As I write this, it’s January 3rd, 2024. I have only recently stopped referring to 2019 as “last year” and somehow 2023 lasted all of 3 minutes.
I used to think the years were long. The adults in my family would always tell me that life flies by in an instant and I thought they were no-good liars, selling another fantasy to what they thought was an impressionable child. Little did they know that I was never young; I was born a jaded old woman in the body of a tiny child. But then two things happened that made me realize maybe those adults were telling the truth:
I became an actual adult.
After 21 years in the land of eternal Summer, I moved somewhere with seasons to mark the days and months throughout the year.
The years did, indeed, start flying by. I apologize for the assumption that all adults were no-good liars.
But now, I’m back in that land of eternal Summer — South Florida, just hovering above the surface of the sun — and the years are still flying by. Is that just part of aging? Does the clock speed up the longer it’s been ticking?
I digress. The point is, I thought moving back home would slow things down a bit but even though my lifestyle is much more relaxed, the years are still flying by. But I still miss the seasons, I do. At least the loveliest moments within them, that is. And so, my year-long personal project is my own love letter to the seasons. I’m dreaming up fancy dress versions that embody each one, starting with Winter.
Honestly, I don’t have a ton of direction right now except for some key words: opulence, glamour, icy, and old Hollywood. No specific era and my outfit will highly depend on what materials I find and the time I have left since I’m starting a little late. Here’s a peek at my mood board:
My Winter mood board is a little all over the place, but that’s how my mood boards tend to be. I’d love to style a sleek wig in the style of Carole Lombard (below left — her name got cut off!) but I might also go with more of a wild Greta Garbo. It will depend on the style of headpiece I make and where the wig direction takes me. As I learned in my most recent wig project, my skill level requires me to go with the flow.
So, we’ll see what I come up with. I rarely have a super firm direction and often make things up as I go. The thing is, I never want to be too inspired by a specific thing unless I’m doing an intentional homage, like below:
Anyway, I just wanted to put it out into the world because that makes it real, and you know I like to follow through on my commitments. Which is — now that I think of it, is probably why I don’t make New Year resolutions very often. Because then I’d have to follow through with them — and they’re never quite as fun as “Make a costume inspired by the seasons.”
But maybe they should be. Any ideas for this project? Please let me know!
I'm definitely excited to see where this goes! I'd love to see the more sleek wig simply bc I'm not sure we've ever seen you in that style.