Fashion Museums of NYC 2015

With two hours to kill before our flight back home from NYC, my family and I visited the fashion museums of 5^th Avenue. Literally hundreds to choose from, we settled on two: Musee d’Bergdorf Goodman and Galerie d’Gucci. And, just like The Met or MOMA, the “docents” didn’t talk to us; merely watched us from the corner of their eye to make sure we didn’t spill anything on the “art” or try to pack a painting or in this case, a right shoe into our purse or back pocket. We could only dream of owning anything we saw. For us, it was perfect: All show, no lines and admission free.

I set off for the store pour femme and the guys went across the street to les hommes. The first floor exhibit wasn’t wowing me. I like bags and purses but shoes are really more my preferred medium. Heaven was on the second floor. At first I was tentative, trying to be a conservative admirer of the works of art. Nobody said anything to me nor looked my way so I started snapping a few pics. Still nobody said anything so I kept clicking and clicking. I started moving shoes around to get a better shot and no alarms sounded.

A young man waited patiently for me to finish my photo frenzie. He politely asked, “Are you finished? Do you want me to model for you?” He was picking out a shoe for his young wife who stood in front of a mirror, sparkly gold stilettos donning her tiny feet. She turned this way and that, studying from every angle. What the heck is she thinking so hard about? They were beautiful and perfect to my low-budget eye. And no, they did not make her look fat!

Soon my family joined me. They looked at the art from a comical standpoint.

“Who would wear big red lips on their shoes?”

“Mom! The Chanel boots are as long as my leg!”

“Mom! Did you see the long hairy shoes like muppets?”

The guys lasted a lot longer looking at shoes than I ever thought. The fire was lit. My seventeen-year-old wanted to go to one more museum before it was too late: Galerie d’Gucci. He wasn’t afraid to face the high-brow crowds and staff. He played along like his credit card had no limit–as if he had a credit card at all. The rest of us indulged him. After all, it was free to see.

Enjoy the highlights from our fashion museum tour.