into the dressing room
in person browsing at The Row, Leset and The RealReal
Most of the shopping I do nowadays is 1/ secondhand and 2/ online. Which for me means meticulously scrolling through every retailer’s (NAP, SSENSE, Moda, Farfetch) fit models for an item, their tagged photos on instagram and watching at least 6 tiktok reviews. I am notoriously bad at returns so this is a critical part of my shopping experience.
Last week my sweet friend, Francesca was in town visiting from London, and we spent the weekend hitting the shops. It reminded me of the mundane joy and art of shopping in person — the experience of inhabiting a brand’s world and not just their online storefront.
With MDW, there are a bunch of sales going on right now, so I thought it would be a good time to do a small round up of in person shopping I’ve done (and document some beautiful interiors!)
The Row
Every time I have a friend that’s into fashion visit, I bring them to The Row flagship in the UES. It’s housed in a gorgeous townhouse, with an eclectic mix of designer furniture, funky tapestries, and a set of winding limestone stairs that lead up to the second and top floors.
With places that “never go on sale”, I actually prefer to shop in person so I can quickly flip through the range of sizes and colors. For my 30th birthday I purchased for myself the classic wool sweater which I wear on repeat…. (in fact I’m currently wearing it — even now at the end of May). I was debating the black vs the grey, but the lovely store associate (thank you Gianna) astutely pointed out that you can see the knit detailing on the collar more with the grey, and thus I was sold.
I also got a chance to try on the gala pant which every cool girl on social media swears by. The ease and understated elegance of comfortable (and elastic waist!) pants that I can wear for work make these at the top of my wishlist for my next purchase.
Leset
This was my second time in the Leset store (the first time was conveniently documented here), and the west village store is such a stunning, calm oasis. I used to be the type of person that would politely refuse a store associate’s help, but this time I accepted the offer to pull some items for me. I tried on half a dozen things including this butter yellow breezy summer skirt which normally I would shy away from but kind of loved paired with this pointelle tank. Another unexpected try on were these “city shorts”, which might be fun to style for summer workwear.
That being said, I did play it safe, so ended up leaving with a pair of the cream barb flowy pants that I had been eying and the softest black tank.
The RealReal
Everyone knows I am a TheRealReal ADDICT, but I rarely shop in person. After hitting The Row in UES, Francesca wanted to stop by store on Mercer so we ran in right before close. I had actually seen this oxblood Khaite dress online and knew that it was also in stock in the SoHo store, so immediately beelined for it.
I’ve been anxiously looking to add some color to my wardrobe (this oxblood is stunning) and find the column shape to be so subtly chic. I find that Khaite dresses tend to run big and would require some tailoring, so I ended up leaving empty handed. And alas — the dress sold a few days ago. The final item I tried on was a fun little toteme top that I thought might be a good summer workwear item, but didn’t end up purchasing.
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That’s all for today — this was a fun little round up of my latest try ons (and candidly a much needed break from the intensity of writing about china and my trip home). I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing regularly now that my Parson’s class is done, but would love to hear what you want to read!
Also I’m thinking of making this into a series — I’ll often get asked for recommendations for someone’s first time shopping from a certain brand and think a try-on series would be a great way to showcase a brand’s essence. Some ideas for next time: the St. Agni New York residency, Toteme, and perhaps Jenni Kayne….?
Until then, much love and hope you have a calm and lovely start of your week!
xx Tina
