soccer social

on broadway w 105th

 

it's a love story

mary bakes! 

mendham, nj

 

friday flatware

at the Whitby Hotel...

 

you look good

yes we do! 

at glossier, soho
photo @ggcmay

 

three, on Crosby

on crosby street

 

abstraction

 

whitney museum

drawing from life

David Hockney, drawing from life,
at The Morgan Library

 

dreams

2020, an awakening and a reckoning alike. what will take with you into the new year?  

i choose dreams, and living each day with intention, making each moment and each life matter, even in the smallest ways, by choosing gratitude, kindness and love. 

happy new year! here is to great happiness, health, peace and joy! 

xoxo, 

fashion is love

dreams

hold fast to dreams 

for if dreams die

life is a broken-winged bird 

that cannot fly.

hold fast to dreams

for when dreams go

life is a barren field

frozen with snow.

langston hughes (1902-1967)

with gratitude to jen for the lingua franca sweater
and peru and ghana made pillows 

(from the collected poems of langston hughes

copyright 1994 by the estate of langston hughes) 

summer bouquet

a birthday flower flashback, bloomed for over a week, and as they faded, morphed into mini arrangements throughout the apartment.... 

barb's bouquet, at home...

soho seeing

july 3rd, soho
by the donald judd foundation...

Roma's sky Roma's moon

our Roma is not the ROMA in the nuanced Oscar award-winning film but is our Roma in the same awkward, wondrous years of becoming young women, of experiencing love and rejection,  accomplishment and failure,  and sense of belonging and also of being alone.  we were in so many ways the best and the brightest, diverse, accomplished, multi-faceted, even at age 16, 17, 18, and full of fearless ambition, giggling on the Metro North on that train ride to visit the Yale campus, for example. or earning our rankings in senior class 1st, 2nd 3rd, Jennie graciously sharing the top spot with number 2, she and Roma standing side by side for the shortest but most memorable speech ever delivered to a graduating class, "Good. Luck," their smiles at the heart of the matter, two unique and pioneering spirits, ever so slightly rebellious in their disruption of both pomp and circumstance, ever so unique in forging their own way and inspiring us all to do the same. i am a day late in remembering our Roma, but we do remember her and carry her in our hearts. Roma's sky, and Roma's moon were with us all day and into the luminous night yesterday, and always! xoxo

roma's sky, photo by jen

roma's moon, photo by deb

shelter in place

"gratitude to gratitude always gives birth."  Sophocles 

spring, riverside park...

fancy footsteps

near washington street...

building blocks

richard serra, equal, MoMA

fashion is love

a new week begins.  as a nation, we have barely processed the tragedies of the past weekend, our hearts heavy and our souls scarred yet again. our anger real.  

then the call came to me on Monday from a former Bloomies colleague to share the impossible news that we had lost our dear friend Tamera to her long struggle with Lupus disease, a battle which i have come to learn was more brutal than Tamera ever let on but not brutal enough to keep her from her equally fierce recent fight on behalf of human rights, active in her local Bay area and vocal in the name of those around the globe.  she gave a damn.  Tamera was too young, had too much more to do, and too many of us to inspire with her love, loyalty and light.  

i am so grateful to have literally bumped into her a few years back during New York Market Week where we stopped in our tracks in the Javits Center upon recognizing one another, immediately parked on the base of a few display mannequins, and chatted and hugged and laughed and promised to meet up again. 

Tamera was by then the proud owner of Kostum, a fashion consignment boutique she had acquired from a prior owner in Piedmont. she of course also heavily promoted emerging talent with small accessories buys and in store events, true to her Fashion Office roots at Bloomies and her accomplished industry career savvy.  clearly, the store was a passion project she led with both her head and her heart, sharing the entrepreneurial venture with her devoted husband, Robert, a true creative talent, and embracing the contributions of her dedicated staff. 

when Tamera and i did meet up a season or so later,  emailing and following one another on social media in between, it was aptly during September Fashion Week. following a fresh fall rain, i dragged her to an intimate trunk show event at Canon, a new boutique on Sullivan Street, and she coordinated a group dinner at Palma in the Village with another Bloomies alumna, the exquisite Ms. Gerry.

at the store party, Tamera enthusiastically talked small business with Stacia, the shop owner, and introduced her brother in law, Udo, a global fashion photographer, to the crowd, making new contacts and authentic connections left and right.

later in the evening, from across the rose strewn, votive lit dinner table, i can remember nothing but the music in her sweet voice, the life in her infectious giggle and the magic in her sparkling eyes.  at one point in our conversation, she did reference her medical trials and just as quickly, shrugged them away,  expressing pure joy at currently feeling healthy and strong enough to take on a Manhattan buying trip and realize her vision for her store.

this morning, social media revealed that we had lost another beloved, writer Toni Morrison.  my first thought was disbelief, and then a kind of instant calm.  i could only think that this larger than life being must have followed Tamera for a really worthy reason and that the two divine women will join forces to serve us and to guide us from a better place.

Ms. Morrison once wrote, "at some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. you don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it. it is enough."  sublime. and peaceful.  and yet, i have these few photos snapped during the special city reunion with my friend which i will, for the time being, cherish.

i miss you, T, sister, friend, role model, and will always honor your brave, beautiful, creative life! D

Tamera, Fashion Week, NYC...