It’s Memorial Day weekend in America — the unofficial start of summer.

As I write this, it’s absolutely pissing down rain. But that won’t stop Hamptonites from beginning their annual migration “out east” as they flee “the city” every weekend and typically all of July and August for their beach houses on Long Island.

From late June through Labor Day (always the first Monday in September), school is out, and New York City empties out.

Sadly, I do not own a beach house — or even a beach shack — in the Hamptons.

Much to the disappointment of my now-15-year-old son Javier, who loves hanging out in the Hamptons. Thankfully for him, he has friends with homes “out east” and never seems short of an invite.

That also doesn’t stop him from regularly lobbying me to buy or rent something for the summer.

He won’t remember this, but in the early years after we moved to New York in 2014 — read why we left our idyllic life in Sydney here— Javi would often ask, “Mum, do we have a beach house?”

A question prompted by the confusion of watching his Manhattan mates disappear in droves every weekend to their second homes.

“Yes, darling, we do. It just happens to be on the other side of the world,” I’d respond.

Our charming 1890s workers’ cottage in Sydney is ten minutes from the iconic Bondi Beach. In Australia, you don’t need two houses. Beach culture is a built in part of everyday life.

So I completely get the New Yorker’s need for a dual reality — to escape the concrete jungle and give their kids an upbringing that involves being barefoot on the grass and feeling the sand between their toes.

As an Aussie in NYC, I’m an unapologetic beach snob. East Coast beaches just don’t cut it compared to our soft white sand, crashing surf, turquoise water, and palm-tree-lined paradises.

But here’s the thing about the Hamptons: it’s ridiculously cute, quaint, and woody in a way I never expected from watching Hollywood movies.

Think charming cedar-shingled homes draped in climbing hydrangeas. Long winding lanes shaded by ancient oak and elm trees. Farm stands overflowing with peaches and heirloom tomatoes. White wicker porches (and plenty of white-girl rosé). The whole Nancy Meyers postcard fantasy.

Much more sweet Something’s Gotta Give Diane Keaton than drug-fucked Wolf of Wall Street Leonardo DiCaprio.

Though, in Leo’s defense, it is wildly cliquey, offensively expensive and I suspect in summer the drug-fuelled parties run riot.

The average home price now hovers around $3.5 million — and trust me, that’s for something pretty basic. Seasonal rentals can range anywhere from $50,000 to well over $350,000 for the summer.

Then there’s the mega wealth. “Fair Field” in Sagaponack — the infamous 110,000-square-foot estate owned by billionaire Ira Rennert — is reportedly worth $425 million. The estate spans 63 oceanfront acres and comes outfitted with 29 bedrooms, 39 bathrooms, three pools, a basketball court, bowling alley, and a 164-seat theatre. Just your average beach home.

The Bougie History Of The Hamptons

The Hamptons — named after Southampton, one of the original English settlements established in the 1600s — is a collection of affluent seaside villages and hamlets on the South Fork of Long Island.

For decades, it’s been the summer playground of Wall Street titans, old-money American dynasties, fashion royalty, artists, and celebrities. In the mid-20th century, artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning turned the East End into a creative enclave. By the 1980s, it had been dubbed “Hollywood East.”

Andy Warhol partied in Montauk. Calvin Klein put it on the fashion map when he made minimalist beach chic a personality. Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Martha Stewart, SJP, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z have all called the Hamptons home at some point.

As did Estée Lauder, who passed her famous Wainscott home through the generations, and it’s now home to her granddaughter Aerin Lauder, whom I visited there and had tea with on the porch while interviewing her for a cover story for The Telegraph. The house was exactly what you’d imagine from the Lauder aesthetic empire: blue-and-white interiors, fresh hydrangeas, rattan, polished silver trays, and reeking of elegant beach sophistication and old money.

The “Other” Hamptons

We might not technically be Hamptonites, but we’ve dipped our toes into life out east in a much more low-key way. Our first American friends, JJ and Johnny Burden, invited us to their place on Shelter Island during our first summer in New York.

Shelter Island sits between the North and South Forks of Long Island and is only accessible via a short ferry ride. It’s quieter, sleepier, and somehow more old-school than the main Hamptons circuit.

I still remember that first ferry ride and kind of pinching myself.

We had actual friends. We were building a life here. We were making memories in America. Some of my happiest family memories live on Shelter Island.

Swimming at Hay Beach. Farmers markets. Pumpkin patches. Fireflies for the first time. Birthday parties with bouncy castles. S’mores. Hammocks. Plenty of that white-girl rosé. Putt-putt golf. Easter egg hunts. And when we were feeling bougie, barefoot lunches at Sunset Beach — a trendy André Balazs boutique hotel and restaurant—running with the influencer crowd.

The Seasonal NYC Hotspot

Today, the celebrities, socialites, finance bros, and fashion crowd jostle for a sunset booking at Duryea’s to drink rosé and tuck into lobster rolls alongside new-money influencers, wellness gurus, and Bravo cameras.

