Soon after With Love, Meghan debuted, Women’s Wear Daily noted that WLM-watchers were hunting down fashion IDs on practically everything the Duchess of Sussex wore on the show. Without even identifying what she wore, Meghan gave millions of dollars worth of “value” to various brands, who all felt the “Meghan Effect.” It’s been the same for years, basically ever since 2017. People are obsessed with Meghan’s style and whatever she wears sells out. Now the Wall Street Journal is doing a deeper dive into how Meghan’s fashion choices on WLM – not to mention her new ShopMy page – are bringing huge sales to every brand featured.
Meghan’s WLM fashion: What’s not up for debate is Markle’s fashion-selling power. Her breezy Ulla Johnson dresses, Sézane button-down shirts, muted J.Crew vests and Jenni Kayne cashmere sweaters are just some of the items from her TV wardrobe that are now sold out and accruing wait lists. Both aspirational and laid-back, her style is a commercial force.
A league of her own: “She is in a league of her own,” said Lyndie Benson, founder and CEO of the luxury-basics brand Bleusalt, which sold over 300 T-shirts in one day after Markle wore one on the show.
People are even obsessed with Meghan’s manicure: Netflix viewers have been flooding websites and Instagram accounts dedicated to Markle’s fashion and beauty in search of product credits. They pay attention to details as minute as Markle’s manicure. “I go back and forth on whether I want longer nails or shorter nails, and then I see her and I’m like, ‘Should I go back to shorter nails?’” said Alexandra McCormick, a beauty brand director in Los Angeles. “She has this effortless yet put-together look.” McCormick, 41, said she has friends in London who dislike Markle out of allegiance to the royal family yet still take style directives from her. “They are like, ‘Meghan can’t do anything right. Also, I just bought her sweater!’”
WSJ just throws this in: After several TV ideas were canceled or rejected, and the couple ended a podcasting deal with Spotify, people familiar with Harry and Meghan’s projects told The Wall Street Journal that Netflix was unlikely to renew its contract, which expires this year.
Expect more on Meghan’s ShopMy page: Following a flood of interest in Markle’s wardrobe and fan nostalgia for her pre-royal lifestyle blog, The Tig, the duchess started a ShopMy page on Monday, where she can make affiliate revenue from product recommendations. A spokesman said that the page has more to come, including beauty, fashion, kids and home products. Her fashion fans will likely be pleased to hear this.
Something for everyone: Andrea Gillespie, a 44-year-old real estate publicist in Lake Forest, Ill., she said she combed the web in search of a pair of white Aquazzura sneakers she saw Markle wear recently. “I’m surprised we’re all left to our internet sleuthing to find this stuff,” she said. As Ever, Markle’s yet-to-be-launched line of teas and preserves, “is not scratching my purchasing itch,” Gillespie said, “but all this other stuff is.”
The Meghan Effect: Brands are feeling the Meghan Effect. New York fashion brand La Ligne saw a pair of its jeans sell out within a few days of Markle wearing them on the show, said co-founder and CEO Molly Howard. The brand had sent the jeans to Markle, Howard said, and after the episode dropped, the company sold over 500 pairs of the pants in about two weeks. A pair of $40 clogs Markle wore during an episode where she feeds her chicken sold out online in most women’s sizes, and searches for the shoes on the Crocs website increased by 70%, compared to last month, a company spokesperson said. A $395 striped beige sweater from Jenni Kayne has been around since July of 2023, but it sold out this month after Markle draped it over her shoulders on the show, according to Lauren Anderson, the label’s vice president of brand and creative. Over 1,000 people signed up to join the wait list for the $950 Ulla Johnson blue dress Markle wears in her show’s promo image, according to a brand spokeswoman.
Le Creuset is seeing a huge bump too: Viewers are also buying the home goods Markle uses in her show, said Amanda Dishaw, who runs the Markle style archive Meghan’s Mirror. Within the last two weeks, Dishaw has sold 306 Le Creuset enamel dishes in the cream color Markle uses, as well as 187 glass Crate & Barrel bowls that Markle uses to make yogurt parfait.
