What is Gumshoe?
Gumshoe is a style newsletter that curates hard-to-find and sometimes one-of-a-kind fashion, home decor, and other miscellaneous delights. It primarily focuses on secondhand discoveries from sites like The RealReal, Etsy, eBay, Chairish, Poshmark, and 1stdibs, as well as things made slowly and in limited quantities by small brands I come across and fall in love with. There may also be occasional interludes about specific things I’m obsessed with that are more widely available, or tips for getting extra mileage out of things you already own. The common thread is shopping smarter (i.e. not necessarily more) – sometimes within your existing wardrobe.
Why did you start this newsletter?
Because I believe there’s room on the internet for more style and shopping recommendations from a highly curated, personal POV that isn’t beholden to the same financial or traffic-oriented priorities that a larger publisher would be. I say this as both a long-time fan of those larger publishers and as someone who is grateful to have had opportunity to write for many of them: While the scale of their content and audiences lend them a certain gravity, there are certain constraining realities to how they publish, like the fact that the content is funded by advertisers and retailer kickbacks (a prevalent revenue strategy known as “affiliate marketing”), or framed to maximize clicks (“SEO marketing”), or watered down to appeal to a mass audience. This isn’t to say that all large publishers’ shopping content is bad. Some of it absolutely still manages to shine, and other times a comprehensive list of black workout leggings under $100 is exactly what the doctor ordered. But for the most part, big-title online shopping content is filtered through the prism of a few different goals that aren’t always conducive to the special and the personal, a.k.a. the stuff I’m most interested in sharing and consuming.
What’s the point of spotlighting secondhand and vintage things that might sell out quickly?
I wanted this newsletter to feature a lot of one-off finds because those are the things I’m personally excited to shop for – both in terms of cultivating a more original sense of style and, crucially, practicing more sustainable shopping habits. My guess is that a lot of other people feel the same way, but may not have the time to hunt for them, or even know where and how to look. There is definitely a sense of urgency baked into the equation given that one-of-a-kind things might sell out fast, but as someone who has spent a lot of time sifting through secondhand shopping sites, I think that’s part of the thrill, and it makes the items you do score feel all the more special.
I also feature my favorite sellers and search terms of the moment (i.e. vendors I’ve discovered on sites like Etsy that I recommend keeping an eye on and keyword phrases I’ve used to successfully find some of my favorite pieces). This content naturally has a longer shelf life.
Why is it called “Gumshoe”?
"Gumshoe” is a slang term that refers to the rubber-soled private detectives of the early 1900s, a sentiment I intend to channel into my own detective work for this newsletter (which will conveniently involve a lot of cool shoes). But also, gum is sticky, and sticky is precisely what I want the recommendations and ideas I put forward in this newsletter to be. So much of the shopping content disseminated online these days feels the opposite, i.e. slippery (think: SEO-targeted roundups with no discernible byline that you click on today and forget about by tomorrow), which in turn begets slippery shopping habits (purchasing things without consideration for whether you’ll actually love and use them for a very long time). My intention is for Gumshoe’s content to have staying power. Ditto for anything you happen to buy as a result.
How do subscriptions work?
Free Subscribers receive a newsletter from me at least three times a month.
Paying Subscribers receive two extra newsletters per month, including Sticky Note — my monthly inventory of worthy obsessions. You’ll also have access to the archives (featuring evergreen letters such as a detailed rubric for packing for long trips in a carry-on and an extensive rundown of my favorite vintage fine jewelry sellers), and my deep gratitude for supporting this work and the time it takes to put it together.
