When I stopped this lady for a photo she told me that she used to work with the photographer Helmut Newton. She was in a hurry so unfortunately I had to take a few quick snaps without getting to know more of her story. With her bold and colorful style I can only imagine the wonderful projects they must have completed together.
Mary, one of my favorite stylish ladies about town, invited me over to her apartment for pastries and tortellini salad. I was honored to spend the afternoon with her looking over her collections of vintage beaded bags, tributes to the 1939 World’s Fair(an obsession of hers) and various other wonderful bits of the past. Mary is admittedly passionate about fashion. She loves dressing up in different coordinated outfits everyday.
In 1961 Mary moved to New York from Los Angeles. After working various jobs including one at the Whitney where she was fired for insubordination, she opened up a vintage store in Soho. I asked her what her favorite thing about living in the city was and she replied, ” I just love walking around New York. The world changes every 3 blocks.” Mary has a great love for vintage and antique items, especially memorabilia from the 1939 World’s Fair held in New York City.She was born the same year as the fair and is seen in a few of the photos above wearing one of the ticket takers uniforms. She let me know that, ” items from the 70’s are not vintage” and that the most important thing about New York is the street life, walking around and seeing new things.
Mary shared some wonderful stories and after a quick change into something more “modern” we headed out for a little walk and a trip to Venieros. Check out some of Mary’s New York favorites below:
1. Venieros is one of the best Italian bakeries. It has been around since 1894 and is a great place to grab a cookie and late night coffee( I can attest to this as she bought me a whole box of delicious carrot cake and rugelach).
2. Sitting in Rockefeller center a major part of the Art Deco period.
3.Taking the M9 bus from Ave B crosstown. Its a cheap mini tour of Lower Manhattan.
4. Visiting the Cloisters on a beautiful afternoon.
5. Visiting The Ukrainian National Home in the east village.
