Skip to Content
Go Back

Our Highly Selective
Storefront

Photo: Graydon Carter, photographed by Nigel Parry at the Odeon in 2000.

My Favorite Things

“I have lists of lists,” Graydon Carter once said. It should come as no surprise, then, that the legendary New York editor, who spent 25 years at Vanity Fair before co-founding AIR MAIL, has his very own shopping compendium, as seen below. Here, in honor of our Downtown issue, Carter shares his daily signatures, from a leather folio fit for the office and pavement-proof suede loafers to the shampoo he’s stocked up on at a Greenwich Village pharmacy for over a quarter of a century

C.O. Bigelow

From $9

Lavender Peppermint Shampoo

“New York is wonderful but filthy. It even affects your hair—which pretty much needs washing every day. I’m certainly no expert on hair care, but I’ve sworn by Bigelow’s own shampoo and conditioner for more than 25 years.”

Métier

$950

Leather Folio

“If you can’t fit it in the folio we designed with Métier, you shouldn’t be bringing it to the office.”

Jonathan Becker

$6,000

Jean-Paul Goude & Toukie Smith in NYC Subway, 1976

“The only person in the world who could make riding the subway in the 70s look this glamorous is the great photographer Jonathan Becker.”

Drake’s

$85

White Linen Pocket Square

“My wife and kids think I’m nuts, but I can list more than four dozen uses for a handkerchief. These include handling a runny nose, service as a napkin when none is available, a tourniquet, a tool of surrender, and so forth. I haven’t left the house without one for more than fifty years.”

Opinel

$18

No. 8 Folding Garden Knife

“Opening Amazon packages with scissors generally ends in tears. This is also good for keeping New York’s criminal element at bay.”

Anderson & Sheppard

$1,110

Herringbone Robe

“The last word in men’s tailoring also happens to be the first word in dressing gowns. Add a suspiciously early cocktail, a jaunty smile, and you’re basically John Barrymore.”

Del Toro

$395

Men’s Suede Milano Loafer in Brown

“A hard-soled take on the classic Belgian loafer. You don’t get the bow, but you save $200 and can wear them outside the house.”

Eight & Bob

$185

Original Eau de Toilette in a Book

“I generally don’t splash anything on my face, aside from water. But when I’m feeling particularly festive, I pull out the Eight & Bob—a gift from a friend. The story behind this cologne—a young J.F.K., the Côte d’Azur, bottles hid from Nazis in books—is almost as wonderful as the stuff itself.”

There’s More
Go Back

Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through
our links,
AIR MAIL may earn an affiliate commission.