The Tamesis
I also started documenting what I saw from bird feeders in my life, and it all started by accident – I would get an alert from the bird feeder that someone was being caught on camera, or would sometimes find myself part of someone else’s set: one day a celebrity interview I was doing in the garden was captured while a white-winged dove was eating a carefully selected seed mixture; in another video I was wearing Saint Laurent (YSL) wool tuxedo jacket and looked at four dark-eyed juncos captured during the Great Backyard Bird Count. Now, though, I purposefully use my camera to track my costume and bird pursuits.
This season, fashion is also turning to feathers – both for design inspiration and craftsmanship. Sparrows and feather-like patterns were embroidered and beaded onto feathered chiffon pieces at Matthieu Blazy’s first Chanel couture show (today’s resort show featured feather-embellished lashes as part of the beauty look), and feathers were worn by many models at Daniel Roseberry’s Schiaparelli Spring 2026 couture show, including some in handmade silk (Zendaya and Law Roach Found one piece so eye-catching that she wore it on a stroll drama press tour). Peacock feathers are just one of the avian materials recently used by Mohammad Ashi of Ashi Studio. Sure, these couture pieces are pure whimsy in my Park Slope backyard, but what about the ready-to-wear designs I’ve been trying on while gardening, drinking my morning latte, or even doing some kind of meta-fit check? Absolutely no Lark.
In Altuzarra it’s a silky goose – not a stupid goose! – draped around the neck like a shawl, I paired it with vintage Vuitton quick red wool trousers; at Tory Burch, birds come in all shapes and sizes, and my favorite is a beaded cardigan that shows a flock of birds with their wings spread. I’ve also been looking for vintage elements related to birds and picked up a swallow print miniskirt from Miu Miu’s Spring 2010 show Sweet Disorder Vintage. (I also set up eBay alerts for everything in Alexander McQueen’s spring 2008 collection, which was designed specifically for the exotic bird Isabella Blow.) In the midst of it all, my backyard’s cardinals, sparrows, mourning doves and bluebirds joined the ever-evolving fashion show.
Recent research has found that people who engage in bird watching improve brain function and mental health. Anyone who knows me well will probably not attest to the fact that this hobby has made me sane, but I yes I’ve been happier since fully succumbing to the bird-brained lifestyle: Nothing makes me happier than watching robins nest in Prospect Park or woodcocks wriggling in Bryant Park. So, yes, I’m living through the mid-30s birding cliché of chasing rare birds, like the astonishing trumpeter swan that was recently discovered for the first time on Manhattan’s East River. What if I wear a cute outfit while doing it? Even better.
