The Cutest Girl I've Seen All Day

On Friday night the cutest girl I saw was at the Delancey. She was with her boyfriend, who was in the last band of the night and looked like a hot mess peeled off the Sunset Strip with a glam rock hangover. I think they were from Finland (the band), but the girl looked like a cute Brit wearing an adorable pale pink retro coat that reminded me of this Burburry Prorsum trench coat, a black and white hounds tooth bubble hem mini dress, fishnet hose and an awesome pair of stiletto spectators with a hidden platform. Cute teased bleached hair, dark brows and red lips. Looking at her made me happy, she was a little pearly oyster in a sea of boring trout. She was the last bit of inspiration I needed to start this blog - The Cutest Girl I've Seen All Day.
I hate my job, but I love my commute to work. I get off the train at Grand Central station and the crowded midtown streets are full of New York women, walking surprisingly fast in high heels, carrying large and stunning handbags. I love looking at New York women. I love them in winter wearing long belted coats or short leather bomber jackets, and boots of all heights. I love them in spring wearing brightly colored trench coats and flip flops with toes freshly painted, straight from their appointment at the nail salon. I love them in fall and in summer too. I love looking at these stylish women, or anyone stylish, for that matter.
There was a guy named Wade that I met on the 5 train last week. He was a thin graceful brown skinned man wearing a straw boater, spectators and pale blue eyeliner. He was eating a piece of birthday cake and complimented me on my style. Then there was another guy who spoke to me as I was getting on the train to return home from a friend's latke party last year around the holidays - black pinstripe suit, white gators and white do-rag. A huge, dark man with a surprisingly sweet and lilting voice. He told me I was beautiful and asked me if I was "from Paris". There's a man who walks across 42nd street, from east to west, wearing a huge top hat like the mad hatter in 'Alice in Wonderland', gigantic glitter platform boots, and various tuxedo pieces that are like decoupage oddities. Sunglasses and frizzy white hair and beard, he walks with a cane but it doesn't stop him from trucking around in those platform boots. He notices me and nods at me - I stand out from the tourists in their scrunchies and fanny packs who (I hope) give him money to pose with him in pictures. He has validated me, and I can take that back to my awful job, where all they ever speak to me about is whatever mistakes or missteps they can pin on me, feeling a bit more like myself for the rest of the day.
When you're in a dead end job where they don't care about your thoughts, your ideas, your talent or your knowledge, you cannot let it kill your spirit and take away your liberty. On really bad days a cute outfit is all you have to hold onto. For me, every day, its an affirmation of who I am, and what cannot be taken away from me. You have to live for and love the little things we can do to make life beautiful.
I was having a conversation with some girlfriends and someone made a comment that they were 'feeling frumpy', and another friend said 'oh, we all have frumpy days'. I thought about it, and I can honestly say that I do not have frumpy days. Ever. I have days where I feel fat, old, ugly, disgusting, stupid, useless and ridiculous. But never frumpy.
This blog is going to be about my commitment to that, and my connection to other people who live that way.