22 May, 2026

Shop the post: Spring sweater edit

Ding dong! It’s time for the semi-annual spring knitwear update. What’s new this time around? Ummm, not much; I’m still after the usual – short sleeve knits, merinos, and cashmere-mixes (100% cashmere is a bit too soft and pill-y for me, I’ve decided).

I guess new-ish to the rotation is colour. Tomato red, grass green and Celine blue to be precise, especially layered with white, cream, and ecru. Red cardigans are… everywhere! Thick like a jacket at B.B Wallace*, or lightweight enough for a shoulder-knot at Calvin Klein*. Alexandra Golovanoff’s tomato twinset (below) is a genius solution to looking smart on top if the rest of you is a bit scruffy (ahem) – although stocks are on the low side. In Paris, Rubirosa is the emporium to go to for kaleidoscopic knitwear and don’t miss the cult croc loafers. Also in Paris, Linda V Wright is your muse for colourful classic knits, and especially red, as demonstrated with her timely post here (hint: the clue is in the shop’s name: Crimson.)

Celine has the perfect cropped green sweater*, below (it’s giving ‘Girl in an Alex Katz painting’), while Sunspel’s cobalt men’s lambswool* is the colour of a cloudless Greek sky. And, not quite a sweater, not quite a tee, I love this Jigsaw sporty raglan merino top* (below).
Alexandra Golovanoff twinset

I’m still hankering for the perfect vintage cricket white trousers but in the meantime, I’m eyeballing all the tailored white and white-adjacent long shorts. Yes, long shorts and knitwear is an incongruous mismatch but the kind of sartorial code-switching our weather demands of us, so you just learn to roll with it.

Massimo Dutti has the ultimate white linens* while COS has these in viscose with a razor-sharp crease* and further along the neutral spectrum, Polo Ralph Lauren has these linen shorts in camel*. These all go very nicely with a smart black shoe and sock combo. Everyone loved the Bode shoes in my April wish list post, while Church’s Shannons* are a mainstay (but expensive) or consider Macian’s English-made ‘Sophie’ derby for a slightly more affordable alternative.

I love the J.Crew styling that keeps cropping up on my Instagram (top and below – apologies for the screengrab quality but we keep it real here lol). Cream layers with a dollop of red that will look so good in the sunshine. I’m also thinking about a white linen dirndl as an alternative to shorts. It reminds me of mid-80s Honey magazine where they’d shoot two or three gamine girls on a windswept English beach in black and white, wearing like, a white knee length pinafore with nothing underneath, plus a big Joseph cardigan, black Church’s brogues and socks. Sigh… the things that stick in your head! A thick, semi-fitted or slightly loose cream cardigan or sweater (like this from Rohe*) would also suit this nostalgic vignette.

Major accessories aren’t needed here, but a tobacco suede bag* sporty eyewear and a simple watch or rustic pendant are always a good idea.
Mitchell O’Neil for Arena Homme Plus

NOW CLICK BELOW TO SHOP THE POST (I MAY EARN A COMMISSION ON THE BASKET VALUE OF ITEMS BOUGHT*)…

WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: J Crew; Alexandra Golovanoff; Celine/Tommy Ton; Jigsaw; J Crew x 4; Mitchell O’Neil / Arena Homme Plus
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links* and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here.

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Brands, Shopping, Trends Alexandra Golovanoff, B.B wallace, Calvin Klein, Celine, Church's, COS, J Crew, Jigsaw, Joseph, knitwear, Macian, Mitchell O’Neil, Rohe, Rubirosa, Sunspel

11 May, 2026

Random recs: Arthur Elgort the movie, Harvey Nichols, Siri Hustvedt, peak merch and more

Violet Grey Harvey Nichols window

A few snippets of digital ephemera and IRL recommendations I’ve enjoyed lately…

1/ Merch as clothing systems. This is a great read on the evolution of merch. (Anyone for a Palantir hoodie?)

“Which brings us back to peak merch. If the last wave was about identity as consumption – proof of taste, proof of experience, proof-you-were-there – this next phase feels more like identity as positioning. The shift isn’t that merch signals allegiance (it always has), but what that allegiance points to. Not scenes, subcultures or shared memories – but systems, ideologies and power structures that are much harder to decode.”

2/ HARVEY NICHOLS had a glow up a couple of years ago, but you’d never know it. The store and the buy look fab. All the grown up contemporary brands I like – Lemaire, Another Tomorrow, Wardrobe NYC, plus Calvin Klein, Lisa Yang, B.B. Wallace and Dario Vitale’s Versace – are here for physical try-on, as well as new beauty brands like Bob Beauté* and a Violet Grey year-long pop-up in the window. I’m here for this 90s beauty editor deskscape (top and below) and I love the Madame Grey Virgo astrology candle* – a subtle breeze of pink pepper, violet and musk. And there’s a vast selection of other lifestyle desirables on the ground floor – this Redduo jug and mug have been living rent free in my head for weeks (below).

