#49: Let's Talk About the 'It Must Be Nice to be a West Village Girl' story
The Viral NY Magazine story, the Pope, black beautiful hair, and Zara.
It’s no secret that the infamous New York Magazine story has caused a stir. Rent is expensive in the enclave below Greenwich Avenue. Still, the vibe isn’t necessarily high-end. You’d need to go further downtown or by the park for that.
On a recent occasion, I felt a little funny when I walked into a brightly-lit bar that laid out friendship bracelets for the picking on the counter. The bar, Do Not Feed Alligators on Bleecker, was technically a coffee shop (except groups of 20-something girls holding generously filled wine glasses crowded the space). There they were screaming across the bar at their friends, the same way a Manhattanite was trying to impress a Brooklynite over drinks a decade ago at Employees Only (if you could get past the doorman).
As I sipped my orange wine in a corner I could observe from with a friend, I curiously surveyed their dichotomies. Toto we were not in pre-2015 Manhattan anymore.
A handsome college aged guy walked in through the door with a backpack. He was visiting from out of town and was staying at a hostel. He ordered a drink and stood next to a group of guys who started to talking him. Within minutes a group of girls had gravitated near him, and the two groups got to talking, almost naturally. It just seemed so easy for them. No apps were needed for a meet cute.
Brock Colyar wrote, “everyone has the same mind-set”. A new arrival from Texas tells NY Mag about the tribe-nouveau, “we’re here, we’re young, we’re single. Let’s go out and have fun and be ourselves. Work hard. Play hard.” In some ways, the West Village always felt like a college town with Country Club cache.
Basic-ness, it says, is back in. Like I once did, watching the entire 7 seasons of Sex and the City while packing your bag to New York, is the one-way ticket ceremony. Back uptown, per the jewelry stores in the Village, is where the families are shopping for a Classic 6. With that, Coluar reports, “basic isn’t a bad thing.” A crew of Cosmo drinkers at Anton’s elaborated, “there’s a reason everyone wants to be like that.”
According to the story, everything in the West Village has been turned into a bar, from nail bar to facial bar, with fake pink flowers outside store fronts for photo-ops, to lines outside Joe and the Juice, to med spas. The influencers have officially invaded the neighbourhood, many argue. New York was feeling a little too suit and tie.
There is something powerful brewing in the West Village, perhaps worth throwing out a leg over. First come the new arrivals, then come the gays, followed by the fashion, subsequently followed by the institution. I can only recall my wonderful, drunk, suspenseful era in the West Village with joy at 32.
While I may still stop by Wilfie’s for a drink, or Pieces to see a drag show, I’d rather be a little more downtown these days. New York helps me realize I’ve changed. When New York changes, it’s time to realize you may have changed too. Yaffa is gone. The dive bar on 7A went extinct. Le Baron closed in Chinatown. Avenue on 10th Avenue is dead.
But Friend of a Farmer is still there. Susanne Bartsch still throws parties. Amanda Lepore still goes out. The WV is still a destination I cherish. Let the kids have it. For this Manhattanite turned Parisian, there is always Brooklyn waiting to be discovered.
Retail Gazette
Pope Leo XIV, A Meme
@ClubConcrave has become the latest X account to watch for Vatican news. His followers are said to have loved celebrating his birthday in Chiclayo, Peru. Vogue writes he’s quite the amateur tennis player. Gen Z has become fanatic about religion, inspiring a new trend in religious jewelry. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
When Provost was announced yesterday, the courtship in St. Peter’s Square was in full swing. His appointment could potentially draw a lot of money to the Church. I am waiting to see what he chooses as his living quarters, whether he will revisit the Summer Palace, and if he will wear black shoes, as Francis did, or the traditional red shoes.
Hair, Beautiful in all it’s Forms
Hair was always going to be a highlight of the Met Gala. And it delivered. The Afro came with hair jewelry, rounded, chopped à la Grace Jones, braided, puffed, and short. People will want to have fun with their hair this summer.
Zara hits 50
What to say about Zara? Aside that it is the standard bearer of affordable fashion. I will disclose that I haven’t shopped or worn Zara in a good more than 7 years. I actually don’t shop that much, and if I do, I am crazy minutious about it, obsessively so. My trick is having 5 sure outfits to wear to work every week, investing in shoes that I can fashionably rotate, and a bag I am passionate about. But I can’t discount Zara as not having shaped who I am in dressing today. I’ve wondered those rooms. I have held up those hangers. I have taken those pieces to the fitting room. I have desperately sought out a costume or a tie at a Zara near your on a Thursday before a wedding.
The fact that they’ve made it to 50 and very fashionably and imaginatively so, is a proof of staying power and know-how. And to that, I tilt my hat.
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