InSOMnia: internet things that keep me up at night

austrian modern art, NYC history, the Vogue.Com before Vogue.Com. Inside.

Hi all! Hope you are well - been a bit MIA -just trying to survive the January blues and get Alexmill’s new spring collection live (it just launched - the chiltern jacket is a must!!). Which brings us to …

Todays post is another installment of inSOMnia (all I things cool strange and beautiful I find while scrolling on my phone instead of sleeping).

P.S. read our first InSOMnia here.

1. objects from a great Austrian modernist - Carl Aubock

On a recent trip to Vienna with a buddy I was laying in bed researching the Carl Aubock studio (they were having a retrospective at the MAK museum (one of the many shows we were in town to see ). It was then that I discovered that there was still functioning studio operating in Vienna.

I found an email and sent a literal shot in the dark asking if I could visit. Fast forward 10 hrs later I was at the studio getting a very casual tour with the founder’s great grand daughter who couldn’t have been nicer.

me at the Aubock studio - the great grand daughter said we snagged the last tour opening at 11:30am.

I’ve been a long time Aubock fan- the shapes, the materials and their weight, the sense of humour and everything is meant to be used!! -all things that send me over the edge when it comes to objects.

U can buy from the actual workshop as they carry some stock but I was excited to learn you can also order from their website as they ship worldwide or Abask has a small collection (up until now I had only managed to buy his pieces vintage - a chain paper weight and hand paper weight ( I have alot of paper ).

This time round I got a Crown ash tray ( I dont smoke (at least indoors) but how clever is this thing - u rest your cigarette in between the points) a candle holder and a brass peanut key ring.

Oh and I had a great time in Vienna btw - maybe a Vienna guide for my future post?

2. historical deep dives into NYC buildings - @amateur.dweller

I moved to Nyc the summer of 1995 so Ive put in my steps wandering the city. My first address was Loeb hall on 12th street just a block away from the original Kiehls store on 13th - I remember always wondering why there was a little house on top of building so when I found a post by Ting wondering the same thing I instantly followed.

Each post of her account is a quick dive into the history (verbal and pictoral) of many of the buildings around the city - but what I really love about her account is that the buildings she chooses all seem to be the same ones Ive walked by for decades - First Houses where id buy my magazines from on Ave A, 44 Stuyvesant where id walk by on my way to Urban Outfitters for my quick graphic tee fix, Grace church on bway where I worked across from for 15 years at Jcrew.

4. Handmade sea shell jewelry - @Mati_q_handmade

I love Mati’s pieces- everything about her about page makes my heart sing - her love of ocean and beaches, found shells and pearls, one of a kind all hand made- - a statement earring in the quietest way -

I love how personal and special they feel, how much they make me think of summer and esp how imperfect they are -

here are some of my faves - she says on her etsy account that once a pair is gone it cant be remade which is kind of wonderful I think. looks like she’s sold out of most things but she has a few pairs on preorder on her site.

5. a great edit of online vintage - @Fromthepast

Fromthepast is a vintage website ive gotten some really great vintage levis from - ive clicked and bought from at least 3 of the ads they served me and havent been disappointed when the item arrived - 2 pairs of vintage levis and a heather grey graphic tee whose sleeves I cut off and now is my fav workout tee for arm day -

some faves from my scroll. my days of in-person dumpster diving / vintage bin rummaging were long gone i thought - i guess now its been replaced with a new found love of the virtual kind - I could scroll on this site for hours -

Like I said I love their vintage levis and carhartts (which sell out pretty fast ) but here are some things that seem cool and are still available are this 1980s stitched tee, 1970s athletic jersey tee, 1990s sand-coloured levi’s.

6. the Vogue.com before Vogue.com - @Firstviewphoto

This one is for the fashion fans out there! FirstView.com came before Style.com which is now Vogue.com. Im pretty sure it was the first website of its kind! Back in the day as a design assistant in the early 2000s id surf the net looking for runway pics from all the fashion shows and id undoubtedly end up going thru the library at FirstView.com

The number of designers u can search here is endless and most of the shows/pics date back to the mid 90 ‘s - Vogue.com just uploaded Marc jacobs’ fall 97 ( a top 5 MJ show for me) show 3 weeks ago meanwhile FirstView has had them for at least a decade.

screenshots from my camera roll of some fav First view posts - this HMU shot of a platinum Kate as well as this stripe mix from H.Lang are both up on the current Alexmill design boards

another fave i featured on @alexmillny’s look into my camera roll. @yohjiyamamotoofficial fall winter 2000

aking of the 90s - ive recently been toying with idea of a future Substack post where i would try to recreate some of my fave runway “ looks” from the decade with things u could buy now- a fun exercise for me - does that sound interesting to anyone? - as my 2024 was coming to a close my longing for the past was on full throttle as it always every Dec 31st - outfits that got away, even pieces I now kick myself for turning my back to - maybe there is a way to still have them ( or at least a close-ish) version today? What do u all think?

There you have it. Six strange beautiful and cool things I found scrolling the internet between hours at 11pm - 2am. what are some of your favorite late night finds? comment below - i am listening!