The Gales of March | Bill Cunningham Fashion | The New York Times

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