It’s been oddly warm in New York this week but as I’ve mentioned before, inappropriate weather is no hindrance to true style devotees. It’s not cold enough for fur as insulation, but still plenty chilly for fur as statement piece. I went to Chelsea Market on Wednesday (and left with five different kinds of cheese thanks to the one-two punch of Lucy’s Whey and Buon Italia), noticed Rag & Bone advertising a sample sale, and figured I’d head outside to the entrance they specified just to check it out. Cheap fancy clothes are the best kind of fancy clothes, after all.
Alas, velvet ropes and a line of at least sixty impatiently-waiting people were already there, so… nah. It was an interesting-looking crowd, though. Shining bright amid all the skinny white girls in slouchy sweaters and bohemian hats (imagine like fifty clones of Jessa from Girls) were a few outliers, like this guy.
Androgynous-dressing people of any gender have a rough enough time of it, but even in these relatively permissive modern times men who want to bend the rules of gender norms get a lot of flack for it. Menswear-inspired women’s fashion has been around for ages because it’s considered “professional” or “cute” for women to wear oxfords and ties, but vice versa? Not so much, even in the world of high fashion. In any case, I support the right of people to wear whatever weird-ass outfits they want.* I thought this guy’s bear-femme demeanor was magnetic, and “fabulous” is the only word to accurately describe this Old Hollywood glam fur coat. I can imagine Bette Davis’ character in All About Eve swanning around in that thing. It was magnificent, and the only thing that might have improved this look was a handful of diamonds.
*Reluctantly, I guess this also extends to the oft-demonized pajamas at the grocery store/People of Walmart subset of uh, style. You can think something’s terrible while still defending someone’s right to wear terrible things.
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