Life lately through rose-colored glasses…

If you were tuned into my last While The Coffee’s Still Warm dispatch, you would know that I’ve been keen to bring forth things from my childhood to spark joy and a sense of belonging within my current home base of San Francisco. Lately I’ve been reflecting upon my teeny bopper era. When I was a twelve year old fashion blogger there were quite a few things I really adored which are as follows: Polyvore (I really miss you) - Miu Miu - Sofia Coppola - milkshakes from Boogies Diner on Cooper Ave - Wes Anderson - Michel Gondry - Nylon Magazine - MGMT - Into the Gloss - She & Him - Kate Nash - Skins (UK) - the Sartorialist - & everything Twee, respectively. If you asked about the types of things I wrote about I’d have to say it most likely would have been about my favorite editorials, fashion week favorites, or the newest vintage designer item I’d scored at a local thrift store. Had I been born any earlier maybe before dial-up internet I would have most certainly had a thing for Town & Country magazine, and Laura Ashley interiors.

For a time many of the photos I was able to create was from a digital camera I had on loan from my art and world languages teacher Barbara; a former Harper’s Bazaar editorial staffer, and one of the most interesting well traveled women I’d yet come across. Who never once turned me away when I wandered into her class during lunch breaks to pick books off of her shelf, paint, or just sit and meditate on life. You can imagine how thrilled I was when she presented an entire segment on fashion photography, starting of course with Richard Avedon. When I came across her obituary on Facebook sometime in the last five years I quietly mourned but am immensely grateful to have crossed paths with such a gentle soul, full of wit, reflection, and more simply put- a true embodiment of a life well lived. I hope to one day see the Ganges for myself and experience the wanderlust and excitement she shared in photographs from the hectic streets of India, and touch just a piece of an era we probably left behind far too soon.

At sixteen, I imagined studying at SCAD or another legacy art school eventually landing at Vogue or curating a gallery, commuting each morning from the Upper East Side in Isabel Marant Bekkets, a Chanel 2.55 packed with the small essential tools for a productive day ahead. Life’s taken a few turns, though I still entertain preposterous daydreams.These days, it’s not the Proenza Schouler handbag I once picked up in a boutique in Aspen at age twelve wondering how many babysitting shifts I needed to foot the bill- it’s a $40,000 fur coat. A hefty sum, I’m well aware. But I think that’s the beauty of a day dream, seeking near unattainable beauty, and living life through rose colored glasses. Life might be pretty dull without it. I’m happy to report that unlike the Birkin outperforming the S&P 500- there are plenty of Proenza Schouler PS1 bags to go around on the Real Real going for far less than initial retail value all those years ago and that alone makes my teeny bopper heart immensely happy. It would be daft to omit the amount of time I spend thinking about Chopin’s heart being preserved in Warsaw while his body is buried in Paris. Exploring the idea of remembrance of things past, feels a bit like that.

The advertisement I had plastered on my wall as a young girl. In my last While The Coffee’s Still Warm dispatch I mentioned a song my math teacher played before our exercises in middle school - Bachman Turner Overdrive’s Takin’ Care of Business, Bridgette Bardot’s Moi je joue has a similar effect on me. After falling in love with the whimsy of the 2009 Miss Dior Cherie commercial directed by Sofia Coppola, all I require if in need of an attitude adjustment, is to play Moi je joue and Voila, good as new!

Photo of me at 12 years old from the archive of the now defunct fashionfairytales.blogspot.com.

While scouring the web and more specifically the Wayback Machine for my old domains, I came across a blogger who appears to have had the same URL and virtual real estate for some time. Her posts were most certainly a fashion fairytale.

Translated from Danish:

Monday, July 18, 2011

Packing list for the holiday: bikinis

I already started packing a little for the holiday yesterday, as I have to work until Wednesday. We leave on Thursday at 1 pm and I am looking forward to it like a little child.

My parents have, on the occasion of their silver wedding anniversary on August 2, invited my three younger siblings, my boyfriend and I on a cruise in the Mediterranean. We start with 2-3 days in Rome, after which we sail around to Sicily, Crete, Athens and Turkey before returning to Rome again. We will be on the water sailing for two days. So it is a 10-11 day holiday and I hope it is enough to just get work out of my head until I get home again.

I have a pretty big bikini collection, so it is difficult to limit myself, but if there is to be room to take something home, it is necessary to be a little selective. It's not just a lazy vacation either, as we'll be landing in different cities and checking them out, and there are also other activities on the ship, such as tennis, an ice rink, etc. That's why I ended up taking off the bikini on the top left at the last minute. So this is the selection I'm bringing: