Sunday, September 11, 2011

9/11/11 in NYC

It is a feeling of dichotomy that I find myself in this morning on Long Island. When it finally dawned on me last week that I would be here, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 I have to say I was a bit nervous. All the excitement of travelling and participating in my first Mercedes Benz Fashion Week occupied most of my thoughts until this morning, when there is finally a break, no shows today for me. The trip started out much like any other but the closer I got to the city, the more apparent the anniversary became. I kind of feel like a cousin visiting another that I only visit on occasion and there is that ever present awkwardness of being in someone else’s “space”. Not really understanding the everyday rhythm they live with. Thursday coming in on the Long Island Railroad for our first shows was pretty uneventful. I sat next to a young girl that put on her entire face quite meticulously from her Louis Vuitton bag. Then our primping began. Hours of prep on the models for a ten minute walk. Ironic I know. There was very little buzz about 9/11 until heading back home. The Long Island RR was shut down past Babylon for “police activity”. I overheard most likely a native complaining “One little bomb threat and they shut down the whole train, really?” It was an inconvenience more than anything. How soon was forgotten the threats of the past. How many times we heard if they had only been more careful, how could they let this happen to our country. These complaints out of the mouths of the same people who now complain about the extra security measures. Friday was crazier. On the train in we sat across from three officers heading to the memorial at St. Patricks cathedral, all of whom looked like they may not have even been in high school when the attack happened. I wonder if it had an effect on their choice to serve. Officials asked people to not take the subways so getting a cab was next to impossible. It ran us very late for a celebrity client, who by the time we got there was immersed in hair and makeup, not one mention of the tension of the day, at least not while we were there. The cabs could hardly cut through the already thick traffic with now the added snarl of the NYPD stopping all trucks on the street for inspections. Again a lot of complaints about the inconvenience of the added security. Saturday traffic was not as much of an issue and we went about the hectic schedule of prepping models for shows. Many might say beauty and fashion are trivial in the scheme of things but what I witnessed behind the scenes for these past few days is that New York IS fashion. This business of fashion employs so many people from the fingernail painters to the stage managers, stylists, dressers, pressers, security, construction, catering, audio visual people and the list goes on and on. So we had a few extra minutes to add to our commutes and maybe ran a bit late. It is a small price to pay for enjoying the freedoms we have to express our visions of beauty and fashion. To participate in a bigger picture, bringing beauty and art and hope. With no shows today I will go to church this morning and share in worship with fellow Americans and thank God for this amazing nation full of the diversity of those that protect and those that create and embracing each one for the gifts they bring to this United States of America.

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