Y and Kei’s Spring/Summer 2008 collection embraces the urban hippie.
Eased my way into Fashion Week, away from the tents and into the sedate setting of the New York Public Library Celeste Bartos Forum, where Y and Kei Water the Earth hosted a presentation of its Spring 2008 Collection. It’s a little jarring to be thinking about spring just when the fall collections have moved into the stores, but it seems fall’s cocoons, sheaths and chemises will still be with us at least for another eight months.
The presentation had 17 models arranged in a circle on a circular mirror with a sculptural arrangement of ladder-like pieces of blond wood behind them. Photographers, fashion writers and editors circled, studied, took notes, then stood by to watch everyone else do the same. The designs by Hanii Y and Gene Kei offer a modern interpretation of the carefree hippie girl who embraces love, peace and freedom, and just a trace of rebellion to make life interesting.
Tiah wears a gray-blue variegated jacquard
dolman-sleeve chemise with drawstring neckline. Check out their Y & Kei shoes with bunchy hose.
Below, Lucyna wears a silver metallic cotton dress with
hand-cut and applique chiffon feather scallops.
Some excitement last night at about 1 a.m. While I was blogging away, I heard something like a bomb down the street. I was a little nervous because the last time I heard a sound like that was last spring when I was here in New York, staying on the Upper East Side. There were manhole explosions earlier this year, so I thought that could be it too. Even so, I decided to shut off the computer and move away from the window.
It turns out it was a pipe bombing outside the storefront studio owned by “The Sopranos” Michael Imperioli, a couple buildings away from where I’m staying. I even passed by that place yesterday, thinking I should check it out when it’s open. Here’s an excerpt from a story from the CBS affiliate here:
“(CBS) NEW YORK A small explosive device — that has been described to CBS 2 News as a pipe bomb — detonated in front of an acting studio and apartment building in midtown Manhattan early Tuesday morning, causing damage to a van parked outside and forcing the evacuation of residents. Incredibly, the building and the studio, named “Studio Dante,” located at West 29th Street and 8th Avenue, sustained no damaged after the device blew up at about 1:30 a.m., police said. No one was injured in the blast.
CBS 2 News has learned that “Sopranos” actor Michael Imperioli owns the building. The NYPD said they did not know whether there was any connection to the incident and the actor, who owns Studio Dante. Imperioli and his wife Victoria visited the studio later Tuesday morning and appeared a bit shaken up by the mess.
Imperioli played Christopher Moltisanti, Tony Soprano’s nephew, on the popular HBO television show.”
A couple of days after the blast, Michael Imperioli’s building
looked fine after they cleared debris from a car that was destroyed.
My neighbor asked if I had heard about the bombing. I said I had actually heard it and he said it was so weird because this is such a safe quiet place.
It was sort of the reason I chose the area. Being so close to the 9/11 anniversary, I figured it would be safest to stay away from major areas like Times Square or the Chrysler building. I didn’t tell him the same thing happened last time I was here. That bomb went off three blocks from where I was staying and did a lot more damage.
That’s New York, I guess.
Didn’t stop me from pursuing more shopping today, this time a matter of taking a bus to Woodbury Common where 200 shops awaited. I thought I could get there at 10 a.m. and leave by 2:30 p.m. Finally got there at 11, but by 1:30 p.m. had only hit about 20 shops. Yike! Of course I could skip over anyplace selling children’s clothes, athletic shoes or sunglasses. Not in the market for anything like that.
First stop was Neiman Marcus Last Call but after Labor Day sales, I could pretty much figure anything good would be gone. Tried on a Cynthia Vincent 12th Avenue black blouse. It was a small size 6 but I’m a 2 so, with some sadness, I put it back.. The only other thing worthwhile in my eyes was a Reem Acra evening dress, but I believe it was $4,000, so I left.
There are a lot of high-end designer outlets (Chanel, Celine, Emilio Pucci, Fendi, Versace, Valentino) here, so buying is not necessarily the goal. Sometimes it’s simply worthwhile to see some of these garments and the details that go into them. I saw some of the most fantastic clothes at Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, spent a lot of time at Dolce & Gabbana studying a dress with a black sequin bodice and black silk chiffon handkerchief skirt with lace insets and covered in micro floral embroidery, a work of art at $8,000, marked down from $15,000.
Prada skirt jewel detail that covered a front panel from waist to hem.
At Space I tried on a Miu Miu dress ($440 sale but wrong color) with a Prada jacket ($1,500), but what I really wanted was a Prada skirt ($440 sale) tried on, with some amazing jeweled detailing on a front panel. I left it behind because I had 160 more shops to go. Of course now that I’m writing this, I’m having regrets that I didn’t get that skirt.
The hit-and-miss nature of outlet shopping make them dangerous. During regular season at boutiques you’re faced with collections intended to match. This is great for those with no fashion sense because they can rely on one designer’s vision and look totally put together. At the outlets, you’re on your own. You could find yourself buying pieces that don’t match up with anything in your closet. It’s good to know where the gaps in your wardrobe so you can start with a game plan.
