A Sense of Fashion Is Lost in Transit

By ERIC WILSON

THE cost of a transit strike to department stores and designer boutiques in New York during the week before Christmas and Hanukkah will undoubtedly be staggering. The cost to the greater cause of fashion could be even worse.

It was, after all, the transit strike in 1980 that led millions of New Yorkers to walk to work wearing business suits with running shoes, usually white. It was a look born of practicality, but one that commuters refused to cede when that strike ended, as if their long-term comfort was another chip on the union's bargaining table. Thus was born one of the worst fashion trends ever.

This week the strike began amid below-freezing temperatures, inspiring a few clever style strategies, but mostly a troubling assortment of faux pas. Some of them, like what appears to be a sudden outbreak of studiously mismatched winter accessories, are inexplicable in a city that should be accustomed to dressing for long stretches of cold weather.

"People are dressing like they work in outdoor booths at the flea market," the designer Cynthia Rowley said. "They are really dressing for the weather, and also knowing that when you go out in the morning, you don't know when you're going to be back." That means that they have to be prepared for anything.

From appearances, that might include a two-month camping trip or an arctic triathlon, which is odd considering the strike happens to coincide with two major trends favorable for the conditions: boots and fur. But most of the styles offered by Dolce & Gabbana and Stella McCartney are affixed to towering heels, so they have been replaced with hiking boots and last year's Uggs, a sensibly dull alternative. Fur coats, hats, muffs and gaiters are in such abundance that animal rights activists would be well advised to arrange to work from home.

This is all fine, but the lasting trend is likely to be an incorporation of clothing designed for active lifestyles into business attire. Of the hundreds of bicyclists on the West Side Highway bike path and those walking their bikes across the Brooklyn Bridge, it was hard to guess where they were headed based on their spandex pants, Polar fleece parkas and towering layers of headgear.

Tony Melillo, the Generra designer, rides a bike to work year-round. He is befuddled by this sudden addition to the landscape, what he described as packs of riders wearing "weird, leotardy types of things and oversize purple Patagonia sweatshirts." Mr. Melillo wears his own trim black sweat pants, a thin but heavy army-green coat from Burton and a baby blue cable-knit cashmere scarf from Charvet. His inspiration comes from the professionals, bike messengers who wear leggings under loose capri-length pants to avoid sticking in the gears.

"New York is not made for a sporty environment," Mr. Melillo said. "It's not a John F. Kennedy Jr. biking around kind of town. These people just don't get it. It's really bizarre looking, with all the hoods and hats. All you see is a bunch of eyes coming at you."

The top-heavy strike silhouette vaguely resembles the elongated and poised stature of turbaned Sikhs and Egyptian queens, only colder.

"It's the fashion equivalent of a mullet," Ms. Rowley said. "It's party on top, all business and practical on the bottom."