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Woman 2/5/09
Someone remarked to me the other day that a particular item of clothing I was wearing was really cool. It was the rest of my clothes that made no sense in relation to that piece. The exact words were “ but that shirt and tie…”.
The moral of the story? Sometimes, taken individually, one can have great pieces, but when worn with the wrong combination it just becomes like Popeye’s chicken served with foie gras.
You couldn’t help but be drawn to her. Just about six feet tall, and wearing a down winter coat that was the perfect shade of Heinz Ketchup red. The fuscia pink Juicy Couture sweats followed. And on her feet were a pair of Uggs-not-Uggs boots covered with long fur There was a snowflake motif on the heel of those boots. A somewhat matching purple handbag finished off her look.
The coat itself looked like a brand that had knocked off Moncler – right down to having a crest and a number patch on the left arm. Still, it was a very fashionable number, and I’ve seen the same jacket on a few other New Yorkers. The jacket had a hood that was trimmed in fur. And under that jacket, you could make out a cotton hoodie that was a multi-colored pastel lines print.
The sweats were basic Juicy Couture done in fuscia pink. They hugged her waist, butt and thighs, just giving slightly at her calves before being tucked into her boots.
Those boots initially didn’t seem all that fashionable. The first thought that popped into mind was that someone had cut Chewbacca off just at the calf and hollowed it out so that someone might keep their feet warm. But the more one looked, the better they got. They were genuinely fashionable. Cutting edge for some, but still well within the Generally Accepted Fashion Principles.
Taken individually, each piece would probably not be out of place in some fashionista’s closet. But put it all together, and that woman was attracting attention like a body in full rigor getting ready to spawn pupae.
Forgot to mention her hair. Small black braids that were curled like hair would be in large curling rollers. There were no rollers, but those curls were at least 2.5 inches in diameter.
Maybe it was the hair.
Showing posts with label uggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uggs. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
I read, therefore I am … part two
Woman 1/29/09
Having finally gotten the chance to watch Slumdog Millionaire recently, this woman struck me as having a great resemblance to Freida Pinto, the lovely actress who played the female lead in the movie. Perhaps resemblance is a misnomer. She looked like she could have been the older (albeit still youthful) sister to Ms. Pinto.
The face is familiar to many by now. Her hair was just as long, dark and wavy – reinforcing the perception that she shared DNA with the actress.
It was actually her shoes that caught my attention. A friend had pointed out to me her own “Uggs-not-Uggs”, and this woman had on shoes that could be described as such. It had similar tan color, approximate height, and light fur running up the sides of the boots. It was not quite as rounded in the front, and missing the Uggs label on the heel. As always tucked into the boots were a pair of jeans – these were your basic blue denim, though not skin-hugging skinny.
On her head was this mesh back Adidas baseball hat – perhaps it could be described as ‘trucker-not-trucker”. It was a very faded blue with the added patina of yellow. Like it was a tooth that just hadn’t been brushed. But the hat wasn’t frayed or showed signs of wear – just a peculiar color of supposed neglect.
Her winter coat was another double-take. At first glance, it was a simple black and white double-breasted wool number with black hood trimmed in black fur. The pattern of the weave looked like it was a modern herringbone weave of some sort. A closer look revealed that it was a plaid pattern of some sort, or at least a geometric pattern that from afar looked like a herringbone weave. Herringbone-not-herringbone.
For extra warmth, there was a thick chunky turtleneck sweater. Black, with the sleeves sticking out from underneath the sleeves of the winter coat.
Early in her ride, she pulled out a yellow magazine-sized deck that turned out to the Spring course catalog for The New School. Right there, the rush to judge pegged her as a young, hip, college student. Cool, seemingly label-less clothing, everything that was trendy but just a little less so – breaking her from the standard.
Just then, the catalog was put away, and she pulled her Blackberry from her bag. It was a large handbag- the size of a tote. There were this large pocket on the front panel, and each end of the bag had large pockets as well that utilized drawstring clasps. It was pale pink, and the sheen suggested nylon not leather. It looked quite interesting, and if assuming she was your typical NYC college girl; that bag could have been an Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie offering. As she put her Blackberry back into the handbag, the zipper pull of the main compartment flashed the brand; Stella McCartney.
The book she proceeded to flip through from end to end only added to my obvious premature and misguided judgment. It was credited to the Deen Bros. Titled Y’all Come Eat. She was flipping through this cookbook, written by the sons of Southern cooking maven, Paula Deen. This would have been the last thing one could expect her to read.
Looks like Freida Pinto. Dresses like she shops at Urban Outfitters. Carries a $1500 handbag. Interested in Southern cooking. Somewhere out there is a man or woman that worships the ground she walks on. May they find each other soon.
