The Shopping List: MARCH
Featuring a chic phone strap, a perfect pair of trackpants, a three-in-one choker and a throw to restore the soul.
It’s been a big month for both of us over here at casa del homeroom. Soph has been busy incubating a literal human while caring for another (an almost two year-old, at that) and juggling shoots and personal styling appointments. I’ve been flat out with work, toddler wrangling and the general chaos of trying to do both of these things like the other doesn’t exist.
But somewhere in amongst all of this, we found some time to have a lot of fun playing around with Nobody’s very good Nadia jeans, check out the Lee Mathews sale (it’s still on – I picked up the very fittingly named Annie Pant) and catch a preview of the Camilla and Marc warehouse sale (it kicks off tomorrow in Sydney and Melbourne). I must also give a special mention to an event I put together in Sydney last week with a client of mine, July, in partnership with Zara Wong (whom I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with) to showcase the brand’s growing range of bags, which are very, very good indeed. This one proved especially popular with the Sydney fashion crowd, and it’s pretty easy to see why IMO. Safe to say, it’s been a busy time.
Beyond our own little worlds and in the big bad world of fashion, Chanel-mania has struck (but exactly who are these people who can afford $18,000 bags, we ask? And why won’t you buy one for us?!); the Oscars delivered a dose of escapism and a plethora of fast-follow opinions (here’s an interesting one); Demna’s Gucci show depressed the hell out of me; and this hot take on the Witchery x Lara Worthington collab got a lot of our Classmates talking. What a time! To have an opinion on the internet!!
As always, another month means a new Shopping List: our favourite things we’ve bookmarked in March and our thoughts on why. We prioritise Australian labels in our edits, but occasionally we’ll throw a global brand into the mix.
Let’s go.
Sophie
NEW BALANCE (From JD SPORTS) / 1906R — $210.00
I have a complicated relationship with chunky lifestyle sneakers as I know many of you do. While I feel I may be able to ‘pull them off’, I know I’d most likely be doing so feeling somewhat disjointed, like i’d fallen prey to another trend that doesn’t particularly align with my style. In my head, chunkier styles are relegated to walking / running / activewear — when paired with anything else I immediately feel too ‘street’ skewed, too gorpcore, too unpolished.
But these little hoofs, carrying this extra pregnancy weight, are desperately screaming out for support right now and given I spend so much time on them, my usual slimline preference isn’t quite cutting it. So i’ve been seeking a way to wear a heavier style in a way that I still feel myself when doing so and I think i’ve worked out the recipe: a mix of texture and fabric, multiple neutral tones (chocolate feels most chic to me right now), and major bonus points for faux animal print and/or fur inclusion as New Balance have done here. I’ve found these in multiple stores and they’re cheapest at JD Sports but I love how they’ve been styled above for Net-a-Porter. I’ll be wearing mine with various tailored elasticated waists for the foreseeable future.
While we’re here, here’s a moodboard I put together a little while back, for styling your chunky sneakers.
Annie
OSSA / Chain Drop Wristlet Set — $321.00
I recently purchased a beaded phone strap that fell apart four days after I took it home. I mean, it truly fell to pieces… I was on my hands and knees picking up dozens of tiny black beads off my hallway carpet while my toddler tried to ride my back like a koala joey.
The whole affair taught me a valuable lesson in trying to force functionality onto something that is designed to be pretty, not practical.
But — floor scrounging session aside — I am still stuck on the idea of zhuzhing up my phone when I’m putting more effort into your outfit, like when I’m going to an event or a dinner. And I think I’ve found the ultimate phone zhuzher in this incredible pearl-adorned chain tassel number from US-based Ossa (thank you, Zara, for introducing them to me). It looks sturdier than the aforementioned beaded strap number.
In the time since I saved this to include in this shopping list to today (all of 5 days), it’s now annoyingly sold out (is the universe trying to tell me something??) — I love this and this, too. This would make the cutest gift for a bride-to-be, or for your bridesmaids.
Extra tip: if you are looking for a simple phone strap attachment and don’t want to spend a second longer searching for one than you should, I bought these and can’t fault them.
Sophie
BASSIKE / 09 Sunglasses — $280.00
Maroon / ox blood / plum, etc. is still loitering around this season. I love it for it’s versatility — it’s colour without being COLOUR. It really just feels like a continuation of chocolate, so it’s baaaasically a neutral.
To me these Bassike x Local Supply sunnies are perfect for the colder months and will lift any simple outfit. They’re just the right amount of understated cool: the lines aren’t too harsh and the colour isn’t too much. They’re just right.
Annie
MAISON ESSENTIELE / Silk Chiffon Long Sleeve Dress — $440.00
I recently purchased the skirt version of this dress to style under long tees/shirts and over silk trousers — it’s such a simple way to a new dimension to my outfits and maintain some lightness / intrigue when things start to get cooler. The quality of the fabric is really beautiful, so it drapes in just the way you hope this sort of piece will.
