The Material Review
071: The Wizard of Vinyl, The Best Shirtmakers in the World, The Greatest Snooker Player in History, The Quiet Japanese Brand Atop Menswear, Spotlight On: Polos, and a Q&A with Nicolle Yaron.
Stories worth reading. Stop indexing the internet.
The Wizard of Vinyl Is in Kansas
“Chad Kassem is on a mission — saving listeners ‘from bad sound’ — at the rural factory where he pores over LPs from some of music’s most important artists.” [NYT]
The best shirtmakers in the world
“A global guide to all things collared and cuffed” [FT]
How “Severance” Makes a Fetish of the Office
“In its second season, the show continues to indict the corporate workplace while secretly longing for it.” [The New Yorker]
Angles of Approach
“Ronnie O’Sullivan is the greatest snooker player in history—what he can do, no one has ever been able to do. And no can even explain how he does it.” [NY Review of Books]
How a Quiet Japanese Brand Suddenly Took Over Luxury Menswear
A Tale of Two Beans
“Two years after its unveiling, at the base of a Manhattan luxury tower, Anish Kapoor’s smaller “bean” is way more controversial than its Chicago predecessor” [Air Mail]
Tailor-Made Man
“Nick Hilton and the Norman Hilton Natural Shouldered Empire.” [ACL]
A shortlist of things we’ve got our eye on.
Sage Nation Jiji Raw Denim Jacket
Battenwear Topanga Pullover
Anderson and Sheppard Roll Neck Fair Isle Sweater
Hudson Wilder Sora Drinking Glass
Grease Point Workwear Easy Short
Polo Shirts
John Smedley Peaks Anglo Indian Gauze Polo Shirt
Sunspel Linear Mesh Knit Polo Shirt
STÒFFA Long Sleeve Polo
Arc'Teryx Veilance Metron Polo
Nicolle Yaron is a TV producer and the creator of Extremely Helpful, where she sifts through an “unhealthy amount” of content consumption to curate what’s actually worth our time. A trusted source on everything there is to watch/read/listen/buy, she filled us in on what she’s been reading, her increasingly delusional wishlist, streaming service strategy and helpful travel hacks.
What do you subscribe to, and what are you reading?
I’m reading Margot Has Money Troubles and listening to Listen for the Lie. Normally, I read fiction and listen to non-fiction—especially when the audiobook is read by the author—but this one came highly recommended, so I made an exception.
I subscribe to The New York Times, Puck, New York Magazine, and a mix of Substacks—some for work, some for fun. Everything else I get from my Libby app.
What is a recent/important purchase?
This spoon spatula hybrid. I haven’t used another utensil since.
What's something you have had your eye on?
Thank you so much for asking. Here’s an increasingly delusional list of what I’m currently coveting:
Mirumi (obsessed)
Should we be strategic about what streaming services we pay for and what we can skip? Or do we need to be subscribing to everything all of the time?
You absolutely don’t need to subscribe to them all. I do for my job, but here’s a strategy:
Some Amex cards offer up to a $240 annual entertainment credit. Depending on your bundle, that can cover Disney+, Hulu, Max, or ESPN+ and maybe Peacock.
Cycle through the rest based on what’s happening in the last vestiges of the monoculture. Right now, if I were going a la carte, I’d want:
Drop and add as needed. The FTC just finalized the “Click-to-Cancel” rule, so it’s easy to unsubscribe.
What DTC brand or very online business is worth the hype?
Not DTC, but Loewe and Marc Jacobs have a great online presence. Grillo’s Pickles is both my favorite Instagram account and my favorite pickle.
Otherwise, I really like my Warby Parkers.
Any other hacks for life or travel?
I never pack toiletries or makeup. I have a Beis travel bag stocked with Cadence Capsules and travel-size duplicates of everything I use at home. It’s always packed and ready to go—no last-minute scrambling.
Picking a restaurant while traveling used to be an ordeal. I’d cross-reference TikTok, TripAdvisor, Instagram, Google Maps… exhausting. And I don’t know these people—do they value vibes? Now, I just use this app called It’s Good. I follow people I trust with food (John Legend, Ben Hundreds, Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and I go where they go. It’s invite-only, but I have a few left. This sounds like an ad but I swear it is not.
Don’t really see the appeal of a.presse vs a dozen similar oversized/cropped/maudlin Japanese brands but it did make me long for the days when Robert Geller was putting out incredible stuff every season.