Goodbye Dear Barneys

I t’s hard to imagine you are really closing your doors, becoming absorbed as a second banana and turning into a “brand” inside a competing consumer legend.

But hey, don’t we have a leader who didn’t win the election, has been in and out of bankruptcy, clearly a looser, but a group of resentful jerks put him on top of the nukes?

The thought of a nostalgic billionaire who has been buying brand names for investment, whose sugar babies, wife, ex-wives made good with his credit card would come saving you, did cross my mind. Someone who might want to rescue Madison Av. New York from becoming another suburban mall!

From where I see, Manhattan has been turning into one no matter how many million-dollar condos are being built. I mean, when you can shop until -you- drop at Bed, Bath and Beyond to get rid of your 20% discount coupons, before going to your reservation at the Metropolitan Opera, tells a story. Although we must admit, that eventually, everything comes to an end, which certainly applies to life. So, cheers for the years of memories and high bills!

My closet, drawers and plenty of stuffed shoes are here to remember you. I guarantee you will be forever inside my heart, good memories, and my heavy conscience with a fair percentage of guilt! Guilt makes me human.

Denying guilt is being inhuman

illustration of a woman covering her face

windows of the shop

D enying guilt is like being stuffed with a bunch of bullshit, used as a pretext for those who live in denial, saying that positiveness is the way to be, regardless if you cannot pay your monthly bills. You know the kind, those who vote for demagogues, selling them a country without a single shade of brown while ignoring we all descend from the apes!

After the crash of 2008, I began to make an inventory of all the contributions I made to consumerism, and I can proudly attest that when retail hit the “black” mark I was part of the good news for being a good patriot.

I must admit that the process made me realize that I could have had a place in my favorite American city today. After choosing a path toward technology, updating my professional possibilities, my closet had plenty of stuff to play with endless cool moods. One of my projects was to put them together and photograph. Not because I am visual, but to slap my face and dare to honestly justify my extravagances.

I won’t share my introspective conclusion . . . But, mixing looks reminds me of the never-ending software updates. As a result, my “investment pieces” fluid possibilities were and continue to be endless! OMG, my collection of Henry Cuir shoes, my favorite Louboutin red mule! My Prada sandals are still a dernier cri, so are the Marni’s and so on.

OMG, my Etro blanket!

illustration of a woman

T he colors of my Etro blanket (that I cannot live without) every winter continues to drive me crazy to this day! What about the leather butterfly pillow in the back of my working chair? I can scream with happiness. Privately I do and say how much “I love thee.”

Oh, my, how in hell can I forget the numbers of the Piazza Sempione’s pieces that I adore and have? I won’t spill the numbers due to privacy and emotions. Maybe terror? They are not cheap during the sales season either! What about the fabulous green cotton coat fully embroidered with flowers! A forever-daring-classic! What about my Antipast socks with stripes, dots, flowers? I treasure them. They never ever suffered the infamy of being thrown inside the dryer! Hats, pajamas, tops, etc.

I used to take Tilly, my beloved 4 pounds Yorkshire roommate with me, sit her on top of the blocks in the middle of the floor (while I scavenged the racks), dressed with her one-of-a-kind-cashmere-sweaters (made by moi), impressing the entire audience who could not get over how fabulous she behaved and looked uniquely cool! All those compliments, including by various businessmen were the inspiration for Tillytogs.

For heaven’s sake, forgive me but I almost ignored my Delvaux bag! The perfect match for my Henry cuir pair of shoes! They all live happily respected, protected inside flannel bags, while all the rest of the other shoes are filled with adorable stuffers in every color and print.

OMG, my adored leather papillon pillow!

M ixing prints have been in lately? Please, my entire life is a series of brush strokes! I mix everything for eons! Which is one of the reasons I am good at selecting “investment” pieces? Sorry but I am chocking! I need to calm down and adjust my breathing rhythm, as it was an era.

Few friends copied my creative ideas of shoe stuffers and my boxing designs to hide stuff. Speaking about boxes, the boxes on the last floor, by R&Y AUGOUSTI-Paris, I have them! What about hats from the first floor? I’m in tears now reminding that I lost the fabulous green straw hat I gardened for years! I must stop. The emotion is at its limit.

But how can I forget the best chicken livers I have eaten with Porto sauce, the plates of pasta, salads, apple tart at Fred’s? I know Spike Lee and his wife also liked Fred’s as I rode with them in the elevator during one of my shopping outings. I also bumped on Ivana Trump and her former Italian beau there. How boring!

What about the fun Christmas windows? When I lived in New York I photographed them at night. The SNL theme and Gaga’s windows were my favorites. Luckily, I have a collection of images to remember them! This year as a Deja Vu I uploaded to Instagram one of my photomontages for Halloween with one of them.

Do you want to know how I suffered when I was forced to endure lunch at Knickerbocker Club nearby instead of wondering inside Barneys? Only I can measure the depth of agony.

I am in tears. Although I can no longer shop for obvious reasons. The playground is full. Now, the mission is to find who will love them as much as I do because they deserve a special family who would put them on the pedestal, as I have always done while continuing to enjoy them until my last breath. They are impeccable because I treat them better than jewels.

The moment inspires me to share a secret. I made a list of some of my favorite toys to be burned with me when I die and, you’ll have the honor to be part of the group. All provided if my best friend follows my wish feeling remorse.

He threatened he would make a garage sale and get rid of every piece of investment I collected throughout the years, being blunt in letting me know that he is only interested in stuffing one of my artistic politically expressive boxes with money.

Cruelty! I won’t be able to control it unless I find out personally if revenge is possible from where he dumps me. Right now, there is nothing assuring me that is possible, as I tried a few options and is all bullshit.

Dear Barney, I loved you and you took my heart and part of my future . . .



snl window

gaga window

LaBelleloshe thanks Cihan-Tamti, Graphic Designer, generous use of his new and cool typography design font called Le Virage Regular.