Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Nostalgic Beach Supplies, Egg Cups and More

I grew up vacationing in a beach town called Nags Head on the Outer Banks, the string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. My parents did, too — they were high school sweethearts — and their stories about hitchhiking to Nags Head as teenagers in the 1960s and seeing bands like the Drifters perform at the local dance hall were the stuff of legend in my mind. As a kid in the ’80s, I loved climbing the massive sand dunes at nearby Jockey’s Ridge State Park and fishing at Cape Hatteras. So I was excited to learn that this month, Steidl will publish a book of images the photographer Joel Sternfeld took in Nags Head in the summer of 1975. Sternfeld’s weatherworn cottages and roadside snack bars bring back memories real and imagined, and I’ll enjoy reliving them with my mom. The book is currently available for preorder, so, in the meantime, I’m eyeing some other ’70s-inspired gifts for Mother’s Day. Vacation’s Orange Gelée sunscreen is reminiscent of the vintage tanning staple Bain de Soleil, and this portable wine chiller designed in 1978 by Richard Carlson is easy to find on eBay. It fits two bottles of wine. Alternatively, Cann Social Tonic’s zero-proof Roadie pouches, infused with 2 milligrams of THC, travel easily to the beach. And for a nostalgic summer pants set, turn to the Rockaway Beach-based Zingara Vintage. The designer Erin Silvers custom makes her ZingaraTerry loungewear from vintage YSL towels produced in the 1960s and ’70s.

Garden Party

Ikebana Essentials From the Fashion Designer Ulla Johnson

The New York-based fashion designer Ulla Johnson has collaborated with the British Japanese home and gardening brand Niwaki on a five-piece ikebana kit, launching next week. Ikebana, which Johnson studied during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, is a minimalist style of floral arrangement that dates back to sixth-century Japan. Four years after she began the practice, Johnson still arranges flowers from her own Brooklyn backyard as often as possible. “I start each day in the garden when I can, gathering stems and branches to bring light and life into the house,” she says. Her collection with Niwaki features ikebana essentials, including secateurs (hand pruners) wrapped in wisteria rattan, a shallow vase handmade by the Japanese potter Yo Thom and a gardening apron made of Ulla Johnson’s shibori fabric, which shows up frequently in her ready-to-wear clothes. The Ulla Johnson x Niwaki ikebana collection will…