate Toronto Freak Palace, 888 Dupont. Almost everyone I spoke with made mention of a notorious character they called “Pete the Lizard Guy.” Here are some quotes that didn’t make it into the piece:
“Sometimes I would go into Pete, the building manager’s apartment to buy canvas and it was filled with hundreds of lizards. The vibe of the building was wacky as hell.” - Alice Xue
“[888 Dupont] was filled with a bunch of interesting, unusual people. One person who sticks out was Pete, who worked in the building doing odd jobs. He had a bunch of frilled lizards and bearded dragons living free in the apartment, sleeping on the exposed pipes because they were warm. I swear this is not a hallucination, but I remember going in there and seeing Pete play a bass guitar and the bearded dragons were bobbing their heads along to the music. He would throw blueberries and have these bearded dragon races. Another time I glanced into one woman’s apartment and saw it was filled to the brim with random found objects like furniture and newspapers stacked to the ceiling.” -Winston Hacking
IKEA Cabinets Are the Secret Ingredient in This Toronto Kitchen (Architectural Digest)
I realized that just about everything I wrote in 2023 was focused on real estate or interior design so I thought…why don’t I start taking this seriously and get my byline into the biggest interior magazine out there? So that’s exactly what I did.
Inside a 455-square-foot Yorkville apartment brimming with art deco antiques (Toronto Life)
A master preservationist of old Toronto architecture, Matthew Stokes has managed to squeeze a bronze grate from the old Toronto Star building, stained glass windows from the old chapel at Eaton’s College Park and marble pillars from the old Eglinton Grand Theatre into his teeny studio apartment. Getting a chance to peek inside other people’s Freak Palaces is such an incredible joy.
What Made Me Laugh
Last word
I heard you on CBC, you were great.
I’m really loving the silver shoe trend and I don’t mind a Mary Jane but I feel like I lived through ballet flats in 2005 and I can’t look at a pair without muscle memory of the ergonomics of actually wearing a pair. Also having tons of destroyed ones in my closet for all of high school. Thoughts? Feelings?