Month: July 2024

Flying

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This time I chose to chop up my flight to Germany in three segments. San Luis Obispo, CA -> Phoenix, AZ -> London, UK -> Munich, DE. It is nice to get off a crowded plane, stretch your legs and walk around before taking the next part of your journey. It is nice to use a restroom that is not miniature size and has a line waiting outside, it is nice to visit some stores, watch people stress about their connection and it is nice to walk seven minutes from your arriving gate to your departure gate when you have 90 minutes between flights.

And then there is Heathrow International Airport in London. Layover: 90 minutes. Time to use a restroom or watch people = 0 minutes. Because at Heathrow, they don’t want you to pee and they are very successful with people who watch you stressing from your arriving terminal to the departing terminal. Visiting store time = 0 minutes, walking = 0. Everything has to be done running. And then you think you arrived at what you thought is terminal 5, but this is just a bus station with a mile long line of people who are all stressed catching the next bus or the second or third bus, because time is running out. And when you finally made it into a bus, you get a sightseeing tour of the Heathrow Airport, because there is no direct drive from point A to B. At Heathrow, the connection is the longest possible way from A to B. It took me 90 minutes to hurry to my connection flight, and I hate to be forced to hurry. I wanted to use the restroom, I wanted to watch people and not be the one being watched. I don’t like Heathrow. Never have, never will…..

But I made it just in time, jumped onto my third airplane and safely flew towards my final destination: Munich! And then there was this mayor storm. The airport was shut down, because a mega thunderstorm decided to give us a little hello party. The delay itself was not so much of a problem, but all the catching up the airport had to do. All those airplanes that had to circle around before landing were in a big rush to land and unload all those people, who were in a sour mood by then. Don’t ask me how the pointy elbows felt at the baggage claim. Everybody had a reason to feel more important and therefore use their elbows to make their way to the luggage. Maybe because they didn’t know that the suitcases, once on the distribution belt, will circle around again and again. It is coming back eventually. It is not falling off the edge of the flat surface of the earth if you can’t get it off the luggage belt the first time around. But people know so little sometimes!

Storm near Munich

Fashion! Or is it Art? Or both?

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„Viktor&Rolf is the avant-garde luxury fashion house founded in 1993 by fashion artists Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren after their graduation from the Arnhem Academy of Art and Design. Widely recognized and respected for its provocative Haute Couture and conceptual glamour, the house of Viktor&Rolf aspires to create spectacular beauty and unexpected elegance through an unconventional approach to fashion.“

Why do we wear clothing? Is it to show our religious or societal rank? Or because we need protection against the elements? Or because we want to be modest? Whatever the reason, that piece of garment has to be designed and produced, it has to follow rules of chemistry and physics. Materials like icecubes won’t work, especially in warm climates. And then there is gravity. And Viktor&Rolf, who question everything I just mentioned in this paragraph.

This long dress with its simple silhouette is made of fabric that is usually used for blue-screen technology. When the models walked down the runway, the blue-screen material was replaced by videos of thunderstorm, fireworks, nature, etc. The material of the dress was used as a screen, a canvas to go beyond and dissolves the material itself. This plays tricks with your imagination and dissolves the boundary an outfit usually has: inside the dress is the body, and the dress is the border to the outside.

Another way to break all the rules of convention are those outfits below. Fashion designers create gaps and openings in fabrics to stimulate curiosity, to enhance comfort and wearability. But an opening doesn’t have to be limited to a strapless or one-shoulder top, a backless dress or a miniskirt. Why not remove areas in-between? It’s still a long dress, but with maximal exposure.

And don’t forget the fun! Fun with fooling gravity, fun with questioning symmetry, fun with material choices that get your heart smiling and your mind remembering times when you scribbled your first fashion designs with no rule catalog weighing you down.

Viktor&Rolf also show those classics that awe everybody who has an appreciation for a garment that took 600 hours of work, haute couture at its best! This dress was worn by the Dutch princess Mabel van Oranje-Nassau‘s nuptials with Prince Friso. The white satin dress, including a 3-meter train is decorated with 248 silk bows.

Another favorite: it looks like it’s made of 1 yard of nude jersey and some fabric markers. Simple, comfortable, and why not? It takes guts to design an outfit like that, but hey, it’s Viktor&Rolf!

Highschool Reunion – part 2

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The last time I attended a highschool reunion was 30 years ago. It was our 10th and it was not very well attended. Mostly the nerdy kids, that had landed a great job; they bragged about “my house, my car, my boat” stuff and I couldn’t keep up with any of their lives. I was a single mom with two boys, I had a masters degree, but no house, no car and no boat either.

Then…
… and now

This time, 30 years later, we really enjoyed each other’s company. We gave each other hugs, because – as one of my class mates said – now we’re brave enough to do so! Very sweet! We talked about life, fate, disappointments, new beginnings. We talked about trauma, struggles, bumps and loosing loved ones. Starting families, blending families, we enjoyed talking about kids and a few already had grandchildren! No house, no car, no boat was mentioned. Very funny: now that I have a house, a car and a boat. Technically it’s 2.5 houses and it is Ted’s boat, but that’s not the point. The point is: I enjoyed seeing my classmates again and sharing stories. It was a very hot and humid day and the white wine was plenty. This event left a warm fuzzy feeling around my heart and I felt closer to my buddies than ever before. Except Ulrike, my BFF! Knowing somebody so well at the age of 20 and still be so close at the age of 60 is special and I feel spoiled…..

BFF: Ulli and I