It’s the Little Things: My Top 5 Luxuries (of the Moment)
Quiet luxury, affordable luxury, Black girl luxury; opulence is everywhere.
Growing up, luxury looked different. Sometimes it was having satellite cable—or even cable at all. Sometimes it was hot water. By middle/high school, it was everyone else going on the junior Euro trip or Chrissy from Las Vegas* getting her nails done every two weeks. (She had the airbrushed butterfly square tip acrylics before everyyyone else.)
Today, luxury is nearly everything. You can’t log onto anywhere dot com without some aspirational something being pedestaled as the solution to all your problems.
Tbh, I get it though. I feel like if I had the medium brown calfskin leather et tortoiseshell-effect sequins Fendi Baguette I would, in fact, be in better standing. This, alongside others, are my top 5 luxuries…well, top 5 right now. I’m a Libra. Leave room for some grace.
Reworked Vintage Finds
In this house, we love a vintage designer piece that’s been touched by an angel et given a second chance at life. Like my Christian Dior Separates houndstooth jacket.
Before Halston over-licensed his name to the likes of JC Penney, Christian Dior pioneered luxury licensing. Along with perfumes, hosiery, et eyewear (which significantly boosted revenue post-WWII), came this 80s houndstooth jacket. Christian Dior Separates was a subsidized label aimed at American women seeking day-to-day Dior—more practical (et affordable) than Parisian couture. This little jacket, et others under the Separates label, helped contribute to the rise of ready-to-wear in the mid-20th century.
Then it found its way to the Rove rework section of ARMED Jewelry, where it was made over with ostrich feather trim cuffs, et now contributes to the rise of my adoration for getting dressed.
Old clothes hold a lot of stories, et whenever we bring them out to dance, eat, celebrate, work, cry, or whatever else, we’re adding to that story. Poetic, of course, but it’s almost biblical too. The way we take what was once forgotten or cast aside, remix it, et weave it into our own lives—it feels like the essence of creation. All of us little prophets, writing our own stylish parables
2. Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Nectar Layered with Juliette Has a Gun Vanilla Vibes & a Touch of Bichu Oil
Idk if you’re aware, but a look is the whole thing. Hair, outfit, shoes, accessories, nails, attitude, et the scent. Say it with me: I am a living, breathing art piece—a delight for all the senses.
This isn’t my signature scent,* just one of the somethings I like to roll around in come FW. If you want to smell like you’ve just had a night of passion at a luxury beachfront property with a burly man who probably has a better skincare routine than you, this is the one
3. A Good Home Cooked Meal (bonus points if you aren’t the chef)
I was talking (surprise, surprise) recently with two people I love, et they shared something that’s been lingering in my mind since: Are we losing community spaces that aren’t centered around substances? Book clubs et bowling leagues seem to be on the decline, et remote work (bless it) coupled with everything else post-pandemic has made leaving the house to connect feel almost... optional.
Thankfully, those same two have been the kind of friends who do something about it. They’ve opened their home to me endlessly—not just as a third space, but as a safe space to laugh, et cry et eat.
My good sis Sandy, who I’m pretty sure is like the John Galliano of food, throws down—from Haiti meets Japan fusion to deconstructed desserts et the time she cooked octopus for the first time ever et it slaaaapppeddddd. It’s like Margiela Spring 2024 Couture, but you can eat it.
There’s something about a home-cooked meal that just feels luxurious. The love and care poured into preparing something that nourishes both your body et soul is a kind of luxury that no amount of cash can buy—not at Pastis, not at Parm.*
Plus, who doesn’t love laughing, gasping, et/or crying over good food, great drinks et the best company? It’s like an episode of Girlfriends come to life. Mad luxe.
4. Time (et all the places I’d rather be spending it)
Childhood led me to believe the most luxurious thing you could ever have was a thing. The deeper I go into my existence bag, the more I realize true luxury—the ultimate opulence et top shelf of sophistication—isn’t what you have, but what you don’t have to endure.
Ladies, themies, et gents…that is the flex: a life free from unnecessary hurdles.
When trad wives™️ give us a small look into their glossy lives, people seem to think the envy should be of them casually seizing the day in off the runway, but miss the part that someone has enough time on their hands to make cereal from scratch(!!!!!!!!)
When I’m blessed with those rare moments of dolce far niente* that won’t deter my survival, I prefer to enjoy another under rated luxury: slowness. Easing into the day, my actions, my thoughts. Et if I can ease into them on, in or near a body of water, palm trees, sand or big grassy mountains, I’m the richest woman in the world et you can’t tell anything about it!
5. The Medium Bown Calfskin Leather et Tortoiseshell-effect sequins Fendi Baguette
I mean, would you just look at her. Hand-embroidered with brown tortoiseshell-effect sequins, trimmed in brown calfskin et finished with the classic FF clasp embellished with tortoiseshell plexiglass filling. All of which is done in a beautiful chocolate et tortoise brown so it’s a party bag you can carry daily without growing tired of it.
Truly what more could a girl ask for?*
Footnotes:
*I met this girl in middle school, she newly moved to our city et was the first person from Vegas I ever met. Back then, all I knew about Vegas was slot machines et the movie Cool World. I thought it was so —for a lack of a better word— cool that she came from a place where a doodle could pull you into their underground world. I never forgot this about her, so she’ll always be Chrissy from Las Vegas to me.
*I am absolutely all for gatekeeping your signature scent by the way. If you all are going to be silent about anything, let it be this! I also can’t tell you where to find Bichu oil. It’s not even that I don’t want to, I simply have no idea where it’s located in your ends. Every single time I’ve ever got it, it’s been from an Indian artisan shop or flea market, but be very blessed in your research! I believe in you!!
*Both are great options though if you can’t cook like Sandy.
*Dolce far niente is an Italian phrase that simply means “the sweetness of doing nothing.” I could be wrong though as I don’t speak Italian et I received this information from a song.
*Well, besides world peace.
