Aug 16, 2025

Alice & Olivia New York

Wearable art

""Alice & Olivia" in New York is laser-aimed at people who want to be bright and shiny. The prices are up there but still affordable for something truly NY."

I've written about Keith Haring --- who made an impression on me when I encountered his work on subway trains during the 1970s, when subway graffiti was being invented --- because I remember encounters with his work to this day, like at the LGBT Community Center in the West Village.

Well, once again: opposite Bryant Park on 40th Street, not far from the New York Library and Grand Central Station, I stopped dead in my tracks when I spied in a shop window the image of two Keith Haring dogs represented on a clutch purse in red, orange and yellow sequins. Then I spotted a kind of 'A' shaped dress/jumpsuit thing with sequinned Haring play-men, and then these shoes! Check out the shoes!!

This shop looks to me like it's laser-aimed at people who want to be bright and shiny or who are a bit like crows, coveting shiny things. Alice and Olivia sell loads of metallic sequinned leggy pant suits, glaring sequinned dresses (adorned in Haring figurines), bags and, in a way, their merchandise reminds me of how I felt during the sixties when I strolled Carnaby Street, London.

Prices are up there, but affordable if you seek something truly New York-y. The shoes pictured can be had for around $350.

026-thrift-shop-1
Shopping

About this spot

West 40th Street 80

KH pumps:

US$

350

+1

2128401155

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