A place is shaped by time. This summer I visited a place that didn’t seem new. It didn’t seem present. It seemed the same as in my readings. Greece is a timeless place, an old place that has not aged, and so seemingly eternally young. Through myths, history and archeological rediscovery, Greece has become an emblem of the Ancient and a symbol of war and sport, fighting and racing, triumph and victory under the eyes of the original Gods. In Greece, I was able to walk in the footsteps of Odysseus and Socrates. I enjoyed the same vistas—of volcanic islands, of wine-dark seas—saw the location where the first stories of Western civilization are set. Growing up, my dad taught Homer’s Odyssey at the University of Chicago. I was fascinated by his tales of heroes and monsters. I was intrigued by Socrates’s arguments. I loved learning from stories of clever characters solving problems and overcoming opponents.

My favorite subject has always been history. I am fascinated that there are patterns in human activity that repeat over time. Human culture has evolved in knowledge and thought, popular opinion and popular design. All humans, however, have always had the same sense of present life, of living “now,” and so the need for story-telling. Fashion is one of the ways I see history not only being preserved as a commentary on a certain time period, but also as a way of rediscovering the old in the new. Nothing in fashion is ever entirely original. There are always aspects of any new and so-called avant-garde or radical design found and inspired from what has already been. Fashion means change. It evolves from month to month.  Trends come and go. But fashion also repeats itself. Trends are recycled. Fashion — a term synonymous with the new, with the now — also has a history. Fashion is another means of story-telling: a way to tell the story of the individual wearer but also the story of humanity.

In the next couple of photos from my time in Santorini, I am wearing a KTZ t-shirt. I am wearing it as a dress. Having seen KTZ’s runway show in New York, I knew the designer’s love of history and how he makes history present in all of his work. This shirt embodies a graphic depiction of a very old design. This shirt is sporty and soft, relaxed and iconically Greek. I love that this shirt, although decidedly modern in fit and aesthetic, almost rapper-like in taste, feels and breaths like it would have in ancient times. The design depicts great war heroes and deities. It has the designs that would have been found on Ancient Greek pottery to tell my story as the wearer. It is colored in blue and white to play off of the typically Greek white architectural design and the eye-catching blue of the Mediterranean. The sandals paired with this dress are ones I picked up in Athens. They are handmade to my foot in one of the most traditional Greek sandal shops there are. I love that both of these pieces, although one so new and one so old, seem to complement each other against the backdrop of such an unbelievable place.

xoxo,
Cecilia Roses

My Look: KTZ T-shirt and Greek Poet Sandals