There’s No Place Like the Vermont Country Store Catalogue
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Opened in 1946 by Vrest and Mildred Ellen Orton, The Vermont Country Store is a general store in Weston, Vermont, that sounds pretty much exactly like its name — quaint, old time-y, and very New England. According to the current owners — Lyman, Cabot, Gardner, and Eliot Orton — the store was inspired by “childhood memories of a bygone general store in a nearby area.” But while the store (and the second location in Rockingham, Vermont) is a nostalgic destination in itself, it’s the catalogue — and its expansive inventory — that has attracted a devoted following. AsWashington Postfashion critic Rachel Seville Tashjian Wise put it to me: “The Vermont Country store is to me as perfect a shopping experience as Hermes or Zitomer in NYC or Dries Van Noten or Bon Marche in Paris or Dover Street Market in London. It is the Savile Row of arcane candy, the Madison Avenue of plaid curtains and gingham napkins.”
In the pages of the Vermont Country Store catalogue, you’ll find Lanz of Salzburg flannelnightgownswith lace trim, crisp Portuguese cottonsheetsin shades of ivory and lavender, and books likeThe Forgotten Art of Building a Good Fireplace.The products are high-quality and often delightfully practical — so I’ve set out to pluck some of my favorites from the pages of the store’s print and online catalogues. Plus, I asked some tasteful people, including Tashjian Wise, who are longtime Vermont Country Store fans to share their picks, too. Here, you’ll find our favorites (but for full effect, a road trip to Vermont is in order.)
Clothing and accessories
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Eerily similar to Bode? I thought so, too. But for $65, it’s a little easier to justify the purchase. The shoes are made from 100% leather, and have no exposed seams, meaning that they’ll be especially comfortable and durable. They come in two colors and two widths, and if you’re keen ona slide style, they have that too.
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I feel confident in saying that we’re not wearing enough broadcloth — a densely woven cotton fabric — when it comes topajamasthese days. The material washes really well and the effect is quite sophisticated. Skip the trendy pajama sets and settle into something you’ll have for years to come instead.
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The Vermont Country store carriesdozensof sheepskin items, including car seat covers, mittens, and, of course, slippers. If regular sheepskinslippersare too warm for you, these are the solution. (And they’re a good bit cheaper than UGG’s sheepskin slides.)
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Writer Alice Gregory is a known fan of the Vermont Country Store, so I asked her what her favorites are. “Picking just a few products feels nearly impossible as I’d happily purchase (and by rounding error basically have) their entire inventory,” she told me. But if she had to choose, this long underwear set rises to the top. “These are the greatestlong underwear, no question,” says Gregory. “The thinnest, the softest, the most delicate, the most flattering.” They’re made from real silk, with a pointelle knit, and what Gregory calls a “good neckline.” She likes them for wearing under things or on their own, and opts for the black since they’re “quite sheer.” If you want to hunt for vintage pairs, she suggests searching the term “silk skins” on eBay, where you can sometimes find pairs with sweet ribbon drawstrings.
[Editor’s note: These pieces are currently sold out.]
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An excellent addition to any sock drawer, these wool socks are durable enough to outlast just about any other pair you own. I reach for thesesockswhen I’m wearing boots that are potentially a half-size too big, and the additional padding does the trick. My husband finds ways to relocate mine from my closet to his often.
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What would you do if I told you these were going to be the shorts of the summer? It might not be these specific $25 snip-to-fit lace trim pettipants, but I do find the style very compelling. You can snip them off to your preferred length and order in a variety of neutrals.
Home goods
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This u-shaped hot water bottle is another pick from Gregory. “I don’t know how or why I’ve never seen one of these for sale anywhere else,” Gregory says. “It’s such an obvious invention and is exactly what it sounds like: a hot water bottle, in the shape of a U, to be slung around the neck. It’s that great medical red color with the white pacifier-like plug and smells like what it is: ‘real rubber.’”