That’s the downside right there. Over the summer, restaurants book out weeks in advance. You can wait 40 minutes for an iced coffee at Carissa’s Bakery in Sag Harbor. And if you’ve ever attempted to get into The Surf Lodge during peak summer — say a July Sunday when Rufus Du Sol is playing at sunset — you’ll understand the phrase “beautiful chaos.”

For my Aussies, Montauk — perched right at the very end of Long Island and thus nicknamed “The End” — is the closest thing to surf culture you’ll get as a New Yorker. In fact, it’s often called NYC’s Byron Bay: a little surfy, a little bohemian, completely overrun.

Yet, lust for the Hamptons has not diminished over the decades (even though, TBH, I prefer Mexico, Costa Rica, or Greece), propped up by its starring role in TV shows like The Affair, Revenge, and The Real Housewives of New York City.

Jenna Lyons’ Hamptons Happy Place

Speaking of The Real Housewives of New York City, when I think of the Hamptons, my mind almost immediately goes to Jenna Lyons. And not just because of that iconic moment in RHONY when the style icon quietly leaves the cast’s Hamptons rental in the middle of the night (and a girlie weekend) to go sleep at her own house nearby because she craved air conditioning, privacy, and proper sleep.

Queen.

When I interviewed the designer, former J.Crew creative director, and OG cool girl a few years ago at her ridiculously chic SoHo loft about her “Perfect Sunday,” she immediately transported herself to her home in Amagansett.

And you bet her perfect Sunday is every bit the Nancy Meyers-meets-fashion-girl fantasy version of East Coast summer.

Jenna wakes around 7 a.m., does a Tracy Anderson workout with friends, heads to Vicki’s farm stand with her son Beckett, weeds her garden (“it’s cathartic”), walks her rescue dog Popeye to the beach through her private street entrance, showers outdoors surrounded by beauty products, then ends the night with a bonfire, s’mores, and ice cream from John’s Drive-In.

Jenna Lyons? In the garden.

What does the woman who invented the cool downtown-mum aesthetic — vintage men’s Levi’s, oversized button-downs, Birkenstocks, DITA aviators, and a bold orange-red lip — wear while gardening?

A bikini.

Of course she does.

The Bikini Jenna Lyons Swears By

During our interview, Jenna told me she’d become obsessed with the swimwear brand Left On Friday.

“I’m a Californian girl, so I usually garden in my swimsuit,” she laughed. “I love Left On Friday. I have a bikini, and they are so cute. They have this fabric, and it just holds everything in.”

Founded by two former Lululemon executives Laura Low Ah Kee and Shannon Savage, Left On Friday was created after the designers realized that most swimwear wasn’t actually designed for movement — or doing anything active, for that matter.

So they engineered a compression fabric that sucks everything into place, smooths perfectly, and also happens to be super soft. It’s so freaking good, it’s been hailed “the skinny jeans of swim bottoms.”

I personally retired bikinis about 20 years ago. I have boobs. They just don’t work.

But when Jenna gives you a style tip, you listen up.

So I wrestled myself into a Left On Friday bikini.

It’s become my go-to.

I get stopped constantly when I wear it.

Now if only the f*ing rain would stop so I can do just that.

Shop Swimwear

I wrote recently about starting my career at Vogue Australia—accidentally, in the most Devil Wears Prada way possible. So you bet I was in the cinema on May 1 to see The Devil Wears Prada 2. And I loved it.

You had to be there.
In the glossy, glory, gory days of magazine publishing.
I promised you a sequel, so here goes…

In the twenty years between films, the landscape has shifted beyond recognition. Print gave way to digital, social media became a force, video threatened to replace words, and now it’s all branded content and commerce. Shrinking budgets, dead mastheads, getting fired more times than you can count—yes, even by text, like Andy (and I)—has sent us running for cover. Or rather onto Substack—where have you been all our lives?

Read Story

The Devil Wears Prada 2 captured it perfectly: Runway is no longer an untouchable empire but a contested asset fighting for relevance and revenue.

In my last piece, I alluded to meeting a bit of a devil at my peak—as executive editor at Harper’s Bazaar New York, working under the tough and often terrifying Glenda Bailey. We were painfully aware we played second fiddle to Vogue, so she demanded big-picture ideas—coups, she called them—and God help you if you turned up empty-handed.

We put Rihanna in a shark’s mouth, transformed the Empire State Building into a cinema for Bazaar‘s 150th, and I wrangled Karl Lagerfeld onto a private plane with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s octopus to riff on why you need eight legs to survive in the cutthroat world of fashion.

GB, as we called her, was the last of these OG real-deal editors, and I take my hat off to her. She summoned me into her office once, where she had handwritten “well done” on a piece I’d written. “You enjoy that,” she said. And I did, it was like being sent to the principal’s office and told you’d won an award.

In the movie sequel, Andy secures an exclusive with elusive billionaire Sasha Barnes—played by Lucy Liu—on her divorce and new romance.

