After five weeks of unemployment, the first seeds of doubt begin to take root in Sophie’s head. Was she crazy to quit Arden Advertising? How much longer can her savings last? Will she ever find a better job? Or in this economy, another job, period?!
These questions don’t have easy answers.
Wanting to do something concrete, something productive, Sophie checks her inbox. It’s empty, except for a few updates from her favorite fashion sites. There are no job leads, no requests for interviews, no offers.
“No hope!” she moans.
She — just barely — resists the urge to bang her head against the keyboard. Instead, she clicks on the first of many fashion emails, and loses herself in the joy of distraction.
# # #
You have to see this!
Intrigued, Claudia opens the email from Sophie. Her eyes bug out immediately. Her screen is covered with stick-skinny women wearing crazy “conceptual” outfits. Slowly at first, then faster, as if scrolling for her life, Claudia goes through them all. At the end Sophie has written:
Isn’t this awesome?!
Claudia isn’t sure “awesome” is the word she would have chosen. She’s never been into clothes that look like they belong in a modern art museum. Give her jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops any day. But she hates being a buzzkill, especially with Sophie so stressed…
With as much enthusiasm as she can muster, Claudia writes back:
Nice! :)
# # #
Sophie sighs when she sees the reply. She knows Claudia isn’t really into fashion, but she had hoped for a slightly more enthusiastic reaction. The new Beluciana summer collection is spectacular! It’s full of artistic expression. Vivid color, fabric choice, even the music and staging are impeccable. And all Claudia can drum up is “nice”?
Shaking her head, Sophie forwards the email to MJ.
# # #
With the Foo Foo Dolls blaring through her headphones, MJ clatters away on her keyboard. She has twenty-four hours to pump out a brilliant paper that will summarize her entire semester of work at the lab. If she succeeds, there’s a chance her findings will be published in a respected medical journal. If she fails, she won’t receive credit for the lab rotation, won’t graduate with her degree, won’t be hired by a top research facility, won’t find a cure for cancer, and won’t win a Nobel Prize!
Failure is not an option.
When her computer chimes like a doorbell, MJ quickly logs in to her email account. Usually she disables the internet when she’s working against a deadline like this, but Dr. Storm promised to email over the charts she needs for the paper. She plans to unplug the Ethernet cord as soon as she has downloaded the files.
But instead of complicated charts and diagrams, a stream of Beluciana assaults MJ’s eyes. She recognizes the work of her favorite fashion designer, but she doesn’t have time to appreciate it right now. She composes a quick reply to Sophie:
Thanks but no time. Please don’t email – unless emergency – until further notice.
MJ feels a quick pang of guilt when she pressed the Send button, but then she sees the picture of Marie Curie taped above her desk. With renewed determination, MJ logs off her email account and continues typing furiously.
# # #
Sophie gasps when she receives MJ’s email. She expects that sort of blasé from Claudia, but MJ? Her fellow fashionista? This is betrayal, and it hurts. It hurts bad.
First at the concert with Diego and Reggie, and now with Claudia and MJ over this email, Sophie is beginning to feel like her friends don’t care about her interests anymore. Is that what happens when you’re not part of productive society? Does spending all day alone in your apartment, physically cut off from the world, mean that people have a harder time connecting to you emotionally too? Or is it just “out of sight, out of mind”?
Either way, Sophie doesn’t like it. She wanted to be single, but not lonely. She wanted to quit Arden, but not life. How can she reconnect with the world? Who will listen to her?
As if on cue, her computer beeps. Another fashion email has come in. Sophie opens it, and her spirit feels lighter as she looks at the beautiful clothing. She wants to share this simple joy, but Claudia and MJ don’t want it. So then who, how?
# # #
Hello, blog world!
My goal for this Web site is to spread the simple joy of fashion. It’s more than just clothing; it’s art. Fashion has the power to change how a person feels about his or her self, to put a spring in their step, a smile on their face. A person can change their whole life just by changing their outfit. So consider me a style guide and a life consultant all in one!
To start, here are my favorite pieces from the new Beluciana summer collection. Devour them, my darlings, because there will be more delicious treats tomorrow!
Signed,
Capital S – for Style!
