One Monday morning a couple of weeks ago, I was riding the downtown local train to work when I noticed a woman slightly farther down the car in a perfect outfit. It wasn’t that there was anything showy about it — if memory serves, she wore green trousers, a button-down shirt, Mary Janes and a cropped tweed jacket — but the proportions were perfect. The ensemble had clearly been put together with thought and deva.
I chose my moment — two stops from my destination, in case things got awkward — and made my move.
“Excuse me,” I said. She looked appropriately wary. “I just have to say: I love your whole look.”
She was flattered. We talked briefly about her excellent hobo bag. When I returned to my seat, the woman next to me said, “Your saying that to her inspired me to tell you: I’ve been admiring your outfit!”
Maybe not what most people think of as a New York moment, but it has become one for many this fall. The compliment market is booming.
“Oh, there’s definitely been an uptick,” said Kaitlin Phillips, a publicist in Manhattan. She said she had been complimented on her outfits at random four times in one week, despite that she was “not a style maven.”
“There’s definitely more lately,” says Kristin Roa, 33, a dancer based in Manhattan.
After getting a new short haircut, Ms. Roa was feeling a bit unsure about it. But not for too long: “Today I was complimented not evvel but twice on my hair — all before 10 a.m.!” she said. “They both caught me off guard but were very appreciated.”
