Holiday Traditions

The Christmas season never fails to get me excited.

The opportunity to decorate an interior, even temporarily, is always a chance to create in a new way, to update a tradition.

And that can be a fun adventure for the individual who likes to keep it fresh and exciting from year to year.

But that isn't me.

The look I crave starts at the front door with a gorgeous wreath.

Next, I love a fresh cut tree loaded with ornaments and garlands. The colors are traditional and the look is old-fashioned.

I must have tartan, the more the merrier, and the wonderfully elegant pleated Stewart tartan ornaments from Ralph Lauren's home collection of 1988, with their black velvet loops, are still filling the bill, every December.  With more colored balls, ribbon garlands, and tons of white lights, in a room fragrant with blooming paper whites, clove-studded oranges and Agraria Bitter Orange potpourri, the mantel hung with tartan stockings and bedecked with lit candles and sumptuous beribboned greenery, I couldn't ask for a cozier, more luxurious interior for my favorite time of year!

Light the fire, draw the drapes, bring in the eggnog and snicker-doodles, and settle in for a Christmas Eve to remember.  Don't forget the tartan throws on the sofas around the room and on the easy chairs by the fire, for maximum comfort, and a drowsy end to an exciting day before Christmas.

Contemplating the glowing tree with stacks of presents arranged just so, their colorful wrapped contents waiting for the next morning's unwrapping, is just a magical moment to be cherished with my family.

The dining room decorated with more paper whites and garlands, plaid tablecloth, napkins and chargers, candles waiting to be lit for the Christmas meal the next day, and garlands adorning the landing and the stairs, lets everyone know that we are ready for the festivities.

I look forward to all of this every single year, and this one is no exception, with a new grandchild about to experience his first Christmas!

Such fun and so much to look forward to!! And lovely memories to be treasured in the years to come.

Herewith, some favorite looks of the season.

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The Allure of Enduring Influences

When Ralph Lauren started designing womenswear back in the early 70's, I was a fledgling assistant buyer at Joseph Magnin in San Francisco.

Cyril Magnin, Joseph Magnin's son, supported Ralph's business from day one and introduced his collection in a special shop at the flagship location in Union Square.  He knew he had a winner and was determined to let the world know.

While I. Magnin had the local lock on established designers and purveyors, like Hermes and Louis Vuitton, Blass, Norell, et al, JM was the place for new and cutting edge, and Cyril Magnin led the way with his vision of the future and his understanding of the young generation coming up all around him.  He believed in that generation of women in particular and championed them and their growing influence.

Imagine how thrilled I was as a participant in this unfolding story, being at the very inception point of what turned out to be an amazingly successful launch of a multi-billion dollar clothing company, not to mention the concept of creating a whole lifestyle collection from sheets to decor soon thereafter. As a demographically ideal consumer, in the Baby Boomer Generation, from that point forward, Ralph had a big impact on me and my life and lifestyle.

I became a Ralphaholic.

Having come from the East Coast and grown up with school uniforms, tartan skirts and scarves, all the preppy and equestrian touches that represented a certain level of class, Ralph's collection was a reminder of the power of those influences and their continuing allure.

While taken to task for lifting his ideas wholesale from English traditional cuts and fabrications and from East Coast Wasp old boys' club/polo regalia, he stayed true to his primary goal, which was the preservation and updating of what
he loved and admired the most: elegant bespoke clothing as worn by Cary Grant and the Prince of Wales, as well as every accoutrement relevant to that taste level.  Obviously, authentic detail was the most important component of this pursuit.

As a student of that culture and a keen observer of all the details, Ralph was uniquely suited and passionately involved in making his dream a reality.

The authenticity of his designs, and his tweaking of the classics, filled a need that I didn't even know I had - until I saw his collection.  This was aspirational lifestyle retail at its very beginnings, and I, and millions like me, wanted IN! I promptly  bought a plaid shirt in a soft fabric, and wore it with the new pants silhouette. I was in fashion! The menswear trend was just beginning, and how powerful it was to become!

