What Is This? A Lincoln Center for Aunts?

To plop someone into the belly of a scene they don’t frequent is jarring. It turns them into niche, proverbial family members (think “Buzzed Cousin Cathy,” or “Crazy Grandma Gertie”). The first time I covered bridal week, for example, no one thought my joke about “where are all the single men?” was funny, and I was asked at least twice to stop throwing rice at the veiled models. Just call me Uncle Dan.

To plop someone into the belly of the fashion week scene is a different story altogether. Take Jilly Hendrix, for example: she’s a savvy New Yorker by-way-of-LA who works in a similar, creative industry — but not directly in this one. We basically dropped her off at Lincoln Center, equipped her with nothing more than an old NYFW tip-sheet designed for parents (she equipped herself with a voice recorder that used to belong to Zach Morris) and she immediately turned into Jazzy Aunt Jill at space cowboy convention.

Naturally, interviews with innocent Lincoln Center bystanders (ballet-attending tourists, a man leaving his yoga class sans underwear, etc) ensued:

And there you have it. Aunt Jilly Hendrix has conquered the Anna Wintour Center for People Who Dress Good.

Video by Jilly Hendrix, produced by Jorel O’Dell