Glenda would have called that a coup.

In something of my own coup, I asked some big-name, badass editors for their unfiltered gut reactions on The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Like Miranda, they didn’t mince words.

Farrah Storr

Things Worth Knowing | Substack

Farrah is a dear friend. I met her when she was brought out to Australia—she’s British—to helm the features department of the women’s magazine we were working on. She went on to become EIC of Cosmopolitan, then ELLE. She is an MBE, has a bestselling book (The Discomfort Zone), and is now spearheading Substack’s international writer partnerships while publishing her own newsletter, Things Worth Knowing.

Her gut reaction to DWP2

The film perfectly captures the sad, inevitable decline of magazine journalism. As someone who became an editor around 2012, just as it was all going south, David Frankel has done a brilliant job of capturing the bruised egos, the desperate last clutches at power, and the cynicism of the clickbait age.

What she misses about glossy mags

When magazines were good, they were the best place on earth to cut your teeth as a writer. I got to go undercover at cosmetic surgery practices, sit in the front row at Chanel, and interview hundreds of women about everything from heartbreak to reinventing yourself at 60. I miss the creativity, the people, the hours spent writing cover lines. I don’t feel sad it’s over. I feel grateful it happened.

What she definitely doesn’t miss

The constant anxiety about paper thickness, the fear of circulation decline, and the layoffs.

Zara Wong

Screenshot This | Substack

Zara and I share a hometown (Sydney), mutual friends, and a history at Vogue Australia—she was Fashion Features Director many moons after I’d left the building. Coveted for her incredible style, she brings that influence and her editor’s eye to Screenshot This, now ranked among the top fashion publications on Substack.

Her gut reaction to DWP2

It made me laugh and raise my eyebrows that they satirized so much of what has actually happened.

What she misses about glossy mags

The time. I think by the time I got there, it was speeding up already, but there were moments where we could spend a little more time and effort on a really creative—and commercial—project.

What she definitely doesn’t miss

Being paid peanuts.

Kate Betts

Editors@Large | Substack

I’ve admired Kate Betts my entire career. She was deputy editor at US Vogue—second in command to Anna Wintour—when I was being baptized into this world as assistant to the EIC at Vogue Australia. When I mentioned to my then editor, Marion, a friend of Kate’s, that maybe she’d give me a job at Harper’s Bazaar in NYC, where Kate had just become editor, Marion snorted: “Kate will eat you alive.”

Fast forward 15 years. I made it to New York, and to Bazaar—and eventually got my Kate Betts moment, interviewing her over tea in TriBeCa about her memoir, My Paris Dream. She didn’t eat me alive. Kate now co-writes the must-read Editors@Large with fellow Vogue veteran Michael Boodro—fashion, design, art, books, and culture through the eyes of two tastemakers who’ve seen it all.

Read Kate's DWP Take Here

Kerry Pieri

Why Not? | Substack

I met the stylish and talented Kerry—she’s actually a trained fine artist—when she was the digital fashion and features director at Bazaar, a role she held for a decade, and I was on the print side. In addition to showing her art and inspiring women’s wardrobes, she writes Why Not?—a fashion, shopping, interiors, and lifestyle newsletter that asks life’s most elegant questions.

Her gut reaction to DWP2

I promised my sister I’d wait to see the sequel, but I did rewatch the original. It actually does make me feel emotional. There are so many aspects of it that ring true to the time.

What she misses about glossy mags

Just the idea of having budgets to create these beautiful sets—to really dream up incredible stories that you could actually shoot and create using whatever model you chose, getting all the looks you wanted. Having that kind of access really only happens at magazines, and that is such a beautiful thing.

What she definitely doesn’t miss

I never had a terrorizer for a boss, which is a blessing—and I know not many in the fashion industry can say that. I was always very lucky and inspired by the women I worked for. The magazine world is so different from even the early 2000s.

Laura Brown

All The Cool Girls Get Fired | LB Media

Laura and I were born in the same year in the same country. I watched from the sidelines in our native Australia as she became a powerhouse in New York: senior editor at W, executive editor at Bazaar, and then the EIC of InStyle. When I moved to New York, I reached out, figuring she’d never reply. In typical LB fashion, she wrote back: “G’day Koala, welcome to NYC—yes, let’s get a drink.” Fifteen minutes later: “Actually, send me your résumé and come in tomorrow.” She gave me my start at Bazaar for which I am eternally grateful. When Laura was fired from InStyle—those damn shrinking budgets—instead of slinking off, she turned her Instagram comment “All the Cool Girls Get Fired” into a bestselling book—co-written with former WSJ Magazine editor Kristina O’Neill—a movement and a brand.

Laura shared her take on The Devil Wears Prada 2 with The New York Times here.

Valerie Monroe

How Not to F*ck Up Your Face | Substack

I don’t know Valerie personally, but we share a history at Hearst and in Beautyville. For 16 years, she was beauty director at O, The Oprah Magazine, where her monthly Ask Val column was followed by millions. Her brilliantly titled How Not to F*ck Up Your Face delivers the same: philosophical, practical, deeply humane guidance for anyone who’s ever looked in a mirror.