Having finally gotten the chance to watch Slumdog Millionaire recently, this woman struck me as having a great resemblance to Freida Pinto, the lovely actress who played the female lead in the movie. Perhaps resemblance is a misnomer. She looked like she could have been the older (albeit still youthful) sister to Ms. Pinto.
The face is familiar to many by now. Her hair was just as long, dark and wavy – reinforcing the perception that she shared DNA with the actress.
It was actually her shoes that caught my attention. A friend had pointed out to me her own “Uggs-not-Uggs”, and this woman had on shoes that could be described as such. It had similar tan color, approximate height, and light fur running up the sides of the boots. It was not quite as rounded in the front, and missing the Uggs label on the heel. As always tucked into the boots were a pair of jeans – these were your basic blue denim, though not skin-hugging skinny.
On her head was this mesh back Adidas baseball hat – perhaps it could be described as ‘trucker-not-trucker”. It was a very faded blue with the added patina of yellow. Like it was a tooth that just hadn’t been brushed. But the hat wasn’t frayed or showed signs of wear – just a peculiar color of supposed neglect.
Her winter coat was another double-take. At first glance, it was a simple black and white double-breasted wool number with black hood trimmed in black fur. The pattern of the weave looked like it was a modern herringbone weave of some sort. A closer look revealed that it was a plaid pattern of some sort, or at least a geometric pattern that from afar looked like a herringbone weave. Herringbone-not-herringbone.
For extra warmth, there was a thick chunky turtleneck sweater. Black, with the sleeves sticking out from underneath the sleeves of the winter coat.
Early in her ride, she pulled out a yellow magazine-sized deck that turned out to the Spring course catalog for The New School. Right there, the rush to judge pegged her as a young, hip, college student. Cool, seemingly label-less clothing, everything that was trendy but just a little less so – breaking her from the standard.
Just then, the catalog was put away, and she pulled her Blackberry from her bag. It was a large handbag- the size of a tote. There were this large pocket on the front panel, and each end of the bag had large pockets as well that utilized drawstring clasps. It was pale pink, and the sheen suggested nylon not leather. It looked quite interesting, and if assuming she was your typical NYC college girl; that bag could have been an Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie offering. As she put her Blackberry back into the handbag, the zipper pull of the main compartment flashed the brand; Stella McCartney.
The book she proceeded to flip through from end to end only added to my obvious premature and misguided judgment. It was credited to the Deen Bros. Titled Y’all Come Eat. She was flipping through this cookbook, written by the sons of Southern cooking maven, Paula Deen. This would have been the last thing one could expect her to read.
Looks like Freida Pinto. Dresses like she shops at Urban Outfitters. Carries a $1500 handbag. Interested in Southern cooking. Somewhere out there is a man or woman that worships the ground she walks on. May they find each other soon.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Happy Birthday
Woman 1/13/09
She was seated with her back against the subway map; her eyes closed and a pair of cheap black headphones over her ears. Her short black hair was parted to the right, starting just slightly left of center. Really chic cut, and probably long enough to cover her eyes and ears if she really wanted.
It was this colorful paper bag that caught my eye. It was one of those glossy paper shopping bags – medium sized. It was this multi-color number that had just as many stripes as it did polka dots. The words Happy Birthday were printed sideways- vertically up the height of the bag with the stripes as a background panel. And there was this pinwheel in the middle of the bag, sitting on top of all those polka dots. It just had the word Happy, printed in a circular pattern like the rings of a ripple effect.
I was wondering what made someone carry such a conspicuous bag when I caught a glimpse of a small tag on the handle. In what may have been her own handwriting were the words, “To Jackson. Happy Birthday. ” So, the bag was the wrapping to a gift.
That gift itself remained hidden from view. There was a small clear plastic tab sticking out above what was a black box. Not enough to tell. Was the gift for an adult or a child? Hard to tell with that bag.
The rest of her was pretty basic. A cream winter wool coat – possibly J. Crew or Banana Republic. A nice thin gold colored scarf around her neck. Blue pinstriped work pants over a pair of black Ugg boots. Her handbag was from Louis Vuitton; in that black and brown checkerboard print done in their usual pleather.
She left the train at a major residential stop in Brooklyn. There are no other trains there to connect to, and given the way she was dressed, it came as a surprise when she exited. I wonder where she worked. After all, pin striped pants over black Uggs was a unique combination.
She was seated with her back against the subway map; her eyes closed and a pair of cheap black headphones over her ears. Her short black hair was parted to the right, starting just slightly left of center. Really chic cut, and probably long enough to cover her eyes and ears if she really wanted.