As time went on, Ralph's designs have continued to capture the essence of other cultural influences:  the Southwestern look, as interpreted by Millicent Rogers, all authentic turquoise jewelry and conch belts, broomstick skirts and Navajo design sweaters and jackets, big leather bags, and leather and suede garments.

Equestrian, anyone?  Jodhphurs, campaign furniture, alligator belts and matching shoes and boots, handcrafted in Italy, with sterling silver buckles and tips. Swoon worthy accessories - bags, luggage, scarves.

Tennis dresses, golf gear, jeans and ski wear - not to mention every single thing for an interior to enshroud one in the dream environment - all acquirable, all available, authentic in every detail, and, over time, at a number of price points. Tartan walls, paisley bedding, argyle socks and rep ties and on and on and on.

And the unbelievable photo shoots and pages of lush advertising that were in every Vogue, W, and Harpers Bazaar, driving the lust more and more!

Now, forty years on, here is the next logical step in the label's advance: vintage Ralph Lauren at retail!



Talk about coming full circle!

Did you miss all those trends because you weren't born yet?  How about missing the season you would have loved to participate in because you were pregnant and just didn't care?  Well, you cared later but it was too late.  Or so you thought.

Here's the trajectory: 70's - Original designs, manufactured and sold, seasonally, then marked down, sold through, and whatever was left, jobbed out to Loehmann's et al.  Pre-owned goods from individuals to consignment/thrift stores. No one shopped consignment - "used" was looked down on. Period.

80's - the birth of outlet shopping.  Why should Loehmann's have all the fun (money)? Consignment starts to thrive - great money for out of season designer clothing.  People were catching on.

90's - diversification, minimalization in clothing design and interiors as a trend, the rise of the Internet, and, in the late 90's, the beginnings of on-line businesses. Actual auctions of vintage clothing and couture, for amazing prices, raising awareness and creating value where none was thought to exist. The rise of  exclusive vintage dealers, charging and getting big money for couture and rare items, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Madame Gres, Jean Desses, Schiaparelli, etc.

2000's - Internet-driven sales through auction sites, most notably Ebay, as well as websites devoted to vintage exclusively.

This is where those alligator belts and shoes from the late 80's came to be resold. I know because I bought them.

So here we are today, still shopping, still acquiring, still maneuvering - but with so many more options that were completely unthinkable back in the day!

Wow! What could possibly be next???

I have one more story to tell about Ralph and his non-stop appeal.

My best friend and I talked my husband into taking us to the only Ralph Lauren outlet worth going to in California, the one in Barstow, back in 1991.

I had just spent an entire season 2 years before, lusting after wooden bangles that I had seen in the Palo Alto and San Francisco Ralph Lauren stores, from $350 to $600 at retail.  I could NOT justify spending the money although I could have bought as many as I wanted. I had tear sheets from Vogue with models wearing three and four at a time, and I couldn't stop looking at the pictures.  It was an obsession I have rarely experienced.  I just didn't act on it.  I let them go. Oh well.

Now for the trip to outlet heaven.

Let's just say that we were in a fever of excitement, flying down for the day only, so time was of the essence.

We flew to Ontario, rented a car and drove to Barstow.

We got a map of the outlets and went straight to Ralph.

Overload ensued.  Where to begin.  I went to the shoe department, hoping for alligator pumps, which I found immediately, in my size and for $183.00, instead of the $1500.00 retail the previous season in San Francisco.
Done! Next, a pair of beige suede and alligator tipped oxfords, $150.00 -OMG!

Next, velvet wide legged pants in black, originally $1200.00, for me $120.00, and in black silk, $200.00.  Pale butter linen jodhpurs, $135.00.

Tried on a tennis outfit, didn't work.

Meanwhile my clueless husband was roaming around and found a stash of the very wooden bracelets that I had been losing sleep over for years!

He walked up to me holding a BASKET of the bracelets, and said, innocently, "What about these?"

