Thursday, June 18, 2009

It's Rainin' Wellies!

On a miserable wet, wetter, wettest day like today one has to either write it off or look for the silver lining. I was prepared to write it off, and lo and behold, it brought something completely new to my attention.

Wellingtons.

New York women and their Wellingtons. The surprise? That there are just as many styles of Wellies as there are women wearing them. Here’ s a quick glance.

Multicolor clouds – grey with colored circles resembling clouds.

Penguin - attached eyes staring up at the owner, with orange and black body. Orange handles on sides.

Mustard yellow with two inch black heels. Riding boot style;

Dark green with multi color polka dots

Navy with thin horizontal nautical stripes and buckle on side.

Black with white polka dots of varying sizes. Interior lining was hot pink.

Black with brown Michael Kors MK logo print. Gold buckle on side.

Burberry. She's Korean. It was the Burberry check.

Red with little black penguin silhouettes scattered about.

Carolina blue with matching tote bag.

White black and brown argyle, reaching the lower calf.

Large gingham check. Black grey and white. Worn with holes on left front left and right front right. Black buckle on side.

Most Fashionable?
Burberry deconstructed check. With black sole and black rim. Not Korean, definitely fashionista.

Coolest?
Chooka brand. Black. Rose in horseshoe illustration on the side, same illustration repeated on the front but with word “Lucky” underneath. A pair of peace doves on the side. On the front, a skull and bones motif. And twin red hearts – one with a banner that ‘Rock”, and the other with “Roll”. Black buckle on the side.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Calling all 25 regular readers

http://www.brokelyn.com/kooky-brooklyn-blog-of-the-day-the-descriptionist/

Your patience and unending compassion (and abject pity) has been rewarded.

Please don't fall in love with Brokelyn.com and move on.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Cool Hand Leia

Woman 6/3/09

Another great plus about the warm weather is the ability to see someone’s personality in totality. The cool mornings require layering but the imminent warm-up necessitates that certain warm weather fundamentals stay in place.

Not that there wasn’t much color on her, which was mostly the case, but rather it was the way the turquoise stood out. Turquoise nail color on her fingers and toes. Quite a nice hit of color on an otherwise mostly monochromatic outfit.

Monochromatic mostly. But cool, most certainly.

She had on this short cropped leather jacket in a light color – almost a light sand. The leather seemed quite worn, almost reminding one of a vintage find. The sleeves ended at the wrist and were zippered like a biker’s. It really was hard to tell if this motorcycle inspired jacket was deliberately designed to be worn small, look vintage, and feel biker-ish. Given the color of the leather, it’d be a safe bet to say that this was some designer’s take on the typical biker’s jacket.

Her dress was a modern take on the sack dress. A deep tan color with a ribbed top and bottom. Hitting her just above her knees. On her feet were updated Roman sandals that featured snakeskin straps. One got the sense that she had an eye for the non-traditional updated with a modern touch.

On her neck was this pendant that was a gold setting featuring a clear matte crystal stone. Not sure what to make of the color. There was another stone on her left ring finger – probably an engagement ring. The stone itself was modest, no more than 1.5 ct, but the band had some interesting etchings that were almost ornate giving it an antique look. On her wrist was a gold watch. Actually, a men’s gold watch with a round black face and gold link strap.

It was raining that morning and her blonde hair was still slightly wet from the rain, straight and resting on her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing very much makeup – just a touch of blush and pale red lipstick.

Her tote was this canary yellow canvas bag that came with leather straps and a zip at the opening.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Lay Down Athena

Woman 6/2/09

Warmer weather brings out the most interesting of styles. Funky, flirty, quirky, colorful, boring and even the skin-baring dressers are let loose from their winter shackles. Although this woman was the first for this early summer season – athletic gear as style. No, she was not going to the gym or on her way back from the gym. She was clearly dressed in athletic gear that communicated her style sensibility.

Let’s start with the basics. Sneakers. White canvas by Adidas with white laces and a black sole. Too clean and pristine to be workout sneakers. And she matched them with your basic white athletic ankle socks.

