Before becoming a pioneer of punk fashion, Vivienne Westwood spent a few years working as a primary-school teacher. Surprisingly, these two identities did not run countercurrent. Westwood was a great advocate for the power of reading. “You only live once if you don’t read,” she once said. “If you read books, you can live a hundred lives.” A new book, Vivienne Westwood A to Z, traces the significant moments of the late designer’s remarkable life, complete with charming illustrations of her most emblematic designs (including the Yasmin bag and the tartan Anglomania collection), which supermodels such as Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell brought to life on the catwalk. ($16.95, penguinrandomhouseretail.com) —Paulina Prosnitz

The glass, polished-brass, and granite storefronts on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue just became a lot more colorful with Van Cleef & Arpels’s Fifth Avenue Blooms floral installations, by the French artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet. For the third consecutive year, shoppers, tourists, and passersby between 50th and 59th Streets will be able to immerse themselves in a garden imagined by the maison, which includes whimsical sculptures, pergolas, and benches made up of paper flowers with pastel petals. In collaboration with the Fifth Avenue Association, Van Cleef & Arpels’s vibrant display brings a fresh spring look to Midtown’s concrete landscape. (vancleefarpels.com) —Carolina de Armas

Founded in Stoke-on-Trent 100 years ago by a father-and-son-in-law duo determined to craft the perfect waxed-leather jackets for the fast-growing market of motorcycle heads, Belstaff produces near-indestructible gear that aces every test thrown at it and comes up aces in style. A new book chronicles the beloved brand’s history through smartly written stories and awesome photos, including one of Steve McQueen wearing his Trailmaster with full swagger, like a knight in a battered coat of armor, after racing his bike across the Mojave in 1963. It also shows never-before-seen and covet-worthy pieces (I’ll take the canoe anorak, please) from the Belstaff archives, including gear made for the British military and for the do-or-die blokes competing in one of the world’s most grueling motorcycle races, the Scottish Six Days. The book’s title is Our First 100 Years, but I would call it Blood, Sweat, and Style. ($90, belstaff.com) —Michael Hainey

Verlet, the French coffee company headquartered on the Rue Saint-Honoré, has been churning out delicately roasted beans (along with teas, spices, and candied fruits) since 1880. Now a trip to Paris is no longer required to achieve the Verlet experience. In a new collaboration, Diptyque has interpreted its olfactory notes in a limited-edition range of four candles—Chantilly (whipped cream), Café (coffee), Fruits Confits (candied fruit), and Biscuit (a cinnamon-and-patchouli-tinged nod to the café’s crunchy cookies). Don’t even think about burning that last one if you’re trying to avoid carbs or sweets. Within minutes of lighting the wick, you’ll be making quick work of whatever’s lying around in the pantry. ($78, diptyqueparis.com) —Ashley Baker

At AIR MAIL, we tend to enjoy top-notch hotel gift shops more than, well, the hotels themselves. This is especially true of Sense of Lake, the e-commerce site founded by third-generation hotelier Valentina De Santis, who’s behind Lake Como’s Grand Hotel Tremezzo and Passalacqua, which was ranked No. 1 in the World’s 50 Best Hotels list last year. It’s not exactly easy to book one of Passalacqua’s 23 rooms these days, but style-lovers all over the world can now experience a bit of De Santis’s world through Sense of Lake’s clothing, accessories, books, and beauty products. Dressing gowns from F.R.S. (For Restless Sleepers), Aqua Como lotion, special-edition Superga, and Bric’s custom luggage—printed with images of the two hotels—are among its temptations. Don’t sleep on the L.G.R cat’s-eye sunglasses, framed in Grand Hotel Tremezzo’s signature orange. (senseoflake.com) —Ashley Baker

A few years ago, I bought a classic Mackintosh jacket, and it was almost completely perfect—from its length to its color to its waterproof treatment. It had just one flaw: when I put it on and walked more than a few city blocks, I might as well have been inside a furnace because something about the waterproof fabric made me sweat profusely. I found just the solution at Connolly on Clifford Street on a recent trip to London. Their Gabbardine Poachers coat is a fantastic length, has a gorgeous leather collar, and features a back pocket that opens up to provide ventilation (along with enough room to carry a bottle of champagne, a book, small hunting game, or whatever you fancy). I opted for the jacket in this sharp vermilion color, which I think they should consider renaming AIR MAIL red. ($1,009; connollyengland.com) —Michael Pescuma