Copyright Walter Vecchio
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Just when I thought I was only being an out of touch and over the hill fussbudget, I stumbled upon an article by Buzzfeed writer Amy Odell. In it she agrees with everything I’ve come to believe about New York Fashion Week. This is very significant because while I have never been in New York during Fashion Week, much less attended a show, Odell actually lives there and has experience on her side.
All I know is what I see on the web, in photo after photo of the shows, all taken by fashion bloggers and reporters, all tweeted and pinterested and instagramed in proper blogger fashion. What I fear is that the action of taking the photo and tweeting it has over-shadowed the experience of actually attending the show. I’m afraid that the audience is so busy trying to live-report the collection that many of them don’t see it at all.
Here in North Carolina, I can sit in the comfort of my little armchair and see all the major shows, many of them live. I know the experience is not the same, but I get the feeling I’m seeing a lot more than the i-phone brigade.
I’ll admit I’m not the type of person who wants to be “connected” 100% of the time. I do not own a smart phone (by choice) and I use a cell phone only because it is such a wonderful safety tool. I bought a laptop and a tablet to take with me on my travels, but I rarely use them. I spend a lot of time at my computer, and when I’m away from it, I want to be really disconnected. There is nothing going on in my life that is so important to others that it has to be spread across the web immediately. What is important is that I live in the moment.
Lecture over, so now you are rewarded with my favorite of all the New York shows this season. No surprise; it is Ralph Rucci. Note that this audience is relatively smart phone free, perhaps because Rucci’s clientele is a bit older than many of the other designers’.
Cpoyright Walter Vecchio
The two illustrations are from The Fashion Makers: A Photographic Record. In 1968 photographer Walter Vecchio and writer Robert Riley chronicled eight months of fashion in pictures and words. It’s a must-have book for anyone interested in fashions of the 1960s, and is easily found on Amazon, ebay and etsy.
The Vintage Traveler 
Oh, thank you for sharing that video! I’m loving the bright colors that are currently showing up in fashion and I would wear a lot of the dresses in that Ralph Rucci show – the lines are wonderful! (My husband actually stopped to watch over my shoulder and liked most of the dresses as well!)
I’m in my 30’s and I’m still fighting the must-be-connected-at-all-times trend. I don’t do Facebook (aside from my home business page) and I don’t want a smartphone. I really have to remember to take photos for my blog because I prefer viewing the world without a screen in the way.
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Sometimes I have to remember to take photos too. I’ve been halfway though a show and realized I’d passed up some great stuff and had no photos to show for it.
When I win that lottery, I’m going shopping with Mr. Rucci.
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Lizzie: You are right to think that all the snapping and posting is likely detracting from the simplicity of showing new clothes. Attendees’ own outfits and twitpics have almost eclipsed the ones actually going down the runway. Instead of looking at the lines of the clothes, and the fabrics, and the construction, some new media tends to reduce the shows to color, print and celebrity. It’s too bad they can’t see the hard work that goes into the garments and how looking for attention had made for an odd tug-of-war with the designers who are showing themselves. I still read a few critics’ (Horyn, Wilson, Vanessa Friedman, Style.com) reviews for their perceptions of design, for helping to explain/define the mood of the moment, and for their good writing techniques.
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Jess, thanks so much for your input. I didn’t get into this cult of celebrity as that is an entirely separate rant, but I’m really weary of everyone thinking their 15 minutes is going to happen at NYFW.
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Lizzie- I admit to falling prey to the “it just happened therefore I must share it Right This Minute” feeling that being ever-connected with a smartphone gives. I’m on a trip as we speak, and it’s a struggle to be in the moment, as well as keep my readers updated, as if somehow if I wait ’til I get home, the info won’t be as relevant. Thanks for the reminder to live in the now!
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Any time. Enjoy that trip!
Seriously, it will keep, and when you are home and relaxed you’ll even do a better job of presenting it.
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