LE CATCH

The Santa Anas are blowing, Coco left yesterday, and I’m spending Friday fantasizing about longer hair and coats I have no climatic reason to buy. Make of that what you will. While some of our visit involved our usual joint discovery missions (see Wednesday’s post), there was also the catching up on what we’ve each discovered independently. The first was almost shockingly noticeable: her hair! Long, down to her mid-back, healthy and lush in a way that took me straight back to our Riverdale Country School days. Excuse me, we have the same DNA. What’s she doing differently? Nutrafol, she told me. I vowed to get on it. I’m also working Highbrow Hippie’s new Nutripeptide Strengthening Essence, a lightweight leave-in mist for (much-needed) hydration, and (LA’s endless) heat protection. Apparently, my hair has been getting the short end of things. My makeup bag, meanwhile, benefits from every visit: I “borrowed” her Anastasia ArchiBrow eyebrow pencil and Westman Atelier Highlight Stick, and she bought her own Laura Mercier Caviar Stick, after watching me apply it with the quickest ease. Other potential shares: the knit funnel coat she picked up for under $300, below, which I would happily wear over everything, provided the temperature cooperates. Cargo pants, which she reported were looking particularly good on the models she photographed last week (here, here and here). I pay attention to what those women wear to work! Of course, Coco’s new finds don’t preclude helping herself to my old favorites. Almost without fail, she borrows my Sold Out NYC button-downs, particularly this one, though I suspect she will also to try to pinch my pretty just-arrived lace-front H&M, below, and Schutz high-vamp flats whenever she stays. Next time I should leave them out with the towels and her favorite body wash. We also agreed there are more double-buckle belts in our future, spent time considering Dôen’s new drop (particularly the almost-sold-out jacket Lily Sisto loves, below), clocked Madewell’s refreshingly affordable take on the trendy leather lanyard (second to last pic) and swooned over White & Warren’s luscious cashmere fringe. By the time she left yesterday, I had a longer shopping list, major hair envy, and a less clear sense of what actually belongs to whom. Thank goodness she’s coming back in two weeks!

$149, M&S

My weather app and my wish list are on the outs.

1. One Grey Day sweater
2. Frame jeans
3. Marks & Spencer faux fur lined satin bomber jacket
4. Each & Every Body Wash and Deodorant in This is Love
5. Celine clutch (Use the code MARLIEN to borrow this bag and save 80% of first month of membership at Vivirelle)
6. Roberto Cavalli wraparound bracelet watch
7. Aeyde snake effect ankle boots

$44, h&m

Carolyn Bessette, with a little Conner Ives in the mix.

1. White & Warren cashmere turtleneck
2. H&M wrap skirt
3. Vintage Celine hoop earrings
4. BCBG slim oval sunglasses
5. Dries Van Noten Refillable Lipstick Case
6. Chanel Vanity Bag (Use my code MARLIEN to borrow this bag and save 80% off first month of membership at Vivrelle)
7. Schutz leather boots
8. Madewell heart stacking ring

Alex Mill’s latest fall pieces had me ogling, but the jackets stopped me in my tracks. They reminded me of the ones Coco and I wore in high school—and apparently our taste hasn’t changed much. I offered to let her “borrow” mine for a while if she took some pictures of me in it. A reasonable arrangement, considering she’s having an actual fall in New York while I’m in LA, waiting for the temperature to drop below 75 degrees. What I hadn’t factored in was her 17-year-old daughter wanting it, too. Now they’re fighting over a jacket that, for the record, still belongs to me! Thankfully, there are loads of other options for them to wear, including the pictured brown velvet ballet flats (that are somehow still in Coco’s possession post-shoot), this pretty pink sweater (now with Phoebe at Choate!) and this merino wool jacket (I love how Courtney Grow styled it!).

