Having a Row over the Row

What is this???

 
The English language is so quirky that r-o-w can spell row, as in owl or row as in caviar. And that's what I have today, a mini battle royal between myself and that elevated in all respects fashion brand, The Row.

For those of you with no memory of '80s television, The Row was created in 2005 by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, fraternal twins who played toddlers on "Full House" from 1987, when they were 6 months old, to 1995, when they were 8 years old. They weren't cast as twins. They alternated playing a single role, thus avoiding any issues about working with minors. I guess if you were a stage mother, having twins might be your ticket to success.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

 
After several years in films (together) and a few other ventures capitalizing on their stardom, the pair began this high-end fashion brand. I was skeptical, but from the first The Row has delivered exquisite tailoring with understated style and high price tags. Nothing is produced in great quantities. It was and still is quite desirable, but hard to wear. Dressing in The Row requires discipline and editing to the extreme.

Typical The Row looks

A fancy outlier

By editing to the extreme, I refer you to today's 4-page advertisement, top photo and below, in the New York Times. Bear in mind; this was the Saturday edition, traditionally not read by everyone, ie there are few commuters on a Saturday. We soak it up every day, delivered in gold foil to our door each morning. Really, it's blue plastic, but for the price we pay for this delight, it should be gold foil like a Ferrero Rocher chocolate. Despite this being Saturday I would think national delivery of a stand-alone, 4-color broadsheet would not come cheap.

Well, it's not exactly 4-color. The front (and back) is an untitled photograph by William Eggelston, known for his lush work in color photography. Inside, the row is empty (pun intended), just a line of type with the name "The Row" and a photo credit. 

You have to look very closely...

 
What the????? I know what The Row is. Does anyone else? How many readers will assume something went haywire at the printers? What if you DO know The Row? What message is this trying to send? 

Mary-Kate and Ashley aren't saying. They are notoriously averse to personal publicity and are rarely seen at celebrity events. If I didn't know better I'd think this was a joke, but The Row isn't known for its sense of humor, and they aren't talking. 

 

Who's That Gal?

That gal is...

I'm a pro at bypassing those Facebook "reels" that pepper my feed. They are rabbit holes I prefer not to fall into. However I was stopped cold by this Iris-Apfel-look-alike model. I know she is not Iris (who passed away at age 102 in 2024). But who is she? I love her! Why? No matter how old I get (and this cat gets more Old Deuteronomy every day) I believe fashion is for everyone no matter her age, and I love to see that played out on the street, on runways and now in my Facebook feed. 

Rainer, Chris, Lauritz

"That gal" is Chris Spenner. She is the wife of Rainer Spenner and the mother of Lauritz Spenner who are Ono Koon, a German fashion brand "known for unconventional cuts, creative layered-look styles, and comfortable, loose-fitting women's clothing". 

Translated from the company website: Our fashion emphasizes the unconventional, standing out with unique designs and cuts. At the same time, it is generous, comfortable, and infinitely versatile. This very combination is what our customers have valued for 25 years now. 

Chris also posts "daily outfit inspirations", modeling and describing what she is wearing in, alas for me, German. But a picture, especially a moving one, is worth a thousand words. 

"Daily outfit inspiration" pep talk

There are classic cuts but in unusual patterns and colorways. The fit is decidedly "comfortable" but not outlandishly oversize. It still requires some skill to pull off without looking silly. 

What I like most, however, is the way Ono Koon shows the same look on two models, an anonymous younger blonde model and Chris Spenner, with a possible adjustment in styling and/or accessories. 

Same dress, two ways

Sometimes more is better, and I do feel that way about slip dresses. Consider yourself blessed if you are toned enough to pull them off. I just reached a point where I wasn't and feel more comfortable with something over them. A wispy jacket works as does this loose-knit sweater, which carefully follows the shape of the dress.  The "fashion lessons" are never overt. It's just pretty obvious that Ono Koon also believes in Fashion For All. Unfortunately there are only a few stores in Germany, and they don't deliver to the United States.

When asked I describe my style as "Bohemian with sanity". I try not to wear things that stand out in a bad way. I'm too small a person to carry off huge statements, but I do like color and unusual color pairings, pattern mixing, oddball accessories. I let my hair go gray, keep it cut in a short pixie and love me a red lipstick. If ever I am mistaken for Chris Spenner on the streets of Houston, I will be very pleased indeed. 

To Bare or Not to Bare

Oh, Mary...

The age old conundrum—I hate to bare my arms but what to do about summer dresses?—has been attacked and (to my mind) conquered by Vanessa Friedman in the New York Times. Vanessa's stories have often been inspiration for this blog. My excuse is that not everyone can access the Times, so I am doing womankind a service by passing along her (always) wise words.

