Growing up my Finnish single mother was a costume designer for a local playhouse. To occupy time, my younger sister and I would sit late into the night in her dark sewing room, paging through old Vogue magazines. We were mesmerized by the creativity of fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein. Quizzing each other on the “it” item of the season from the different designers was one of our favorite childhood pastimes. To this day we continue to ask each other the important question, “if you were to wear one designer for the rest of your life….who would it be? Somewhere I have hidden a ripped up Dayton’s box filled with magazine cut-outs of my future fashion self. Thank god I have evolved my fashion style otherwise I would end up wearing gigantic puff pink dresses, fishnet stockings over my hands and all sorts of hats with large Chanel logos.
As I grew older, I realized that some may view haute fashion as impractical or attempting to gain status through material possessions. For me, it was a life long passion and making tangible the dreams of my youth. I eventually started to realize how important it is for me to have items I find to be timeless in a world that encourages disposable fashion. Therefore while some may view my Yves Saint Laurent wallet as unnecessary, for me it is something I anticipate using for the rest of my life. Each day I look at it, it brings me back to the dreams of my youth.
When I turned thirty, I decided it was time to start investing in myself. I was going to buy THE purse. You know, the purse that defines you for the rest of your life. Longs story short, I zoned in on my favorite designer Yves Saint Laurent and went in for the kill. To my surprise my boyfriend bought me the matching wallet to go with purse. I love way I feel when I pull out my wallet and am reminded of where I came from. Here was something that was so far beyond anything I could have imagined as a child and now I carry it with me every day.
The leather is buttery soft and the gold logo, though understated, glimmers. I love to inhale the distinctive smell of the smooth, black leather. The wallet is sizable and I am able to use it as a clutch in the evenings. It easily fits my important items such as lipstick, cellphone and maxed out credit cards. Amazingly each item has its place, which comes in handy for someone that is organizationally challenged such as me. Also, if I ever get the chance to dash off at a moments notice, I have a space reserved just for my passport in my wallet.
Liike Design 