She was wearing a pair of basketball shorts. The black mesh knee-length ones that are now part of everyday ballin’ gear. The logo said Eastpak.

The last bit of her athletic garb? A hoodie. This white sleeveless hoodie with white zippers and drawstrings. She had it over her head which barely concealed her head-wrap. Now, the head-wrap is sometimes labeled as a doo-rag, but this was clearly more stylish than functional. It was indeed a head-wrap by every definition. The best part? The head-wrap was a camouflage print. That’s right, a camo print head-wrap. Needless to say, no hair was visible underneath all that fabric.

Another fashion statement besides the camo head-wrap? The printed tee. She had on this black v-neck tee that had a tan print of an eagle. Not a picture but more an eagle illustration done with an almost spray paint graffiti-like stencil treatment. In another medium, it could be hanging on the wall of Ted Nugent’s basement man-cave. This eagle stretched from the front of the tee all the way around to the back, and touching on the left sleeve slightly.

The dead giveaway that she was dressing to impress? Her jewelry. She was wearing this small gold crucifix hanging on a simple gold chain, though the crucifix did look like it had a little more ornate-ness to it than easily observed from afar. The ear lobes had two matching gold square studs. Her right wrist had a simple gold bracelet. Yes, gold was the theme of the day.

Then why was she wearing this silver ring on her left hand? It was on her index finger – a thick band with some sort of pattern etched in and a red ruby sitting in the middle.

The most curious thing? She was carrying this small black plastic bag that you get at any corner deli or bodega. Not quite sure what that held inside.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Sister Christian

Woman 5/29/09

Old. Old and wrinkled. Old, wrinkled and small. Old, wrinkled, small and very nun-like. Her serene face and drab clothing reminded one of Mother Theresa or at least what a lay person’s distant memory of Mother Theresa would yield in the Brooklyn portion of a ride in the MTA subway.

Her hair was mostly grey with patches of light brown that hinted of a different color long since past. The hair was also thinning and her hairline receding. As such, the short pixie-style bob that was her hairstyle probably the best solution to maintaining a veneer of style given the scarce resources.

Her face was an amalgamation of wrinkles. On her forehead, around her mouth and leading to her neck. Her eyes were very deep set with dark circles that were really more red than they were just dark – serving to highlight her eye bags in a manner that suggested a medical issue. She had no eyebrows and age spots dominated an otherwise blemish free complexion.

The thin hair revealed a pair of rather large ears – relatively speaking. And the neck was typical for a woman of her years. More cruel people would commence with the joking not realizing that we all befall the same fate eventually.

Her nun-wear?

It was a black v-neck cardigan. But surprisingly stylish when one got a closer look at the details – there was a white trim on the lapels, the two outside pockets and on the bottom of the jacket. Plus, the cardigan had these gold buttons which made for an interesting contrast of colors and textures.

She was wearing a basic shirt buttoned to the collar, but the print was a black and white print that suggested a more post-modern artistic approach. Think of a cross between Pollock and Mondrian.

The rest of her ensemble was basic black. Black ankle length skirt. Black walking shoes. Black leather handbag.

The one little other spot of color? Hosiery that was obviously maroon.

Thinking back now, I didn’t get a chance to look for a crucifix. Or did I miss that?

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Guest Post

Here's my first guest post by a dear friend - let's call her TubaRocks. Enjoy!


Hey.

I saw the most AWESOME shirt on the subway this morning. Wish you were there to describe it, but since you weren't, I'll do my best:

She was a Chinatown grandma: black slacks, beige orthopedic sneakers, blue nylon Le Sportsac knock-off with a safety pin for a zipper pull. Blah blah, whatever...

THE SHIRT: navy blue cotton button down with an all-over illustrated pattern in mostly beiges, green and red. The colors were not garish. on closer inspection, I realized the pattern was water-color-esque vignettes of a bar patronized by male cats wearing fedoras. The bartender was a female cat in a slinky red dress, heels, and fishnets. In one of the vignettes she's walking up a flight of stairs, followed by one of the fellows. In another she's in front of the bar feeding a puppy.

Too good to be true! Cats, hookers, hooker cats!

Anyway, it was all pretty thrilling.