Last night in the East Village, participants in the fourth annual FranCon gathered at Holiday Cocktail Lounge to celebrate all things Fran Lebowitz, including her intellect, wit, curmudgeonliness, and–of course—her legendary sense of style. Lebowitz would have hated it.
The author and New York cultural figure is known for her uniform: a white Oxford shirt and a navy blazer worn with blue jeans, brown cowboy boots, and tortoiseshell glasses. At a time in fashion where quiet luxury, capsule wardrobes, and minimalism are at a particular high, there’s never been a better moment to dress like Fran Lebowitz—surely, much to her chagrin. “It’s very streamlined and simple, but it’s so definitive,” says Jane August, co-host of FranCon. “These are basics that everyone has in their closet. Everyone has a blazer, everyone has a button up, everyone has jeans, everyone has a boot or a loafer of some sort. Somehow [with] these things that everyone has, she has been able to claim it as her own.”
August also sees the uniform dressing as a way to level the social playing field. “We’re not judging each others’ outfit or thinking about that, because we’re all just the same,” she says. “Now we can really connect.” Indeed, attendees found ways to make outfits their own, like Helen Hong, who wore a cropped top and a pair of ripped jeans with her classic Lebowitz blazer, while Marcus Drew wore a pinstripe blazer that his mother purchased for him in 2008 from a Burlington Coat Factory.