Snowshoes in the West Village

NYC snowstorm

They’re not denim, but today they’re fashion.  This is Anne Marie Bowler at a corner store on Greenwich Avenue, scuffing the floor in her snowshoes, a far cry from the girls in Jimmy Choos who usually stop in here to buy cigarettes.  “Are you from Alaska?” I asked but she said no, she’d just bought them for fun at Paragon Sporting Goods .  That’s a long hike from here through slippery streets and corners blocked by mounds of snow.

Post:  Dec. 27, 2010

Roosevelt Field: A Day at the Mall

"You went all the way to Long Island to try on jeans?" my mother said, as I called her from the N24 bus on my way back to the Mineola train station.  Yes, yes I did.  I took the train to Long Island because Nordstrom's carries brands that look good online and aren't sold in Manhattan:  David Kahn, Christopher Blue, Cookie Johnson . . . but I just missed a sale and they were out of my size.  I haven't given up, though.  I like the store, they have lots of jeans.  Fancy skinny jeans in exotic colors and finishes and jeans for women who eat.  I'll call before my next trip.

It was my first time at Roosevelt Field mall so I stayed six hours.  That sounds like a long time but I was busy the entire time.  I tried on about 20 pairs of jeans and took 150 pictures.

Longchamp

Longchamp at 132 Spring Street (bet. Wooster & Greene) doesn't carry denim, but I found all-weather coats, handbags and accessories to go with jeans.  What's striking is the store itself, whose strips of terra-cotta and steel swoop me up from the sidewalk all the way to the ceiling in the back.  It's like an old amusement park where models and handbags slide up and down wooden chutes into infinity.  When I take a walk in Soho, I make a point of stopping here to enjoy this work of art.  You can read more about the store's design and architect Thomas Heatherwick here (is he single?).

Here are denim blue patent leather totes and belt, but I also liked the

multicolored patch handbag set co-designed by Kate Moss, which is no longer available on the store's web site, http://www.longchamp.com/.

Post:  Dec. 18, 2010