033: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

A gift-to-myself guide

Manuela Pavesi’s favorite silk pajamas photographed for Self Service Magazine

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Green Charvet slippers and soft cashmere sweaters
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things!

Some things are priceless and afford no greater happiness. The pleasure of eating a slice of very good just-warm bread with a generous helping of butter over the kitchen sink a little after half past three in the afternoon and with great deliberation. Curling up in a chair with a cup of coffee at the cusp of daybreak, no one else but the cat yet risen, who is taking in the scene outside from her perch on the windowsill, her tail a pendulum. The sweeping current of sudden tenderness: linking arms with a beloved; one’s hand in the other’s coat pocket, not so much for warmth but just because; one’s chin atop the other’s crown; sending a message to your best friend that reads, “I LOVE YOU” for no particular reason.

And then there are some pleasures that could absolutely never replicate the sensations of those which are priceless, but are orderly pleasures, the kind that can be defined by a tidy word or phrase. Comfort for a pair of slippers. Ease for favored pajamas. A pleasure to hold and behold for a fine organza bag that livens the mundanity of chores, such as transporting laundry to the dry cleaner’s or doing groceries. After years of making do and thoughtlessly buying things into which no thought is given, including their life span, namely everyday items that get a significant amount of usage and wear, I thought it time to consider the quality, construction, and cost of the those of the everyday.

With a potential massive tariff American consumers will be forced to bear (that’s us!) the incoming president has proposed, as a shopper I’ve been reevaluating what is of value to me and why. My personal, inexpert, and delusionally optimistic opinion is that such a tariff will have a very short shelf-life, given that almost everything we use in our daily lives – socks, phones, chairs, hats etc.– are not made in America, and for the very limited things that are manufactured here, most raw materials they use, upon which tariffs will also be levied, are not. This would mean…total socioeconomic collapse? While everyone is screaming now is the time to buy buy buy, coupled with the added pressure of holiday shopping, as a bonafide lover of stuff myself, by all means, do buy that which pleases you, but perhaps consider buying that which will also please for a long time to come.

Without any further ado (and speculation) these are a few of my tangible favorite things, items with impressive mileage under their belts, no worse for wear, and mostly certainly delightful for look at, my pockets somewhat lighter but offset by their cost per wear.

Brigitte Tanaka Organza Bag

Responsible for delicate yet surprisingly resilient embroidered organza bags, Brigitte Tanaka is the brainchild of the French-Japanese duo Brigitte Giraudi and Chieko Tanaka. It’s a sweet alternative to crunchy and cumbersome reusable shopping bags and fits inside my most inconveniently small purse. This past weekend I took it to the farmer’s market and it housed five apples, two bell peppers, eggplant, a small bag of waxy Yukon potatoes, among other things. If the prospect of exercising in front of strangers didn’t totally mortify me, I’d use the yoga mat bag it came with to carry my yoga mat, but I have used it to transport bread and dirty laundry (not at the same time, of course), and in the summertime I’ll carry home sunflowers in it.

Charvet Slippers

Three years ago I bought a pair of emerald-green Charvet slippers – outrageously marked down – from Matches. It was a toss-up between a creamy pink pair and the ones that I have, but green triumphed when my propensity for clumsiness weighed in. Charvet was the first shirtmaker store in Paris, for which the term chemisier was coined, founded 186 years ago by Christofle Charvet. While I can’t speak to all of the brand’s widely-lauded wares, although Marguerite Duras, Yves Saint Laurent and Marcel Proust were all clients so they must not be too shabby, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that these slippers are absolutely the most comfortable pair of footwear I own.

While the eye-watering price might be difficult to justify as something that is to be worn only at home, I considered a few things before making my purchase, and I urge you to always consider your purchases. I spend a significant amount of time at home, so cost per wear is in the bag. I grew up in a strictly no-shoes household, something I still maintain in my own home today. Of the regulatory at-home footwear, flip-flops wreaked havoc on my back and exposed toes were primed for stubbing by the edge of just about any piece of furniture, and lined slippers facilitated a tropical climate for my feet. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I wanted something beautiful as well as comfortable for my feet.

