TODAY IN THE CLOSET:

Once upon a time there was a very stylish women.  Her name was Jane. She was 88 on August 15, 2013 when she lost the last of her many battles with cancer. In the 1940's she was a jazz singer with the Benny Goodman orchestra and later recorded with Desi Arnez and entertained the troops with Bob Hope and Irving Berlin. When I met her, through work in 2010, she was known for her aggressive personality and for being a bit of a nut case. We got along just fine :)  When most women her age are wearing orthopedic shoes Jane was wearing Prada Oxfords, she was the epitome of style. In fact I've never known a women in this age group to be more stylish, not in life or in Vogue!  And what was so inspiring is that through her health battles and her daily trips for chemo she was always dressed to the nines. Heck, how many of us have a cold and don't even want to get out of our sweats!?!

Jane went to chemo in suits, strings of pearls, full make-up and the cutest little page boy wig I ever did see. On one arm was always a stunning handbag, on the other her fluffy white dog. She was an inspiration to the saying 'when you look good you feel good'.  If cancer was going to take her she was going in style, and that she did.

It was no secret I coveted her handbag collection so when her husband said she would have wanted me to have one and invited me into her closet to choose, well, you can imagine my mixed emotions.  The sadness of this women's beautiful things just left to be sold off seemed so wrong to me and the excitement I felt in my thought bubble 'could I dare pick the Chanel!?!'

I picked the Chanel. I have dreams of owning my own Chanel classic 59 some day and to be perfectly honest this style Chanel is not one I would have ever chosen but who am I to look a gift Chanel horse in the mouth?  So with sweet memories of it's original owner I will wear it proudly and with style.