Coco is in town, which means sitting at my dining table, side by side, laptop to laptop, taking turns demanding the other’s attention like toddlers calling for their mother to watch. Except ours is “Look what I found!” And we actually want to look over and over again! One shout-out this morning: Prada’s cotton fleece hoodie, below, and its $3150 price tag that warrants a moment (or more like a minute) of shock! But the glittering brooch pinned to it? That warrants copying with a vintage-looking hoodie we already own. More of our morning finds: Polo Ralph Lauren’s washed tuxedo shirt that’s just forever stylish, along with the Zara funnel neck we have in red and navy respectively and now need in white, above; Me + Em’s $125 crystal cluster earrings; Mango’s pocketed parka and jacket with detachable fur; a Goldbergh embellished turtleneck sweater (that looks Marni-ish); a plaid H&M cargo shirt that we could see on an uber cool girl like Clare Vivier; J.Crew’s minimalist-chic silk tank; and Banana Republic’s fringed sweater.

My birthday came with a very good gift today: the kind of LA sunshine that reminds me why I live here. Somewhere between tropical storm watches and another impending heat wave, fall squeezed me in. Thank you! It has me wishing for more action-packed days with plenty of energy and sparkle: long walks that turn into longer lunches, dinners that warrant delicate lace and tuxedo blazers, above, and more time with (and hugs from!) my favorite people. Also on the wish list: a shimmery J.Crew dress and studded barn jacket (or the cozy fluffy one), an under $100 statement necklace to wear with this layered-looking Lisa Yang cardigan, and a mini Gucci tote for whatever happens after. Preferably chocolate cake.

New York has nearly 8.6 million residents, yet somehow I always run into someone I know—usually when I’m dressed for absolutely no one. Last week, it was an old friend in a random Little Italy shop where I’d stopped to buy fresh pasta for dinner. My hands were full of groceries. My jewelry, thank goodness, was handling appearances, above. Sequin NYC continues to carry me in this department. I wore its pieces around town all week, adding enough glimmer to make even my running-around outfits look like I’d given them some thought (see my grey Doen sweater with my $128 mini “J” initial necklace, in honor of my eldest son, which my childhood friend promptly complimented). The new “Glimmers” collection gives me plenty more to work with: genuine semi-precious gemstones and charms to clip on and swap out. And this ring! It’s jewelry I can keep rearranging, even employing as a belt, below—and count on when New York inevitably turns into a reunion.

polo ralph lauren

Crochet meets fair isle—peak fall prep!

1. Polo Ralph Lauren sweater
2. Eterne straight high-rise jeans
3. Mango faux fur biker jacket
4. Banana Republic triangular hoop earrings
5. Jimmy Choo tortoise shell print clutch
6. Olaplex Smooth and Shine Set
7. Schutz boots

In New York, I can feel perfectly well dressed for as long as I don’t leave the apartment. Someone, it seems, is inevitably better outfitted than I am. At all hours. At 8:30AM this morning, for example, while sitting outside Gotan with my almond flat white, wearing a sweatshirt, exercise leggings, and a suede barn jacket (albeit all cute!), J.Crew’s Olympia Gayot walked by in a belted army jacket, Botticelli hair flowing. Suddenly, I wanted to go home and change. Or at least find a belt. Then last night, Clare Vivier arrived fresh off the plane from LA in a wrinkle-free Maria McManus shirt and old Rachel Comey shoes that look like current Celine. I can’t keep a shirt wrinkle-free walking to dinner. Meanwhile, Coco somehow acquired the cutest pointy-toe ballet flats when I wasn’t looking, and now I want those, too. But this is also why I love being here. I get dressed, go outside, reconsider everything, and try again. Plus, I shop. Yesterday, that meant these (birthday) bow flats at Celine, below, (Coco promptly bought these loafers on sale) and trying on Alexa Chung’s entire collection at Reformation, which made me feel approximately half as cool as Alexa Chung (this specifically). Let’s see how long this lasts once I head out today.

A quick Zara detour this morning turned into a longer look. Blame the latest blazers and knits—and my ability to justify another of either. My picks here: the lace-trimmed blazer and double-lapel jacket above, the reversible plaid trench, the striped sash shirt, and the faux fur peplum jacket.