Once a year, my clothing designer/shop owner friend lets me tag along to view the accessory collection of Martin Margiela. For a couple of hours, I get to model, and then fantasize about, a showroom filled with luxurious shoes and handbags. Simply heaven.
Illustration: Coexistence, 2008 by Shira Sela
My closest girlfriend is visiting from San Francisco. We browsed at Barneys, bought Dolce & Gabbana lipstick and took in a Bridesmaids matinee. (The lipstick wins, hands down.)
http://youtu.be/nrRd2QSsGc4
“Too many studio bosses seem to think that a woman’s place is in a Vera Wang.”
– Manohla Dargis in her NY Times review of what’s refreshing about the movie, Bridesmaids.
Lately, I’ve been noticing how many people are in transition. Or maybe, I’m projecting. But apparently, it’s the case with Maria Shriver, who went public yesterday, with the news that she and Arnold Schwarzenegger are splitting up after 25 years of marriage. It’s hard to muster much sympathy for someone living with her level of privilege, but even Shriver commented on the pain of uncertainty: “It’s so stressful to not know what you’re doing next. People ask you what are you doing and then they can’t believe that you don’t know what you’re doing,” she said. I find it surprising that all that money and power doesn’t make you immune from the rigors of change. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s comforting.
Somewhere along the line, I got fatigued trying to figure out why no husband has found his way into my life. And instead, I decided to make the most of it, with as much as grace, spirit and levity as possible. There are days, when that’s a cakewalk. And nights, when I fight back the swells of longing. In between, with lots of help from friends, family, The New Yorker, extra virgin olive oil, art, prayer, Javier Bardem and pretty clothes, I feel grateful.
Meet Ms. Anthony. Inspired by Susan B. Anthony’s signature alligator club bag that accompanied her on her many train trips in the pursuit of women’s suffrage, this faux alligator bag, selling for $250 has become all the rage. At 17 inches, it’s big enough to accommodate a laptap, with proceeds going to the Susan B. Anthony House, a museum that operates in her former residence in Rochester. It’s inscribed with two of Anthony’s mottos: “Failure is impossible!” and “Every woman needs a purse of her own.”