But. The place is deserted! Maybe it’s not chronically-online-Gen-Z-friendly enough. Does it need a – can’t believe I’m saying this – Blank Street Coffee concession? An Erewhon pop-up? Knightsbridge is usually a magnet for Dubai transplants, but Harrods has cornered that market and Harvey Nichols clearly wants to court a fresh customer. Anyway. If you like having a well-merchandised store all to yourself, get there while it’s still quiet.
Violet Grey Harvey Nichols
Redduo jug and mug

3/ I’ve been sleeping on the Waitrose Dish podcast with Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw. But I’m fully invested now. Come for Louis Theroux (with Angela’s short ribs and rhubarb and pear crumble recipe) and stay for Gemma Arterton and the crab linguine. Unsurprisingly, Louis can’t help slipping into interviewer mode and he’s a massive foodie, so if Grimmy ever left, he could easily take over.

4/ ARTHUR ELGORT’S MODELS MANUAL – the movie. The Devil Wears Prada 2, who?! I’m (im)patiently waiting for the Arthur Elgort doc, Arthur Elgort: Models & Muses from filmmaker Warren Elgort.
Arthur Elgort Models & Muses film

5/ Corpcore comparisons. And in loosely related news, Arthur’s daughter Sophie Elgort has a great piece in the Financial Times revisiting her corpcore street style photos from 15 years ago and comparing them to now. I couldn’t help but wonder… if companies will start incentivising employees back to the office with carrot dangles of higher salaries or other perks (maybe they are already? LMK in the comments…). And if that’s the case, would dressing up for the office again feel like a desirable status grab, a symbol of being at the top of your game (or simply having a job at all), signalling being ‘worth’ the office real estate versus being a ‘wfh loser’? Read more here.

6/ Micro make-up. I still love my Chanel Les Beiges Water Fresh Tint foundation*, but I don’t love it coming off on my white tees. So, this micro make-up look piqued my interest and I like the look of the Kraum Micro Brushes (below). (H/T Emily Morello.)
Kraum micro brushes

7/ Fashion and the art school connection. This Shelley Fox interview is so detailed and fascinating. And relatable too. “The fashion students really dressed down and were probably scruffier than some of the art students. I think there is that connection – where Westminster used to be Harrow School of Art, Middlesex University used to be Hornsey School of Arts, Saint Martin’s School of Art, Kingston School of Art. I mean, they’re all art schools. I think that training, going back to the 1960s, the music, fashion photography, image making, the way of fashion coming out of the youth movement has kind of never left it. As I said before, not everything in the sixties was swinging but there was this movement where music and clothes were so interconnected.”

8/ Free the Alphonso mango! Lizzie Paton in the FT newsletter has unearthed the root of a mysterious mango shortage in London. No wonder I’ve not spotted a single box during what’s meant to be peak season!

9/ Siri Hustvedt, Ghost Stories. Finally, a last-minute addition. I was listening to Sam Baker’s podcast, The Shift and her guest was writer, Siri Hustvedt. I was aware of her new memoir and was interested to hear her talk about it. (Side note: I interviewed her wonderful daughter Sophie Auster for The New Garconne* in 2015. I wasn’t familiar with Siri and her famous writer husband Paul Auster at the time. But Sophie’s stories about them were warm and endearing.) While listening to the podcast, I was killing time in Waterstones and discovered a pile of Ghost Stories* – signed. It did indeed feel like a ‘sign’! I bought my copy and have been loving reading Siri’s musings on life, death (trigger warning: there’s cancer talk), companionship and much more to come, I’m sure. I guess you could compare it a little to Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, but it’s really its own precious thing. A beautiful, contemplative nighttime read.

NOW CLICK BELOW TO SHOP THE POST (I MAY EARN A COMMISSION ON THE BASKET VALUE OF ITEMS BOUGHT*)…

WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Harvey Nichols/Disneyrollergirl x 3; Arthur Elgort Models & Muses; Kraum; Disneyrollergirl;
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links* and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here.

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Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Beauty, Books, Brands, Business of fashion, Design, Films, Photography, Retail concepts, Shopping Arthur Elgort, beauty, Bob Beauté, designers, films, Harvey Nichols, Kraum, Louis Theroux, photography, podcasts, Random Recs, Shelley Fox, Violet Grey, Waitrose

