Open to Buy: The Display Sephora Wouldn't Allow
The items I love as a merchant who sees it all. And did you hear, Taylor Swift is married.
Hi and happy 250th birthday to us/U.S. I hope you are enjoying your long weekend. I’ll make this quick and share a few links and articles if you are looking to stay cool this weekend indoors.
In this send: As a merchant I see a lot of products and visit plenty of stores. In this post I’m talking about a few items I love and recommend, especially for summer time. Plus: Mecca Australia, highlight milk, Uniqlo round mini shoulder bag, Margaux, high vamp ballet shoes, the Linen Set, Mimétique, A’maree’s, Bill Cunningham, The Wallach Project, drindl dress, mood boards, Taylor Swift, Dior Couture, and much more.
Field Notes — Rhode, Sephora, and Mecca
Recommendations From a Merchant
Retail Reads
In My Feed
Field Notes
I visited Sephora this week and was finally impressed with the inventory planning for Rhode’s display. Either that or it just isn’t selling. The Pocket Blush and Lip Peptides were mostly in stock and they had all the new Bronzers and Highlight Milk fully stocked. At Rhode’s website many shades are still out of stock.
Rhode has had a lot of backlash on their own Instagram from commenters who were frustrated about the orders and deliveries. June 9th Rhode launched the summer capsule — the bronzers and highlighting luminizers — but the first adopters who ordered online, the most engaged shoppers, didn’t receive until late June. At that point they could have just held out to pick up from Sephora which launched 6/25 and earned their loyalty points.
Back to Sephora, the display itself was standard with a small table for the new items at the front. Then I saw Mecca's Rhode display in Australia — playful, Rhode branded, impossible to miss, and easy to shop. Sephora doesn't have the footprint to allow brands to build that kind of display and the Sephora model tends to be Sephora first versus brand first. It was fun to see how Rhode can show up when they have more flexibility but it is often a push and pull between retailers and brands in regards to branded display fixtures.
Recommendations from a Merchant
As someone who is always evaluating and researching brands and trends, these are the items I’ve been sending to friends.
For the friend who is traveling to Europe with her kids I mentioned she definitely needed this handbag. It’s my favorite for travel and kids activities on the weekends. I love that it will hold a small water bottle and my kindle.
The items that are always in my summer beach bag: my favorite swimsuit that I love for the material. This is my fourth summer wearing the same one. It holds up that well. The facial sunscreen I always use year round, the body sunscreen I’ve repurchased 3 times because the subtle tint is a win and it is easy to apply, I’m also loving this sunscreen lip balm and this one too. My pool slides (on sale here) that work from pool/beach to post dinner with a dress. This dress works for everything from a cover-up to shopping to dinner out.
These Margaux ballet flats* are the perfect alternative to sandals when you want more of your foot covered and something that feels a bit dressier. The best hybrid between a ballet flat and a sandal. If I was traveling to a city over the summer for exploring these would be the shoes to pack because you can also walk over 15,000 steps and still be comfortable. I’ve owned these for two summers, wore them into the ground, and they were a bit big. The brand recently sent me a half size down and the fit is much better. Hint is to order a half-size down.
My favorite car lip balm for the summer has been this one, which is currently on sale. It doesn’t melt in the heat since it is a lip oil.
Valesque is the new discovery that has made me so happy. A brand that feels priced well, simple but joyful, so easy, and nostalgic of the Prada ‘90s bags and early days Kate Spade. I own the Thea bag but this would be my next pick from the brand. I’m waiting for the fall delivery though instead of buying another one now. But I could be convinced…
This* is my repeat wear this summer. Loving the set and I rarely wear shorts but I’m comfortable in these. There was a question recently about fit for petites, and I think if you take your regular size the top won’t overwhelm you.
A bit of a Forecast of a Trend, I’m noticing vamps much more covered on ballet flats like this pair. This is the direction we’ve been going. From round toes, an extreme point on this Khaite pair, and all the versions of the higher vamp moccasin. I found my favorite moccasin on The RealReal. I own and love.
