Special Delivery, Courtesy of Prabal Gurung
If my father had to guess which one of his daughters would be sitting in the second row at Prabal Gurung’s 2013 NY Fashion Week Show, he would have been smart to put his money on his other daughter. Don’t get me wrong, ever since I used to rock my mom’s high heels with my best Osh Kosh B’Gosh overalls, I’ve had a passion for fashion. Or at least a passion for polo shirts and other preppy standards - the height of my fashion glory being 1996 when I was voted ‘Best Dressed’ by my friends at smart camp.
But that all changed yesterday with a trip to the post office in Moynihan Station to see Prabal’s show, courtesy of an invitation from Hilary Harkness to be her plus one.
Actually, it started changing a few days before the show when Swagger the fashion website put Daria Morgendorffer in Prabal Gurung. Before you could say, ‘Sick, Sad, World,’ I was back in my 90’s fashion heyday. If Daria, who along with Sassy magazine, gave voice to the spectacular sage snarkiness of my generation, was wearing Prabal Gurung, then it was time for me to pay attention.
And pay attention, I did. From the moment we entered the post office and I got pulled out of the fashion forward flock by a guard, double- and triple-checking my clothes, er invitation, to the moment we sat down and the photographers started jockeying. From my second row perch, it quickly became apparent that Hilary, in the front row, was sitting next to Ciara and down a few seats from Zosia Mamet and Allison Williams of Girls. I resisted telling the latter two about how the show had me at Camp Ramah.
Soon, the models would assemble behind plastic and the lights would cast a bright glow on the room while music lulled me into a fashion trance - think ‘Downton Abbey’ goes ‘Back to the Future.’ A detailed description of the presentation is best left to experts, but the earrings resembling high-tech ear buds and the sunglasses worn by some of the models signaled to me that the future is here and Prabal will be our fashion guru.
As we spilled out into the sunlight, with a glimpse into the future, I thought about the past. From Daria to Ciara to Girls, it was hard not wonder how my ill-advised fashion choices (red tights are never a good idea), minor obsession with an MTV cartoon character, and questions about my creative voice have led me to a future my 1990s self could not have predicted.
Given a few more moments, I might have tried to figure out what my future had in store for me, but I didn’t have time. We had to go and get ready for an opening at Mary Boone Gallery. Besides, I didn’t have to worry about what I’d be wearing in the future. I’ll leave that to Daria and Prabal.
-Ara Tucker, 2013