While Eleanor Rigby may have kept her face in a jar by the door, real commuting women of NYC tend to take theirs with them and apply it on public transit. En route to an early morning appointment yesterday I dashed onto the 86th Street crosstown bus which was jam packed with commuters. Towards the back, a seated young woman with a large sack on her lap was engrossed in, shall we say, readying  herself for the day. So, maybe you’re thinking a little lipstick, a little powdering of the nose…what’s the big deal? Let me assure you, that this makeup application was quite a bit more than that including but not limited to at least ten separate products each using a different brush, as well as a separate compact. I was duly impressed that this woman could flawlessly paint on black gel eyeliner as the bus careened around a corner.  I can’t even draw on a proper cat eye standing perfectly still in front of my bathroom mirror.

And there’s this: I don’t need to see how the sausage gets made and if I do, I’ll watch a Youtube makeup tutorial. Unfortunately, it’s not unlike an accident on the highway; you desperately want to look away but morbid curiosity prevents you from doing so.  I had no sooner transferred onto the subway when lightning (or was it Lancome? L’Oreal?) struck again. A beautiful redhead reached into her bag and began “putting on her face.” I counted four lash products (a primer, a separator, a mascara applied with the requisite open-mouthed fly catching face, a curler) plus a powder blush all used expertly with seemingly no worries as to the multitude of stops and sudden starts endemic to subway travel. I became transfixed and craned my neck to see in what order she used each of these products. I nearly missed my stop. Although, I too am a “makeup girl” (or at least I thought I was until now) I began to wonder if I was old fashioned. I’ve always believed that a quick refresh of the lipstick is acceptable in public; affixing four shades of eyeshadow and plucking your brows, is not. In addition, who has the strength to tote around an arsenal of beauty products? My vanity drawer tells all the tales that my overtaxed shoulder doesn’t need to.

Armed for battle

When I arrived, ironically enough, at my day spa appointment, I asked two of the women who work there if they had observed this AM rush hour phenomenon.  One proceeded to tell me about the time that she was convinced that she was watching a makeup artist judging by the huge carryall of products in use, only to catch a glimpse of a stethoscope in her bag as well
(cosmetologist on call)? I suddenly remembered observing a woman on a plane last week while coming home from Thanksgiving in Atlanta as she applied false eyelashes in the center seat. “What’s next?” I asked. “Someone will brush their teeth on mass transit?” Apparently this was “deja subway vu” for the receptionist/office manager. “There was a woman with one of those little tooth brushes that you use on safari in Africa or places where there is no water…the kind that folds over your finger and she was cleaning her teeth. When I saw that I really felt like saying something to her” she added.

MTA Rules of Conduct

Aside from being extremely humorous (at least to me) this is a trend that needs to stop. Is this just another taboo or boundary that’s been broken down or pushed back by the internet and the excessive amount of makeup application videos? There seems to be little left of propriety if we are basically getting prepped for our day in full sight of everyone who maybe hasn’t even fully digested their Egg McMuffin yet. I know that there are rules on the subway including a ban on eating and on hot beverages (maybe to prevent something like this: click here for article) but maybe there should be a rule concerning what the French call “faire la toilette” (translates to “grooming”) instituted on this 110 year old institution.

Laura Geller’s discontinued makeup bag

Numerically speaking, in a city that counts its inhabitants in the 8.4 million range, public transportation has got to be one of, if not THE single most important service and more than six million riders would no doubt agree. Another statistic: at least among NY singles, gender lines break down as 53% female vs. 47% male. Meanwhile, our fair city is naturally (or maybe I should say unnaturally) in the top 10 for the cosmetics obsessed according to this: click here for article all facts giving this “movement” the makings of a potential problem of epic proportion. Maybe we can find a way to blame Sephora for this “trillions of beauty products” epidemic the way we blame Starbucks for making everyone coffee obsessed or heroin mules for enabling junkies. We need to cut down on this practice soon, else I fear there will soon be an entire section of the train taken over for makeup classes. Interestingly, makeup mogul Laura Geller used to sell a NYC taxicab shaped pouch with about three items in it for application on the go. She should consider updating it in the shape of a NYC bus (one of the double-sized accordion ones for sure) or a subway car for today’s woman.

All I know is that if I were Big Bird on Sesame Street, today’s lesson would be brought to you by the letters “M” and “U” (for make-up) as well as the acronym “MTA.” However, what’s actually called for here is another kind of lesson; one maybe better served by a big purple dinosaur who featured the “Please and Thank You Song” on his TV show. My words to the legions of mobile women primpers are “Please stop! The eye you save may be your own” and “Thank you for respecting my disgust in witnessing your morning routine. Kindly do that in the privacy of your own home or maybe in your office cubicle with the door closed.” If you really need to be in motion while you gussy yourself up go seek out an empty elevator. If not, how about this novel idea–wake up ten minutes earlier! This has been a public service announcement from your future orthopedist.