Violette_fr sent me some items to test out and my favorites so far are:
This unbelievably simple blush*. I love how easy it is to apply and how subtle the blush is. It feels perfectly light. I love makeup I can easily apply (quickly) without a mirror and this fits the bill.
Balm Amour* — this lip balm has a hint of color and the tip of the wand is cooling for these hot days. You can save 15 percent on sets.
After returning from a trip with such dry skin, I knew I needed to keep it simple and moisturized. Thankfully Mimétique sent me a few items to try. After using this cleanser*, the moisturizer and eye cream* my skin is much happier. The brand first launched in the U.S. at Printemps NY, online at FWRD and Moda Operandi, recently launched at Goop and Violet Grey. All very discerning retailers who know what they are adding to the assortment. The packaging is an elevated pharmacy feel. The brand was founded by a cosmetic chemist who grew up surrounded by dermatologist. In other words, trust those in the know.
Americana Retail Reads
All the content this week is celebrating American fashion and retail.
The United States of Luxury from Vogue Business covers the growing fashion cities for luxury across the U.S. Big wins in Austin, Nashville, Charleston, Miami.
Some of the biggest and best names in American retail — from Andrew Rosen, Pete Nordstrom, Tony Spring, Sherri McMullen, Fran Horowitz, Lori Hirshleifer, and Lauren Santo-Domingo — told Vogue Business what needs to happen for retail to be successful.
Faran Krentcil covered the history of American style from Ballet Flats, Baseball Hats, Cowboy Boots, Hoodies, Jeans, and Leather Fringe for InStyle.
Are there any bigger names in American fashion than Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan? Airmail published this article by Bridget Foley about our fashion Mt. Rushmore.
I loved visiting A’maree’s in April and exploring the specialty store that was absolutely filled to the brim with discoveries. It is the type of store you could visit every day and always be surprised by something you haven’t seen before. Leah Faye Cooper wrote this fantastic piece for Bazaar about the shop and the mother and three daughters who have built and managed the store for the last 50 years.
In My Feed
I am so excited for the Bill Cunningham exhibit at the New York Historical Society in 2027. I will absolutely plan a visit, rewatch this, and rock a jacket like this. [NYTimes gift link]
I absolutely love and am completely inspired by this pop-up at the Jewish Museum between Audrey Gelman and the Wallach Project (The Wallach Folk Art Museum) on bringing back the historical items like the Drindl Dress into the Work Dress. The Wallach’s family store was seized by the Nazis in 1937.
Thank you to .@checkthetag on Instagram for the Taylor & Travis wedding guest dress IDs. And the bride wore Jonathan Anderson for Dior Couture! [NYTimes gift link]. Interesting because I was just served this Instagram Reel shortly before the wedding of another bride unboxing her Dior Couture wedding gown, which was then included in the NYTimes article. The algorithm was completely plugged in which makes you wonder. As soon as there is Taylor Swift news I’m tracking down what Halie LeSavage writes. Her latest in Marie Claire on the dress.
Lisa Yamner, Co-founder and Chief Brands Officer at Daydream, is helping the fashion shopping platform launch The Fashion Stack podcast.
Staycation idea, make a mood board with tips from Art Life Practice and Berry Stein.
Top links of the week: everyone is checking out bright print brand CIBYN new sets, the sneakers that Celine just collab’ed with, and the bitchy little heels I personally pre-ordered in red. Readers are buying this towel cover-up and checking out Net-a-Porter for this dress and buying from NAP.
Catching Up:
Chanel bought Charvet and you can read my take here.
Readers had a lot of thoughts on Gap’s mesh stripe set. Read the comments from this post.
More on the brand With Nothing Underneath here.
ShopMy is disrupting more than just affiliate links.
Made just for you — always. See you Tuesday
xx, Sarah Shapiro
Private Label Issue 15
Quick note: some links here are affiliate links — I may earn a small commission if you shop through them, at no cost to you. It helps keep this newsletter going. Gifted items are marked with an *. All opinions are my own, and everything I share, I’d tell my best friend about and probably already have.
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Excellent reporting like always. Curious to learn about Rhode and Sephora. Also I do need to check out the Margaux shoes you featured, they look so beautiful