Be Thankful for your Best Self
What Fashion Advice would you have given to your Younger Self?
Happy Thanksgiving - as I sit here, thinking about family and all I am grateful for, I started to think about my younger self, and what advice I would give her… the truth is I always give the same answer, and wanted to share this with you...
In my twenties, I was one of Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite runway models at the House of Chanel, and when I saw this comment by Coco Chanel, it struck me more than any other:
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.”
Today, especially on Thanksgiving, I am taking stock of the strength and beauty passed on to me by my mother and father, a gift that was given to us by our ancestors. This is something to be thankful for.
My Dad is second from the left with my grandparents.
Who or what inspired you to be you, and what are you most thankful for?
Family has always been what inspires me, and what matters most.
My love of style was definitely inspired and came from my family.
Style is not about the labels you wear - but your character and way you define yourself.
For me, style has always been a strong connection to the people I love the most.
I grew up understanding the value of money and living a good life. My parents worked hard for everything we had. Mom was a nurse, and Dad was an electrician, but even being professionals, they worked nights and weekends for overtime pay, and my dad often had a second job to help make ends meet.
My Mom, Lt. Col. Marion Webb.
My Mom was a creative powerhouse. She made 90% of what I wore and taught my sisters and me how to sew and knit. Making a sweater from a ball of yarn or a dress from a bolt of fabric taught me to respect what I owned. And that made me love fashion deep down in my soul.
In an outfit my mom made - Haute Couture here I come.
Both my parents had been in the military, and then in civilian life wore sparkling clean freshly pressed uniforms to work - which created a real life realpolitik understanding of what dressing was capable of communicating to the outside world.
Saturday afternoons with my mom and sisters were for going to Jonann fabrics selecting fabrics and sifting through Butterick pattern books at Sears imagining perfect outfits for church and school.
My childhood evenings were spent standing next to my mother’s sewing machine winding up balls of yarn or being pinned into clothes in delicious anticipation of the coming one-of-a-kind garment handmade by my mother.
Me at 15 trying to look like a model. I can’t even find the camera in a Photo Booth.
I thought I had seen it all in my brief stint as an art student in New York city - punk rock, hip-hop and skater style - fancy ladies in designer finery on 5th Avenue. I hadn’t seen anything ‘til I got to Paris, here were the most creative and exciting minds - and either fought my way into, or was lucky enough to be invited, into the inner sanctum of designers like John Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld, Commes des Garçons and Alaïa. Witnessing clothes being stitched together and styled on my body, and sometimes creating an entirely new vocabulary of how to dress, changed my perspective on the world, not just on fashion.
Fashion is a way of communicating both where you’ve come from and where you’re striving to go in life.
Working closely with designers I got to see and absorb parts of their creative process, and join their creative family. That experience I am thankful for - opening me up to how to amplify the gifts I’ve been given.
At 19 spreading my fashion wings
Fashion might not have all the answers, but it’s an essential creative activity everyone has to participate in everyday. Continually, what I come back to are the women in my life who demonstrated strength and style. OG style influencers in my life were my two older sisters. Both are drop-dead gorgeous and whip-smart. Jennifer gravitated to medicine and Teresa to mathematics and education.
It was the Disco Era, I was in grade school wearing overalls and sailor dresses while they were in high school going to “formal dances” or glamorous sounding nightclubs like the ‘20 Grand’ or the ‘Roostertail’ decked out in halter dresses with suede platforms we dyed to match in our basement sink. To me, that was, and still is, the height of Style.
My Sisters Teresa and Jennifer Saturday Night Fever.
Back to the advice I would give my younger self: style is not about becoming someone or something else, as tempting as it may be to try on the cloak of an extreme trend or join a fashion tribe like punks or preppies, it’s about slipping, comfortably, into your own skin.
Vogue fashion editor Grace Coddington famously said “Fashion is about breaking the rules.” ALWAYS break the rules that hold yourself back from being the most fabulous version of yourself.
Lavish living doesn’t have to be limited to the Thanksgiving table.
This Thanksgiving I am switching off my phone, except of course to FaceTime family and friends around the world, and switching all my attention on to those I love.
Like everyone juggling many plates to make things perfect…! Remember: perfect is connecting with family and the people you love.
Be Thankful for your Selfie - your Best Selfie - the one you are when the camera is OFF.
Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving - Enjoy the holidays, let me know what you’re up to – will be back with Ideas for Gifting, Giving Back, Beauty and Aesthetic Medicine and the party season for Christmas…
Beautiful family photos 🤍 happy Thanksgiving 🍁