Alexis Swerdloff
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deputy editor @nymag / previously @strategist editor
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Articles by Alexis Swerdloff
64 Gift Ideas From Amy Sedaris
64 items in this article 6 items on sale! 64 items in this article 6 items on sale! Amy Sedaris, the patron saint of Strategist gift guides, has returned! Granted, it’s a little later than usual, as it took her a while to get going posting her guides on Instagram, and she didn’t go as bananas as last year with the number of guides.
64 Gift Ideas From Amy Sedaris
1 day ago Here's your sign to book a ticket to a place you've never been before. There are nearly 200 countries in the world, yet only a select few seem to dominate the average traveler’s itinerary. For instance, Spain, France, and the United States consistently top the list of the most-visited destinations, …
Our Beloved Madewell Harlow Pants Are Just $30 Right Now
Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photo: Retailer We first learned about Madewell’s Harlow pants when writer Arielle Avila spoke to Victoria Justice last year about the things the actress and singer can’t live without. “They’re the most comfortable pants,” Justice told Avila. “They’re casual but a little more chic than a regular pair of jeans. I wear them all the time now with my Converse platform sneakers.” So Avila bought a pair for herself. Then, another pair in camel.
The Very Best Booster Seats
Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers In this article Best overall Best (less expensive) overall Best high back Best backless Best booster seat for older kids Best adjustable Best lightweight Best for travel Switching from a car seat to a booster seat is a major transition that hinges not just on the age of your child but also their weight, height, and maturity level.
Our Favorite Swaddles (of the 29 We’ve Tried)
Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers We have seven parents on staff at the Strategist, and our children are between 11 months and 8 and a half years old. So when it comes to rating products for kids and babies, we have a strong tester pool. We’ll be chitchatting about the things we’ve bought for our kids over the years, the things we’ve returned, and the things we’ve kept to pass down to friends and family. First up, the best sleep sacks and swaddles.
Libbie Mugrabi Threw Anthony Haden-Guest a Fake Funeral
Haden-Guest “laid to rest.” Photo: Stefano Giovannini On a Sunday in May, the 86-year-old art-world raconteur and man-about-town Anthony Haden-Guest (he’s said to be the inspiration for Peter Fallow in The Bonfire of the Vanities) arrived at his friend Libbie Mugrabi’s Upper East Side mansion for his own funeral.
What Tina Barney Can’t Live Without
9 items in this article 1 item on sale! Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photo: Tina Barney If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair but the hair spray and the electric toothbrush.
The Brooks Brothers Shirt Bob Mackie Has Been Buying Since 1957
Mackie, in 1968, wearing a Brooks Brothers shirt on a Fred Astaire special, standing next to the dancer Barrie Chase. This story was originally published in 2023. On Sept. 14, it was announced that Mackie passed away at 87. When I was on set, when I was doing huge shows in Vegas and doing fittings for thousands of costumes backstage, I would think, who cares what I’m wearing, but I’d want to look decent.
The Brave New World of Dating -- New York Magazine
Valentine’s Day may be the most sentimental of holidays, but every year, it seems, dating gets less romantic. We’re living in an era, after all, where emoji-littered text messages pass for love letters and not tweeting about a one-night stand is an act of chivalry. With more than 40 million singles now pouring their hopes (and money) into web-based matchmaking services, we don’t just online-date anymore—we niche online-date. (Into cats? Purrsonals.com is here to serve you.
If You Buy One Thing on Prime Day, Make It This $10 Linen Dress From Target
Illustration: Pedro Nekoi I have learned a few things about linen, having bought it somewhat compulsively over the past several years. For a drapey, Black Crane–esque vibe, there’s vintage Flax by Jeanne Engelhart, an ’80s-era brand that you can find for under $50 on Poshmark. Uniqlo’s linen-cotton blend is the softest. Muji makes very easy-breezy “directional” dresses, many of which I wore during (and soon after) my two pregnancies.
