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Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers, Joe McKendry
This winter, I finally found something that’s eluded me for a while: a truly good New York winter boot. I define that as one that’s not a snow boot but can be worn in the snow and slush, not a going-out boot but can be worn out for dinner and to the office, and not explicitly outdoorsy-looking but that can be worn in the city’s 10-degrees-but-feels-like-minus-11-freezing-cold-pavement great outdoors. I found mine at Diane B. Shoes, which has been around since 1999 and has two shops in the city: one a few blocks up from Bloomingdale’s and the other half a block from J.G. Melon. A lot of its styles are strongly reminiscent of more expensive designer styles — if you look at the Coco and Paris Buckle, you’ll get the idea — at prices that are not low by any means but a lot less than you’d pay for those pairs and, from what I can tell, just as well made. (When I was there last, a woman with actual armfuls of Bergdorf Goodman shopping bags came in to buy some boots, for what it’s worth.)
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Photo: Retailer
My boots aren’t on Diane B. Shoes’ site, but they’re pretty close to the Stormytwo (mine have a zipper on the back instead of the front). They’re waterproof suede with a shearling lining; have grippy soles and an elegant almond toe; and the top can fold up or down to either show the shearling or give them a slimmer fit through the ankle. They are truly fantastic and very warm. If you’re hunting for something similar, I recommend going in person — they have much more stock in store, and the people who work there are incredibly helpful.
Speaking of things I’ve worn a lot this winter: We’ve reached the point in the season where I’m basically putting on the same sweaters, pants, and wool socks every day. Surprisingly, I’m not sick of any of them. The sweaters are our new Best in Class sweater, the cashmere cable crewneck from the Bloomingdale’s house line, a cable knit from Alex Mill, and With Nothing Underneath’s Devon sweater (which I was sent); the pants are Alex Mill’s Camden corduroys in dark brown and J.Crew’s Delaney sweater pants, which I have in navy, gray, and black (I’m five-eight and get them in the “tall” size so they’re full-length); and the socks are cashmere Hansel From Basel ones that I bought at Salter House a couple of years ago.
Ever since New Year’s, I’ve had tulipieres on the brain. We were in Miami for a few days at the end of last year and did a day trip to Palm Beach, where we went to Kofski Antiques. The store had a pretty incredible selection of porcelain pieces, but what caught my eye was a square silver tulipiere that I really regret not buying. Since then, I’ve been looking for something similar online — with mixed results. I’m realizing that the better search term might be epergne? Whatever the case, I’m picturing these two silver guys stuffed with corner-deli tulips and peonies. And this delft tulipiere reminds me of some other great tulipieres I saw over the weekend at the Winter Show.
Some very nice early-18th-century delft tulipieres at the Winter Show.
Photo: Hilary Reid
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Photo: Retailer
It seems that my tulipiere hunt has alerted the algorithm to the fact that I like an object with multiple compartments to hold the same thing. And so I now know about lipstick carousels, many of which are also music boxes. This red one from the 1930s is pretty beautiful. It’s pricey but could make a very special gift for a friend who’s into beauty.
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Photo: Retailer
Something I really love is when you go to a makeup counter asking for one thing and the person working there basically redoes all of your makeup on the spot. This happened to me recently at Madison Apothecary, where I had gone to look at Westman Atelier lipsticks. The man who helped me casually mentioned that he’s done Anne Hathaway’s makeup a few times and proceeded to make me look more refreshed than I have since it was above freezing out. One thing he did that surprised me was swipe this highlighter stick all under my eyes and then apply concealer on top of that. My skin is pretty pale, so dark circles show easily, and this made a big difference.
A somewhat frequent topic of conversation at the Strategist is what makes a good “adult going-out top.” In the winter, I think the best answer is a little jacket worn as a shirt (Leandra Medine wrote something similar recently). I bought a ruffled Maurizio Pecoraro one at Designer Revival to wear for my birthday dinner last month and a vintage brown satin Barneys blazer from Poshmark, and now I have my eye on some for spring. I’m most interested in these vintage floral Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs jackets, which I can see wearing with Brooke Callahan Tie Pants.
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The Maurizio Pecoraro jacket-as-shirt I found at Designer Revival.
Photo: Hilary Reid
And speaking of Brooke Callahan Tie Pants … they are by far the pants I wore the most last summer, and I’ve had my eye on the winter version in wool for a while now. The new pale-pink pair for spring is very enticing too.
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The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.