Coming of Age in the 90’s- Adventures in Fashion and Travel
Adventures in Fashion and Travel
Coming of Age in the 90’s.
June of 1994, as you can see by the date stamp in the lower right hand corner of the photo above. This snap-shot was taken around 11pm as we sat to down to dinner. Dinner at 11pm is late for Americans but we were not in the US tonight.
Earlier that day…or maybe it was the day before, I don’t remember, we landed in Madrid, Spain. “We” being a few college students, professors, artists, friends, and friends of friends of the artists and professors, and me. I was definitely the youngest person on the trip, seventeen, just turned seventeen the month prior. This was the Summer before my senior year of high-school and my first solo travel adventure.
How does a seventeen year old high school girl wind up in Madrid with no parent or guardian present? The short answer is …my mother- she felt that a trip to Europe at seventeen was a “right of passage” of sorts. She had gone to Greece when she was seventeen and had a fantastic time…So when I found out about a group trip that the local College was offering she was all for it.
Greece late 60’s/early 70’s- that’s my mother in the yellow shirt.
I found out about the trip because for the last two years I had been participating in the evening art classes at the College. These were special classes for high school students to experience the “feel” of a true studio art class at a college level (3 hour blocks of time). I had taken Color Theory, and Ceramics so far and was looking forward to another in my senior year. (This was a genius marketing move by the college to entice students to enroll in the BFA program…It worked.)
The college was running a Spain trip, four stops- Madrid, Seville, Toledo, and Costa Del Sol, ten days of museums and culture. I mentioned it to my mother and she thought it sounded like a great opportunity so she got me in.
Back to the restaurant in Madrid…Sitting down to dinner at 11pm felt very adult and very chic. I was drinking a beer (not my first of the evening- no drinking age limitations here) and enjoying the conversation with my travel companions. The waiter brought fresh bread and the most delicious olives I have ever had drizzled with olive oil, the really good kind. The olives clearly stole the show because I have no memory of any other meal on this trip but, to be fair it was 30 years ago- (as a side note- normally I don’t care for olives- I had a very over powering puttanesca sauce once that turned me against them) So my standing rule is no olives unless I am in Spain.
Enough about the olives…
I have no memory of packing for this trip, what suitcase I brought, a carry on or not? However, I do remember the jacket. The blue, light quilted jacket I am wearing in the photo, my mother let me “borrow” it for the trip- a 1970’s Komil, the tag reads “Designed Exclusively for DR by komil, 100% cotton, Tailored in India”. DR stands for Design Research the lifestyle store born in Cambridge Massachusetts (my father worked there).
The jacket, it was perfect…even though it was from the 70’s it somehow made sense in the early 90’s.
Speaking of early 90’s fashion…despite being short on cash I did come back with a few items; a pink and purple woven cross body bag, an Indian cotton gauze mini skirt with little silver bells attached to the drawstring tie, and a sheer extra large pink and gold scarf/sarong. I did my shopping when we arrived in Costa Del Sol (it was the end of the trip and amazingly I had been able to stretch my cash enough to actually have some left to make a few purchases). I used the sarong immediately, tied around my waist over my bikini and then on the beach to lay out on.
Costa Del Sol was my favorite part of the trip, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, walking the beach and the bohemian strip in my bare feet popping in and out of funky shops, sitting at an outdoor cafe enjoying a cold glass of white wine and more olives…and later after the sun went down a little music and dancing, stopping to grab a slice of pizza on the way back to the hotel, it was “the life”.
Adventures in Fashion and Travel
Coming of Age in the 90’s.
I still have all of the above mentioned purchases- they are now part of my personal vintage collection…along with the jacket.
What else did I do in Spain besides eat olives, and lounge on the beach?
Museo Del Prado- stood in awe of the Goya’s, and Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, among others.
Santa Inglesia Catedral Primada - Gothic Architecture
Several other historical sites that I can not remember.
Practiced my two years of high-school Spanish.
I also smoked Spanish cigarettes, danced all night, was photographed after midnight in a hotel pool by an artist- (these photos were later used in a gallery show), I ate, I drank, I listened and learned. I enjoyed the company of interesting people. I decided to go to go to Art School. I had the time of my life, and this was just the beginning.
Adventures in Fashion and Travel
Coming of Age in the 90’s.
Adventures in Fashion and Travel- Coming of Age in the 90’s.
Shooting Pool in Madrid, Spain. (1994)
Hotel Pool
Costa Del Sol- Mediterranean Sea
The Jacket
My mother wearing the jacket with her bestie (notice that this person is also in the Greece photo)
Cape Cod- early 1980’s
The Jacket is not for sale…but I have plenty of stellar vintage for your next adventure in fashion and travel.
Check out the collection of curated vintage at Raca Rara Vintage
