New things

A sofa, dream skin, pens, handbags and a vagina thing

The ‘yay, new pencil case’ feeling never really dies. The start of September - which by the way is a far better time for resolutions than January 1 - is a return to normality. Whether you’re welcoming it with open arms (order! routines! wahoo!) or feeling rueful about the end of summer (order, routines, nein danke), you may feel like marking the transition with a present to yourself. I was going to do a list of small, cheap things but then I thought, does anyone really need more bits? You add up all the small, cheap things and realise that you could have bought one large, great thing instead.

So I’ve done a mixture of the two, starting with a huge thing:

… namely this sofa by Sophie Conran for John Lewis. I could kick myself for not snapping it up when it launched last month, because I’ve been looking for a fat, squashy sofa for months and I love a red stripe (sunny in summer, festive in winter, chef’s kiss). It’s now sold out in this colourway in the bigger size but I’m hoping it will return (although thanks to Moira in the comments, I see it’s still on Sophie Conran’s own website). Until then, you can have it in other stripes or in various plains, and the red is still around if you want a medium-sized one. Look at it! Perfect sofa (and removable, washable covers 🐾). Lovely in the green stripe too. Lovely in all the stripes. Stripes are so great. I consider them a neutral in a sitting room situation.

Edited: thanks to Moira in the comments, I see it’s still in stock in red on Sophie Conran’s own website. JOY unconfined.

I mustn’t go off at a giant stationery tangent. Quite challenging. I’ve loved stationery since I was minuscule and even in this paperless, penless age where nobody has proper handwriting anymore¹, nothing gladdens my heart faster than a really good nib - this is my pen of choice, always and forever - or a particularly satisfying notebook (I like Leuchtturm for work stuff and Choosing Keeping for jotting down ideas/doodles/sticking things in).

But anyway - look at these biros! They’re £6.50 each from Present & Correct. That shop will satisfy all your adult back-to-school stationery cravings, btw.

Do you know, I’ve done a fairly extensive image search for one of those fully-loaded 1970s/80s rectangular zippy pencil cases, the ones with individual little elastic cells for each pencil and a special designated area for your mini ruler, protractor and set square. Sometimes these sorts of cases had layers. Anyway - I can’t find a single good example of the genre. They are literally extinct.

Now, bags, a former specialist subject of mine. I now use the ones I’ve already got (famous last words) but I find September is peak new bag time, especially if you’ve been toting around anything remotely basket-like all summer. Also, what is a bag if not the adult equivalent of a cherished pencil case?

There are two options ‘this season’. (I mean, get whatever bag you like, preferably second-hand - bag shopping really shouldn’t hinge on what is or isn’t fashionable, plus in this age of sheep/lemmings, individuality is something to cherish. Or don’t get a new bag at all, because this year of all years it’s really not necessary, as I explain below).