This week: Henry Tobias Jones, Editor-in-Chief
No one spends more time browsing on the John Lewis app than our team of shopping-addicted fashion and lifestyle journalists. So what will they be checking out come payday?
Are you as utterly sick of the depressing vibe that’s been hanging around the UK as I am? Since Brexit it’s felt like endless bad news. Lockdowns, constant strikes, having to watch Matt Hancock on I’m a Celebrity, Harry and Meghan’s podcast, the war in Ukraine, energy prices, Liz Truss vs a lettuce… wait, no, that was actually pretty funny. My point is: the past few years have been a bit bleak.
Well, no more I say. Screw the 6% interest rate. Sure, things are still on the expensive side but I’m going to push the budget right up to the overdraft limit.
Little beauty luxuries instead of that Scandinavian spa retreat. A home reno sponsored by DIY TikTok hacks. Most importantly, a bougie as hell capsule wardrobe, but one which I don’t have to entirely fund using interest-free credit. This is the go-as-big-as-you-can-or-go-home summer editor’s picks.
Fashion
I’m a vest bloke. It is the summer staple that you really can’t do without. John Lewis has a pack of two, which is massively cost-of-living friendly, plus they go with everything. You can’t go wrong with a Cuban-collar short-sleeved shirt. Major Kenergy. I like this one (and this one and this one and this one). But I like this one from AllSaints the most.
Toys
One thing’s for sure, if I’m having a you-deserve-it summer, my daughter is going to make me get her one too. And why not? She deserves it. I could give her a summer glow-up, perhaps a similar white vest for matchy-matchy daddy-daughter days. Or perhaps not. But I also have a cunning plan to win the ‘Who do you love more, Mummy or Daddy?’ debate once and for all. Say hiya to the ultimate Barbie movie mega-haul. It’s pink, check. It’s a movie, check. It’s Barbieland, triple check. I win.
Beauty
I’m having a self-improvement summer. What? It’s a normal thing to do. I’m not having a midlife crisis. My normal grooming routine starts and stops at deodorant and a splash of cold water. But this summer is going to be different. First things first, I’m breaking from my 10+ years Tom Ford perfume addiction in exchange for literally anything by Le Labo. Next I’m finally going to take the beauty editor’s advice and actually start using SPF 50 every day. Ultrasun has something called ‘Extreme’ sun lotion, which seems fitting for my new-dad levels of haggardness. Here’s hoping it reverses my current trajectory of rapidly ageing like an overripe peach in the sun.
Home
Full disclosure: my home is an utter disgrace to aesthetics. To cut myself some slack, it is midway through an extension, but my feelings of ugly house shame are real. Literally the only thing keeping me from putting the hovel on the market (aside from the very real concern that nobody would want it in its current condition) are my deliveries of massively premature ‘finishing touches’ from John Lewis. Fancy dinnerware sets, decorative lamps, the occasional arty ornament, all bought under the delusional hope my wife and I share that this knick-knack will ‘look really nice when the house is finished, won’t it?’ I honestly don’t know if it will but who cares? It’s covering up that damp patch on the wall.
