Anna Cafolla chatted to the dreamy duo behind NYC's most inventive style spot for tips on dressing more like you (and how watching Freaks and Geeks can help).
Past the snaking line at Scar's Pizza and the clouds of gossip forming over martinis outside Le Dive, you'll find a welcome sense of serenity through the doors of Café Forgot. The peace is only gently broken by the soft whirr of the Lower East Side store's rotating rack of clothes, motorized like a drycleaner and evoking the wardrobe scene in Clueless…but just a little calmer. And rather than Cher's big labels and allegiance to plaid, it's founders Vita Haas and Lucy Weisner's tight and stylishly scintillating curation of the independent designers you need to know.
Vita Haas and Lucy Weisner
Press the button and you'll be presented with a personal parade of cotton candy-colored Niihai bikinis, Attega's ballooning dresses, and Blondita co-ords. Café Forgot's hub of designers are cherrypicked from New York and beyond, encompassing established indies like Anna Sui and new guard IYKYK brands like Chelsea Mak. Dotted around the store, their first foray into footwear: the boxy-toed Dr. Martens Aurix slip on mules in oxblood and gunmetal.
"We began how everybody kind of did, as a pop-up. We wanted to showcase and sell our community's work," explains Weisner. They went to high school together, where they started a fashion club, before college in Portland, Oregon.
When Haas was 10 years old, she dreamed of owning a store that she wanted to call "Art Smart Dream Machine"—but the Café Forgot moniker defined a sense of perfect ephemerality for them both. The silvery-sheened store is just as inspired by '90s Issey Miyake and Prada shops as it is Hannah Montana. A wall length vinyl features their sleek Dr. Martens campaign. A little time in their space feels like an antidote to the never-ending scroll of micro-trends and ever-faster fashion. Haas says:
Our customers really do seem to be bent on having their own personal style, for sure
Both women find themselves inspired by the young women working in their store and those that come by to browse. Right now, summer shopping is colorful—corals, teal, butter yellow, mint. In the rising temperatures, they're drawn to the soft and slinky. Weisner says:
We want to strike a nice balance of working with young designers and heritage brands from Anna Sui to Dr. Martens that align with our aesthetics and values
Below, the women of Café Forgot unpack how to find your own personal style.
Get to know your staples
Having a ride-or-die wardrobe staple builds the foundations for exploring your personal style. “I’m constantly wearing the Café Forgot ballet socks and finding new ways to do so,” says Haas. Living in jeans? Find the best fitting, feel-good denim you possibly can. There’s a saying that you should try to “shop your own wardrobe,” and having a solid base of staples invites curiosity and experimentation. Socks or a simple headband can go a long way.
Play with colour and texture
Once you’ve really gotten familiar with your own sartorial building blocks, there’s all the more room to play: try a go-to piece in a new colour. Weisner, a lover of a simple cardigan, recently picked up an aquamarine NiiHAi knit in-store. Olga Basha also recently collaborated with the store on a run of one-off embellished jeans.
Be open to inspiration IRL/URL
Stylish characters can emerge wherever you choose to look, from architecture to arthouse movies. “I’m often inspired by people on the street, in and around the store. The people that come to us are so individual and idiosyncratic,” says Weisner, who also looks to Eric Rohmer’s sumptuously coloured French New Wave films and his sartorially nonchalant cast.
Love to hate
“Obviously, we talk about fashion a lot,” says Haas, “but it’s most fun when we disagree. I love when Lucy dislikes something and she can talk me through exactly why. Or she convinces me to like something—to see the vision! I think understanding why you’re drawn to something and the journey you take to get there is just as important.” Vintage TV like Freaks and Geeks gets a look in for Haas, too
Find a style-traversing shoe
While you experiment in aesthetics, having a go-to shoe that fits within the rhythm of whatever your style tribe of the moment is keeps you, literally, grounded. For Haas, through college in Portland, that was a pair of vintage Dr. Martens boots that she wore with lingerie slip dresses and baggy grunge t-shirts. Weisner would wear her burgundy Derbies with twee, ’60s-style dresses. Now, they’re both all-in on the Aurix, wearing them in their own distinct ways. “I think the Aurixs go with my art mom vibe, a little bit chic grandmother,” says Haas.
No mirror, mirror on the wall
“For a really long time I didn’t have a mirror in my house, and I feel like my personal style didn’t suffer. I actually think it got better. I think I got used to trying something on and trusting my body to feel when it’s right. Know the fabrics, how it sits against your skin. So much of looking good is wearing something with confidence,” says Haas.
Play dress up
If you’re feeling totally lost or overwhelmed—whether by your own wardrobe, or the breakneck speed of trend cycles today—take a pause. “Think about how cool it is to dress up every day,” says Weisner. “I think it’d be so fun to find a different subculture and try it out until something eventually fits.” There’s no rush: it took entire decades to define everything from punk to normcore.
Exploration and play is important, as is never taking it so seriously,” agrees Haas. “New day, new outfit, new style to take off and put to the back or roll out again.
What makes your sole bounce?
Weisner:
“Honestly, I heard this amazing story of a woman who survived being struck by lightning because of the rubber sole of her Dr. Martens. I am obsessed with that. I just get excited learning new things every day. It makes me feel grounded”
Haas:
“I love feeling like I’ve put on a really, really good outfit, and I love orange chocolate!”
