High and Wide

Play "Got to be Real"
by Cheryl Lynn

The cool weather of earlier this week hints at my favorite season to come: fall. And for once in a very long time, I'll be able to dress for it.

I'm excited for what's on offer this year — daytime womenswear is going back to elegance and sophistication, and subtle, understated grey is the new neutral. No more ridiculous babydolls, too-high hemlines and too-low, too-tight jeans. Even menswear is getting into the act — suits are back in style.

I've been scanning the mags and fashion rags, looking for discounts and inspiration. (Far off dreams of becoming a menswear tailor float in the distance, though after tossing the idea around with two locals, I now have two prospective clients.) With the change of season comes blowout sales.

I tried to get into the sample sale for Mulberry, the formerly fuddy-duddy but nonetheless expensive British handbag and leather goods line that's been revived with a new creative director, and more importantly, sexier advertising. I arrived at a nondescript office building in the late afternoon around rush hour.

"I'm sorry miss," the doorman said. "They sold out at 1:30 this afternoon. The line started at 9 this morning; there must have been at least 200 women. Doors opened at 10."

Yikes! I guess sample sales really are sport here.

A few days later, I met a man who had seen that line. He told me he was wondering what all those women were standing there waiting for.

Having learned my lesson, I decided to move more quickly when I learned of a biannual sale of clothes by high-end designers, including some of the so-called Antwerp Six — originally, six breakout students of the Royal Academy in Antwerp, Belgium, trained by Linda Loppa, now dean of Polimoda in Florence, Italy.

Soho is a rarified neighborhood, once known as the enclave of artists, now known as shopping capital of Manhattan and the enclave of wealthy artists. IF Boutique, which was holding the sale, is sort of tailored to them. The cerebral designs of Martin Margiela were on display, as were an all-new shipment of clothes from Danish designer Ivan Grundahl. There were somber, beautifully constructed pieces by Dries van Noten and wacky, complicated jackets and dresses by Junya Watanabe.

I looked but didn't pull them off the racks. Instead, I was on a mission to find new pants. High-waisted (or at least normal-waisted) and wide-legged, please. The slow-slung, cigarette-legged thing of the past four years or so was bringing me down and cutting off my circulation.

So it was with great joy that I managed to find two pairs of heavily discounted, well-made pants that were both interesting and beautiful. And better still — they fit.

Come on, cold weather.