Year: 2021

West Village Model Karen Rempel in EAT Brocade Jacket

Wicked As It Seems

Keith was an awfully good sport about being comedic fodder for my Catch and Release foray into fiction. When I saw this exquisite jacket from Engineered by Andrea T, I immediately flashed on Keith Richards—he would totally wear this jacket! Check out the glimmer of chartreuse silk lining. Simply gorgeous! So I decided to design this month’s quirky […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel in front of CBGBs Bowery location

Punk-Up at CBGBs

I first heard about CBGBs at a party in high school in Burnaby, BC. My friends were playing Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” and somehow I parsed the word CBGB’s, though it took decades to learn about the Mudd Club. I’m sure all native New Yorkers know that CBGB’s is the birthplace of punk, though […]

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Karen and Marilyn - West Village Model Karen Rempel at Chelsea Guitars

D&G in Chelsea

I always have fun on photoshoots for this column, but the shoot outside Chelsea Guitars was exceptionally boisterous. First of all, my photographer, Phil, encouraged a lot of girl-on-girl action with Marilyn Monroe, which put me in a giddy mood. Cavorting with a ukulele-playing Marilyn is a blast, as I’m sure many readers can imagine. […]

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Beige carpet at the Met Gala

Brat Pack at the Met

Of course I was invited to the Met Gala this year! Not!! Being a humble West Village model and style blogger, I don’t have the gravitas of the glitterati invited to the ball-to-end-all-balls. But as you may recall, I dressed in honor of the non-gala last year, and I was fascinated to catch a few […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel caresses her Candy Apple Red high heels

Biting the Apple

On my first trip to New York, in 2014, I ditched the “Search Inside Yourself” course that brought me to the city and headed over to the Hudson River to search outside myself. The first fascinating wonder I saw was Stephan Weiss’s bronze sculpture, “The Apple.” Soon after, I spotted the Statue of Liberty in […]

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West Village model Karen Rempel frolics in the forest at Jefferson Market Garden. Karen's Quirky Style.

Forest Frolics

Summer is here and it’s time to put on your coolest whites and head for the mountains, forests, lakes, and beaches. If you can’t get away, the Jefferson Market Garden has never looked more lush. Stop in for a refreshing dose of oxygen, perambulate to view the rainbow flowers tucked into every corner, and visit the koi […]

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Karen's Quirky Style August 2020 - Basquing

Basquing on the Bowery

All photographs by Philip Maier unless noted otherwise. My fashion sense was influenced by the ’80s glam metal scene, which was fomented by the punk rock scene in NYC in the ’70s. The Velvet Underground was Andy Warhol’s house band, spawning Lou Reed’s shattering Rock n Roll Animal in 1973. At the same time, Jean-Michel Basquiat […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel Cries The Horror

C&R6: Christmas Date Part 3

George was waxing philosophical again. “I have a trite aphorism that I offer all the time: men are driven by egos, women are driven by emotions.” The first time he said it, I disagreed, gave it some thought, and disagreed again. Now that I had heard it 48 times, I was beginning to believe him. […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel Demonstrates Rona's Droop

Droop-a-Rona

New York Tough. New York Proud. New York Variant. Rona the virus is drooping. I began tracking coronavirus news daily, obsessively, in March of 2020, as I’m sure many of you did. I even created an email folder for NYC updates related to the virus, testing, vaccinations, closures, and other impacts on the city. In May […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel - Catch and Release - KQS - Don't Try to Stop Me

C&R5: Christmas Date Part 2

This Catch and Release thing is really picking up momentum. Not only is George giving me advice on my love life, but now readers are writing to give George advice to give to me! Last month, George suggested I marry someone rich and then bump him off. In response, Arthur wrote, “George should probably point out—as […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel in Donna Karan - KQS

¡Viva Flamenco!

This month’s look veers into very quirky territory, bringing a confluence of three distinct elements into a unique look that combines disparate sources into a true Rempel original. But before I tell you about the fashion, let me set the scene. We shot this month’s column in the storied Minetta Lane, in a Spanish-influenced doorway. […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel flees the scene of the crime

C&R4: Christmas Date Part 1

George called me the other morning and said he had thought about me when he woke up. “You’re like a steel cube. You only do what you want to do.” I quite liked this image. “I think you should marry a rich man and bump him off.” Impressive—he’s really starting to get me! But his […]

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Flying to PIECES

I looked at dozens of apartments in the Village in 2017 when I was searching for my dream New York home. One of my favorite apartment viewing experiences was a co-op with loft bed that caught my eye on StreetEasy because it had a vintage chocolate poster on the living room wall. When I viewed […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel - Karen's Quirky Style - Runaway Bride

C&R3: Ascending to Drink

George must have watched Marilyn Monroe in How to Marry a Millionaire a few too many times. He always wants to talk about why I’m still single and what type of man would be suitable for me. “You’re beautiful and smart. You should marry a millionaire.” I always say, “I’m waiting for you to ask me.” The […]

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Flintstone Wedding

An early casualty of the pandemic, Gato at 324 Lafayette Street closed in March 2020. Owner Bobby Flay said, “As of March 16th, I am closing my restaurant Gato because of the obvious and unprecedented circumstances threatening our world. I wish everyone well.” As businesses boarded their windows, artist Sino began painting murals of his mythical Frank Ape art […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel - KQS - At Abbey Road Studio, London

C&R2: The Proposition

My publisher George thinks his dating stories are better than mine. “Men can roam more freely than women. I’ve been all over the world.” He told me he dated a French woman (in France), the heiress of a famous line of Armagnac. She lived in a castle, and sadly rejected his offer of marriage, which […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel in Washington Square Park

Fierce Attitude

My love affair with New York began in Washington Square Park. I parachuted into the Washington Square Hotel on my first trip to New York in 2014, drawn by the fact that the Rolling Stones and both of the Dylans had stayed there. Within minutes of ditching my bags, I was walking past the park on my way to […]

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UN Gala Honoring Joe Biden - Karen's Quirky Style

Catch and Release

Dear Readers! This is the start of many fun stories about my dating adventures. It is a serialized account of why I prefer to “catch and release,” and I hope you’ll get a giggle. Many girls dream of their wedding day. Not me! I dreamed of twirling in glamorous gowns and going to glittering galas […]

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Karen's Quirky Style - Playing Dress Up by the Food Truck at Astor Place

The Tickle Trunk

When I was a little girl, I loved playing dress up. In Canada we had a show called Mr. Dressup that was on every weekday morning from the time my family got a television until the mid-90s. His puppet friends Casey and Finnegan were part of the fun, but the moment I liked best was […]

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