Duck Fat vol. 46

Maximize your Breeze Factor™ with this week's finds!

Accidentally made this week’s color story the Italian flag. Don’t worry, I still prefer a lightly leech-y, cold-ass lake to a perfectly sunny beach any day - plus I could never pretend to be Italian, I don’t even like coffee.

5 second-hand recs:

A. La Collection wool pants (M/$74 & L/$82.50); B. Black patent sneakers, US9.5, $52; C. James Perse white cotton pants, XL, $57.50; D. XiRENA red linen pants, S, $66.50; E. Zero + Maria Cornejo white cotton pants, M, $33; F. Green cotton ripstop jacket, XL, $39; G. XiRENA red cotton poplin pants (M/$50 & L/$40); H. Tan suede sneakers, US7, $33; I. Striped silk-paneled skirt, US2, $29.99; J. Norma Kamali green top, S, $38.25; K. Ralph Lauren Black Label green silk shirt, US12, $42; L. Escada green silk ruched blouse, DE44, $69; M. Cos white wide-leg pants, US12, $35; N. Green knit sweater, M, $29.99; O. White cotton drawstring pants, US16, $14.99; P. Green & gold suede sneakers, EU40, $20; Barney’s evening bag, $35.

1. La Collection wool pants, M, $74 ($82.50/L here & here): Been on the hunt for the platonic ideal pair of relaxed, off-white pants ever since I had to donate my actual platonic ideal pair a few years ago.¹ The urge has gotten so much worse since seeing this tbh. Are these the answer?

2. Zero + Maria Cornejo cotton pants, M, $33: But it’s summer and I don’t want to put on wool pants - I am not immune to the poplin propaganda!! Also love these super swishy culottes from Cos (US12/$35) or this pair, also from Cos (US2/$70), that looks like a white version of the Criselles (US2/$70). A great option here from the masters of cotton poplin, Xirena( M/$68, L/$60, L/$45 - measurements are all over the place here idk what’s happening but the sizes look M/L to me). And ofc some fantastically slouchy pairs from king of California Beach Breeziness, James Perse: edgy tactical vibes w. this double-knee pair (XL/$42.50); fantastic 100% linen drawstring pair (XL/$92; similar in dove grey for $41.25/XXL or cream for $65/S); and maybe my favorite of the bunch² in XL/$57.50. Kind of also into these long linen shorts (M/$60) for ultimate Breeze Factor.³ Or you can skip the brand name upcharge and get this 100% cotton pair from Orvis that look identical (US16/$14.99).

3. Green cotton ripstop windbreaker, XL, $39: OK, but how about some color for summer? Obviously I have been influenced by Auralee here and I have no regrets. More of this springy green in: a great texture-y knit (M/$29.99)⁴; incredible ruched silk Escada blouse (US14/$69); v. fun oversize cotton crewneck sweatshirt from Christian Wijnants (S/$33); sleek RL Black Label silk button-up (US12/$42); and a siiiiickening hooded top from Norma Kamali (S/$38.25). And let’s not leave this incredible paneled silk “car wash skirt” out of it (US2/$29.99). And as an antidote to all those white pants earlier, let’s go back to XiRENA for some killer poppy-red instead: cotton poplin in M/$50 & L/$40, cotton gauze in L/$48, & 100% linen in S/$66.50.

4. Hogan suede sneakers, US7, $33 (similar in US8): Breaking my own cardinal rule and recommending sneakers - I’m just a huge sucker for a gum sole.⁵ P. into these colorful ones as well: shiny patent leather black (US9.5/$52), pine green (EU36/$160) & two very fun metallic options (US6/$31.50 & US11/$35). Also super into this sleek vintage olive green & gold pair (EU40/$25) - eat your heart out, Gazelle/Samba/Spezial/Onitsuka girlies!!

5. Barney’s satin evening bags in cream & pink, $35⁶: Just two perfectly cute Barney’s evening bags that look like little gifts. Also available in black leather for wayyyy too much imo so make a brutal lowball offer if you’re interested to wear them down ($325).⁷ Plus some other cute lil texture-y bags here from Barney’s & Neiman Marcus: green suede tassel clutch ($38); leopard ponyhair tassel bag ($80); and fun beaded net & satin bag ($48).

3 unshoppables:

6. Finally going to see 28 Years Later tomorrow with my dad!! We’ve both watched the first one a million times together and solo, and have (unfortunately) both seen 28 Weeks Later, too. We’re freaks for zombies⁸ so I really wanted to wait until we could see it together for peak bonding experience!⁹ Also shocking to find out the haunting reading of Kipling’s Boots from the trailer wasn’t even part of the movie until after they heard it in a trailer cut??

7. Found this NYT op-doc, The Last Words of a Dying Glacier (gift link), incredibly moving, particularly given what we’ve seen this year in extreme weather events.

8. The Bubble House is on the market, baby!! Here’s hoping whoever gets it doesn’t gut it and make everything super boring…

1 substack rec:

9. Less than zero plans to write book reviews as a career move but I was still glued to this interview with Irina Dumitrescu from Woman Of Letters. On a less upbeat note, this is everything we have been told was coming - there really is no ‘safe’ way to be gay for this administration, other than to simply stop existing.

1 outfit I wore a million variations of this week:

The Olsen Hair is Olsen-ing in CT humidity for sure. Also enjoyed taking pics in this wildly flattering, wildly unrealistic, mirror - call that a Friendly Mirror™.

10. Been up in CT all week and basically wore some iteration of this every day. Live laugh love, bro! OK, next week I have something a little different planned¹⁰ - a lil boots-on-the-ground report from my personal favorite thrifting event of the year,¹¹ a giant-ass rummage sale in Old Lyme, CT that I’ve been hitting semi-regularly since I was a teen. Hopefully as fun for you guys as it is for me to dig through the racks, but feel free to raise hell in the chat if you disagree - this is a dictatorship, baby!!¹²

1. Butt got bigger. There are worse things [many peach emojis].

2. Look at that pocket real estate!!

3. Should I trademark Breeze Factor?

4. Similar here that I actually found first and prefer the color of (but hard to tell undertones from online listings) but don’t know if I trust it - good seller reviews & they immediately knocked off $20 when I wishlisted it which is nice, but IDK what in the AI slop that description is, and so few pics…show me the label or GTFO.

5. Picturing them with a spare pair of green paracord laces I have for discount Mui Mui vibes…

6. Or on Poshmark for $35 (cream; pink) with more seller reviews

7. More pics of it here when a brown leather one was sold from Garmentory’s vintage section, apparently.

8. To the extent that we both have semi-regular zombie apocalypse dreams. When I was little and couldn’t sleep, his method to help me fall asleep was to plan how we would survive a zombie apocalypse - where are we living, what skills/jobs do we need to find and what can we do without (veterinarian > stock broker), etc. Whatever, it worked every time & I’m basically normal.

9. Just lie in the comments if you hated it, idk about reality in this instance.

10. Don’t worry, still got recs. I can’t help myself lol.

11. Sorry to Brimfield, just too lazy to deal with the crowds I think?? Someday!

12. My free newsletter, my irregular changes to format to suit my whims ¯\_(ツ)_/¯