Her gut reaction to DWP2

I saw the movie recently in Tokyo, where the audience is always extremely quiet, so my snorts and other expressions of disbelief and (mild) disdain might have been a little disruptive. Streep flying coach? And asking for Champagne? C’mon, just dumb.

What she misses about glossy mags

The scenes of over-the-top luxury reminded me of my beauty director days at O, The Oprah Magazine—so luxurious that I now have a hard time believing they were real. What I miss most is working with the brilliant women who populated the magazine industry and who always made me feel like the work we were doing was actually a service to our beloved readers.

What she definitely doesn’t miss

The message about what’s happened to mass media journalism is accurate, the portrayals seemed cartoonish—or maybe I just can’t believe Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of a serious journalist, which seems to involve sitting back in every chair with her arm thrown over the side.

Sigourney Cantelo

Beauticate | Beautiful Inside Podcast

Sigourney and I go way back to the mid-noughties when we worked on the same women’s magazine with Farrah. She was glamour personified—it was no surprise she was the beauty editor. She went on to become Beauty and Health Director at Vogue Australia, a role she was born for. Then she did something brave: she left her dream job to build her own thing. Beauticate is a multi-platform beauty and lifestyle destination that reaches over 1.3 million people a month. When I asked Siggy for her DWP2 thoughts, she went one step further. She filmed a video.

That’s all.

Photo by Karly Jones on Unsplash

One of my all-time highlights while working at Harper’s Bazaar was interviewing the legendary British-French actress, singer, and enduring fashion icon, Jane Birkin. It was 2018, and she was 71 at the time. She also happened to be hurtling through the French countryside on a train. The background noise was chaotic, her phone dropped out several times, and she had to keep calling me back.

After the interview—shared below—Jane’s agent invited me to watch her perform at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall. I went solo and sat spellbound as she shared stories and sang in French to resurrect her shared history with her former partner and long-time collaborator, Serge Gainsbourg. Ironically, I had just split from my own Serge, so I was raw, very raw.

The couple met and fell in love on the set of the 1968 film Slogan. Not exactly love at first sight; Birkin described Gainsbourg as “terribly arrogant and unkind.” They were together for 12 years, had a daughter, and collaborated musically until Gainsbourg’s death in 1991.

Birkin’s concert—deeply etched into my memory and one of those NYC wow moments —brought to life her 2017 album, Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le Symphonique, featuring 21 songs by Gainsbourg. True to her anti-fashion aesthetic, she wore a man-style white shirt, black suit, and Converse. Set against the orchestral arrangements of her latest musical partner, Japanese composer Nobuyuki Nakajima, there was a haunting vulnerability in her performance. Even if it was in French, I got the memo. Especially true when she revisited tracks from her 1983 album Baby Alone in Babylone, recorded just after her split from Gainsbourg. “He just said, ‘I owe you this,’” Birkin said of the soundtrack to their breakup. You could almost feel the pain and tears she must have cried. And you bet, here I was now crying through it.

The Original It Girl

For all her status as a style icon and the original “It Girl”, Birkin’s life was as rich with tragedy as it was with glamour. Born in London, she arrived in Paris in the late ‘60s, fleeing a bad marriage, and underwent a transformation from shy English girl into the ultimate archetype of “French Girl” chic—a title she will hold forever.

Birkin shot to fame as an actress, starring in over 70 films, including Blow-Up (1966) and La Piscine (1969). But such was the allure of her trailblazing, gritty, “just-rolled-out-of-bed” cool—especially against the backdrop of the Mary Quant mod bob squad—that she became a regular on the glossy pages of Vogue. Enter her twelve-year love affair and musical collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg, and Birkin was catapulted into the cultural zeitgeist forever. Not least because their duet “Je T’Aime... Moi Non Plus” was so scandalous that the Pope banned it, which instantly guaranteed its spot in pop-culture history.

And yes, she of the signature eye-skimming fringe and wicker baskets, which defined an era, is indeed the woman behind the famed Hermès Birkin bag. Considered the world’s most coveted status symbol, a new one will set you back a cool $13,500. Though fun fact: last year, Birkin’s original black leather Birkin bag went under the hammer at Sotheby’s Paris for an eye-watering $10.1 million.

In case you don’t know the story, the bag was born from a chance flight encounter in 1984, when Birkin was seated next to Jean-Louis Dumas, the CEO of Hermès. As she tried to stow her trademark wicker basket in the overhead compartment, it spilled, scattering her and baby Lou’s belongings across the cabin. Birkin began venting to Dumas (having no idea who he was) about how hard it was to find a practical leather bag for a young mother. Dumas famously replied, “But I am Hermès!” and Jane began sketching her dream bag right there on an airplane vomit bag.

