Fashion
Keep Calm and Carry a Portable Fan
As temperatures continue to rise, small electric fans have become a go-to accessory at bars, restaurants and even the post office.
At “Wine For Me,” a monthly party for natural wine enthusiasts in Brooklyn, attendees were packed inside Public Records, a cafe and music venue in Gowanus, sipping red, white, orange and rosé wines on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon in July.
Dancing right in front of the D.J., whose mix of R&B and hip-hop electrified the crowd, was Adrienne Black, 32, a social strategist who lives in Crown Heights. With each sway, she waved one hand toward the ceiling, while her other hand held a mini, battery-powered pink fan that was blowing cool air into her face.
A decade ago, a portable fan wouldn’t have been a typical accessory you’d spot at a party, bar or club, but as summer weather continues to hit record-breaking temperatures, people aren’t just reaching for their keys, lip gloss and sunglasses before heading out of the house.
“I definitely have it on me all the time, because even in the subway, just waiting for the train, it’s very stuffy down there,” Ms. Black said of her fan.
Small electric fans have been a trendy accessory in the United States in recent years, with many people on social media saying the devices first took hold in Asian countries. According to Google Trends, there was a mid-summer pickup in shopping interest in “hand-held fans,” many of them battery-powered. Now they can be spotted everywhere from bars to outdoor festivals to conferences and even the post office as a summer necessity for those looking to avoid excessive sweating and overheating and a sign that the changing climate is affecting how we accessorize.
A heat wave made it easy to spot the new must-have accessories, many of which double as cellphone chargers and flashlights.Credit…Photographs by Jonah Rosenberg for The New York Times
