We want this giant necklace, like right now. We spotted it on Moda Opernadi and were instantly in love with this EK Thongrasert stunner. We want to wear it with a striped tee and distressed jeans. But what really struck us was the colors. We love the rich mix of greens and blues – a combo that will instantly elevate even the most casual outfit. The resulting Louie will do the same for your relaxed summer looks.
Click here to buy.
Posted in Like it? Louie It!
Food Lab has made a recent and quite strong return to our neighborhood lunch rotation, so much so that they know our name and our coffee order. This should probably embarrass us, but we’re fine with it. Everything is just so yummy. By now you know how much we love a good sandwich (see here and here) and at Food Lab there are almost too many delicious options to choose from. Favorites include the Chicken Gouda, the Curried Chicken Salad, and the Roasted Veggie. The Chicken Wiernerschnitzel is pretty amazing too. And that is just a small sampling of the 20+ offerings, vegan items included. Their ciabatta bread makes any sandwich into a neat, perfectly sized package. The salads are quite tasty too – the Nicoise and the Roasted Veggies with French Goat Cheese being our go-tos. There is always a selection of fresh healthy side salads too so we’re never tempted to grab a bag of chips. Though we are always tempted, and always give in to the mini financiers – a favorite French treat of ours – seriously, try them. Luckily they give you one of the bite-sized joys when you get a coffee so this occasionally dissuades us from taking a whole bag home with us. They have breakfast too and once again, the whole menu is awesome. The West Hollywood location’s back patio is a lovely place to spend a lazy Sunday morning. Stop in soon, we’ll probably be there.
Click here for menus.
Food+Lab
7253 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
And in Silverlake:
3206 West Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Posted in Louie Loves LA
So Vampire Weekend is sort of one of those bands that we want to hate just a little because they always seem a bit smug and quite proud of their own cleverness. But we actually don’t hate them at all because each new album is always just so good. We’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of their third effort – Modern Vampires of the City – for weeks now. We’ve decided Vampire Weekend should only be allowed to release albums in May because they repeatedly deliver the kind of sunny, summery tunes that make us want to have a pool party. But there is always another layer – you know, random cultural references, mentions of death – with Vampire Weekend to keep your attention. This is the type of record that reminds us that a really really good pop album is magic. Modern Vampires of the City is a perfect summer soundtrack, and one that we know will still want to listen to five years from now. It is too early to pick a favorite track but not too early to say this may become our favorite Vampire Weekend album yet. HOORAY.
Here’s an actual (and equally glowing) review from Stereogum.
Streaming now on iTunes and out May 14th.
Posted in Louie Loves
So we basically want to use one of Elisa Nalin’s always fabulous, always bright, always unexpected outfits for every single Louie It, and we try hard to resist but this time we couldn’t help it. We love that this look is almost monochromatic but there is still so much going on. We make mastering the mix of blues easy with our bluebreak leather. Add a mango zipper and you’ve got a go to clutch for summer nights.
Click here to buy.
Posted in Like it? Louie It!
Soooo if you were to casually mention to someone that you were heading to the piñata district they may be a bit confused, because truth be told we christened this lovely block of Olympic Boulevard ourselves. But the name is totally catching on… We realize we really should have mentioned this gem pre Cinco de Mayo but we find a reason to swing through when prepping for almost any party, and piñatas are appropriate year round aren’t they? We first discovered the piñata district when shopping for a birthday party a few years ago. We wanted a real piñata, not one with SpongeBob on it. We knew we had to be able to get this in LA, after some internet research ended up just west of Central Ave on Olympic in a wonderland of giant piñatas, Mexican spices, candy and toys. It was glorious. They have every type of piñata in every size – we went home with an extremely large donkey – and everything you could possibly want to put in it. Lots of Mexican treats that are hard to find elsewhere as well as giant bags of your American favorites, plus oodles of fun toys. The mini parachute men were a huge hit at our birthday. You can also pick up little ceramic dishes and helpful tools like a lime juicer (essential for fresh margaritas). The piñata district is also our source for little red and white-checkered paper trays, which are cute alternative to paper plates at casual parties. Naturally, it’s just so festive in the piñata district. All the time. Swing through before your next event.
Click here for map + directions.
