Subway Star

Woman 1/7/11

I wish Scott Schuman was there to take her picture. That's how good this look was. Literally from head to toe.

First the toes. They were encased in turquoise cowboy boots. The best part? Each had a prominent large white star with red outline debossed onto the the front of the boot. Her boot tips were distressed and dark, possibly from the first snow that was falling this morning, but given the salt stains on the sides, it was more likely that these were no snow virgins. On their own, these boots were already making a statement.

Interestingly enough, her scarf was this large New York Red Bull team scarf. Red polyester on one side, and blue on the other. The team logo was featured prominently, and she was evidently not ashamed to be sporting the team colors.

Given that she was on the waifish side, it wasn't surprising that she was clad in skinny jeans. The fact that there were these bold zippers on the inside of the jeans - they were almost a continuation of the statement started by the boots. On her fingers though were oatmeal wool fingerless gloves. No nail polish.

She was bundled the entire time in her black wool overcoat. Military-inspired, double-breasted and epaulets on the shoulders. I think she knew it was a plain winter coat because on her right breast area, she had decorated the coat with a cluster of three pins. Two buttons and one broach. The buttons? One was the Union Jack with "Anarchy". The other was placed upside down deliberately and after much investigation, this seemingly political pin actually said " United We Bargain. Divided We Beg". The broach? A pair of lips outlined with rhinestones. Individually, each says something. Collectively, I'm not sure but it made for a great addition to her coat.

Of course, the hair was an essential part of her look as well. She had bangs and a shoulder length poofy style. Think Supremes and not Snooki. Her chestnut locks were quite voluminous, and just about overpowered and covered the blue hoodie.

And what woman's look is complete without the bag? It was a vinyl travel bag with a shoulder strap - reminded me of the old Pan Am bags that were so ubiquitous in my youth. White with blue accents, and distinct use markings and stains all over. When I finally caught a glimpse of the logo on the front, it said " Jetsave. The Transatlantic Holiday People". Do a search.

Finally, her face? Cherubic. Very young. Innocent bordering on angelic.

The main question that lingered was? How old was she? High school? College? And did she consciously know she had a style? What did her friends think? What did her enemies think?

In Rainbows

Woman 2/26/09

I’ve barely been at this blog thing for 4 months, and I think I’m getting soft. Either that or I’m seeing beauty in a whole new different way. Seriously. What people mock or find weird, I’m starting to like. It’s really the ones who follow the rules or try to hard to be someone else that I find out-of-place.

This girl is really on the fringes of what most would consider odd dressing. Only for me, it totally made sense.

Where do I start? How about the smallest item? She had on this broach. A spider shaped broach with gold plated spine, limbs and feelers, and a red ruby-esque stone where the body should be. Maybe it was a beetle, and not a spider. Pinned to the right lapel of her brown double-breasted winter coat.

The rest of her was color. The shoes were a pair of Diesel sneakers that were a light blue, with fuschia accents and yellow laces. Her glasses were these oval-ish frames that were multi-color; like a kaleidoscope or patchwork of mis-matched squares. Her gloves were black and pink striped, and fingerless. On her neck was a mutli-color scarf – reminded me of something Kanye West might sport. She must be a Yeezy fan.

There were a couple things I didn’t quite get though. She was wearing these purple sweatpants, which looked a bit loose on her. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt, but the color was definitely her style. And sticking out from her coat sleeves were the sleeves of this mini-polka dot pattern – black and white. Not sure if that was a sweater but the color totally threw me off. The chocolate winter brown coat is fine, but black and white seems a bit too stark for her. Maybe there was a more interesting pattern beyond the sleeves?

In truth, the entire outfit really only worked for me because of her hair. It was this fierce 60’s style pouf that was equal part The Supremes and Kelis. Seriously, this girl knew that she was rocking something totally different and it was part of her identity. She dressed like she had a point-of-view.

Even her iPod was attached to these magenta-cabled earphones. These wires lead to a pair of over-ear headphones that were a slight metallic blue. You can’t tell me that was a coincidence.

I wonder what she was listening to?