A fleeting encounter with the U.S.A.

Press, 4 March 1982, Page 12

A fleeting encounter with the U.S.A.

By

BARBARA

STEWART

Impressions are such personal things, spot on or widely diffused. Visiting the United States of America for nine very packed and fastmoving days last November means that my impressions had little time to settle down into a steady pattern. Perhaps that also means that in brief visits to countries. you see and sense, situations and differences which living amongst it all you cannot clearly' understand. Enjoy! Beginning with service . . . which is what a traveller needs, and America has. ■everywhere. In almost every instance it was friendly and helpful. The New Zealander’s often dour, sometimes downright rude approach to customers both personally and on the telephone could well accept a lesson from the American standards. I've heard it criticised as “over-done,” but it certainly makes the occasion sunnier than bad manners. Acute competition for jobs keeps customer satisfaction as a high priority, and this is combined with naturally friendly, American personalities. Unfortunately, I know few Americans closely and appreciate that it is only through “people-contacts” that you have a chance to go behind doors and experience individuals, old and young, at home with their families. To gain a -close understanding of a nation you need this personal relationship, or on the other hand to meet people through working with them. But my eyes and ears flicked and flapped in airports, hotel lobbies, restaurants, streets, shops, offices and factories. As it is this is a nation where so many seem to “let it all hang out” — and in loud voices — a visitor can have a lot of fun as an observer. Americans certainly say what they think and feel. Occasionally, I felt I was watching a television programme. Dressed for success I thought the men dressed very well. Of course, you see all sorts of visions from the cruel, close-cut crew cut, large ornaments attached to

string ties, vivid checked synthetic trousers huddling under over-sized bellies, to the whole cowboy kit, thousands of miles from the nearest ranch. But the men who caught my eye wore beautifully tailored winter coats, wellfitting suits, sports jackets and trousers, and attractive accessories such as scarves, hats, and caps. Quickly I say that this appreciation is to my taste, which you might loathe, but believe me many American men I saw looked most attractive. Little glamour In contrast, the ; women didn’t impress me so much. Now you can say, that’s typical female bias. But the glamorous or sophisticated women that we see in films and magazines are hidden behind closed doors, and so in general I feel I would have seen the average women, which is most of us, isn’t it! I wonder if it’s easier for a man to be well-dressed, fitlooking, attractive, than it is for a woman? Yet I know of other nations where as a generalisation the balance is reversed — gorgeous women and average men — so on this planet it all evens out. Another difference between the men and women is that in a man’s deeper voice the American accent sounds easy. If a woman has a highpitched voice, combined with sounding like a nag, it is enough to put one in a spiral spin sometimes! Finally on the subject of people impressions, I regard the Negro as -sometimes utterly beautiful, both maleand female. I’ve always maintained that the pale, wishy-washy colouring of the Anglo Saxon ancestry could do with a little cross breeding to add the subtle and somewhat mysterious qualities that darker nations seem to have to me.

I enjoyed watching the American blacks. Their individuality stands out amongst the conglomeration of nationalities that have gone into making presentday American.

One day on an escalator in a department store I followed one of the loveliest girls I’ve seen. Tall and slender, she moved like a heron. Her tight jeans covered the longest long legs and a simple T-shjrt showed her slim, tight body. She held her striking ponytailed head high and seemed to glide somewhat above the rest of we ordinary shoppers. Shopping is exciting in the U.S.A. Obviously with a very large population the suppliers can cater for very specific taste and groups of people. Therefore to our eyes the choices seem endless. There is an answer for every need, and many times an answer for no needs whatsoever, just a frivolous fancy. , I wandered through two shopping malls in the suburbs of towns, finding it interesting to compare these with our proliferation of malls. But as a visitor the shops you must see are the "upmarket,” glamour department stores, such as Saks, Bloomingdales, Bonwit Teller and Macy’s along with the boutiques of such New York designers as Halston, Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, Ted Lapidus and Mary MacFadden, Norma Kamali, and Diane Von Furstenberg. Then there are all the European representatives, including Gucci, Charles Jordan, St Laurent/Rive Gauche, Emanuel Ungaro, Laura Ashley, and on and on they go. To the New Zealand eyes these exclusive boutiques are places to gaze into, and then bravely walk into. Some are busy and welcoming, some are hushed and superior . . . just.keep your head high and remember you may be a customer, they’ll never know one way or the other! I generally intensely dislike shopping in its daily, mundane sense, but wandering through these speciality shops was a great pleasure. Initially, the choices can be overwhelming and it would be wise to wait till the excitement settles a little and your “eye” gets accustomed to the selections you want to make so as not to rush into spending precious funds and then almost in--stantly regretting the purchase. Buy American Yet what I regret on this past trip is that I doubted what I’d been told — which was to buy in the U.S.A. First, the relative value of

the United States dollar and sterling pound to our dollar puts the American dollar well out in front. Second, the merchandise. Real clothes for real women, and easy to find in America, over and over again. Although comfortably wearable, all were developed with style and in interesting combinations. After the United States, I was in London, where I saw very little to compete. The prices for the top-of-the-mar-ket gear were also diabolical.

The one fashion moment I must elaborate on was gazing into the showcases of the ground-floor belt boutique of Saks, Fifth Avenue, in New York. Fabulous and fantastic creations — crowd gatherers.

The belts looked like museum pieces from ancient and exotic civilisations. The designs ranged from stark, heavy and simple,, to abundantly ornate with jewels, twists of cloth, and leather gleaming with gold, silver and phosphorescent colour. Obviously expensive, yet just one of these pieces could always be called on to intensify the stunning effect of a garment. Your waist line would need to remain approximately the same size . . . Ah! but what an encouragement. American presentation of food, particularly the fast food varieties such as McDonald’s hamburgers, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Huts have permeated throughout the world. Americans themselves eat in excess of two meals a day, away from their homes, and our own eating habits have changed quite dramatically over the last few years. A New Zealander eats a little over one meal a day outside his home. Super salads My favourite food in the United States was the salad, or salads to be correct,, because they were endless in their varieties. Some were fairly ordinary, and others delicious. The very best smorgasbord J’ve ever seen or tasted was at the top floor restaurant of the -Fairmont Hotel, Nob Hill, San Francisco. There are so many aspects of our present day life-style that have originated in the United States, where you only have to sell to one per cent of the population to become a dollar millionaire. Specific developments are seen there and brought back to this, country as great ideas . . . unfortunately, we simply have too small a population to accommodate them all to success. But the one thing everybody needs is food, so those enterprises have succeeded in the main.