Peppered within this WSJ piece are quotes from women who hunted down IDs on various pieces Meghan wore, only to find out that the pieces were all sold out. Like, it’s apparently a pretty universal experience. Which is why Meghan’s ShopMy page is such a great idea, and I’m so pleased that she’ll be adding more to it (she already added some beauty stuff yesterday). I wonder if there are additional ways to monetize this extreme interest in everything Meghan wears? Capsule collections associated with WLM, or loose-but-lucrative brand ambassadorships, something. It feels like Meghan is still leaving money on the table, I’m just saying! Also: “people familiar with Harry and Meghan’s projects told The Wall Street Journal that Netflix was unlikely to renew its contract, which expires this year.” Yeah, that’s totally why Ted Sarandos backed up the Sussexes and invested in Meghan’s As Ever brand. Because Netflix doesn’t see a future with the woman who can sell out any article of clothing and any homeware item. Netflix is going to say “no thanks” to all of that!
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
For those of you like me that didn’t know, the Le Creuset outlet stores have ridiculously great deals sometimes! Worth checking to see if there is one nearby.
Also I think the whole “I hate Megan but I need to buy the sweater she is wearing” attitude is probably pretty dead on.
The whole statement of she never gets anything right makes no sense at all. I think Tina Brown has said that a few times. Someone who can’t get anything right doesn’t move product in the way that she does. Clearly she knows how to pick a stylish sweater to the point that other people are buying…just saying.
She always gets these things right. They are projecting on her what the other one does which is to never get anything right.
Tina has lost the plot. Nobody’s buying what Tina’s selling. It’s going to take her awhile to get to the Acceptance stage.
I think that statement only shows how envious they are of Meghan because if I don’t like somebody I’m not following everything they do.
@Blogger, can’t lose something you never had 😉
They supposedly say that because they are supporting the RF. Maybe someone needs to challenge them more and ask what exactly the royals do “right” vs what Meghan does.
@Jais
We saw the ,”Ihate Meghan but need to buy…”
Phenomenon when Madam Keen wore 2 styles of Meghan’s Aquazzura shoes AND the tennis shoes Meghan wore in Australia.🤣🤣🤣
😂🤣😅 yeah, she’s Meghan’s No.1 fan.
Meghan does have shoe game. All my nieces and nephews and their parents wear crocs and I despise them. But then Meghan wore those brown croc clogs and I was like hmmm maybe I could get into this croc craze.
The cognitive dissonance is so stupid sometimes.
Crocs have been coming out with a lot of cute sandals lately. They’re so comfortable too!
I wonder if those people will ever realize how pointless it is to hate on someone out of loyalty to the royals. Unless they directly benefit from their connection to the royals, and I’m sure there is a group of people who do, I don’t see what they think they get for their loyalty.
I’ve never bought anything that she has worn. BUT. That’s simply because I rarely buy clothes new. My life is pretty muddy, full of sap, dust, dirt etc.
I do however clock her brands and look for them in the places I buy second hand. I actually have a note that’s all the brands I have found because of her. I also look at her for fashion inspo for various events when there is no mud 😂 in addition to her jewelry, shoe, purse, sunglasses, hat, hair, nail and makeup game.
Shes an icon. End of.
I NEED HER TO DO STYLING. (And if anyone has any channels or people to follow I would adore it. I’m classic style minimalist with maximalist tendencies when it comes to color)
I’ve said it before – and kind people here actually answered with YouTube channels to follow up which I promptly lost – but I would ADORE it if she did a series on STYLING.
How to accept and dress for your body shape. Different styles of xyz. How to know what flatters you on the daily. How to create an actual “outfit” and a cohesive over all style as opposed to a closet full of chaos and fighting statement pieces. When to put your hair up vs down. Shaping garments and when to wear them. How to create a solid foundation wardrobe and build off of that. How to know what your fashion style even is without a quiz. Like I know what I like when I see it. But I don’t know if that will look good on me or if my sensory issues will go insane or … also shoes! How to take one outfit and dress it down or up.
Just all the things our grandmothers knew.
