The setting: Your living room.
[You enter the room and begin scrolling through your phone. You land on an old photo where you’re wearing a pair of jeans. You laugh.]
“Jeans?” [You take a long drag of an imaginary cigarette for the drama.] “Haven’t heard that name in weeks, possibly months.” Because as soon as gatherings and pretty much everything else was, as our governor of New York would say, “put on pause,” so too were your jeans. And in their place emerged whatever comfy situation you could find. Maybe they were pajama bottoms, leggings, or sweats. Maybe they were nothing at all! Point is, you’ve been making lemonade out of lemons with the most comfortable loungewear you could find. Everyone’s doing it, and the folks who've been featured in The Top Shelf are no exception. We caught up with a handful of them to suss out their shelter-in-place wardrobe and wooh boy, cozy central. So if you’re looking to expand your impressive sweats loungewear collection, why don’t you copy...
Alessandra Steinherr, Beauty Editor-Cum-Beauty Founder
The Routine Recap: Beauty insider secrets abound, including an introduction to Collosol, a kind of, sort of toner that Alessandra credits to giving her soft skin.
The Loungewear: Impressingly warm, thanks to these off-white flannel pajamas from Arket with modern black piping. Bonus points for authenticity if you say it the British way, pyjamas, if you will.
Andy Baraghani, Bon Appétit Editor
The Routine Recap: P50, Vintner’s Daughter, Biore sunscreen... All of your skincare workhorses in one place.
The Loungewear: Andy’s preferred gray Entireworld sweatsuit is unfortunately sold out, but you can get your pick of plenty of other colors, in both women’s and men’s sizing—maybe this navy alternative, for example?
Cassandra Grey, Founder, Violet Grey
The Routine Recap: A masterclass in bathing and treat-yourself body lotions.
The Loungewear: Cassandra is holding up in small business brands, she tells us. That includes Glossier’s pink hoodie (waitlist here), chic, Comme Si socks, and Violet Grey’s (on sale!) tee.
Cyndia Harvey, Hairstylist
The Routine Recap: Literally everything you might possibly want to know about when it comes to working with natural curls.
The Loungewear: It doesn’t get more classic than a pair of Polo sweats—it doesn’t get more wallet-friendly either. Cyndia’s been wearing her old faithfuls, but you can find a brand-spanking new pair for $38.
Kitty Cash, DJ
The Routine Recap: So. Many. Masks. (Plus a deep-dive into caring for wigs—she owns 10 or 15 of 'em.)
The Loungewear: Kitty likes to keep it high and low. On the extremely high end there are the silk Agent Provocateur pajama set she’s kept in rotation. Those are offset by a much more budget-palatable Stussy sweatshirt she wears from time to time, along with a basic white tee from Hanes.
Laura Harrier, Actor
The Routine Recap: No pimple formed against Laura shall prosper. She’s got a blemish mask, retinol, and Shani Darden on speed-dial to see to it.
The Loungewear: Super fun sweatsuits from Reformation. The tie dye ones Laura likes are sold out but, some good news! You’ve probably got more time on your hands now! Get Reformation’s gray sweats and get crafty with a DIY tie dye color of your choosing.
Ali Wong, Comedian
The Routine Recap: Come for the stage makeup tutorial, stay for the, in Ali’s words, “Marie Antoinette, wealthy-ass lip balm” recommendation.
The Loungewear: The softest matching sweats around. These Lou and Grey ones are cozy, but not too warm, so you’ll be able to wear them just as easily outside come summer (when it’s safe to do so—hopefully, fingers crossed).
Teddy Quinlivan, Model
The Routine Recap: So nice, we covered it twice. In 2017 it was all about the creams that mitigate the telltale signs of an active party life. And a year later Teddy talked more makeup—her “rich Italian sugar mama eye” alone is worth the re-read.
The Loungewear: Finally! A robe. Teddy wears a plush one from Barefoot Dreams. It’s either that or her pair of Nike sweats—you take your pick.
Photo via ITG.
