YSL's Call Me By Your Name

Harper's Bazaar March 2019

Nearly out of my system, my love comes back to me. Here, on the pages of a magazine is  an YSL handbag, this statue brings me to mind of the beautiful statuary that was the life's work of Elio's father in the novel and film "Call Me By Your Name." I wonder if this one, in particular, was pulled from the bottom of a lovely, summery Mediterranean sea. I hope that it was. And that it spent a restful retreat from the perils of the world; however, from the looks of it, this guy doesn't look like he's had a restful submersion. His lost limbs and expression is quite telling of how that feels.

My nephew, who was visiting recently, said that he finally saw the film on the plane traveling in for a visit. He had to watch it for the many times that I have shouted out the name 'Timothy Chalamet' how Oprah in her Oprahness shouted out his name when they passed having both appeared on the same late night talk show. I wonder what my nephew, who is 18, thought of the film. I didn't have a chance to ask him in the frenzy of arrival and talking about all of things that need to be talked about. I hope that he did if for only the reason that it portrayed a beautiful place in the world and a lifestyle that recommends leisure and copious amounts of Italian wine.

Dolce & Gabbana: An Ode to "Call Me By My Name"

About two weeks ago, I allowed myself the pleasure of watching the film "Call Me By Your Name" again. It is one of those movies where the rhythm of it meets mine and is a comfort. I have lost track of the number of times that I have watched it. I have read the novel twice; and yes, I listened to Armie Hammer read it twice. It has struck a chord.

But why? I have wondered. I made a list in my head of the ways that it captivates me - one, Timothee Chalamet. I hadn't seen anything  before, he did before, and I was immediately taken by him. Not in any immoral sense of that attraction, but he showed a vulnerability in his acting, and I can't take my eyes off of it, not him, but it - the vulnerability. Another aspect of the story that I love is in the setting. I've been in small Italian towns with a central church and square in the heat of summer where the sun doesn't set until late in the evening. I've sat at linen covered tables and drank wine from a carafe and ate a meal slowly, one course at a time. I haven't ever ridden a bicycle in that country, but I have ventured out of the town into the environs with its dusky, dry fields that are populated with muted colors and heaven scents.  Every time I watch the movie or have heard Armie Hammer read it, I am immediately transported to the places where I've been before. Where I live now, I would love to have an old tree to position a long farmer's table under it to lay a white, linen tablecloth to show the color of the wine as it spills from the glasses of my friends making merry. I can hear the sun move across the horizon and hold on to the wings of fireflies and the call of night trains moving through my own town on distant tracks. 

I'm going down a rabbit hole ... let me calibrate. I like the movie because of Timothee Chalamet, Italy, wine, al fresco dining, vulnerability. How does Dolce and Gabbana capture it in their spring editorials? In the film, Elio's father studies statuary. He and Oliver look at slides of marble statues, mainly men, and exclaim at the beauty of them. The trip to the sea to watch lost works being pulled from the depths has our lovers coming back to each other. The sight of beauty, even in its ancient, marbleized state expresses the very vulnerability of the art and the boys that is most compelling. Beauty had life as it molded, but then froze to stay in a perfect state of love, if that can be said of a piece of art. The dress thrown on to this beauty brings new life to the ancient. And feelings, or love, capturing beauty is an ancient art. Bellisimo.

Harry Styles at the Met Gala

US Weekly

I just ran through the photographs that Vogue deposited in my inbox of the first look at the fashion from this year's Met Gala, which is tonight. The theme: Camp. The standout, which brought me back to this platform really fast, is Harry Styles. Wowsa. He wears Gucci. I scoured the Internet for a good pix that would do him justice, but I think that I am looking too soon after the red carpet. I'm not so sure that we could classify Mr. Styles as 'Camp.' He's magnificent - romantic - dark - light - just on the edge of masculine strength and feminine wile. The look caught me immediately as much for what I would expect him to wear, but daring in that it is fresh. Oh, Lady Gaga is her old self- gorgeous certainly, but not new. Jared Leto did his usual 'I'm going to do a gown and be dramatic.' I would go through the list; rather, I will just enjoy Mr. Styles. He gets my vote. For sure.

Tiffany Haddish

Vogue September 2010

Tiffany Haddish is wonder woman.

Haddish had me at 'I'm gonna wear this Alexander McQueen dress all of the time ...' when she stood on the SNL stage giving her host's monologue. If ever I had an Alexander McQueen dress to wear, I would wear it to the grocery store too. But the message behind Haddish's proclamation was not lost ... you've got to be real to be funny. And this girl is for real.

Karl Lagerfeld's Desk

I am fascinated by Karl Lagerfeld. His desk is a place that I would love to explore. In thechaos, some sort of organization has been established ... a method in the madness in the truest sense. And the cat, Choupette, is, naturally, a beautiful specimen, and her tail, I'm sure that she is a lady, has been fluffed for the photograph.

In the piece accompanying the photograph by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, Hamish Bowles writes,"Savagely unsentimental, relentlessly un-nostalgic, he remains, in his ninth decade, fueled by his insatiable curiosity and passion for the present and the future. "I have a strong survival instinct," he says." I guess so. At 85, Lagerfeld continues the kind of pace that one expects of someone far younger, not because of age, but interest. I have to wonder what made him that he is so focused on design that it seems that it is the only thing that his mind processes.

