Tack Shop: Claire Mazur & Erica Cerulo's 5 'Thingies' for 2025
My favorite romantic-fiction tycoons on their go-to night cream, travel pants, and more.
Welcome to Tack Shop, a shopping column where I (or friends of Clotheshorse) curate a mélange of interesting, fun, delightful things you can invest in.
We’re getting things started with a real treat, and objectively, two of the coolest, smartest, kindest, and of course, most stylish women ever. Please welcome to the stage: Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo.
According to my inbox, I first “met” my very favorite 21st-century renaissance women Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo in 2014, via an introduction from a mutual acquaintance. “Maura, Erica and Claire started Of a Kind, a site dedicated to selling independent brands. Erica/Claire, Maura is open to freelance work so I thought it would make sense to introduce you all to each other.” And boy, was I ever! Because at that moment in time, my salary legitimately would’ve been higher if I had just committed to combing through my parents’ couches for loose change.
Claire and Erica, who responded right away, were tremendously gracious to this annoying early-20-something and loaded me up on assignments. Both literally and figuratively, they helped me get my foot in the door and keep it there, as they were giving me enough work to help me pay my New York City rent. I haven’t left them alone since.
Their generosity aside, the larger reason I’ve been so obsessed with Claire and Erica for the last decade is the simple fact that they’re brilliant, fascinating women.
They met as undergrads at the University of Chicago in 2002 and have been business partners since 2010, when they launched Of a Kind, the aforementioned fashion e-commerce and content business. It’s hard to describe the impact Of a Kind had on the fashion and retail scene in the aughts, but it was truly revolutionary — the first of a crop of fashion companies trying to bridge the gap between content and commerce. They sold the company to Bed Bath & Beyond in 2015 and ran it until 2019, when the now-defunct retailer shuttered it for good. We were all very sad, as immortalized by my friend Callia Hargove on Fashionista. That same year, they authored the Random House book Work Wife.
Today, they run the tastemaking media enterprise A Thing or Two, which connects with design and book enthusiasts through its weekly podcast and newsletters. But here’s where it gets really interesting: Last year, they launched 831 Stories, a “modern romantic fiction company.” The Cut called it “Marvel or Bravo for romance,” and I would have to agree! As voracious consumers of romantic fiction themselves, they saw the potential for the genre to shift attitudes toward women’s sexual and romantic lives in consequential ways.
Whatever Claire and Erica touch turns to gold, and not simply because they have immaculate taste! Work hard and be nice to people and all that… It’s a real thing.
I highly recommend you follow them everywhere, but especially on Instagram at @athingortwohq where their community takes to Stories once a week to share their “Thingies of the moment,” which is exactly what it sounds like — from heated eye massagers (reader, I bought one) to “carving a wooden spoon while watching political coverage” (from “thingies pt 31”).
Below, Claire and Erica’s five-ish Thingies for 2025.
xx,
Maura
Jouer Skin Barrier Cream ($42 for 60G; $26 for $30G): “We both feel very strongly about this product — and feel just as strongly that it deserves way more hype than it seems to have. It’s the type of thing that you use once, and you’re like, ‘Oh wow, this must have a cult following, it’s so good.’ But the internet commenters and TikTokers do not seem to have discovered it yet, and that seems…not right!”
Splits59 Raquel Flare and Icon: “Erica started wearing the Raquel as her off-duty and travel uniform (they’re like the High Sport pant in athleisure form), Claire got jealous and purchased a pair only to realize she can never wear them when traveling together — which we do a fair amount — so that led to a purchase of the Icon (they’re like if a tapered sweatpant and legging procreated), and you know what? Hit after hit.”
“Rivals” on Hulu: “We are both (obviously!) very stepped in romance and fascinated by the long history of the genre and the many permutations it's been through. The eighties and nineties were this era of the Bonkbuster where women like Jilly Cooper, Judith Krantz, and Jackie Collins were doing serious numbers with high-glam, high-drama, and high-smut novels, and a lot of them were turned into miniseries — think: “Scruples," “Chances,” etc. “Rivals” was a big Jilly Cooper hit in 1988 about a bunch of rich, beautiful people living in the English countryside and vying for TV fame and fortune. It’s been turned into a show by Disney+, and it is just plain fun. We’re rubbing our prayer beads together for a second season.”
Lizzie Fortunato Fine: “The twins who run this line are close friends of ours. We started businesses around the same time, so it sort of feels like we’ve grown up together in a way. They’ve expanded the fine jewelry part of their business in recent years, and it feels like exactly what we want to wear at this stage of our lives — actually nice, adult jewelry that isn’t boring. Claire’s been building a collection of the mood necklace charms on this perfect tiny pearl strand, and Erica’s been leaning into the earrings because what’s better with a blunt bob than a little dangly sparkle in your ear?”
Goop Kitchen: “If we ever move to L.A., this is why. And because we don’t believe in guilty pleasure, we will feel no shame about that.”
A note to readers: Clotheshorse may occasionally include affiliate links if I’m recommending a product I love, but I’ll never promote anything I don’t use and/or enjoy myself!
I love every single thing they do so this was super fun to read 🤍
Obsessed with 831!! I now need those sweats, too!