The leather insoles are never too warm or too cold, and I can wear them year-round. They work with my paint-splattered sweat pants or when I’m wearing something slightly fancier when hosting guests, and have not lost their pillow-softness. And when I come home, whether after a day of running errands or a few weeks away – although I must admit I’ve recently started taking them with me on trips – the first thing I do, before I take off my coat or put down my bag, is put on my Charvet slippers.

Gobi Cashmere Sweaters

As a wedding gift, my mother’s friend, who is Mongolian, gave my husband and I a cashmere blanket from a Mongolian brand called Gobi. It was a beautiful and generous gift, but my skin is extremely sensitive and reactive when it comes in contact with wool, and I was certain there was no way I could use it without totally exploding. Nonetheless, the winter after our wedding I pulled out the blanket with trepidation, and none of my fears materialized.

I’ve tried out cashmere sweaters by many brands brands, from Tricot to Uniqlo, always with a long-sleeved t-shirt or thermal layer, and at best they’ve felt like sharp needles piercing my skin. Since I’d never encountered anyone online trying to sell me Gobi and because I can actually use the blanket by them, I thought I’d give them ago. I’m now a very satisfied owner of six Gobi sweaters. They’re lightweight yet lush in a way that feels ever so perfectly enveloping when worn. Though this should be classified as a sin, I have put them in the washing machine – on a delicate cycle, I’m not an absolute monster – to no devastating consequence.

Eberjey Gisele Pajamas

Several years ago, I bought my first pair of Eberjey pajamas in an attempt to shift away from the crumbling-t-shirt-shrunken-pant combination I’d been donning prior. I still wear them. I’ve been through my fair share of pajamas, from those being hawked online to whatever my mother had picked up at Marshalls, but none could weather the storm quite like the Eberjeys. Made from a very light and flexible modal, so many pajamas feel terribly restricted, this is the next best thing to sleeping naked if you run cold and suffer from too many internalized complexities that necessitate mental gymnastics simply to sleep in the nude. During a recent shrunken pajama purge, I treated myself to two new sets, one in Black and Sorbet Pink, and another in Navy and Ivory.

Longchamp Le Pliage Expandable Travel Bag

During my first year at the University of Toronto, there was a girl in my Spanish tutorial I was fascinated by. She carried herself in a careless way that only the well-to-do could afford, the type who’d trot into our early morning sessions in a pair of towering Zara ankle boots priced north of $100 (and this way 16 years ago!) that I’d only ever seen in the store’s window display on Bloor one day, and an oversized puffer and leggings the next, always carrying with her a sumptuous royal purple Longchamp Le Pliage.

My older cousin who worked in finance and traveled with a monogrammed Louis Vuitton speedy also had one. I thought it was pure class. One of the first “adult” purchases I’d ever made was a Navy Le Pliage bag and which I used for years until it was substantially frayed and a hole just large enough for pens to pop out had formed in one corner.

Last year while in Paris, my husband and I underestimated our luggage situation, finding ourselves in the bind that befalls those who travel to places with too many pretty things, that is, unable to close our suitcases, so we set out to rectify the situation. We settled on the expandable version of the classic, one in Forest and one in Black, which opens up to the dimensions of a decently-sized carry-on. It has an adjustable strap and when packed down, is fairly inconsequential in terms of size and weight, and I much prefer it over carry-on luggage, which has significant heft to it even when empty.

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Et voilà! These are a few of my favorite things! They’re not the most audacious of objects, no ballgowns or Bentleys here, but they make very ordinary moments quite lovely.

Bonus: These are a few of the late stylist and photographer Manuela Pavesi’s favorite things, documented for Self Service Magazine. Pavesi was Miuccia Prada’s longtime partner-in-crime; the two had been dear friends since their YSL-wearing days. Two personal favorites are numbers 17 and 18, black and white cotton high-waisted underwear by a company that makes underwear for nuns, and Comme des Garçons elbow-length gloves in beige cotton for summer and in black heavy silk for winter, respectively.

Until next time!