For those who like feeling as if they’re sleeping on a pile of feathers, or in a Ritz-Carlton penthouse suite, nothing will bring you there like a plush mattress topper. An extra (literal) layer of softness can be all the more necessary in this age of computer-generated comfort from bed-in-a-box brands like Casper and Tuft & Needle, which aim for a median level of comfort so that you don’t need to test out your mattress beforehand; you can feel relatively sure, based on their extensive research, that it will feel “fine.” But what if you want to feel not just fine, but like you’re sleeping on a cloud? If you’re looking for plush, there are two options: down and alternative down, which mostly feels the same, but has no allergy-causing potential and is often much more affordable. What makes one cushiony fabric really stand out from the pack is the way it distributes the fluff. While in some cases a down filler will shift or bunch up, the best toppers are able to maintain an even distribution throughout the night.
Others run into problems when the outer shell has a synthetic feel, which can seep through and affect overall softness, even when it’s beneath sheets. The happy medium here is Parachute, which is, of course, another sleep start-up. Instead of focusing on the mattress, though, Ariel Kaye founded Parachute two years ago to sell sheets and duvets she designed to mimic a hotel bed she first slept in during an Amalfi Coast getaway. I was turned on to the brand during an informal survey of interior-designer friends and bedding experts. Two of them, interior designer Danielle Arps and home-goods designer Aelfie Oudghiri, said that Parachute’s down-alternative fiber bed, filled with a hypoallergenic microfiber and released this August, was the most natural and luxurious-feeling, like a super-dense comforter from below. So I decided to try one out.I sunk right into the Parachute and it shaped to the form of my body, following my every move throughout the night. While a memory-foam topper might act similarly, this felt light, airy, and cool, instead of thick.
And there were no hot vibes like I get from foam. Kaye and her team developed this topper to solve the problem of down alternative often flattening quicker than real feather down; Parachute’s stands at three inches tall (they also offer a duck-feather option). And instead of bothersome synthetic coating, Parachute uses an Oeko-Tex certified cotton shell that’s both soft and free of synthetics and chemicals. But most important, the Parachute has a box construction with stitching throughout the topper to make sure that the fiber filling stays evenly distributed throughout any tossing and turning, so you’ll never have to shake it out. I felt myself gently melting and folding into the topper, while it enveloped me from beneath. I woke up feeling lighty sandwiched between layers of plushness.Besides all the usual advice about turning off your electronics a half hour before bed or keeping your room a blissful 68 degrees, there are plenty of things you can do to make your sleep environment as hospitable as possible.
Like, buying butter-soft sheets or an eye mask that turns your bedroom into a dark cave. Below, we’ve compiled everything you need to get the best night of sleep. The Strategist is a new site designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best notebook, black T-shirts, fashion-editor-approved jeans, toothbrush, and apartment décor. Note that all prices are subject to change. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. Two mattress start-ups � the one-model-only Casper and high-tech Wright � join South Soho’s Sleep District. 1. Casper showroom: Three layers of latex, memory, and support foams (45 Bond St.). 2. Wright: Five layers of viscoelastic memory foam with side vents (188 Lafayette St.). 3. Keetsa: Ecofriendly with green-tea-embedded foam (69 Mercer St.). 4. CoCo-Mat: Metal-free with flexible rubber for pull-out couches (49 Mercer St.).
5. Hästens: $112,000 beds with horsetail hair (75 Grand St.). 6. Airweave: Mattress toppers with entwined-resin fibers (498 Broome St.). 7. Savoir Beds: Hand-tufted with hand-teased horsehair (54 Greene St.). 2x2: Abstract Side Tables A little neoplasticism for the entryway. Over $300: Laurel side table, $1,115 at the Future Perfect (55 Great Jones St.). Over $300: Alwa, from $2,480 at Avenue Road (145 W. 28th St.). Ask a Shop Clerk Desiree Verdejo left her law career to open one of Harlem’s first high-end cosmetics stores, Vivrant Beauty (220 Saint Nicholas Ave.).Over the past few years, I’ve watched Harlem’s vacant lots become fancy restaurants, but I still had the same problem I always did growing up in this neighborhood with an acne-prone complexion: no skin-care shops to help me find masks and washes for my individual needs. Now, my salesperson is a certified aesthetician and I handpick brands like Flo + Theo, a local vegan line by two Nigerian sisters, and carry foundation that comes in the full color range, from porcelain to deep brown.
Yazid Aksas’s Public Factory is a co-retailing space for 12 brands (310 W. Broadway). Clockwise, from bottom left: �This Elkel jacket ($469) is unisex. And it’s for going out.�Frank is the only home-goods brand here because the products are fair trade, like this skull made by an artisan in Mexico ($225).� �I designed this Aksel shirt ($135) with a double stitching that molds to the contours of a man’s body.� �I’d use this Enter backpack ($169) for groceries because it has so many inside pockets.� �Instead of an hour hand, the whole face of this Orikami clock ($115) spins.� Alan Maleh just opened a physical space for his magazine-cum-e-tailer Man of the World on the second floor of his other menswear shop, Gentry (108 N. 7th St., Williamsburg). �We signed a lease for the apartment above Gentry that we decided to integrate into the store. Downstairs is for the younger, edgier, Japanese-inspired man, but when you walk upstairs, the lifestyle changes.
It’s for the James Bond�meets�Paul Newman tailored gentleman who travels with a leather Globe-Trotter carry-on bag ($1,835) and wears a Native American thunderbird cuff ($360). Upstairs, everything is for sale, including the vintage Nigerian hand-beaded chairs ($5,000 each), and there will be someone who represents our $15,000-per-year concierge service to book your plane, hotel, restaurant reservations, and cultural events when you travel. We say Man of the World is everything a man needs and nothing he doesn’t.� A distressed-metal motif reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty is the new sheen in town. 1929: Midtown’s Mercantile Building is finished with a tarnished-copper rooftop. May 2014: Inspired by the building’s green roof, Mary Wallis unveils her Acorn lamp at ICFF. May 2014: Also at ICFF, Rich Brilliant Willing’s oxidized-copper Palindrome chandelier debuts. February 2015: Danish brand &tradition commissions oxidized vases from Dutch designer Lex Pott.