Since 1976 I have counted two birthdays every April in my head. One is my actual birthday and the second a sort of “re”birthday, when my parents, sisters, and I began a new life in America after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. This year is a huge milestone because it marks the 35th year in our adopted …
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FIMTSO: The Mariner Shirt
Ever since Coco Chanel made it cool to look like a gondolier I’ve been collecting Breton or mariner shirts. A fashion editor in one of my favorite magazines once wrote that women over the age of 30 should stop wearing stripes, especially the horizontal kind. I was past 30 when I read that and stored it in the back of …
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My Posen Sunday
It’s 8.15am when I get to Target for the Zac Posen release and there’s a small crowd of women grabbing sizes while gabbing on the phone with their less fortunate (if wiser) friends who stayed home. One woman asks me to help her keep an eye out for the navy dress that sold out in 30 seconds; she’d elbowed her …
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Brave New World
There’s an astigmatism in my right eye that’s worse than the one in the left, and each year my eye doctor pushes me to try the toric contact lenses to remedy the problem. Each year I give it a good effort but in the end I can’t wear them. This year in particular has been challenging (we are still fighting …
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My Louboutin Footprint
Today marks Earth Day’s 40th, and I have to ask myself, do we leave a bigger carbon footprint by hoarding stuff like a pack rat or by churning old things out of the closet every season only to buy more? What exactly is the sustainable approach to fashion besides making our own clothes, by hand, by candlelight, out of recyclable …