On My Mind: Plasticana Alts and Collina Strada Rings
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Back in April, my daughter came home from preschool with a plastic cup that held the beginnings of a sunflower she’d grown from a seed. We went on vacation a few days later and it promptly died, but I was nonetheless inspired to see what else we could grow (and hopefully not kill) from scratch. There are now eight new baby sunflowers, several pots of sweet peas, three apricot seedlings, and two very hardy bean plants basking in partial-to-full sunlight on our deck and soon to be moved into dirt plots in our backyard. This sudden deep dive into gardening has meant an even deeper dive into all the “necessary” gardening gear, including a new-to-me category of clothing. Turns out there’s a lot of very, very cool (and sometimes straight-up sexy) garden-specific apparel I’d wear even if I wasn’t digging in the dirt. Hopefully my thumb stays green and I use mysculptural copper watering canandhand-forged Garden Fetish multi-toolfor years to come, but if not, at least I can still dress like I do.
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I’m very big on functional design when it comes to clothing, and Flora Animalia does it so beautifully. Thiscross-back mini-apronis made of sturdy cotton denim and has a bunch of pockets for stashing my smaller gardening paraphernalia but would also be great for a wallet, phone, keys,mini Hydro Glask… whatever I’d otherwise throw into a fanny pack for running errands. I’d wear it over apointelle tank(I’ve also been thinking about pointellea lot).
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My gosh, what asexy apron. It’s made of double-layer black tulle, which is too pretty to get dirty and too fragile for tools, but seems ideal for anything to do with flowers: Picking them, arranging them, wandering dreamily through a field of them …
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A good sun hat is nonnegotiable when working outside. I like my hats big, and I prefer it when the shapes are somewhat unusual, andthis Atorie straw hatchecks those boxes. It has a sort of squished top and a structured brim akin to aconical bamboo hat, and it’s currently en route to me. In the meantime, I’ll keep wearing theWest African straw hatI usually take to the beach. I got mine at a street fair in Los Angeles, but you can find a lot of great optionshere.
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Prada Straw Visor Hat
An insane price for a straw hat, but if you want to look like a beekeeper in Pierre Cardin’s Bubble Palace and have a few thousand dollars to throw around, this helmetlikePrada visoris very weird and fun.
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My ideal garden shoe doesn’t look like a garden shoe. So far I’ve been wearing my Plasticanagarden clogs in Sepiaand they’re not quite doing it — though I think theVert (green)may take them a step closer. The Swimsgalosheslook like actual shoes on their own, so I might try throwing them over some ballet flats and seeing what happens. I also think theseL.L.Bean mocswill be perfect once it starts to cool down, and I especially like them in this less-common off-white color.
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The big front pockets onGardenheir’s Japanese Garden Smockare perfect for tools, but just as good for paint brushes — and just imagine how cool it would look covered in paint splatter! The vintage fisherman smock has a similar vibe and an extra pocket. (I found another great optionhere.) And last but definitely not least, thisApple Picker topis too pricey for something I’ll barely use, but it’s such a wonderfully extreme example of garden-related functional fashion I couldn’t leave it out.
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My husband has been wearing the Le Laboureur chore jackets for several years, and I’m now wearing the brand’s pants — specifically this pair, made from a sturdy but soft cotton that gets better with wear. They’re unisex and a tad longer than I’d like (I’m five-foot-seven), but they look great cuffed. I also find the high waist and wide-leg/tapered-ankle combination particularly flattering.
Here’s everything else I’ve seen recently …
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We’ve just started to zhuzh up our backyard, despite having been in our current house for over a year. I recently added a little hammock chair to the back deck, and then there’s my soon-to-be-flourishing garden (fingers crossed), which will be followed by the cowboy pool my husband’s been talking about since we moved to L.A. five years ago. This one, from the aptly named Cowboy Pools, is wide and deep enough to float around in in an adult-size inner tube.
[Editor’s note: While the company has three different models to choose from, the DIY kit is currently your only option if you live outside the Austin/Houston/San Antonio area.]
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ChompSaw
The ChompSaw uses a rapid-fire hole punch to cut through cardboard the same way a table saw cuts through wood. I’m currently testing one out with my 4-year-old (to be clear, this is for children) and she loves it — but I’m pretty sure I love it more. She’s been asking to play “cardboard shop” every day after school, and we (mostly me) are currently in the middle of constructing a very elaborate all-brown dollhouse.
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We just bought a set ofBrooklinen towels(in Striped Abyss) during its Fourth of July sale, and they’re great — but I keep thinking aboutthese striped guysfrom Tekla. There’s something about the combination of black and bright blue that I find both striking and soothing, and I just can’t look away. They’re quite pricey (a single Tekla bath towel costs nearly as much as my four-piece Brooklinen set), so I’m holding off for now — but I might need thematching bathmatto tide me over.
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I’ve been using Micron pens in my design work for years, but the Micron PN is a very recent discovery, and it’s very quickly become one of my favorite pens of all time (and I’m very picky about my pens). It has a thin, 0.45-mm tip, but the smooth-flowing ink makes the lines feel delicate, not fragile. The nib is plastic, so it won’t break if you accidentally apply to much pressure. It’s works equally well for line art and for writing — something I’ve never liked doing with my other Microns. I have three in rotation right now, and I will be buying more (probably forever).
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My current wardrobe contains mostly muted tones, but I actually used to own, and wear, a decent amount of sequined and sparkly clothing, and I’d like to start bringing some of that energy back. This Collina Strada ring is a perfect reentry point: It’s shiny but not gaudy, and the irregular, organic shape feels grown-up and elegant. It’s also surprisingly well-priced.
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