Happy Wednesday! It’s full on holiday time—and we have just returned home and are ready to start the festivities. Nicole actually had a blissful Gulf swim this weekend during a FL soccer tournament, while Jill has wrapped up her last leg of a globetrot home from Fiji via Hawaii (with an NZ stop off).

For anyone new here: this is The Skinny, where we serve up curated, need-to-know lifestyle news designed to entertain and save you time, which is everyone’s most valuable resource.

What we’re covering: 

• The myth of holiday weight gain—and tips on how to be strategic about your eating, drinking and merriment. Bonus: the most comfortable “holiday pants” 

• Smarter holiday shopping, buying less (and only quality items you need) & the reality of returns 

• What’s hot and trending in the booming market for thrifted, resell, vintage and upcycled clothes (for fashion and home consumers)

• Plus: NYC’s most stylish subway stop, boutique hotel touches for guest bedrooms, a big make-ahead holiday salad, & get your ski pass now

💡Did you know: all The Skinny editions are online and searchable—which means you can easily find topics/recipes/items we have written about in the past. Bookmark this link for reference.

🔗If someone already in the know sent this, you can subscribe here.

Weight watching

How to have your festive holiday and eat it too

The Skinny: Is holiday weight gain a “big fat lie”? Some may argue that in fact it is, in that you typically don’t gain all that much during the holidays. However, the issue is that, unless you take that weight off, a .5-1 pound weight gain every December means five pounds over five years. Easy tips on how to keep it under control are here, but our favorite personal tip is regarding how not to get completely annihilated at your holiday cocktail parties (related: “Most Likely to Get Drunk” holiday sweater). Simply focus on mingling and talking as much as possible, because when you don’t shut up it’s harder to guzzle Champagne than if you’re sitting alone with nothing to do but…down multiple glasses of Champagne. 

However, Christmas and the holidays are the best time of the year for living, which means laughing/eating/drink with friends and family. And if that means gaining a little bit of weight, it is well worth the cost. Allow yourself to indulge in tradition, but if you’re strategic and mindful using the above tips, you can minimize the hit to your waist. So, dip into that tri-chamber popcorn tin. Eat a box of Ferrero-Rocher. Make the unwise decision to open up a new bottle of vodka at 2 a.m. after returning from a party. Those are our words of holiday wisdom. Cheers! 

P.S.: Our goal was to also provide a list of the “healthiest” holiday treats, but what we found instead seemed not to qualify as a “treat.” Maybe some of these are tasty, but please don’t show up at our door gifting Gingersnap Cookies with Quinoa Flour. 

So, even if you are practicing strategic merriment, you may want a pair of loose-fitting pants just in case, and we’re here to help.

• The humble but effective Pajama Jean and their big brother, Pajama Jeans for Men! Say what you like, but if you’re craving sweatpants that can pull double duty as jeans, for a reasonable price these are right here when you’re ready. 

• If you must go to work, why should you suffer at your desk wearing uncomfortable pants? Here are The 12 Best Stretchy Work Pants for Women, Tested for Comfort. 

• Other contenders to wear among the Bermuda Triangle of the couch, fridge, and buffet table, are anything from this Elle-curated list of the Best Sweatpant Jeans. Though we disagree with the headline: there is nothing “controversial” about comfortable pants that trick others into thinking they are jeans.

• For those with the appetite of a reveler but the fashion sense of somebody who needs to leave the house, you’ll want these cult-fave, trompe l’oeil versions from Rag & Bone: they look like jeans, but are made from Miramar soft cotton (also mentioned in Elle article).

Buy smarter guide

All about returns, and how to be a more strategic shopper

The Skinny: Holiday shopping season is here and with it, an abundance of joy! But, as some will also point out, the amount of waste during these months is staggering. We don’t disagree, and while we have seen the stats of wrapping/packaging discards and mountains of textile waste, today we’re talking about returns. 

The holiday selling period is critical for brands both small and large—and we are supporters of holiday gift-giving joy—but a recent NY Times Wirecutter story underscored the need to think twice before purchasing. The article recounts an intrepid reporter’s journey to a massive liquidation warehouse filled with an unimaginable amount of pallets packed with returned goods. They then bought a 450-pound mystery pallet, and here is what they found inside—which included “a lot of sadness.” 

For more clarity and insight, we turned to our friend Adam Baruchowitz, chief recycling officer at circular textile brand Return to Vendor. Are returns really that bad since there is a flourishing market for liquidating and reselling?

The first issue with returns, he notes, is that “ the distribution model for returns is not ideal because there are multiple transport modes which have both environmental and economic costs.” The additional loss is monetary: he points out that many returns are not resellable which equals a total loss. “Then that cost/loss to brands gets baked into the prices that regular retail consumers pay as part of the broken model. We all end up paying for this incredibly inefficient form of consumption.”

