Milan: Via Alserio
Inspiration: This coat stopped me dead in my tracks. Not only does she look simply gorgeous in it, but I once owned this coat (not hers -- another one exactly like it) for exactly 7 days. It's Jil Sander from one of Raf's earlier seasons. I found it while rummaging around at Century 21, a big wonderful store in New York where you can find clothes from prior seasons at great prices. The neon colors scared, excited and challenged me at the same time. How on earth would I wear this thing? Yet, without answering that question to anyone's satisfaction, I bought the coat and brought it home. For days I pranced around in my apartment with the coat on, marrying it with this outfit and that outfit but never quite getting up the gumption to walk outside with it. I knew it would be perfect for fashion week in Milan and Paris -- but only if I wanted to be photographed (and you know my aversion to that). My day job is waaaay too conservative to accommodate an entrance in blocks of pink and orange gauze. The rest of my life is waaaay too casual to justify the awesomeness of that much neon. Then I realized the problem. The coat represents the high fashion I love in magazines and on uber-fashionable people but that really isn't me. I love fashion and I don't mind being noticed on the street for a pop of color here or there or a jaunty hat but you do have to recognize yourself when you look in the mirror, no matter how brilliant the look. So, the coat went back to Century 7 days later. I was really sad to let it go because I so wanted it to work out. Turns out that it did . . . on someone else!