It was this colorful paper bag that caught my eye. It was one of those glossy paper shopping bags – medium sized. It was this multi-color number that had just as many stripes as it did polka dots. The words Happy Birthday were printed sideways- vertically up the height of the bag with the stripes as a background panel. And there was this pinwheel in the middle of the bag, sitting on top of all those polka dots. It just had the word Happy, printed in a circular pattern like the rings of a ripple effect.
I was wondering what made someone carry such a conspicuous bag when I caught a glimpse of a small tag on the handle. In what may have been her own handwriting were the words, “To Jackson. Happy Birthday. ” So, the bag was the wrapping to a gift.
That gift itself remained hidden from view. There was a small clear plastic tab sticking out above what was a black box. Not enough to tell. Was the gift for an adult or a child? Hard to tell with that bag.
The rest of her was pretty basic. A cream winter wool coat – possibly J. Crew or Banana Republic. A nice thin gold colored scarf around her neck. Blue pinstriped work pants over a pair of black Ugg boots. Her handbag was from Louis Vuitton; in that black and brown checkerboard print done in their usual pleather.
She left the train at a major residential stop in Brooklyn. There are no other trains there to connect to, and given the way she was dressed, it came as a surprise when she exited. I wonder where she worked. After all, pin striped pants over black Uggs was a unique combination.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Irrelevant Observation
Winter Trend 1/13/09
Not too long ago, I spent a week in Tokyo during the first week of the calendar year. Unbeknownst to me then, that very week is when the Japanese do two things: going to temple and shopping. The temple bit was interesting because they were not following a Lunar or other any religious calendar. The shopping bit was actually downright scary because nothing was technically open except for retail stores and the entire population of Japan took their shopping time seriously. Imagine the entire population of your city crowding into all the retail stores at the same time, and you start to get the idea. Now multiply that by ten, from the folks visiting who want to shop too. That’s Tokyo during that week.
So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, now that we have established that I probably viewed a larger portion of the Japanese population in that week than normal, I can go ahead and make the generalizations based on that limited exposure.
I never noticed fashion trends on that scale before and in Tokyo, it quickly became obvious that Japanese women in winter like their boots. Short, tall, flat, high heels, leather or otherwise. Japanese women love their boots in winter. And to fully show off their boots, they take to wearing short skirts or winter shorts. Mind you, the skirts and shorts are usually wool, and designed for warmth, but still not what comes to mind when one thinks of winter wear. Every other woman in Tokyo was wearing boots. Old, young, chic, plain, fashionistas, mountain witches, grandmothers or granddaughters.
In NYC, this winter has revealed another similar ubiquitous trend. Uggs. Yes, Ugg winter boots. Classic tan, new black, or edgy fabric ones. Worn with jeans or tights tucked into them. Sported by White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, locals, tourists or otherwise. The stylish, the plain, the ugly, tall, thin, short, fat, the young, the youthful, the old, and old-yet-young-at-heart. Uggs are everywhere, and they cannot be stopped. One brand. One shoe. Many variations and admirers.
Next time you are on the subway or just roaming the streets of NYC. Take a look around you and keep count of how many Uggs you see on the feet of women. As am I writing this now in Starbucks, there is at least one woman wearing them.
Walk the stores, and you’ll see them everywhere as well. Heck, Wal-Mart and Target are even selling Ugg knock-offs, and I guarantee you there are thousands of those that have been sold as well. This is not an urban phenomenon. It really is everywhere.
Guess we’re not immune from these kind of sweeping trends either.
Not too long ago, I spent a week in Tokyo during the first week of the calendar year. Unbeknownst to me then, that very week is when the Japanese do two things: going to temple and shopping. The temple bit was interesting because they were not following a Lunar or other any religious calendar. The shopping bit was actually downright scary because nothing was technically open except for retail stores and the entire population of Japan took their shopping time seriously. Imagine the entire population of your city crowding into all the retail stores at the same time, and you start to get the idea. Now multiply that by ten, from the folks visiting who want to shop too. That’s Tokyo during that week.
So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, now that we have established that I probably viewed a larger portion of the Japanese population in that week than normal, I can go ahead and make the generalizations based on that limited exposure.
I never noticed fashion trends on that scale before and in Tokyo, it quickly became obvious that Japanese women in winter like their boots. Short, tall, flat, high heels, leather or otherwise. Japanese women love their boots in winter. And to fully show off their boots, they take to wearing short skirts or winter shorts. Mind you, the skirts and shorts are usually wool, and designed for warmth, but still not what comes to mind when one thinks of winter wear. Every other woman in Tokyo was wearing boots. Old, young, chic, plain, fashionistas, mountain witches, grandmothers or granddaughters.
