Burch Versus Burch

(Tory Burch's home in Southampton, courtesy of Vogue via This Is Glamorous)

On my lunch break, I read a NYMag article about preppy designer Tory Burch and her ex-husband, C. Wonder founder Christopher Burch. The similarities of their brands are uncanny and pretty obvious, but to be honest, I feel that I know neither person well enough to make a call on who is right. This is my public and diplomatic declaration. (Personally, I'm Team Tory. Tell no one.)

I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of the C. Wonder store, which is a kind of like a bright, colorful zoo of weird knick knacks, tourists who are NOT afraid to knock you down, and clothes that just cannot be of very good quality. And, if you read the article, you know that they're absolutely not great quality. Then again, you don't go to C. Wonder for the decent quality of the clothing. Save the ready-to-wear for Tory.

You go to C. Wonder for the affordable and cheeky housewares...especially those made of lacquer. Lacquer boxes, lacquer trays, lacquer everything. I love lacquer. I love lacquer more than I love petting strangers' puppies on street corners. And, maybe it's because I'm half Chinese, but I would love to see these little guys ($58; cwonder.com) on my bookshelf:

Team cute, quirky bookends.