Ashley Nicole Black’s Week in Zillow Saves
Photo: Phillip Faraone/WireImage/Getty Images My Week in Zillow Saves In our new column, people who are uniquely obsessed with scrolling through real estate listings tell us about the over-the-top villas, sensible two-bedrooms, and cabins in the woods they’ve saved on their phones. First up, A Black Lady Sketch Show writer and actor Ashley Nicole Black. This story was originally published by Curbed before it joined New York Magazine.
These On-Sale Pants Feel Like Wearing Nothing at All (in a Nonfreezing Way)
Photo-Illustration: courtesy of the retailer I stumbled on these Fluid Cupro Joggers about a year and a half ago when a friend — who described Lou & Grey to me as “millennial Eileen Fisher with an accompanying price point” — got a pair post-pregnancy and suggested them to me soon after I had my own baby.
The 10 Very Best Weekend Bags
Photo: Hugo Yu Jump to section Best weekend bag overall Best for light packers Best for heavy packers Best backpack Best tote Best garment duffel I am convinced that weekend getaways are the secret to a happy life. And I’m also convinced that a good bag can make it much easier to embark on those quick trips out of the city as often as possible, whether you’re driving or flying or taking the train upstate.
If You Buy One Thing Today, Make It This (40 Percent Off) Travel Pillow
Photo: Bobby Doherty/New York Magazine The Strategist has been singing the praises of the Trtl since writer Lauren Levy set out to find the best travel pillow a few years ago. She was looking for one that would create minimal bulk in a carry-on bag and allow her to sleep on a long flight to Europe. The verdict? This funny contraption that is essentially a padded scarf. Here’s what she had to say about it: “The Trtl pillow … takes up about the same amount of space as a couple of magazines.
12 Things Podcast Host Karina Longworth Can’t Live Without
By Karina Longworth as told to Alexis Swerdloff 12 items in this article 12 items in this article Photo: Emily Berl If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair, but the hand sanitizer and the electric toothbrush.
What Novelist Jami Attenberg Can’t Live Without
By Jami Attenberg as told to Alexis Swerdloff 7 items in this article 2 items on sale! 7 items in this article 2 items on sale! Photo: Melissa Hom If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair, but the hand sanitizer and the electric toothbrush. We asked novelist Jami Attenberg, author of All This Could Be Yours — about the red pens, hot sauce, and weed whacker she can’t live without.
What Deb Fisher (Chair of the Barbara Pym Society) Can’t Live Without
By Deb Fisher as told to Alexis Swerdloff 6 items in this article 6 items in this article Photo: courtesy of the retailers If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair, but the hand sanitiser and the electric toothbrush.
The UPS Driver Who Used to Work in Fashion
“There are definitely some ladies on my route who always try to chat a little bit longer.” Photo: Bobby Doherty Anthony Lupi, UPS Driver Work must be nuts. I’m dealing with a tremendous amount of packages right now. It’s unbelievable. I don’t know where people get the time or money to order so much stuff! But the job’s great; I have my regular routes here in downtown Manhattan, and I’m super-personable with my customers: “Oh, hey, how are you?” One of them just walked by. Do you get hit on a lot?
Meet the Woman With the Real Dirt on Upper East Side Moms
Jill Kargman. It’s 5:30 on a Thursday, and the ladies perched on the cow-fur-covered stools at the Mark Hotel bar are being very Upper East Side. There are Bergdorf bags everywhere. One of those Elizabeth Taylor from Sex and the City dogs trots by.
The Legend of the Never-Ending Polo Bear
There’s a new theme every day on It’s Vintage. Read more articles on today’s topic: Logos. Long before the Polo Bar, there was the Polo Bear. As the story goes, back in the late ’80s, Ralph Lauren was so taken with a birthday gift he got from his design team — a classic Steiff teddy bear, wearing a teddy-bear-size Polo getup — that he began carrying these Polo-clad bears in his stores.
