Skip to content 
Summer provides the perfect opportunity to explore one’s taste. Serviette was recently notified of a conversation about something called “taste mass hysteria,” which can be briefly summarized as a troubling amount of people not knowing how to develop their personal taste. The answer is simply exposure. The more culture one consumes, the more it will become apparent what is worth adding to one’s taste arsenal and what can be jettisoned away and never dealt with again. (This advice applies to many things.) Whether you’re catching up on your reading poolside or escaping the heat by slipping into an air conditioned movie theater, we offer the following recommendations to exercise your cultural curiosity.
Howards End by E. M. Forster
Serviette’s reverence for Edward Morgan Forster is hardly a secret—early adopters may recall past allusions to Maurice (a text that served as one of the guiding inspirations for Byronic Hero, our cult classic, diesel exhaust laden ode to rose). The novel’s heroine, Margaret, holds such restraint… Though we’re over a century late, the fact that the crux of the story—her inheritance of a beautiful country cottage—isn’t revealed to Margaret until the end of the novel got our blood boiling for 336 pages. This slow burn class drama is kind of like the transition from orange blossom to vanilla in Frisson D’Hiver. The film adaptation, a James Ivory Oscar winner, is completely faithful to the source material, having devoured it immediately after finishing the last page of the book.
“Articles of Interest,” Avery Trufelman
For those looking to expand their cultural knowledge on the go, podcaster and producer Avery Trufelman provides a particularly delightful dose of fashion history for the style savvy in her podcast, “Articles of Interest.” Though Trufelman conducts impressive deep dives into a diverse array of subjects (think anything from ecclesiastical garb to Hawaiian shirts), Serviette is particularly fond of Trufelman’s episode on perfume, for obvious reasons. The part where she smells real ambergris is perhaps our favorite moment, as she untangles the allure of scents that, to the uninitiated, may sound downright unpleasant. A gripping and informative listen for anyone looking to lend a critical eye to what we wear and why.
Upstream, Mary Oliver
Though Mary Oliver’s poetry is perhaps what she is best known for, her authorial prowess hardly stops there. Upstream, a collection of essays primarily focused on her reverence for the natural world, is a proverbial breath of fresh air, laden with Oliver’s signature sense of optimism and boundless curiosity. It is the perfect way to usher in the summer months—a timely reminder to slow down, appreciate the beauty of your surroundings, and never relinquish your childlike sense of inquisitiveness and wonder. “May I be the tiniest nail in the house of the universe, tiny but useful,” Oliver writes. “May I stay forever in the stream.” Serviette can hardly think of better words to live by.
The NYPL Picture Collection
For those looking for an open-ended exercise in taste expansion, consider ditching Pinterest and heading to The New York Public Library’s Picture Collection, delightfully open on Saturdays—we recommend giving yourself a couple of hours to peruse the extensive collection. There’s no better way to find your next fascination (and to cool down in the midst of a New York City heat wave) than by flipping through decades of lovingly assembled archival print media—white gloves not required. If you’re not a NYC local but would still like to access the collection, you’re in luck; the archive is also accessible digitally. Serviette spent an entire afternoon poring over images of vintage handkerchiefs, gloves, and historical artifacts. Perhaps we sought inspiration for a future project…
Supporting friends on social media
Social media used to feel somewhat like a digital playground, a place where we supported and uplifted our friends’ success unabashedly with an easy repost or share to our Stories. In more recent years, this impression has slowly buckled under our increasing aversion to oversharing or being “seen” in the wrong way. Nothing is distasteful about showcasing your love (in the least expensive and easiest way possible) by sharing something you saw in your scroll to your Story—especially if your friends are talented.
The list above isn’t prescriptive. Rather, we humbly offer it as a jumping off point in the hopes that it may allow you to dig deeper into your curiosities and discover new things. (N.B. we're slow readers.)