Of her many accolades, Birkin was, at heart, a loving, devoted mother to three daughters who all became icons in their own right: photographer Kate Barry and singer-actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon. Tragically, Barry died in 2013, aged 46, after falling from the window of her fourth-floor apartment in Paris. The loss was cataclysmic for Birkin, who passed in 2023, and is now buried alongside her daughter in the Montparnasse Cemetery.

A Pin Up of Ageless Style

Following are some excerpts from our interview—the subject of which was “Ageless Style”—where Birkin fondly recalled her wild youth in Paris, finding her fashion “uniform” in her fifties, and her unwavering love of a YSL Le Smoking tuxedo jacket.

In her case, a man’s one.

“I think women only start to really look like themselves after they turn 30. That’s when a girl first dares to be her own age, show her bare face, and not just dress for boyfriends or husbands. I’ve kept all the old photos of myself from the ’60s, but I can’t relate to them now at all. All that dressing up! And the eye makeup! We looked like Barbie dolls.

On the other hand, being well-known because of those photos provided me with an extraordinary life. I could get away with murder. I could stroll right into the hottest nightclub in a long T-shirt and ballet flats, carrying my wicker basket, like I owned the place.

My mother, who was an actress, used to say, “Can’t you make an effort?” That was her thing—she used to change her clothes three times a day. But it wasn’t my thing. In fact, when I first went to Paris as a teenager, I could always spot other English girls because we put everything together so badly. Frenchwomen start with the same ingredients, but they make better use of them. They were always so beautifully turned out with their velvet headbands and clip-on pearls, a scarf casually tossed over their shoulder.

But after the counterculture swept through Europe, it became chic to wear whatever you liked, and it was our chance to laugh at the French girls. You’d see photos of Julie Christie coming down her front steps wearing a raincoat over her pajamas with gum boots, spectacles perched at the end of her nose. It was so unpretentious—and so very English. It’s impossible to be stylish without confidence, you see.

I could stroll right into the hottest nightclub in a long T-shirt and ballet flats, carrying my wicker basket, like I owned the place.”

I found my uniform about 20 years ago, and it hasn’t changed since. To me, there’s nothing more beautiful than a simple cashmere jersey paired with boyfriend jeans or trousers. I was never particularly into high heels, and always go back to my old Converse with the sheepskin linings that I put in myself. If someone tried to put me in a cocktail dress, I’d look quite ropy. I wear an old man’s smoking [tuxedo jacket] in the evenings, which, if you can get your hands on one, is definitely worth buying. You can wear it for years, even if it has holes.

Other than the jacket, my look isn’t tailored at all because I don’t have the figure for it. I also hate shopping. My daughter Kate [Barry, from her marriage to the composer John Barry] used to take me on shopping sprees. After she died, I stayed at home and didn’t see anyone for a couple of years. Then my artistic director called and suggested that I start performing again. Music helped me escape; I didn’t have to think so much. And suddenly I knew what to do at night. Performing—and my best friend, Gabrielle—is what got me through the past four years. And my bulldog, Dolly! She’s a wonderful face to wake up to. She tries to raid the chocolate, and the next thing you know we’re watching the late-night news together.

I don’t wear a lot of makeup anymore. When you’re older you know what to hide and what to show. When you’re 16 you can wear as much makeup as you like, but when you’re my age it can make you look like a witch. It’s far more important that you smell delicious. I made my own fragrance—L’Air de Rien— with London perfumer Miller Harris. It smells like tobacco mixed with musk, neroli, and vanilla. Another tip I’d like to give women? Take calcium supplements. I was recently playing hide—and-seek with my grandchildren and I fell on the stairs. Women need to take care of their bones. That, and don’t ever run up the stairs in socks!

It’s impossible to be stylish without confidence, you see.

Growing older really is the strangest thing. I recently said to my daughter Lou Doillon, “It’s gone.” And she’s like, “What’s gone, Mum?” And I said, “My beauty.” It’s like you wake up one day and suddenly the outside doesn’t correspond to the inside anymore. I’ve adjusted my thinking a bit since then. The essential thing, I now think, is a good sense of humor. Thankfully, my girls have that too.

Aging is also liberating. If you see someone you think is beautiful, you can just come out and say it and no one thinks you’re making a pass. The other day I told my taxi driver that he had a beautiful nose. It was long and hooked, but to me it was beautiful.

He nearly crashed the car.”

Reese Witherspoon officially joined the 50 club on Sunday. Welcome, it only gets better from here.

Witherspoon’s milestone birthday has me thinking back to 2017, when I was knee-deep in production on the mega September issue of Harper’s Bazaar. September is always the big kahuna, as it unveils the runway trends we’ll all supposedly be wearing for the coming season, so the pressure is on for it to be star-studded.

Working at Bazaar back then was not for the faint of heart—whether it was the September issue or not. Our job was always to push the envelope (and send ourselves mad in the process) to land a major ‘coup’. That often meant pairing big-name stars and fashion’s elite to do any number of wild and wonderful things.

