NYC Shopping Guide

🗽 Out of Office in NYC: A Shopping Guide for the Sartorially Inclined (Free shopping guide)

Let’s be clear: New York shopping isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s cardio in boots, financial risk with a side of oat-milk latte, and the closest thing I’ve had to religion since Chanel sent tweed down the runway.

Here’s where I go when I want to window shop like Anna Wintour is watching, but also maybe buy a sweater that costs less than my ConEd bill.

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📍 SoHo: The Cool-Girl Olympics

If street style had a stadium, it would be SoHo. Everyone is dressed like they “just threw this on,” which means it took three hours and a Depop deep dive.

    •    Reformation: Where I pretend I’m an eco-conscious French girl and not someone who eats Sweetgreen three times a week.

    •    Ganni: Because I need at least one piece of Scandi whimsy before I get too serious.

    •    Khaite: If I accidentally come into a trust fund, this is my first stop.

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📍 West Village: Quiet Luxury, but Make It Flirty

This is the part of town where sweaters are oversized, jewelry is delicate, and cappuccinos cost more than my first cell phone bill.

    •    Nili Lotan: Minimalism, but with a side of “I could fly to Capri tomorrow if I felt like it.”

    •    Elyse Walker: Like the Upper East Side flagship’s chill little sister — still chic, less judgy.

    •    Bookmarc (yes, Marc Jacobs’ bookstore): Buy a tote, pretend you’re literary, call it a day.

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📍 Upper East Side: Where Gossip Girl Still Lives Rent-Free

Even if Blair and Serena have left the building, the UES still knows how to do polished shopping laps.

    •    Saks Fifth Avenue: It’s cardio. You’ll walk 10k steps without realizing it.

    •    Ulla Johnson: Boho with a trust fund. I go for the knits, stay for the fantasy of living in Brooklyn brownstone perfection.

    •    The Row: Where black turtlenecks are religion and prices are whispered, not spoken.

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📍 Tribeca: Downtown but Make It Designer

Tribeca is for when you want to look like you don’t try, but you definitely have a stylist on speed dial.

    •    Shop the Westside: Denim heaven. This is where jeans get spiritual.

    •    Nili Lotan (again, because she’s everywhere): More luxe essentials, more quiet “I just came from a gallery opening” vibes.

    •    La Garçonne: French-girl chic without needing to actually speak French.

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Final Thought

Shopping in NYC isn’t about what you buy. It’s about the performance: the latte in one hand, the oversized sunglasses indoors, and the faint smell of ambition in the air. The bag may be paper, but the fantasy is Prada.

Beauty to Go

I’ve spent the last fifteen years traveling with kids. Actually, twenty-three if you count our first adventur from NYC to New Zealand (husband’s job). I was 32 weeks preganant (doctor had to lie to airline for me to travel—and before you judge, he would have been fired if we hadn’t gone so zip it) and we hit the skies with our sixteen-month-old son.

Once you’ve spent twenty-six hours in the air pregnant with a toddler and no iPad, you realize you can travel anywhere with kids if you have the right attitude.

What I’ve said I would do for these last few decades is create a dedicated “to-go” beauty kit. And guess what? I am almost done. I got a duplicate of everything because I cannot deal with packing that little pouch at 4 am for an early flight. These are the items I can’t leave home without. They’ve been in my bag forever.