Vanessa assures us that if you think you are seeing a lot of sleeveless looks out there, you are. Sleeveless dressing is more of a thing than ever, and global warming isn't necessary to blame. It's just a look. That's the way Fashion is, not always considerating what may not be easy to pull off. 

Nine out of ten women over forty worry about their upper arms.  Nine out of ten women over fifty don't like to show them. Nine out of ten women over sixty refuse to show them altogether. I've just made up those statistics, but you get the idea. The older you are the more that part of your body is a no-show zone.

Some women plain don't care. They've worked hard on their muscle tone and have managed to keep the jiggles at bay. Others—gulp—couldn't care less. This piece is not addressed to either camp. 

While it's not possible to turn back time, there are ways to make an end run around a sleeveless top.

1) Redirect the eye. Statement earrings or an eye-catching necklace can pull the attention away from your arms. Pick one, not both.

Let the necklace do the talking

2) Give it the cold shoulder. Try something incorporating the cold shoulder look or open arms.

Cold enough for you?

3) Cap it. Look for a cap sleeve or dropped shoulder. This gives the illusion of sleeveless with less skin.

Cap sleeve

Dropped shoulder

4) Take cover. A sweater or shawl is practically a neon sign pointing out what you are trying to do. Instead cover with a sheer top. This look is so fashion-forward Marc Jacobs just showed it on his Fall 2026 runway.

Forward thinking

Vanessa concludes with: "And you never know, you may learn to love your arms. They are, after all, the part of you that may have given Power Points; hefted children, boxes and furniture; typed your papers, hugged your family, paid the bills. Seems to me that's worth showing off."

Seems to me that's also good advice. 

"I'm at Loose Ends..."

Here are answers to some of your most pressing questions about 2026 summer fashion: 

"I'm at loose ends...should I wear those barrel jeans?"
—Loose Ends

Dear Loose Ends,
You will be happy to know that barrel jeans are only an option, one of way too many I'm afraid, as the fashion industry churns out ever more variations on jeans to coerce you into buying another pair. In fact, in some corners, barrel jeans are considered dead. So my AllWays advice is to wear what flatters you and is at the same time most comfortable. Those last two seem to go hand-in-hand.

Over a barrel?

"Everything this year is so boxy. How do I work around that?
—Square Root

Dear Square Root,
You can still be fashion forward (should that be your desire) by incorporating a shorter, boxy jacket over a longer top. This will lengthen the look and take care of any qualms you may have about a skimpy silhouette.

Not boxed in

"I'm dreading putting on a swimsuit. What to do?"
—Waterlogged
 
Dear Waterlogged,
Fear the beach no more! Swim tees and shorts prove you need not fear the seaside and are smart enough to realize too much sun is not your friend. You can even adopt a surfboard look and emulate Gidget (who would be 84 this year). 

Surf's up!

 
"I hate the way my legs look, but sometimes I get so tired of wearing pants."
—Leg to Stand On

Dear Leg, 
Don't be discouraged. Take advantage of the season where midi or longer length skirts are still in fashion. Keep in mind proportion is everything. Stick to a form-fitting top or tuck in a shirt lest you turn out (much as we love her) looking like Frida Kahlo in her native garb. Sandals or flats will avoid the clodhopper effect.

Si...

...Non

"Linen looks like a wrinkled mess in about 15 minutes. Should I care?"
—Pressed for an Answer

Dear Pressed, 
Linen wrinkles no matter what you do to it, yet it says 'Summer' like no other fabric. It always makes me think of mad dogs and Englishmen in the noonday sun. When you choose to wear linen you make the decision to embrace the wrinkles. There are linen blends that throw in a mixture of rayon and Spandex, but don't expect to be 100% wrinkle-free.

The way the cookie crumbles...

 
"When are wearing Birkenstocks not appropriate?"
—Twinkletoes 

Dear Twinkletoes,
At a funeral. At a wedding. In bed.

 

Stylish Read: "Fashioning the Crown"

The author of biographies of Chanel ("Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life") and Christian Dior's sister ("Miss Dior") has now fashioned a layered look at Britain's royal family. Cover image notwithstanding, "Fashioning the Crown" is not just another romp through Queen Elizabeth's tweeds, cardigans and head scarves. Beginning with the renaming of the royal family (from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor in 1917), Justine Picardie skillfully weaves together (pun intended) history, biography and fashion commentary. So thoroughly meshed are all the threads that you wonder how anything could be written without the fashion element. "You are what you wear" was never more meaningful. 

Mary and George V with a young Edward

I'm a sucker for the British royal family anyways and can never get enough of Wallis and Edward (he the king who abdicated and she the woman he loved). After a short section on George VI and Queen Mary (for whom dress was more of a duty), Picardie dives into Wallis and Edward. Over the years new information suggests this may not have been the greatest love story of the 20th century. Whatever the attraction, their mutual love of fashion was surely a tie that binds. I found it interesting that Wallis, who had been dressed by London's top (but conventional) designers, switched to the avant garde Schiaparelli once she became known as the sorceress who lured a king off his throne. 

