3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Clothes Fit for a Wonderland Tea Party
Dressed in what could be called psychedelic business casual, Edward Pankov looked as if he had come to Manhattan through the looking glass when I saw him on the street through a store window on a Saturday in May. He was walking with a bit of a bop to his step, the way someone might while listening to music or quietly humming a tune, and had made it about three blocks by the time I caught up with him near a Trader Joe's on the Upper West Side.
'Hold on just a minute,' Mr. Pankov said as I began to ask about his ensemble of green silky jacket, bow tie and printed pants. 'I need to give someone some money.' He stepped into the grocery store and walked out soon after, telling me that he had been speaking to a person he had met through his job as a real estate agent specializing in helping homeless people find housing through New York City programs.
Mr. Pankov, 34, who grew up in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, explained that his family immigrated to the United States when he was an infant. He was born in Saransk, Russia, not long before the collapse of the Soviet Union. His personal style blossomed after he ran away from home at 19, he said. 'I used to read a lot of Japanese street fashion magazines, specifically Fruits,' he added. 'I was always at the Barnes & Noble store on 14th Street.'
Later, he shared the significance of certain items he was wearing: The bow tie, for instance, was from an outfit he had worn to officiate a wedding, and his burgundy reptile-print shoes had belonged to an ex-lover. 'A clown and stage performer whose name I will not mention,' he said.
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