I had this. I was so good at all of this. I would built a whole outfit in the shower and it was amazing.
And then I had kids and learned about politics and we went through a pandemic and some health things and now I barely even wear jeans. I buy items that I love and then go …. How do they …. Do I … what shoes? I mean there might be a shooting and I will need to run so vans again I guess.
I DONT EVEN KNOW IF I SHOULD BE WEARING GOLD OR SILVER JEWELRY ANYMORE.
I think a ton of gen X and millennial moms came out the otherwise or motherhood and went – omg what the heck is happening and will I ever feel like ME in fashion the way I did before. Cuz now I feel me in like jeans and a hoodie and vans but like …. I want more. Meghan! Help us!
If she did, I wonder if Kate would take any notice and improve ? Occasionally Kate wears something and I think that really suits her body type but then immediately afterwards she’s back to things that don’t work for her.
“Closet full of chaos” would be a great name for this show
“She never gets anything right” means Meghan doesn’t know her place which is at the back of the line or preferably not in the line at all. These b*tches can F all the way off.
I was at Crate and Barrel the other day (looking for the salt cellar Meghan used) and overheard a grandmother-aged woman telling her daughter “I think this is the Le Creuset pot Meghan used on her show”. I confirmed that it was and then spent a delightful 10 minutes chatting with her. She LOVED the show and planned on watching it again with a notepad to make notes about things she wanted to do. She also planned on buying herself and her daughter the pot for Easter. I asked the employee for the salt cellar Meghan used and she knew exactly which one I was speaking of. Meghan has POWER.
Aw okay that’s a cute story. All about the grandmas watching WLM. And talking about it with their kids and grandkids. Generational.
I personally love that she is finally going to profit from the sales she generates to these companies. I have to admit I have already ordered from her “Closet”, it’s going to be my favorite place to shop.
Her beauty recommendations are also spot on. I love Thrive mascara and it never seems to get enough hype. It’s the best lash extending mascara I’ve tried. Also love IGK dry shampoo.
I love that the site is not too overwhelming. I hope she keeps highlighting smaller brands and makes a mint doing it.
I have been using Thrives tubular mascara since the beginning, best mascara ever made imo.. the Tatcha serum stick is one of my favorite products also I’m not looking forward them being sold out when everyone discovers them.🫣😉
Welp I just bought the signet earrings from her ShopMy page and the retailer. TBH the earrings seem a bit overpriced for what they are, and normally I’d wait for the Etsy knockoffs like I do for other designer jewelry. But they look like posts that I’d wear every day (as Meghan apparently does) and, like somebody on the related article here, I’m justifying it by the savings from cancelling my Post and Prime subscriptions 🤷🏻♀️ 😊
WSJ is owned by Rupert Murdock, they can’t ignore what is happening before their eyes, they can only write so many negative stories, but their are still riding the gray train.
All the bad reviews didn’t stop people from watching WLM, even famous Chefs (not the ones getting paid £50) are putting their spin on the spaghetti dish. Martha Steward remade her version of the dish.
I like that story about the woman with British friends, that claim they don’t like Meghan, but still buys everything she wears.
@Jan
Chile even Emeril tried making it!
Did the WSJ have affiliate links in this article because it seems like all those news outlets that bashed Meghan after the show came out are now turning around and writing pieces like this so they can cash in.
Yep, including the DM! Their commerce team wrote a glowing review of Meghan’s show littered with affiliate links. It’s interesting because this new Sussex commerce beat gives the UK rags an undeniable new revenue stream that might end up being as profitable for them as the hate stories>traffic>ad dollars pipeline.
I dont know how Ted Sarandos can be clearer about how he feels about Meghan and her star power. Do I think the Netflix deal will last forever? Maybe, but I can see both sides moving on as well – but I think it will be a completely amicable and professional split. And I dont think its happening this year.
Netflix is partnering with As Ever because they see how Megan moves products and they want a piece of that pie. I think Netflix is positioning itself to profit hugely off of WLM, including the second season.
