Boy, have I ever got something to do tomorrow night! Thanks God September has come! After being asked yesterday by Yahoo! if it is all right to wear white after Labor Day, I have been a bit shaken by the disturbing question. It had never occurred to me, and apparently it’s a kind of given among normal human beings. Why hadn’t I been informed? That’s what I want to know. My wardrobe doesn’t deserve a second thought. It’s pathetic. The good thing is that I barely own anything that color, at least anything visible, so I just may be able to adjust to the fall season with a certain degree of grace.
Anyway, I was walking down Velázquez today I noticed that tomorrow, that’s right tomorrow, Vogue magazine is holding its second annual Fashion’s Night Out! Now I have to hand it to the haute couture mag because in a way the idea does prove the company is doing its part to jumpstart the economy. That’s just the kind of solidarity you would expect from people who design and make dresses for people rent summer homes for $40,000 a month.
It also represents a turning point in September evening happenings. For a few years, all Madrid had to offer at this time of year was its Noches en Blanco (White Nights), which was a culturally-oriented mega-event. The initiative came from Paris (figures) in 2002 and arrived in Spain five years later. It highlighted simple cultural shows, free entrance to museums, open theater performances and concerts as well as latenight bookstores. What most people did, though, was stroll through the car-banned streets at night. It was all right, kind of interesting, but somehow, I guess, unprofitable. After some initial success, it’s died out.
It looks like fashion has picked up the slack. Some 250 shops will be open and it looks like Ortega y Gasset Street is where the epicenter will be, in the heart of the Salamanca district. I hear they will be closing off part of the street.
As a total fashion loser, I feel almost obligated to make an appearance. Feel free to come along.
