Saturday July 05, 2008 at 20:40

Photo

La Vie Claire I loved everything that was remotely modernist in those days. I had an obsession with the De Stijl group and had already made a pilgrimage to the Reitveld House in Utrecht that Spring. It was obvious, therefore, that I needed to own that La Vie Claire jersey. A Mondrian painting as a cycling jersey. How could something be that cool? It cost almost all of my holiday money. I scraped and scrounged around for the next week, but it was worth it. I guess I stopped eating then too, to save money, and I had just discovered the joys of coffee, so maybe that’s the root of everything. Maybe Paris is to blame for so much. But really, how could you not want to drink strong black coffee when you’d seen those stylish bodies sipping espresso on the sidewalk cafés, their dark sunglasses hiding intentions so perfectly? I always was so easily seduced by images.

La Vie Claire

I loved everything that was remotely modernist in those days. I had an obsession with the De Stijl group and had already made a pilgrimage to the Reitveld House in Utrecht that Spring. It was obvious, therefore, that I needed to own that La Vie Claire jersey. A Mondrian painting as a cycling jersey. How could something be that cool?

It cost almost all of my holiday money. I scraped and scrounged around for the next week, but it was worth it. I guess I stopped eating then too, to save money, and I had just discovered the joys of coffee, so maybe that’s the root of everything. Maybe Paris is to blame for so much. But really, how could you not want to drink strong black coffee when you’d seen those stylish bodies sipping espresso on the sidewalk cafés, their dark sunglasses hiding intentions so perfectly? I always was so easily seduced by images.