The obsession with the Netflix contract is so funny. You know they already have all of the articles gleefully announcing the end of the deal written up. I could see Meghan wanting to maybe just focus on her As Ever business but I’m sure Netflix would say yes to almost anything with Meghan in it. I’d watch a travel show. I saw someone online comment that she and Roy Choi should just do a show where they eat at LA restaurants together.
I’m watching a show with Roy Choi and John Favereau doing just that titled The Chef Show on Netflix. I think they did it after Choi consulted on a movie titled Chef starring Favereau. Doesn’t Choi have a cookbook coming out? I’ll bet his appearance on Meghan’s show just expanded his market.
Sounds like wishful thinking on WSJ/Murdoch’s part.
I think Meghan knew this going in. By allowing Netflix a cut of her commerce revenue stream, she’s essentially baiting them to hang onto their deal longer (and maybe greenlight more of their pitches). It’s brilliant and will afford her some wiggle room to grow her brand and work out the kinks of her show.
I think Netflix will renew, but just with Meghan.
I’m obsessed with her ShopMy page, but the only thing I can afford right now is the edge gel. Im gonna lay my edges like Meghan y’all!
Lucas Papaw ointment at $9. Cate Blanchett also swears by them.
I get a kick out of the fact that the edge gel is included in there. I’m like, “She knows.”
The saint Jane lip gloss that she links to on her shopmy list was on sale yesterday so it’s a pretty good deal. Not quite drug store cheap but 22$ once added to your cart. I’ve gotten some Pat McGrath lip glosses on super sale over the years that I use sparingly to hang on to so I’m excited to check this out.
“ ‘Meghan can’t do anything right. Also, I just bought her sweater!’”
I’ve heard of hate-watching, but never hate shopping. It’s a new one.
To quote Mr. Lamar, “she’s a fan, she’s a fan . . . “
Good point! Take my money eventhough I hate you because the tabloids told me to!
They try to rig the game but you can’t fake influence 😉
That quote from the woman in London is hilarious. It reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon in my coffee table book of them: two women sitting on the porch gossiping and one is saying: “Oh, she’s VERY attractive! I don’t like her at all!”
I do love Megan’s style but I’ve never bought anything specifically because she wore it. Looking at her wardrobe in these pictures I realize that I tend toward similar pieces anyway, at least for every day. Even the one bit of color she’s wearing – the dress with the soft muted pink and blue flowers in the bottom right corner – is similar at least in terms of tones and pattern to one I bought recently. Too much color just overwhelms me in every way, lol. I like it on/for other people but it’s not my thing.
As the saying goes, money talks, bullshit walks. Can’t believe it’s taken WSJ this long to discuss her financial influence.
WWD did cover ShopMy so was pleased to read it.
https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/meghan-markles-shopmy-gap-j-crew-1237062100/
I love her style- it is not my style- but it is lovely. I did look up a few purses on her my shop list- but didn’t like them enough to spend $$$ on them.
But this s**t is real- i want to buy the beautiful cookware she uses- and i do not cook. Silly.
A friend that is very much a hostess with the most-ess- i told her about the show when it came out and she finally got around to watching it and i got a text: “You have never been more right about a thing… the Megan Sussex show is SO SOOTHING”
I’m still re-watching it. Also throwing in a Harry & Meghan rewatch because its all the more impressive seeing what she has recovered from- those racist vipers. She healed, she is thriving. Harry is loved and well fed and they are doing good in the world.
Living well, it seems, IS the best revenge.
And, sorry to go to the negative, but, is this why KP says Kate won’t ID clothing any more- because, although people buy the stuff she wears too, fashion sales adjacent to Kate would look tiny in comparison to Meghan’s sales numbers?
Though that seems way to organized and forward thinking for the clownshow that is the palace.
The show really is soo soothing. I’ve been in a negative anxiety spiral because of all the news (specially the Greenland controversy). America turning hostile to us while Putin’s navy, air force and shadow fleet is aggressive in our backyard (the Baltic Sea) is the stuff of possible nightmares.
I just put Meghan’s show on to calm down.
