Speaking of kicking people when they’re down, GQ has released a “poll” of the most-sartorially-challenged cities in America. Come on, is it much fun to deride football-jersey-wearing slobs in Pittsburgh as football-jersey-wearing slobs?
Notably, though, D.C. is not on the list. Notably, though, Manhattan is. Wh-aaat?!
For all my kvetching, I don’t disagree. Here’s why: D.C. is hardly stylistically stellar. I rarely walk down the street and covet a bag, a dress, a blouse. (Well, occasionally.) But the city’s inherent conservatism serves it well because it prevents people from making many completely egregious fashion mistakes. There are parameters, there are rules. There is less fun and more taste.
In New York, there is nothing to rein people in, there is no uniform. The adverturous, the stylistically smart, those with a real eye can soar. I see women and I swoon. I want, I long, I desire. The downside to that, though, is there’s nothing to guide those who need guidance. In the city the other weekend I saw: Acid wash. Scuncis. Wife-beaters (on men). Frayed jeans. Gym shorts at a fancy cocktail lounge. Leggings so snug I actually could see a woman’s vagina. Yeech.
For my money, consistent and classy win the race.
[...] Here’s the thing: Washingtonians are basically the nerds in the front of the classroom, the ones with the coke-bottle glasses, taped at the bridgepiece and sliding down their nose*. They grew up, got contacts, and felt cool, sort of. So, when D.C.-ers adopt chunky-framed glasses, isn’t it essentially like a return to sixth grade, before the braces came off? Isn’t it less hipster chic than just-plain-geek? [...]
[...] there are bad apples: frat boys in Cancun, tourists in sneakers and dad jeans at la Tour Eiffel. But, for the most part, Americans are just so damn worried about appearing to [...]