This roundup of things we liked this week originally appeared in the January 16, 2025 edition of the Secret Strategist newsletter, a weekly email where we share the stuff our staff — plus a rotating cast of writers, design-world people, and various others with very good taste — would otherwise keep to themselves. If you want to get our picks straight to your inbox each week, sign up here.
There’s a Paloma Elsesser and Ariella Starkman closet sale for fire relief this Saturday, January 18, at Kalimera in Williamsburg (99 Montrose). Of course, there are plenty of other ways to help, many listed in this directory of GoFundMes and nonprofit organizations like Baby2Baby, California Community Fund, Anti-Recidivism Coalition, and World Central Kitchen. Our writer Lauren Ro assembled a list of brands that are supporting the efforts. —Katy Schneider and Simone Kitchens
This Week’s List
* We knew of this Ikea crib. We did not know it now comes in green.
* Sometimes you actually need the world’s thinnest gloves, ones you can perform a task in without having to pull off every two seconds. It’s this merino-wool pair from Smartwool.
* Through this photograph of Barbie Ferreira, we discovered Kim Shui Studios. Here’s hers; it’s sold out now, but we imagine it will come back. (Lots of Google searches for “Barbie Ferreira Kim Shui dress”?) Its dresses in general seem good for a certain kind of party or wedding.
* Nicer, though, is this 1999 Prada dress, seen here on Gwyneth. And speaking of Prada/sequins, we kind of want this Prada sequin knit cap …!
* John Derian’s apartment truly is full of wonderful things — including a mushroom nightlight that Amy Sedaris recommended to us recently as an ideal gift.
* A deeply discounted sweater-vest version of the Baserange dress we wrote about a few weeks ago. Would look good over a turtleneck now and great with nothing in six months.
The Strategist is 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 about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
