Personal Effects: Sara Semic
FT HTSI’s junior fashion features editor loves Talking Heads, Brasserie Zedel and Westman Atelier Bronzing Drops.
Welcome back to Late Filing. Today’s newsletter is the fourth edition of Personal Effects, a monthly series where I ask some of the coolest and most interesting women I know about their favourite things. This time around it’s Sara Semic, the junior fashion features editor at the Financial Times’ luxury supplement HTSI (easily my favourite magazine). I’ve been following Sara on Instagram for a couple years and have been an admirer of her style for just as long. I’ve also loved her stories for the FT, which you should absolutely check out after reading this. Here, she’s shared her style icons, her go-to restaurants, her travel highlights and lots more.
CULTURE
Film When Harry Met Sally or Withnail and I
TV show Sex and the City – season two especially
Book Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle or Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido. I just love reading about rambling bohemian families.
Author Barbara Kingsolver, Donna Tartt and Ann Patchett
Artist Louise Bourgeois, Chantal Joffe and Cassi Namoda
Publication HTSI and FT Weekend, of course – though I also cherish my teenage stack of Lula magazines
Album We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves by John Maus
Musician Talking Heads
Photographer Juergen Teller and Jamie Hawkesworth
Museum Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris for its gorgeous courtyard garden
STYLE + SHOPPING
Era 1990s
All-time designer Miuccia Prada
Style icon Chloë Sevigny, Lolita Jacobs, Alexa Chung and Maryam Nassir Zadeh
Brand Currently, I’m really into Edward Cuming, Talia Byre and Colleen Allen
Most prized possession My Fendi Kan I bag. It has cute scalloped edges and was the first grown-up handbag I ever owned so it feels symbolic.
Last purchase Our Legacy Unveil trousers
Jewellery My Chopova Lowena carabiner necklace. I mostly wear plain T-shirts and knits, so I like that it livens my outfits up with minimum effort.
Wishlist I have my eye on these Dries Van Noten sneakers though I am also very tempted by the beaded metallic Cecilie Bahnsen ones
IRL shopping destination Selfridges. And I like Alta Store in Soho for discovering new small, emerging brands.
Online shopping destination Vinted
BEAUTY + WELLNESS
Recent beauty discovery Westman Atelier Sun Tone Bronzing Drops for a natural, sun-kissed glow
Holy-grail makeup product Merit Brow 1990 Sheer Gel Pencil
Holy-grail skincare product Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm
Holy-grail body care product BetterYou Magnesium Oil Body Spray makes me sleep like a baby
Holy-grail hair care product Living Proof Full Texturizing Foam
Beauty secret Skip the foundation and only use a bit of concealer under the eyes, on the forehead and any red areas for a more natural-looking base
Treatment I’m pretty low-maintenance but I do like a facial from time to time. The QMS Medicosmetics ones in Liberty are very good.
Wellness must-have Regular trips to the sauna, especially in winter
DRINKING + DINING
Restaurant Brasserie Zedel is always fun. I also love Rochelle Canteen, and Shankey’s has been a great new discovery.
Bar Printers & Stationers on a sunny evening is always nice. They do a good Aperol Spritz too.
Pub I love an olde-worlde pub, like The Mayflower in Rotherhithe or the Turf Tavern in Oxford
Go-to drinks order A glass of dry white wine in summer, a light red in winter (otherwise, I’m not fussy!)
Fantasy dinner companion I’d love to chew Graydon Carter’s ear off about working in magazines in the heyday. I think Fran Lebowitz would be a riot too.
Restaurant I want to try I still haven’t been to Gymkhana or Brat!
Comfort dish A heaving bowl of cheesy tomato pasta
PLACES
Dream London neighbourhood Not exactly a neighbourhood but I’ve always thought having one of those houses that backs onto Regent’s Canal would be pretty dreamy
Dream city to call home Probably the one I’m already in. But I do think living in Marseille and going for a weeknight sunset dip at Malmousque Beach could be great.
Hotel Pensione Bencistà in Fiesole is heaven
Unforgettable trip My boyfriend and I did a mini road trip in Cuba about seven years ago where we went horseback riding in tobacco fields and drove around in old pink Chevrolets. That one’s hard to beat.
Bucket-list destination Mongolia
Personal Effects: Alayo Akinkugbe
I first came across Alayo Akinkugbe five years ago via her fabulous Instagram page A Black History of Art. At the time of setting it up, she was a student at Cambridge who wanted to shine a spotlight on Black artists, sitters, curators and thinkers, spurred on in part by the lack of representation in her history of art degree. Since then, the page has g…