Two's a Trend: Clarins Heiresses!
This is how our recurring series Two's a Trend works: If you spot something that has happened at least twice, you get to declare it a trend on PAPERMAG.com. (Like we did here, here, here, here, and here.) Our latest installment is appropriately Fashion Week-related, and here is what happened: First, while checking out Patrick McMullan's pics of the Vena Cava show, we noticed two beautiful blonde girls looking chic and color-coordinated in the front row.
Former Child Star Gaby Hoffmann Tiptoes Back Into the Spotlight
No, you did not go to summer camp with Gaby Hoffmann. "I don't know what's wrong with me," Hoffmann says, "but when people come up to me thinking we went to camp together, I have a hard time telling them how they actually know me." Hoffmann looks familiar because throughout the '90s, the wide-eyed little girl with the gap-toothed smile appeared in some of the decade's biggest box office hits, including Field of Dreams, Uncle Buck, Sleepless in Seattle and Now and Then.
When Horse Girls Become Horse Women
Photo: B. Anthony Stewart/Corbis It was the night of the Exotic Erotic, and I was stuck in traffic in suburban Connecticut with the college equestrian team.
The Bear That’s Slept With Every ‘It’ Girl
Like a selfie taken in front of Indochine’s leafy wallpaper or a geotag at the Maidstone country club in East Hampton, the latest subtle status symbol to sweep the Instaverse is, oddly enough for adults, a dignified teddy bear clad in a bellhop getup.
Anastasia Krupnik Is the Neurotic YA Heroine You Forgot You Loved
Before there was Daria, before there were Liz Lemon’s flashbacks to young Liz Lemon, there was Lois Lowry’s Anastasia Krupnik, a brassy Jewish 10-year-old with brown hair, glasses, and a little pink wart on her finger. The protagonist of Lowry’s nine-book series (the first, Anastasia Krupnik, came outin 1979, the ninth, Anastasia Absolutely, in 1995) lived in a Boston suburb with her painter mother, Harvard poetry-professor father, pesky younger brother, and goldfish named Frank.
Amy Winehouse: Painted Lady
A ravenous Amy Winehouse tears apart the two large pieces of fried chicken in front of her.
The Strategist Is Hiring (and This Is What We’re Looking For)
Editor’s note: We originally posted this in March, and now that the Strategist is hiring another writer, we’re publishing it again. The Strategist is hiring! We are looking for a writer to join our ranks — to test new things, grill experts for their recommendations, and write enthusiastically about the things they love.
The Art Adviser Who Lives in 3 Countries
What a festive turtleneck. It’s Isabal Marant — I got it in Istanbul over the winter. The week I was there, it was unusually cold and it snowed three times. I was freezing! I sort of have a bit of a nomadic existence. Throughout the year, I live between Istanbul, New York, and London, which is where my clients are.
A Preview of the "Collection of Elizabeth Taylor" at Christie's
Yesterday afternoon, various and sundry ladies who lunch headed Christie's-ward for a preview, hosted by Orianne Collins, of the auction house's epic "Collection of Elizabeth Taylor," a three-story display featuring hundreds of the recently departed actress's jewels, dresses and memorabilia, which will be up for auction in New York from Dec. 13th to 16th. Those interested in perusing the collection in person can do so from Dec.
Everything to Know About Traveling With Friends -- The Cut
For the past five years, my friends and I have rented what we like to call “flophouses,” even though there is nothing flea-bitten about them. A farmhouse in Rhinebeck for New Year’s; a lake house in Copake for Labor Day; a 1970s modernist architect’s manor in the Berkshires for Memorial Day. We temporarily live well beyond our means in five-bedroom New England country homes where we’ll spend long weekends “flopping” around (reading, reclining, napping).