It also helps to stick with the lines you typically buy, because you know their fit and can easily determine whether pieces are a bargain or not. For instance, I went to one boutique and the price tag on one top I already own was $120. Well, I bought it on sale at NM in June for $60.
I finally left at 5:30 p.m. with a DKNY top and Catherine Malandrino skirt. It took some restraint to walk away from a Salvatore Ferragamo purple purse.
The line at Barney’s Labor Day sale at its warehouse, the last day for
the summer season, covered nearly a block, and was much,
much longer than it appears in this photo.
Well, made it to N.Y. with no sleep. 9-1/2 hours in the air, but another 3 on the ground in S.F. If United ever offers you extra leg space for $54, take it. I think it makes all the difference between sleeping and not sleeping. So, I was awake 37 hours from 7 a.m. Saturday morning to 8 p.m. Sunday night, HI time. Yuck.
A whole lotta lox
Nevertheless, I was up early to drop the bf off at Grand Central to visit relatives elsewhere (really don’t want him around when I’m power shopping anyway!) At the station, I devoured an excellent bagel and lox at Mendy’s, $8.95, with mucho lox vs. the one-layer strip standard in Hawaii. Eyed the 4-inch pies at The Little Pie Co. Very cute key lime, chocolate cream, lemon meringue, peach and berry pies for $6 each. Would have loved to try one but couldn’t bear the thought of so much sugar in the morning.
Found a cute 1-bedroom Chelsea apt. on Craigslist, at a third the cost of a basic hotel room (going rate is currently $330, up from $250 last spring), but it sure takes a lot of work, emailing, calling, doublechecking schedules, checking in with neighbors because the owners are out of town, etc., to secure. I will probably explain more in an SB travel story at a later date.
From the train station I headed back to Chelsea for the last day of Barney’s warehouse sale, with 50 to 75 percent off retail prices. The Subway system makes it easy to bound from place to place without a plan. Discovered at Barney’s warehouse how sale crazy people can be. The line to get in was all the way down the block, from 7th to 8th aves. at 17th. I walked a third of the way down, but turned and headed back the way I came before checking to see whether the line continued around the block. No way I was going to spend half a day in line. I’d read about such lines, but it’s all so abstract until you see it. That is nuts. How great can the picked-through merchandise be on the last day of a sale? I guess I’ll never find out.
After that it was on to Century 21 across from Ground Zero where work is being done on the site. Headed straight for the European designer section on the third floor, but I didn’t see anything I wanted. The great thing about NY is that there are so many shops you can be hyper selective. If you don’t see exactly what you want in one place, chances are you’ll find it elsewhere if you’re willing to hunt. There’s no need to settle.
Saw this Courreges-inspired jacket at Zara for $99
in a crinkly, papery fabric. Not suitable for Hawaii,
but I wanted to remember it.
From there is was up to SoHo for hours of hunting. So where did I end up? Of all places, the ubiquitous H&M. Theoretically, I don’t like the idea of disposable clothing and the wasteful mentality it breeds. I even heard one woman telling her friend, “If I buy a couple of blouses I won’t have to do laundry tonight.” But realistically, I like cheap finds as much as anyone. You can go nuts there because there’s always hundreds of designs, always on trend, to suit any style. In practicing restraint, I just bought one patterned, pleated smock top because it was cheap ($16.90) and made me look thin.
At the vintage store Andy’s Chee-Pees I bought a blue sequinned top for $65, the sequins laid out in an ombre fish-scale pattern. Apparently, Andy’s a guy who actually wants to know his babies are going to a good home, so he came over to look me over and give me wearing instructions. I got his approval, but it was one of those cases where all the attention would have made me feel bad if I didn’t buy it at that point. I loved it but it was so sparkly I was afraid it would turn out to be one of those things I would never wear. But, on trying it on again at the apt., I decided I will be able to wear it.
Then it was on to Union Square, where I sat on the sidewalk with other touri for a little people watching. Saw lots of models in town for Fashion Week. They’re the ones who are impossibly tall and thin and gorgeous, both men and women.
I wanted to thank CW for a comment she made to an earlier post, saying how New Yorkers have that effortless style to slobber over. That’s exactly what I observed. I appreciate the way that seemingly effortless look actually requires the most thought, planning and visual sense. They can appear to be dressed as casually as anyone in Hawaii, but look closer and you’ll see they are impeccably styled from head to toe, haircut to boot tip. You can easily separate them from the tourists (including me) who, even if they love fashion, seem to dress only to be clothed (anyone can throw on a pretty dress, but one piece and money alone doesn’t make anyone stylish.) The truly stylish use intellect and instinct and sweat to conceptualize and convey an original aesthetic. That’s hard to achieve.
I’ll try to post street photos in a couple days. Not tomorrow.