In NYC, this winter has revealed another similar ubiquitous trend. Uggs. Yes, Ugg winter boots. Classic tan, new black, or edgy fabric ones. Worn with jeans or tights tucked into them. Sported by White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, locals, tourists or otherwise. The stylish, the plain, the ugly, tall, thin, short, fat, the young, the youthful, the old, and old-yet-young-at-heart. Uggs are everywhere, and they cannot be stopped. One brand. One shoe. Many variations and admirers.
Next time you are on the subway or just roaming the streets of NYC. Take a look around you and keep count of how many Uggs you see on the feet of women. As am I writing this now in Starbucks, there is at least one woman wearing them.
Walk the stores, and you’ll see them everywhere as well. Heck, Wal-Mart and Target are even selling Ugg knock-offs, and I guarantee you there are thousands of those that have been sold as well. This is not an urban phenomenon. It really is everywhere.
Guess we’re not immune from these kind of sweeping trends either.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Subtle Big Hair Girl
Woman 12/4/08
One of my pet peeves riding the NYC subway is when someone treats the train like their home. They are either having a full meal, or doing something on their laptop, or leisurely lounging. Folks, if the MTA wanted to let you put your feet up and sit in comfort, they would have made the seats La-Z-Boys.
She was spread out over 3 seats. One for her ass. One for her Ugg clad feet, and one for her Puma handbag. That bag was brown corduroy with dark leather accents and brown handles. There was a Puma logo on the side of the bag and a metal logo dangling from one of the handles. It was like a miniature gym bag.
Her slim legs were fitted with faded black jeans, which were tucked into those tan Uggs. On her stretched out legs was this medium sized shopping bag from Something Else Footwear, and the bag was stuffed so full, you could clearly see a pair of light blue jeans peeking out from the open top.
The look was classic Staten Island / Jersey Shore princess. Long brown curly hair with blonde streaks, styled back so that there was a slight poof of hair on the top of her head. Think Joan Cusack in Working Girl or any John Hughes movie featuring girls with big hair. This was the more subtle version – if big hair can be subtle.
And she was tan. Well, her face was almost orange, but her hands were fairly pale. It could have been the amount of make-up used, though you could still make out her old acne scars on her forehead. She had the smoky eyes look, choosing to highlight her big eyes with an ash-blue eye shadow and lashes that reached for the stars. The rounded nose completed her face.
Her giant scarf almost covered most of her shoulders. It was a sea-green paisley pattern with shiny flecks throughout. She was wearing a black short cropped trench style coat that came with a slim black belt. And though the jacket was buttoned the entire time, you could see the sleeves of her chunky red sweater sticking out of her jacket cuffs.
It could have been the giant sparkly hoop earrings that completed the look. Or her nonchalant “I am better than the subway” look on her face.
One of my pet peeves riding the NYC subway is when someone treats the train like their home. They are either having a full meal, or doing something on their laptop, or leisurely lounging. Folks, if the MTA wanted to let you put your feet up and sit in comfort, they would have made the seats La-Z-Boys.
She was spread out over 3 seats. One for her ass. One for her Ugg clad feet, and one for her Puma handbag. That bag was brown corduroy with dark leather accents and brown handles. There was a Puma logo on the side of the bag and a metal logo dangling from one of the handles. It was like a miniature gym bag.
Her slim legs were fitted with faded black jeans, which were tucked into those tan Uggs. On her stretched out legs was this medium sized shopping bag from Something Else Footwear, and the bag was stuffed so full, you could clearly see a pair of light blue jeans peeking out from the open top.
The look was classic Staten Island / Jersey Shore princess. Long brown curly hair with blonde streaks, styled back so that there was a slight poof of hair on the top of her head. Think Joan Cusack in Working Girl or any John Hughes movie featuring girls with big hair. This was the more subtle version – if big hair can be subtle.
And she was tan. Well, her face was almost orange, but her hands were fairly pale. It could have been the amount of make-up used, though you could still make out her old acne scars on her forehead. She had the smoky eyes look, choosing to highlight her big eyes with an ash-blue eye shadow and lashes that reached for the stars. The rounded nose completed her face.
Her giant scarf almost covered most of her shoulders. It was a sea-green paisley pattern with shiny flecks throughout. She was wearing a black short cropped trench style coat that came with a slim black belt. And though the jacket was buttoned the entire time, you could see the sleeves of her chunky red sweater sticking out of her jacket cuffs.
It could have been the giant sparkly hoop earrings that completed the look. Or her nonchalant “I am better than the subway” look on her face.
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