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The Peach Pit
My Very First Fashion Show

Peach and I email religiously. Every day. Typically multiple times a day. We are both pretty opinionated types so we write to each other about everything and anything. Food, theatre, friend gossip, work, fashion.







10 years of emailing back and forth has proven that Peach is not only a phenomenal singer and eater, he is also a talented writer. He is a natural writer. And, best of all, he doesn't know just how well he writes so there is no self consciousness. And don't get me started about how funny that queen is...


So a few weeks ago I told him I wanted him to do a blog post and he agreed without hesitation. Adore.


Today, when he told me he'd attended his first fashion show, I smelled his perfect first post. Asked him to write up a detailed account. And boy did he deliver. Whipped up the little treat below in a few minutes.

I hope you enjoy and please comment. It's good for an actor's ego...

***

My friend Mr. Fashion used to work for Saks and is now doing PR for Tommy Hilfiger, so he put us on the list for standing room at the Fall 2009 show in Bryant Park. And by standing, I mean, when you check in they actually give you a giant card that says "STANDING" in huge letters! They might as well have taped it to our foreheads!! Already feeling like a loser and I wasn't even inside.

We were herded like cattle into the tent just a couple minutes before the show was to begin. It's pretty fabulous what they do with these tents in Bryant Park, it's like a big drag queen-y circus under that Big Top! Of course the STANDING section is dark and crowded and full of gays, which is normally okay with me except it was 10 in the morning.

Thankfully, Mr. Fashion, in headset and in full PR mode, waved us down and told us to fill in some empty seats, since the show was about to begin. My boyfriend and my friend and I ended up in the fourth row, DIRECTLY across from Jean Bean. And ANNIE DUB, otherwise known as Anna Wintour. Anna Wintour...Anna W...Annie Dub...get it?? I make myself laugh.


It was almost more fun to watch Anna watching the show through her ridiculous sunglasses. Anna, I can still read your body language, you are not hiding anything from ME!

Sidebar: One of my favorite memories EVER is from New Year's Eve 2006 when our crazy friend stole Mr. Fashion's cell phone just after midnight and drunk dialed Annie Dub's phone number!

I mean, he only got her voicemail, and I am sure it was some assistant who checks it, not her personally, but still. . . Mr. Fashion was FURIOUS and we were all laughing so hard it hurt!!

Back to today: the lights went down and the music went up and it was showtime. And it really is a show - the models are somewhat choreographed, they are all wearing costumes, there is someone backstage cueing them on when to enter. . . just like any Broadway show. Except the stars here, even at a second tier show like Hilfiiger, are clearly the clothes, not the models.

I finally began to understand why models look like they could dig a grave with their shoulder blades. They are literally just walking clothes hangers, just there to give the fashion life and movement, even if just for a brief moment.

The models are androgynous and frankly not terribly attractive. Just blandly pretty, all the better to draw your attention to what they are wearing. And what's with the swayback thing for the female models? Most of them appear to have major scoliosis! Ouch!

This wasn't a show about haute couture. I mean, it's Hilfiger, for chrissakes, which I thought they only sold at TJ Maxx. But many of the women's pieces were clean and well-structured, if lacking edge and inspiration.

Most of it was stuff that looked pretty ready to wear. Lots of camel coats and riding-wear inspired items. Somewhat downmarket Ralph Lauren, if you ask me. Or maybe upscale J. Crew?

But the things I saw would look great on many body types and would also outlast a couple trend cycles. So maybe, by shopping Tommy's new collection, you can keep this stuff in your closet a little longer. Not a bad strategy in this economy.


Men's items seemed to be referencing last year's trends - that puffy vest with a bow tie is a great look, but haven't we seen that for a long time now? And PS, can anyone tell me how to TIE a frickin' bow tie, please??

It was all over ten minutes later. The music, by the by, was awesome. The show started with a fantastic mix of "Back to Life" by Soul2Soul from the 1989 (that song is having a major moment right now, I seem to hear it everywhere) and the highlight was a fierce mashup of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" with the Rolling Stones "Miss You."

The irony that "You're So Vain" was probably written about Mick Jagger was certainly not lost on me. We were ushered out the same way we were ushered in, like fancily dressed cattle. God, did I need that giant free bottle of SmartWater that I snagged on my way to meet Jean Bean in the lobby!


Thank you, fashion gods. Hope you grace me with admittance another time. . .

Peaches
Gay At Large

Full coverage of the Tommy Hilfiger Fall 2009 show here.