By Karen Rempel
When I was a little girl, I loved playing dress up. In Canada we had a show called Mr. Dressup that was on every weekday morning from the time my family got a television until the mid-90s. His puppet friends Casey and Finnegan were part of the fun, but the moment I liked best was when Mr. Dressup opened his magical Tickle Trunk and put on a costume and played make-believe. When I learned that my Scottish friends across the street, Karn and Stuart, had a dress up trunk, so tantalizingly close by, I wanted to go over and play at their house every day. Unfortunately, their mother wasn’t too keen on frequent visits, so it was a rare treat when I got to go over and talk my friends into playing dress up in the basement. This was taking dressing Barbie to the next level, being the glamorous doll I fantasized about! I remember a fur stole (probably moth-eaten), a gold brocade gown, and high heels that were (of course) much too big for me. But I loved wearing this ensemble, tottering around the underground room and preening in front of a standing mirror. I always wanted Stuart to dress up and be my date, but since he was only five years old he really wasn’t interested. Sadly, this set the tone for my love life for decades to come. Hetero Canadian guys just don’t enjoy getting dressed up—they prefer a nice plaid wool shirt and jeans.
West Village model Karen Rempel plays dress-up at Astor Place. Photo by Philip Maier.
After wearing the vintage ice blue Victor Costa dress for my column last month, I thought I should pay another visit to New York Vintage and see what they might have in store for me. Oh my God! NYV is a vast treasure trove of vintage goodies—rack after rack of the most exquisite designer garments, as well as hats, gloves, shoes and jewelry. I think my heart stopped for a minute, there was so much beauty in that room. I honestly didn’t know where to begin or how to take it all in. But in a magical way, just like on Mr. Dressup, a few special garments beckoned for my attention, and before I knew it I had put together a fantastical ensemble. (See karensquirkystyle.com for the final piece, a stunning YSL quilted red satin jacket.)
Many girls dream of being a ballerina. Not me! I dreamed of getting dressed up and going on exciting dates. I should have been born in the West Village, not in a dull suburb of Vancouver called Burnaby. When I first came to New York, in 2014, I knew I was home. Soon after, I started taking ballet classes at the Joffrey Ballet School. It still blows my mind that anyone who lives in New York can take classes at one of the best ballet schools on the planet. Even during the pandemic my teacher is giving Zoom classes for her regular students. I am remedial, to say the least, but my legs love the feeling of the classic barre exercises. Tendu, piqué, plié, passé, rond de jambe. So, I couldn’t resist the chance to put on a pretty tutu and dress up as a ballerina. Just like the shoes in the trunk from my childhood, the shoes I found at NYV are much too big for me. But they are so high, if you squint your eyes they create a certain illusion. This is as close as I’m going to get to being en pointe!
For more fun Philip Maier photos, see karensquirkystyle.com.
Style Notes
Vintage ballerina costume from Gerry Reed. Cream satin and tulle, decorated with carved wooden flowers and butterflies, twigs, netting, and gold spangles. New York Vintage. 117 West 25th Street.
Yves Saint Laurent quilted cherry satin jacket (not in this shot; see karensquirkystyle.com). New York Vintage. 212-647-1107.
Black silk top hat with red silk band. New York Vintage. newyorkvintage.com
Vintage cream and black platform 9½” fetish shoes. New York Vintage.
Your spread in West View News today was sensational. You should really be in movies. I was thinking you should collect all your pictures and make them into a website. It would be great to see the whole collection. You have something that appeals to both men and women. You are like that guy who photographed people on the street for the NYT [Bill Cunningham] but every one of your spreads is different and more interesting than most of the people he could find. While it’s only one person, your pictures are each so different that they are generally more interesting than his.
Dear Arthur, Thank you so much for your kind remarks! Wow, this is high praise indeed, to compare my column to the work of the late, greatest Bill Cunningham!! Credit goes to my photographers, Dusty Berke and Phil Maier. Dusty even won an award from the prestigious Salmagundi Art Club for one of her shots for the column.
I appreciate your suggestion, too. If you’d like to see all my Karen’s Quirky Style photos at a glance, go to https://karensquirkystyle.com/ You can scroll down and see the full two years’ worth! (Click More Posts to keep loading more on the page.)
I enjoy your column! It’s fun and we need fun in a quarantine! Thank you! You’re good at it! Really good!