We Are the Goon Squad and We're Coming to Town

Moe's Bar built new outdoor seating and is using the side street for smoke BBQ grills!  An excellent idea!  This gives the bar a vibrant, inviting look.  That whole block is trying new things.  The coleslaw, mac and cheese was excellent but the real winner was the jerk chicken that we discovered the next time we tried them.  This time it was drenched in a spicy, not too sweet BBQ sauce that was also awesome tasting, but more traditional. 

A few changes on that block and suddenly it's in fashion again.  Fashion has been a subject lately as this summer did not bloom with hotties in tight clothes and revealing ass cracks as it's done in the previous years.  Instead, we have tons of mom jeans, cut off to above ankle length with homely sneakers.  There are some midriff baring crop tops but most looks were very non-sexual, soft colors.  As if friendly people took over the style this year.  I do love that about the organic progression of fashion.  This year, it's not provocative, its passive.  Even the sistahs have paired the baggier look with chunky eyeglasses and two toned hair and traded their jeweled sandals with pastel high tops.  It's very 80's meets the 90's in the more desolate Pandemic arena.  

Another wild trait of fashion is when a huge shift like this happens, at first it feels so wrong and off putting.  Maybe we noticed the first rumblings in magazines when some model or celebrity a few seasons ago dared to squeeze out of their ultra tight skinny jeans and don this new look.  Immediately, it felt shocking. I wondered why these young, cute girls would willingly look so unattractive with mushroom asses and cut off stubby legs.  But today, it feels very right on and in step with the world somehow.

That happens with fashion I've noticed.  It's what makes the fashion industry legitimate and real, a true part of our culture.  Because it does mirror the mindset of the current time and place.  Perhaps the high-waist, looser cut pant, echos young girls aren't trying to mock the glittery porn star this year.  Hopefully, their goal isn't to snag a guy for a quick role in the hay.  Right before the pandemic we had 13 - 18 year old gals wearing shorts cut high up the cheek and mini skirts that bared an obscene amount of flesh.  They were riding subways, shopping with their parents.   I wondered if that was some new power stance, as men were obviously immediately transfixed by the views, looking around as if someone had left a roll of hundred dollar bills on the street to grab.  It felt dangerous in the city and I felt protective and confused by this vulnerability on display openly.  I couldn't tell if they were trying to provoke or simply oblivious to their new power.   These young women today are of a much lighter mindset, more interesting, smart creatures, perhaps creators, and their style reflects that. 

I have no idea if this is correct.  One day I will get the nerve to ask one of these new gals.  I observe young women like I had noticed old birds watching me in my youth, with some heightened curiosity and affection, but from a distance.  I didn't fully understand it at the time, but I was once the next generation, what is to come.  We all get a chance to handle the whole womanhood thing in our own way.  And it is fascinating to watch.

Then again, there is something spooky hilarious about how the new look is almost this SNL skit to a tee. 

You're a Superstar, Yes That's What You Are, You Know it

Everywhere I go there are little purple flowers that show my mom's influence from heaven. 

Fashion is pretty out there right now for celebrities for sure but unlike the shocking punk era, more and more regular folks have all kinds of hair colors, are wearing pants of every shape and size and in general, having a real go at self expression.  Its so subtle, it can go unnoticed but if you pay attention, you'll see some radical ways of looking modern normal, I'll call it.   Where I work, there is an entire more distinct revolution in hair design going on that sometimes makes me gasp.  Colors and lengths never imagined.  Even though I don't follow the industry of fashion, I've always been super interested that it mirrors society and what is going on politically.  In New York there is a global language so it varies quite a bit.  And the internet world bleeds out onto the streets by showing its influence as well.  It's just an observation that many young girls dress like they are celebrities.  And I only sneer at this because I believe the focus should be on the producing of artful things.  You become worthy of looking interesting when you are indeed that.  Its more of an organic process where you transform. But sometimes you gotta look it to be it, so whatever works. I'm pro-mixing it up actually because inspiration sometimes comes from within. 

This is me trying to look fancy and impress my mom on a visit back to Fort Wayne after I had left to become something.

There are still plenty of old school Brooklynites in their giant shorts and bad muscle tees with sports logos or super hero characters and their wives squeezed like sausage into some too tight non-breathing fabric.  So it balances out.  You really can't count what goes on in Manhattan because it's no longer a real borough but a giant outdoor mall filled with visitors. 

I dressed up a traditional recipe to fit the times with this Ground Turkey Zstrogonoff made with zucchini ribbons.  Yogurt and lemon replaced the sour cream.  Plenty of fresh thyme brightened the whole vibe of the pan.  This was a winner in both the visual and taste categories.