Early this morning, I found myself surfing the interwebs - only to find
the full episode of Tom Ford on Visionaries on the OWN Network.
Entranced by every second of the forty something minute episodic exploration into the brilliance that is Tom Ford, all of my senses
became excited and sensitized. When you think of Tom Ford, of course you
think of all the superlative titles you can imagine for the king of
cultural fashion, but instead my mind always wanders to the people and
friends that are completely fanatical about the man. And very rightfully
so. Yet, after watching this and many other videos that I could gather
up on this snowy Saturday morning, what I realized was so special
about the man whose pieces are an homage to the form of a woman, was
his intuitive nature. Trusting that his vision is guided and failure
shouldn't even be a concern. For every creative being, once you reach
that level of faith in your craft, there isn't anything you create that
won't be a masterpiece. Even if you think that you're the only one that
believes in it, I could just bet that others will start to believe, too. Confidence just works like that.
I bought these cute new notebooks from Thomas Paul on Swirl, just days before they became Daily Candy Deals - which by the way I was totally bummed about. I left the set of notebooks in my closet for a while because I wasn't sure if I wanted to use them or not. I always think that the quest for a good notebook is grounds for good writing to go into said notebook. So before even thinking about writing a word in any given notebook, I have to feel it out, even down to the examining the spine, stock of paper and type of lining - just to feel comfortable committing my thoughts to this new collection of pages. I don't know, it's silly. It's almost like some sort of writer's superstition I have, but without fail my notebook judgment is always accurate. Anyhow, the first thing I wrote in my new handy dandy notebook was about the word 'Retrophile'. I wrote it after looking at a post on Who What Wear. I never heard it before but I thought it was such a great word to describe me and probably so many other girls. I thought about the countless amount of women who have certain habits that surround around fashion, items, and developed habits from decades that they have never experienced but are dying to know about. I've always been one of those people that have had their head in the clouds wondering what life would have been like in some other time and some other place. So, this is for all the lady retrophiles out there that fantasize in black and white and could definitely appreciate some Sarah Vaughan.
Sure, she appreciates a good film by Goddard but she really takes a liking to the Italians like Fellini. Wanderlust flutters about her when she peruses dreamy objects at antique shops. Her favorite filter on Instagram is Earlybird, but her love of a good fashion aesthetic makes her play with Brannan, once and again. She loves the look of a good cat-eye eyeglass. And the fuller her skirt, the happier she is. When she finds a good Ferragamo from the 60s larger than a size 7, she grabs it even if it means to squeeze because it will look wonderful in her collection. She secretly believes she will have her romantic Disney storybook ending one day. She can spend the entire weekend on a quest for the perfect clip-on button earring as long as the price is right. Coffee table books are not only home decor for her, they've become very good friends. But if you would ask her other friends to describe her, they'd say she's an old soul, with passion deep and an imagination high. There's a grace to her that simply cannot be learnt. But she attributes it to the hours spent watching post-Depression, black and white musicals, and the years reading the works of famous female novelists. Her favorite food is cupcakes, the sweeter the better. She believes that long gloves are a suitable accessory for any occasion. She daydreams in colors of cotton candy pinks and blues, and often in shades of sepia. She appreciates a good trunk or briefcase in leather and studded in brass. She doesn't mind the smell of moth balls when it comes to digging for sartorial treasures from yesteryear. When she walks down the street, she has the strut and poise of a silver screen goddess. She's super sweet and knows how to carry herself like a true lady. She is the pleasure to love, incredible to know and absolutely impossible to forget.
There's a few sure fire things that the lingering holiday season can do to you (even when the hangovers are gone), like: make you gain weight, read the books you've hadn't the chance to, look at old pictures of yourself during your awkward "over-tweezing" phase, and last but not least, identifying the objects and items that you plan to obsess over for the next month or so. There's a few things that I can't seem to quit recently and it wouldn't be fair not to share my new vices with you. Even if they just might be gone tomorrow.
1. Anthropologie
Visits to endless suburban malls during the holidays from Maryland to Long Island had me wandering a little further from the Auntie Anne's pretzel stand and closer to the quaint and embellished decor in Anthropologie. I've always gone into the store, gaped at the brilliant decor but always become too distracted and forget that I was there to shop. But, once I put my ADD at bay, I found myself getting my hands on the most precious lingerie and lounge sets, candles, squirrel jewelry holders, fragrances from Le Labo, and the magazine for the ultimate wanderlusters: Anthology. Keith Johnson, now I'm getting the full picture of why I loved you so much in Man Shops Globe.
2. Pinky Rings
I always loved that saying in mobster movies "kiss my ring", which is usually pertaining to the pinky ring of a mob boss. When I ordered this grenade ring on ASOS from AMO by Tom Binns, a size smaller than I am, I just slipped it on my pinky finger and kept it moving. I didn't want to send anything back, but this ensued all types of pinky acessorizing brainstorming. Ironically enough, I ran into a sale at Club Monaco where I found a stack of delicate rings with a Moroccan motif. I painted my nails in Terracotta by Essie and stacked some more statement rings on my ring and middle fingers. So now everytime I look down, it feels like I've been transported to a Moroccan marketplace.
