Year 1895, in Spain, Basque Region, Guetaria – a small fishing village, Cristabol Balenciaga was born. His father, a sea captain, died when Balenciaga was very young. He spent many hours of his childhood aside his mother while she was making dresses to support the family.

 In his teens, he was formally trained as a tailor in Madrid and traveled to Paris to learn the designs of Doucet, Worth among others. At the age of sixteen, he set up his first couture workshop in San Sebastian, where he adapted the Parisian Style for Spanish women. In 1914, he opened boutique Elsa in San Sebastian and later branched in Madrid, Barcelona. Most of his clients were Spanish royal families and aristocrats.

Fame in Paris

Praised as revolutionary and innovative by the French press, Balenciaga was forward thinking but always able to draw upon and interpret historical styles. His first runway show in Paris in 1937 was heavily influenced by the Spanish Renaissance. Another example was his “infanta” gown, which was inspired by Diego Velazquez’s portraits of 17^th century Spanish court costume yet anticipated Christian Dior's celebrated post-war "New Look." Goya’s art as well as flamenco dress were also his muse.

A new silhouette for women

Balenciaga reached full scale of inventiveness after World War II. His design became linear and streamlined. He played with the waistlines by raising it, dropping it, quite independent of the natural waistline. In 1957 came the Baby Doll look. He applied this name to a group of short flounced lace dresses. The loose lace overdress showed a more adult slinky crepe-de-chine fitted sheath underneath. In 1958 he re-introduced chemise which would be the sleeveless sheath of the 1960s. Balenciaga made the most important contribution to the world of fashion: a new silhouette for women. 

Other contributions of Balenciaga were tunic and empire waist dress. The discreet yet important touches in his design were his trademark: collars that stood away from the collarbone to give a swanlike appearance ad the shorten bracelet sleeves to better show off the jewelry.

End of legacy, enduring style

Despite his continuous success, the house of Balenciaga was severely challenged in the 1960s, as fashionable young people bought ready-to-wear clothing instead of couture. Symbolically, Balenciaga closed down his fashion house in 1968, a year of violent political protests in Paris. 

 BALENCIAGA himself sums it as the following: a Couturier must be an architect for design, a sculptor for shape, a painter for color, a musician for harmony, and a philosopher for temperance. 

晶在上海着实逍遥了十来天，据说长了不少见识，回来便急急汇报了新学的中文词汇。

“知道谁是白骨精吗？”伊问，很自得的样子。

“妖怪。不是聊斋，就是西游记，再不然就是封神榜，不会是镜花缘吧？”我把凡是跟神怪有点牵连的小说都报上。 小学五年级看的一堆书，谁记得清楚谁是谁。红楼梦除外，因看了无数遍。

“都错。白骨精者，白领骨干精英也。”伊摇头晃脑地纠正我。

旧典故，新定义，有点意思。

“哎，那你们通通是白骨精。” 我掩嘴而笑，“除了我，金盆洗手久矣。”

“怎麽跟她们比？一个个都是人精。不要命似的加班熬夜。”伊摆摆手，指的是母国的青年才俊们。

有友回归，常赶通宵，每天兜着黑眼圈，回到蜗居只会嚷累，除倒头而睡外别无他愿。看着只觉可怜可惜。可怜徒然白了少年头，可惜无限芳华弹指老。

八九十年代女强人一词害惨许多女人。为了这虚名，女人们赔了家庭和自己，成为大机构的摇钱树。这世纪的女人学乖了，懂得悠着点过，不过一份工作尔，何必搏命？中国发展稍慢一步，白骨精一词恐怕又拖不少女人下水。

“有公司游说我主持上海分公司呢。或许该试试第二次心跳的感觉”晶接着说。果然不出我所料，聪明如她也被上海的万花筒绮惑。　

 “有这份心思，不会找个美男子试试第二次心跳。何必为个把职位，十几二十万年薪为难自己？你想证明什麽？”我给她老大的白眼。我是贾宝玉的脾气，喜聚不喜散，身边朋友结婚了，生子了，回国了，外调了，都伤神。有才华在哪里不能出头，一窝蜂涌回去没意思。早几年抢得到先机又做别论。

 “那要怎样？都学你，无事忙一个。”她还瞪我一眼。

“不好学呢。不然你试试。”我扮个鬼脸。

这一代人被训练得像机器般，不上班似丢了魂似的，完全失去存在价值。一女友步我后尘，辞了职，不到半年喊受不了，心不甘情不愿地上班去了。

“是不好学。我还做白骨精算了。”晶悻悻然。

Therefore, on a hot sunny day of May, I was lured by the nature into helping mom in her garden. Delighted at my enthusiasm, she gave a piece of three feet by three feet land, handed me a bottle of flower food and about twenty little plants of three varieties. 

