Less Is More
West Village’s New Monocle Shop

It occupies almost no space at all.

And yet has a bit of everything.

This is the sort of riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a tiny little curiosity/ clothing/ international knickknack shop that we think you need on a hot August Tuesday.

Allow us to point you in the direction of Monocle, the new storefront for the British culture, politics and design magazine of the same name, open now in the West Village.

Since we know you were wondering, it’s a grand whopping total of 188 square feet. Yet there’s room for a rotating cast of luggage, gingham button-downs from Oliver Spencer, limited-edition Woolrich jackets made from army canvas, boxer shorts, swim trunks, Comme des Garcons colognes, Swedish bicycles and a couple pieces of handmade furniture. (Very small pieces of handmade furniture.)

And while you can stop in for the obvious back issues of Monocle and Monocle-branded tote bags, the tiny space is also attempting to be one of the tiniest clubhouses in the city, where you can feel free to drop by and have a serious conversation about the burgeoning karaoke scene in Mozambique or the latest controversy in the Russian circus.

We’ll assume you’re up on all that.