Back Row's Year in Review
The most popular stories, products, and podcast episodes from the year. Plus, a quick check in on billionaires.
Loose Threads
Two days before Christmas, The Cut dropped a striking, widely celebrated editorial of NYC’s incoming first lady Rama Duwaji. I thought the photos were fantastic as far as fashion photography goes. They are particularly striking for a political figure since she wasn’t afraid to wear fashion — pieces by Marc Jacobs, Jacquemus, Diotima, Peter Do, Fforme, and more. The credits notably call out that these items were “on loan” as they basically always are, but perhaps an insurance policy so that people don’t accuse her of being too fancy.
Let’s take a quick moment to check in on Aspen. I have never visited and am wondering if someone can explain the cowboy hat thing — wealthy people who may never otherwise wear cowboy hats seem to love going to Aspen and putting on cowboy hats. Met Gala backers Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Aspen cowboy hats have received considerable media attention, case in point.
If you were worrying that money bought billionaires a better new year’s than yours, well, not necessarily! Speaking of our Met Gala King and Queen, this video of les Bezoses partying in St. Barths at a daytime brunch with house music and bottle girls and a magnum of champagne with a sparkler in it being shaken by a hype man sure is making the rounds.
Banana Republic’s winter sale is currently on, with some 60 percent off items an additional 20 percent off, like this cashmere crewneck I personally have been living in and this turtleneck I may have to buy since temperatures in NY have gone from “I can do winter” to “well, this is unbearable.”
I’ve been singing the praises of EBY’s bralettes (so comfortable), one of my top product/brand discoveries in 2025. They are 30 percent off through January 1 (matching briefs are also marked down).
Back Row’s Year in Review
Happy New Year’s, readers old and new! Hopefully you are off to a party with people you genuinely like, or a warm couch with Emily in Paris, or whatever your holiday unwinding kink is.
Mine, I learned over Christmas break, is having a drink and reading Antarctica shipwreck books (I have to turn off from fashion/celebrity/Birkin news/etc. somehow). Perhaps yours is having a gummy or some mulled wine and reading Back Row, or listening to the podcast. I sure hope it is, because I have a big list of Back Row’s most popular stories and pod episodes from 2025!
First, the stories that converted the most paying subscribers…
This came out in 2024, and remains Back Row’s all-time best converting paid story. People are still paying to read it. It got a second or maybe third wind this year from this free story about The Row’s ridiculous sample sale.
My annual predictions are a top converter each year. The next issue of Back Row to land in your inbox will have my predictions for 2026 along with an assessment of what I got right and wrong about this year.
“Retail Confessions” is Back Row’s most popular (and juiciest) series. This Loro Piana dispatch had it all — Succession tourists; $350,000 crocodile jackets; and how clients really felt about the vicuña scandal.
The first in a two part series (find part two here), I asked people who bought Birkins why they do it. What motivated people to spend $15,000 or more on a single handbag? I think we are post-peak Birkin now, but were about at peak a year ago when I did the story.
“Private client relations is the secret to success in fashion right now,” said this Bergdorf personal shopper. “I think brands like Dior have really leaned into it. I joke that with Dior, if you spend enough money, they’ll tuck you into bed at night, warm up glass of milk, and give you a cookie.”
Next, the top converters of free subscribers…
The Row’s viral NYC sample sale may have been my favorite fashion story of 2025. The classic tale of a brand that thinks it’s better than a viral haul vlog fiesta becoming… just that. (This was also one of the most liked stories of the year.)
This was the second in a two-part series (find part one here). It’s paywalled, but drove lots of new readers from Instagram (thank you for joining us!).
By my friend Emilia Petrarca of Shop Rat fame. Spoiler alert: a lot of dupes are pretty damn good. (This was also one of the year’s most liked stories.)
I suspect the fashion industry will have to contend with this issue a lot the rest of this decade. Bethenny Frankel has been all over this topic on social media, so I interviewed her for the story: “Frankel pointed out (and this point was also made by commenters on Back Row’s recent series on how people got their Birkins) that the unrest isn’t just about the prices — it’s about luxury brands deciding who is worthy of being sold their products.”
Back Row’s most liked stories in 2025 were…
An interview with my friend Valerie Monroe, author of How Not to F*ck Up Your Face here on Substack. I loved her commentary on one of the biggest stories from 2025, which was how we may have reached peak plastic surgery this year. “I believe it's much healthier spiritually to learn how to live in a body that doesn't last forever,” she said. “If we live to be 120, we're just going to want to look like we're 50 or 60 until we're 120.”
After watching her addictive Netflix docuseries/advertorial for her clothing line, I had to know: were her T-shirt and jeans as magical as they looked? Spoiler alert: not necessarily.
The announcement about my book Gwyneth: The Biography, which came out in July and became a New York Times bestseller. Thank you all so much for supporting this book — its success would not have been possible without you.
This year, Back Row launched a podcast (which you can follow on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts). Here were the most downloaded original episodes…
Is Vogue Still Relevant? Rachel Tashjian on Fashion’s Power Shift
How Social Media Broke Fashion (and Everything Else) with Taylor Lorenz
Rachel Zoe’s ‘Real Housewives’ Debut (with Brian Moylan)
Anna Wintour, the Bezos Met Gala, and the Politics of Condé Nast (with Good Noticings)
How Gwyneth Paltrow’s Extreme Diet Sparked a Detox Craze
And lastly, here were the most purchased products recommended in Back Row (and they are all PANTS!)
Rag & Bone’s sweatpants jeans in the Sofie style. (I reviewed the sweatpants jeans here.)
Rag & Bone’s wide-leg sweatpants jeans.
Rag & Bone’s regular wide leg jeans, for those of you who aren’t ready for sweatpants jeans (I do love both the hard denim and sweatpants “denim.”)
America Eagle’s low rise baggy jean (a great, very comfy budget jean option).
And finally, Free People’s retro rider pants, if you want to be a big workout pants person.
Stay safe on NYE and I’ll be back in your inbox in the new year! Thank you again for supporting Back Row.
Re: cowboy hats in Aspen: My friend spends several weeks there per year and has noted that the scene is now dominated by wealthy, flashy Texans/southerners. (She is from the South herself.)
Thanks for your expert insights and facilitating great conversations about fashion! Looking forward to 2026!