I am spying the dress as an option to wear to a relaxed winter wedding (probably with a black silk mini slip underneath), but can also see myself getting use out of this as a year-round styling layer — over swimmers in summer (god, this would feel soooo glamorous) or in winter with 30 denier black stockings, this tied around my waist, a brutalist-inspired hammered silver cuff (like this) and a generous spritzing of this energy.
Sophie
NAGNATA / Organic Romeo Trackpant — $420.00
My eyes are on the prize of once again improving my home clothes situation, because my previous postpartum collection is in tatters. Like literal tatters, they have been well and truly worn out. Symbolic really.
I have wanted a pair of Nagnata trackpants for years but have never felt in the right space to justify the spend on leisurewear, which is ridiculous really, given I spend so much time in such wares. And if there’s ever a time to warrant wrapping your bottom half with luxurious stretchy pieces it’s after pushing a baby out. And from all reports they’re well worth the spend! Both the trackpants and the baby. They hold their shape and wash incredibly well. Tick, tick.
I am looking to invest in more than one pair of trackies though, and these are high on the list. As are these for an affordable option.
Annie
HEAVEN MAYHEM / Solene Choker Set — $256.00
I like the formality of a choker, especially as a styling trick when you spend most of your days in very casual wear (ahem, me). Sometimes I become obsessed with the idea of one specific outfit. In this case, it’s this necklace with this white tee and this pair of jeans (although, we do need to talk about how stiff the denim is on these…they look amazing, but they are brutally unforgiving at certain times of the month). With cooler weather coming, I would wear said choker peeking out from behind an oversized collared shirt and utility jacket, or layered over a black skivvy with an oversized men’s style wool coat. And it’s basically three necklaces in one! Rude not to, really.
Sophie
ZARA HOME / Paisley Throw — $150 approx.
I missed my nesting stage last pregnancy. My waters broke on set at 33 weeks, the week we were to move into our first home together, followed by three weeks in special care only to come home to my partner tripping over and ending up in a cast for a further three. While these moments were among my most privileged in life so far, they were easily some of the most challenging — my partner and I are still picking up the pieces (of our relationship, financially, and then some) from this time. In the grand scheme it might sound a little superficial but I honestly felt like I was going insane in a unfamiliar home filled with boxes and unfinished corners, it’s almost embarrassing how much joy and calm came with slowly being able to fill our new surrounds with various scavenged bits and pieces.
Our new found debt has meant that the whole process has been incredibly drawn out (and still very much ongoing), but it’s actually been quite a lovely practice in patience and has forced me to make very considered purchases for the space in my mission to make our new house a home. I’ve paid for most of it using Depop funds and spending countless hours on Marketplace, but I found a certain therapy in the hunt too.
This whole sentence feels very much like internet advertising waffle for an introduction to a fucking Zara throw, but it’s been these beautiful useless pieces that have brought me warmth in a hugely trying time. I guess I’m trying to make a positive argument for the ‘stuff’ we so often feel guilty for caring about, as this stuff will line the walls of both our home and memories for years to come. Yes it’s from Zara but I love it and know it’s going to look beautiful, gracing my future oily, milky stained sheets.
Here’s a pinterest board I made during this time for our bedroom and home, because I love a moodboard.
Side note: I’m so aware of how incredibly lucky I am to be healthy and pregnant for a second time. Sending huge love to anyone on their own unique path to building a family.
Annie
FIRST THING / Wireless Seamless Bralette — $59.00
Enduring the violent pain of breastfeeding a newborn was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and it profoundly changed my (already fraught) relationship with my body. I am sure there’s some sort of psychosomatic reason that in the 24 months since my son was born, I’ve been wearing bras that are incredibly uncomfortable —simultaneously too small and too big?! Well, friends, it’ll be two years this week since I first panic-Googled ‘Silverettes’ (IYKYK), so I think it’s high time I overhauled my underwear drawer. I’ve heard rave reviews about First Thing’s wireless bralette. One is currently on its way to me. Stay tuned.
Sophie
ETSY / Gold Filled Huggie Earrings (6mm pair) — $27.35
I’ve been craving a simplification of my ear stack. It took me the better part of 15 years to build the one I have, but start again I will. I don’t have the funds to buy solid gold at this point, and to be honest i’ve refused to buy anything other than solid for years becasue i’d found it to be such a huge waste of money. BUT! I’ve been trialing a gold filled pair over the last year and they’ve really held their own. So this is where i’ll be going to select a uniform collection of tight huggies for my many ear piercings.
Annie
ST AGNI / Fluid Jersey Skirt — $249.00
Despite the fact I grew up there, I always underestimate the heat of the Sydney sun and was caught out last week at a work event in Paddington that I was completely overdressed for, literally. Once the event wrapped, I hot-footed it around the corner to the St Agni boutique on Glenmore Rd where the lovely sales assistant was wearing this jersey skirt and matching tee. I don’t think I’ve ever walked into a store in one outfit and out in another (maybe only in my dreams) but that is how comfortable, light and slinky this set feels to wear.
See you next week x
And ICYMI….
