The Joys of Life in NYC

My preferred mode of travel is walking- it allows you to see so much more, and even better to understand how the pieces fit together, how one neighborhood flows into another. I feel like when I take the subway the city becomes broken up into discreet independent neighborhoods, losing the diversity of new york.

But the one advantage of the subway is the people watching. Last week I got quite excited when Virginia Smith was standing beside me, sweating it out with the rest of the masses, waiting for the A train downtown.

Her outfit was about the opposite of a fashion victim. She was wearing baggy cut off chinos, simple black ballet flats and a grey t shirt (looked like it was from the row). Now that's not to say she was completely devoid of designer goods- she was carrying a giant hermes duffel and a on-trend small structured grey shoulder bag, possibly this season's chloe.

When I got back to my room I began perusing the web and found that this seems to be her signature style- choosing pants instead of skirts, worn loose and relaxed, never tight.

P.s. looks like I'm not the only one to have a virginia smith run-in on the subway (and yes, this is almost exactly what she was wearing when I saw her, but summer-ized)

battle of the vogues

throughout the blogosphere the carine roitfeld vs. anna wintour match up has been thoroughly dissected. The general consensus is that french vogue is younger, hipper, takes more risks and has more creative editorials. They've even had a transvestite on their cover! All american vogue has to boast of is a bunch of bland socialites writing irrelevent columns, airbrushed celebrities and a lot of caroline trentini jumping in front of a grey background.

But what about US Vogue's brother: Men's vogue? I kind of expect french vogue to be cooler because it's well, french. But why is our american counterpoint doing such a better job?


vs.

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Their style is topnotch, and their articles are actually interesting. Instead of offering reviews of the newest plastic surgery options, they actually cover areas that are relevent. For example, this month's magazine featured "Beggars & Choosers: why the quest for a second-in-command is the biggest gamble in presidential politics."

I think it's time for vogue to step up their game if they want to stay on top