3. Portlandia
I got a year long Netflix subscription as a gift and I couldn't be more ecstatic about watching every last movie and docu in my instant Q. One early suggestion that came up for me was Portlandia, the satirical sketch comedy on IFC from Fred Armisen (SNL) and Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney). After watching season one in its entirety, I've been hooked on the sarcastic humor of the feminist bookshop keepers and Nanc who gets pulled into a polygamist cult after searching for the owners of an organic free range chicken she ordered at a Portland restaurant. And in all my shrewd glory, Portlandia came back for season two on IFC this past Friday with Andy Samberg as guest star.
4. Mindy Kaling
Finally, I got to read "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me + Other Concerns" and so glad I did. I finished the book in 48 hours cover to cover. I couldn't put the book down, worrying I would be missing a funny little quirk of Mindy's or screenshot of the everyday thoughts that run through her scintillating mind. I marveled at the bravery of honesty in her writing. Mindy is proud to be herself when no one or everyone is looking. Her radiating confidence gives her the keen ability to make people laugh and feel good about themselves. Not everyone can do that. She's really a shining example of a creative woman of modernity and wit.
5. Smashbox Blush Rush
I'm not into loud makeup of the dark and bright persuasion, but I do love beauty products that help achieve a natural and understated look. There's always a new product that I love to get my hands on to try. I had been a Benefit girl in high school and slowly turned to Nars for everything in college. Now more recently, I've been using Laura Mercier because her tinted moisturizer is beyond. I was getting tired of the redness of my everyday Nars blush in Lovejoy. So after a bit of beauty browsing, I picked up Smashbox's Blush Rush in Bare. And although skeptical at first, I became a believer after applying it the next day. It's soft and sweet in color, a natural flush for olive skin and right up my alley. And if you're ever looking for great brushes for application, Bare Escentuals has the softest around.
The Celebration of Women's Empowerment Week is in full swing and ends on January 11th. The ladies handling the @HelloGiggles Twitter account asked followers to share "who your lady role models are." Immediately, the question made me excited to share mine. I always grew up celebrating women in power, politics, and in my family. The fundamental idea that women could do anything that men could was engrained into my psyche as a young girl. And that very notion has stayed with me and has grown up with me, taking on new meanings and value.
In November, I read an article on Forbes by Hannah Woit, titled "Can I Still Be A Feminist If I...?" And from that point forward, I realized that my personal fight for gender equality as an self-empowered young women was evolving before my eyes into something that had nothing to do with man-hating or fighting a fight that hasn't yet been provoked. It was about the beauty of how far women have come, that we now have the luxury of choosing what we want to be as women in the twenty first century. A moment in time when women holding political office, women exhibiting at the Whitney Biennial, women changing the face of media are the people that we can't stop paying attention to.
Whether on our televisions, in the pages of our favorite books, in your circle of friends or on your tablet screens, there are some kick-ass women that lead with strength and by example. If I had to name some of my influences they would be Cathie Black, Gloria Steinem, Arianna Huffington, Hillary Clinton, Cindy Gallop, Bianca Jagger, my mother and my good friend Haleh. They all make me want to be a better me. But you know, empowerment is contagious and it all starts with you.
In the resources section below, I've included some women's empowerment websites, books and key articles that have been extremely influential to me and hope they will do the same for you, too. Happy Women's Empowerment Week!
Quotes from luminaries are always something that I'm jotting down in
inspiration notebooks and the backs of used paper (in an effort to do my
part in keeping things green, of course). Going through a recent
notebook that I've kept by my side for the past few months, I found a
quote by Diana Vreeland - who up to that point was one of my fashion
idols. I went on to read some words from the publishing and social
fixture of yesteryear and it read: "What do I think about the way most
people dress? Most people are not something one thinks about." I
wondered to myself why I would have even kept this in a notebook that
was to be a safe haven for creativity and inspiration. It was a
grotesque statement to me - one free of compassion or concern for
others. It's amazing how so much has changed since the days of Diana
hosting dinner parties and styling the pages of Bazaar. Maybe my
displeasure wasn't even about what the quote suggested but more of what
it stood for: a clear, concise change of the times. One of the most
profound differences of Diana's day and today is: people actually give a
damn about one another today. There aren't these hands-off, I have
better things to deal with attitudes towards one another any longer -
not in digital, not in fashion, not in the general consciousness. Or at
least, not in the people that I want to break bread with and build with.
We've seen internet trends move faster than the speed of light, whipping
us around, and leading us to fall straight on our asses, if we can't
keep up. Ironically enough in the niche of fashion, one of those
Internet trends has been the popularization of personal style that
happens from the way that everyday people are dressing themselves. Hey
Diana, I bet you never saw that one coming. Anyone with ability to
connect their devices to the Internet, has the advantage to become
empowered by this bounty of information. We can choose to be the women
and men we've always dreamed of being. It's an exciting time to be
alive. And Mrs. Vreeland, as much as I respect all the ground work you
provided to our industry, and as much as you've served as an inspiration
to a girl that wanted to nothing more than to live her life in glossy
pages of fashion magazines, you would never survive a day in the
Information Age. This is the time is for the individuals, for the
dreamers, for the innovators. And slowly but surely, all the dinosaurs
will become extinct.
