I Wore Lemon Candy and Tortured My Ears in April

Repeats feat. '60s vintage, posh ceramics, "horrible knee socks," and more

May 07, 2026

April in New York is a rebirth. The three horsemen of the spring-pocalypse gallop forth across the city: cherry blossoms, daffodils, then tulips. Each feels like a miracle and vanishes just as quickly as it arrived—an Irish goodbye in the dead of night, like the petals couldn’t withstand the emotional weight of a proper exit.

Then the green sets it. It’s that bouncy, virginal shade of green that only exists in spring. More vivid and intoxicating than the darker, settled shade of dense summer foliage. This green wraps you in its rambling arms and promises to stick around for a while.

The first month of warm weather is extra special after a record-breaking snow-filled winter. I took advantage of it! This is everything I had on repeat in April: vintage, new, plaid, striped, creamed, glossed, and more.

When I stumbled upon this blindingly brilliant ‘60s frock on eBay, I felt very strongly it was her destiny to come with me on a coastal holiday. I’m not usually one to make a purchase specifically for vacation—but sometimes a dress reaches deep into your soul and puppets your fingers into a Paypal checkout window like a vintage-possessed Ratatouille.

It’s home-sewn with mouth-puckering lemon sour belts climbing up the torso in a shade of yellow bright enough to light up a campsite. Cozied up next to hints of lime, punctuated by purple pinstripes in the center, and protected by a smattering of guardian angel butterflies on the collar and sleeves.

It’s also perfectly shapeless in the way I find necessary for upcoming summer humidity. There reaches a point in August where just the idea of cloth touching skin incites literal panic.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, across from easy breezy summer wardrobe staples, lies the plaid wool skirt, an item of clothing I love too much to give up even when the weather app begs me to. This one, also from eBay, hits right above the knee and blends cherry red and denim blue with ease.

I was also wearing it this month when a Vogue writer jotted down my outfit as a detail in a story covering Fashion Fiction Magazine events (brilliant and so fun). A lesson I’ve learned time and time again: a graphic t-shirt is an excellent conversation starter.

Now that I think about it more, this top has been a hit with Vogue staffers from several different eras of the publication. What is it about Vogue and the Spice Girls?

Every April afternoon featured this vintage ‘80s teacup and saucer set that my partner brought me back from Singapore. I always thought saucers were pretty pointless at home, only mucking up the sink with more things to wash (sorry, how American of me), but now I get it. A little spot to rest my spoon! A bed for my cookie!

This rich French vanilla leather number from Coach (*gifted) stayed slung over my shoulder (as you obviously just saw in the outfits above…). It passes two tough purse tests: 1. Can it fit a big hardback book?; 2. Does it slide off my shoulder while walking?

Yes, it can! A 400-pager, even. And no, I was actually shocked at how stable it felt while walking, even over slick fabrics. Shoulder slippage is such a pet peeve of mine, and this one excels in staying securely fastened.

I put my earlobes through the ringer this month testing clip-on earrings for a piece I wrote for The Strategist. Most clip-on earrings are excruciating to wear longer than an hour, and I was thrilled to find some new comfortable favorites through this process.

People always seem genuinely shocked when it comes up that I don’t have my ears pierced—sorry if you look at me differently now! I do have one cartilage piercing that is real. Why that one healed just fine and my multiple attempts at the lobes ended in disaster is something only God knows.

Two vacation skincare heroes this month: the Dieux intense recovery cream and Good Weather Skin’s SPF 30 lip gloss. A perfect travel moisturizer—small enough to fit easily in a toiletry bag, large enough to not make you feel like you need to ration out product every night. It’s thick, gentle and soothing, and felt heavenly to slather on after a day in the sun.

I’ve been loving this GWS mostly because of the texture—SPF lip balm always feels filmy in a way that discourages me from using it. This feels and looks just like any other gloss. No one tells you how painful a lip sunburn is, you just get one accidentally on a hike and spend the next week re-applying Aquaphor every 30 minutes to the chapped monstrosity of your mouth and vow to never go unprotected for that long again.

I IV-dripped myself Lena Dunham’s Famesick this month, knowing that if I let my animal brain take over I’d gulp down the 394 pages in a feverish daze and end up depressed with a tummy ache like a kid who ate all his candy on Halloween night. Instead I rationed out my peanut butter cups into ceremonial daily doses—a pious attempt at literary prudence.

There are a million things I loved about it, but we’ll focus on one in particular, (because this is a fashion newsletter!), which is the way Lena talks about clothing: with sharp specificity that brings exacting and playful clarity to each character. One of my favorite lines in the book that made me laugh out loud in the airport:

In April I wanted “to dip myself in a body of water” and enjoy warm weather recipes “that aren’t various forms of hot mush.” Check to both #blessed. I enjoyed the crunchiest bag of green grapes this month, it felt religious.

This month, I’d like to spend copious amounts of time on a picnic blanket, wear flip-flops as much as possible, and maybe do a little dancing? The world is your oyster when it’s 67 and sunny.

I’d love to hear about your recent repeats. Happy May!