Make your face mask pop like a New Yorker
If you're yearning for a departure from the blasé surgical face mask, make it couture and take some inspiration from New York City, where influencers, designers and fashionistas are slowing the spread of the coronavirus, with a flare.
A walk through Manhattan, and you'll see retailers have embraced this pseudo alternate reality moment, by accessorizing their mannequins with unique face coverings for their stylish customers.
Not long after the novel coronavirus masked up New Yorkers, Melissa Ketch decided she wanted something with more personality than a blue mask.
KETCH: "I really like to look well presented. I like to look chic. And, mostly, when I first saw the mask at the beginning, it was all blue. It was looking like medical mask. And I didn't think that it looked well with my outfits. So, I wanted something fashionable to begin with. And I wanted something that I can... I can make a statement if I go somewhere, everybody can look at the mask, and look at it."
On the day she was interviewed by Reuters, Ketch, who is from Ivory Coast, donned a mask that she said that harkens back to her roots.
KETCH:"The good thing about it is that it represents my culture. It represent Africa. I'm from Africa, originally... Not only that, I like the color, because it fits a lot with my clothes. I'm pretty neutral, so most of my outfits will look perfect with this."
And by embracing mask wearing fashionably, she says she's doing her part. When mask-wearing went into effect in New York, the daily new infection rate fell by about 3% per day, according to one peer-reviewed study.
Retail Analyst Mary Epner, says there may be some apprehension among customers to wear something too glamorous on the heels of an economic downturn.
EPNER: "There is a surge in the purchasing of designer masks. Customers love them because it's self-expression. So, on the one hand, they love to buy them, but they're hundreds of dollars. And then some consumers, who can actually afford them, don't feel comfortable doing it based on the state of the economy. They feel it might be a little bit showy and ostentatious."
Some of those high-end masks could come from fashion designer, Michael Ngo, where $500 will get you a red, Swarovski-crystal encrusted mask, aptly named 'Revival'.
EPNER: "However, I think going forward, we are going to see that translate throughout the country. And people want their masks to show who they are, particularly for the younger generation who is returning to high school and college."
The more economical yet fashion-conscious consumers may want to turn their attention to Tory Burch, who offers designer masks for at an accessible price point. At $35 with $10 going to charity, you can take coronavirus, but make it fashionable, for a good cause.
