TFF in NYC
Our temporary New York home is smack dab in the middle of tourist central, and most of the people schlepping the surrounding streets are decked out in tourist garb: travel-easy t-shirts and shorts. It wasn’t until I had been in New York for two weeks that I finally witnessed some Truly Fabulous Fashion.
S/he was standing on the sidewalk “carpet” in front of a hotel, under it’s generous awning. Side-lit from a distance the silhouette brought to mind an elf, complete with pointy shoes and a tall, pointy hat.
When I, too, got close enough to be covered by the awning, my lighting conditions changed – I had a clearer view of this mysterious creature.
My impeccable Canadian manners prevented me from staring (and asking if I could take a photo would have been far too gauche). So here is my artist’s rendition, based on my discrete, 2-second gawk…
My first impression of an elf was not too far off, although as far as elf categories go this androgynous beauty was a bad-ass Brit-Goth species who would just as soon stab you with his/her hair and ram his/her rockabilly boot toe-points up your conventional ass than acknowledge your sorry, no-style presence (I’m totally making up the part about this person being a violent bad-ass, I’m sure they are super sweet…really).
His/her impressively tall hair spike, dyed midnight blue to match the leather jacket and skinny pants, had the sauciest little forward curve. And the jacket – oh, the jacket! – was multi-paneled and stitched into a many-studded Union Jack.
Although I have replicated the figure as accurately as I can recall, I confess that the hotel sidewalk carpet was a dark charcoal grey (my artist license saw her/him as red carpet worthy). Oh, and the bag slung casually in the crook of the elbow wasn’t a Prada shopping bag (this person probably wouldn’t be caught dead shopping in Prada), but I’ve been seeing their logo around town a lot and thought it made for an ironic twist.
I can’t wait to explore other areas of New York where this type of fashionista fireball is the norm, though I may have to do some serious self-primping beforehand so I feel appropriately attired for the occasion 😉
