The Art of the Forever Buy: Ali LaBelle’s Favorite Purchases

Before The Receipts

TQE: For readers who may be new to À La Carte, how do you describe what you do and what originally pulled you toward Substack as a platform?‍

AL: It’s shockingly difficult to sum up what I do into a neat little package, but I’ll do my best! I’m a creative director—I work with brands to design their identities and create anything visual that tells their story, from photo art direction to packaging and a million things in between. I’ve worked with clients across interiors, food and beverage, hospitality, fashion, beauty… I’m so lucky, and I hope to do it forever.

I started À La Carte in 2023 because I was looking for a way to share all the things that I find inspiring—places, films, books, weird things I find at the flea market—beyond just an Instagram repost, but since then, it’s grown into a pretty popular design publication that ranges across a lot of different creative mediums and beyond. Beyond just being a fun place to exist—I’ve met so many interesting people through Substack!—it’s been a huge driver of creative growth for me; I never considered myself a writer, but in the last three years, I’ve really settled into the role.

So much so that I’m currently writing a book! On the side, I run a brand called Pasta Girlfriend—it mostly exists online, but we host dinners and parties in LA and New York for people who also love the intersection of food and aesthetics. The throughline between my creative work, À La Carte, and Pasta Girlfriend is that it’s all about creating experiences for people that are thoughtful and beautiful, even on a small scale. The book is really, most of all, about that, and all that goes into it. (Mark your calendars for fall 2027!)

TQE: What’s been lighting you up lately, professionally or personally, that feels especially representative of this season of your life?‍

AL: I love houses—in a parallel life, I’d be an interior designer—and in the last couple of weeks, I’ve toured two spectacular, architecturally significant properties here in LA: the Virginia Robinson estate and gardens in Beverly Hills and the Gamble House in Pasadena. I garner a lot of inspiration from old houses, even for my branding work, because they tell the story of the people who lived there long ago and the design decisions they made to specifically support the way they lived. All the details are unlike anything you’d see in a new build today—they literally just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

I spend a lot of time in my own home—I’m like, the ultimate homebody—and I’m always thinking about what makes a home comforting or energizing or welcoming or intimate… A lot of what I do, both professionally and personally, has to do with identifying that feeling and bringing it to fruition, whether through a brand or through a dinner party. Seeing these old homes always reminds me to go back to the classics.

TQE: You’re known for recommendations that feel thoughtful, not trendy. What does a product have to do to earn a permanent spot in your life?‍

AL: I tend to like things that feel like they’ve been the best, and will continue to be the best, for the rest of time. The things you’d find in your grandma’s medicine cabinet or your grandpa’s workshop. Stuff that feels like it was made specifically for this exact moment, usually in response to a trend, just doesn’t do it for me a lot of the time! So much of what’s out there is specifically designed to be impermanent, a transient, disposable thing in your life. I want the things I buy and keep around me to be items I’ll still want when I’m 50 or 70 or 100 years old, and a lot of what I recommend goes back to that.

What’s Worth Buying (And Rebuying)