Alexandra Stevenson turns back time in Cynthia Rowley style

Once upon a time in high school, Alexandra Stevenson wanted what Julia Roberts had.

As she tells it, "When I was 18 years old and giving up the French Open main draw for my prom and graduation, I was playing in Miami. I needed a prom dress. Julia Roberts had just worn Cynthia [Rowley]’s hot pink dress at her Notting Hill premiere."

Stevenson's mother, Samantha, reportedly called the Rowley's studio, and they bought the dress out of the designer's Miami boutique. It was 1999.

That slinky satin frock made for a typically effortless red-carpet statement for Roberts. Stevenson snared the likewise-strapless magenta version for her high-school prom.

Roberts had bought the dress off the rack as well, a surprise to the maker. It was Rowley's first to appear on a celebrity.

The US Open came around that same year, and Stevenson went to Rowley's New York studio to meet her. "She drew a little pic of a tennis dress for me," Stevenson says. "She was going to design for me. But I signed with Nike and lost the chance to work with Cynthia."

Fast forward 20 years, and it's 2019. Stevenson, who has long held aspirations to be an actor or broadcast journalist, joins the ESPN broadcast team. It's US Open time again.

"They said I had to be 'head-to-toe' ready," she says of her ESPN debut last year. "Well, I didn’t have the finances for that, and they don’t give you a clothing budget. So Mom [Samantha] called Cynthia. Twenty years later, she said yes, dressed me in 22 outfits for qualifying to the round of 16."

Stevenson asked again this season, in a drastically different year with the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on sports, fashion and more sectors. As 2020 brimmed with questions, Rowley's relatively relaxed approach to fashion made for a more modest proposal. "She has a new team, no open studio," Stevenson says of Rowley. "So not as many looks, but I am making them work. So the partnership is just that—two friends making history work in a fashionable way."

The 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist certainly feels the difference not just in fashion and retail, but on the grounds at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center this year. "It is quiet around here," she says. "Like Death Valley. I close my eyes and remember the crowds, the yells, the smells. All gone."

The ESPN experience is different as well. "I like the repartee with the talent, being in front of the camera with a chance to tell my opinion." She adds, "I believe ESPN cares about my voice this year—my opinion, my singular wit, my pop culture take."

Her role with ESPN has no bounds, no qualifiers, she says. She started working the weekend before the main draw began, and so started her sporting of Rowley's insta-comfy dresses. She checks out the ESPN assignment sheet each day to see what her role may be. That has ranged from the practice-court studio, to stadium sideline reporting, to appearing alongside Chris McKendry at the anchor desk (or anchor solo high-tops, as it were) in the site's largely vacant plaza.

Outside of that, it's not all glamour. Hardly.

"[COVID-19] testing every third day, always a mask," she says. "Food in a box. The risk of interaction with anyone, really. I go to the set and my room."

These days, Stevenson is her glam squad. "We do our own hair and makeup," she says. "Thank you, Charlotte Tilbury [cosmetics]. I bought everything. I have a straight iron, a curling iron—I do it all. I'm going for a soft beach look." And she's certainly slaying that.

Asked what she admires most about Rowley's style, Stevenson gets animated. "I always envision Cynthia and her signature look. High-end maxi-dresses for the end of summer! It is Cynthia and her frivolous side that excite me. Imagine her drawing these amazing, fun looks!"

A self-described lover of high fashion, Stevenson posits that Rowley simply knows how to capture a woman’s feel for her own life, her innate playful side. And it's true, the Rowley mission states that it's "rooted in women's empowerment. The brand exudes a spontaneous spirit ... and [inspires] women everywhere to take risks and live life fearlessly."

"In COVID, we all have had to readjust," Stevenson says. "Cynthia gives us a look that says, 'Come on! I’m ready to take on our new world—and do it with sass.'"

Stevenson says she loves all the looks, though her favorite so far is a dress in soft black with green tassels. "Good one!" Rowley the brand/designer commented on Stevenson's post. (Per Rowley's website, said dress is named Laila.)

"It’s easy to wear and versatile," Stevenson says. "You can wear it day or night."

As for this author, the favorite look in this Rowley-Stevenson style saga is a Nairobi botanical kaftan.

Another of Rowley's go-to looks, her wetsuits that have outfitted her friend and tennis superfan Lindsey Vonn and other notables over time, have made for mask material in this cruel year. According to Stevenson, ESPN's entire talent roster is sporting Rowley's masks on-air in Flushing, and proceeds from sales go to frontline workers.

"Cynthia Rowley is my fashion fairy godmother," Stevenson says.

That may be, and the two share two decades of sartorial tales. Even so, Stevenson won't forget that it's her grandmother who once turned her into a pint-size Glinda the good witch: "I’ve always loved a fun dress!"