Wallis and Edward on their wedding day

There is quite a bit on Queen then Queen Mother Elizabeth. I'd always seen her as a smiley, fairly dumpy grandmother, but the fuller picture gives her more influence and credits her as a guiding force in the reign of her husband, George VI. 

Margaret, Elizabeth and Elizabeth

The young Princess Elizabeth is covered way beyond the matching outfits she and sister Margaret wore. Elizabeth comes across as well suited and well prepared for her role as Queen, giving even the acerbic Cecil Beaton hope for the future of the Windsor dynasty. And as well known by now, she set her sights on the handsome Philip as a very young teen. He was by no means the match her parents wished for. Elizabeth's steely determination in the face of their reluctance was surely a portent of strengths to come.

 

Newly engaged Elizabeth and Philip

Almost as an afterthought are sections on Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell, both royal couturiers for many years. I'm afraid in my mind they are the two responsible for all that royal family dowdiness, but for their time—and clients—they were reliable choices. Amies, an intelligence officer in the British army during WWII, comes across by far the more interesting.

 

Picardie has done her research, quoting extensively from diaries of contemporaries close to the royals, both politically and socially, as well as using Hartnell's and Amies' autobiographies. And Picardie herself was able to uncover and view objects for years under royal lock and key. As she has done in other books, we read her thoughts as she examines some of these treasures. 

My only real disappointment in "Fashioning the Crown" was it ends just at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. As that puts us in 1953, there is a lot more fashion to come under that crown.

 

The Mall Lives—But Not for All

Once upon a mall...

Much has been written about the demise of that beloved marketplace, the shopping mall. Once the Way of the Future and then Where Everyone Shopped, malls have been a long time a-dying. Some turned into mixed-use spaces with various degrees of success. Many others were left to deteriorate as mementos of another time, Stranger Things indeed. 

Recent reporting suggests that malls are not dying but morphing into retail spaces for luxury shopping, leaving the majority of customers out of the picture. I can only report with any accuracy what I see from my perch here in Houston, Texas. 

Malls are changing. "Mixed use" never really caught on here, but some malls did sit empty or nearly so for a very long time. They may have been held up by their anchor stores—a Sears or JC Penney—but those behemoths are now gone. 

Some malls changed tenants to reflect changes in the surrounding neighborhoods. "Better retail" in Houston's Memorial City Mall moved out as the population did, replaced by smaller brands and mom-and-pops that catered to the new, less affluent shopper.

The Galleria Mall, long known as Houston's premier shopping center, has seen changes as the numbers of luxury clients left, turning those spaces into one-offs catering to the younger and less affluent. Mid-price stalwarts like Ann Taylor and The Gap remain. 

Houston's Galleria, complete with ice rink

In a phenomenon possible in a place like Texas, with lots of urban sprawl, along has come a resurgence of the "strip mall" or outdoor marketplace. Baybrook, a traditional mall outside Houston proper, is now surrounded by acres and acres of them, from the "big box" to the conventional storefront. Texans are surgically attached to their cars, so driving from place to place is no big deal. What they don't like, however, is the new policy of charging for parking. 

Much to my surprise those affluent shoppers who left The Galleria found a new home in a luxe outdoor mall, River Oaks District. Barely into tony River Oaks itself, this is a hybrid of retail and residential, laid out to resemble a village of luxury shopping and dining. One parks (or valets) in a garage and wanders about. The place always looked pretty deserted when I've visited, but it's deemed a success, with new luxury clients moving in (replacing those who didn't catch on).

River Oaks District, Houston

What about the traditional strip center on the boundary of a neighborhood that once provided needed services—a dry cleaner, drug store, movie theater, coffee shop or moderate priced restaurant—along with selected retail (a smaller Gap or AnnTaylor than the one in the mall)?

I work in one of those centers and have seen it turn into a place of non-essential services (various forms of body and facial torture and enhancements) and high-end restaurants (sprawling onto the sidewalk in a vain attempt to emulate "cooler" cities) and extremely select retail (a Steinway Piano Gallery?).

How long can the Lovely Boutique where I work hang on? The death knell may be that now, yes, customers have to pay for parking.  

 

There's No Such Thing as Coincidence

An oft-quoted theory that nothing happens without some intervention (divine or otherwise) occurred this morning. The New York Times' Style Section featured a story about an auction of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's clothing above a piece about a luxurious, little-known brand that will soon be better known, Sasuphi. It features prominently in the forthcoming sequel to "The Devil Wears Prada".

