Window Shopping on Fifth Avenue During a Pandemic

Readers, today I went running up to Central Park and on the way I stopped to take in some store windows on Fifth Avenue.

Needless to say the stores are all closed.  A few are actually boarded up, but most are not.  Some windows--the jewelry stores in particular-- are empty of merchandise.  But many stores left their window displays up.

Versace was not only closed, it was completely cleaned out.

The streets are nearly empty of people and there's very little traffic.  It's like having the city to yourself.  Passing by the shells of famous old department stores like B. Altman and Lord & Taylor, I couldn't help wonder if there won't be many more empty shells in the near future.  This pandemic is going to have a devastating effect on retail fashion for lots of different reasons.

The old B. Altman department store on 34th & Fifth.

The old Lord & Taylor flagship on 38th & Fifth.

Rockefeller Center

I actually saw some very pretty things.  I was struck by a lot of styles with an early Thirties feel: flowy fabrics and bias-cut satin.  That said, there's no single dominant style.  You see things reminiscent of nearly every decade of the Twentieth Century!

The Columbian designer Johanna Ortiz, in her own Fifth Avenue store.  These flowy crepe dresses could be from the late Twenties or early Thirties.

This playsuit ensemble from Guess has a Forties-Fifties feel.

Bias-cut satin gown with back cowl by Carly Cushnie at Saks: very Thirties Hollywood.

More Johanna Ortiz (from Saks)

Moving north, I saw some really lovely things at Longchamp, Valentino, Ferragamo, and Armani.

This summer dress made with inverted pleats at Longchamp caught my eye but what an ugly mannequin.

Also at Longchamp, this summer dress is entirely shirred at the hip and then releases into soft gathers.

I loved this men's blouson-style hooded pullover at Ferragamo.   I could make that.

Modest white summer dresses at Valentino have an almost Edwardian feel.

At Armani, an elegant double-faced wool women's coat.

Classic Armani women's suits: these remind me of his Eighties stuff.

Poor Bergdorf's: their parent company, Neiman Marcus, is nearing bankruptcy.  Hopefully someone keeps this landmark store open.  The windows are a mishmash of every sort of style, but that's fashion today.

That Paco Rabanne silver chain mail dress looks like it's from 1968.

This Burberry ensemble has an animal print dress topped iwth a coat lined with leopard.  To me it feels like Seventies Yves Saint Laurent.

This Rodarte dress feels Thirties to me.  I really like the fabric.

I forgot who the designers are here but we're deep into late Sixties Carnaby Street territory.

A few more photos of this very empty-feeling town.

Outside the Plaza hotel looking south toward Bergdorf's.

Looking north toward Central Park on Fifth.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: desolate.

Times Square, deserted.

Very few people in Central Park

In closing, I hope you're all doing well and staying healthy.

If you're sewing--and I hope you are--happy sewing.  Any of these styles strike your fancy?