Tell me what comes to mind when you hear the word “turban” and I’ll tell you who you are. No, that was another story, but not really.
I think of Joan Crawford, Old Hollywood femme fatale, pool, a martini and some good Norman Parkinson or Richard Avedon portraits.
Then think for a moment of Mia Farrow in “Great Gatsby” and her head covered in a cascade of crystals (and also Robert Redford and then I go out of contest).
Then, in order of appearance (in my mind, I mean) it’s India, elephants, the British Empire, the Tour of the World in 80 Days, then Scheherazade and Arabian nights. Come down from the magic carpet and bam, Margherita Missoni and it's real.
Now stop and find the fil rouge.
Because all the different scenes have a thing in common that is strength, confidence, power, authority, royal privilege, or in one word badass.
The turban is sensual, mysterious yet determined and matter-of-factly. It’s not a beanie, not a hat, you step in a room, you don’t quietly enter, no words are needed, or, no caption needed in social media language.
You are part of a clique, a circle of trust, this is the year of the turban, it’s a thing, or at least, I made it a thing and, once again, via Instagram I met le.Conturbanti this bombastic duo that eats, prays and loves turbans and I got fascinated. You will get more on their story in the book, (including what the work means for non Italian speaking friends) but now I can’t wait to share my first outing with a le Conturbanti turban.
Packaging says it all
I had received it a week before, it was dangling on the living room table, on my easel, on top of a pile of books. I would put it on, wrap it and it was so easy to wrap that I thought I was doing something wrong (thank you self-esteem for always having my back).
A couple of times I wore it tied in the back, so incredibly Jackie Kennedy that I thought I was plagiaristic, I was knocking her off. But, I thought it was a OK to go, and I left the house in whatever I was wearing from the day at work and went.
I swear, I dragged myself in a 2-mile radius to pick-up Japanese take-away the first time and to Publix the second. My thought process was if I get even just a nod from the places the most remote from where my imagination would spot me wearing a turban, it's good. The reaction was positive and, hello Mr. Self-Esteem, people were strangely nicer to me than usual, women and men.
With general rehearsals passed magna cum laude, the time for the premiere was as short as two days after. Because I was late and the whole outfit had started with the turban, I ended up not having time to put make-up on before leaving, one more time, the rearview mirror at the traffic light is my bitch.
You HAVE to read the whole shenanigans HERE
What I learned:
Don’t over think: boom, boom and done;
1. The messier the hair the better, I know that my hair … invented messy hair meets crow’s nest meets bed hair, but if your hair is curly, you are 1 step ahead in the game;
2. You’ll see your reflection in the windows while you walk or on the pavement and you’ll be baffled and for a split second unable to connect the two together;
3. People will look at you, they will ask to take pictures of you, they’ll compliment you, they’ll ask you “who are you wearing” like an array of clones of Joan Rivers on the red carpet;
4. What do you do? You take it all in, say “thank you” smiling and blushing, air kiss, hug, pose for a picture, while thinking that Angelina Jolie does that every day of her life and you deserve your Angelina moment, all brain, smart and a turban (if you have her long legs, work them too!)
5. Even if you are intimidated, scared, apologetic inside because you are not used to all of the shenanigans going on, don’t you ever let fear slip through the cracks: the show must go on;
6. Go back home, rewind and enjoy with a smirk while you put your winning cannon to rest;
7. What now?
8. You are awesome, you’ll feel the adrenaline pumping while you prepare the outfit for tomorrow when you’ll step and repeat;
9. Are you pregnant? Take it from my glowing preggo friend Keturah: "Just ordered a gorgeous chic turban from Le Conturbanti, makes me feel less shabby and more chic" and remember kids in that womb form 9 months know everything that's going on and you gotta start them early with the notion of " chic ".