Right after I picked myself up off the floor, I asked him, barely breathing, how much they were.  He said, and I quote, "$7.99."

Reader, we bought all 30 of them.  That was all they had.  Had I died and gone to heaven?? Absolutely.

When all was said and done, I spent $2000 for a haul at retail of 7 or 8 times what I would have paid - and could have paid!  It was a very, very clarifying moment.,let me tell you . But that was then.  And times have changed yet again, in a most intriguing turn of events, to say the least!

So now to the vintage side of the equation.

Does anyone think that the items in the vintage Ralph Lauren store will be going for anything but the most premium prices?

Because there is NO WAY these items will be perceived as having gone down in value.

They have now reached a level of scarcity comparable to a Picasso!

So prepare yourself for the next trend.

Will Tommy Hilfiger be far behind???

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The Evolution of International Style

If you are walking around any major city on planet earth today, you are probably aware of the apparent homogenization of style in clothing. For women, wherever you turn, it's leggings, giant scarves, sunglasses, boots or flats, a fabulous statement bag and killer bracelets and/or watch. It's the easy uniform today.  Or so it seems.

And for men, jeans with rolled cuffs, a navy or black blazer, a custom loafer or brogue and a great shirt. Sunglasses, watch - good to go - anywhere!

Where does that leave the individual in this day and age? Is it still possible to stand out and express oneself in a way that asserts one's difference from all others?

If that is what moves you, then you are presented right now with more choices than any fashionista could possibly entertain if she were working on it as a project twenty-four hours a day for the next thousand years!

This is a fairly recent turn of events, no more than 4 or 5 years, hastened by the Internet and the immediacy of information, and the simultaneous influence of designers and fashion interpreters internationally.

Things were a little different just a few decades ago.

At that time, there was a hierarchy of availability of fashion choices, access determined by your physical location and exposure to what was actually manufactured for sale in any given season, by virtue of what retailer was offering the clothing, accessories, shoes, and so on near you. The most exclusive items were in large cities worldwide, rarely elsewhere.

Outside of a major city, you were limited by your ability to get to the location of the actual item for sale. And if you had to drive a distance, or fly somewhere to get it, you would have to call the store and hope to get someone to help you acquire what you wanted, IF it was in stock and IF they would ship it to you.

How quaint it all seems now - but this was only 20 or so years ago.

Say you were in South Dakota reading Vogue.  You would have to strategize like General Patton to figure out how to acquire the latest Calvin Klein or whomever - and pray it would fit and that it would be exactly what you were hoping it would be.

I remember lusting after a pair of Trussardi black wedges with long laces, a leather version of a high espadrille - super chic - back in 1998. I had seen them in an editorial in one of my fashion magazines and had to have them!   Were they available in the US?

Of course not - only in Paris. As in France.

I called information for Paris, got the number and called the store at some crazy hour, San Francisco time.

My French is rusty but I would have resorted to that if I had had to. Thank goodness the person spoke English and was very helpful.

I purchased the black wedges and a pair in navy patent!  Very exciting!

Did they fit me when they arrived two weeks later?  No. They did not.

I sold them to a friend.

But did that stop me from pursuing fashion wherever it might be?  No way! The fun was in the discovery, and the thrill was in the acquisition.

With the literal tsunami of information, images, ideas and viewpoints swirling around us now, it really is a wonder that sense can be made of it all.

With everything from heritage brands for both men and women, as well as new looks emerging from the minds of both new and old designers, the most exciting trend is the one that speaks to YOU.

Resources are a click away, to virtually visualize your next look before you buy or to try something that you would never have considered until you became aware of it.

Culturally, there used to be recognizable items that immediately identified a person as being an inhabitant of a country.

Now, we are citizens of the world, with all the freedom of choice that that confers.

There will be consensus as we evolve, but it will be among people of like mind wherever they live, unconstrained by borders or their own imagination.

We will be free to pursue our respective styles and inclinations.

I can't wait to see the results of the grand experiment we are all living!!

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