All Things Considered: May edit
15 shopping picks, notes from the month, 25% off subscriptions
Hello, hope you all had a good weekend!
After wanting to go to Toad bakery in Camberwell for so long, we finally tried it yesterday morning, and so help my cholesterol levels, it was good! The porchetta honey butter swirl was a total knockout, and I’d cycle there and queue all over again to eat another one.
We’ve finally had our heads turned by Lime bike over the past six months. I always hated them because they’re a favourite tool of teenage boys who ride around pavements stealing phones out of unsuspecting hands, but now I buy a monthly pass. The penny finally dropped that every restaurant, sandwich and cake that we’ve ever wanted to try is within 30 mins if we cycle, rather than walk or take a train.
Anyway, here’s my round-up for May! I haven’t offered a discount in about a year, so if you’d like to support my work and have full access to everything (including this post), here’s a spontaneous 25% off. It takes annual subscriptions down to £37.50 – click the ticket below to use it!
Cigarettes or cake?
I’m going to out myself as a killjoy and admit it, I don’t think it’s cool to smoke. Even though it admittedly looks chic in films (Margot Tenenbaum in a bath, etc), and many iconic photographs feature a cigarette teetering on a bottom lip. Here in London, they’re laid out on silver platters at posh parties. Still, I stand firm. I only have room in my life for one vice that might kill me, and that thing is sugar.
Speaking of sugar (we got there eventually), I loved this cake that my friend Alice had for her birthday. Isn’t it a work of art?! Her brilliantly talented flatmate Ian, a Mexican chef, created it as a surprise, like it was NBD to whip that up!
The cake was one of the things that sparked the idea for their new business, and I already love the sound of it. It’s called Get Laid, and it’s a creative studio dreaming up stories, design and menus for theatrical food-based events, and then bringing them to life around a table. Alice is a fellow ADHDer, and we’re similar in many ways, but she’s much naughtier and more fun than I am, so I imagine the workings of her brain being like going to a fairground while on mushrooms…
A Considered London guide
My favourite Substack is written by LA-based
, so it was mega flattering when she asked about my favourite places in London for her Plus One series! You’ll need a paid subscription to A La Carte to read the tips I shared with Ali’s readers, but access to her inspirations and thought process is always money joyfully spent. I particularly love her ‘room recipes’ and themed moodboards.
My All Things Considered shopping picks are usually a 50/50 mix of interiors and fashion. This month, it’s all fashion. I have a couple of dedicated homeware posts coming up, but today, it’s shoes and accessories I saw in New York and wanted to save for later, plus a couple of recent menswear faves that I’d love to wear myself.
I have such dry and irritated eyes – I’m always rubbing them – so I wear sunglasses a lot, especially if it’s windy. I’ve been thinking about getting some ordinary glasses without a prescription, as I don’t have bad eyesight, but I do need an eye shield! I love aviators, but they never fit my huge moon face, so I’m thinking about this sort of shape. These are the Chloe West glasses.
I’ve never been drawn to Margiela’s replica of classic German military trainers, but I love Reproduction of Found’s take on them for two reasons: firstly, they’re so buttery soft, much softer than Margiela or Adidas’ versions. Second, the colours. I really like the black, but the lighter colours feel so elegant for trainers. The buttery yellow is very of the moment, and they do chic a muted mousey grey that my boyfriend tried on in New York, and I loved the colour. They’re harder to find in smaller sizes, but some stockists go down to a UK 4 / EU 37.
I was in Alex Mill on the Upper East Side, drawn in by something in the window, but I actually ended up stocking up on their perfect loafer socks. They’re ribbed, slim, not too high on the ankle, and they come in an array of excellent colours.
On our last day in NY, we ducked into Corridor to hide from torrential rain and ended up leaving with a unisex shopping list of embroidered jackets, camp collar shirts and could-be-vintage caps. My boyfriend bought the one pictured here.
I bought this £29.90 t-shirt from Uniqlo x Comptoir de Cotonniers last summer, declared it the perfect tee, then they promptly stopped selling it. Anyway, it’s back and I’ve bought three more. Now I have it in brown, navy, bright blue and white. It’s loose in the body, but with a neat shoulder and short sleeves, the deep collar gives it a vintage look. Made from 100% linen, it feels drapey and broken in.