A Stress-Treatment Oil That’s Like Klonopin in Scent Form
I had heard of Tata Harper from various magazine features where celebrities discuss things they can’t live without, like their La Mer moisturizing creams and Frette linens. So when I saw this tiny vial of the brand’s Aromatic Stress Treatment in a “free” pile at work, I grabbed it without really thinking. “This is fancy,” a robotic voice in my head said. Little did I know that this bottle, a bit shorter and stouter than my Burt’s Bees pomegranate chapstick, would become one of my favorite products.
The Best Beach Tents for Sun Shelter and Protection
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The Best Beach Tents for Sun Shelter and Protection
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This Beach Tent Has Made Me Actually Like Going to the Beach
Okay, it’s not that I never liked going to the beach, but more that going to the beach has always been somewhat of a to-do for me. As a pale brunette descended from the shtetlach of Eastern Europe, going to the beach has long meant dutifully smothering myself in SPF 50 every other hour, getting a mix of sand and suntan lotion all over my Us Weekly, and then getting that same mix of sand and suntan lotion in my Sabra hummus snack pack.
11 Best Jeans for Women of All Sizes
Photo: Marcus McDonald In this article Best overall Best super-high-waisted Best slim-fit Best skinny Best wide-leg Best flare Best non-stretch Shopping for jeans can be a real guessing game. When I’m on the hunt at a store and heading to the dressing room, I usually take a pair in the size I think I am, one in the next size down, and one in the next size up.
The Retired Clinical Psychologist With a Big Vintage Collection
When did you retire? A few years ago, and now I volunteer a few times a week with victims of domestic violence at a homeless shelter. The other days are a little more fluid. I handle our finances, which takes up a lot of time — my husband still works. What does he do? He’s a plastic surgeon. Doctor Thomas W. Loeb. Has he ever done any work on you? Yes, I’ve had a blepharoplasty and a face-lift. But I still look like me! My husband has a light touch, a natural aesthetic.
The Historian Who Loves Architecture
What sort of historian are you? I am working for a nonprofit and helping them write their organizational history, but on my own I’m working on a project about San Francisco, mostly focused on the ’70s and narratives of toxicity in the city’s built environment. I am not writing it for a specific place right now: I’m trying to sort of pull back and let the research lead that process. It’s hard for me to do, as I’ve always been reliant on validation of some sort. Where did you go to college? Harvard.
The Artist and Goldendoodle Who Are Soho Regulars
Who do we have here? This is Ollie, a goldendoodle I take care of. Wesley Vultaggio, of the Arizona Iced Tea family, is his … I hate to say the word owner, but that’s the way it is, I guess. Ollie is my best buddy. I used to see him in Soho back when he was a puppy, and he had a full-time nanny. She was young, and once, Oliver got away from her, ran out into the middle of the street, and I was able to get him. It was horrible.
The Operations Director Who Used to Pay Rent by Selling CDs
How long have you lived in New York? For about ten years. I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and really focused my entire childhood on getting out of there and coming here. I remember telling my mom when I was about 10, I was like, “I am leaving. I will first go to a black college and then I am not coming back.” I ended up going to an HBC, Hampton University, and spent a summer interning in New York at MTV while selling CDs on the street.
The Man (and Dog) Who Constantly Get Stopped on the Street
What a cute dog! He’s a toy Mi-Ki, a breed that was supposedly created in the 1980s as therapy dogs for Japanese businessmen. My favorite movie is Labyrinth, I collect marionettes, and I love the formality of Downton Abbey, so I look at a dog like this as a living performance, a fantasy creature, or a thing of excess. His name is Zephulet, who was said to be a famous ghostwriter.
How I Got My Valentino Wedding Dress for 90 Percent Off
I have spent just $10 on a mint-condition Marni dress at a stoop sale. I have taken home $30 Rag & Bone blazers from Beacon’s Closet and untold Vince cashmere from T.J. Maxx. My name is Alexis and I am an inveterate bargain hunter. I simply couldn’t imagine paying full price for a wedding dress. So, on a cold winter’s evening, a few months before my wedding this past April, I went to Century 21. There, hanging in a far-off corner of the clearance section next to some skirts, I saw a Valentino dress.
