Tatianna, Age 17

Fellow Jersey native/fashion blogger, Danielle Villano, brings us this week's guest post about a girl who knows exactly how to stand out in a crowd.  A picture of lilac girlie-ness herself, Villano's own blog Love and Look Pretty showcases all the "sweet, simple, and fun" delights that make this 20 year old creative writing student's world go round.  A fan of blogs like Delightfully Tacky and A Life In The Fashion Lane, Villano admits to not being able to live without her sheer black blouse by Lush ("I love it tucked into jeans or paired with leggings and a black bandeau") --- and when you're counting down the clock till the big 2...1..., love (and life) looks pretty darn good! 

Tatianna Patil, Student, Winter 2007

     She is waiting for someone, outside of the library.  She’s certainly not from around here; her boots are not made for New England snow, and her lipstick is a harsh slash in her icy surroundings.  Still, she is warm, and we all gravitate towards her.
     Her eyes remind us of Shakespearean sonnets - the kind we’re forced to read in stuffy English classrooms.   The pink hue of her cheeks has us conjuring up verses of our own.
     

       Rosebuds in bloom, sweet milk-white maiden…   

        
     We scrawl odes to her in our composition notebooks as she blinks snow flurries off her long lashes.  We wonder who has left her standing outside for so long, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered by the weather.  Only occasionally does she glance at a watch on a slender wrist. 
     We wonder if she’s a goddess in disguise.  We wonder if she’s a snow angel, or a spirit of winter past.  We sit and ponder her comings and goings as the snow melts around her and, surely, it becomes spring.  We sit and ponder as the school bell rings, signaling class time, and we’re sent scampering like frightened rabbits across the green.

In Tatianna's Closet...

 



We Wrote Sonnets by loveandlookpretty featuring a trench coat

Camille, Age 32

Many thanks to our first guest blogger, Emma Olson of crescendoing couture for today's post.  Her refreshingly unique blog "marries music and fashion by creating a unique look and giving it a song."  The 24 year old explains:  "It's a way for me to be involved with my two biggest passions and helps me feel an even deeper connection to some of my favorite tunes."  Olson's fave blogs (for the moment) are http://missladyfinger.com & http://iwanttobeher.com.  And her favorite piece? "My current favorite piece of clothing also happens to be one of my newest - a turquoise vintage wool coat that I picked up from my favorite hometown thrift store. It's so simple in design, but the color is so bold, and it's incredibly warm, perfect for my Minnesota winters." --- Aleah Rae

Camille Stephenson, Consultant, Fall 2002

     Camille cautiously stepped off the empty stage and exited the theater. There, it's done, she thought. Her first audition. When was the last time she was so nervous? Did she even get through her monologue? She could hardly remember. All she remembered walking out of that hopelessly plain space, was the faces of the director and producer. Blank, disinterested. She had anticipated that they would be rather cold, but it was still unsettling to receive no reaction as she delivered this heartbreaking tale of how she lost her mother. She had never heard someone say “thank you” so disingenuously. “Thank you, please leave, we've got a lot of spirits to crush today.”
     As she walked back to her apartment, Camille couldn't help but notice how much more aware of her surroundings she was. Her senses had become heightened somehow since she decided to focus on acting and walk away from her previous life. Everything was brighter, the air was more pungent. She had been doing her best to incorporate this new recognition to aesthetic detail into her work. She even brought her boyfriend to tears when she practiced; he told her that he forgot who she was as she spoke. It was like she became someone else. That was how she had to think from now on. She was the character. Nothing mattered to her anymore but being able to understand and communicate the human experience to theatergoers.
     But everything was now in the hands of that director and that producer, and whether they felt anything from her performance, Camille felt exhilarated. For the first time in her life, there was a very real opportunity for her to fail. And she couldn't wait. --- By Emma Olson

In Camille's Closet

Camille by emmairene featuring a burberry cape

*The quote above is a fictionalized account inspired by the people and fashion of a photograph found here.*

Nina, Age 31

Nina Tan, Defense Attorney, Winter 1990

   My father always told me this moment would come.
 

     The right side of his brain has never quite been able to fathom how I could give up the stage for the stand.  "I raised you to create your own music", he would say, "not to play someone else's."   

    He had been disappointed before though.  When my mother left us.  When my brother went into rehab.  But, this time was unlike any other.  This time, the disappointment in his voice was peppered with fear.  Allergic to change, I could tell he was afraid for me every time I'd introduce him to one of my law school study mates.  They were a foreign species, and every paternal fiber in his being wanted to keep me from them --- from becoming one of them. 

     But, I am one of them now; and like a good little lawyer, I listen intently to my new client tell his side of her story.  My sympathetic tone and reassuring eyes convince him I am on his side.  Hunting spoils line the tall walls of his old family cabin, and I wonder how he can lie this easily with so many pairs of glassy eyes glaring down at him.
  

My father always told me this moment would come. 

In Nina's Closet... 

Nina's Closet by thequeenknowsbest featuring leather jackets

*The quote above is a fictionalized account inspired by the people and fashion of a photograph found here.*