There was a time, not so long ago, when Boston fashion wasconsidered an oxymoron.
This was the land of practicality, where seersucker and tweednever went out of style, where a cotton turtleneck served one well onthe ski slopes or at a fancy restaurant (except the Ritz, of course),and sensible shoes, ordered from L. L. Bean, were necessary tonavigate uneven brick or icy sidewalks.
It was all understandable, really.Besides, Bostonians were toobusy reading serious books to waste time flipping through glossyfashion magazines filled with clothes that would be out of style nextseason. Such a waste of money.
But then, the locals didn't talk about money, and they certainlydidn't show it off by buying expensive clothes. Unless it was at SaraFredericks.
However, her legendary Newbury Street boutique is gone forever,replaced by the likes of Versace, catering to a whole different setof ladies who lunch, or more likely, ladies who party until the weehours of the morning at Aria, which features a weekly midnightfashion show, complete with leggy models, on the dance floor.
As younger, hipper, freshly monied people move to this city withtheir Prada-packed wardrobes, the fashion landscape is changingdramatically.
Once there were only a few retailers that mattered: Filene's (theRock of Gibraltar among local department stores), Jordan Marsh(gone), Brooks Brothers, and the once-staid Louis (now carrying avant-garde designers).
But in the last couple of years, new shops - from BCBG to KateSpade - have thrown open their doors to cater to the fashion-conscious crowd, and others are about to open, including Club Monaco,Pink, and Hugo Boss.
Gucci, which sells such items as a $1,500 men's cardigan sweaterwith rabbit fur on the front panels, has grown to be the company'sfourth-largest store in the United States, behind New York, BeverlyHills, and Hawaii.
'There are a lot of millionaires out there who are 21 and 22 -because of what they can do with a computer. We factor them in asclientele who are frequenting the store,' said Kathy Dziadoszr,manager of the recently expanded Gucci boutique in Copley Place. 'Notthat we don't have the old guard, clients . . . who have lived inBoston their whole lives.'
So there are new people with new money, buying sharp, new thingsto wear, and prompting the old guard to toss aside their old clothesand put on Gucci.
Five years ago, among the only people dressing fashionably in thistown were foreign collegiates, a nocturnal set whose style took timeto root, just as they did.
But today, Saudi Arabian doctoral students face sartorialcompetition from South End mothers who frequently shop designerlabels at Saks, downtown lawyers who have converted their wardrobesto include flat-front pants and chunky-soled shoes, and from Fidelitysecretaries with Fendi baguettes tucked under their arms.
Shahrukh Qurashi, a Pakistani, was a freshman at Boston Universityin 1992, dressing to the nines when few native Bostonians were.
Now, as the founder of an Internet company, Strategiweb, Qurashiis witness to how the dotcom world's successes are changing thefashion habits of those you'd least expect.
'It's a trickle-up kind of an effect, where people are in theirearly 30s or late 30s or 40s, and the first time they get [toexercise] stock options they go out and buy five Prada suits or theyshop at Versace,' Qurashi said. 'It's very real.
'You're finding a lot more people who are not young, but are inafter-school phases who have just realized that fashion is a good wayof expressing newfound happiness or newfound wealth or success intheir business endeavors.'
Meanwhile, Jamie Dewar, manager at the Back Bay Brooks Brothers,confirms that seersucker is on the decline and said he is encouragedby what he's seeing.
'People are dressing much better,' Dewar said.
As for tweed, there's still plenty of that around. But at leastthis fall, all the magazines say it's in.
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