New York Fashion Week: The Interesting Stuff That Sometimes Happens Off the Runway
Dressing up for Betsey Johnson, a Fashion Week ritual.
The bad behavior exhibited by fashion groupies at the tents is legendarily tacky, pushy and entitled. With the move from chaotic Bryant Park to the more spacious and stately Lincoln Center along with the use of bar code technology has kept many gate crashers and suspicious types out of the shows.
It’s made for a more orderly day but I have to admit I miss the crazies.
They’re not all gone, though.
On Sunday, in the midst of all the tightened security everywhere, I saw a woman seize the moment and sneak under the ropes to blend into the crowd and slip into the Diane von Furstenberg show, a hard ticket to get. It was a brilliant moment of chutzpah and I was both disturbed that she pulled it off on a day of super security and awed that she appeared to have succeeded.
Today, I was seated early for Betsey Johnson, a show that draws fans who dress in her frilly, super-charged prom dresses and whimsical, toy box accessories. I like going early to watch the parade of cross-dressers, rockabilly-followers and fashion outsiders streaming in because they go all out for their favorite designer.
The usual parade also included a woman who sat in the row in front of me and proceeded to methodically reach into the goody bag placed on each chair, gobble the chocolate bar, then move on to the next bag. She was a well-dressed maven who looked a little like a friend’s mom so it was a startling sight to witness.
Category: Fresh Style
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