How Phoebe Philo is Phitting

Plus: vintage Knicks gear, sneaky styling from The Row, and glossy hair hacks.

Today’s letter is supported in part by our friends at Jimmy Choo, Another Tomorrow, and Métier.

I didn’t expect to take an entire week off, but here we are. Rewind: we went dark last weekend in solidarity with the economic protest over ICE. On Sunday night (a night I usually spend writing), I went to the New York Knicks game. (Heads up, I am going to tag everyone’s name below because many of these folks have great Substacks!)

Laney Crowell, the Founder of Saie (and the beauty sponsor of the team — they just launched a setting spray that has become indispensable to me), had a suite and put together an insanely fun group of people — some old friends, some new.

My Knicks game look, supplemented by vintage Knicks gear Laney’s team sourced for everyone. Saint Laurent leather jacket, Re/Done jeans, The Row clutch (secondhand) and boots, Sherman Field bracelets, Cartier watch.

As new friends go, I spent the first part of my night chatting with Ella Emhoff and her boyfriend. Ella is a big knitter and my Mom owned a yarn shop for many years, so we had lots of proverbial yarn to spin (sorry for the corny pun). My buddies Cassandra Grey (in new Alaia pants from Hirschleifers) and Samantha Ronson rolled in shortly thereafter, and we had a blast watching the nail-biter of a game against the Lakers, Samantha (generously) playing sports sensei for me and asking about what music she’s going to spin at my wedding.

We were seated with Paloma Elsesser (face card, Centurion) and her buddy, which made the game spicy because Paloma is a Lakers fan. At one point she leaned over and touched Cassandra’s hair, commenting on how incredibly glossy it was. “Filament!” Cassandra said, referring to a new haircare launch everyone is obsessed with right now. “Oh my God,” I chimed in. “You need this stuff.” (Sidebar: you need this stuff too, it’s a lifesaving moisture bomb for crackly winter hair. Code, THELOVELIST15.)

Gameday beauty necessities: Filament hair treatment (THELOVELIST15), Crown Affair mini brush (THELOVELIST), Saie Beauty lip liner, Slip Tint, Dew Blush, The Big Brush, Sun Melt, CitySet.

The Knicks won, and in my car on the way home I thought, yeah, nights like this are why this city is magical. But did I get any work done? No.

The next morning, I stepped outside to grab my neighbor’s New York Times off the snowy stoop and when I came back in, slipped, fell, and hit my head on the radiator. Once I came to, I walked to my doctor who promptly diagnosed me with a concussion. Oopsie. I was told to stay off screens, among other strict directions. Now, it’s the following Saturday and —with the exception of a catchup with my lit agent and a plotting session with tariro makoni — I have produced ZERO work this week.

As it turns out, I hear it was a good time to be off Substack because things were kind of mean this week? Idk. I muted all the assholes ages ago. I’d only add my tip that when things get nasty here, consider the source, then mute it.

Anyway! I hope you’ll forgive my radio silence. The universe intervened. Given that we need to catch up, this is a looser, more conversational send today.

A teased Collection D Philo look that has yet to drop.

• Some of the consistently most useful sources when researching this letter are Sales Associates. One of the most consistent reader questions I get is about the fit of Phoebe Philo’s pieces. I 100% get this; the line is difficult to get your hands on (intentionally so), and unless you live in a major metro like NYC, waltzing in somewhere like Bergdorf Goodman or Printemps to try things on is pretty out of reach. At that point, you have to either order the items from Philo’s website (which often get stuck in customs), or, if you’re a MyTheresa Privé customer or Net-a-Porter EIP, order them via your respective sales associates (not on consignment may I add) to figure it out for yourself.

  So I wanted to gather some intel for you. I’ve tried on a fair amount of pieces myself, but our bodies are likely different, so I went straight to the (sales associate) source to find out what the consensus was. Everyone agrees her coats are wonderful. The fit is pin-neat across outerwear, so order your true size.

  

  Only Privé customers will see the Phoebe Philo selection on offer via MyTheresa, which is not available to try on via consignment.

  The shirting is only a touch less predictable: the evergreen upright collar shirt fits oversized (same for the relaxed tailored shirt), but past styles, especially silk or tuxedo, have been running surprisingly slim given their ecomm styling, which leads me to believe they’re putting models in a size or two up for that slouchy look (chic, but misleading). The same for t-shirts, including a cape style I was so excited about, but the boxy fit shown actually presented slimmer upon try-on.

  According to both department store and ecomm SA’s, the pants and denim are all over the place. There seems to be little consistency, making it necessary to order multiple sizes up and down for try-on. Find your size in the zipper jeans? Well, that may not also be your size in her louche milk-colored numbers. The general advice for shoes has been (for the most part) to go a half size up across the board. I’m a 39.5 with a narrow foot but always end up needing a 40. What’s been your experience?

• Speaking of sales associates, my SA at The Row diligently let me know that new Spring styles are trickling into the store. I’ve been salivating over look 4 in particular, which I’m sure you’ve seen by now as well. In particular I want those shorts:

  

  The Row S/S ‘26 Look 4.

Ayo Edebri in look 4, promoting After The Hunt, styled by Danielle Goldberg. (Image source.)

To the naked eye, it looks simple enough to pull together on your own, maybe with things you already have. But upon closer inspection, the devil is in the proverbial details. After seeing it IRL, I was surprised to learn the top isn’t plain cotton, but a fine terry in an oversized cut with intentionally long sleeves. The way it slips over the thumbs to obfuscate the hand is what takes it from white shirt to something that looks expensive.

The shorts aren’t what I originally thought, either; I thought they were navy with a white cuff, but in fact it’s two pairs of the same shorts, one white, one navy, layered over one another — tough to pull off without adding bulk to your bottom unless you’re, well, very thin. That said, the shorts are an almost whisper-thin cotton, so the look is realistic for real life.

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I’ll leave you with another batch of treat yourself ideas for this Valentine’s Day, in honor of this post, which went semi-viral:

This Valentine's Day, Dump Him.

U Beauty (now at Sephora) The Barrier Bioactive Treatment and The Plasma Lip treatment // Simone Perele bra and undies // Kate McLeod lotion stone (the BEST little gift) // Metier personalized wallet // Margaux NY flats // Another Tomorrow top // Byredo Mojave Ghost // Jimmy Choo heels // J.Crew The Trouser jeans