Notorious: The INA 20th Anniversary Sale
Ever walked into INA Men and heard the words of Notorious B.I.G. steady in the background of the sweaters, sneakers, buckets of belts, hat stands and hanging bags,
Way back, when I had the red and black lumberjack
With the hat to match
the last word of every line hanging in the speakers for emphasis and waiting for the next, but standing alone too, until every day of Biggie Small’s life is a poem in meter? What would you call that? Sonnet? Iambic pentameter? Free verse?
Some kid named Jason
In a Honda Station Wagon
Was bragging
Notorious B.I.G. was often seen in a Coogi sweater, beige Kangol cap, baggy and maybe hooded jacket. These were the clothes he wore. When I think about his clothes, I think about his voice.
Stop the dogs from barking. Then proceed to walking.
are the lyrics in Hypnotize. And in turn, his voice says something about his clothes. His rap lyrics are full of the day and night, all of the anecdotal action between the larger events of fame. The clothes he wore on stage were just the clothes he wore.
About 20 years ago, when rapper Notorious B.I.G. signed onto Bad Boy Records with Sean “Diddy” Combs, Ina Bernstein opened her first location of INA on Thompson Street.
Leaning over the counter at 101 Thompson, Ina once told me that she opened her store with a good deal of her own gently worn clothing, ringing in sales and creating accounts for the first consignors largely by herself. The five-store mecca known as INA began from within Ina’s own closet.
A New York Times article featuring INA lead customers to wait outside the store before it opened one morning, and the next day, Ina hired her first employee. Really, INA is the model for consignment-store-as-boutique. I can’t count the number of times a customer has walked through the door and said, “Wait. Is this a consignment store? Everything looks brand-new.”
All INA stores celebrate
this opening twenty years ago with a 20% sale on items $500 and less this
upcoming Tuesday, November 20th.
In addition, INA will give-away one $500 giftcard to one Facebook fan who “likes” us on Facebook between today and next Tuesday. Become a fan here: https://www.facebook.com/inanyc.
From bottom to top: Alexander McQueen leather coin sneakers (Chelsea), Dolce & Gabbana embroidered eagle white jeans (Chelsea), Vintage Stussy leather & wool jacket (Nolita Men's), Wool Kangol cap (Nolita Men's), Missoni printed silk sweater (Chelsea), Moncler coat with fox hood (Chelsea), Alexander Wang black jacket (Chelsea), CP Company coat with fur-trimmed hood (Chelsea), Coogi knot sweater (Nolita Men's)
Five Day Forecast
A severe tropical storm has finally passed. Hurricane Sandy formed in the southern Atlantic, where hurricanes need warm tropical oceans, moisture and light winds above them.
Alexander McQueen gray & orange poly-blend jacket
Hurricanes rotate in a counterclockwise direction around an “eye”, this time producing winds up to 74 miles per hour, incredible waves, torrential rains and floods. A five-day forecast predicts winter weather at a reduced speed, but nevertheless, a reason to shop at INA Men and our other locations for water-repellent, insulated, and heavy clothing.
Today
"Windy... cloudy with rain and snow. Temperatures nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds North at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph."
Kenzo long, hooded wool & cashmere coat
Kenzo wool & shearling coat with removable liner
"Cloudy with rain and snow showers in the morning. A shower or two in the afternoon... otherwise, mostly cloudy and windy. High 42F. Winds North at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%."
A coastal flood warning continues to be in effect.
Michael Bastian blazer emblazoned with snowflakes
Issey Miyake rubber-backed cotton coat
Friday looks mainly sunny, and abundantly sunny on Saturday & Sunday, perhaps a time to pair these Alessandro Dell'Acqua metallic sneakers with Issey Miyake leather pants?
Devil in Disguise
The Indian Princess costume. The one with suede cloth. I wore it for two Halloweens. Then we passed it on to other kids. The fringe was thin strips threaded with beads, tied into knots. (Vintage fringe, multi-colored leather purse, INA Nolita)
Before that, there was the
witch. (Zac Posen high-neck, pleated no collar taffeta blouse, Nolita)
And after, the chimpanzee. I wore a
black sweatsuit and a realistic chimpanzee mask. (Nina Ricci faux fur wool black coat, Nolita)
When I was really little, I was a ghost. A cat one year too. (Balenciaga short pleated red & white skirt w/ striped grossgrain belt, Nolita)
(Yohji Yamamoto black coat with red wool side patches, Nolita)
On Halloween in 1957, my dad was eleven in Memphis. He was standing in front of Elvis’s house, the one at 1034 Audubon Drive. It was part of a place called Audubon Park and around it there were other places like it named Audubon.
This house was essentially a rancher in an upper-middle class neighborhood. This was before Elvis started buying Cadillacs and before he moved into Graceland. In later years, a friend would live across from Elvis’s old house and a friend at an angle to Elvis’s old house. Dad even went to a party in it. A hot ticket girl threw the party, and later, the girl would run off with a greaser on a motorcycle.
(Rick Owens marbled green lace-up silk ruffle wedges, Nolita)
(Adam feathered mini-skirt, Nolita)
"I can see that it was a modest house," he said, looking at Google Maps.
Elvis pulled up to the house, but not all the way up. My dad remembers the make of the car. It was a two-seater Lincoln Mark III hard top. Elvis got out, and Natalie Wood got out too.
The thought occurred that, when famous people came to town, they did something together with the famous people already there. And Elvis got famous fast.
But no, the news later reported that Elvis and Natalie Wood had been an item.
"And Natalie Wood was really, I mean, everyone loves Natalie Wood," he said on the phone.
(Vivienne Westwood Red Label brocade dress, Nolita)
“Were you dressed as something?” I asked.
“Probably nothing.”
“And were Natalie Wood and Elvis dressed as something other than themselves?”
You Know How I Feel
Balmain. I almost never write about fashion that I like, because what I like is moody at best, but two things, here: one, a high-waisted pant, and two, a cropped top appeared on the Balmain runway. It came as a surprise to see my own thrifted bleached denim high-waisted jeans and hand-me-down nylon turtleneck, that I live in, held back up to me in a black leather and white cotton world.
The attire referenced the supermodel era, that of the eighties, but also the Katherine Hepburn silhouette of wearing-men’s-clothes. Even the mini-dresses could be thought of as tuxedo jackets a little too long, and too open. And the tuxedo jackets as such, worn over shirts and pants on the runway, are loose enough to reveal a model’s stomach.
Pants are heavily pleated. Also cuffed. I’ve noticed in the store daily as well, that pants are coming in as wider and wider legged, with a single pleat down the middle and even several pleats toward the waist.
The return to a man’s trouser is (in the words of the best song),
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel
-Nina Simone
Pictures above, all at INA Chelsea, clockwise from left: Givenchy zip-waisted buckled pants, Gucci wool skirt with leather buckled pockets, Alice & Olivia strappy zipper back dress, Sergio Rossi cut-out patent leather pump, Vintage Saint Laurent cropped jacket, Alexander McQueen pants with snakeskin tuxedo stripe, Stella McCartney gunmetal patent plastic pumps, Walter cream wool coat, Manolo Blahnik pony strap pumps.