Spring shopping: return to the trenches, but softly
Milder April temperatures are bringing out a profusion of chic trench coats, which this season look freshest in softer, less structured shapes. The quintessential transition piece, a breezy trench will be a welcome antidote to your winter outerwear, which got way too much play this year. Throw one on with jeans and an easy T-shirt for the weekend, as did Karlie Kloss (shown here), who wore a slouchy gray style and ballet flats to pal around with Taylor Swift, and wrap one over tailored pieces for work or a silky dress or jumpsuit for evening.
As a jewelry designer, Marta Pia, the creative director of Maker’s Circle, a collective of designers and artists in Brooklyn, was drawn to the symbol of the mystical third eye. She wanted one somewhere on her body, to remind her to see possibilities, to question, to create. "I wanted it to be iconic, like a reflection of my own eye, but also simple," said Ms. Pia, who had ruled out a tattoo. Her resulting collection of third-eye jewelry is made with recycled precious metals inlaid with agate and quartz. Wear one to sharpen your metaphysical perceptions or, maybe, just as a nice pop of color.
In February, Bonobos, the online men’s retailer with eight Guide Shops — that is, places to try on and be fitted for the clothes available on the site — introduced its first women’s label, AYR (an acronym for "all year round"). On Thursday, AYR’s first Guide Shop for the women’s debut collection opens at the company’s headquarters in Manhattan. Make an appointment on the site with a style guide, and at the shop you’ll find a selection of crisp, modern essentials, including a robe-style spring coat, $485; baby alpaca crew-neck sweaters, $150; and a range of nicely washed denim, $165 to $185. You leave empty-handed, but the clothes will be at your door in a couple of days — and without any surprises.
Warm, a NoLIta shop with an all-year stock of boho-chic dresses, beachy home décor and surfing books, is adding a selection of hard-to-find men’s surf labels to the mix. The shop, which radiates a chill summer mood, is owned by Winnie Beattie and her husband, Rob Magnotta, a couple who met surfing. Mr. Magnotta did most of the buying for the Warm guy ("a skater, surfer, snowboarder, ex-BMX guy," as Ms. Beattie describes him). The men’s things are housed in a cool man cave of sorts — actually, an old-time freight elevator in the shop — and include sweatshirts that say "Surf in Paris" from Cuisse de Grenouille, a surf and coffee shop in the Marais (like the Saturdays of Paris); layering pieces and underwear from Hemen, a label from Biarritz; and board shorts from M. Nii Tailor, a California company that has revived traditional styles of 1950s Hawaiian board shorts.
Read more?queenie cheap bridesmaid dresses