The Inimitable André
Some people pursue an "it" handbag -- real or fake -- as a status symbol. Others attempt to share the same "exclusive" venue as celebrities and other wannabes -- St. Barths, Aspen, or (this week) the tents in Bryant Park.
As New York Fashion Week got underway on Friday, the (unwilling to be linked) Wall Street Journal offered advice to would-be gatecrashers at the see-and-be scene: beware the fashion police. Despite this imposing security detail, my own experience is that a determined fashionista can beg, buy, or sneak her way in with relative ease (assuming, of course, that a legitimate invitation is not forthcoming). It does, however, require a bit of advance research.
Impersonating fashion royalty might work for a lookalike -- but it's doubtful. And in the case of the WSJ's "diminutive thirtysomething white woman" who claimed to be "Andrea Leon Talley," it was definitely a howler.
Not laughing yet? The inimitable Vogue Editor-at-Large, André Leon Talley, is indeed quite large -- about 6'7" -- and African American. When he makes an entrance in a spectacular, one-of-a-kind coat or cape, surrounded by his entourage and flashes from the paparazzi, no introductions are necessary.
And what's the point of airing your best pre-spring finery if not to be yourself?
