Long Live Hand-Me-Downs
On Maria Del Russo's favorite fur coat, the power of passing something down, and a Notion recap.
It’s spring! Almost! Kind of! Writing to you from Brooklyn where I’m scheduling this post to go live while I’m in Florence with my best friend and little sister. Dream spring break. Things have been quiet over here—meetings, chasing invoices, and trying to enjoy the perks of working for yourself. In my case, that means the occasional nap and long afternoon stroll. Not so bad! Sometimes I miss office drama or the seltzer machine, but other times, I realize it’s 4:12 and I’m reading on the sofa with a tea.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support for Wear Your Clothes. If you missed last week’s announcement, I created an organizational system for finding your personal style and cataloging your wardrobe. This weekend, I took time to organize my bags and was reminded of the power of visibility. I have so many bags stuffed inside of bags! Maybe it’s just a me problem, but using Wear Your Clothes has been super beneficial for me, too.
This week’s guest is a writer I’ve been following ever since I moved to New York. Maria Del Russo is the author of Simple Acts of Love and Daily Skincare Journal. She has a fab newsletter called Sunday Sauce, which includes musings and recipes, and feels very much in the Nora Ephron vein. I couldn’t wait to read about her One Thing.
How long have you had this piece?
I've had this vintage reversible fur coat since I was about 24. It is probably the piece in my closet that I feel represents me the most. It's extremely '80s, which is an aesthetic I have been embracing more and more as I get older. I love that it's reversible. You can wear the fur on the inside of the coat or the outside, which makes it absolutely clutch in the winter. And the non-fur side is this buttery dark brown leather, which just makes me feel like Tess McGill in Working Girl, even though my boyfriend says I look like I could be on the cover of a rap album. It just feels like a cozy blanket and is a total statement-maker. All in all, a perfect coat.
Where did it come from?
This was my mother's coat, actually. It was a gift from her father in the early '80s. This coat was one of two furs she got, the other being a total Carmella Soprano-style floor-length tan fur that I adore. That one is definitely more of a "we're-going-to-a-wedding" fur, while this one is more everyday. She gave it to me when I was in my early 20s. I can't remember what the impetus for her to finally hand it over to me was, but I had been coveting it for a while.
How much did you pay for it?
$0! The power of hand-me-downs! My mother has so few items left over from her '80s closet that I was thankful to get just this. (She also has an amazing Liz Claiborne mini leather trench from the '90s that was almost my pick for this feature. Her coat game was so strong.) It also made me feel a little better about wearing the fur, as it's older than I am, and I don't like to wear new fur.
How do you wear it?
The beauty of this jacket is that it's such a statement piece that you can dress it up or down. I tend to wear it out to dinners and drinks in the winter. With the fur side out, I'll wear it with leather pants, a leopard print blouse, and some heeled boots. With the leather out, I'll stick to jeans and some sneakers. I also like to wear it during the daytime. I recently wore it with a jumpsuit from Madewell, thick lug-soled boots, oversized glasses, and a bright orange beanie. But I've also been known to wear this bad boy with leggings and sneakers and high socks when I'm running to the farmer's market. Who says you can't dress up for errands?
What does it represent?
Every time I put this coat on I think of my mother. She's still with us, and I talk to her most days, but she lives in New Jersey. So it's nice to feel like she's close by. But this jacket also reminds me that it's okay to go a little over-the-top sometimes. Life's short. You should always find opportunities to be a little extra. And that's what this coat reminds me to do. I don't own a lot of pieces that are over-the-top. For the longest time I barely wore any color. But for almost a decade, this coat has been the cherry on my sundae. My little bit Alexis. And that's why I'll love it for many more decades to come.
Archived Outfits
Inspired by Maria’s coat? I mean, don’t we all wish we had an Italian mother in New Jersey? For the rest of us, here are some fab coats you can hand down to your daughter some day.
Real suede and faux fur. Love it!
Oh I love this! Only $40 and so special.
Try it out for $20! So cozy.
Well, you might be the only person in faux fur camo.
Honorable Mentions
I ran out of my $$$ Vitamin C and decided to give a more affordable option, Maelove Glowmaker, a try. Let me say, I’m a full convert. It’s important to note that Vitamin C does expire, so use it liberally and don’t look back. At $30 a bottle, I’m practically bathing in this stuff.
On Not Knowing—If you too like wandering essays set in nature that ask big questions, this is for you.
A Plea For Eros—Another essay collection. I love when authors revisit disparate times in their lives via essays, and this one was particularly beautiful.
That’s it for this installment of Long Live! Thank you for subscribing + get ready for a full Italy recap in the next dispatch. Ciao!