Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center

Everyone in New York City knows when it's Fashion Week. This year, we decided to go to photograph and interview interesting looking grey haired women of a certain age. Well! There weren't any, interesting looking or otherwise. Much to our surprise, when we got to Lincoln Center, we could see we were - as we so often are - among the oldest people there. We're only half way through the week, so stay tuned. Our luck could always change ...






















photo courtesy of Andi Bakos

On the bright side, Fashion Week at Lincoln Center was a lot like old home week (so to speak). We ran into people we'd first met last fall at the Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB) Conference and Fashion's Night Out (FNO).

Jared

Jean says: I knew things were looking up when I no sooner emerged from the subway station at Lincoln Center than I heard someone yelling "Idiosyncratic Fashionista" as heads on the crowded street corner swiveled in concert. (Okay, okay, I confess. I loved it!) It was none other than Jared, whom we'd met at If Boutique on Fashion's Night Out in September. Looking about 7 feet tall, he managed to wear an impossible combination of all of the latest fashion trends, and do so flawlessly. No small feat for any woman, so it was all the more daunting a challenge for a guy: turban, aviator shades, sky-high platforms worn with socks, fur vest and clutch bag - all in shades of winter white and cream. We posed for a photo before dashing off in opposite directions.























Later in the afternoon, Jared and his friend Pat who is visiting from LA, stopped to reconnect with Valerie on the plaza.
























Ryo

We ran into Ryo Miyamoto, whom we first met at the Independent Fashion Bloggers conference last spring and saw him again at If in Soho during Fashion's Night Out. We're big fans of his street style blog and his eye for detail. His cold weather look was uniquely his.






















Wataru

We also ran into fellow blogger Wataru (aka "Bob") Shimosato, whom we'd also met at If on Fashion's Night Out. Valerie had just seen him earlier this week at a fabulous insider sale at one of our favorite boutiques. His blog, An Unknown Quantity is also one of our faves.






















Check out Wataru's fabulous shoes and bag. The leather and metal studded ball looks more like a medieval weapon than a fashion accessory.























Prutha

The fourth person we encountered was Prutha Raithatha, whom we'd also met in September 2011 at the Independent Fashion Bloggers conference. What are the chances of that? She is a triple threat: She blogs (donotshoeme.blogspot.com), works for Vogue India, and likes to dress in unconventional ways -- her look combines a traditional large bindi on her forehead with giant print platform shoes! Despite the chill, she did the big reveal to show us her colorful fashion choices of the day. We really liked her shoes!






















For more fun photos of us and these four fellow stylish New Yorkers, check out our 9/11/11 "Double Whammy" posting of September's Fashion's Night Out and the Independent Fashion Bloggers conference.

Not ones to rest on our laurels, we did what we do best - meet new and interesting people. Case in point: this Japanese photographer was dressed for the elements, but managed to add notes of color (blue) to spice up his look. The blue lenses on his aviators were a perfect counterpoint to Valerie's blue hat.






















Andi

We also met Andi. Andi has her own blog, called Andi Belle. Click here to see an eclectic selection of interesting visuals, including some shots taken at Lincoln Center. Andi emailed us this photo below, and took the photo at the top of today’s IF entry. She was taking the pictures, but makes a great subject for the camera as well.
























We pursued this woman to get a closer look at her very interesting long grey coat. (We also thought her hair was grey, but on closer inspection, saw that it was blond.) She said she'd seen something like it in Italy (where she was working as a hair stylist) and decided to try to make one herself. Her husband revealed that she made the pattern for the coat and worked it out all on their dining room table. (Jean was totally blown away. Having no sewing skills of her own, that would have been the equivalent of seeing a helicopter and deciding she'd make one of her own. It's guaranteed that her results would have been nowhere near as successful as this lady's. One senses a crash and burn scenario there somewhere.)






















The coat is made of grey sweatshirt material, quite reminiscent of our favorite Norma Kamali collections, and looked just as good going as coming. The seaming in the back was quite figure flattering.























Continuing on the grey theme - we liked these grey flannel high heeled oxfords worn with grey ribbed tights. The heels looked like clear plexiglass painted black except for the last inch at the bottom.























A gentleman wore this terrific vintage 1980's pin on his vest.






















We encountered these two young lovelies who were really not dressed for the cold weather.























It's hard to tell in the photo, but the gridwork at the hem of this woman's shirt stood away from her body, as if it were modeled on the hoop skirt. Way cool!






















Another woman braves the elements, and suffers for her art.






















Remember the 1970s Ralph Lauren print ads? This woman looks like she stepped out of one.






















This young woman had very cool braids and a vintage hat and wore fabulous shoes.
























Is this a new trend? We saw two people with little dark argyle socks over their dark stockings. She did it best.
























Some of the photographers at Lincoln Center looked as chic as the people they were shooting. This woman is a terrific example.























Valerie is trying to adopt a 'strike while the iron is hot' approach to photography, which with her often means photographing people while their backs are turned. Hopefully there'll be a better shot to come, but if not, at least get a photo of the clothing. This is an Ivan Grundhal skirt. Check out the woman in orange shoes that she's photographing in the distance.






















Here's a closer view of the woman in the orange shoes, as well as her friend.






















So in this instance, patience paid off. Eventually the woman in the architectural skirt turned around. She looks great either way!























These two, probably young enough to be our grandchildren, asked to photograph us, so we returned the compliment and photographed them right back.






















You can see by the photos that we didn't have much luck finding People of a Certain Age. Must be true what they say - this is not an old person's business. So we're seeing what we can do to change that.

There's more to see. Join us later in the week for other peacockian delights.

Valerie is wearing: blue shearling hat by Owen Barry, black felt coat by Tiiti Tolonen and blue suede shoes by Arche. Sure, there's other stuff underneath, but you can't see any of them, so why name them?

Jean is wearing a vintage 1980s Norma Kamali leopard hat, coat by High Use, scarf by Banana Republic (from the early 1990s), pants by Zara, bag by Lux De Ville, and boots by Doc Marten.