Seasons change, and so do our wardrobes. I live in a typical New York City shoebox of an apartment where it is simply impossible to house out-of-town guests let alone more than one season of clothing at a time. So I rotate. In the spring, I gather all my down-filled coats, fleece lined boots and wool dresses to be placed in storage (otherwise known as my mother’s house). In the fall, the aforementioned items trade places with whisper-thin sweaters, flowy linen dresses and strappy sandals. Being a summer person, I try and hold on to wearing my warm-weather wardrobe for as long as possible. (Maybe that explains why I have this awful cold?)
As it was nearing the end of September, I knew the time where I couldn’t get away with wearing my flip-flops to work every day was soon approaching. And I realized that I had not yet rotated my wardrobe. I had absolutely nothing to wear in my closet! Not if I wanted to stay warm…
Since I work on 34th street, the answer was clear. I could just pop into Macys to check out some boots, then swing by Lord and Taylor and maybe work my way up fifth to check out Cole Hahn and maybe sneak into to Saks. As I was approaching Macy’s, The Largest Department Store in the World, I noticed hoards of people. Not the usual crowds but dozens and dozens of people, behind police barricades, all blocking the entrance to my store!
Having lived in NYC for nearly four decades, I don’t get excited by large public events. I get annoyed. It slows me down and forces me to weave through tourists and take unnecessary detours. “What is going on here?” I ask a bystander. “Is Justin Beiber making an appearance or something?”
The woman, clearly not from NY, as evidenced by the frumpy outfit and camera around her neck, replies in some odd accent “ Mah- done- ah”
Huh? Mah-done- ahh? “
Yes, Mah –done-ahh!. The singer!”
“You mean Madonna?” I ask incredulously with my perfect NY accent. ( I pronounce it Mawdawn-a)
“ Yes, that’s what I bloody said- now move, you are in my way!”
Madonna and Lourdes at Macy's Material Girl Launch
That’s when I realized Madonna and her daughter Lourdes, where appearing at Macy’s to “walk the pink carpet” and launch their line of junior clothing, called, what else? “Material Girl.” That is also about the time, when I hung up my “Native New Yorker” sign and joined the herds of tourists and found myself elbow to elbow with some New Zealanders behind barricades. You see, I love Madonna. Love her. I was the girl wearing the dozens of black rubber bracelets and fingerless lace gloves to high school. I bought her first LP, with my babysitting money and her lyrics really captured the essence of my sophomore romances. Or so I thought at the time.
I am embarrassed, or should I say proud to say, that for the first time in my adult-life I waited in a crowd for two hours to get a glimpse of Madonna and child. So what if I was 50 feet away. I saw my idol, in the flesh. Well, actually in a silk-satin black dress, fishnets and adorable pumps. But still. I made friends with some New Zealanders, who apparently believed seeing Madonna on a city street was an everyday occurrence. I even saw Taylor Mommsen, the “face” of the Material Girl clothing line and star of my favorite TV show about entitled upper east side youth, “Gossip Girl". So what if I am practically middle-aged... the fashions on the CW are amazing.
Two hours later, I was happy and excited, but tired and hungry. I had my thrill and wanted to go home. My voracious appetite to shop that day vanished. So what if I had to wear flip flops for another day! And that is how the Material Girl saved me some money.
