Berlin or bust

Look des Tages: No Photo

She was pedaling on Torstrasse. Rusty red bike. White dress dotted in daisies. It flounced around her thighs. Hair a curtain of blond. Beneath it: red hooded capelet.

A Rotkäppchen-Goldilocks lovechild, smack in the middle of Mitte. And I'd forgotten to pack my digi.

Damn.

Then: Tall woman, clad in black. Fat camera (of my dreams). Approached Grimm Girl. "Can I take your photo?" I heard her say. "I'm with Stil in Berlin."

Damn.

My new Bayreuthian Oberholz buddy had told me about the website after I launched Look des Tages. Exclusively fashion, of course. None of Lilan's Berliner witticisms, nor gripping personal tales (ahem).

I locked my bike to a railing. Tall woman kept talking. Goldi tilted her head. Her face was closed.

I crossed the street. Shoulders fallen. A Shit Fairy perched on each. What's the point. Nothing I do is original. Why am I even blogging. No one is seeing.

I looked back. Tall woman crossed the street. Shoulders fallen. Goldi rolled away.

I was going to keep going. Cozy in my Shit Fairy self-pity. But Robert Frost elbowed his way into my ear. "Freedom lies in being BOLD," he intoned.

A quote I'd pasted above my desk in Brooklyn.   

Look des Tages: 03.10.07

Name: Xenia

Age: 35

Profession: Holistic practitioner. "On my way, that is."

Seen at: Gipsstrasse Spielplatz (per pre-arranged date with my cousin)

In tow: Ferdi, 2 years.

You have to be my Look des Tages! "With my pregnant belly?"

My cousin: "Yes, yes!"

Stand there. Good. "But don't show my butt."

I love your coat. Where is it from? "From Mexico... Wait, no, it's Christian Lacroix."

Tell me about the scarf. "That is from Mexico. Mexico is my spiritual home. I'm Frida Kahlo reborn. Without the female mustache."

Cousin: "And the necklace was given to you by that woman in Marrakesh."

Xenia: "The necklace is Indian, the earrings too."

How is it that your clothes are so international? "I've lived everywhere, really."

Editor's note: London, Madrid, Mexico, Marrakesh, to name a few.

Xenia: "What is it, Ferdi? Ferdi wants some bread. I think we're going to take off."

Cousin: "Super news, Xenia."

Xenia: (glowing) "Yes."

Editor's note: It's a girl!

Look des Tages: 29.09.07

Name: Katrinka

Age: 28

Profession: Jazz singer

Seen at: Berliner Art Forum, Heidestrasse 50 

Where do you live? London. Next week, New York!

Why are you in Berlin? To taste every variety of Gummi available. Don't tell Lilan, though. She thinks I'm here to visit her.

Tell me about this outfit. I like to dress up when I fly. I bought this dress in London, to fly Virgin Atlantic, whose colors are purple and red.

Are you for real? Yes. But don't write that!

Too late. I really bought it because from far away you could mistake it for a Diane von Furstenberg.

The tights. What can I say about the tights?

They belong to a woman so much hipper than you? Yes. I'm only wearing them because someone totally Bogarted the black ones.

And the boots? It was that or trainers! I didn't pack for totally cool open-studio art parties.

I noticed the many stares you got below the knee. It made me feel strangely confident

That is strange. Actually, I like the Berlin style. Remember, I am poor. I buy all my clothes at H&M. And I love graphics, bold patterns.

With the overcoat and gloves, you look kind of... Homeless chic. I know.

Only in Berlin. Please don't ever show anyone this photo. Ever. Please.

Look des Tages: 30.09.07

Name: Enmanuel

Seen at: Potsdamer Platz U-Bahn station

Where are you from? Venezuela

You came to Berlin to run the marathon? Yes. 

Where else have you marathoned? Venezuela, Brazil, New York...

I'm from New York. In New York I run 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000...

What's your fastest time? Dos and... (wife finishes) 66 minutes.

How'd you do today? (wife again) Three hours, 26 minutes.

His wife: Ask how old he is.

How old are you? Five...Nine? (Wife holds up five fingers, then nine.)


Fifty-nine? You're kidding. How many marathons have you run? This is 70.

Congratulations! What do you think of Berlin? Beautiful.

Editor's Note: Enmanuel sports Adidas industrial wrap to ward off Sunday's bitter-cold wetness. Also, the medal given to all who crossed the finish line. As Berliners do not exercise (and do not wear brands), we can safely assume 95 percent of participants traveled internationally.*

*I know only one Berliner who exercises. He is from Bavaria. So that does not count.

Look des Tages: Saturday

Name: Annika

Age: 37

Profession: Performance Artist Palma Kunkel

What are your fashion influences?
I have a Kleidungs Paradies.

A "clothing paradise"? Yes.

Tell me more! (paraphrased) I used to rent a flat from an old woman, a doctor. She owned several apartments around the city, and all were full of the clothes she collected. One was devoted entirely to wedding dresses. When she died, at 96, her family sold the clothes off, cheap. Hundreds of dresses from the fifties and sixties--and all in my size! Like this dress.

Editor's Note: I am so jealous, I could wet my pants.

Seen at: Torstrasse, Mitte.

Look des Tages: Friday

Name: Alicia

Age: 24

Where are you from? Spain

Where do you live now? Charlottenburg, for two months

What are your fashion influences?
"No sé."

Editor's note: I am digging this chica's yellow frames. And only a Spaniard could pull off a red this unapologetic.

Seen at: Mauerpark Flohmarkt

Look des Tages: Thursday

Who: Lady in Pink

Where: Mauerpark

Editor's note: I have been informed by a professional photographer that I cannot legally post photos in a public forum without the subjects' approval. Oh, but look, this nodding fuscia rose. Both skirt and top of raw-spun silk. A rarity in a city where crap-quality fabrics pass for good. Sigh. I miss Barneys.

Look des Tages: Wednesday

Who: Marie-Lou & Claude

Ages:  29 & "He'd rather you didn't know."

Where are you from? Quebec

Where do you live now? Prenzlauer Berg & Kreuzberg

What is your fashion influence? "COLORS!" & too busy talking to someone else to say

Editor's note: The crispness of his whites, the starkness of her blue and green — not the kind of bold monochromes I'd attribute to native Berliners. Vive la Quebec!

Seen at: Mauerpark Flohmarkt

Look des Tages: Tuesday

Name: Anna Reynolds

What do you do? Soul / Funk / Rock

Where are you from? Berlin

Fashion influences? "It comes from me!"

Editor's Note: A common occurrence in Berlin: Startling pattern combinations (here, polka-dot skirt, multi-striped leggings).

Seen at: Mauerpark Flea Market

Look des Tages: Monday

Who: Miss Olea Europaea?

Age: 33

Seen at: Mauerpark Flea Market

What are your fashion influences? "Anything from the flea market that fits together!" (Alles was vom Flohmarkt zusammen past!)

Editor's Note: Common among Berlin's younger generation:* The Dress Over Jeans. Like The Scarf, a style borne of meteorological necessity. Note also: Knee-high boots, wound in straps of leather — usurpation of Eskimo fashion, unique to this particular olive tree.

*According to my younger-generation fashion source, Bayreuth Boy, this now-waning look reached its peak one or two years ago.

Look des Tages

Welcome to Fashion Week at Berlin or Bust! Expect a new Look des Tages daily.

Who: Nancy Sinatra?

Seen at: Wannsee S-Bahn Station

Editor's Note: Prototypical Berlin fashion accessory on display: The Scarf — the only ubiquitous item of clothing in this otherwise wear-what-the-hell-you-want town.