What I Wore: Well Read

June 13, 2013 | by Fajr Muhammad | Fashion, What I Wore | 2 Comments

Libraries are chic. You heard it here first. When I was a little girl I lived in the library. My father would drop me and my sisters off to be babysat by books (great parenting technique I might add) and we’d spend hours reading. I remember our neighborhood library being a pretty magical place. It’s where I met Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew, became a member of the Bernstein Bears family and the Babysitter’s Club and fell in love with words.

As a child raised on reading, I’ve always been studious and one of my favorite places to spend time to this day is the library. No it’s not 1OAK on a Friday night but there’s a majesty and quiet in being surrounded by books.

While I’m not a library snob (party snob yes), the New York Public Library pretty much annihilates any branch I’ve seen. The enormous stacks, the arched ceilings and giant columns and the ferocious lions out front taking guard. I imagine when the clock strikes midnight they get up from their post and gallop around the city. It’s more a castle of books than a library really.

So what does my gratuitous love of books have to do with style? It seems my taste in clothing is starting to take a page from the studious girl style book. Readers are serious, non? Librarians always seem a bit repressed what with their tight sweaters and cat-eye glasses (am I the only one who lives in a bad 1950s movie?).

Case in point: Take a high waist trouser. Nothing says I read lots of books like a high waist. And a buttoned-up Peter Pan collar; it doesn’t get any more ~~stiff~~ studious than that. While reading is mostly a solitary endeavor, visiting a library is not. And why not show your intellectual (and cheeky) side with a pearl eyeglass chain? You never know, you could meet a handsome fellow in the murder mysteries who can help you navigate the Dewey Decimal system. Love in between the lines.

Ahhhhhh, who am I kidding? Let me stop daydreaming and go read a book.

And Now The Deets: Forever 21 Top • American Apparel High-Waist Trousers • Vintage Bracelet • Nine West Wedges • Drugstore Pearl Eyeglass Chain

Photos by Ray Spaddy

Librarian Chic, New York, New York Public Library, Personal Style, Peter Pan Collar, What I Wore

7th & Fashion: Style Inspiration in the Fashion Capital

June 12, 2013 | by Fajr Muhammad | Fashion | No Comments

Bill Cunningham shooting style on the streets of NY

It’s summer in the city and after what has felt like an eternity of bad weather (hurricanes, snowstorms and rain-fests) the sun is out and the gloves are coming off. ‘Tis the season to dress up! And from what I hear summertime in New York is when everyone puts on their Sunday (and Monday) bests.

Before moving to the city I had this grandiose idea of what fashion in New York would be like. I imagined that everyone from supermodels, designers and the regular postal worker wore designer duds and dressed to the nines. Ha! Sorry but few New Yorkers can actually afford COUTURE! And they’re probably better off for it.

To say that New York is synonymous with fashion is an understatement. It’s everywhere you look; from the giant H&M billboards of Beyonce’s hot bod to the people on the street wearing any manner of dress. New Yorkers certainly don’t shy away from making a statement. And why would they? New York is the epicenter of fashion in the western world and we have the booming billion dollar fashion industry to thank. From it’s history making fashion shows (bye bye Bryant Park) to the once-bitten magazine industry to the now thriving blogosphere, fashion in the 212 simply won’t rest.

Style of New York @ Humans of New York

You can get anything here and shopping in New York is a competitive sport, what with sample sales, Century 21 and the latest “IT” designer pop up shop. Crowds flock as easily to buy out a Target collab as they do to make an Alexander Wang sample sale. With over 8 million people it’s a wonder it’s called the Naked City when everyone is so fashionably clothed.

Walking around the city you can’t help but notice how covetable things are. I literally stalked a woman on the Ferry when I first moved because she had a Bettie Page Clothing shopping bag. Another time a stylish Asian girl had on the cutest iridescent blue booties I’d ever seen. When I asked where she’d gotten them she replied, “In Brooklyn, but I can’t remember where.”

“I miss New York. I still love how people talk to you on the street – just assault you and tell you what they think of your jacket.” ~ Madonna

Grand Street

While there’s every store imaginable and even some you can’t imagine (glance over a $50,000 Koi pond while you try on trousers from Japan) that’s not what makes this city so full of style. It’s in the skyline and in the DNA of everyone who wakes up in the morning and decides they’re going to show the city what they’re made of.

