This weekend is big news for shoppers, it’s the time we stock up for Fall, whether that means hitting Home Depot or, er, the Park Slope Food Co-Op. Since the 1970s, the Brooklyn cooperative has been spelling out s-a-v-i-n-g-s for its exclusive, wait-listed-then-accepted band of 16,000 members, who put in a little under three hours of work at the Park Slope Food Coop every four weeks. The trade? Some 20-40% off the prevailing market value. Not a bad deal, when you consider their free-range meats, pesticide-free produce and triangles of salty, tangy parmigiano reggiano cut and wrapped in their basement…
Choice of attire may be the furthest thing from your mind when setting off to shop at the Coop. Yet choosing the right outfit for a weekend ramble round the veg boxes matters more than many will admit. After all, if you work in the creative industries in New York and are fortunate, well-planned and well-connected enough to belong to the Coop, chances are you will bump into someone you know by the beets. Help is at hand!
The Observer has put together a wee list of suggestions for any-old-thing-type garments that can be purchased new but that, when thrown on, look like you have owned them for years. Pull any one of these items on just before you head out the door and you will be sartorially sorted. We imagine that you already have a lot on your mind, such as—Did I get enough bulgur last week? Could there be e-coli in my reuseable shopping bag? Or, who’s watching the kids while I cover my shift? That last one—despite perhaps a steady supply in Park Slope—should never be farmed out to your nanny, by the way.
Click on the slideshow for our take on co-op dressing.