24 April, 2026

Quote of the day: Jeny Howorth on Neil Kirk

Jeny Howorth by Neil Kirk for Honey

“We had lots of great times together. Neil was great fun to travel with. I travelled far and wide with him, from Sri Lanka to Key West. He could be difficult at times with a warped sense of humour that definitely appealed to me. I remember being in Hemingway’s bar in Key West [Sloppy Joe’s Bar] with Neil and the very wonderful Anne Boyd [fashion editor, The Observer]. There was a severe rain downpour and we were up to our knees in water, drinking margaritas. All in a day’s work. I loved my adventures with Neil. One of my first and favourite covers was for Honey magazine, November 1983 [above]. As far as I can remember, it was shot on a beach in The Hamptons. We had run out of clothes, so we used what I was wearing—my father’s old sweatshirt and my favourite white shirt. The sun was going down. Bang. Bang. Bang. Done. I still love it.”
Jeny Howorth, model, Neil Kirk in Vogue: The Supermodel Years

This new photo book featuring the work of Neil Kirk in 80s and 90s Vogue (plus a few other publications) is a gem. I consider him the English Arthur Elgort with his impossibly glamorous lifestyle shots of leaping leggy models in timeless 80s attire. Yes it’s unapologetically nostalgic but the familiarity (if you’re a certain age) is comforting.

We all (well, I) remember that exhilarating feeling of aspiration just beyond your grasp; the sense that you could maybe be Yasmin, Jeni or Yasmeen living your best life in an Armani skirt suit, wide-striding across a New York avenue in 4-inch heels while casually flagging a cab, glancing behind you as the wind whips your hair, always in a girl-about-town hurry.

The book combines full bleed fashion shoots with spreads of Polaroids, celebrity portraits and fantastic anecdotes from a cast of fashion royalty. I love Jeny’s story of improvising on the styling front. So very 80s and so very Jeny. The book is co-authored by Vivienne Kirk (Mrs Neil) and Iain R Webb and it’s available here* and here. Read more here.
Neil Kirk in Vogue - the Supermodel Years

WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Neil Kirk in Vogue: The Supermodel Years
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here.

Disneyrollergirl 5 Comments Books, Magazines, Photography, Quote of the day books, Honey, Iain R Webb, Jeny Howorth, magazines, Neil Kirk, photography, quote of the day, Vogue

21 April, 2026

The rise of the elevated general store

Labour & Wait

There’s a particular appeal to the general store. You don’t need anything urgently, yet the wares are such items that you could always do with stocking up on and you feel a sense of secure well-being at having that perfectly utilitarian stapler, milk pan, or toothpaste squeezer in your possession. A general store also satisfies your shopaholic impulses while tempering the dopamine spike with practical use as the end game.

Some examples I love: Jasper Morrison’s almost invisible shop at 24b Kingsland Road E2, where I bought my yellow steel stapler 17 years ago (below, a great example of an essential everyday object that brings joy). Morrison also designs saucepans, cutlery and even furniture for Muji, that temple of practicality, where I repeat-buy my cereal bowls, ‘right angle socks’ and 0.7 gel pens.
Jasper Morrison Stapler

Then there’s the Manufactum stores in Germany and Austria. I can only imagine the frissons of satisfaction you’d get perusing the oak pen trays and Norwegian wool blankets in the vast department stores (where wearing parts and mechanisms can also be replaced). Think a posh, rustic version of Ikea.

And who doesn’t love a whizz round Labour & Wait (top) for a bottle brush or a tin of almond-scented glue? (Do not spread on toast!) I think that’s the crux of the appeal; it’s the magic formula of expected functional items x an element of surprise. And when you witness this in person, in a store that’s been lovingly stocked and merchandised with a personal touch, you experience the anti-Amazon, anti-convenience effect. Pleasurable, tactile and deliberately slow, it’s ‘frictionmaxxing’ in the best way!

Even in India, where you might say the local market is the ultimate general store, they’re opting for a more upscale approach. General Items in Bangalore sells decidedly un-basic kitchenalia and homewares like Tosha Jagad’s butter dish (below) alongside its own handmade salt and pepper mills to the type of customer used to browsing Dover Street Market or The Conran Shop.
General Items Butter Dish

My personal weakness is stationery and desk paraphernalia. Present & Correct is my go-to for extremely useful jumbo paperclips and smooth-papered desk planners. There’s simply no fun in buying this stuff online; the pleasure comes from touching the products IRL and imagining how they’re going to transform your life.

And that brings me to the latest offering from Parisian retail polymath, Ramdane Touhami. Brand new to Paris’s Palais Royal arcade is his delightful-sounding new venture, Papier Royal. With its mosaic floor and old-meets-new vibe, it’s a printed correspondence Mecca like no other. Celebrating the dying – but not if he can help it – art of paper correspondence, Touhami offers original fonts for monogrammed correspondence cards printed on a 19th century ‘pendulum stamping device’.

Proclaiming “sending letters is the next level of luxury” to HTSI, he also stocks pens at every price point, fancy envelopes, and all grades of pencil. And the store boasts its own postage stamps created in collaboration with the French mail service – how incredibly chic!
Palais Royal by Julien Liénard

WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Labour & Wait; Disneyrollergirl; General Items; Palais Royale by Julien Liénard for HTSI
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here