The Sunday Digest 066

Plus a free gift with Sunday Scaries candles.

Nov 19, 2023

Welcome to The Sunday Digest — a free Sunday newsletter featuring long (and some short) reads, original columns, things I’ve saved over the last week, relaxing playlists, episodes releases, exclusive product drops, and more. Yes, you can reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you. Or, if podcasts are more your speed on Sundays, we’ve got that too.

Sunday Read › The very stealthy success of The Row

by Jo Ellison for Financial Times

*Credit: Photography by Luna Conte. Styling by Jasmine Hassett. Models Diane Chiu and Max Wagner*

More and more, I realize how much my personality is a product of the 90s. I was watching an old concert on YouTube late Friday night when I realized the only reason I was truly enjoying it was because of the grainy, 90s-era filmography and look of the concert itself.

Since the birth of my first son, I’ve had overwhelmingly nostalgic feelings toward things like Boy Meets World, Hey Arnold, and the Malibu Sands Beach Resort episodes of Saved By The Bell. And if you told 8-year-old me that I could have a piece of clothing designed by the Olsen twins, well, I would’ve paid everything I had (which was a bunch of quarters I stole from my mom’s jar).

These days, you can own something designed by them. But even if you pay everything like I would’ve it’s probably not enough still. This week’s Sunday Read is an interview with Olsen twins themselves about their brand, The Row. Here’s a snippet:

Early on, the critics were dismissive of two celebrity teenagers deigning to create a high-fashion line. Do they feel vindicated? “You know what?” says Mary-Kate. “Everyone has an opinion and that’s OK. And for us, the only thing that matters is if the clients like it, if it sells through. And that’s what we’ve gone by from day one.”
“Yeah,” says Ashley. “I mean, at 18, we decided to go to school and see what the world had to offer, and we started a company together in 2006, and have been in business for almost 20 years. I think everyone knows that this industry is extremely, extremely difficult. And we started with just the two of us… One step at a time. And MK and I have been running this business – the creative and the business and every aspect. And we still own the majority of the company, which I think is also quite incredible. And we’re hard workers…”
“And we carry the risk of that,” adds Mary-Kate.

Read in full here.

New Episode › Retail Therapy 055: 2023 Gift Guide

Our most-popular episode of the year makes it's annual comeback: The 2023 Gift Guide. This year, we were again joined by Sally and we covered gifts For Her, For Him, and For The Home — and yes, we even did some Goop-y splurge gifts as well.

For links to all the products we discussed, look no further than the Retail Therapy Listener Companion this week as well.

The Sunday Haiku: Floating The Couch Was A Bad Idea

Let’s be productive,

rearrange the living room,

shit, what have we done—

Some Sunday Scaries Candles Updates For The Holidays

A lot going on in the Sunday Scaries™ scented candle world over the next couple weeks if you’re looking to update your Panic Room or find a gift for someone for the holidays.

Right now, ‘HOLIDAYSCARIES’ will get you a free match jar with any purchase of two or more candles. As someone who has failed to steal enough matchbooks from nice restaurants lately, this has come up clutch on numerous occasions for scented candles and fireplaces alike this fall.

Shop Now

Additionally, our favorite New York In The Fall scented candle is back in-stock after selling out last month, and we’ve got a special Retail Therapy scent on the horizon as well. Stay tuned.