9.3.10

fluff



There was a girl in our school - a friend, actually - named Pam, who, in a sea of rich, thin, spoiled, beautiful girls, was particularly rich, thin, and spoiled (I remember, for example, her dad gave her an orange Porsche for her 16th birthday. She had the cutest boyfriend in the school, and when he accidentally totalled it, her dad simply gave her another one, also in orange: just a different model). She was still a perfectly nice girl, and, like most style icons, was shrouded in mystery because she rarely spoke. She had a bedroom so vast, in hot pink and lime green, that one of her walk-in closets, larger than some people's bedrooms, was devoted to just her handbags and shoes.



I thought of Pam when I met this sweet model, because Pam had a coat just like this one. Her brother brought it back from someplace exotic, like Afghanistan or Uzbekestan, and she was wearing it one time, in 'the city' (NY, that is) at a store like Bergdorf's, or was it Bloomingdales, and a buyer spotted her and asked to borrow the coat to copy it, and it became a whole line that season. Pam was that kind of girl.



Christopher Kane, as you're probably all quite aware by now, showed a lot of beautiful ethnic flowered embroidery, in his case on black (leather, knitwear), and of course, the other genius that is Christopher, Bailey, did some wonderfully unexpected turns with leather, Shearling, and fur, at Burberry. I mean, can we possibly get anything more perfectly yin/yang than this?



That same year, btw, I had that exact same mohair hat, in the same shade of beige. There was a girl named Maxine who couldn't have been more opposite to Pam. She nicknamed me Fluff and ribbed me mercilessly, but I loved that hat and wish I had it, still. Funny, the things you remember. Do you have a favourite item of clothing that has disappeared? Or, while we're at it: has any major department store copied your coat?

10 comments:

rhai♥laborte said...

Cute photo!!

KA-VOGUE-GAY-RA
KA-VOGUE-GAY-RA
KA-VOGUE-GAY-RA

daisychain said...

Loveeeee your photos.

Anonymous said...

I am jalous of this Pam girl!! She's the kind of girl who never falls down the staris, and even if she does it's just cute ;) haha.

I just read your comment on my blog, and thought I'd stop by! It looks really great. I am definietly gonna keep an eye on you ;)!!

C

http://theworldofc.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

Uh, and if you wanna link to each other - let me know!

C

Pearl Westwood said...

I had a pair of black fingerless gloves with skulls on and I lost them for ages, found them again in some strange place and have no lost them again. I do wonder if they will ever turn up? I also have a pair of ear muffs from kiddies shop Claire's which everyone thinks are some ironic designer statement or something, always makes me laugh, as I only bought them for a bit of joke!
xx

Style Odyssey said...

Everyone knows a "Pam" type girl from our growing up years, it seems. Mine was named Allison. She was perfect, from the first day of first grade. In a 6 year old way, I was in awe of her perfection. She even had Cindy Brady blond curls- Now if that doesn't date me, I don't know what does! ;)

I liked a lot of the Kane Fall 2010 collection, but somehow missed this gorgeous shearling embroidered number.

Good Girls Studio said...

Loved this bittersweet whimsical story! Sadly no one has copied my look ;)

jill said...

Ha! This is great stuff, thank you all. Stephanie, of COURSE she was named Allison. That is such a good Pam name.

Pearl: I lost my pair of ear muffs the first time I wore them! I bought them myself (for myself) for a Christmas present from Mr. Dot, wrapped them, we opened it at his parents, I wore it once on Sloane Avenue for a few feet & they disappeared. Yours aren't black by any chance? I loved them cause it was like having an Alice band, but with mickey mouse ears ;

Sorry to hear you lost your McQueen-esque fingerless skull gloves... twice.

C, linked you already! & sending you lovely thoughts, Mz Daisy Chain! ; )) xox

Natalie Hughes said...

Jill, I just LOVE the stories that you weave around your photos. And speaking of your photos, I LOVE them too. :)

Susan said...

I want to be Pam :)))
LOLs
xoxo