The Art of Style by Kit Mills 032: Style Spotting at the 2013 NYC Dîner en Blanc

Are you sure this is actually New York?

Last Wednesday almost 4,000 people dressed in their finest white clothes gathered in Columbus Circle, hopped on the subway, and flooded from Times Square to eventually pool in Bryant Park for the 2013 NYC Dîner en Blanc. This was my first year participating, and it did not disappoint in the least. My personal style philosophy these days can best be described as “funereal,” so while I’m no stranger to dressing in monochrome my all-white dinner party ensemble felt a lot like looking at myself in negative.

Pearls, white flowers, and lace were everywhere, along with more adventurous accessories along the lines of fur capes, feather boas, and Marie Antoinette-style wigs. One couple even brought along their tiny white Chihuahua. It felt like spending an evening in an alternate New York where your white clothes won’t immediately be ruined by sitting on the subway, dinner is always served on a white tablecloth, and of course dancing follows the dinner.

There were also sparklers at one point.

Lots of people went for classic simplicity, like this ginger fellow in suspenders and a tie. And with a certain devil-may-care attitude, judging by the red wine. One careless move and you’re stained forever, man.

And finally, here’s a selection of the wig brigade. We have French royalty, a sleek flapper bob, and… Robert Smith after a bleaching? I’m not sure, but I liked it.

All things move towards their end, however, and the night couldn’t last forever. (I mean, the planet continues to spin. That would be impossible.) Eventually we all had to pack up our tables and chairs and head home, back to the real world. Oh well. I wonder where it’ll be next year.

Read more about the Dîner in Blanc in NYC and Paris on Untapped Cities.