Why Is Everyone Suddenly Dressing Like Background Characters from The Sopranos?
I nearly crashed my car in Williamsburg last week. Not because of a pothole (though God knows there are enough of them) or a rogue delivery e-bike (the true menace of Brooklyn streets), but because I saw three separate people within two blocks wearing what I can only describe as full Bada Bing chic. Track […]
CEO at Target, Intern at Neiman Marcus: The Mixed-Budget Outfit Formula That Always Works
I had exactly forty-seven minutes to get from a designer showroom in the Garment District to a career panel at FIT, and every taxi in Manhattan had apparently decided to take a collective lunch break. There I was, running down 7th Avenue in a downpour, protected from complete ruin only by the New Yorker’s best […]
The Outfit Formula That Makes Me Feel Like I’m in a Nancy Meyers Movie
I have this recurring fantasy that doesn’t involve Ryan Gosling or winning the lottery (though I wouldn’t say no to either). It’s about waking up in a Nancy Meyers movie house, specifically the kitchen – you know the one. Sun streaming through massive windows, copper pots hanging from a ceiling rack that would collapse my […]
I Dressed Like Different American Cities for a Week
It started as a joke, actually. I was on a call with my editor pitching stories for our “American Style” issue, throwing out the usual suspects—profiles of heartland designers, a deep dive on denim manufacturing in Detroit, maybe something about cowboy boots making a comeback for the seventeen-thousandth time. Catherine, my editor, sighed loudly enough […]
The $22 Amazon Find That Gets Me More Compliments Than My Designer Pieces
Look, I’m not supposed to admit this. Fashion editors like me are expected to exclusively wear pieces that cost more than your monthly rent while sipping obnoxiously expensive oat milk lattes and pretending we’ve never set foot in a Target. But here’s my dirty little secret: the item that consistently gets me stopped on the […]
The Amazon Fashion Hack That Lets You Try Before You Buy Without Prime
I’ve been burned by Amazon fashion more times than I care to admit. There was the “100% silk” blouse that was clearly polyester and smelled faintly of chemicals when it got warm. The “Italian leather” boots with soles that started separating after two weeks. The “just like Lululemon” leggings that were so sheer you could […]
The ‘Too Good to Be True’ Amazon Fashion Finds That Actually Deliver
My bathroom mirror and I have had a complicated relationship lately. It started three weeks ago when I found myself staring at my reflection at 2:17 AM, wearing what could only be described as a fashion crisis—an oversized Knicks t-shirt I’d stolen from my ex (don’t judge, it’s comfortable) paired with fuzzy socks that had […]
The $40 Amazon Dress With Its Own Instagram Account
I’ve spent my entire career as a fashion editor telling people that you get what you pay for. Quality costs money. Investment pieces are worth it. Fast fashion is a false economy. These are the mantras I’ve repeated in countless articles, firmly believing each one. So no one was more surprised than me when I […]
The Affordable Anti-Fast Fashion Brands That Still Feel Trendy
The package arrived while I was interviewing a designer over Zoom, which meant I had to pretend I didn’t hear my doorman buzzing or the subsequent text that read “Left a package, Ms. James. Looks like clothes again.” My doorman, Miguel, has developed a slightly judgmental tone about my deliveries. I don’t blame him—he’s the […]
The Secret Affordable Brand Fashion Editors Keep to Themselves
My introduction to fashion’s best-kept secret happened three years ago in the Style Compass USA bathroom, of all places. I was washing my hands when Simone, our notoriously intimidating fashion director, walked in wearing what appeared to be perfectly tailored cream wide-leg trousers that pooled just so over her Manolos. Naturally, I complimented them—partly because […]