“Design it anyway you like. It is your garden.” She said, encouraging and inspiring.

I stared at the land, the plants and contemplated on what to do with them. After a while, I decided to draw a diamond shape on the land and picturing which plants went where based on the color and the height. After all was thought out, I took a first dig on the ground but stopped immediately.

“How deep should I dig the holer?” I asked mom who was working on the tomato section not far from me.

“oh, about eight inches.” She replied casually, without looking up.

I continued digging until I reached eight inches under the groud. I sprinkled some flower food and placed one of the plants in the hole. I gazed at the plant and was deeply troubled.

“What is the matter?” Mom asked, sensing that something went wrong.

“Well, a hole of eight inches deep will burry the plant entirely.” I frowned.

She laughed when looking at the pathetic plant sitting unhappily in the hole.

“Sorry, I thought you were asking how far apart from each other the plants need to be. The hole should be just deep enough to cover the roots of the plant.” She said.

Realized how silly I was, I laughed too, corrected the error and a moment later, there  was  my  first  flower.

“Hey you, you are the first flower I ever planted. I hope you grow healthy and bloom beautifully.” I murmured to the flower.

“I am sure that would help the growing.” Mom heard my baby talking to the plant and couldn’t help making fun of me.

That night at dinner, mom reported proudly to everyone about my little garden.

“Should we put a sign with your name on it?” Dad teased me with a serious tone.

I thought for a second, smiled for a second, then put on a grave face and said,

“No. But I will consider putting up a sign of ‘no trespassing’.”

Everyone laughed at my childish idea. Dad, especially, was attracting attention from the whole dinning room.

“Poor city girl! So proud to own a piece of land.” He responded.

The truth is I don’t want to own anything at all if possible. Ownership of any sort translates into responsibility, commitment and opportunity cost. It seems to me that many people buy acres of land just to be able to put a sign of “no trespassing” to gain a sense of authority.

After two glasses of Dolcetto, in the Blue Ribbon wine bar, with my eyes half closed, in a mellow voice, my thought sank deep into the velvet seat of Jazz.

“Unbelievable! An immigrant of this country, you cultivated yourself in literature, wine and music more than any American women I have ever known.”

Tom, a decedent of British settlers of seventeenth century, obviously ignoring the fact that he is also an immigrant of this country, stared at me without concealing his admiration. I smiled, shyly, for getting carried away in the stream of consciousness and for showing off my limited knowledge of the music.

Before the conversation switched to music, we were exchanging bits and parts of wines we know and love. Working in the wine import and distribution business, Tom was totally thrown off when I meretriciously identified the five kinds of grapes in a Bordeaux blend, including the less known Cabernet Franc.

“Wait until we get into baseball and football, you will probably be in tears.” I thought to myself and was quite amused by the idea. I decided that the culture shock was too overwhelming for him in one day and should leave baseball jargons such as "screeze suicide" for the next round.

As different types of grapes require different types of terroir, various types of personalities find their matches in various cultures. For my free spirit and craving of individuality, I embrace this country.  It has its flaws and downturns, but nevertheless a lovely land for anyone who tries to make the best of it.