The moral of the story: buy smarter, higher quality, and fewer things (and, when possible, items that are circular). 

For returns, while often inevitable, consider returning in-store or simply not having an “I’ll-just-return-it” mentality. Reducing waste is great, but so is saving your hard-earned cash: a Gallup poll stated that holiday spending would be relatively flat from 2024 to 2025, a spate of more recent studies point toward consumers pulling back this season.

Below, our Smart Shopping Gift Guide* using the above rules.

Quality, useful under $50 gifts: This threshold is ideal for many types of giftees and staying within a budget. Nicole’s currently working with a luxury jewelry brand and has been spending a lot of time in the Nordstrom NYC location—so here are her curated selects that are super easy to get from Nordstrom either to have shipped or picked up in store. 

(Note: some of these links, and some others, are affiliates—which means, at no cost to you, that we will be partially compensated if you shop through them. We are not getting paid to write this newsletter, so this serves as a small cash flow to keep the newsletter running:)

Cookware: If you have old, “non-stick” pots and pans, consider (re)stocking with “clean” cookware. Everything to know about whether you should, or shouldn’t, toss your old non-stick pans is here (“Can a Scratched Non-Stick Pan Make You Sick?”), but for pans that will last for ages, here are our picks: 

• All-Clad stainless steel, oven safe 10” lidded pan = highly versatile. 

• A set of pans from the same good people who make the Jenny Kayne dupe cashmere sweaters, and a Le Creuset dupe enameled cast iron stock pot for under $80. 

• A cast iron skillet: (a permanent fixture on our stove, used daily).

Denim: Jeans can last “forever” with proper care. According to Levi’s, caring for your denim is easy with three steps: 1) wash only if you must; 2) if so, wash inside out to preserve and protect color; 3)  skip the dryer to preserve shape. Inside Hook takes it up a notch and suggests prolonging that inaugural wash.  

• Levi's shaping jeans. We purchased both the skinny and straight. 

• Jill just bought these amazing jeans from WALMART! Yep, at $24 you can try on a trend without a major investment.

A quality tote: We love a good tote.

• The L.LBean Boat and Tote has been our preppy fave for years and recently gained TikTok fame for its customization qualities. For these, the beauty is in the character as it ages, but you’ll definitely need to clean it every decade or so.

• Wirecutter found the best of the best, and we can attest to the quality and style of workhorse staple Duck Bag.

• Also in the more beautiful as it ages category: a Will Leather Goods tote or handbag, Nicole’s workday staple. 

• Last but 100% not least is the new version of the short-lived “Boatkin.” This was our most-clicked link for several weeks but it seems to have disappeared mid-year and replaced by the [similar] “Byrdie.”

What’s old  

Trending news in the booming resell, vintage & thrift industry

The Skinny:  If you like boho luxe, and we know some of you do, check out Queen Bee Upstyle. This new brand takes vintage quilts and reimagines them as new pieces of clothing. Think Levi’s, magically transformed into flares with quilt panels on the sides, or cute cropped jackets. You can also BYOQ with a service they call BeeSpoke. BYOQ prices are the same as pre-made items and  include custom cutting and return shipping. As for denim, they usually make vintage Levi's but will do BeeSpoke jeans if you prefer Mother, Ayr, etc. 

We read about this new Pinterest feature, Thrift Shop and according to reports it was running “through Sept. 26.” However, doing a search for Thrift Shop yields a trove of amazing inspirational pins of thrift stores around the world and oftentimes, links to shop the pin. Cool way to thrift from the comfort of your couch. 

For luxury and designer shoppers, the RealReal released its annual Luxury Resale Report this fall, and they’ve seen an uptick in searches for American brands, boho style and indie sleaze (our fave).

Last licks

This week’s newsfeed

• Ski Pass deadline alert! Passes will go off sale soon (Dec. 11 for IKON, for example) and if you are even thinking of skiing 1-2 days it’s crazy not to pick one up for these reasons: 1) allows you to be spontaneous and follow the snow (some mountains sell out); 2) ease of getting on mountain without waiting in ticket lines; 3) save big $$, especially if you wait to pay on-mountain. Related: Kids Ski Free at these Alterra resorts Dec. 6-12. 

• The NYC subway is one of the least glamorous places on Earth…until now. 

• If you make one salad this holiday season, it should be this Great Big Make-Ahead Holiday Salad Recipe from the Kitchn. 

• Yes, with these tips & tricks, your guest bedroom can be as chic as a boutique hotel.

*If you purchase something linked in The Skinny, we may get an affiliate commission—but at no additional cost to you.