When I lived in New York and worked as a buyer during Fashion Week, I learned a few things about NYFW street style. The first was that as a buyer, I was not supposed to dress up in crazy outfits or show my best look. I was told that since I was there for business, I should play it safe and wear black, maybe a blazer, perhaps a valentino rockstud heel, but never stand out. This of course contrasted directly to my ‘side job’ as a blogger, where you would put together your most fun and standout looks, because this was the perfect time and place to show your fashion creativity. Either way, NYFW street style has changed a LOT in recent years.
As recent as 3 years ago I would say that the extremes in style between attendees still existed. You would get the celebrities, bloggers and highest ranking editors (the front row) wearing there absolute best, and perhaps even being dressed by the show they were attending in order to really hammer in the look of the brand. Then on the other extreme, you had the behind the scenes writers and buyers wearing helmut lang blazers and leather skinny pants and black Louboutins, as if ‘above’ the style of the posing peacocks.
However, these days when looking at NYFW street style, the lines have blurred somewhere in the middle. I find that there are a lot less over-the-top looks, or outfits that have been tailored and coordinated as if off the runway. With jeans, athleisure, sneakers, feminist tees and puffer jackets all being in style during the same season, the look that prevails is less uptown put together, and more downtown slouch. While I love sneakers and jeans, I have to say that this current street style trend does nothing for me inspiration-wise. I usually pour over the street style photos uploaded each night by the Cut, Vogue, StyleCaster and Harpers Bazaar, but this year I found myself clicking through all the casual hot-messes in beanies in order to find some street style to swoon over.
I should say that the democratization in fashion is of course a good thing- the fact that Gucci shows sweatpants and Balmain makes puffer jackets makes fashion more approachable and practical for everyday life- I realize that. Even Miroslava Duma has gone from looking like this, to this. But oh, how this pains me! For you to have access to ANY clothing item in the world and you choose this? It’s a mockery of style. Why are we even showing beautiful new creations each season if the only people who can afford it are going to wear a Yankees hat? I have always been drawn to those people who really know how to put together a look, head to toe, and I miss the whimsy, dang it!
The outfits that inspire me to create more, play with color and liven up my life are fewer and far between, however I have dug through all of the photos to still find some looks from this past week that I still love. Here, in no particular order, are my favorite NYFW street style looks of the Fall 2017 shows.
And just for a little fashion PSA: the new way to wear your coat is off-the-shoulder. You might be used to the past 5 years of draping it off the shoulder cape-style, but it doesn’t keep you warm, natch. So the new way to wear you coat, as ushered in by the fashionistas of New York, is off the shoulder. If you don’t know, now you know.
(ok but how much do we love Eva Chen wearing hers to hide her 8-month pregnant belly? Genius)
