“‘Don’t be frightened, Vasilisa, and do not be sad, for the morning is wiser than the evening.'”
– Василиса Прекрасная (Vasilisa the Beautiful)
I’ve been giving quite a lot of consideration to the fairy tale Russian-ness of the Dolce & Gabbana F/W ’14 collection, and have become determined to find a long, flowy autumnal dress or three to wear with my favorite merlot-red fox fur.
As I lack a sufficient pile of dragon-gold to purchase a D&G, I found this reasonable facsimile at ASOS that does quite nicely. Perfect for bounding through a Baltic wheat field (or, more likely for the hardened New Yorker, a beer garden).
Paired here with the aforementioned fox fur and an Anna Sui straw kitten hat from god knows how many seasons ago, purchased at an obscene bargain-basement markdown at the Outnet end-of-summer sale. (If you’re wondering whether I actually intend to wear this out on the street, I absolutely do; I’ll probably do it more simply, with a nice blazer and denim, and probably on days when I’m feeling little bit down because it’s the type of thing that requires a certain confidence in order to pull off – so I’ll put it on, and set myself the task of living up.)
Whether I will encounter Baba Yaga like Vasilisa the Brave, I do not know; but I am sure there’s a mean old lady somewhere out there on the Lower East Side, one who carries all of her belongings with her in a shopping cart festooned with chicken bones and who looks like she might willingly eat small children.
Dare me to walk up to her with a pack of smokes, and ask her for a light.
Dress, ASOS; Kitten Hat, Anna Sui; Fur, anonymous midtown Manhattan sample sale.