Case in point: we once put Rihanna in a shark’s mouth. And I was once tasked with pairing a naked Lady Gaga with Karl Lagerfeld, holding his Instagram-famous cat Choupette, at the top of the Eiffel Tower. OK, that last one’s not actually true, but you get my drift.

If you follow fashion (and even if you don’t), you’ll be painfully aware that some trends come and go faster than we can change our undies, and others continue to roll around again and again. And again.

This was 2017, y’all, and the Western look was going strong. Look around now, and you’ll see that tassels, Western shirts, boho-inspired prairie dresses, and, of course, cowboy boots never really go out of style.

They just get better with age.

Like Reese Witherspoon.

It’s impossible not to love Reese—she’s like the labradoodle of A-listers. And not just because she’s a big-deal Oscar-winning actress and producer with incredible range (not to mention a fellow Aries).

But because she’s a boot-scootin’, down-to-earth Southern belle at heart.

If you’re a Gen-Xer like me (and our gal Reese), you might even feel like you know her. After all, we’ve watched her literally grow up and followed her rise, fall, and “get back up again” through three decades.

From the baby-faced 21-year-old who married Ryan Phillippe, became a mom at 23, and starred as the forever-iconic Elle Woods in Legally Blonde at 25. To her Oscar-winning performance as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line and an Oscar nod for trekking in Cheryl Strayed’s steps in Wild.

And like a fine wine, we now get to drink her in as the Type A manipulator Madeline in Big Little Lies and as co-anchor and sidekick to Jennifer Aniston on The Morning Show.

With all signs pointing to the Western front as the trend of the moment, I proposed to Bazaar’s then-editor, the iconic Glenda Bailey, to have Reese Witherspoon speak to the trend. She is, after all, from Nashville, Tennessee, and founded the classic Americana, Southern-infused lifestyle brand, Draper James.

As these things go, unless they have a magazine cover secured (or a new movie to plug), it’s almost always a hard “no” from big-swinging Hollywood agents to get an A-lister to do anything. Well, sugar, imagine my delight when I was told Reese was up for it.

And yep, she was as effervescent, charming, and Southern as she seems.

Bless Her Heart.

Reese Witherspoon On The Western Trend

”I was always dressing in prairie skirts and cowboy boots when I was little. I loved to watch Little House on the Prairie and play cowgirl. I mean, you’re talking to the girl who wore cowboy boots to her own wedding reception.“

”My favorite childhood memories are rooted in country music, doing square dances in cowboy boots. I learned to clog and line-dance before I learned the fox-trot. I’m very influenced by country singers like Loretta Lynn and, of course, is my biggest idol.”

”Western is such a huge style in Nashville. Maybe it’s [the Western trend] about returning to a time and a place that people find comforting, and when everything seemed simpler.”

”I do love the look of a pretty dress or a floor-sweeping skirt with cowboy boots. I remember being in fifth grade and begging my grandmother to buy me a prairie skirt, and when she finally did, I wore it every day with cowboy boots.”

”I have so many pairs of cowboy boots; I buy them new from Betty Boots when I’m in Nashville. The intricate stitching and detail on Western shirts are so pretty and add a little something, as do tasseled bags and purses. And I love cowboy hats, obviously.”

Everyone Loves Reese—Especially The Jenn’s

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Like it or not—it’s officially the ’90s again.

Kate Moss is back slaying the runway—closing the Gucci F/W show in Milan, no less. Britney is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons (arrested for drink driving). The Clintons are testifying (but weirdly not Trump). And low-rise jeans, kitten heels, and black turtleneck sweaters—aka the OG of “quiet luxury”—are trending out of control.

Not to mention the entire planet is obsessed with JFK Jr. and Carolyn Besette Kennedy, thanks to the TV series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Besette.

Do you, like me, find waiting a week between episodes literal torture?

As we relive their tragic real-life romance, the media is in overdrive—fueling both new and renewed lust for everything Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. With good reason: The former Calvin Klein publicist turned Queen of Camelot—who famously snagged America’s most eligible bachelor—was the ultimate downtown cool girl.

The Hailey Bieber of her day, if you will.

Bessette was the embodiment of the ’90s minimalist aesthetic—her signature style was chic, understated, and impossibly modern: jeans, trench coats, turtlenecks, and an endless sea of black, black, and more black. Then there’s the platinum gold hair, nearly as famous as she was, which flip-flopped between undone waves, sleek blowouts, low ponies, messy buns, and slicked-back in a headband.

And she could also take the crown as the pioneer of the ‘no-makeup makeup’ look, which women have painstakingly tried to fake for decades.

And lest we forget the influence she had on brides the world over, who, nearly three decades later, are still channeling her 1996 wedding style. If you watched the latest wedding episode, the iconic slip dress was created by then-unknown designer (and her close friend) Narciso Rodriguez—the same man behind Michelle Obama’s unforgettable gown on election night in 2008.

But while all eyes are on Bessette (played by actress Sarah Pidgeon), my attention is firmly fixed on two other women in this story.

