Gossip Girls Blair and Serena may set the standard at Constance Billard
School for Girls, but Manhattan private school teens have their own ideas
about fashion. We asked 15-year-old Rebecca, a freshman at an uptown prep
school, to tell us what young fashionistas are wearing in the hallways these days.
What are you seeing this year that’s new?
Doc Martens are huge right now. You see them in every color—yellow, pink,
black—some have a British flag on them. Jackets with big shoulder pads
are also really big, and headbands with
huge bows. My mom hates mine. It’s got the most obnoxiously big bow you’ve ever seen in your life. I’d also put
furry vests, suede fringed jackets and navy and white striped t-shirts on
the list. Oh yeah, and off the shoulder sweatshirts—it’s an 80s aerobic
instructor look.
Anything else that’s unusual?
Yes, pill box hats with a piece of tulle. It looks really over the top.
People wear them to school with Doc Martens and schoolboy blazers, or with
MC Hammer pants that pouf out.
Where do you get the pillbox hats? Who has pillbox hats anymore?
Most get them from their mothers or grandmothers, but you can also get them
at a few stores in Soho such as the Hat Shop.
What do your friends carry their stuff to school in?
Either Longchamp Tote bags or backpacks. Most have American Apparel
backpacks—either the black glittery one or the neon orange one.
How big a fashion influence is Gossip Girl?
None of these ideas come from
Gossip Girl, considering that most girls who
live and go to high school on the Upper East Side do not watch
Gossip Girl,
because they find it to be extremely pretentious, and exaggerated. The
pillbox hat idea predates
Gossip Girl. They have been popular since before
the show came out.
Is preppy style still going strong?
Well Topsiders are big, but now they’re purple with plaid, or yellow or pink
patent leather. You also see girls wearing button-down boys shirts, really
baggy ones that are belted, with leggings and Keds. Usually red Keds,
sometimes white. Plaid flannel shirts are also popular, but in really
ridiculous patterns like checked turquoise and purple or pink and black.
What isn’t considered cool anymore?
Uggs. You wear them only if it’s really freezing outside or if you’re going
to Starbucks. But if you show up to school wearing jeans, a t-shirt and
Uggs, that’s considered a big no-no.
What about jeans? How specific do you have to be?
Everybody used to wear normal blue jeans, but now, unless your jeans are
very cool—either very bell bottomy jeans or super, super tight skinny
jeans—they’re considered sweat pants. That’s what people call them. You just
look way too comfortable and it looks sloppy.
What about makeup?
Bright blue eyeliner, navy nail polish and red lipstick are big. Also
two-toned lips: pink on the top and really dark red on the bottom. It sounds
ridiculous, but it looks pretty cool, actually.
One never knows where or when fashion inspiration will strike. Marcia
Kilgore’s latest sartorial "aha" moment happened at the hairdresser’s.
Earlier this year, Kilgore—founder of Bliss and creator of the hugely
popular FitFlop brand of leg-toning footwear—ran into Anna Sui at New
York’s Garren salon. Chatting with her old pal, Kilgore realized Sui would be a great match with FitFlop and asked the designer
if she was interested in putting her stamp on a new style. “She had done
those fantastic-looking boots with beading and pom-poms a few seasons
ago, and they still stuck in my mind,” explained Kilgore. “I said,
‘Let’s do a big furry boot!’”
