Pretend it's a City: Fran Lebowitz Reminds Us of the Power of Uniform Dressing
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The inimitable Fran Lebowitz is back with her longtime friend Martin Scorsese in Pretend it’s a City, a new limited series on Netflix. In it, Lebowitz discusses her many (many!) opinions on life in New York City, and her personal doctrine, which includes owning no technology, never carrying a yoga mat in public, and believing books are the closest things to human beings.
As a figure in American culture since the early 1970s, Fran Lebowitz has carved out a particular niche for herself. She's published two books, Metropolitan Life (1978) and Social Studies (1981), and has famously had writer's block for the past 20+ years. As a writer who "hates writing," Lebowitz has taken up speaking gigs, movie appearances (most notably in Scorsese's Wolf of Wall Street), reading, and complaining full time.
Scorsese's series covers Lebowitz's life, touching on her youth in 1970s New York, when she wrote a column in Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine, her job as one of the few female taxi drivers in NYC, her funny relationship with legendary jazz musician Charles Mingus, and her experiences as a witness to 20th century art, culture, and celebrity. Lebowitz seamlessly shifts from making wisecracks about tourists to offering astute theories about the state of modern art, culture, and life in New York City.
One of the main constants throughout the series are the interludes of Lebowitz walking around pre-pandemic New York. In the clips, which Scorsese had to direct from a remote location so to not cause an uproar on the sidewalk, Lebowitz strolls throughout Times Square, The Queen's Museum, and The Players club. And though these scenes do a great deal to show us the true charms of old New York, we can't help but notice Leibowitz's uniform wardrobe.
For years, she has worn an oversized blazer, dark wash jeans (always cuffed), and a pair of shiny brown cowboy boots. At one point she even highlights her cufflinks by Alexander Calder, which are beautiful gold swirls. Of course the shirting and blazers change, as Lebowitz is widely known to get her suits from Savile Row's Anderson & Sheppard (who assure everyone that they do not make women's suits and hers are no exception).
The uniform gives us an insight into Lebowitz's mentality, acting as an unspoken indicator that she values talent, quality, and individuality. It also makes us think about our own relationship with our wardrobe. As far as uniforms go, Lebowitz did pick a good one, it will always fit every occasion and trend. But when thinking about uniform dressing, one must consider what there is to gain—high quality, bespoke pieces that oppose modern sartorial maximalism— and what there is to lose—modern sartorial maximalism, or the pleasure of playing around in your closet. This is not a summon for Marie Kondo, but an interesting factor to ponder if you have found yourself with a strong sense of self, writer's block, and more daily gripes than your loved ones can handle.
Fran Lebowitz enrages some, bores others, and enthralls the rest of us. In a modern society where technology is everything, art is the new arm of finance, and true talent seems like something that can be taught, it's a breath of fresh air to hear Lebowitz utter a resounding, "No."
THE FRAN LEBOWITZ UNIFORM
You Might Also Like
