Contrary to popular belief it seems easier to pick up a man in New York than a great pair of jeans.
We stepped off the plane anticipating all the unique treasures we thought we were bound to find on our little shopping excursions. And let me tell you, we were hardcore. Waking at 8am, trekking through Manhattan like some crazed shopping junkies on a mission, returning to the hotel at 10.30pm then leaving for dinner by 11pm. To be honest I didn't come back with as many great finds as I thought. Maybe it was because of the meager 3 days we actually got instead of the five we thought we were getting.
With every street that we found a decent shop there was a guy on the corner trying to charm us 'English girls' with lines like 'Hey, hey, hey, can I roll wid chu?!' and 'What's poppin over in London'?' and various marriage proposals and promises to find us next time they were in London. The forwardness of these men was astounding. One of them even asked us for our number (as a group). He didn't care which of us gave him a number; any of us would do. Ah you can see the English charm had definitely been lost in translation with these American boys.
Anyway, regardless of that, Barney's department store was the highlight of the trip. We walked around in awe like kids in a candy shop, stroking, caressing and studying each beautiful garment in great detail to see how it was constructed. An appliqué dress by Christoper Kane stood out with its extravagant embroidery. I was amazed how he could create a dress in one block colour that was so striking because of the different textures and mediums he used to adorn the dress. It's weighty design created something structured and almost architectural. So there we were gawping at this masterpiece and I turned to a friend and said 'I dare anyone to live the day we have in here and not fall in love with fashion, if only for a moment.' You simply cannot deny the sheer craftsmanship that goes into creating a dress like that. This is where fashion meets art, seamlessly.
I ♥ Christopher Kane
So although you may find that uptown New York is a place bursting with great design you can't help but notice that in the case of fashion it's either one extreme or the other. Myself and my friends all agreed that this is where the British and the American high-street differs. The british high-street has a coveted capability of delivering high-fashion design at reasonable prices. Whereas finding high-fashion design at a reasonable price in New York is few and far between like finding a man in Nottingham, my university town, with its 1:6 ratio of women to men. Yet in New York, with every Avenue and Boulevard lurks a man, decent or not, waiting for you to walk/'roll' by. To summarize: New York has an abundance of men whilst British cities have an abundance of fashion, the type that makes you sigh.
I ♥ The Jumpsuit...
...and my new Agent Provocateur wedges, more NY finds.