I splurged on a pair of the Veronica Beard jeans. I’m so happy to get Meghan’s recommendations (especially for pants!) because she’s not just a style icon, but a PETITE style icon. I’m very short, so it’s incredibly rare for me to see something I love on a celebrity that would actually look good on me. And I think we’ve all long been DYING to know about her skin routine, because the woman looks half her age, right?! I was weirdly excited to find out that I already share some of her beauty faves, lol.
(For those on the fence about splurging, the Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream is AMAZING. And the Saie luminizer is great to wear alone with just mascara and lip gloss when you don’t want a full beat, or for mixing into foundation for a bit of a glow!)
I was looking at the Tatcha serum stick – any thoughts?
I’ve used the stick, and while it’s not a daily product for me, I really appreciated it for when I was visiting arid places and my skin was super dried out (it’s obviously a great serum for travel in general, since it’s not a liquid). So I’d definitely recommend it if your normal skin type is dry. I also have MUA friend who likes to use it as a sort of eyeshadow primer, to make powders blend better.
@Miranda, same. I’m a shortarse who finds it so hard to find trousers and jeans to fit and suit me without swamping me. I feel like I’d just gotten used to skinnies when bootcuts and flares came back and I have terrible memories of them from last time, I’m in Ireland where it rains daily so I was constantly dragging my drenched jeans around after me 😭😭
For people interested in the Tatcha products, they sell mini versions on their website for quite a number of things, including the Dewy Skin Cream (but not the serum stick), if you want to see how they work for you before committing to more expense. Also, some beauty stores stock them – in my area, have seen them in Sephora and Ulta. I’m currently checking out the Rice Wash and Matcha Cleanser, which come together in a set at Sephora, and a mini of the Water Cream. (I have sensitive skin plus issues with odors, which can sometimes bother me even if fragrance isn’t explicitly included in a product.).
I wonder why nobody is dying to purchase my t-shirt and sweats combos?!
Haha. Because we already own multiples of those!
I bought the Uniqlo trench for my daughter for Easter. Meghan has excellent taste and really does mix high and low.
Which colour? I’m tempted to buy one in every colour now because the price is so affordable for a trench. The design by Clare is exquisite.
I also have a feeling that Clare wasn’t too happy the rats criticised Meghan’s wedding dress and she’s never forgotten that…
I ended up getting the richer brown color. Sometimes the lighter khaki color can wash me out.
I bought the classic khaki color. Also, you get $10 off for signing up for a Uniqlo account. It was a bargain!
I laughed out loud when the WSJ threw in that sources told them “Netflix was unlikely to renew its contract” with the couple. I’m sure these are the same sources that have been saying for years that their contract would end. They said her series would bomb, nobody would talk about it, it would get cancelled, and then whoopsy – Netflix had already made a second season of it.
Netflix is a for-profit company. They are seeing the same huge sales bumps that the rest of us are seeing – everything Meghan touches, even if it came out years ago, gets sold out almost immediately. I could see them renegotiating and maybe having a deal that’s “only” with Meghan, given that Harry seems less involved in the content production side of things. But I think the fact that they are partnering with her brand means that they are in it for the long haul.
Just so we’re clear, “people familiar with Harry and Meghan’s projects” are probably some of the derangers from the DM.
for sure.
Not to mention an increase of searches for Montecito hotels since WLM.
Montecito though doesn’t have too many hotels, but there are some vac rentals around the area, Santa Barbara has more variety of hotels which is next door to Montecito. I love this whole area.
I have been rewatching Harry and Meghan docu-series. I Love to do that every couple of months. And when I look at how low and sad and hurt she was back then at the treatment she received from that family and it’s media and the social media nuts . I can’t tell you how much joy and happiness it now brings me to see how far she has come . How far they have both come . I look at some of those old pictures of her attending functions for those people like when she is on the balcony for one of those memorial services and she just looks broken completely. It makes me cry to see her like that / Then for Tyler to basically and literally save her , Harry and Archie life . I can so see why he means the world to them and why they made him lili godfather . Because of it wasn’t for him. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened to them . God bless Tyler and May Meghan continue to be happy and joyful and so whatever she wants whenever she wants and may she be a billionaire many times over . F the haters .