Century 21 Is Closing. Where Will We Learn Fashion?

By Karen

Is the end of Century 21 the worst thing that has happened—so far—in this dreadful year?

No, of course not. It cannot compete with hundreds of thousands of deaths, or the fraught political environment, or the painful economic collapse, or the absence of college graduations, or the loss of social gatherings.

But it is sad.

I started working in downtown New York City in 1975, and was immediately introduced to Century 21 and its high end fashion floor by a more experienced woman in my firm. (This is what mentorship is all about!) I quickly became addicted.

I knew nothing about clothing style—real style. What I know now, I learned at Century 21.

I had never seen, up close and personal, real couture. Even in Century 21 I could not afford the top of the line looks—and had little occasion for them—but I could touch them, and look at the fabrics and seams and structures, and sometimes I tried them on. That was my education.

Luckily, I could afford some pretty great clothes that otherwise would have been outside my reach. Would I have achieved professional success without them? Who knows! For sure I would have had less fun getting dressed each day, and I suspect at least some judges would have paid less attention when I spoke!

The lower Manhattan store was an integral part of the landscape, and the fashion floor grew as career women became a greater presence in the workforce of the city. The store opened at 7:45 am to accommodate working girls (and boys) and I often went early. It closed for a time after sustaining damage during the 9/11 attacks, but we knew it would return to give us our style fix.

The last time I was there, on February 25, just before lockdown, I walked to the store with a friend after we attended an event for a wonderful nearby dance company. It was a beautiful evening, misty and unseasonably warm. We found a fabulous couture skirt—heavy pink silk that stood way out and went to the floor—perfect for social distancing but we did not yet know that was in our future. And we found a tulle skirt, also wide and long, black and covered with multicolored sequins. We modeled them for each other—and everyone else—in the dressing room. We didn’t buy either one—even pre-COVID we did not have very much need for such amazing clothes—but we sure had fun trying them on, and everyone in the dressing room had fun with us. It was a quintessential girl’s night out.

Now Century 21 is gone, and I am sad. Glad about the last visit, and glad I did not know it was the last visit. Sad that this virus has claimed even stoic Century 21, apparently for good. No, it is not the worst thing that has happened in 2020, and we will find another source for amazing clothes, but the closing of Century 21 is another marker for a year like no other.