LE CATCH

There’s a version of content creation that looks suspiciously effortless. But what’s actually happening over here is slightly more chaotic. LE CATCH is basically a one-woman show. Which means I’m the stylist, creative director, location scout, prop department, editor, copywriter, contract proof-reader, weather monitor, self-timer enthusiast, and occasionally, unwilling tripod engineer balancing my phone against a shoe box in my closet while praying it doesn’t tip over. Perhaps I’m walking through all of this now because post-surgery life has currently reduced me to lying horizontally on a sofa for days, brain looping through the mechanics of my own operation. Not the orthopedic one. The content one. The strange little machine behind LE CATCH that somehow keeps chugging along via iPhone timers, crossed fingers, and a very overactive mental checklist. I often send brands rough iPhone previews beforehand to show how I’m envisioning something styled before we even shoot it properly, because half the process is translating an idea before it exists. One recent example: a Jenny Bird shoot that ended up happening in Malibu in late March (see it here), on one of those California days that looked warm in photographs but wasn’t. We shot before I headed straight to the airport for Austin to watch my son’s volleyball tournament. And yet, this strange little patchwork creative process remains one of my favorite parts of LE CATCH. The figuring it out (Necklace as belt? Let’s try it!). The making something feel transportive even when I’m standing three feet from a laundry basket. Identifying the money-shot makers (often with good props like this, this and this). The illusion, yes, but also the effort underneath it. Which, now that I think about it, may actually be the entire point of fashion too. Here are some pre-Jenny Bird shoot outtakes in case you’re curious, styled with this, this and this, among other closet staples.

There’s a uniform taking hold this spring, and it feels engineered for the exact moment many of us find ourselves in right now: rushing out the door, trying to look pulled together without trying too hard. Relaxed coat. Flat shoe. Cool bag. Something drawstring pant-adjacent happening underneath. The whole thing hovering in that sweet spot between dressed and not really dressed at all. Even at the Cannes Film Festival—arguably the reddest of all red carpets—served up versions of this look this week, immediately below. I guess the real aspiration right now isn’t about looking “done,” but looking like you instinctively know how to throw the right things on. Those “right” things include sweeping coats by Chan Luu, above (floral below), Reformation (the red, light blue and khaki), Zara (gingham), Donni, drawstring pants by Quince, Rag & Bone, and Donni, plus sleek shorts from L’Agence, And Other Stories, and Alix of Bohemia.

Yesterday, I had major orthopedic surgery which means, for the foreseeable future, I will be prone. Read: balancing a laptop on my stomach and turning online shopping into a low-impact sport. Naturally, my fingers are now busier than usual. If I can’t walk around, I’ll scroll around. And honestly? There are worse ways to recover than falling headfirst into the internet’s current abundance of excellent things. Thought I’d kick things off with what I’ve discovered while lying here: H&M’s new summer drop, which feels fresh and fun. Also: a rabbit hole involving a Madrid-based accessories designer, above, whose website is entirely in Spanish, which only made the bags more desirable somehow. Raffia, rope sandals, toe rings, under $200 old-world European-looking pendant necklaces—the exact sort of pieces that make me want to book a flight I have no business booking while medicated. Then there’s Melanie Masarin’s monogrammed Chava Studio tuxedo shirt, which has the kind of Chanel/Charvet-adjacent energy that makes people stop and ask questions. (P.S. Melanie’s newly released Riviera-inspired cookbook—French, Italian, deeply chic—is equally worth your attention.) I also unearthed a vintage-looking Polo Ralph Lauren shirt that immediately reminded me of Leandra Medine Cohen in her peak “slightly rumpled genius” era, which led directly to a pair of Khaite-looking sandals that thankfully do not require a Khaite budget, plus cute white jeans with a built-in (detachable) belt. This is how recovery is going: one stylish breadcrumb leading to another. Anyway, if I’m going to be horizontal for a while, I may as well make it productive. Or at the very least, well dressed.

I knew Dorsey’s new enamel collection was good before I even saw it with my own eyes, because my sister Coco would not stop talking about it after photographing the campaign, above. “It’s so us,” Coco kept saying to me after the shoot, and she was right. A departure from Dorsey’s signature lab-grown diamonds, the collection still has that signature throw-it-on sparkle, just softened with colorful enamel hues that feel fresh, delicate, and infinitely layerable (especially with these floating diamonds). It’s jewelry that feels polished without feeling precious—easy enough for every day yet luminous enough to change the entire equation of an outfit. It’s also the stay-on kind I clasp on one morning and somehow I’m still wearing three beach days and two dinners later. Case in point in the pics, below. P.S. Bracelets and anklets are also in the capsule mix—but nothing will be restocked, so get ‘em while you can!

