SSENSE Public Sale: For Freaks Only
A grab bag of the silliest, sexiest, scariest, surliest, least "safe" stuff in the SSENSE sale, $500 and under, no other rules.
Hello! It’s the SSENSE public sale, and I’m starting to feel like I personally know all the judgmentally-eyed androgynes who model the clothes for our benefit.
Before I intro today’s post, I want to let you know that I’m beyoooooond excited to have co-written a little piece about what’s happened to Black Friday in the past 10 years with the truly glorious
that will be up on her Substack soon. The newsletter is a companion to the prolific podcast of the same name which has been critically acclaimed by so many people with good taste that the fact Avery—”relentlessly delightful” as per the New Yorker—numbers among the people who read HR is more than an honor.Each episode of AOI focuses on a fashion phenomenon contextualized within cultural underbellies, arcane histories, questions we forget how to ask—past eps have addressed the Pygmalion-like art of mannequin-making, punitive uniforms, paisley, and garments made of human hair. That last one was when I knew for sure that Avery and I were cut from the same cloth (you all know I’ve been on the human hair tip long enough to classify it as a fixation), and several emails/voice memos/the only Zoom call I haven’t dreaded since Zoom was invented later, I was proven correct.
Lest I accidentally gush for any more paragraphs, I’ll simply say that I hope you check out AOI, subscribe so you don’t miss our thoughts on BFCM or any of Avery’s future brilliance, and I hope to get to work with Avery many times over in the future. Meeting people who not only make salient work about the things I find exciting and important but are thoughtful, generous, and sharp-minded both on and off the clock is the most life-affirming facet of the career I’m trying to pursue.
Now, the SSENSE sale! I figure you’ve already been told the best deals and smartest buys by more reputable publications than this one, so below is a grab bag (organization is reserved for paid subscribers) of the most shark-jumping items I could find at a discount. Importantly, they’re all things I’d still wear—this isn’t a completely hollow gimmick! I just figured that if I couldn’t be the one to rec you steadfast basics or investment pieces, I could recommend CD earrings and spiky trousers and hats that look like they’re melting. Everything below is under $500, because I don’t really care if something’s silly or sexy or scary or surly if it costs a billion dollars—like, if a Jeff K*ons sculpture cost $200 plus tax, maybe I would see the humor in those stupid balloon animals. Probably not.
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These discs are allegedly randomly chosen— if my weak little ears could hold their own against such a monster earring, I’d hope that I got The Princess Diaries or Face/Off.
The armpit slits are honestly less befuddling to me above than the extremely faint graphic printed across the sternum, so subtle I missed it the first three times I looked at this shirt.
The skeleton looks like it would be the antagonist in a really bad ripoff of Fullmetal Alchemist.
The above shirt converts into a long-sleeve in the most genuinely fresh way I’ve seen convertible clothes function in my time staring at clothes on the internet—go to the link for pics.
I hate ketchup, but I love omurice. My scary take is that it would be better drenched in hot sauce.
Trend forecaster Mandy Lee kept saying swim caps would be in this year, and this is the closest I’ve seen for sale—remember my skullcap moment, though (check my IG highlight)? What does it all mean?
This bag (exact same bag) is cheaper in the men’s section than the women’s #girlmath
The sounding jokes write themselves, but luckily I suddenly cannot read. Please, please don’t look anything you don’t already know up. I guarantee you will have an awful rest of your day.
Charms are a cool take on logo showcasing (does anyone feel a certain way about the Levi’s x Cactus Plant Flea Market collab? I think I’ll know how I feel in like a year or two).
This corduroy set is so charming! The layered pockets! The little beetles!
I’ve always loved the boxing/wrestling boot silhouette, and Grape (one of my favorite new brands, randomly) makes it sophisticated enough not to look like A Statement.
Another really good Kiko convertible tee, another link you should click on to see, another little rhyme written by meeee…
This is the level of Not Having a Body I aspire to all winter.
There’s a shirt with this same image of pig man making his own soup, too, if you’re interested.
Love this color yellow. I’m still in my neon-loving brain worms Björk-induced phase.
If you didn’t just hear a Green Day song in your head, you’re too young for this blog.
I love that mr. skeleton has two very wide teeth.
This jacket/harness is actually infinitely useful—I can’t think of a single outfit it wouldn’t work with.
My mind is melting trying to envision how they manufactured that sleeve.
The above miniskirt is so subtly off-kilter, I think you could actually wear it to the office and make people feel weird without getting a call from the bad HR.
SSENSE insists on defining the above as a blazer? It’s simply not that, in any way, shape, or form? Am I going mad?
I need to know how much this fits and how it looks when full. Please investigate.
This is my favorite take on “distressed” jeans I’ve ever seen. Love the waistband so much.
Again with the boxing boots.
I wish these were stretch denim under the knee instead of viscose, but I like the concept a lot.
Be safe out there!
<3 HR
I might make a small commission if you purchase from some of the links above, at no cost to you! If you do, send me a pic of you wearing the item and I’ll comp you a month of HR.