Issue 5
A year-end compilation of favorite things in tech, fashion, music, design, and more.
Technology
Carlos Saez for WIP Magazine Issue 09. Link
Airbuds.fm, a friends-based music app connected to Spotify, Apple Music, and Souncloud. Link
Instagram downloader, an Apple Shortcuts routine for easily downloading content. Link
A USB-C head-to-head comparison, between $129 and $5 cables. Link
Sterility of interfaces, product software as skyscrapers. Link
Bonus: The age of average by Alex Murrell. Link
Fashion
Spring/Summer 2024 shows happened all across the world, setting up what we’ll see people wearing in the coming year. Roses as a motif were seen across many collections (“flowers for spring, groundbreaking!”), the color of burgundy continued to permeate as the hue of the year, and designers have finally gotten over the tiny bag trend and said “okay now carry everything with you”. Link
Ahead of the impending SS24 burgundy flood, current sales include this Coach leather coat 60% off for $798, a great vintage Newport News leather duster for $250, and a Dennis Basso faux leather jacket for $57.
Which toe shoe are you? Link
A 4th generation dry cleaner produced a guide to removing white deodorant stains from clothing. Vinegar has always been in my arsenal of tools, but now I guess dish soap is joining the ranks (clean your eyeglasses with dish soap, it’s like seeing again for the first time). Link
Consumption Project is a new tool to help make a personal commitment around clothing consumption. 85% of U.S. textiles produced in a single year end up in a landfill, making up 70 pounds per person. Vogue’s Cassandra Pintro speakson the book The World Is On Fire and We’re Still Buying Shoes: “the tragic irony is that we’re not even trashing the planet for things that make us happy.” Link
From Summer 2020, Maison Margiela produced a 1-hour documentary, S.W.A.L.K., covering the process and creation of their Autumn/Winter 2020 collection. It’s always lovely to see the curtain pulled back on creative workers in other domains; I’m eager to notice similar/different approaches to creative work (see more in the column below). Link
I’m selling my one of a kind Darth Vader helmet encrusted in pearls. 100+ hours of hand labor, I hope this can go to a good home. Link
Music
On rotation is my regularly updated collection of music I hear, make, and mash-up. I’m currently spotlighting: my favorites of 2023, Pittsburg-based queer collective Honcho, and mashups with Stardust, VanMcCoy, Arca, and Doja Cat. Link
Peruvian producer Sofia Kourtesis’s debut album Madres is a rhythmic splash of light, my favorite release from the year, keeping me connected to the brightest parts of autumn as winter is in full swing. Looking forward to having it on repeat as the sun starts getting longer from here on out (today is solstice, yay!). Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube
I recently went through a break-up and discovered that I had, accidentally, already started crafting a playlist to process it months ago. Link
Products
Escala stainless steel side table, $880. Link
Ebba Storage Console (from Urban Outfitters?!), $700. Link
Saint Heron glassware, sold out. Link
Chris Wolston terracotta chair, in the thousands. Link
Studio H rose marble stone box, $400. Link
Design
It was the year of the gradient ramp background. First spotted in fall of last year from Jonathan Anderson’s FW23 collection, the black and white 70s-80s studio lighting has met my eyeballs all year long. The year of 2023 continued to spit out retro type, illustration, and overall sensibilities, but this photography trend was one of my favorites. See Tais Sirote, Nick Baker, California Arts, Loewe, Miles Greenberg, and Alex Doherty Jewellery.
Bonus: Dogs
Smiling and wagging, baby Snoopy and baby Clifford, sploot, and a dog cake of my dreams