Only One in the World

pants: Rubberband New York top: Skies Are Blue jacket: Dauphinette NYC Photo: Miss O

The weekend before I left New York to go home for Thanksgiving, I went to New Jersey with Fiona for her sister’s high school play. On our way to Jersey we spent a few hours in NYC on the West Side. I took her to my favorite brunch spot, Tartine (if you’re ever in NYC and in the west village, you must go… it’s on 11th ave.), and then we decided to walk around and window shop for a bit before we had to catch our next train. As we’re walking, looking in all the shops and admiring all the beautiful buildings in the area, Fiona pointed across the street at this small boutique, where a beautiful floor length dress covered in champagne sequins and feather trim, stood in the window. She suggested we go in since it seemed like the store might match both of our vibes, and of course I agreed. When I tell you that as soon as I stepped into the space I felt transcended into my aesthetic wonderland, I did. There was color, the use of florals and crazy patterns, there was alternative mediums, and vintage pieces. As we made it farther into the store, I spotted the jacket above. It was like the foundation of my entire style board had come to life right in front of me. I of course tried it on, and after what I would like to say was a lot of contemplation but was actually a rather quick decision, I bought the jacket.

Now, I will give you some back ground of the jacket before I explain why this is the best purchase I have ever made. So the founder and designer of Dauphinette is a woman named Olivia Cheng, and I could never thank her enough for finding and enhancing this amazing piece. It all started when she went to an estate sale for a high class woman who had recently passed. She wandered into the room where the wardrobe was being displayed. There she found three seemingly identical wool trench coats. One in fuchsia, one in cream, and one in cerulean. Of course she grabbed them because that is a once in a lifetime find. She then took these jackets, altered them all slightly different, and trimmed the sleeves with recycled dyed feathers of a coordinating color. The fuchsia with light pink, the cream with gold, and the cerulean with periwinkle.

Ok, so now that you have the back story, I have to defend my purchase. I will start by saying that since being in school I have not spent much money, thus I had plenty for the jacket considering how much I worked leading up to leaving for school. Next, this jacket is the only one in existence. Meaning that no one else in the world has this exact jacket. Just me. That being said, this jacket is now the most expensive thing that lives in my small dorm closet. Because of this, I lied to my mother about how much it cost, but only for like a week… because then she caught me in the lie…. LOL. I will not disclose the exact price of the jacket, but I will say that I kept $605.68 off of the price I told my mom. Oops.

You may be wondering “Olyvia, when are you going to wear this… it doesn’t go with anything”. And to you I would say that I will actually wear it all the time, but you’re right. It doesn’t go with just anything, it goes with everything. The jacket is the statement piece of anything I would choose to wear it with, meaning that I could wear it with a sweatshirt and jeans if I wanted a more streetstyle look. Or I could wear it with tight sparkly leather pants, and a pink silk blouse (as seen in the photo above). Both work because of the part the jacket plays in the overall function of the outfit. Just wait till I wear that thing with red, then I will really be rocking the boat. And then you’ll REALLY see what I mean.

What I am trying to say with this is take risks with your fashion. Even though I may seem like someone who just wears what she wants, and pays no mind, I actually pay too much mind. Although this jacket is my favorite thing I have ever purchased, and is something I know I will wear all the time, the fear that people will judge me or not like it, invades my confidence consistently. So instead I just remind myself that I love it. That I feel good in it. That I feel seen, empowered, and accomplished in it. And when I feel those things while wearing the jacket, and everything else I wear, I know that I look good. So…. go buy something outrageous that you love, or dig something out of your closet that you have always been too scared to wear, and fucking own it. I know you’ll look amazing.

-Miss O