Saved by Sam Stephenson (of Sam and Jess Stephenson!!!)

Nobody warns you that your partner's taste is contagious

Jul 30, 2026

Welcome to Saved by, where people whose taste I trust walk me through what they’re saving on Woven. Stay to the end for a code to come join them.

Who influences your style the most? A few names might come up immediately, some models with chic off-duty looks, or maybe some influencers you’ve been following for years. That would probably be my first answer too. But if I really think about it more deeply, it’s the people you hang out with the most who have the biggest influence on you. Duh, seems like common sense, doesn’t it?

Interestingly, the fashion influence these people have on you seems to be more subtle, seeping through your life in a much more gradual way. I’m specifically talking about your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/spouse. Before you know it, he’s wearing more black and you’re window shopping at the Brokedown Palace (if you know, you know).

So it’s only right that we’re doing a Saved by Sam—my husband!

I wouldn’t describe Sam as a fashion enthusiast, but he’s a man of good taste. He carries that taste through everything he does. He’s a designer who knows exactly what he likes and what he doesn’t. If you live in London or New York and have come across a Granola billboard or two... that’s his baby! I’m also obsessed with our apartment, and a big reason for that is Sam’s taste. Believe it or not, my Rothy’s clogs were actually inspired by his Bedrock clogs. I got jealous of how comfy they looked!

Anyway. All of that to say, this is a particularly exciting one for me to do. Let’s get into it!

How would you describe your taste?

Questionable. Casual, all the time. I don’t really know any other way. I love travelling and being outdoors, so I think most of my clothes buying habits are shaped around that. I’m used to buying things for being outside, and then that turned into just liking the aesthetics of outdoor brands.

Six years of living in a city and I’m getting more accustomed to buying stuff that’s just regular clothes, as opposed to everything from an outdoor shop.

I like well made natural stuff. I like when things have an interesting story behind them, or were made by somebody interesting. Evan Kinori1, for example. The whole company’s a couple of people in San Francisco who have really nice taste. Everything’s made by hand with high quality fabrics, and they have limited runs. It feels like a lot of attention to detail went into every piece.

Talk me through one of your edits. What’s in it and why?

Outdoors but desirable is pretty typical of the shit I save. I like outdoor brands that also care about design and aesthetically pleasing things. It’s a hodgepodge of random things that I like, some of which I own, some of which I don’t. I like how understated it is—it’s minimal without looking too technical.

Are these things you wear in the great outdoors?

I’d like to think I wear them in the great outdoors. The reality is I don’t go in the great outdoors very much these days, so I wear them in the great indoors instead.

I’m also a bit of a geek for backpacks. There’s a couple of backpack brands that are all one person operations. 1733, the tote bag I have, is just one guy in Chicago. Similarly Cimoro is also one dude in London, who used to be a Savile Row tailor.

What’s something you stumbled onto in the app that you’d never have found otherwise — a brand, a person, a save/item that sent you down a hole?

I found Paynter on Woven through Jordan. I found out that they’re a small company in London. Again, the reason I like them is because they all seem to be a bunch of nice people, and their stuff is well made with good materials.

You might notice a pattern here… I guess I just like the feeling that someone put a lot of care into the things they make. You lose that with big faceless brands.

Favourite save so far?

The Finisterre merino baselayer.2

If I just had to live in one top, it’d probably be that. I love how versatile and functional it is: it keeps you cool when it’s warm outside, and warm when it isn’t. It also looks casual enough that I can just wear it out whenever.

I know it wouldn’t be very stylish. But it would be acceptable, which is really what I strive for in life!

Best brand (or item) you’ve found through someone else’s saves?

James had a couple of P&Co things which I thought were nice. I had never really looked at them before, but the texture stood out to me. They look simple but also put together at the same time.

You can see everything Sam saved on his Woven.

Saved by is a recurring series where people whose taste I trust walk me through what they’re saving on Woven, an app for saving inspiration and discovering what people with taste you trust are saving too. If you want to see what people with taste you trust are saving in real time, come find us on the App Store, or explore the web version. Access is still limited, but readers of this series can use the code SAVEDMONGOOSE for a spot.

If you want to read about what everyone else has been saving…