The Recent College Grad Who’s ‘Really into Astrology’
What are you up to today? I actually just moved a few days ago, so I’ve been unpacking boxes and decorating. I moved to East Williamsburg, the hippest part of Brooklyn, allegedly, with my roommate, Adam. I’m a Libra, and he’s a Taurus; we’re both ruled by Venus, so we’re great roommates. I’m really into astrology. Have you always been?
The Real-Estate Agent Who Used to Model
Are there any deals out there to be had? That whole Sutton Place area has some really interesting deals, believe it or not. Two-bedrooms over there are going for $2 million; the same apartment on 12th between Fifth and Sixth would be $3 million or even $3.5 million. What about anything … cheaper? Say, a two-bedroom under a million? Well, I only know Manhattan, and no, I really don’t see that kind of deal available.
12 Jadeite (a.k.a. Milky Green Glass) Things You Can Find on Amazon
By Lori Keong and Alexis Swerdloff Photo: courtesy of the retailers Following its resurgence in the late ’90s, the opaque milky jadeite glass that was popular in the ’40s and ’50s for kitchenware and food storage has seen something of a revival in the past few years. Chef Vivian Howard of North Carolina’s Chef & the Farmer tipped us off to her obsession with jadeite everything, and ever since it feels like we keep seeing it everywhere.
Derek Blasberg Is the Truman Capote of Instagram
“Hiiii Derek” Derek Blasberg is the Truman Capote of Instagram. Photograph by Gillian Laub / Above: Grooming by Natasha Leibel using Amika. It was a crisp July evening in Paris during the haute-couture shows, and a small, somewhat motley assortment of celebrities and fashion people were milling around the windowless, music-less basement of the Frank Gehry–designed Louis Vuitton Foundation.
The Art Adviser Who’s Serious About Winter Outerwear
That looks like a very warm coat. It is. It’s Fendi. I like the cold. I don’t like to be cold, but I know how to dress for the cold. You have to channel Julie Christie and Omar Sharif from Doctor Zhivago and look like you’re about to set out across the tundra in a sleigh. In the winter, I only wear wool and fur. I look around and see people in jean jackets and sweatshirts and want to go up to them and say, “I can help you! No cotton!” Cotton is a plant, it attracts moisture. Where are you from?
The Designer With an Edwardian-Style Pen Pal
What are you up to today? I’ve getting ready to fly to Florida, which is where I’m from. For many years, I was a banker and was married with three kids. Then about ten years ago, when I was 50, I moved to New York to see if I could live a creative life and explore another part of my sexuality. I live as a gay man now. I ended up in Chelsea, and then Williamsburg, and now I live full time in Hudson, where I work as a set designer and a visual artist. Do you have a romantic partner now?
The Best Travel Shoes: Hers and His Edition
Since we’re in prime getting-out-of-town season, the Strategist has been thinking about the best travel gear (see what our editors can’t get on an airplane without, and a roundup of the best rolling luggage). Below, our latest conquest: shoes that can stand both the airplane and cobblestones, for both men and women. HERS I am a woman who likes a comfortable shoe — so sue me! And that’s especially true when I travel.
The Student Who Wants to Be New York’s Top Real-Estate Agent
What’s in your bag? A yellow sweatshirt — it’s from Nick & Son, the same store on Orchard Street where I got the red one that I’m wearing. I always like to match. If I’m going to wear yellow, I’ll wear all yellow. What are you studying? I go to Gallatin, and my concentration is centered around behavior and deviance in society, but I am interning at Douglas Elliman.
My Favorite Fugly Noise Machine Is on Sale
The Marpac Rohm, a portable noise machine — particularly good for those traveling with babies (these things are great for babies) — is on sale, too. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best women’s jeans, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, ultra-flattering pants, and bath towels.
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