There are no rules and even if there were, no one would follow them. People are normal people, going about their day. From the man in the three piece Italian suit to the 6 foot 2 model in a racerback tank and moto boots to the lady in yellow tights and bright purple Fluevogs, what people wear is as individual as they are

And for a style obsessed gal like myself, there’s no better place to test drive outfits. Steampunk Saturdays? Sure! Cher Horowitz Tuesdays? Did someone say knee socks? Sure you’ll turn heads (and the occasional tourist camera) but guess what? The city is a runway and if people are going to stare might as well give them something to look at.

“The best fashion show is definitely on the street. Always has been, and always will be.”~ Bill Cunningham

Fashion, New York

Tourist Traps & False Starts: My Journey to Nueva York

May 27, 2013 | by Fajr Muhammad | Fajr's World | 9 Comments

New York is a magical place. It’s also a tough place, a busy place, a chew you up, spit out the bones kind of place. And as of October 2012 it’s been my home.

As long as I can remember I’ve always wanted to live in New York. The land of dreams, fortune and fame! Where actors come to act, musicians come to make music, writers come to write and everyone comes to make a better life.

When I was a teenager looking to take the world by storm with words, New York was where I wanted to be. I applied to university after university, completing financial aid forms and praying that my Big Apple dreams would come to fruition. I imagined traipsing through the city, seeing stars and having opportunity fall at feet. That’s not quite how things turned out and much to my dismay my New York dreams were shattered.

Life went on as usual, I stayed in Philly and started blogging. But New York always stayed in the back of my mind and from time to time I’d take the short trip up and always wonder when I’d set foot for good.

On one particular trip to NY, I sat with a good girlfriend of mine, a New Yorker, eating lunch and talking about our future. I mentioned that I was apartment hunting in Philly and she exclaimed, “Move to New York! You belong here. You should totally move to New York!” Her enthusiasm all but bowled me over. She was right! I needed to be in New York and while I had resigned to staying put in Philly I couldn’t resist the call of the big city any longer.

I packed up my little apartment (funny how a little apartment can net nearly 20 boxes and a truck full of furniture) and my life and headed to the big city. Upon arrival I didn’t quite have a home. I stayed with my little sister in Staten Island and let me tell you, riding the Ferry is an experience; waving at Lady Liberty, looking out across the water, coming into the city right at the heart of Wall Street. It’s a trip and by trip I mean a two hour trip! (both ways!)

With a long commute, apartment hunting and work on my plate, at times I questioned my journey. I wondered “What am I doing here?”, “Was this really the right decision?” I spent a lot of time thinking about what New York could (and would) mean to me.

In the meantime, I explored. Working right next to Times Square gave me a front row seat to what everyone sees when they come here. The jumbo screens, the flashing lights, the mega stores and the Disney characters, it’s completely over the top and totally New York!

I strolled around the East Village, taking in the shops and vintage stores with their grungy downtown flavor. I walked through Central Park in the middle of Christmas season when the lights are in trees and it’s like a scene from Home Alone. Sat next to Tracee Ellis Ross (gadzooks!!!) at the Bowery Ballroom and rode the subway at 2am with hoards of people like it was 12 in the afternoon.

And I finally moved to Harlem, my official Manhattan address! It took nearly 6 years to get on the island and I can’t believe I’m here.

It’s funny because when you want something for so long, it starts to feel unreal, like maybe it’s just not meant for you. Or maybe it won’t be everything you dreamt it would be. And that’s the case with New York. It’s not quite what I expected: no red carpets, noise is seriously an issue, everything costs about a gazillion dollars but then there are the times when you’re walking around and stop to marvel at where you are and suddenly you realize you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Living in New York is very different than what I imagined. It’s not a Sex and the City romp or a small town girl takes the Big Apple drama. But it can be. That’s the beauty of New York, it can be whatever you want it to. And while I’ve only just set my boots in the concrete jungle I’m excited, hopeful for what the city has to show me.

Photos by Ray Spaddy

Fajr's world, New York