The end-of-summer blues
The joys of the slowest season, explaining "tomato girl summer" and some whimsical interiors
THE JOYS OF SUMMER
And that melancholy August feeling
One of the greatest joys in my life is walking my dog in the mornings. It’s so hot out now that the window for a walk is about an hour long, from 7 to 8 a.m., before the temperature becomes unbearable and I become cranky. I try not to miss the window. Les knows how much I love our morning outings. Or at least he wants me to know how much he loves them. I sit and try to drink my coffee in peace and he stares me down until I get a move on.
When I do finally get a move on, we walk our usual route to the park and back and try to talk to strangers. That’s another one of the joys in my life, talking to strangers. Les is popular in the neighborhood and I like to bask in the glow of the adoration that comes his way. Once, a few weeks ago, when I walked Les past the playground, a child squeal-yelled in delight from the top of the slide, “THAT’S THE BIGGEST DOG I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!” It brought me so much joy that I keep telling the story over and over again to anyone who will listen. (You have now been blessed.)
I like that summer’s a slower season. I like that people are outside because the days are longer and that’s just what you do in the summer, even if it’s unbearably hot. I like that smell of freshly watered grass on a hot day. I don’t know how to explain it, maybe it’s just the smell of water evaporating on the hot pavement (Maybe that’s the smell of humidity? Does humidity have a smell?) I like how my hair, fried by the heat, turns more wild and messy. It makes me feel like a kid again. I like the little tinge of greediness I feel when I walk into the grocery store and see all the fresh fruit and vegetables on display. I want it all and it’s exhilarating.
I’m starting to feel a little melancholy about the end of summer, the end of the produce and the end of the long days. But summer has served its purpose for me. It’s my annual reminder that there’s so much joy to be found in really small things: food, walks and sunlight. Those good things are overwhelmingly abundant in summer. It’s impossible to ignore them.
WHAT IS TOMATO GIRL SUMMER?
A trend report and my thoughts on building a life
Have you heard of Tomato Girl Summer? It’s the latest micro-aesthetic to take over TikTok. And, before you roll your eyes, stick with me for a second longer: there’s something deeper here.
Tomato Girl Summer — like its predecessors Barbiecore, Cottagecore and Fairycore, among others — is an aesthetic vision and an ideal. It shows up on social media platforms as a set of images or videos that demonstrate the aesthetic; and it’s showing up in shopping too.
The trend is a celebration of a slower life. Tomato Girl Summer is linen clothes in whites, reds and greens. It’s dinners al fresco and white wine with peaches. It’s slower-paced hobbies like reading, gardening and cooking. It’s la dolce vita, the sweet, slow, simple life. Oh, of course, it’s tomatoes too. Here’s an example:
As one writer pointed out, micro-aesthetics like this one seem to have an undercurrent of wealth (or at least the need for it). Because, really, how many of us are wealthy enough to spend our days on a picnic blanket reading classic literature while eating tomatoes? The critique is fair.
I think it’s become increasingly difficult to determine what kind of life you want, or what kind of person you want to be. And can you blame us for looking around to see what’s out there, especially when it’s so easy to connect to another world or consider another type of life? One of the most prominent messages told to young people in the last few decades was, “You can be anything you want to be.” It’s a luxury to have so many choices, yes, but it’s not liberating.
As you grow up, you realize that while you may be able to be anything, you can’t be everything. Each year, as you make decisions and settle into your life, you chip away at the options before you until the list of opportunities becomes smaller and your life becomes more defined. It’s not that it’s impossible to change your life or go a new way; it’s just less likely. The path of least resistance is compelling.
These micro-aesthetics, like Tomato Girl Summer, interest me because it’s another way that young people are trying to make sense of crafting a life. In trends like this, you can see clearly how people are questioning long-held ideals of busy, productive lives for ones that are slower, simpler and smaller. It’s a natural shift, to want to go smaller when the world is so overwhelming and the options are endless. Young people are sorting this out sooner rather than later. At a time when much of the world expects you to be productive, ambitious, and wrapped up in the pursuit of success, a humble life feels more compelling.
I’ve been thinking about how a huge part of adulthood is learning to live with the decisions you’ve made. You have to live with your career choices, the ways you maintain relationships, and how busy you’ve made your schedule. All of those were your decisions, not someone else’s. Put together, each choice was one step toward creating the life you have now.
People fear getting older. I fear getting older. It seems uncomfortable and I miss my childhood. But I think the greater tragedy, greater than aging (which we are most certainly told is a tragedy), is getting older without being able to make peace with the life you’ve chosen to live. It’s so easy to spend time wondering about all of the things you could’ve been or dwelling on the frustrations caused by a previous decision (like hating where you live or feeling unfulfilled in a job). And what a waste of time that is, to wonder about all of the things you could’ve been without enjoying who you became.
My life is simple right now. I work at my job. I write in my spare time. I cook and clean every day. I take walks with my dog. Sometimes I wonder what my days would look like if I’d devoted all of myself to the pursuit of something more glamorous and impressive. But, honestly, I am really happy where I am. I chose to be here, in a smaller and simpler life. I’m glad about it.
IMAGINATIVE INTERIORS
My latest design obsession: Renzo Mongiardino
Every other week or so, I go down a design rabbit hole. Usually, it starts with a problem. I’m looking for an answer to a question about my own home, a creative project, or some kind of life decision and then I get lost in it. I think some people call this hyperfixation. I’ll call it research.
This week, it’s Renzo Mongiardino. And I am certainly not the first person to be captivated by the late Italian architect’s work. According to Architectural Digest, he was called “the greatest designer of the twentieth century.” As I’ve read through article after article to learn about him over the last week, there’s a recurring description: his designs were imaginative or magical. (Reminder: Tap the image to see the full picture.)
There’s this castle in Italy (pictured above), which Mongiardino was tasked to restore in the 80s. And he designed for Lee Radziwill, among other famous figures. This drawing room is a particularly iconic example. And there were many other homes, too. Mongiardino was also a set designer, which perhaps explains the lavish and magical interiors. He used hidden doors, fabrics along the walls and other materials to create illusions-of-sorts in the rooms he designed.
I, like so many people before me, have been truly captivated by the homes he’s created. I think it’s the artistry of them and how they look like the stuff you’d dream of when you were a child. There are collected objects, mixes of patterns and prints, so many colors and plenty of nooks or corners to escape to. I like how, in the homes of these impossibly wealthy, important and (I assume) serious people, there’s this clear desire for something whimsical.
AROUND THE WEB & BEYOND
A few entertaining things I found this week
I enjoy reading Ali LaBelle’s newsletter, À La Carte, because it’s a glimpse into the creative process. Here’s the latest edition about tomatoes.
During my trip down this week’s design rabbit hole, I came across a video of Lee Radziwill from The New York Times’ archives (she’s being interviewed by Sofia Coppola). It’s so entertaining.
I have my eye on this lampshade.
Travel to Paris? Summer in Italy? No, send me to Scotland with the golden retrievers. This is my dream.
GOOD CHOICE
A coffee-table book (and notes on finding inspiration)
I added to my collection of coffee-table books one that’s been on my list for months now, “Cabana Anthology.” It’s a collection of photos and stories from the magazine, Cabana, which mostly covers interiors but also travel, design and art. I’ve been accumulating coffee table books since I was a teenager, for inspiration and also as an escape. It’s a beautiful book.
NEXT WEEK
Color stories
Let’s discuss color: adding it to your home, how color can have meaning and colorful spaces I enjoy.
All the best,
Mary Grace