SOAP AS FASHION, issue #10
An Intellectual Style Newsletter, with tips for living your best (real) life.
TL; DR
This issue includes a list of cheap things that are chic: shopping items where the value outsizes the price. Selection inspired by the change of seasons.
Dear Reader,
We are about half-way through the month of September and I don’t know about you but I am feeling inspired. The temperature is finally starting to dip where I am (Southern California), we are well into fashion month, and I’ve come across a few new (not-as-fashion-related) ideas that I am toying around with.
I’m also working on the next iteration of F&M’s Soap As Fashion Collection, that will be available a bit later this Fall, and I’m super excited about it. (Btw if you’ve been thinking about freshening up your bathroom or kitchen with our fresh-and-timeless limited-edition navy nautical stripe collection, don’t wait too long as it won’t be available much longer! Remember, they are refillable and meant to last you several seasons…)
Today’s issue is a list of a few shopping items I am looking at or already using as we’re heading into fall, that I am calling “cheap things that are chic”. This may turn into a regular feature in the newsletter – because scoring something great that is also inexpensive is a thrill like nothing else, at least within the context of shopping ;)
I heard Claire Waight Keller* say recently on a podcast that right now people are looking to buy either luxury goods, or items with exceptional value, and not as much in-between. I feel like I’ve held this shopping philosophy for a while. As a shopper, my purchases almost always fall into one of 3 buckets:
1) inexpensive items that serve a purpose at the time,
2) pricier purchases that are just worth it,
or
3) items where the value for money ratio is tilted, aka diamonds in the rough, where the value outsizes the price.
Sometimes these #3s are things I’ve found deeply on sale, when there are only a few left and it happens to be something I love (meant to be)! Or a designer bag or dress at a vintage/consignment shop where there is only one available and it’s the perfect thing. When a fav luxury designer does a collab with Zara (or H&M or Gap or Target etc) and you’re able to score a (non-cheesy) piece of the collection before it sells out.** And sometimes these diamonds in the rough are just regularly-priced items that happen to produce an outsized amount of joy in relation to their modest price tag.
Everything that falls into category #3 is a prime candidate for my running list of “cheap things that are chic”. The list below includes things I am currently using and/or things that are on my shopping list RN:
THE MOST COMFORTABLE NO-SHOW (NO-BRAINER) UNDERWEAR
Maybe TMI but I recently overhauled my underwear drawer and now I have everything sorted in very easy-to-access sections, that go from left to right starting with the most amount of coverage to the least. It used to be in a different sized drawer, where it wasn’t as easy to separate everything so clearly, and it’s amazing how such a small change can bring joy to something as simple as putting on underwear! Along with being able to find what I want more easily, the other part that has been making the process more enjoyable is that I found my new favorite underwear. I used to wear thongs almost every day (mostly for fashion purposes; no VPLs please), but most days now you can bet I am wearing this bikini shape from Gap and I love it – so comfortable!! And so thin that I can wear them with leggings and tight pants and you can’t even tell. They don’t slip and get all bunched up like most of the “no-show” underwear out there. I also really love wearing the high-waisted ones when I’m wearing higher-waisted pants – soooo comfortable (esp post-C section) and also cute. They remind me of the hipster underwear I used to wear living in NYC in my twenties when boy shorts first became popular***. The thong version (both regular and high-waisted) is also good when needed, but most of the time the bikinis are it for me.
When I was pregnant and in the first year or more after I had my daughter my famous skincare routine went out the window in favor of a much more streamlined approach. I’ve slowly added back steps, but I’m still always looking for ways to shortcut and optimize. My skin has gotten dryer as I’ve gotten older and I love the feeling of a creamy facewash in the morning. I was looking for one that had it all: made with clean ingredients, was pleasant and easy to use, actually removed my sunscreen/makeup, and was non-drying (wouldn’t leave my face feeling tight if all I had time for was a simple face wash in the morning and literally nothing else). I have been using this Korres one for several months now and I love it! And love that it’s a Greek company (I am half-Greek myself). Most mornings when doing school drop-off lately I follow the face wash with this skin drink and a quick swipe of powder sunscreen**** and I’m out the door.
A TRANSITIONAL JACKET FOR FALL
Along with other heritage and “preppy” elements, barn jackets are having a moment. I only partake in trends when I feel like it’s something I will still be able to wear for a long time and when they feel right to me, and I like the idea of having a classic roomier jacket like this that is easy to throw on over almost everything. There are versions selling out everywhere from Prada’s all the way down. The quintessential classic barn-type jacket is from Barbour (the Queen of England used to wear them) – many of theirs are also selling/sold out, as they make room for heavier ones for winter, but I like this and this one. I love this limited edition men's one from J.Crew (you may have seen their recent 90s throwback campaign and catalog relaunch), and this one from Everlane.
COMFORTABLE FALL SHOES THAT AREN'T SNEAKERS, BALLET FLATS, CLOGS, OR LOAFERS
Maybe because everything moves so fast now and there are new brands popping up every other minute: the tried-and-true heritage brands feel like they have more weight to them. I recently saw the boot version of these camp mocs on a fashion person I like and it felt novel to me. She wore them with what was otherwise a head-to-toe designer outfit and it made me think how much I would love to slip these shorter profile ones from Eastland on and off with a whole multitude of different choices from jeans to skirts to oversized pants or cropped trousers to leggings, as I go about my day.
THE CHICEST SOCKS TO GO WITH YOUR MOCS
(OR ANY OTHER FALL SHOES)
Wear them in neutral or use them as an outfit focal point in red (pops of red/color will continue to be a thing).
Whatever challenges are happening at a macro-level or a personal one, I love the escape of delving into some of the little things I am excited about here that have nothing to do with any of that.
With love xoxo,
Cher
*Luxury fashion designer (formerly creative director for Chloé, Givenchy, etc) who has recently been named the Creative Director of Uniqlo, the Japanese high-street brand.
**I still have a few pieces in my closet from the Kate Moss for Top Shop collection (from many years ago) and they feel even more special now.
***I naturally wrote that sentence from memory, but in the name of always wanting to give you accurate info, I fact-checked if that was really when boy short underwear for women first became popular, and according to ChatGPT it is!
****ICYMI I wrote about this in detail here.
^Image credit to Lauren Santo Domingo/Instagram. LSD wearing transitional jacket and leather flip flops out and about in NY. Love. But still don’t sign off on wearing flip flops in the city unless you have a town car waiting a few feet away – even (and especially) if, they are The Row!
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