Color My World

One big reason I love New York City: It's on the cutting edge of style. Case in point: A man's lavender shirt.

True, many other cities are ahead of the fashion curve too, tilting forward when the rest of us are still settling back. But I don't live a bus ride away from them. I was in London and Paris, briefly, when I was 22 [on a whirlwind tour with Moey and friends--21 countries in 14 days], and not into fashion enough then to care about observing street style, drinking it in. Milan is also important, but my closest taste of that, sadly, has been Chicken Milanese.

The Blue Shirt
I remember the exact moment when I realized how much New York City teaches me about fashion, just by walking down her streets, riding her subways, hailing her cabs. It was the mid to late 1990s. I had been home for a while with Figgy, but had come in to meet my magazine friends--I think Madonna, Sandra, Eileen--for dinner at Zen Palate. I was walking to Union Square when it dawned on me. That man has on a different blue shirt. Not light blue, like my Dad has, but bright blue. It looks so new under his suit. That's what I love about New York. That's why I can't ever stay away from this city for too long. I learn so much just by walking down the street. I will go home to New Jersey with a new perspective on what is fashionable. Reference point: Brooksbrothers.com has a rich shade called French Blue. Jcrew.com has one called Peri.

Light Blue and Purple, Bubble-Gum Pink
It happened again today, when I went into the city to meet my friend/colleague. I saw a man waiting for a bus. He was wearing a lavender dress shirt and a light blue tie. It looked hip, forward, intelligent, alluring, u can't miss me. Like that guy definitely knows what he's doing. And then, on Ninth Avenue in the 50s, I passed two girlfriends at an outdoor restaurant. One had on a cute cardigan in an impossibly fresh and adorable bubble-gum pink. It called out for attention. Look at me! Aren't I sweet? [And that was purely the cardigan talking, not the wearer.]

It hits you quickly, yet seeps in slowly, if that makes any sense. I'm still thinking about those colors hours later. And how well they suited the shape of the crisp cotton shirt, the cut of the slim little cardigan. Come to think of it, the other night, I also fell in love with the lavender cardigan Kyra Sedgwick was wearing on The Closer--just the top button was buttoned over her shirt and feminine, flirty skirt.

Life imitates fashion. Is it coincidence or good fortune that I am right now soaking the Morning Glory seeds Figgy and I bought weeks ago--and that she chose Deep Purple and I chose Heavenly Blue? [To aid germination, you're supposed to soak the tiny seeds overnight.] We've decided to tuck them in together in the planters on our terrace--so like that man waiting for a bus, our flowers will be at the height of color and style.

I love New York.

Photo credit: The absolutely stunning photo above, of Pacific Blue Lavender, is from Mauways Nursery: mauways.co.nz. I want to live in that sunny field, wrapped in that color and inhaling that perfume. Could that be arranged?