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Vanderbilt Tennis Club


On the fourth floor of Grand Central Terminal there’s a regulation-size tennis court. Like the trains running through the station, Vanderbilt Tennis Club is easier to book than it is to find. Despite what the name might suggest, anyone can schedule an hour at the court for a lesson with a pro or a match with friends. Between points, players can enjoy a view of Park Avenue from the massive peekaboo window and the several-foot-tall Beaux-Arts arched window. In the 1950s, before New Yorkers could smash overheads in the room, Walter Cronkite read the CBS Evening News there. A decade later, a Hungarian Olympic coach converted it into a tennis court (and a 65-foot-long Astroturf ski slope). Decorated with velvet curtains and leased by Donald Trump from 1984 until 2009, the courts have since undergone remodeling—a new atrium, no more curtains—by its current owners. It might not be the most convenient tennis court in New York City, but it’s the most glamorous. (vanderbilttennisclub.com) —Jensen Davis

Watch

Velvet Goldmine


Almost every reviewer will recommend you see Todd Haynes’s new—and first—documentary, The Velvet Underground. I will recommend that you also revisit his 1998 film, Velvet Goldmine, a musical drama about British glam-rock stars in the 1970s, making music in the wake of the Velvet Underground. It looks at the fall of a David Bowie–inspired singer named Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and the journalist (Christian Bale) tasked with figuring out what killed his career. He starts with the time Slade faked his own murder onstage while dressed as Icarus. The film’s timeline is fragmented—the journalist writes the article in 1984, but the story is mostly told through flashbacks—so chronology becomes muddled, which I imagine mimics the memory of a rock star. Extravagant musical sequences accompany a soundtrack that includes Brian Eno, Roxy Music, and Lou Reed, plus rock-glam-inspired songs written for the film. Slade’s competition and obsession, Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor), an Iggy Pop–inspired singer, sheds his pants and crowd-surfs naked. Slade and Wild, both in leather, perform Eno’s “Baby’s on Fire” under neon lights to a crowd that loses its mind. Haynes’s films are always analytic; this one is also very fun. (tv.apple.com) —Jensen Davis

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2014 London held at Earl’s Court - Catwalk Featuring: Elsa Hosk Where: London, United Kingdom When: 02 Dec 2014
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Fallen Angel


Long before Facebook came up with algorithms to undermine young women’s confidence, Victoria’s Secret was already there pairing female insecurity with male fantasy to turn push-up bras into a multi-billion-dollar industry. The apotheosis was the company’s annual televised fashion show, where supermodels starved themselves to strut the runway in giant angel wings and a thong: all the glitzy vulgarity of a Miss America pageant—without a talent competition. Victoria’s Secret crashed in 2018 under the headwinds of the #MeToo movement and the disgrace of its owner and C.E.O., Les Wexner, a friend and business partner of Jeffrey Epstein’s. Fallen Angel, a captivating new podcast produced by C13Originals and hosted by Vanessa Grigoriadis and Justine Harman, provides a full-frontal look at Wexner and his company’s inflated and deforming role in American culture and the expectations placed on women. Naturally, it comes out on the side of the angels. (podcasts.apple.com) —Alessandra Stanley

Download

Forest


To encourage iPhone addicts to put their devices down, the Forest app offers a “gamified timer” that incentivizes users to stop scrolling. The app features a digital forest connected to a timer. Once you set the timer and specify which Web sites and apps you want to avoid—and for how long—your digital tree grows. The longer you’re off the phone, the more majestic the tree becomes. The catch? If you open a blocked app, you watch your cartoon tree wither and die. The app even offers real-world benefits for not staring at your phone. By growing digital trees, users accumulate coins that can be donated to an affiliated nonprofit that plants actual trees. Sometimes you need consequences to do what you already know you should. ($1.99, apps.apple.com) —Jacob Robbins

Wear

Marfa Stance


Something distressing has happened. With little warning, full-fledged fall has arrived—and your Air Mail style correspondent’s outerwear situation is woefully lacking. Which is why, after too many seasons of unrequited lust, we are at last pulling the trigger on a Marfa Stance jacket. Designer Georgia Dant, a veteran of several luxury houses, is a big believer in a multi-purpose wardrobe, so her jackets are intended to transition from season to season with the help of adding or removing an insulating vest, shearling collar, or knitted hood. The design is ingenious, and so are the colors and fabrics, which are especially appealing when used in the “design your own” function. We’ll start with the Signature Parka, made of water-repellent Italian silk. It can be worn five different ways, and all of them are winners. ($1,215; marfastance.com) —Ashley Baker

Smell

Moncler


It takes a lot to surprise us these days. But a customizable L.E.D. screen on a bottle of perfume will do the job. Such is the primary feature of Moncler pour Homme and Moncler pour Femme, the brand’s first fragrances. Both are outdoorsy, with scents of cedarwood and cypress. The silver bottles (or are those flasks?) have a bit of signature ribbing that nods to the popular Moncler puffer jacket. But it’s the messaging we love best—download the accompanying app, and program your bottle to communicate whatever your heart desires. Paging TikTok! ($210, bloomingdales.com) —Ashley Baker

Issue No. 119
October 23, 2021
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Issue No. 119
October 23, 2021