New York, The Fairy Tale: The real source of my inspiration!

Hello my dear readers, I have decided to interrupt my seasonal reviews for a very important write up on my trip to New York, just giving you an idea of the trends I've spotted lurking in the "Big Apple", and trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Let me begin this story by saying, "fairy tales are the stories that stand with us through the test of time", so here it goes...Once upon a time, there was this young man, full of hopes, aspirations and goals but smitten with the harsh realities of life on an island. He would scourage through many an internet fashion site to find joy, the joy that could only be felt when he saw the season's newest colour, the new "it" accessory or just managed to squeeze enough life out of his internet service provider to lay eyes upon the genius that is Burberry Prorsum. It was a life that he longed to change, longed to recreate, just the chance never really came.

Days, months, years passed by, sometimes with the dreams in his eyes and heart getting bigger and harder to cope with, so his mother said I can grant you a wish, "think wisely" she said, he swiftly replied,"think?...that isn't necessary, I wish to go aboard and study Fashion & Journalism!", and so it was granted to be done in a month's time. One thing he didn't know was that mother had already planned to give him a little one week taste of his dreams by sending him to Manhattan, and that night he closed his eyes with the biggest smirk on his face because all that he could see was a magical journey unfolding before him.

The next morning came, eyes open now, he realizes that his room has changed, noises flooded in from the streets below and with one look outside, he shouted "Unbelievable", with the shock of it all, he sat down, waiting to catch himself and in walks, one of his best friends, Shemida. "So we are here babe" she said, as if it were all planned without his knowledge and he was frozen and shifted to an alternate universe. In time he came to his senses, thought to himself "what the heck", grabbed Shemida and headed out to the door, running to the elevator, through the lobby, swirled around the spinning doors to the bright light that was to be downtown Manhattan, everything was as he expected, well maybe not the trash on the floor but this is not what he was there for, so that didn't slow him one bit.

All the different and beautiful ethnicities, all the looks, the individualistic styles and attitudes were everything he had imagined and more. "To Soho we go", Shemida beckoned and off to the subway, were their Aldo clad feet. On arrival to Broadway-Lafayette St, the subway was filled with so many people, none looking remotely similar to each other, and it dawned on him, what he had been missing his whole life, coming from a society that was swarmed with follow pattern, heavy bandwagon fashionistas. He started to take note, realising the different styles from hipster to grunge to vintage to preppy to urban chic, but what he realised most of all were the hairstyles, it was as if, that was the main accessory of each individual's look...buzz cuts, dreadlocks, but the showstoppers all had one thing in common, shaved sides and hair on the top...whether it was natural, permed or texturised. The most interesting persons to him, all rocked a variation of "The Rihanna", guys and girls, with colours like blonde, red, even pink or just rocked it with the use of the texture of their own hair, some were swooped to the side, some to the rear, but each one was completely different, who would have known it were possible.

Later on that day, another thing he noticed was the array of tattoo sleeves that contrasted and complimented the outfits of each sex, some very vintage in style but then modernised with the edgy pop of the tatts, it was all such a sight to see. Girls wore dresses, with jeans jackets over them, all with a certain flair and confidence to their ensemble. It seemed to be a never ending cycle of fashion, another thing he saw that was predominant in everyone's summer wardrobe were boat shoes, boots and dressier shoes on the whole, sneakers were not to be seen really, it was definitely a different experience from being back home.

The week flew by quickly, but one thing that stood out about the trends and inspirations was that it was the time of being an individual, it wasn't about particular rules to follow and if in some fashion magazine it were, everyone was breaking them.

The End.

I know the end was a bit abrupt but the truth is, there were no real trends, it was all about being you and loving you as best as you possibly could!