Can fashion make a rough commute into Manhattan from JC worth it? One man thinks so
From the southern and western portions of Jersey City, the commute by train into Manhattan begins at Journal Square. During rush hour in post-gentrified Chilltown, the next stops, the Grove Street and Newport stations, can result in a train-car being packed like a can of sardines. It’s not fun.
But one Jersey City resident, a native, says there’s at least one aspect that can help make it worth enduring the increasingly unnecessary IRL trip to some workplaces; and that’s fashion.
“High fashion”? The stuff of runways? No, says the man. Fashion is something else, he said.
“In my opinion, fashion is whatever you want it to be. It’s about being comfortable.”
That coincides with a sense of purpose, he said. Commuting somewhere you know you’re valuable. But when the commute to that place is at its worst, when the inevitable fellow commuter with no sense of boundaries tries to use you like a piece of wall to lean on, when inequality rears up in any number of manifestations most people try to sit through stone-faced, then one finds themselves in the flow of Manhattan’s walking commuters, where, perhaps more than any other place in the U.S. people are dressing to the nines, by whichever definition that may be for them.
Nothing embodies how fun that can be like a thrift shop, the man said. Specifically, being able to get a variety of clothes, including clothes that are supposed to be high-fashion, to make these various presentations of yourself that you’re proud of … on the cheap.
But that’s increasingly cutthroat these days, with the booming reseller economy.
“Because there's people there (at the thrift shop) to make money,” he said. “They go ahead and find everything to resell at high prices.”
As the man talked about all of this, I wondered if there wasn’t a bit more pride for putting together “high-fashion”-looks that aren’t supposed to be affordable unless you make enough money to afford a luxury apartment solo – and then some. Or at least being able to mix that in with his own sense of style.
Style, he said, is in and of itself similar to fashion.
But maybe it’s less concerned with seasons as opportunities to reflect it – and by the way, did you know it’s corduroy season (as of mid-September 2024)?
If you didn’t, you do now. But maybe there’s one thing that’s always in season in Manhattan, the JC man suggested. An egalitarian side to it all that might not be so obvious.
Last week when he saw a man who was 6 foot four inches tall confidently walking around in high heels bearing his mid-drift, all he had for the guy was respect and admiration because the guy was unapologetically wearing what he wanted.
It was in Bryant Park, the JC man said. No one was going to give that guy any s--t like they might in some other places; and if they did, he’s pretty sure most people would come to the guy’s defense.
He would have, he said.