How The Leopard Got Its Spots


There's something about a leopard coat. Mine's a simple Forever 21 find from years and years ago and even though I only wear it once or twice a year, I'll never get rid of it (unless I somehow find an even better one to replace it with). It's all old Hollywood glamor; Marilyn Monroe with her perfectly coiffed hair and signature red lipstick on a honeymoon, or the even more provocative incarnation of a leopard unitard on Bettie Page. A far stretch from Christian Dior's midi-length leopard sheath dress of 1947 which he said to only wear if "you [have] a kind of femininity which is a little bit sophisticated; if you are fair and sweet, don't wear it." But a leopard coat is also 70s counterculture, leopard next to ripped jeans on punk rock stars like Debbie Harry. Then's there the vintage leopard coat with beaten up Doc Martens version that I usually see on angular girls with messy hair, perhaps imitating the casual-chic style of Kate Moss. And have we already forgotten the red leopard scarf craze that Louis Vuitton sparked in 2007? Everyone I knew had one or wanted one. In some ways I think Christian Dior was right--leopard print might not be for everyone, but it's certainly for anyone who wants that hard-to-attain it-girl feeling...

Outfit details:
Forever 21 coat (old, similar)
*pictures by Thomas

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