Story Telling...

  Viola Davis in Vera Wang (Via theYBF)

 

I know we all wanted it for Viola.  She brought to life this beautiful story about women and the incredible strength that we don't always know we have.  She made us feel the tragedies they faced and take pride in the dignity and unimaginable strength with which they endured.  We felt their triumph when they found their voice and stood up to adversity.

That just made my hair stand on end.  It made me reflect on the power of our voice and the tradition of story telling, especially in a time when doing so could have devastating consequences.  But story telling is our responsibility.  I know that I must tell my story to the young women who see in me hope, and through me dare to dream.  I owe to you the story of me and the ones that help me find my strength.  How timely then, as we are transitioning from Black to Women's History Month, that I have the opportunity to share it with you.

I wonder if you can guess who I will talk about first?!

 

 

Fashion Week Fall 2012 RTW Part II

Dark,

glamorous,

sheer and

strong looks

won me over this week....

L'Wren Scott

Silhouettes that celebrate the female form,

 

Gucci

Fabrics that tease and flirt,

while still holding on to their

mystery...

 

Alberta Ferretti

Power, the subtle kind

not soft but seering...

 

Joseph Altuzarra

 

Gucci

 

But subtleties will, of course, have

to be overtaken,

by bold and daring displays of

what makes fashion

 

Fendi

 

Endless fun! 

 

 

Via Style.com

 

Labels, Hair, Make-up, Joy

Photo by Pamela Mougin

 

This past week has given me pause.  This week I was forced to confront darkness and its sometimes catastrophic outcomes.  What is the impact of loneliness, fear, sadness and yearning, and how does what is bottled up inside manifest itself?  I thought about coping, searching for the light anywhere you can find it and what that means for me.

Clothes is where it started, but pretty things of all kinds would soon take over as family, and a connection to them, became more and more fleeting.  Pretty hair would follow clothes, then furniture and eventually a pretty home.  My family, or rather, various members of it, would at different times fall into drug addiction, nieces and nephews would follow into the foster care system, and love, the true kind, the kind I had searched for my whole life, never came.  More and more I needed to fill the emptiness, and cars and trips and expensive food and labels would have to make up for having less. Clothes were my refuge, clothes were what I could have, clothes had to fill the void where a mother and a father, a loving home, and a family should have been.

Even today, on a bad day - and there are still quite many - when I need to fill myself up, when I need to smile and feel what real happiness could be like, I walk into my closet.  That’s when I perk up and I feel grateful, for I do have many blessings and I do have a place to go that is pretty, filled with pretty things that when I put them on, make me feel good.  That’s when I feel everything will be okay.  It is how I cope, and it is how I try to help others cope.  Sometimes feeling pretty can be all you have and if that is so, then that is what I want to give to them.

Clothes are important to me and they lie at the core of who I am.  But I know that there will come a day when I will have the most precious label of all, one I have searched for my whole life, the one I will be most proud of.  One day, I will have a family and I will speak about them glowingly, I will show them off and I will go to them when I want to smile.  I can’t wait to see this design...

Fashion Week Fall 2012 RTW Part I

I love the showing of the new collections, the surprises, re-visiting classics.  I love getting excited about so very different things.  Getting swept away.  Come with me, I hardly know where to begin...

  Michael Kors

 

    Milly

 

Milly

 

Oscar de la Renta

 

Oscar de la Renta

 

Preen

 

Rodarte

 

And then there are the ones that leave me breathless....

Vera Wang

 

Fantasy transformed to reality...

Marchesa

 

Via Style.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sequins & what sparkles most of all

It was so interesting to see how quickly we could move past the absurd, to the wonderful and truly lovely.  How we could so easily grow apart and stay divided over things like labels, height and safari style.  Then, just as easily we could come together.  And once we did, there was no division, there were no differences.  We all felt the same thing - love and gratitude.

It is hard to describe really.  The children, naturally precious.  They are God's most beautiful designs.  And your heart breaks when they are not given the most basic things all children need.  There is no feeling quite like knowing that you could easily love them, take care of them, nurture them, but then have to leave them behind.  To see their happiness at the very little they receive and not being able to give them even more.  Each of us wanted to grab them all, each of us wished for magic - the ability to change their lives in an instant. 

We couldn't.  What we could do is treasure them and hold on to the look in their beautiful eyes.    And I will treasure sharing that moment with everyone who was along...

 

Travel & the Essentials....

What I love about travel is the change, the chance to experience something new, to temporarily forget where you are.  What I don't always love is the preparation, the stress.  Trying to get everything done by a certain time.  And packing!  Deciding what you need, what you can't live without, what is just too much.  I admit that not a lot fell in the too-much-pile when I packed for South Africa!  But here is what I do when I want to keep it simple...

Top: A grey James Pearse t-shirt is perfect for layering and grey is almost neutral.

Bottom: black Wolford leggings are great for underneath chunky knit sweaters or an oversized blazer and of course so comfortable on a flight.

Jeans: distressed Joe's skinny jeans are versatile and easily dressed up.  I love them with very tall heels.

Evening: It's easy to pack a stretchy black dress, something fitted with long sleeves when it's cold.  I also love how a cropped military jacket with skinny jeans can give a little edge but still be sexy.

Intimates: I like a one piece even better than a top and bottom.  A little bit of lace...I prefer black, but sometimes I find something really beautiful in a dark jewel tone and I love it.

Coat: It's winter and there's a chance of rain.  A Gryphon trench with a leopard print belt is almost like a dress by itself.

Hand Bag: Obsessing over Victoria Beckham's bags, but for now I rotate my classics, black or beige.

Shoes: Heels of course, Brian Atwood, always a little unusual.

Accessories: A long triple strand of pearls has been my stand-by for years, but I have been eyeing Kelly Wearstler's accessories, reminiscent of her design aesthetic.

Watch:  Presidential Rolex in gold.

Glasses: Oliver Peoples, large frames.

Scent: Always Clive Christian.

My lip: Mac "snob," this pink can be worn casually with a little gloss or matte for a red carpet look.

This is my simple, easy, routine.  What is yours?

 

 

 

 

Friendship and a reminder of what matters...

This is me, in a way you don't often get to see.  This is me and Daniel, one of my closest friends of over 8 years, and the person who you will most often see by my side. Daniel is the one who keeps me working hard,  focused and helps me take a deep breath when I am overwhelmed.  Daniel is the one who gets me to have fun and be silly.  

It is in trying times that you discover who your friends really are.  You realize who your friends are when you do not have to ask for their consideration, when they will tell you the soothing words you need to hear, when they will cheer for you even when no one else will.  Friends are who you hold on to.  When you have friends, there are many things you can let go...