The headlines this weekend were particularly committed to keeping us on our toes: UFO disclosures (“aliens are among us”), dire warnings about AI replacing everyone except maybe Pilates instructors, and another IG testimonial insisting that Akkermansia is the best new path to prime gut health. Meanwhile, in the fashion corners of the internet, French oracle Leia Sfez, below, announced plans for a “trouser-adjacent” summer, which honestly felt more consequential than extraterrestrial life. Try this, this and this (she’s wearing Sezane). Then came Marks & Spencer’s new summer collection, which the Evening Standard essentially applauded for being “not frumpy.” I liked it—specifically the (Chloe-esque) tiered lace dress and top. And elsewhere across my incoming fashion feed: the glorious resurrection of Calvin Klein, summer-perfect (under $200) beaded bags (above and below, same vibe but different shape at 40% off), lace lingerie attempting daytime legitimacy, trapeze tops taking over, and mixing prints (Zara, Damson Madder) with Portuguese confidence. In other words, the world may or may not be revealing alien life, but fashion has already decided the real revelation is looking vaguely unbothered by everything, ideally in a pair of Donni pants (or one step ahead in this!) and an excellent sandal.

I don’t know about you, but for me, May feels a lot like December: a highly social blur of beginnings and endings, filled with school events, summer kickoffs, family gatherings, dinners that multiply, weekends that disappear, and the growing sense that everyone is either packing a suitcase or planning to. The ideal wardrobe right now is therefore ready for anything from a graduation bleacher to an impromptu spritz that turns into three. Think a blazer that can finesse a board meeting and a backyard brunch (see below) or a sandal that can pound the pavement or sift through the sand. A powder blue trench that says “I’m relaxed,” but also “I mean business.” I stretched a striped L’Agence cover-up (yes, cover-up, last pic) from my son’s volleyball sidelines to dinner at RVR. A vintage looking t-shirt could sub in just as well. Out of the ordinary jeans are critical too—embellished, striped, embroidered—along with wear-with-everything cap-toe ballerinas (that look like Blazy’s Chanel, no less), and a sleek ($139) black linen dress that can open (and close) any doors.

Yesterday at my son’s volleyball game, a woman stopped me to ask if my old Zara pullover was Chanel. No, it’s just the kind of “Le Catch” that still holds its shape a decade later and somehow reads “chic” from across a gymnasium. The magic is in the choosing, and fortunately, there’s no shortage of inexpensive luxuries to choose from today, including more from Zara: the tiered patchwork skirt, above (I also bought the layered tank to go with), the polka dot jeans, the crochet bag bag, the beach-bound ME + EM print dress (immediately below), the H&M crochet maxi, Steve Madden’s (Gucci-spirited) bamboo sandals, the $44 Loewe-like straw bag, the knotted print Camilla bikini top (hello, Dolce!), Clare V’s straw rattan hat, Mango’s perforated leather ballerinas, the fish comb charm necklace by Madewell (save 25% site-wide with the code SUNNY), Quince’s $84 soft leather (summer-perfect) loafers, a ruffled statement top from Anthropologie (use the code MARLIEN20 to save 20% off $100+ purchase), and my radiant-cut Electric Picks bracelet ($70!) that literally sparks daily compliments.

White jeans will always have their place. Crisp. Classic. Year-round versatile. But this summer? Pale yellow denim—butter, custard, lemon chiffon, call it what you want—feels infinitely fresher. The reason is simple: they’re also neutral yet they’re different. Very Carolyn Bessette if she summered in Provence instead of Cape Cod. Proof in the pics here, thanks to Paris-based Sara Ramen in flared Vanessa Bruno. My other favorite options include a dusty yellow barrel-cut H&M, cropped and relaxed Paige, and utility-style Frame jeans. If yellow is a stretch, try a creamy white jeans instead—also so chic!

$39, h&m

Tie it on and go!

1. H&M (detachable) scarf shirt
2. Cos linen shorts
3. Madewell wire-frame sunglasses
4. Mejrui mixed metal ring
5. Olaplex Brow Building Serum (my sister is raving about this)
6. Mango natural fiber tote
7. Reformation thong sandals

I’m not usually one to judge red carpet events but the Met Gala is almost designed for exactly that. The theme this year centered on the body as canvas—structure, form, the idea of clothing shaping and framing the body. Plenty of room for interpretation. And yet so many landed in the same place: naked dressing. Kim, Kylie, Kendall, Hailey, Lauren, etc…turned up in variations of corseted/sculpted silhouettes. Not surprising, I guess, but still a bit of a letdown, considering the opportunity to do something truly original. Which is why I want to call attention to everyday dressing here, because the goal isn’t spectacle, but rather small, interesting choices to take it out of the ordinary. A detail, a proportion, something that yields personality. Some ideas to scroll through: Christopher Esber’s asymmetric halter top, Essential Antwerp’s embellished scarf top and collared shirt (looks very Miu Miu), my floral print Paige jeans (currently on repeat), the blue back-baring Aflalo mini dress, Norma Kamali’s lace romper, Marlies Grace’s halter top, Mansur Gavriel’s (on-sale) leather tote bag, Rag & Bone’s grommet studded dress, and Blanca Miro’s above fringed Mango skirt (I’m a proud owner of it too)!