August 2026
It's the question that no one can escape these days:
How's your summer going?!
Though I am not eating spaghetti with well dressed sirens off the coast of Capri, I am writing to you from the beautiful wilderness of southeast Wisconsin where I have exiled myself to binge read and write in between walks and other contemplative pursuits. I am currently on a deck looking at a doe looking at me. Not Italy, but sublime in its own way.
Now as to the scene above, it was captured in 1939 by photographer Hamilton Wright, working for the Associated Press and documenting how the island was becoming a hub for those escaping the rest of pre-war Europe.
I look at the photo and think THIS is the Good Life. But the good life in terms of an allegiance to a quality of experience. The freshness and seasonality of the food, the choice of setting, and (most importantly) the selection of one's company - all combined into an experience that captures style without pretension.
I aspire to this. I aspire to have friends who wouldn't just find the idea of a floating meal of wine and spaghetti—glassware and cloth napkins included—normal, but actively pursue it. The 'it' being the elevation of the everyday into the extraordinary. These ladies weren't staged for this photograph. This is their life.
Who wants to recreate this scene with me next year?
Taking applications.
And now for the usual installment of
What-Nots From the More Obscure Corners of Vintage:
Imagine you are participating in a study where everyone wears an identical white coat, but were told different things about it — half were told it was a doctor's coat, half a painter's coat.
Everyone then had to perform an attention task (i.e., spotting small differences between near-identical images).
What do you think the results would show?
Without spoiling it for you, I can tell you that the symbolic meaning of clothing is REAL in not just how we perceive ourselves, but how we actually behave.
Read more on this seminal experiment from 2012:
Enclothed Conditioning Study
See what a longer tuft or braid of hair signified in early modern England (and the backlash to it)!
From an expression of love to political affiliation, such details played a large role in self-representation even centuries ago.
German author Goethe became infamous across Europe due to the hysteria inspired by the main character of his novel, The Sorrows Of Young Werther (1774).
Werther's tragic end set off a chain of real-life suicides among young men who were often found wearing the character's blue jacket and yellow breeches. It was an epidemic equal parts heartbreaking, and costume conscious.
London's Victoria and Albert Museum is presenting the influence and history of the Burberry trench coat in September.
Excellent essay on the deeper aspects of vintage American labels, tweed blazers, and what remains true as trends come and go.
Versace's Fall/Winter 2026 campaign is built around its own archive and shot by longtime collaborator Steven Meisel.
Mixing archival imagery with the new collection, it's a nice example of a major house using its own vintage material as a marketing asset - a trend worth paying attention to!
Note my (very) early Versace dress - currently in the shop!
Let's conclude with something modern but in the spirit of repurposing and reinventing clothes: Designer Alexandra Sipa weaves the inner workings of old electronics into glorious dresses! (Hat tip to friend of the blog, Karen)
