This Mother's Day, Consider a Pair of Boxer Shorts

New York Times

28-04-2025

Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. This week, in addition to our usual suggestions, we're offering a Mother's Day gift guide, with recommendations on what we're coveting for ourselves and considering for our maternal figures. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday, along with monthly travel and beauty guides, and the latest stories from our print issues. And you can always reach us at [e-mail].
Lounge Act
Airy Boxers Fit for a Sunday Stroll
By Laura Regensdorf
If there's an underlying theme to the usual clothing gifts for mothers, it's comfort. Robes, slippers, monogrammed pajamas: These are the sartorial equivalents to a well-deserved breakfast in bed. But what if such soft styling were a little less domesticated? A new wave of ladylike boxers suggests an indoor-outdoor ease, with refined detailing and elongated cuts. The cotton poplin Stave shorts by the French Danish brand Baserange have a breezy fit and sun-faded disposition that would be at home on a Mediterranean ferry. Vaquera's knee-grazing pink-and-white boxers offer a subversive edge — especially when paired with tall leather boots, as seen on the label's spring 2025 runway in Paris. On the side of whimsical restraint, the Garment's Cyprus shorts are trimmed in a series of micropleats with a scalloped hem; they come in crisp white or black, in keeping with the Copenhagen line's monochromatic palette. For fans of smooth-on-skin silk, Comme Si's La Boxer Bermuda marries an athletic silhouette with a delicate floral by Liberty. The garden print recalls the boxer Muhammad Ali's self-described winning technique, which also sums up a mother's protective instincts: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.'
Aegean Treat
Made-in-Greece Pantry Goods
By Luke Fortney
In ancient Greece, Rhea, the mother of gods, was honored each spring with cakes, flowers and fine wines in an early iteration of Mother's Day. Draw from that history with a range of Greek imports that are now available in the United States. Damian Primis, a bassoonist with the New York Philharmonic, started Primis Imports during the pandemic, when performance halls were closed. After selling out of olive oil, he expanded into pantry staples, like sea salt flakes and seeded sesame brittle. 'They're some of the most addicting little treats you can have,' he says. The Athens-based company Daphnis and Chloe specializes in organic seasonings and teas, including one variety made for wine lovers. The tea's notes of sage and chamomile — meant to be restorative after a night out — were developed with the Barcelona-based Natural Wine Company. In Thessaloniki in northern Greece, Yiayia and Friends produces its yellow fruit vinegar with local grapes, orange, lemon and mandarin. Each 200-milliliter bottle features custom artwork from the Greek studio Beetroot Design. Psyche Organic is based in Copenhagen, but its small-batch olive oils come from single-estate Greek farms. Its founder, Theophilos Constantinou, ships his oils in one-liter pouches, inspired by budget wine, that seal in precious aromas and flavors.
Growth Potential
An English Estate's Take on Japanese Gardening Gear
By Aemilia Madden
Even the most experienced gardener is bound to face some failure. That's why Niwaki, a company that specializes in Japanese tools, and the Newt, a country estate and hotel in Somerset, England, turned to the Japanese proverb 'nana korobi ya oki' as inspiration for their four-piece collection of horticultural accessories, launching May 2. The saying, which translates to 'fall down seven times, stand up eight,' evokes the patience and persistence required in tending beds of tulips or patches of strawberries. To accompany gardeners on that journey, Niwaki and the Newt have created a Samue work jacket with deep pockets and a kimono collar, a Hori Hori knife for digging and weeding, carbon steel Higurashi secateurs for pruning and a hedge green canvas tool bag, all designed with a quaint English garden in mind. But the stylishly austere, durable designs make them a utilitarian choice for all those exercising a green thumb, no matter where their patch of dirt may be.
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