Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Shopping on 5th Avenue

Channeling my inner Carrie Bradshaw, I went shopping for a dressing gown at the upscale department stores. The first one, Bergman Goodman, had a sale on, and were offering a $2700 bathrobe for the bargain price of $1500. I didn't like it nearly enough, and since I was short of a dressing gown because of turning down a Euro220 one in Venice, it was time to look elsewhere. (Drats there was a $2200 green patchwork sports coat that was very nice and will haunt me later).

This is a collection of manly accessories in the gift shop. Lynda spotted a walking stick that looked quite nice, but it must have been made with parts of an extinct creature to be priced at over $2000.

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Barney's turned out to be more normal, and I picked up a nice Swiss silk dressing gown for a price that was acceptable. There is a lot of high fashion to be had - I can see how people could catch the fashion bug and buy big. However, the "recommended retail" on fashion is nuts - the only sensible way to buy is "on sale" and preferably at a sale of samples.I gained the impression that some of the stores rely entirely on the super-rich and foreign despots on holiday.

Walking down 5th Avenue shows all the premium brands in their glory, from Tiffany to Louis Vuitton, and a shiny Armani store with video graphics. Louis Vuitton had a gilded dinosaur skeleton in the window, but of course I have one at home.
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Barneys have a very amusing cafe, utilising the Microsoft table technology one sits on a long bench and can choose food and the fashion catalogue from an interactive menu. Wasn't amusing enough though, so we beat a retreat to Central Park in search of a chili dog for $3.

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We took the train back ("The Names of the Stations are Written on the Subway Walls")

 
and stopped for a coffee at Think (which has a huge and partly deserved reputation). Back home for Guinea Fowl, and a quiet night in watching god-awful American TV just for the irony.

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