This week, I would like to have a conversation, a series of tète-à-tètes. Prompts will be presented, commented responses would be adored. Below is the first in a series of five.


In the twilight of my teens, I was courted by a quixotic landscape artist. He would pen me sonnets made of moonlight and strum serenades that smelled of freshly cut grass.

The only condition was that I become an appropriate muse in loosely veiled bohemian raiment and nothing more than lip balm in way of cosmetics.

Braiding my hair and abandoning black as a neutral began as an adventure, but soon enough I pined for red lipstick and pencil skirts, and our romance blew away on a wind.

So here is my question for you: who has influenced your fashion for good or ill? Sisters, neighbors, mothers, daughters, celebrities, husbands? Please post your answers in the comments.