Laundry Day Looks

Dungarees: Zara
Crop Top: Topshop
Dress: Brooks Brothers

Quick Change Artist Looks

Snakeskin Jeans: 7 For All Mankind
Linen Peasant Blouse: van Laack
Shopper Bag: Zara
Double Breasted Navy blazer: Zara
Mini Skirt: Zara
Orange clutch: Zara
Belt: Jane Mayle

Yaar Looks

Romantic blouse: Zara
Bleached Skinny Jeans: Zara
Silver Bag: Carlos Falchi
Striped Shirt: Zara
Orange Peplum top: Tibi
Skirt: Turk & Taylor
Sunglasses: Tom Ford Annouk
Bag: Fendi Peekaboo

Guggenheim Looks
Skirt: Daryl K
Blazer: Reiss
White Shirt: Charvet

NEW YORK — I’m a hat lover without a party.

For years I’ve resisted fascinators, dramatic tilts, and wide brims blooming with silk flowers because I have no place to wear them.

So I asked Suzanne Newman, of Suzanne Couture Millinery, what kinds of occasions in New York call for her exquisite handmade hats, most of which take a full week to block and trim in the back room of her 61st Street shop, and cost upwards of $500.

She listed the Central Park Conservancy luncheon, Kentucky Derby parties, polo matches and carriage driving.

Not my life.

But, as so often happens to me when I shop, I started imagining the life I could be having — me on the polo grounds with a fetching straw saucer — and liking what I pictured.

In fact, the world may be divided between people who wear hats and people who don’t. And it’s possible the hatted are having more fun.

This Sunday, uptown ladies will be attending church wearing impressively trimmed creations from Harlem Heaven, where Evetta Petty makes custom pieces that are lavish but affordable. I fell for her black horsehair fascinator, which costs $65.

And then there are the attendees of the traditional Easter Parade. As Irving Berlin put it:

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,

You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.

The hats on 5th Avenue will run the gamut from the silly — DIY nests of eggs and towers of candy peeps — to the seriously chic. If you want to be the grandest, (and not break the bank) go to Barbara Feinman Millinery in the East Village.

My favorite for Easter is a headpiece covered entirely in daisies and trimmed with a veil. But I’m aiming to visit Barbara Feinman’s every season. For spring I bought a lovely cloche ($225) that I plan to wear to The Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor’s Island. And for summer I am going to buy their wide-brimmed Riviera hat ($110) that I will wear on my upcoming trip to Cannes.

And when fall comes again, I will finally get the leopard beret ($225) of my dreams.

At least, that’s the plan.

Suzanne told me that business has increased ten-fold since the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. And I’ve noticed more dramatic hats creeping their way into street fashion, with styles like the veiled beanie.

Weddings are good occasions to don headpieces like Suzanne’s stack of orchids atop a veil. But I also noticed several styles in her shop that reimagine the hat, and could be worn more casually. When paired with jeans, a plaited headband or a hat with netting is super glam — and so much fun.

See you on the Avenue.

Column appeared in DNAinfo March 29, 2013.

NEW YORK CITY — Fashion is all about accents. That’s where you find your drama, individuality and point of view. Vintage is an accent, jewelry is an accent, prep is an accent, and so is BDSM — bondage, discipline and sadomasochism.

The past two seasons, fetish fashion has been all over the runway, with second-skin latex skirts, shiny PVC coats, mod patent leather and leather crop tops. Designers have married these textiles, normally associated with kink and punk, with demure cuts and designs, to create a lady-like look with an edge

The Costume Institute show, “From Chaos to Couture,” opening in May at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, reminds us that punk — which emerged as a DIY counterculture movement and was made available for purchase in Vivienne Westwood’s designs for Malcolm McLaren’s London boutique, SEX, in the 1970s — has given birth to some of the most vivid fashion ever since. We remember the moment Elizabeth Hurley wore Versace’s safety pin bondage dress, and mourn Alexander McQueen, who combined BDSM with fine English tailoring.

Punk and rock-and-roll have never gone out of style. But now this spring’s mod fashions give us another reason to wear those ultra-shiny plastics. Slumming millionaires will buy the kinky couture of Burberry and Felder Felder, but Manhattan’s sex shops offer the real thing.

You can find many latex stores online at Etsy. And check out the outstanding British latex labels Lucky Dame and Atsuko Kudo, the latter of which created the latex dress Lady Gaga wore to meet Queen Elizabeth.

PVC Princess
Anne Hathaway wore the bondage-y Tom Ford thigh-high gladiator boot peaking out of a ball gown — a challenging look for most of us.

But fetish and punk shops are full of provacative shoes that you can class up. PVC is affordable, looks like patent leather, and reflects light beautifully. At Purple Passion, 211 W. 20th St. in Chelsea, I bought a pair of PVC boots by the label Pleaser that have a mod look. They are the perfect rain boots for when you want to wear heels in bad weather.

Allure makes a vinyl pleated skirt in hot pink that I wore with black tights and a black turtleneck while the weather was still cold, but this spring I’ll wear it with an oversized top and sandals. I’ve liked the look of shiny vinyl pants with a white T-shirt ever since I saw Kate Moss wear it. Trash and Vaudeville at 4 St. Marks Pl. has a pair for $62.

Latex for Normal Girls
Rita Ora and Rihanna wear latex, but the material became officially chic when Christopher Bailey turned it into trenches and beyond-leather dresses for his Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. The wonderful thing about latex is that it reduces bulk and makes you look skinnier. But getting into it is something akin to getting into Spanx — and often requires a bottle of lube. At Purple Passion I discovered the fantastic latex label Klawtex. Designer Klawdia Rothschild creates custom and ready-to-wear pieces in her studio at House of Yes in Williamsburg. A simple black latex miniskirt is an easy piece to wear every day. (And you’ll only need the lube to go from a matte to shiny look.)

Punk or Mod?
The houndstooth and super checker Tripp skinny jeans at Trash and Vaudeville on St. Marks Place fit both the mod and the punk vibes. The snake print is also in this spring, and the shop has versions for $76. I picked up some $12 “Clockwork Orange” bracelets while I was there.

Boost Your Fashion Cred

The recipe for wearing latex, PVC and punk styles is simple: Keep the rest of your outfit neutral, pair plastic and latex with organic fabrics like cashmere and cotton, and don’t show too much skin. Exploring custom fetish fashion will give you a whole new understanding of couture.

Article appeared in DNAinfo on March 19, 2013.

Drawing by Dan Estabrook