Thursday Styles' Critical Shopper detects a streak of schizophrenia in Tom Ford's new men's boutique.
When Horacio Silva shows up as an anonymous walk-in...
"'Sir, this area is for appointments only,' said the security guard
at the base of the stairs. I told him that I wanted to arrange a time
for a fitting; he told me he did not know to whom to direct me. When I
suggested he try the store manager, he replied, 'Let me see if he has
the time for you.' You have to laugh. An unintentionally
hilarious parody of a pretentious Madison Avenue boutique, the store
reeks of arriviste Anglophilic posturing dressed up as aristocratic
gentlemanly refinement."
Some time later, Silva rings up the store and makes an appointment for himself:
"The service offered me, especially by the store manager, Edward
Carbonell, who possesses a charming bedside manner and the best skin in
high-end men's retail, was exemplary. It was Champagne and smiles all
around, but then the entire staff appeared to know I was a Times
reporter since I had made the appointment in my name. The security
guards were noticeably more low-key -- Mr. Carbonell informed me that he
had told them to back off as I was apparently not the only one who had
been rubbed the wrong way -- and the whole tenor of the place was
friendlier, more inviting."
