94 - Sunday, August 4, 1991 — North Shore News New York street NEW YORK City is a con- cept best understood by the little things. It is the ceaseless scramble, the heightened cultural awareness, and the celebra- tion of good food and fash- ion that best defines it. Carol Crenna FASHION STATEMENTS The city can be seen in its pro- per perspective from the 107th floor of the Empire State Build- ing. Looking down, you see an ever-changing parade of thousands who are moving at an uneasy pace along Fifth Avenue. However, the diverse mix of New York’s char- acters, from the Upper West Side to the Bowery, are seen at their best at street level. New Yorkers are in the groups of conspicuous culturalists who browse the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, which sprawls in- to four city blocks. They are in the chaos of cafe clitists sitting among the story tellers, artists and musicians in Greenwich Village. And, wandering a little further south, they are in the coveted clubs in the depths of East Village, where an undiscovered jazz combo lingers or ‘‘new music”’ artists beat instruments in- to submission. They are at their best in the carnival-like atmosphere of mid- town streets like 42nd, Park and Madison Avenue where vendors follow the flow of loose change with het pretzels and wieners, and daring youths on roller skates weave their way though cars, go- ing the wrong way down a heavily travelled street. , New York City is a volatile mix: it keeps changing and expanding. ‘*Permanence’’ is a non-existent word here. Yet, if you can trust that the racing cabbie really does know where he is going even if he doesn't know a word of English, and if you can barter a Times Square racketeer down to a quarter of his price, can gain en- trance to the latest night-time establishment without a change of clothes, and enjoy a conversation with one of its many street-dwell- ing characters, you have made New York City home, whether you have been there for a decade or a day. NEW YORK CITY STREET FASHION The style-conscious New Yorker knows what statement she wants to make and it almost always makes a visual impact. Attitude is important, too. She never appears self-conscious or responds to comments from aggressively opi- nionated bystanders. And = she never gawks at other fashion vic- tims — that's terribly **tourist."* There are three different at- titudes prevalent in New York Ci- ty fashion, depending upon the individuai’s favored neighborhood and lifestyle. They are The All- American Downtown Giri, The Soho Trendy and The East Village Artist. THE ALL-AMERICAN DOWNTOWNER The downtown New Yorker is a career girl. She works on Wall Street, or at the World Trade Centre, City Hall and the sur- rounding area in Midtown to Lower Manhattan. She is of the fashion-conscious class who capitalize on anything with five-star status. She is ag- gressive and confident, but often dresses to a certain standard rather than as an individual. She gravitates towards Fifth and Madison avenues and 57th Street to find designer initials on authoritative business wear. She works her way around Bergdort’s, “Bloomies.’” Henri Bendel, Lord & Taylor, Trump Tower, and fur- FASHION ther south to Barney’s. She will also shop at the Upper East Side, north of Midtown Manhattan, in boutiques with names such as Gianni Versace, Sonia Rykiel, Saint Laurent Rive Gauche and Missoni, from 62nd Street to 79th Street on Madison Avenue. Her daytime look consists of a femininely shaped suit which is fitted at the waist or shortened at the hemline to reveal her figure. Inevitably a shawl-sized scarf is draped over one shoulder, and she finishes her outfit with comforta- ble, low-heeled Bally or Fer- ragumo pumps. She lives in the ‘civilized’? area of Gramercy Park or the Upper West Side, and spends her weekends “roughing it?’ in The Village (Greenwich Village). As she makes her way to Greenwich, she stops at one of the most’ popular cappuccino clubs called The Coffee Shop, at 29 Union Square West and 16th Street, which is just north of the border of The Village in Gramercy Greenwich Village is south of Midtown Manhattan. A few of its streets still remain from the his- torical music. era, particularly Bleecker and Sullivan Streets, which evoke the charm and cre- ative memories of past jazz greats and Bob Dylan. An_ industrial neighborhood, it was once known only to poor artists and loft dwellers. Now, Downtowners stroll among the galleries and shop ‘‘village couture’? boutiques for casual clothing by innovative local designers. She may lunch at The White Horse Tavern in G.V., a writer's hangout since 1880, to sit amongst non-conformists who discuss Walt Witman, Ernest Hemmingway, Edgar Allen Poe and = Mark Twain, who once lived nearby in the neighborhood, Or, she'll opt for CAFE, on Spring Street, a restaurant owned by Richard Picasso, the grandson of Pablo Picasso, which is famous for its cHentele. tyle At night, it is off to the Village’s cafe corner on Mac- Dougal and Bleecker streets, where Le Figaro. Caffe Borgis and Carpos are all packed and overflowing onto the sidewalks. The Downtowner escapes to one of Greenwich’s Off-Broadway shows. Then, she travels to a comedy club fike Bitter End or The Duplex (where Joan Rivers, Woody Allen and Bill Cosby got their start) until her limo pulls up, and it's time for The Sound Factory. This is a fashionable after-hours club featuring house music where socializing starts to get lively at 4 a.m. SOHO TRENDY Gracing the grids of Soho (south of Houston Street) is the trendy and newly successful artist. She moved from the low rent lofts of East Village to a residential flat with cast iron architecture, in a neighborhood dotted with some of the best galleries and restaurants in town. The most European of New York’s areas, Soho is full of Euro-patriot clothing boutiques with American upscale prices, funky jewelry and accessories kiosks and stylish ethnic stores. All shops abide by the Soho fash- ion philosophy that alienates any kind of a corporate look. : The Soho Trendy dresses like a ““garconette’’ (the female version of a French boy) with blunt cut, short hair, a man’s suit jacket, slim fitting cigarette pants, ox- fords, and perhaps dark sunglasses, with a minimal! amount of makeup. The Icok is very ‘‘done,”” with a polished French appeal, not man-ish. On weekends, she becomes one of the many gallery groupies on the way to an exhibit opening. This weekend it is the Rempire Gallery for a computer illustration exhibit. : Her preferred night spots are Downtown Manhattan’s The Shelter, The Roxy and The Build- ing. In Greenwich Village she fre- quents Nell’s, on West 14th Street. There are no lineups at these bars. The doorman’s discretion makes en- trance impossible or immediate nothing in between. . THE EAST VILLAGE ARTIST The woman who lives in East Village lives east of Greenwich Village in the artist’s haven. This is where the creative stay who cannot or will not move to Soho or Greenwich. The most neurotic address in the city, “E.V.’’ is crowded with post punks who boast being poorer and more an- ti-establishment than anywhere else. Remnants of ‘60s counter culture and ethnic cultures collide in the city’s less scenic, but more youthful area. In between aban- doned buildings, she knows where to find eclectic, inexpensive boutiques, art galleries bursting with new talent, and tiny clubs enriched by innovative theatre groups. The East Village esthetic has a hard-core artistic attitude about her wardrobe. She puts her style together on the most slender of basics. She is a little eccentric and likes others to take notice of her, She is almost always swathed in tayers of black, mixed with Afri- can tribal) garb and vintage clothing. Her accent is on a stud- ied dishevelled look, with either striking makeup or no makeup, and hair that is colorful or shaved very short) and sculpted.