I’m a total girly girl.  I know, I know … huge shocker, right?  Frankly, it’s been so much of who I am that when I got pregnant, I was absolutely convinced I was going to have a daughter because every image I ever had of myself with a child involved activities like playing Barbies and braiding hair and dressing in endless amounts of pink.  But then … SURPRISE … I had a boy!  And it’s been an absolutely amazing experience because he expands my world and pushes me out of my comfort zone every single day.  True, I could do without the scatological humor that he seems to love (and I’m sure he could do without his mother teaching him the word scatological at age 4), but nobody has had (or could have) such a balancing influence on me and my interests.

One of those interests is army.  He’s fascinated by World War I and World War II.  We’ve been to every warplane museum in Southern California, and given his enthusiasm during these outings, we made a trip to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans (which is a truly amazing museum (not that there aren’t already a hundred good reasons to visit New Orleans, easily over half of them involving food)).  We’ve taken him to the army surplus store and gotten him camouflage t-shirts and pants and hats and even dog tags, which he wears in the bath.  And if I wear anything army … watch out … he thinks it’s the coolest thing I could ever do.

So you can imagine my excitement when I went to a trunk show for Figue (which is also available at http://www.net-a-porter.com, http://www.matchesfashion.com and http://www.farfetch.com) and saw these amazing embellished military jackets.  I spoke with the founder and creative director, Stephanie von Watzdorf, and she explained that she recycles military jackets from army surplus stores and then has them hand-beaded by Indian artisans with intricate designs and symbols, many of which have an Egyptian influence and are intended to signify life or renewal or protection (like the Eye of Ra on the jacket I bought above).  There were a number of jackets that I tried on — every one of them unique — but this one was perfect for me, especially with the phoenix on the back, which I knew my son would love.

I’ve been wearing this jacket with everything when I’m not at work.  It’s durable and versatile, but the beading makes it so stylish and eye-catching (and, fingers crossed, imparts some good vibes).  It’s completely representative of the balance my son has brought to my life … glamour mixed with a good amount of ruggedness … and I love it (and him) for that.