10 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: Long ’90s Jeans and a Dash of Red

Following a recent podiatrist visit, contributor Alejandra Gularte discovered she has high arches. “This makes standard shoes a literal pain to walk in because they weren’t built for me. If sneakers were painful, imagine how heels feel,” she says. Finding nice-looking going-out heels that didn’t look as frumpy as most of the orthopedic options available became her mission. Of the nine pairs she tried, these true-to-size slingbacks were among her winners for all-day wear. She easily walked over a mile in them while thrift shopping, followed by dinner and drinks with her co-workers. And at a ranch-style wedding, walking uphill was painless.

Contributor Angela Tafoya just realized that most of the jeans in her closet are cropped above the ankle, and she wanted to find a versatile pair long enough to graze her loafers and sandals. Landing on “’90s straight-leg” as her search term, she spent time in seven pairs. These were among her winners, and are hard to beat at under $50. Their 30.5-inch inseam made them among the longest she tried, too. She spent a Saturday typically reserved for lounge pants wrangling her kids in these without issue. “They’re cut straight through the hip and thigh, then taper, so they look neat without veering into skinny territory. There’s no stretch, but they were still among the comfiest jeans I tested,” she says.

Teeny e-readers took the internet by storm earlier this year, according to writer Jordan McMahon. But as appealing as they sound, their software was often clunky. When McMahon heard that Boox had come out with the Picco, he decided to test it out. It’s featherlight and just a pinch larger than a credit card, with an easy-to-navigate four-inch touchscreen. “Its hardware has the polish of much more expensive devices, its screen — with a little doing — makes text look great, and the custom software gives this tiny e-reader more functionality than its peers,” says McMahon.

Around a year ago, senior writers Liza Corsillo and Michael Zhao tried on a bunch of Quince coats, where they discovered some gems. This time, Corsillo rounded up five Strategist parents with kids age 3 to 11 to test seven Quince kids coats. Corsillo’s son has worn this thin but cozy and breathable fleece the most, and it still looks great after several washes. “He can wear it like a sweatshirt over a long-sleeve tee or base layer. But it also layers really well under puffers and other heavier coats, and it’s super easy to throw in a bag as a backup layer.” She calls it a near-dupe for a Patagonia fleece he practically lived in last school year.

For this week’s “Celebrity Shopping,” writer Kitty Guo caught up with actress Constance Wu about the crispy shallot-garlic-chili topping she uses a jar of per week. “It’s just so yummy. I put it on rice. I put it on fish. I put it on kimchi. I’ve put it on mashed potatoes. I put it on hummus. It’s really good on salads. And sometimes I’ll sprinkle a little on my hand and just eat it by itself,” she says.

Like most New Yorkers, senior writer Lauren Ro wears a lot of dark clothing when it’s cold. “Incorporating red accents — with a sock or a scarf or pants — is an easy way to liven up the look,” she says, which is why she rounded up over 40 red socks, tights, sweaters, hats, and scarves to sprinkle into your closet this season. Among them is this “scrap of cashmere” beloved by updates coordinator Najwa Jamal. Drape it over your shoulders or tie it over your head like a bonnet, as she does.

“We started hearing about Lumify, the $15 drugstore anti-redness eye drops, when they launched in 2018, and the mentions haven’t stopped since,” says contributor Parizaad Khan Sethi. The solution for red eyes, first recommended to us by Catherine Zeta-Jones, has become an indispensable part of camera-ready routines. Before it, artists were smuggling unsafe and unapproved options from Japan and France.

Brand-name Band-Aids are the convention for small scrapes and wounds, but contributor Michael Hession’s kids aren’t fans. It wasn’t until he spotted his daughter’s wrapped arm after a doctor’s appointment that he realized there could be another option. “This type of wrap is flexible and comfy and clings to itself, not to skin. It comes in rolls and must be cut (or torn) to size and paired with gauze to cover a wound,” Hession says. “It takes an extra 30 seconds of work. What you come away with is a bandage that stays put, doesn’t surrender to a light wetting, and doesn’t leave those annoying bits of backing paper in its wake.”

Writer Arielle Avila recently spoke to ten Strategist staffers about how they caffeinate. “I don’t drink coffee, but I’m a prolific tea drinker,” says writer Kitty Guo. Her tea of choice, by Brooklyn-based Dona, was the most-clicked item in the piece. Guo “immediately fell in love with its high-quality, sustainable tea blends” after discovering them at her local Variety coffee. The giftable library contains the entire range of green, white, oolong, black, and herbal teas. She’ll put a tea bag in her Hydro Flask filled with boiling water and sip throughout the day.

Resident fitness recovery expert and writer Brenley Goertzen has been using compression boots for a decade. “There’s really nothing else on the market that can offer the same experience on rest days,” she says. She tested Hyperice’s 2024 Normatec Elites, but preferred the older Normatec 3 Legs. After trying the Elite Heats for a month, Goertzen thinks they’re a “game changer” upgrade, and not only for recovery. “You can choose from five heat levels ranging from 102 to 125 degrees,” she says, “and seven levels of dynamic air compression,” meaning tension and stiffness in her lower legs dissipates in as little as ten minutes.