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Narciso Rodriguez, Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo, Caroline Baumann (Photos: Laurel Marcus)

With the countdown until its December 12th reopening in its final stages the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum celebrated their 15th annual National Design Awards Gala last night at Pier 60. I attended the cocktails and red carpet portion of the evening and attempted in an entirely unscientific, non-anthropologic manner just how much the fashion world has influenced, permeated or intruded (for lack of a better word) into the world of other areas of design. The awards, which take place during National Design Week (Oct. 4-12) were originally launched as part of the White House Millennium Council in 2000 and Michelle Obama serves as the honorary patron of this year’s awards. The ceremony has grown from its original five awards to its present day incarnation of eleven awards given for everything from Lifetime Achievement to Architecture, from Communication to Interaction Design (whatever that is), from Product Design to Fashion Design.

Joey Borthwick, Maria Cornejo

This year’s fashion design winner was Narciso Rodriquez and it seems that the fourth time was the charm for the Parson’s School of Design alum.  He was previously a finalist in 2003, 2004, and 2007 making him the Susan Lucci of the awards. Since developing his own atelier in 2001 after impressive apprenticeships with the likes of Donna Karan at Anne Klein, Calvin Klein and Loewe, Rodriquez has designed his share of iconic dresses for equally renowned women. He burst onto the national stage in 1996 while designing for Calvin Klein which is where he met the ill-fated but undeniably glamorous Carolyn Bessette. When she wed JFK Jr., Rodriquez became known as the designer who created her simple but perfectly draped wedding dress. Another politician’s wife that you may have heard of (ahem) First Lady Michelle Obama’s controversial red and black dress that she wore on election night 2008 was from his spring 2009 collection and served to cement Rodriquez’s place in the annals of fashion history books. More recently, Rodriquez has a list of Hollywood leading ladies including SJP, Claire Danes, Rachel Weisz and his muse, Juliana Margulies who wore yet another of his polarizing creations in the form of a gown with a “sports bra” back and a strangely beaded ombre skirt to the 2014 Emmys. No matter what we mere mortals might think; Anna Wintour has spoken: “No one but Narciso has ever made a simple line look more stunning.”

Nicole Licht, Melissa Decker, Taylor Hunt

In the course of the cocktails, to the sounds of “The Secret Jazz Band” who performed on 3D printed instruments, I had the opportunity to talk to a few of the new product designers as well as someone from a winning team. First I met Jonathan Palley and Zhao Zhao, designers of a new Fit-Bit like device called Spire. I saw the product itself which looks sort of like a large metal paper clip. It fits onto the waistband of a garment next to your skin. Upon sensing that you’re stressed, the device will tell you via phone app that you need to take a deep breath (and possibly a Xanax Ha!). In the promo, the woman imagines herself in a beautiful rain forest (Herbal Essence Shampoo commercial?) even though she is actually in a glass elevator presumably at work in a high rise office building. I don’t know about you but if I’m stressed, the last thing I need is a device telling me to breathe deeply. That Spire (like respire?) would be flung so far it might take on a new meaning of the word with its existence at the top of a building upon being chucked out a window. I also spoke briefly with someone from LUNAR, the company that won in the category of Product Design for things such as Oral-B toothbrushes, HP computers, Switch LED bulbs as well as another fitness device called Bodymedia which looks like an upper arm cuff almost Grecian inspired (not sure what the comfort or practical application of that is).

Dinner settings and monitors

My conclusion on the style quotient in the room is that (unsuprisingly) there’s more of an emphasis on the “artisanal” or “crafty” than the all-out chic or fashionable The fact that you designed a great tech product obviously doesn’t mean that you have, or even care to have, great personal style. In fact, if you think of someone like the late Steve Jobs whose entire wardrobe seemingly consisted of a wardrobe of black turtlenecks, it illustrates my point. I decided to approach the evening as if I had found myself among a rare tribe of geek-asaur and had to naturally select the ones most able to survive in a fashion-forward setting. Certainly there were a few standouts among the women but in general they don’t seem nearly as focused on the currently trendy. I decided that there is definitely a look that prevails through each sector of men in the tech/architect arena, be it a hip, smug, cooler-than-thou-vibe hiding a pervading nerdiness. The ubiquity throughout of thick, black generally rectangular eyeglasses are another popular functional statement as if all designers are quite visually challenged which may well be an occupational hazard.

3-D printed replica of Mansion

As for the dinner, the room looked quite festive courtesy of David Stark Design and Production with multi-colored wire sculptures hanging from the ceiling. The centerpieces were 3-D printed replica Carnegie Mansions perhaps made from something edible (white chocolate?) and they were very detailed. There was a performance by the Stephen Petronio Company of an excerpt from Locomotor with costumes designed by Narciso Rodriguez. The TV monitors in the front of the room by the podium flashed “12/12/14” in neon pink and white; no doubt seeking to “build” excitement for the new and improved Cooper Hewitt Museum about to rejoin the list of the city’s cultural attractions.

The Daily Bet by Rhonda Erb

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