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A standard-shaped hot water bottle with a fleece cover is also available. Strategist senior editor Hilary Reid has one like this, with a sheepskin cover from the store that a friend brought back for her after visiting (it seems to currently be unavailable, but I’d check back in the winter).
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Speaking of sheepskin home goods, there’s also this car seat cover and seatbelt cover (plus, asteering wheel coverthat is currently out of stock).
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If your WFH set up is really just your kitchen table, why not try chair cushions? I’m not talking about those ergonomically correct memory foam monstrosities — I’m talking about these, which come in a lovely, cabin-chic check pattern.
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For Tashjian Wise, The Vermont Country Store hits close to home. Her parents rented a house across the street for nearly a decade for a month each summer, which is where she credits her connoisseur’s eye. “I started wearingLanz nightgownswith boots to work atVanity Fairand people were like, ‘Hey, what’s wrong with your publicist? Why is she wearing a little girl’s flannel nightgown?’” These sheets are a current favorite of hers, fitting her description of an ideal pair ofsheets: “Something that feels starchy, dry as an Episcopalian sermon, that makes me feel like I’m sleeping in between pieces of, well,Garibaldi currant biscuits.” She says that these are “as crisp as if they’ve been dried on a clothesline,” and suggests taking them immediately out of the dryer and ironing them, adding, “Who am I to deny a set of sheets from Vermont the full diva treatment?”
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Oftentimes, a gift book goes unused before being sent to the donation bin. But this one is a godsend when you’re dead set on conjuring a romantic fireplace moment without reaching for your iPhone. Its author? The founder of The Vermont Country Store, naturally.
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Another pick from Gregory: this floral, and downright practical, indoor/outdoor washable rug. “No aesthetic motif is more beautiful to me than a colorful floral on a black background,” she says. “This doormat (in black, who cares about the white one) lets you enter your apartment via a little Dutch still life. Bonus points for their non-obvious inclusion of lily of the valley, the best flower.”
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Amy Sedaris is another Vermont Country Store devotee, and included these bath mats — which she has in “every color but blue” — in herholiday gift guide for The Strategist.
Kitchen and garden
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Garibaldi Currant Biscuits
The biscuits Tashjian Wise mentioned above. Or, as she calls them, “Um, cookies? Crisps? Biscuits?” Technically they are biscuits, and Wise’s grandmother would order boxes at a time, noting that the shelf life lasted far longer than the stated six months.
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The purpose of these escapes me — maybe pancakes over a fire on a camping trip? — but that’s not the point. Only in New England can you purchase maple syrup nips. These make fun souvenirs for your friends and a thoughtful consideration for the hour-long lecture they’re going to have to sit through as you debrief your trip to The Vermont Country Store.
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A quasi Brutalist kitchen addition, this countertop shelf could just as easily add storage to a deep bathroom cabinet. You can adjust the length to fit your space exactly, plus the metal just makes it look more expensive than its plastic counterparts.
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I have whatever the opposite of a green thumb is, and would carry these baskets from bar to late night dinner reservation on the hottest days in Manhattan. They’re festive! And vibrant! And, I suppose, would make for an excellent transportation device from garden to sink to table, if that’s more your speed.
Beauty
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No frills hand cream that’s $7. It’s kind of hard to beat that. It’s formulated with lanolin and allantoin with no added fragrance from a brand that’s been in the market for over 60 years.
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The Vermont Country store stocks brands you won’t find at Sephora. Or Target. Or sometimes even Amazon. This nail strengthener cream is a favorite in the UK. As the copywriters of the Vermont Country Store catalogue put it: “We’re not horsing around when we talk about the benefits of Barielle Nail Strengthener!”
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If minimalist is your makeup calling card, look no further than the Universal Eyebrow Pencil. I wouldn’t exactly call the formula silky smooth, but it does match a ton of shades, which can make you the hero of the friend group trip when everyone else forgets their eyebrow product at home.
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Asthe Strategist pointed out in 2017, each bottle of this stuff contains the juice of one full lemon. Zesty!
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The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