 New York Times 3/5/26

The clothing auction was not exactly a surprise. Much has been made of late about Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's understated uber-'90s style, and I'd read that a friend (and author of a book about her) had been lent, then given, some clothes by the generous Carolyn. Carolyn's style evolved as an employee of Calvin Klein. The spare, unadorned look she favored was also a '90s look (ie Armani, Prada, Yamamoto). Reams have been written about how she (tall, blonde, willowy, otherwise unadorned) could pull that off so beautifully.  It doesn't mean the rest of us didn't try.

Not very long ago we encountered "Understated Luxury". This is best described as "stuff you pay a fortune for that you could also find at Walmart", Take for instance a hoodie. We've been told that is now passe because, well, you could find it at Walmart (though not in cashmere). "Understated Luxury" doesn't have the mystery of '90s minimalism. 

By women for women

Even more recently we heard maximalism was due for a comeback. That, however, has failed to materialize, and there are a few reasons. We are all watching our pennies (or dollars) we spend on unnecessary purchases. I for one am seriously stopped by the question, Do I really need this? More often these days the answer is a hard "no". Need or want aside, clothing prices continue to skyrocket. At the lower end of things, fabric quality and workmanship can be concerning, while those high price tags make one wonder, Why? Next, I think we're all getting tired of Fashion as some fantasy cosplay. We want real clothes that we can wear, for real.

Along comes the spirit of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy to show us less really can be more and a brand that, while out of the price range for most of us, champions real clothes for real women. The fact that those two pieces were teamed up on one page could not just be a coincidence now, could it? 

Ready, Set, (Mis)match

Here's a new way of thinking about all the perfectly good clothes hanging in your closet: mismatch them. Yes, deliberately pair pieces that don't go. At least that's what the windows at Neiman Marcus would have you think. I'm not sure if the intention may have backfired. Intrigued, I immediately thought how I could do this with what I own. I was not compelled to purchase a thing, especially after I read a few price tags in the store.

Remember the pall when you had to wear an ordinary sweater or jacket over a party dress because, well, you didn't have a dedicated "party jacket"? Fret no more. Any old blazer or raincoat will do:

 Why wait for a party? Wear a sparkly blouse with a casual suit and make every day a festive occasion:

 
Of course, every day should be a party, and it doesn't matter what you wear. Cheers! 

Perfectly Imperfect is Perfectly Fine

Where are YOU???

I recently read a piece by the British interior designer and columnist for Elle Decor, Rita Konig. She was trying to decipher what turns a room into a beautiful space and hit upon one caveat that plays into my idea of personal style. As a caution she wrote about, "...moments in decorating when everything is looking a bit too tasteful and pleased with itself."

WHO are you???

Aha! So that's why I could never get with the whole understated luxury thing or the preppy thing or even the Eileen Fisher thing. It's too perfect on its own. It wants or requires no help from you. You will be tastefully dressed (appropriately for the occasion and reflecting the zeitgeist), but will you be you?  

Are you in there???

Women spend a lifetime discovering who they are. And who we are today may not be who we are tomorrow. Everything can change, and that means our style too. One year you love a ruffled collar; the next year you wouldn't dream of wearing one. You hate navy until you happen across the perfect shade of navy that turns you into a Renaisance portrait. Last winter you loved midi skirts; this winter they make you look frumpy. And so it goes.

That's why it's hard to come up with a style and stick to it. I have nothing but respect for the women who have one and do. It's said we should think of the world as our stage, but what if you have a very large repertoire of characters? One style I will never have though is "tasteful". To me that would be the kiss of death. I truly believe you can dress in good taste without resorting to "tasteful". 

Rita goes on to say she admires other people's taste without necessarily wanting it for herself. That's certainly true in fashion, where you can admire looks in a magazine, on a friend or a total stranger without wanting them for yourself. 

And when she says, "Rooms can end up rudderless when playing it too safe", I understand what she means. You have an outfit (like the ones above) where everything works perfectly but nothing tilts the equation to "perfect for you".

Always chic but never stiff

I call this "Royal Dressing". Meghan and Kate if you will. I don't include Princess Diana because, bless her heart, she always looked relaxed, even when decked out to the nines. Maybe that was the secret to her great appeal; she was relatable. 

It might be time to rethink the notion that the end game is "tasteful". The playbook to follow should be your very own and no one else's. Does this take some work? Yes, you will need to think about putting a little more you into every outfit you wear.   

You might choose a lime green shirt with that black/white/grey pants look or a red handbag instead of the tasteful, matching brown suede. You can start small; maybe it's a favorite chain necklace you wear with everything. Pretty soon you won't leave home without it. 

The new year approaches— I for one am particularly happy to see 2025 in the rear view mirror— which means it's a good time for resolutions. In fashion there are also evolutions.