Hi from Japan, where I’ve been hiking in the Kyushu countryside with Walk Japan, sitting in onsen (hot springs), and eating copious amounts of sushi and ramen. I just arrived in Tokyo, where I look forward to checking out what people are wearing as well as a bunch of museums and temples.
Meanwhile, here’s what I’m reading, doing, shopping for and watching as summer rolls in.
PS: D.C.-area subscribers—I’m hosting a guided lunchtime tour of an exhibit on sustainable fashion at George Washington University’s Textile Museum Friday June 27 at noon. Details below, and subscribers will receive an email invite soon.
Staying: Hotel Saint Augustine, Houston, Texas
Bunkhouse Group—the hipster hotel brand behind Austin’s Saint Cecelia and San Antonio’s Hotel Havana—knows how to set a scene. Many of its properties star renovated historic buildings (a south Austin bungalow at Cecelia, a 1914 hotel at Havana). But for Bunkhouse’s newest bolt hole in Houston’s Montrose Park neighborhood, the architects of Lake|Flato created a low-slung series of modernist buildings in glass, stone, and wood.
It’s all meant to play nicely with the next-door Menil Collection, renowned for its cache of drawings and Renzo Piano-designed Cy Twombly pavilion. Guest rooms show off rich earth tone color schemes; the clubby Augustine Lounge features sculptural Charles Rennie Macintosh-style seating and a mirrored bar pouring drinks such as the Coyote Call (mezcal, raspberry, port, rum, lime, nutmeg).
Watching: “Asura,” Netflix
Like Scarlett Johansson in “Lost in Translation,” I’m waking up early and dozing off late in Japan (a 13-hour time difference is brutal!). Good thing I can stream “Asura,” an artful newish Netflix show about a quartet of Japanese sisters living in 1979 Tokyo. The mix of Eastern and Western clothing, artfully shot Tokyo backdrops, and tension between siblings is addictive. A highlight: Rebellious youngest sister Sakiko’s groovy outfits and handsome boxer boyfriend.
Seeing: “Source Material,” GW University Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.
Clothing production accounts for roughly 10 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions, a decidedly unstylish problem that fashion designers and consumers are just beginning to grapple with. This new exhibit at George Washington University’s Textile Museum dives into how mending garments, recycling textiles, and other methods can help us have our clothes and feel good about the environment. Expect historic artifacts (a 19th-century Japanese coat made of reused scraps) as well as contemporary fashions (Green Matters vegetable-dyed dresses). Join me for a curator-led tour Friday June 27 at noon EST; click here for details and to RSVP. Spaces are limited.
Buying: Douglas Poon carved jewelry
Sapphire blue etched rings and ruby-hued clutch bags that appear to be carved from fine crystal headline in the work of Hong Kong-born, British-based designer Douglas Poon. But his hand-done pieces are actually made of resin, meaning they glitter but won’t shatter like the goblets and chandeliers they resemble. I’m eyeballing a bangle or two to go with a tropically bright Ulla Johnson dress in hibiscus pinks and deep greens I got for summer dinner parties and an anniversary bash in Bozeman, Montana this July. (Imagine that frock, a few bright bracelets, and some vintage cowboy boots.)
Reading: Intrepid travel guides
Known for immersive, small-group trips to, well, nearly everywhere, tour company Intrepid just launched its first guidebooks on Iceland, Japan, and Australia. Like Intrepid’s trips, they’re full of personality and insider expertise—how to sink your teeth into izakaya food culture in Japan, the best spots to spy puffins in Iceland. What I especially like is that, instead of the laundry lists of old-fashioned guidebooks, these volumes read more like good travel magazines of the past, with great feature-style stories and lively photos.