Jimmy Webb

As Vogue and the Costume Institute prepare to merge punk and high fashion at the Met next week, we couldn't help but wonder what NYC's real punks think of it all: How authentically punk can something organized by Vogue and The Met really be? When you think of NYC's still-living true punk institutions--pretty much only one place comes to mind (and has withstood the East Village/Bowery's drastic transformation): Trash & Vaudeville, which opened on St. Mark's Place 37 years as a one-stop shop for all things punk and rock & roll--from creepers to Dr. Martens to rock t-shirts to super tight jeans to studded leather vests. Everyone from The Ramones to Bruce Springsteen to Madonna to Iggy Pop to Debbie Harry was a regular--and many of them still are. If there is a living embodiment of Trash & Vaudeville, it's the store's buyer, manager and (unofficial) face Jimmy Webb, who's worked there since he was a 16-year-old runaway and has become a bit of a legend in his own right. Here's what he had to say about the Costume Institute exhibit and punk today.