First: Daryl Hannah—the ’90s actress who shot to fame as the sexy mermaid in Splash and who dated JFK Jr. from 1988 to 1994. Hannah herself is trending again after penning a scathing essay for The New York Times over her portrayal in the series as the shallow, irritating, unstable ex-girlfriend.

The headline? How Can ‘Love Story’ Get Away With This?

Ouch.

And last—but even more importantly—Caroline Kennedy: the stoic, fiercely private sister of JFK Jr. and the sole surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and the legendary Jackie Kennedy Onassis (played to perfection by Naomi Watts).

But I’m not actually referring to the real-life Caroline Kennedy here.

I’m talking about the actress portraying her in the series—the formidable Grace Gummer.

If Bessette has been cast as the pin-up of ‘quiet luxury’, Kennedy—or rather Gummer—is without doubt the queen of ‘elegant luxury’.

And here’s where things get personal.

I was lucky enough to have tea with the then-buzzy up-and-coming Gummer—now 39—eight years ago in a café in her then-neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn.

You can read the full interview here.

Gummer—who you may or may not realize is the daughter of the iconic Meryl Streep—was an indie theatre darling who landed her big break in Arcadia on Broadway in 2011. TV roles in The Newsroom and American Horror Story followed, earning her a reputation for playing smart, complex women with real depth.

What you also may not know is that Gummer studied art history and Italian at Vassar and contemplated becoming a costume designer before a theater director friend sent her a script that changed everything.

Meeting Gummer all those years ago, it was clear she was well on her way.

Watching her now transform into Caroline Kennedy—with her composed demeanor, political savvy, and regal-like restraint—has been fascinating.

Here are a few highlights from our interview, Gummer’s thoughts on style, and how she approached becoming the classy, enigmatic Caroline Kennedy.

Grace Gummer “Modeled” For A Max Mara Shoot For Harper’s Bazaar

“I really understand why supermodels are paid a gazillion dollars. It’s 95 degrees, I’m wearing wool pants and cashmere sweaters, cars are coming in every direction, and the photographer is yelling, ‘Smile! Okay—back, front, turn around, hop in the air!”

The Actresses Who Inspire Her

Carey Mulligan, Sarah Paulson, and Claire Danes. “They’re my friends—but I also genuinely admire their work.” Just don’t mention Meryl.

Fame Quietly Elevated Her Fashion Game

Gummer was a fixture in the front row at Michael Kors, Proenza Schouler, Calvin Klein, Tory Burch, and Khaite during New York Fashion Week. “Khaite makes up about 40 percent of my wardrobe. I don’t go to work in sweatpants anymore, I’m a little bolder now.”

One Vintage Shirt Helped Her Find Caroline Kennedy

An' 80s-vintage Valentino striped shirt helped unlock the character. “The moment I put it on, I thought—oh, here she is. It has a little bit of a shoulder, buttons all the way to the top, and the most beautiful fit. It’s one of those pieces that just couldn’t be replicated today.”

Gummer Deeply Respects Caroline Kennedy

“I think she has impeccable style—and still does. I have so much admiration and respect for Caroline. She’s such a strong, powerful woman of integrity. Fundamentally decent, intensely private—and in our show, she becomes an incredibly important voice of reason for John.”

5 Things You May Not Know About The Real Caroline Kennedy

1. She Has Lived Through Unimaginable Grief
Kennedy was just six when her father was assassinated in 1963, lost her mother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, in 1994, and then her brother John Jr. in the 1999 plane crash that also claimed Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and her sister Lauren. And heartbreakingly, her daughter Tatiana Schlossberg passed away in December 2025 at 35 from acute myeloid leukemia.

2. She’s A Respected Diplomat
The Kennedy matriarch served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2013–2017 and is currently serving as U.S. Ambassador to my homeland of Australia.

3. She’s A Political Author
Kennedy has published several books on American history, poetry, and constitutional rights, including In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action.

4. Her Son Is Following His Grandfather Into Politics
Jack Schlossberg—JFK Jr.’s nephew—has emerged as a vocal political voice and has become increasingly active in Democratic politics.

5. She Remains An Enigma
Despite being born into America’s most scrutinized political dynasty, Kennedy has spent her life fiercely guarding her privacy—making her portrayal in the series all the more fascinating.

At The New Front Row, I promised smart, stylish storytelling—which means breaking up the midlife madness and the occasional trauma dump with a little fashion, beauty, and celebrity style ‘fluff’.

Because, as you may or may not know, I’ve been covering the fashion and beauty beat for two decades. And seriously, who doesn’t need an escape from all the crazy right now?

So on that note, let’s move on for a moment from breakdowns (we’ll be back to those, I promise) to beauty.

Or rather—Sydney Sweeney.

Forgive the blatant name-dropping, but in the not-too-distant past, I wrote a regular celebrity style column for CNN, The Essentials, and interviewed some pretty cool kids—Hailey Bieber, Brooke Shields, Millie Bobby Brown, Gwen Stefani, Miranda Kerr, Ken Jeong from The Hangover (just as funny IRL), and the list goes on. But I won’t.

