Window Shopping

It’s not about acquisition; it’s about possibility.

My favorite store growing up wasn’t a toy store, or a candy store, or even a clothing store. It was Raynor & Mitchell, a boat and marine shop tucked around a curve on Montauk Highway in Quiogue, New York.

To anyone else, it probably just looked like a place to buy outboard motors and dock lines. To me, it was pure fantasy. My dad took us there almost every weekend. My sister and I would roam the showroom while he talked boats and maintenance and depth finders and fishing poles with whoever was behind the counter. We’d climb into the 15-foot Boston Whalers lined up on trailers, hop from one to another like we were boarding our fleet. On the bigger boats with cabins, we’d crawl below deck and pretend we were sleeping through a long overnight journey, rocked by imaginary waves, going somewhere wonderful.

Looking back, I realize that place gave me my first taste of what I now think of as fantasy shopping—the endorphin rush of imagining yourself into a life you don’t actually have. Not buying, just dreaming.

It’s the same feeling I get now, writing Le Catch, wandering through beautiful stores or scrolling through things that often feel out of reach. It’s not about acquisition; it’s about possibility. Le Catch has always been my version of fantasy shopping—sharing all the things I love and imagine myself into, without actually needing to own them all. The truth is I scroll so much that I end up with an excess of finds every day—a heaping surplus of too-good-to-be-true pieces that never make it onto the feed. Recent examples: a pre-loved Proenza Schouler statement trench ($230!), this suede Parker Thatch bag, these bowed flats and another in spring’s pastel blue (!?), this vintage Hermes belt, this belted Balzac, this able-to-be borrowed and foldable(!) Chanel tote (use my code MARLIEN for borrowing privileges), a zig-zag Zara knit jacket, this Perfect Moment zip-up for a jolt of cool under a heat-trapping coat, such as a fancy Moncler. Buongiorno, Cortina!

All of which has me wondering if I should start a broadcast channel on Instagram where I drop those extra links daily, for anyone who enjoys seeing everything good out there. Thoughts??

Or even just to share new basics in my everyday rotation, like the pointy-toed Margaux flats, pictured above, the heeled Rouje ballerinas, below, my Maison Mayle blouse and baubles, these super comfy, high-waisted Pistola jeans, my suede Manu Atelier tote, an embellished Zara knit, my blingy $75 necklace, a perfectly-red Madewell button-down and jeans, and my glass-like Fara Homidi Lip Gloss and Victoria Beckham satin eyeliner (the easiest of all to apply!).

My hesitation is bludgeoning people with TOO MUCH STUFF. Truthfully, I don’t really care if you purchase anything or not—but maybe you’d enjoy the fantasy of it too, the no, thank you, I’m just-looking… a virtual bottomless shopping cart. (Currently, you can see everything I am looking at on my ShopMy shelves!)

Le Catch, in a way, feels connected to Raynor & Mitchell—that same flicker of kid-in-the-cabin excitement. Maybe that’s why browsing always feels so fun, even when I leave empty-handed. Somewhere in my brain, I’m gripping the steering wheel of a boat that isn’t mine yet, convinced I’m headed somewhere wonderful.