For my very first birthday, my mother had the dress of any little girl made – a maroon poof of velvet. Jumping for joy with frilly white socks on my two little feet and a bow in my hair, I was, as the videos and photos revealed, as sassy at the mere age of one, as I am at the not so mere age of twenty-one.

(I have also confirmed my suspicions that the bow was not in my hair as some sort of ‘adorable little girl accessory’, but rather was placed there as a constant reminder that although my hair style at the time brought to mind that of a little boy, I was very much so far from that…. Wonderful) Even then, at the age of one, I shared many little secrets with my mother, the first one being the carefully added details to what seemed to be an ordinary red dress. In true fairy tale fashion, Disney or otherwise, my mother had tiny silver jingle bells stitched in to the inside bottom hem of my birthday outfit.

The results were nothing short of magical, or at least so I choose to remember. With every twirl, leap and jump there was a small jingle jingle jingle – Magic. When you can feel the kind of happiness I’m sure I felt at that moment in time, it never really leaves you. For me, that feeling of magic reappears when I wear velvet (It would explain my obsession with velvet as well I suppose) I’m not sure when the next time I wear a maroon velvet frock will be (you never know?) but velvet overalls seem to be the next best.

Back to the books. See ya.

Shirt: Uniqlo

Overalls: Claudie Pierlot

Necklace: Gift

Shoes: Casadei