Somewhere in Northern California.
It all started with a suitcase. Small and neutral brown with a hand-painted peacock on the front, it held everything she had in the world, including her memories of a life she must leave behind.
I’ve got to go someplace to clear my head, to feel the breeze of possibility envelope my body- Let’s be real, I’ve got to get out of here.
It’s time to decide my next move; they got him, and they’ll be coming for me next. I’m going to San Francisco.
Packing several of her Swankiest outfits, she set off for the City by the Bay.
When she got off the train she told the taxi driver, “Take me somewhere… discrete.”
“Nob Hill perhaps, Miss?“
“Yes,” she said. Too obvious, or not obvious enough, she didn’t care.
It reminded her of him.
With its sweeping views, long shadows, and foggy nights, even a dame like her could go by undetected for a day or two.
“You won’t tell anyone you saw me here, will you?”
“Your secret is safe with me,” he purred.
Ghiberti’s The Doors of Paradise always make me miss him. He was my door to paradise, him and a suitcase full of stolen gold… Too bad he didn’t listen to me, or we’d be doing this together.
In quiet solitude, she thought about her next move. Should I head to the Big Easy?
It’s a lot of gold, international perhaps. Istanbul? Rio? Berlin?
B E R L I N
Maybe I’ll start a revolutionary cell.
With that, she told her secrets to the Saints and released herself from the past.
Back at the hotel, she decided she needed a more immediate change. Jacket or no jacket?
No Jacket.
The murals reflected her inner thoughts and feelings.
This life is such a circus.
I have no fear.
I’ll tame the wild beasts, just as I always have.
And look fabulous doing it.
And with that, she set off into the night knowing she’s in control of her destiny.
Legend has it that the only things she took with her were her clothes from Swankety Swank.
And the gold, of course.
No one heard from her again. She left her past in the halls of Grace Cathedral, allowing the memories, the mistakes, and passions of the past to rise and dissipate into the thick fog of the night.
Good luck Swankety Lady, wherever you are.
Starring: Dex and Nob Hill, San Francisco
All Clothing from Swankety Swank, San Francsico
Designers Featured: DAS+OWL, gibbous, Kristen J Designs, Zunique, Miranda Caroligne, Darina Drapkin, and Rick Rack Ruby.
Styling: Yabette Alfaro
Story and Photographs: Christine Donley
Locations: Nob Hill, Grace Cathedral
Hotel shots in The Fairmont Hotel (Dressing Room, Murals, Terrace, and Sun Room)