One of my most unforgettable interviews was with Sweeney—and not for the reasons you might assume.

If you’re a fan of The White Lotus and Euphoria (and if you’re not, guys, get on board), you’ll remember Sweeney as the cynical, acid-tongued privileged brat daughter from season one of TWL, and of course as Cassie—the sweet, people-pleasing, and low-key emotionally unhinged senior in Euphoria.

In real life, Sweeney, 28, who has 26 million followers on Instagram, is also the face—or pin-up, if you ask the guys—of a new generation. Such is her allure and star power—with her classic doe-eyed blonde-bombshell meets modern-cool-girl vibe—among Gen Z — that she’s landed lucrative brand partnerships with Miu Miu, Armani Beauty, American Eagle, and Laneige; she’s the Korean skincare brand’s first global ambassador.

Which is how I scored a one-on-one interview with her in a New York penthouse overlooking the Hudson River in Chelsea on a late fall morning in 2024. The newly appointed “skinfluencer” was in town to launch Laneige’s new Firm & Bouncy Sleep Mask.

BTW: I’m not being paid to spruik the product, but I do genuinely rate their sleeping lip balms and face masks. And I’m clearly not alone—after teaming up with Sweeney, the brand reported a 227% surge in TikTok followers and a 53% spike on Instagram.

Anyhoo, as these press junkets go, I arrived at the tightly under-wraps studio space and stepped straight into Laneige’s glossy world: cue an explosion of pink flowers, an Alice-in-Wonderland-style morning tea, a glam cam, and more sleeping masks than you could poke a stick at.

When it was my turn for our tête-à-tête, I was ushered into a room to meet a smiling Sydney, dressed very on-brand in a tight lilac mock-turtleneck midi dress by Tom Ford.

I liked her immediately. She was warm and excitable, and seemed genuinely appreciative when I told her how much I enjoyed her work. I liked her even more when she clocked my accent.

“OMG, what are you doing in New York? Why would you ever leave Australia? I don’t understand anyone who leaves Australia. Go back!” Maybe she’s onto something. Especially right now. As a matter of fact, I’ve just returned from my homeland after a two-month reset, and it truly is a dreamland (more on that and how I ended up in NYC later).

Sweeney, you see, had just spent six months Down Under filming the rom-com Anyone But You—fairly forgettable, I won’t lie, but further proof that Australia is the new Hollywood. Everyone is now filming there.

“I had an amazing place right on Bondi Beach,” she told me. “We filmed in Palm Beach and on the Gold Coast, and when I was there, it was one of the hottest recorded days ever.” Thankfully, being so skin-savvy, she drenched herself in sunscreen while the rest of the crew went scorched earth.

Pleasantries done and dusted, we got down to the business of chatting through her beauty and style picks (see below if you need a fix) for the allotted 15 minutes, as her agent hung on her every word (as they do). Then it was a wrap, and she graciously agreed to the selfie above.

And that’s when it hit me—I’d forgotten to bring a pen and paper so she could sign an autograph for my boys.

Because ask any teenage boy and he’ll tell you: Sydney Sweeney is “bad” (Gen Z for hot).

When I confessed to the failed autograph attempt, she floored me.

“Let’s FaceTime them.”

Hands trembling, press team now hovering, we tried my youngest, Javier, then a 12-year-old middle schooler. It was around 11 am, and I reasoned that if God was on our side, he might be at lunch. “This is not the call he wants to miss,” Sweeney said. No joke. But alas. No answer.

He’s never gotten over it.

Next, I frantically tried my eldest, who at the time was a freshman at Purdue University.

And so it was that on a random Monday morning, a shirtless, bed-headed, still-in-bed (probably hungover) 18-year-old Tiago answered his phone—only to be greeted by a smiling Sydney Sweeney and his equally as shell-shocked mother.

As Tbone (as we call him) casually shot the breeze with Sydney, his stunned frat brothers gathered on the sidelines, filming the exchange in a moment that will no doubt live on in Delta Sig legend forever.

Needless to say, that year I was appointed Frat House Mom.

Sydney Sweeney’s Style Picks

SYRN The Show Off Pluge Bra, $89
Sweeney has launched her own lingerie brand, SYRN (pronounced siren).

LEVI’S 501 Straight Jeans, $98
”I’m much more comfortable in jeans and tees. “

Cotton On 90s White Baby Tee, $20
”I discovered Cotton On while filming in Australia, and I was obsessed.”

Laneige Firm & Bouncy Sleeping Mask, $36
”It has these little balls of collagen in it, and I wake up looking hydrated and radiant.”

Kérastase Elixir Ultime Refillable Hydrating Hair Oil for Shine, $62
”My hair is just so dead right now; this helps to bring it back to life.”

Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation, $69
Sweeney gets her lit-from-within “no makeup look” courtesy of this foundation.