约了母亲饮茶，走出门口，一阵热浪卷来，才想起今天气温超九十度，昨晚锦衣夜行还披着小外套，现在看着满街短裤小背心觉得突兀，远处传来冰琪淋车的音乐，夏天到了，阳光，沙滩，海浪，绿草坪，棒球赛，户外摇摆舞。。。我找不出不快乐的理由。

母亲一贯地唠叨，看不过眼我的掉儿郎当，见面不到三秒钟家训连连，“嫁人也没个嫁人的样子，有事没事绕着地球跑，小心哪天被休了！”对着老妈痛心疾首的模样，口里唯唯喏喏，保证痛改前非，心里想着北极的光圈，南极的企鹅。阴逢阳违的本事早十年八载前练就。

究竟嫁人后该什麽样子，母亲也说不出个所以然来，反正不是我这般嬉皮笑脸，随心所欲的样子。 想做饭时先到上一杯红酒，放上一段爵士乐， 边踩拍子边喝酒边切菜，象画画般配好颜色，轻描淡写地端出头台再捧上主菜。 看别人战战兢兢地维持一段婚姻，再看自身扮家家的游戏态度，也觉好笑。但或许太严肃太认真的人反而对婚姻容易失望，因期望太多，付出太大。 到不如大而化之，轻松自在。 

推点心车的阿姨们每周末见的，很熟，都过来打招呼，对母亲也热情，一个个对伊说，“好福气，女儿漂亮，又能干，又孝顺。” 母亲来不及地谦逊，来不及地数落我的劣迹，我顾着吃，也不管伊说些什麽，时不时点头赞同，阿姨们看着我笑，道我好脾气。

早几年还计较别人的看法，如今是懒得理论。在别人眼里好也罢，不好也罢，于我何忧哉？母亲一生精明能干，聪慧利落，自然不喜我的闲散疏懒，然而也逐渐明白人各有志，不愿在大机构里勾心斗角的女儿自有一番洒脱优然，也就做罢，只是常心有不甘地说可惜。

我看着母亲鬓边的银丝，心戚戚然。 儿时身子瀛弱，母亲三天两日带着我求医，又寻遍偏方，挖空心思调理，不是不辛苦。少年时期的叛逆则让母亲措手不及，记得十一二岁时愤怒地跟伊理论，“你把我带到这世上，可有征求过我的意见？假如有选择，我不要当你女儿。”受旧式女子无才便是德教育的母亲震惊心酸的神情，想起歉疚，后来母亲再唠叨也忍耐十分。

在这突然而至的夏日里，我在母亲的衣袂间捕捉到一丝清凉。

And, there she was, as if summoned by my memory of past, hugging me, smiling at me, telling me that my black dress was too sexy and that she was being shown short as always. I hugged her, smiled at her, told her that her heart print silk tunic dress is very in and that she should stop bitching about everything.

In our twenties, we were both ambitious, aggressive and bitchy like any other corporate rats. Now, with the rough edge fine tuned, we ease into a controlled and relaxed mode.

We both laughed at the reminiscence of our first encounter. At a company cocktail party, in the middle of a conversation, some girl charged straight at me from the other end of the room. Before I could extend her the routine courtesy of a handshake and offer my name, she went on and on,

“I know you. You are the one who passed the exam in one shot. That is amazing! I have never met anyone who did that. I saw you in school before and always think of you as a bimbo, that you only care about your look…”

I almost choked by the Cosmopolitan I was sipping when I heard the word “bimbo” was used to describe me in the year when most perceived me as an overachiever - being at the top of the class, running a business, leading an honor society, dating the hottest man in school, passing one of the hardest exam that many fail many times, dining and wining with recruiters of top firms, getting competing job offers. But there and then, a stranger made a judgment on me and decided to call me a bimbo. It was too ironic that I couldn’t even take offense. I glanced at her and sensed that I was dealing with some different species, possibly more alien than Martians. I decided to play cool and responded causally, “Maybe I am a bimbo but just got lucky. Life isn’t fair after all.”

Strange as it sounded, we became good friends after that. She was an only child, very spoiled and self centered, but her longing for friendship made her cave in to my strict demand of punctuality and endure my from time to time sarcasm while I was often amused by her outspokenness and intrigued by her simplicity. 

“I guess you are not a bimbo after all” She vindicated her judgment, after our trip on the time machine to visit the past. 

“I am greatly obliged, your honor.” I said with a mocking solemnity.

Maybe the world would be a better place and we would all be happier if we stop making judgment on each other. Rather, we should think of ourselves as a new soul at the start of everyday, fresh and curious, never take anything for granted and never stop learning.