The Strategist Haul: What the Editors Bought in July

When Material released these kitchen scissors a while back, they kept popping up on my Instagram feed and I kept thinking to myself how much I liked the look of them. Finally, I bought them (in golden) and am here to report what a good decision that was. The blades are supersharp, the sides come apart easily enough to clean — but not so easily that they detach when you don’t want them to (a problem I’ve had with kitchen shears in the past), and the grip is super-comfortable thanks to the yellow silicone handles.

There are four pieces to my summer uniform this year: a white men’s Baird McNutt Irish linen button-up from J.Crew, my candy-colored Salomon XT-4s, a trucker hat from my bachelorette party, and a series of matching bicycle-short-and-sports bra sets from Girlfriend Collective. I own them in black, navy, and plum, and this month, I added the bike unitard to the rotation in (now sold-out) moon gray. It is very supportive, super-comfortable, and suited just as well for sweating on the streets of Brooklyn as going on a day hike in Maine, both things I did this month. I like it so much, I’m thinking of grabbing it in this dark green, too.

I noticed this T-shirt in-store when I stopped into Gap to return something else, and because it was on sale, I walked out with two. It’s a great basic with a nice texture, an on-trend cropped (but not too cropped) length, and what I consider to be the perfect neckline: a Goldilocksian crew that doesn’t scoop too low or sit uncomfortably high. It comes in six colors including black and white (I went with “plum purple pudding” and “rusty brown”), as well as tall, regular, and petite sizing so that you can find the crop that works best for your height, torso length, and style preferences.

I finally picked up the (Pulitzer Prize–winning!) Frank from poetry GOAT Diane Seuss, who writes reinvented sonnets that I highly recommend if your only experience with the form is college Shakespeare. It has everything you could want from a collection of contemporary verse: love, death, Frank O’Hara references.

I’ve been looking for a pair of medium-blue non-jeans pants and finally made my way to the Dickies website this month to buy these, a version of the brand’s 874 work pants redesigned “specifically for the skateboarder.” I am sorry to steal skateboarder valor, but they have quickly become my favorite everyday pants, plausibly nice enough to wear out but comfortable and broken-in enough for running errands. I wore them to a Mets game in 90-degree weather and didn’t die. They do run a bit small — I bought both a 26, my normal size, and a 28, and ended up keeping the 28 for its wider hip measurement, which proved wise when they shrunk about a half-size in the wash. I also had to shorten them; the weave is dense enough that you can get away with a raw hem, so I just chopped off a few inches with fabric scissors.

Speaking of alterations, one of my goals for this summer is to get good at sewing, a hobby in which I have a decent amount of experience and below-average skill. I’ve gotten my machine serviced, reorganized my sewing box, and started hanging the clothes I need to repair on my living-room bookshelf, where they stare at me while I work. One component of this push is paying more attention to how I’m finishing a garment, so I bought this top-stitch thread to match the stitching on a pair of vintage Levi’s jeans I needed to hem. It’s pretty close! Hopefully they look like true vintage, not true vintage with a bad home hem job.

I was gifted the plastic version of this bottle a few Christmases back, but I failed to ever clean it, so the straw had very unappealing permanent stains. I like the bottle, though, especially the built-in straw and the carrying handle, so I rebought it, but in stainless steel this time because I want ice-cold water all day long. And I’ve already cleaned this one twice, so I’m feeling really good about myself.

Ed Yong’s science writing is always a delight to read (well, “delight” is probably not the best way to describe his pandemic coverage, but that’s more about the pandemic and not his writing) because of the curiosity, wonder, and sense of humor he trains upon his subjects. I’ve been looking forward to Yong’s new book on animal senses and what they reveal about the world around us. I plan to follow it up with Harold McGee’s book on human olfaction, Nose Dive.

I bought a two-pound bag of this coffee I used to drink every morning when I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Its sweet, nutty flavor satiates my homesickness.

My off-season summer-sale purchase was this chunky-knit polo from Corridor. I recently bought the brand’s Slouchy Polo and was looking for a long-sleeve version that would serve as a fall and winter staple. I love how it drapes over the shoulders, and the fit is loose but not too baggy. I might have to purchase it in navy, too.

I’ve been feeling “boring” sunglasses this summer, because when you’re known as “Jelly Bean” in some circles for the way you dress, it can be a lot to do big, tinted frames on top of tons of color/prints/having masses of hair (currently coral). These, which I bought from Toward with a press discount, are unobtrusive, petite lunettes de soleil that feel a bit like wearing tablespoons suspended in front of your eyes. And while they aren’t designed specifically for low nose bridges, mine stay up well enough — but even when they do slip down due to schvitzing, it just looks like when a love interest has sidled up to your pool chair and you tip your Foster Grants down to get a better look.