An interesting-looking woman came into our Georgetown boutique one day, and after our usual pleasantries, I asked her if she was from around here. She said, “I’m from the city”. And when I questioned where about in DC, I could see she was really amused, or as my daughter says, LOL…. and with a heavy Jerry Seinfeld mom's accent said:” Honey, when people say “the city” there is only one city they mean. New York City”.
So now that LiLi The First is a New Yorker, she made some observations.
DOGS AND THE CITY.
Dogs of New York have to do their business on the cement or not do it at all. No soft surface is available. And it goes above and beyond - if there are any trees on the street, they are guarded with a fence all around them. Sometimes even with a thin, tight wire that can cut the dog’s head right off his neck if he tries to pass. There are signs all around not to let them pee on the grass or on the trees. I did notice before that all the sidewalks have an unreasonable number of dog-poop-marks on them, and now it all makes sense. Even the rain can’t wash it out. I can imagine a dog coming to DC and think they arrived in heaven…
MANICURE AND THE CITY.
Living by the words of Elle Woods, “A manicure is more than just nails. It's a way to tell the world, 'Yes, I can be both glamorous and genius at the same time”. So, I found a cute little place on the street corner, and after I got my glam back, I handed over my credit card. The receptionist said, “that would be 129 dollars”. I knew there must be some kind of mistake. 10 fingers, normal manicure, nothing fancy, this is what I told her. She didn’t get confused for a second and said, yep! This is for regular manicures. Would you like to add a tip? I had two frightening questions: First, did it include the tax? Second, will I have to go back to DC every time I need a manicure, or worse, do it myself? It took me a couple of weeks to figure out that a manicure cost 20 bucks even in THE CITY, but this was a “Russian Style Manicure”. I mean, I noticed the girl was Russian, but other than that, it was just a manicure!! Lesson learned.
SUBWAY AND THE CITY.
It’s the Subway. Not the Metro, not the train, not the transit. You know the very confused look they make in France when you ask something in English when in fact, they can understand you just perfectly? Same here! Try asking someone about the Metro, you will get an identical contempt reaction. Metro, metro, what IS the metro? We don’t speak metro in the city…
STYLE AND THE CITY (this is where we come in).
No one will ever say things like “where am I going to wear that”, “I never go anywhere” or “I am too old for that”. No excuses. You like it? You wear it. Overdressing is not a term that exists in the City. No matter how much I try, I will never be the most outrageously dressed person in the room, there will always be someone that beats me to it. I have seen a sequin top in a morning Café, a turtle costume in a fancy restaurant, a tutu skirt at the Knicks game, and walking down the streets, it’s one big fashion show. No one seems to feel uncomfortable wearing exactly what they want. We call it Unapologetically Cool.
What else?
- Trying not to over-generalize New Yorkers, but they curse, A LOT! Not in a bad way. The same way as young people use the word “like” 3 times in one sentence, they just curse instead.
- With people coming here from all over the country with their cars (why?) traffic is quite an experience. They must be driving with one hand on the horn. It’s SOOO loud.
- There are ALWAYS lines, not 5 minutes 10 people lines... hundreds of people lines, around the block and for three street lines. For TikTok new trend, for ice-cream, for a pop-up shop, for a "collaboration", for pancakes, for Birkenstock!!
THE CITY. There is a large, sticky cloud of weed scent over The City, I don’t know if I’m high all the time or just happy to be here.
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Sharing some photos from our Meatpacking boutique.
Our Wall of Style. From the left:
- To add a cover and drama - Spike scarf by NY77
- To "feel like a million bucks" as one of our fab ladies said, a maxi dress by Sandrine Philippe
- To rock and roll, leather vest by AA
- To live in the future, a jacket by Vague Black
- To wear art, a top by Serienumerica
- To runaround in style, pants by NRK
On the shelves:
- To put your cool stuff where it deserve, Yohji Yamamoto DISCORD bags collection, this season also offering lace based and leather clutches.
- To walk in style and in complete comfort - Trippen shoes. I've heard that the only problem with the Trippen shoes is that they never get "older", so you always have a new, go-to pair of shoes you don't want to replace...
- To wrap yourself in chic- Rundholz scarf, one of these fabrics that keeps getting softer and better with every use.
- To keep the sun and other insects out of your face, La Haine Inside us wide brim cotton hat.
6 comments
Diana
Hahaha! Loved this. You’re so right. NYC is one giant fashion show. I am jealous
Emma Kinev
I lived in the City 12 years.
It gets more complicated with every couple of years or I get older, probably both.
The stink has a greater presence downtown, we lived in Upper East side, dog walkers then for $40 dollars an hour were piking up dog’s crap. Subway uptown was great!
Heather Townsend
If New York did not exist it would be necessary to invent it.