Everything I Didn't Buy in France
And a few things I did
Hi! I just returned from a 4-day stint in France. From a basement club in the 6th to the shores of the Riviera, it was a trip to remember — if anything else because my partner’s luggage was stolen and we have a French police report to commemorate it.
It was play only for me, I should say. It was my partner’s work trip and I just tagged along. This holiday solitude — which I’ve grown quite accustomed to with a partner who travels a lot for work and enjoys taking me as his carry-on — left me with a lot of free time. Time to read, time to think, and time to look. I do my best looking when I’m alone.
These are the spoils of said looking: lots of items I didn’t buy but lingered close to, yearning and dreaming. Plus, a few things I did buy, I’m no saint after all…
Fair warning, this is a very visual letter lol. Read on the app or in a browser to see all the photos <3
Double polka dots; Ina Garten-approved steak frites; clusters of locks bearing Sharpied promises; and a twinkling light show on a damp lawn.
These perfect matte red Repetto ballet flats. I’d never seen this shade in matte leather before and the sales associate informed me they’re brand new. It’s fitting they’re called the “Cinderella Ballerinas” because they might just be my glass slipper.
Tulip wine glasses from a little home furnishings store in Saint-Germain, sitting on the shelf praying to be swept off to a spring garden party. They don’t appear to be stocked online, but this piece of tulip stemware on eBay could fulfill a single-stem fantasy.
An oversized canvas tote from Fursac. It’s actually a collab with Massachusetts-founded company Steele Canvas Basket — which only makes sense considering the Northeastern U.S. is the canvas tote capital of the world (and the creative director of Fursac is an American vintage enthusiast, to put it lightly).
It’s large enough to carry a full day at the beach in a shade of marine blue that looks most at home with sand in its crevices. The curvature around the top and the short tight handle give a vintage bowling bag shape that I am always drawn to. This is the first time a canvas tote has ever conjured the word “sexy” in my mind.
This vintage Miss Sixty polka dot mini skirt. Remember when I said I wanted to wear Dippin’ Dots? The universe answered my prayers. But I probably should’ve been more specific about sizing.
I found one here on eBay in a medium if you want to wear your sorbet desserts as much as I do.
A Brandy Melville American flag sweater. This wasn’t on my must-see list, but after writing a piece on the Brandy Melville West Village cafe and its unsettling Americana vibes, I had to stop in this Paris location when I passed by.
The American flag sweater is by far the most stocked and most in-your-face item in the store, followed closely by New York/Massachusetts/Rhode Island-branded t-shirts and sweatshirts. Stars and stripes are inescapable.
Leather treasures at Agnes B. This jacket with the signature snap button that goes aaaallll the way around the collar had me swooning. And a matching pair of sexy little thong sandals? Suddenly black leather is a summer fabric.
A deliciously designed copy of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley at Shakespeare and Company. I needed a paperback for my upcoming beach time on the next leg of the trip (reading a Kindle outdoors can feel sacrilegious at times), and I’d somehow never read this classic.
The latest issue of L’ettiquete Femme. You can order online here, but it’s cheaper to buy in France if you happen to be there shortly after the new issue releases (lucky me!).
I gifted my partner a subscription to the Homme mag for Christmas — I’m not too proud to admit he’s the one who turned me onto the magazine originally, he’s been an avid reader for years — but we needed the Femme version to complete this season’s duo.
And with plenty of new reading material in tow, we’re off to the shores of Nice. This train color palette was the stuff of dreams: a nautical pastel trio like the waves and the sun that warms them; surrounding shades of grey and silver like the pebbles that make up the shores; and a pop of late summer tomato red — a loud reminder that pleasure exists in contrast.
Frigid blue waters under the Riviera sun; oversized bowls of Vietnamese noodles doused in fish sauce; pebbles stuck in jelly sandals; and gelato dripping down my fingers.
Too many treasures from the Old Nice flea market to count. It’s all but guaranteed a few of these will haunt me for years to come.
This darling silver necklace. I’ve been on an arduous journey to find the perfect large silver necklace with a circular motif (spoiler alert: I found one later), and this one was speaking to me. The price, for its condition, was not.
These speckled ceramic tea cup and saucer sets. The triangular shape caught my eye right away — vintage mid-century flair with a glaze that feels fresh. I’m not a big fan of saucers with my tea (maybe it’s my unmistakable Americanness), but I might have acquiesced to these.
And on the subject of tableware in sets of six...and silver circular motifs… these saucy little sherbet dishes pulled me like a magnet from across the aisle.
A set of silver footed/pedestal bowls has long been on my non-urgent wishlist — something to make my after-dinner ice cream or handful of refrigerated peanut butter cups look as special as they taste — and the dishes well may have come home with me if I had enough room in my carry-on.
A pair of Hermes leather lace-up mules, complete with kitten heel. Sporty, sexy, and highly impractical for my day-to-day life. Here’s a black pair in a 37.5; a tan pair in a 40.5; and two very similar white pairs in a 36 and a 38.
This floral Givenchy tie. An accessory so special it could be the whole outfit. In the sweetest shade of canary yellow, with red petals and lively green stems dotting the sunny silk, it’s springtime in a tie.
A couple of pearly clamshell lighting sconces — reminiscent of one of my favorite design details of the hotel I stayed in.
I had my eye on some wares beyond the markets too. Like these socks, displayed in an open apothecary chest of cotton tinctures, at Trésors Publics.
Or a wicker basket, which you can watch being woven right in front of you at Le Palais d’ Osier. This wooden handled number was so cute with the outfit I already had on (a trick that can make even the most responsible of shoppers weak) but I said goodbye nonetheless.
A purse full of La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+. A mini for my travel bag to replace the one I’d emptied on the trip, plus a couple for friends. When I saw a formula that contained SPF, I had to try that one too. I’m so serious about this moisturizer.
A carton of raspberries on the street. Excellent window shopping fuel. So plump and juicy. I wish I could wear them.
Theeeee vintage silver spherical motif necklace. Purchased from a very chic grey-haired woman wearing a black crossbody Balenciaga city bag.
I wore it immediately to dinner that evening wrapped twice around my wrist as a bracelet — perfection.
Chocolate-covered marshmallow koalas. Deleted the bag on the train back to Paris. Unreal.
I also picked up a non-aerosol dry shampoo, a Cosrx sunscreen I’d never seen before (liking so far), and a fridge magnet that resembles a childhood cat of mine named Macy.
As our trip comes to an end, please enjoy this experimental doodle from my flight home at the tail end of what became a 22-hour travel day. Clearly the work of someone in their right mind.
Thank you for window shopping with me this week — is there anything you would have insisted I purchase? Feel free to leave me a comment or reply to this email to let me know what horrible vintage regrets I should have.
Find me doing other things on IG here or send me a note at mackinley@yeehawt.com if you’re looking to work together. Au revoir for now!
Meditations on shopping without buying (of which I clearly did a lot on this trip).
More on the French moisturizer I bought way too much of.
A little travel diary from an autumn trip to London last year.
Oh my gawd so many goodies. The bags. The triangle mugs. The studded flip flops. I’m obsessed with your eye
ADORE that silver necklace - leave everything else, and keep that forever. It's gorgeous, Mac! Sorry to hear about your husband's luggage (yikes!), but yeah, memorable for sure!