NYC's not as cool as Oakland
It's pretty cool though! HERE'S EVIDENCE
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New York City — whatta town! Yr boy (Jonah) is an NYC native, which means I’m allowed to speak provocative truths about the city, like the one in today’s subject line, and which moreover means I’m always stoked to return from our current East Bay Spyplane HQ to my home soil, which is what I did with Erin the other day in order to 1) co-host our smash-hit Leisure Centre Spymall event, 2) link + build with assorted NYC-based SpyFriends, and 3) generally see what the f**k was popping within city limits.
Among the things we did during our trip?? On-the-ground C.I.R.L.O.C. (Cop I.R.L. Only Challenge) RECON, of course!!
FIRST OFF —
Halfway thru the trip the weather went from hot ‘n’ muggy to crisp ‘n’ nippy, so I popped into Mach 3+ boutique C’H’C’M’ to cop a FIRE beige brushed super kid mohair crewneck from Japan’s Auralee (not cheap, but a certified stunner) and insulate myself swaggily. It’s a warm but lightweight beauty, and I’ve worn it every day since.
Auralee is, to my eye, a perfect C.I.R.L.O.C. brand, in the sense that I’ve admired their understated clothing in photos online, but there was very little chance I was gonna drop bookoo bread on this sweater off the strength of a .jpeg alone.
No sir!! For this piece to really “start singing” its seductive melodies, I needed to see the ANGORA FIBERS swaying dreamily like EXOTIC DEEP-SEA FLORA in real time… I needed to put my fingertips on those fibers and gasp at their SILKINESS… And I needed to pull that fuzzy collar over my d*mn dome and behold the DRAPE !
SpyFriend Jon Caramanica and I had a conversation about this phenomenon one afternoon as we strolled over to the new L.E.S. location of buzzing vintage shop Lara Koleji, which carries a ton of cool, relatively muted slappers (including lots of old Issey Miyake diffusion-line pieces and agnès b joints) that make less of a “pop” on a smartphone screen than they do in person. Jon & I wondered if we’re due for an imminent pendulum swing away from clothes with louder, flashier, IG-friendly aesthetics toward joints with subtler, I.R.L.-friendly appeal… Maybe that swing is already underway ??
SPEAKING OF COLD WEATHER C.I.R.L.O.C. GEMS — at C’H’C’M’ I marveled at this MAJOR “Arctic Down Parka” from Italy’s Ten c: