Spring Awakening
Less a conversation, more a list of demands
Welcome to This Is Cute. We’re Jenna, Jayna, and Verena. We text all day about cute stuff so you don’t have to. If you're interested in seeing the previous and equally unhinged editions, they’re here. In this edition, we’re mixing it up with our spring shopping wishlists. Same cute stuff, less back and forth (possibly a one-off format, possibly not—it’s a JOURNEY, everybody!) and Jayna still bought everything. Verena didn’t, however, and her birthday is in May, so ... And if you want the tl;dr, just scroll down. All products discussed are linked at the bottom in our very Cute Catalog™️.
JM’s List!
This skirt from Alex Mill because I got the plaid one and I feel like it’s a really good and slouchy sorta Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-if-she-were-a-little-hypebeast option. Am I insane?? I wore it to Maleri family Easter and felt comfy and cute! I think the key (for me) is leaning away from the girly-ness and thinking about it like a pair of chinos or something, and wearing it with a big sweatshirt and sneaks or socks and sandals.
A cute, cute set from Ilana Kohn! I loooooove a set, and this tulip print is really speaking to me, probably because it looks a bit vintage and it’s a really good shade of blue. I think I’d do the pants with this tunic-y top and just be a flowy flower all over the place (with cute red sandals!)
Autry sneakers! Totally JG’s fault because she asked if either of us had them and sent a link and I fell into a hole and now I want them in this colorway even though I can literally never responsibly buy sneakers ever again because I already have an absolute bill trill pairs. But these are so good! With the sorta burnt orange tab in the back!
Not clothes! Sheets! If I can wax my own car for juuuuust a sec, I feel pretty confident in my ability to make my space feel cute and comfy. But bedsheets are my Achilles’ heel! I always end up with a bunch of very specific patterns that don’t go with one another (and I am not a matchy-match person, so that’s really saying something!) and it’s all just a mess. I was over at Jen Mini’s and she has new Bed Threads sheets (VVP—I know you invented them!) and they are so soft and chic and colorful and wonderful and you can mix and match colors, so I still will feel like I’m making a set that is unique to me but I won’t end up with, like, a tie-dye fitted sheet and a ditsy floral top sheet and a plaid duvet. (Believe me, they DON’T work together.) [VVP Note: This is not sponcon at all, and I think it’s my first ever code, but you can use VERENA10 for 10% off!!!)
I might be super late to this, but did we know that Sophie Buhai makes a medium sized egg necklace? I know about the big guy, and then I knew she made a tiny guy, but I recently discovered this middle egg and now I want it very badly! It’s a splurgy splurge so I probably won’t get it but I love it and someone should have it!
JG and Sequin got me coupes from Estelle Colored Glass a few birthdays ago and I treasure them to the point where I only allow, like, three other people to touch them. I want this decanter, not because I have anything to decant or even know what one would decant into such a thing, but because it’s so beautiful it can just sit on our credenza, classing up the joint. Also, it’s not as delicate as a coupe so maybe I’d let Jon Pack touch it (perv).
Clare and Erica influenced me in one of their recent newsletters and I bought this Wawa sweatshirt. Lol.
JG’s List!
My wear-to-death, warm weather staple always—always—defaults to some sort of white top. Boring? Maybe. Chic and seasonal and trusty as hell? Absolutely. This year’s find is this guy from Matteau. It’s tailoring spring-ified, and prime for tucking into jeans, balloon-y trousers, and baggy shorts, etc. Also, the deep-V neckline is the perfect frame for a jangly mess of chains, but will also look fresh AF with nothin’ but collarbone. (And because no two white tops are alike—I’m also eyeing this eyelet one, which comes in at under $100!).
On the topic of button-downs, I discovered a VERY good one from (wait for it)… Banana Republic?! I have the brown (so does Jayna!), which is oversized and in a crisp, suitable year-round cotton. I’m tempted to get the white in a size or two bigger, so I can wear it over bathing suits, Winnie the Pooh-style.
Even though every time I wear a tracksuit, Bradley tries to yuck my yum by singing “What up with that?,” I got this one. (Eat your heart out, Sudeikis.) I mean, the color! I’m excited to mix and match and play around with it, and exponentiate (lol, is that a word?) its outfit potential. Also, it bears mentioning that I came across my new set via a fruitful search for my nephew’s b-day gift. So (bonus!), here’s one for the tinies in your life!
And speaking of the above outfit ... “Is it weird that I like the big buckles?” is the verbatim text I sent JM and VVP, who both swiftly responded, in sequence, “Nope! I think I asked that last year and then Jayna said she had them,” (VVP) and “I have them. I love them.” (Jayna “Arizona” Maleri). I added to cart quicker than you can say, “ ‘stocked.”
I think I will be buying another one of these, tank you very much.
For some reason all of my baseball hats disappeared in our recent move, so I’m slowly building back my collection. This one supports a good (and, IMO, the single most important) cause.
Did you know that Brooklyn is the world’s #1 mosquito destination?! (Okay, that’s blessedly not true. But doesn’t it feel like it on some days?!) I’m preempting mosquito season by ordering these natural lil stick-on repellers, in which I have put an inordinate amount of faith (thanks to the Clinton Hill Parents What’s App chat group), and which are, like, one million times more fun than BUG SPRAY.
Signing off with yet another set, but one that would pair better with a cocktail.
VVP’s List!
We’re coming into swanning season, which is to say the time of year during which I want to wear loose-fitting cotton dresses and swan around in them. Where? Nowhere. My apartment, by myself. That said, I am going to Greece in a couple months, where my swanning attire will have ample opportunity to see and be seen. This dress by Deiji Studios has primo swanning potential.
I have a visceral memory of my mother taking me shopping for a windbreaker in elementary school. It was presented as a necessity, like jeans or sneakers. Everyone had to have a windbreaker. Honestly, it was the ‘90s—everyone did have to have a windbreaker! Anyway, I don’t have particularly fond memories of that windbreaker, or wearing it, but when I saw this JW Anderson x Uniqlo take on the sporty staple, my heart sang. I think I’m ready to make new windbreaker memories, at least with this one. I might even layer it over my Deiji dress! I could definitely swan in a windbreaker.
Hippo Bottle!!!! 🥹 (Do you need more explanation? Okay! I think this might be the cutest carafe I’ve ever seen. Also and apropos of not a whole lot, the french word for hippopotamus is hippopotame and it’s one my favorite words to say in the whole wide world (please just listen to the google lady pronounce it). I have big plans to serve water from this hippo bottle (maybe into these matching animal glasses) while swanning around my apartment this summer. Can you see it?)
I have been trying to buy a pair chunky-ish brown sandal-slides for, oh, three years now. I wish I could say that I’ve ended my search with this absolutely perfect pair from Dries, but I unfortunately cannot spend $620 on shoes right now. But maybe you can? Someone please buy them. (For me.)
I can’t spend $620 on shoes for a variety of reasons, most of which should be obvious ($620 for shoes???) but the biggest one is because I’m in the process of moving, which, as it turns out, still costs a bill trill, no matter how cheaply you try to do it. (Yay, New York!) Anyway, this also means that I’ve got home decor on the brain (see: Hippo Bottle!), and can’t stop thinking about these stained glass wall lights from Hue-Gah Home (terrible store name, super cute sconce!) My current apartment has wall sconces for lighting in the living room, and it always made me feel a little bit like I lived on a boat, and I am going to miss them dearly. Maybe I’ll invest in these (as well as the wiring to go with it).
In a perfect world, I’d outfit our new apartment with wall sconces and also a pair of these stained glass tables in lieu of an actual coffee table, and swan around (in a dress, and maybe a windbreaker, and some $620 Dries sandals) as the light poured in from our open windows. But in the real world, if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to afford to eat.
Love Converse, love cornflower blue, love fruit!!!! Also love the mission behind Sky High Farms and its ever-evolving collection of merch and collabs: increase access to fresh, nutritious, locally produced food while investing in collaborative long-term solutions for food security. NOTHING CUTER.
When I was little, I used to collect Swatch watches, in as much as my grandmother lived in Switzerland and would give me one every Christmas. I also used to collect Swarovski crystals, like this UGH ADORABLE LITTLE SPIKY HEDGEHOG that I haven’t thought about in literally decades and now I am so sad and mad at myself for doing who knows what with the whole collection when my mom moved houses and I told her I didn’t need to keep anything because I lived in New York and had no room for STUFF. Anyway, I had one of those silly little mirrored display cases where I kept them all and I loved those kitschy glass creatures so, so much. (I just remembered I also had a puppy and a teddy bear and a SWAN and its neck broke and now I know what I’m going to be googling for the next 7 hours.) The point of all this is that now Swarovski makes these silly, kitschy, and so, so cute crystal watches and I really want the mint one. I also, like Cher, want to turn back time and hold on to that collection because I would absolutely find a home for it in my new apartment, maybe next to my hippo bottle. I’m sorry, crystals! I hope you found a new and special home with someone who loved you just as much as I did, and hopefully more.
The Cute Catalog
All the stuff we mentioned in one cute place.
JM’s List
Alex Mill Skirt in khaki and plaid
Ilana Kohn Tulip Print Pants and Top
Autry Sneakers
Bed Threads Sheet Bundle
Triple Cream Tie-Dye
Sophie Buhai Everyday Egg Necklace
Estelle Colored Glass Decanter
Wawa Sweatshirt
JG’s List
Matteau Embroidered Short Sleeve Shirt
Madewell Eyelet Flutter Top
Banana Republic Oversized Shirt in brown and white
Adidas Tracksuit jacket and pants
Adidas Baby Tracksuit
Birkenstock Big Buckle Arizona
Leset Pointelle Tank
Everytown for Gun Safety Hat
BuzzPatch Mosquito Repellent Patches
Cos Silk-Blend Set top and shorts
VvP’s List
Deiji Studios Dress
JW Anderson x Uniqlo Parka
Ichendorf Milano Hippo Bottle and Animal Farm Tumblers
Dries van Noten Slip-On Sandals
Hue-Gah Home Sol Wall Light
Hue-Gah Home Bena Glass Table
Sky High Farm Workwear Converse High Top Sneakers
Swarovski Hedgehog, Puppy, Teddy Bear and Swan
Swarovski Watch
This is decidedly not cute, but I’m curious about this Clinton Hill parents group what’s app. How does one get in on that?
Also I bought the big buckle birks!