Posted in Louie Loves LA
Neuarmy is our newest mini obsession. We first became aware of this rad company when we saw their amazing ‘Hustle’ t-shirt. Sadly, but not surprisingly it was sold out. Not surprisingly because a) it’s awesome and b) it was made in a limited run of 25. Neuarmy individually typesets each shirt and everything is done by hand. Before we could even contact them to find out if there was any hope of the Hustle tee returning, we got sucked into browsing the super cool prints and linocuts. We think the ‘Like a Champ’ print would make a fitting congratulations gift for pretty much any achievement and we like the ‘Crew Only’ linocut for a gentle way of saying keep out. All so good. We were almost crushed to hear that the Hustle tee was gone forever but our spirits were instantly lifted when we heard there was a ‘Victory’ tee in the works. EVEN BETTER. We casually stalked the website and made sure to snatch up a Victory tee on day one. A perfectly soft gray tee, we love knowing it is one of a kind ( #08 ) and we never want to take it off. We’re also crazy about all of Neurarmy’s packaging. Everything is so clean and simple. We’re definitely framing the little gold linocut that came with our shirt. Victory is ours! Thank you Neuarmy.
Check out the site here.
Posted in Louie Loves
How awesome is this look from J.Crew spring lookbook? We like the pairing of dark and light, fancy and casual, sophisticated and fun. We just like this. The matching Louie is equally pleasing and a very user friendly, handheld way to try out this bold combination.
Click here to buy.
Posted in Like it? Louie It!
Cecconi’s is another warm weather fave here at Essex and with temperature’s rising we are sure we will be visiting frequently. You see when summer hits LA, some days are just too gloriously sunny to spend in the full sun. Cecconi’s has a light airy feel that lets you take advantage of nice days with out ending up with unfortunate tan lines form your afternoon cocktail session. The marble bar is gorgeous and the perfect place for an early evening glass of rosé. The after work (though most of these people don’t look like they do any work) cocktail scene is highly entertaining. We also love Cecconi’s for breakfast. The bright marble filled space is such an elegant way to start the day. We love the baked eggs and no one will bat an eye if you decide to opt for a weekday Bloody Mary. Dinner isn’t bad either of course. Our favorites are the grilled octopus and the branzino from the wood oven. The forecast is showing 90s degree temps later this week so you might just find us camped out here.
Cecconi’s
8764 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Click here for menus.
Posted in Louie Loves LA
We’ve got something for every Mom. AND a 15% off all orders now through Mother’s Day (May 12th) to help you properly spoil them. Enter THANKSMOM at checkout.
1 – The New Mom. Lucky to make it out of the house, she’s probably most frequently in leggings and her favorite cardigan. Our bluebreak Louie will brighten up even the most disheveled outfit and is easy to spot in the diaper bag.
2 – The Trendy Mom. She’s always sporting the latest styles. Camo print is probably already on her spring shopping list.
3 – The Active Mom. Usually seen in fancy work out gear, our Dutch tote has plenty of room for her yoga mat and spin shoes.
4 – The Classic Mom. A fan of striped shirts and simple silhouettes, our bold red Louie will compliment her timeless style.
5 – The Sophisticated Mom. Always looking elegant, she’ll appreciate our pebble navy leather and the chic combination of navy and black.
6 – The Mom Who Always Knows Best. This is every Mom right? Let her design her own bag to ensure success.
Posted in Essex News
We’ve had Muchacho on repeat for a solid month now. We can’t get enough of Matthew Houck’s shaky Southern voice. We’ve been fans for a few years now but each album gets better and better. This one is beautiful and heartbreaking with out being sad. ’Song For Zula‘ is the type of track that gets played on a loop in our car for days, until we decided our passengers are getting creeped out. If this song is written about a real person and she didn’t go running back to him when she heard this, she has no heart. We also love ‘Ride On/ Right On’, the albums peppiest track which seems appropriate for cruising in a convertible and also assures us that Houck is probably going to be ok. ’Muchacho’s Tune’ is another favorite, but really we’ve just been playing the album straight through and enjoying it all. We’ve seen Phosphorescent at The Troubadour twice now – perfect venue for this – and Houck and his band are fantastic live so be sure and catch them on stage if you can.
Check out Phosphorescent on iTunes and Spotify,
Posted in Louie Loves