I am sitting at my desk now. It has moved from its former home of 24 years, and in its former life, I collected, not stacks of inspiration, but magazine clippings and photographs that I would admire as I stalled in putting my fingers to the keyboard. Now, I have a window to look at/through, not a wall. I have not begun to tape the images to the window frame or create a new space for them on an adjacent wall. I'm not sure that I will. I look out now on a windy day and the tall evergreens that I argued so heartily to remove as they didn't 'match' the others in the line along the road and find them to be beguiling. They are tall and wide and seem to be made of beautiful light, intricate lace. Each moves so delicately in the breeze that gusts through it. Black birds flutter in and through them in a system of organization that had I not spent many minutes procrastinating, I may have missed. In Autumn, I wonder at what the scene will look like as the seasons move through the year. Fortunately, the evergreens will stay constant. They will be the stalwart, the base, of what could be come a window of transcendence, but also one that is a comfort in its sameness.

I wonder what Karl thinks about when he looks up from his papers, admires the puff that is Choupette's tail, and considers what is right there in front of him.

Ralph Lauren at 50 Years: Remembering Marshall Field's Country Shop

Vogue September 2018

Gately's the People's store in Roseland

After college, like many, I was directionless. Although my experience had taught me many things, I was not taught what to look for in a job, much less how to find a job. So I moved back to my parent's house and got a part-time job at a store that had always held a fascination for me: Marshall Field's. Before realizing it, I had headed to a place that I had always loved, a department store, so the first step was in the right direction as I worked for that company for ten years.

As a child, I can remember going with my mom to Gately's, the People's Store, in the Roseland Community on the southside of Chicago. The memories are but ghosts with transparent edges as I was but a very small girl. But I have a sense of the bustle of the place and the specialness of a visit there for I know that my mother didn't have the time nor the finance to spend a lot of it in a department store. Last year, some 50 years after I would have gone, I drove to the sight of the store on Michigan Avenue, but not much was left to see. The neighborhood, once a gem, has become the same shadowy memory that is mine of the area.

Ben Franklin in Riverdale on 144th Street

My family moved further south to Riverdale when I was five. The next department store that I came to love was the Ben Franklin on 144th Street. When I was young, we had an all-access pass to the community. We were free to go anywhere our legs or bikes could take us. Typically that meant that we would roll up to the park or go to the White Hen Pantry to buy a slushy if funds were available, which was a rare occurrence. But when I had a few more cents than normal, I couldn't wait to go into the Ben Franklin. I can remember that store so clearly with its array of trinkets and treasures. For whatever reason, and this is true today, one of my favorite aisles to shop was the office supply one. I loved to look at the pens, paper, clips- all of the little things that were so neatly ordered on the shelves. I used to dream of getting locked in to Ben Franklin and having to spend the night. I would plan out which aisle I would go to first and which aisle I would spend the most time in. I didn't think that I would ever sleep for the time it would take to investigate every aisle.

Not long after I began working at Marshall Field's, I was given more and more responsibility. I was a college graduate after all. Or maybe it was because I was just a natural at merchandising. My manager could just tell me where the boxes were and she knew that I would do my thing. I loved the challenge of organizing merchandise. The first department that I worked in was Accessories. In the summer, I would arrange hundreds of pairs of sunglasses on the towers and get every pair out. I can remember one display case that I was particularly proud of that contained expensive evening bags where I placed dress shoes to make the display show off the coordination of the two products. The bags sold out.

After a year of working in Accessories, I was offered the job of assistant manager for the dress department and The County Shop. My manager was an old stalwart who wasn't too happy to get me. While I was working at that store, I was trying to figure out my own style. Coming off college as a new waver, my hair and clothes were not, I can see know, quite appropriate for a suburban branch of an upscale retailer. But I had skills and someone was noticing it. Bernie, the manager, didn't want me around the dresses. The dress department in this particular branch had the highest dress sales in the company. I suppose not having any competition contributed to this. I was exiled to the Country Shop.

Beverly Miller

The County Shop was the life work of buyer Beverly Miller. For the Country Shop, she built a business whose base was Ralph Lauren. Then she layered it with her private label brand that was truly private label at its best. It was a luxury brand, not the nonsense that fills Macy's today with the likes of Alfani and Charter Club. It was an interesting post for me as I did not claim the polo/country club aesthetic for myself. Coming out of my punk phase, I had entered a French phase. I had my mother sew me a black skirt, I put on a black sweater, and I would layer resale purchased strands of pearls and gold chains. Chanel was my muse. Maybe that's why Bernie never liked me.

Or was it because I was good at my job. Miller put together a look book for The Country Shop every season. No expense was spared and the merchandise was lovingly shown on models in luxurious country surroundings, very like Ralph Lauren has become. I loved to work with the cashmere and woolens, layering them on the mannequins and working with the display department to make the shop look like one of the photographs in the look book. Bernie told me one day that the lady herself, Beverly Miller, was coming out for a visit, probably because sales were up. Instead of a "I got you" moment, Miller was impressed with how I was able to display her vision. We got on wonderfully.  And though the clothing was not for me, I appreciated it and treated it lovingly. Needless to say, I wasn't there long before I was called up the show: the downtown store.

And Ralph Lauren has been at it for 50 years. I still love to look at his look books or pages in fashion magazines. Ralph was in the game at the time that I worked at The Country Shop, but he wasn't where he is now. I wonder if Miller and he ever met? They seem so similar in their view of what the world should like. I have a couple of pieces of Ralph, but they aren't favorites. His cut is a mean one and very up and down when I need a little bit more forgiveness. But I love looking at the pictures. He's good for that. Miller? She always sold a good cut with luxury fabric. I remember a navy linen suit that I bought from one of her collections. It was one of my favorites, more so for having worked with her and seeing first hand her talent.