Sitting at an overpriced biergarten in the Meatpacking District the price of the real world is hitting us. After catching up on a week and three days worth of uneventful unemployed (keep positive, #funemployed) life we discuss the mutual feeling that we feel that waiting for something but what?
ET: I’m not allowed to buy anything (except a sundress, sandals, and maybe a cute beach coverup) until I’m employed. I guess you can say it’s a devil’s compromise of sorts
GO: My parents definitely wish I made that compromise, but to be honest even without a compromise I don’t know what to shop for right now…
ET: I know! I can’t commit to anything, let alone a t-shirt. I desperately want to travel or even work like our fellow recent grads but right now I’m living the life of a Long Island housewife-- grocery shopping, cooking, working out, attending school recitals, or the beach if I’m lucky.
GO: At least you're doing semi-productive activities. I'm sitting in my bed texting people weird questions for fun (and attention) - shout out to the 13 people who got my text "if you found out you were going to die next week, how would you spend the rest of your time?"
* I highly recommend you text everyone this question, but especially Elana Kuppermann for a really detailed and exciting answer*
ET: I’m living my life not as if I am going to die next week but as if I am going to work next week. Not that work = death but I can’t quite ride my bike to the beach everyday or write letters to Anthony Bourdain (Parts Unknown: The Finger Lakes Region).
GO: Ah being able to read and write for leisure, what a concept! I (we) feel like we aren’t really doing anything but maybe this weird period doing nothing is an important experience, even if it doesn’t feel the same as our other, more grand experiences.
ET: I feel like I have my best, okay maybe not best, but most ambitious ideas when I’m bored. Maybe being bored isn’t the worst thing, but important to our creativity?
GO: You’re totally right. At Cornell we were taught that good ideas come from solving problems, taking on new research, etc. but hasn’t all great fashion come from boredom and everyday inspiration? The need to make even the most average day a little exceptional? Turning the ordinary into extraordinary?
ET: Fashion isn’t inspired in office buildings or the breakroom. It comes from the streets, the cracks in the sidewalk, the skies, the tributaries, and the plateaus of the world. Speaking of Le Plateau, I’m glad we got to take our first trip to Montreal together. Not only did you get to meet my friends there but we got to ogle at chic French girls. Merci beaucoup to Sarah, Aude, and Barbara for teaching me how to “live.” Sarah once offered me the best advice, “It’s not about the four year plan but the four month plan.” It’s no coincidence that fashion happens in seasons!
GO: As per usual us Americans are so behind. I mean the French have always been so much better at fashion: CoCo Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert De Givenchy, Pierre Balmain… I can keep going.
ET: Fashion is about trends, the future but…
GO: … The future doesn’t exist yet and it can’t exist until you’ve lived it in the present and you might as well take inspiration from that - even if your present seems to be standing still.
You can’t get rid of us quite yet. Until we’re working 9 to 5 (or 6 AM to 11 PM) or long distance (gasp!) we’re going to continue talking. But let’s follow our own advice and not overthink the future.