Things People Donated That I Would Pack in a Future Fire If Given Any Warning

A cumbersome title for a cornucopia of new loyalties!

Last time, I wrote about the most crucial / sentimental clothing items I rushed to replace after our house burned down in the Eaton Fire. That post must’ve hit a nerve because over 6 thousand people read it! People really love fashion, even if it’s depressing fashion #traumastyle.

This time, I want to pay homage to some of my favorite items that were donated to me after the fire, either by brands or my fellow fashion luvur friends who really *get* me.

80% of this closet was donated!!!!!!!!!!! (There’s no dresser at this rental home, hence the bras spilling over the edge of a basket.)

Going to start with these sneakers - someone left these on our friend’s doorstep for me I think maybe 4 days post-fire? And I wiped my tears and squealed like a kid when I saw them. I’m not a #SneakerHead but these are the coolest and most joyous ones I’ve ever laid eyes on, I love the little see-through mesh window on the sides, and they are SO comfortable, I (successfully) hiked up a South African mountain in them a week later!

They’re the Nike Waffle One Burnt Sunrise Mystic Hibiscus mesh running sneakers. It doesn’t appear that Nike makes these anymore but there are TONS of them on eBay, Poshmark, etc. Here I yam, wearing them on said Cape Town hike, and a picture of the mountain I am standing on (Lion’s Head).

Another beautiful shot of Cape Town, since we’re here: TABLE MOUNTAIN. One of the new 7 Wonders of the World! Production wouldn’t let me hike to the top of this one for fear of “over-exerting” myself the day before the shoot so I took this photo thanks to the funicular that goes to the top.

Back to clothes. Then there was this Yellow the Label chunky rainbow knit sweater, which, wow, this person knows me really well, this was another squeal while being pulled out of a donation bag.

My angel friend Kristina, who manages the Lisa Says Gah store in LA, dropped off a box of goodies from her store and among them was this Tyler McGillivary Fruit Basket dress. It’s so FUN I cannot wait til it stops SNOWING IN MAY in Santa FE (forreal) so that I can finally wear this dream. She also brought over this entire Italian food outfit, which you will have to pry off my cold, dead body in the next fire. Haha! Too dark??? I think it adds a sort of je ne sais quoi that this photo is blurry…

Then (clockwise) we’ve got the best exercise pants I’ve ever put on my body from A Year and a Day, that lift the bum and elongate the leg (also wearing above in the Cape Town hike pic), a lightweight corduroy Big Bud Press sailor jacket (no longer made but can find many on resale sites), this very perfect, soft tank top from Jungmaven, and the best Samantha Pleet rainbow swimsuit!!

Now, I already had these BOOMER sandals that I scored for $50(!!!) brand new on my FB closet purge group (if you don’t belong to one of those, find or make one immediately), but my girl Dominique got them replaced for me so I’m a LaBucq stan forever. Yes they are crazy expensive when purchased retail but you will never take them off? This LESET pointelle cardigan, these MATE THE LABEL sweatpants, which, I really don’t know who I would be these last 3 months without these most perfect, comfortable, cool, cozy sweatpants that my husband has requested I at some point ever change out of no less than 45 times (sorry but not gonna until it’s above 50 degrees). And this INCREDIBLE L’AGENCE tuxedo jacket that will be a wardrobe staple forever and someday Zoe or Rowan will inherit ◡̈.

HONORABLE MENTIONS go to the forever items I scored at the OZMA/RUDY JUDE sample sale a couple weeks after the fire, which was like an Unofficial Altadena Reunion. I ran into so many friends who lost their houses/wardrobes there, and one woman came up to me and said, with solemnity, “I recognize you from coming into my restaurant with your kids all the time. You had the BEST wardrobe. I’m so sorry for all your lost CLOTHES,” and she hugged me and we both cried. T_T At the sale, I scored an OZMA Silk Noil Jersey Big Tee that I have lived in, as well as the Rudy Jude jacket I have worn everyday for 3 months and show truly no signs of stopping.

If your house also burned in a fire or even if it didn’t, I recommend this highly compelling book I just finished reading, about the eerie collapse of an apartment complex in Oslo. HABITAT by Catriona Shine shifts perspective between 7 neighbors as the building crumbles around them in mysterious and increasingly improbable ways and they all feel like they’re going insane, next to each other. I need this to be adapted into a TV series YESTERDAY.

I also just finished HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio. My 7 year old is, for whatever reason, obsessed with the book’s conceit of a magical attic that pours out a different husband every time you send one back up, so now I’m re-reading it to him at night before bed? He’s been giggling a lot, I keep waiting for him to be bored of a non-kid-story but so far he’s loving it and I’m loving re-reading it 2 days after I finish it. And yeah, I deftly swap British terms for ones he’ll understand, nbd.

I have six books on deck, but are you reading something right now that you love? Holler about it in the comments!!!!

Oh! And a fun video that made me laugh. The laptop lollll.

Thanks for reading, and subscribing! Click the button below to upgrade your subscription to PAID to help support my writing. And if you haven’t yet, read my essay published in Romper about the fires.