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When it comes to fashion, the Triangle looks pretty dowdy.
By ADRIENNE M. JOHNSON, Staff Writer
Copyright January 5, 2000 The
Raleigh News & Observer
But the vice chancellor of student affairs at N.C. Central University admits she likes to shop. She describes her look as tailored. And she says she had a hard time finding the latest fashions in the Triangle. "It seems a year or two behind the rest of the country," says Terry. "The clothes here are not cosmopolitan enough."
It's the lack of sizzle that offends. Transplants like Terry believed that they would, by coming into a growing area, find the familiar range of labels they found in bigger cities. "In other places, there's a different level of adventure in clothing that I haven't seen here," says Terry, who moved to Durham from Connecticut three years ago.
So instead of roaming malls for a fashion fix, Terry thumbs through catalogs -- Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomingdale's -- piecing together her appearance via mail.
Not that the Triangle is entirely without distinction when it comes to good shopping. We have respectable roots when it comes to style -- and there are signs the scene here is improving. But various lifestyle issues combine to create a fashion scene that is a far cry from New York, Washington or some of the other cities the Triangle's most stylish residents head to to fill their sartorial needs.
OK, OK. It's not the most important issue; there aren't any deaths on record linked to want of Donna Karan. It is, however, a quality of life concern. An examination of our fashion sense is another way to gauge whether the Triangle is becoming a true metropolis. And on the fashion map right now, folks, we're the size of a sequin.
Southern Sensibility
Some North Carolina natives remember a South known not just for its commitment to dressing appropriately, but also for having a certain flair. They think of churchgoing women, heading out on Sunday in hats as grand as their brims were wide. Or the Southern gentleman who became iconic in his seersucker suit.Gary Karden, a stylist who grew up in Burlington and now lives in Chapel Hill, believes that kind of chic was inspired by one of the state's top industries -- textiles. Even today, North Carolina produces about a quarter of the nation's fine fabrics. "[This] was a fabulous place for style, there was so much being produced," says Karden, who advises customers on personal style. "North Carolinians have a lot of pride. They want to look good."
The shops here reflected that appreciation of fashion. Melissa Peden, a former art gallery owner from Raleigh known for elegant style, remembers shopping on Fayetteville Street at now defunct stores like Taylor's and Adler's.
"The clothes were beautifully made and the dresses were lined," she says, a bit wistfully. Taylor's, in particular, was at one time known as the "Tiffany of North Carolina" and was the most exclusive department store in the state from the 1930s to 1950s. Even after it became Ivey's, and moved to the North Hills Mall, the store held fashion shows and etiquette classes. Marking down its quality clothes was rare.
Money Can't Buy You Style
But the fashion industry changed -- not just in the Triangle, but nationwide.Four megatrends changed the direction of fashion in the 1980s, according to "The End of Fashion" (William Morrow & Co.), a book by Wall Street Journal reporter Teri Agins. Women became more career-oriented and shifted toward more practical and professional clothing. People stopped dressing up. Stores like Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and J. Crew made it seem silly to spend a mint on nice clothes. And top designers started going for looks palatable to the masses rather than taking creative risks.
In essence, we've become a more casual, stylistically lackluster nation. And as the nation goes, so we in the Triangle go, albeit a little more slowly. "I liken it to a merry-go-round: If you're the last one on, you're the last one off," says Missy Julian, co-owner of Julian's, the landmark store in Chapel Hill, and sister of designer Alexander Julian. "People are coming into the area, looking around and saying, 'They're really casual down here.' But we have not been casual as long as the rest of the country."
Although the trend toward casual attire is not unique to this area, there are reasons why the Triangle, in particular, is no fashion mecca. It's a reflection of the way we live. For one, fashion thrives and spreads by being seen.
"You have to have a place to display fashion," says Valerie Steele, chief curator at the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum in New York. "There have to be spectators and participants to show off clothes."
Here in the Triangle, where people drive more than they walk, that's tough. "It's hard to get a sense of what someone's wearing when they are driving by at 40 miles per hour," says Peden.
And preening is just not our style. "I don't think the North Carolina persona is about posturing or showing off," says Missy Julian. "It's about the self and being the best you can be."
Gina Pia Cooper, a New York-based editor of the Internet magazine FashionFinds.com, believes fashion thrives "where people feel free to dress themselves without recriminations" -- an environment the Triangle doesn't yet seem to offer.
A multicultural population also fuels fashion, Cooper says, because diversity exposes us to other customs and clothing. Here again, the Triangle is making progress, but lags behind other cities.
Wealth also tends to make for a more fashion-conscious city, Cooper says. "If a city is doing well economically, people want expensive things," she says. "They want to stand out of the set."
We fall a bit short on that front as well: Many of the Triangle's new affluent residents belong to the high-tech set, a group more interested in chinos and gadgets than Dolce & Gabbana.
Warming Up To Leopard
Despite all that's working against us, there is some light. "Anything that's changing and growing has potential," says Cooper, whose magazine attracts readers from the South. "People are dying to see something new. I believe Southerners have a lot of flair in all regards ... the art of writing, personal style, that's all connected."While larger department stores may not offer the designers' top lines, Triangle boutiques pick up the slack, carrying the cutting-edge fashion banner. Martha Parks opened her Raleigh store, SoHo, in 1985. She carries clothes from a mix of American and European designers like Lilith of Paris, Marithe & Francois Girbaud, and Su-ven. "We did surprisingly well from the beginning," says the Southern Pines native.
In past years, when Parks went to buy clothes for her store in places like New York and mentioned where her shop was located, people would burst into disbelieving laughter. Nowadays, she says, that's ebbed some.
"They're realizing the South is becoming part of the world," she says. "I think they are envying some of our advantages [in the Triangle]; they're reading more about us now."
She's seen changes in the reaction to her stylish clothes too. While she once only got compliments when she traveled, lately it's happening more often at home. Parks attributes that not just to newcomers, but to the increasingly sophisticated lives of Southerners. "The more people move here and the more we travel, there's greater recognition," she says. "We're less isolated culturally."
Julie Raymond, who owns Uniquities boutiques in both Raleigh and Chapel Hill, agrees that the Triangle's fashion scene is slowly catching up. And while Chapel Hill has a hipper clientele, Raleigh is improving. "They're learning it's OK to wear a leopard coat." In fact, says Raymond, you can find in the Triangle many of the styles you see on racks in the big cities. "My best friend has a store in New York and we go to the marts together and I buy the same things she buys for her stores."
With some exceptions: The current fashion fad of embroidered jeans don't fly here, says Raymond. "People won't buy the more embellished stuff here."
For some clothes horses among us, the Triangle fashion scene may still seem dismal. But stylist Karden suggests you focus on the clothes-related benefits the Triangle does offer.
"You'll have cheaper dry cleaning bills," he says.