Tuesday, 27 March 2007

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10 reasons I heart New York

No 1 is Ugly Betty

1. Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty and I aren’t that different. Beneath the designer labels and my Little Miss Jet Set lifestyle on Planet Fashion, I’m still the geek in the glasses and the hand-knitted cardigans who always wanted to make it in magazines.

2. Silver dollar pancakes
I used to be a full English breakfast kinda gal. That was until I had my first New York breakfast with ham, scrambled eggs, silver dollar pancakes and maple syrup at the Moonstruck Diner on Madison Avenue! I’m like so over Size Zero!

3. The second floor at Tiffany & Co
Every self-respecting fashionista knows that the second floor at Tiffany & Co is the diamond floor. Now apart from a Jeremy Hoye hand-carved silver ID bracelet given to me by the jewellery designer himself, and a few ironic costume pieces, I’m not majorly into jewellery, but for Tiffany’s, I’m willing to make an exception, and I couldn’t resist trying on a few engagement rings for size.

By far my favourite is a vintage style called Legacy, a blingtastic cushion cut affair, dripping in diamonds, with graduated bead-set side stone-adorned shanks. ‘Is your fiancé in London?’ the sales assistant asked. Erm…‘Yes,’ I lied, sensing that now wasn’t a great time to let on I’m between boyfriends right now. ‘I know he’ll love it!’ Well, what’s a little white lie between a girl and a five carat cushion cut diamond?

4. House of Field
Don’t get me wrong. I adore Barney’s, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman and the designer boutiques in SoHo as much as the next fashionista - in fact, I’ve just scored a pair of Michael Kors vintage look sunglasses and a black patent pair of basket weave wedges from Miu Miu – but for it’s originality, individuality and personality, Patricia Field’s signature store on Bowery Road, is always at the top of my shopping list.

I interviewed the Sex And The City and Devil Wears Prada costume designer last month and she’s one of the few fashion icons I’ve met that truly lives up to her name.

5. Sex And The City
God, I miss that show! Those that think that Sex And The City portrays thirty-somethings as career obsessed clichés with an inability to hold down a healthy relationship should drop by Planet Fashion more often to see the cliché being played out right here.

My favourite episode has even been spun-off into a self-help book, He’s Just Not That Into You, which should tell you all you need to know about my dating history! As well as a holding a mirror to the social, fashion and relationship trends of the moment, Sex And The City is also a glamorous guide to New York. Manolo Blahnik? Check! Magnolia Bakery? Check! Monkey Bar? Check!

6. Sequins and show tunes
I’m a sucker for a show tune and if there are top hats and tap shoes involved, so much the better. On Sunday, I went to the Actor’s Fund charity performance of A Chorus Line, a tear-jerking, emotional rollercoaster of a Broadway show, with an all-singing, all-dancing, high-kicking, high-octane, Spandex-tastic finale. Well, on Broadway, is there any other kind?

7. The Broadway Dance Center
My favourite class at New York’s world famous dance studios is Bev Brown’s hip hop class. Think Missy Elliott with moves straight out of MTV Base and an attitude to make 50 Cent look like a boy scout.

8. Duane Reade
New Yorkers hate the fact you can’t move one block in Manhattan without walking past at least one Duane Reade drugstore. But where else can I stock up on my favourite cinnamon toothpaste and Big Red cinnamon flavoured chewing gum, and Reese’s Pieces, Hershey Kisses, York’s Peppermint Patties and all that good stuff to keep the girls in the fashion department happy?

9. Ben Stiller movies
It hasn’t escaped my attention that hardly a day goes by without me comparing something on Planet Fashion to a scene from Zoolander. Life imitating art? More like a testimony to how spot on this satire of the style industry actually is.

Stiller is the quintessential neurotic native New Yorker, Woody Allen Lite for the MTV generation – who seems to have the monopoly on movie making at the moment and has seven films in production right now - which may go some way towards explaining why there’s seems to be a Ben Stiller film on TV in America practically every single night.

10. The J Sisters
The J Sisters’ salon is known for the best Brazilian waxes in the world. Founded by seven Brazilian sisters who’s first names all begin with the letter J, this New York salon is a celebrity hot spot. Kate Winslet was in on Saturday, and while I was having my manicure and pedicure (I passed on the Brazilian…I’d already taken care of business in London) Vanessa Williams - who plays the legendary Wilhelmina Slater in Ugly Betty – was in the house for a wax, a manicure and pedicure and a blow-dry. Surely New York can’t get more fabulous than that?