Hello this is Bill
Cunningham.
At that notoriously
windy corner
of 5th avenue
and 23rd st
Early in the last
century,
the police
who directed traffic
from towers in the middle
of 5th avenue
would often call out
to the men
gathered there "Skidoo"
Because the men were
there to see the wind
blow up
the women's skirts
So it became 23 Skidoo.
Of course, skirts
have just about vanished
from fashion
Pants replaced them
but now a new generation
who have discovered
as you see all winter
the wide brimmed
felt hats
Of course
they have yet to learn
to hold on to them
in the wind
and it was fabulous
to see unsuspecting women
come along
and suddenly
these ferocious blasts
of wind nearly
knocked you over
they are grabbing
their coats to keep
them down and trying
to hold their hats
and little dogs
What a scene
and full of nostalgia
It was wonderful
but it emphasized to me
the fashion world
and its new intoxication
with wide brimmed
felt hats
Here you have a vanity
and a conceit
just unexpectedly hit
by these cyclones
of wind
It is just a lovely
portrait,
I thought, of New York
in mid-March