misosouper, a shopping blog

Le Train Bleu is the closet of the girl I want to be when I grow up:  louche, decadent, unafraid of color, careless in the best sense of the word.  Their pieces all feel showstopping, and not in the so-showstopping-they-have-eyepopping-price-tags way.  And in celebration of their 5th birthday, Le Train Bleu is offering 30% off all orders through February 18 with the code “birthday.”  Here’s what I’d buy:

1.  Babysitter Blouse (please don’t wear this over to babysitter my child, because I’d probably steal it); 2.  A Weekend In The Country Cards (did I mention Le Train Bleu also sells small tokens of affection, like this Jane-Austen-goes-Old-Maid game?);  3.  Aztec Shorts, complete with amazing detachable leather ornamentation; 4.  Die Brucke Painted Scarf Dress (how is this only $66?); 5.  Delaunay Scarf;  6.  Acid Floral Dress, which I plan on wearing at least three days a week this summer; 7.  Leigh Ring; 8.  Moravian Love Story Sweater; 9.  Ringmaster Jacket, a topper that would be elegant over both slouchy t-shirts and a billowy dresses; 10.  Shiny Skirt, whose elastic waistband makes it the comfiest summer going-out piece ever; 11.  Gal Collection Strawberry Lip Balm; 12.  Thousand Flowers Votive Holder, which would lovely in groups filled with both candles and flowers (but not at the same time, of course).

This is a whole lot of ruby for not a whole lot of cash.  For $52 USD, you can make like a pirate and wear three.

An old friend of mine is marrying next weekend, and I’m feeling melancholy.  Not for her, certainly, because she’s happy and I’m happy she’s happy; but for the passage of time, for the fact that I used to run through her backyard sprinklers and drive her to school after her sister moved away, and the vertiginous sensation that we are now the mothers and not the daughters playing outside.

Then I remembered this ring, so bright and witty and honest in its transparency, consecrating you as both seventeen and thirty, both ages fused on one finger.  I wanted to e-mail it to her, to shout “Wear this instead!,” but I realized that she might prefer diamonds.  It’s just as well.

Am I insinuating that the gifts you usually give aren’t meaningful?  (Maybe I am.  I can be like that sometimes.)   Regardless of how much of a jerk I am, these should go out to the ones you love.

Tiny and delicate can also be a grand gesture.

A container for just one thing.  Your love? Your dignity? I’ll let you decide.

You heard the man. Be somebody, all day long.

While Virginia Woolf insists on a room of one’s own, I’d just settle for my very own comfy chair.

Putting your jewelry in this dish will probably scare the robbers away.

I’m not sure what the metaphor is either, but I think I like it.

Perfect for your new assistant. When he finds a better job, ask for it back and give it to your next one.

Felt is so much sexier than leather. What would you rather rub up against in the subway?

Give this to your mother-in-law.  Then smile like you mean it.

For the more cynical among us. (Hey, I say meaningful, not joyful.)

These honesty stamps allow you to apologize or inflame, all without opening your mouth. Isn’t that what got you in trouble in the first place?

A much better teacher gift than caramel corn or an ornament.

A little handmade book of garden birds for your favorite green thumb.

An elegant home for the most modern of necessities.

Puts those Cartier love bracelets to shame.

There’s someone like this in your life, even if it’s your therapist. A route we do not recommend.

Ridiculously romantic: artist Jessica Marie Lertvilai collected love letters and transcribed them in Braille onto the surface of this vase, appropriately entitled “love is blind.”

Is there a more affectionate term of endearment?

These metal flowers come gift-ready in a long white box. Bonus: they’ll never, ever die.

Acrylic is the new gold. Custom made, so get your order in now.

After all these years, there are still some questions left unasked.

And after all these years, they still deserve some secrets.

Send in your doodle, and they’ll stuff it for you.

An anatomically correct silver heart locket. Go Victorian and enclose a lock of hair.

This therapeutic warming mattress cover, with its six separate temperature zones, could save your relationship.

Remember when you used to go to concerts? (Both a question and a statement.)

Limited edition, just like your kid.

Yes, you could just write out twelve ways you made a difference in a plain journal; but if it were that easy, wouldn’t you already have done it?

Make a wish.  Make it count.

Originally posted on August 18:

I’ve seen Kiel Mead’s knot-me-tight-and-don’t-let-go rings before, cast in sterling and gold. The beautifully blackened version is more bleak than demure, as if you have a painful, delicious secret that needs remembering.