4-27-2025 MY INSPO : does god dream of chrome?

April 27, 2025

4-27-2025 MY INSPO : does god dream of chrome?

it's been a hectic week for us catholics with easter festivities and the symbolic passing of pope francis has got us all reflecting on our faith and religion. bestie nicole and i were just praising the pope on easter sunday, then once again faith was brought to the table during bestie victoria and mine lunch at one of our fave spots, zhug.

i am not going to go in depth on my personal view on religion, but i will say, pope francis left a legacy and impact on many, including me. and to focus on the topic of fashion, what an interesting concept that his holiness worked with the met and conde nast in 2018 to create one the most iconic met galas in the recent years: heavenly bodies: fashion and the catholic imagination. the catholic church had it's fashion and pop culture moment. to this day these looks are recycled onto moodboards (including mine very often). this collaboration seems contradicting though. the met gala being gluttonous, boisterous event for the elite, with heaps of fame and money - meets with the catholic church, that scrutinizes the seven deadly sins and preaches against it, and pope francis himself, whose whole mission was to be frugal and help the less fortunate. much to think about, right? social criticism aside, numerous church artifacts are frequently found in museums, alongside multiple paintings of the masters depicting religious imagery. religion is so deeply embedded in our aesthetics. you can't really run away from it.

an icon of mother mary with jesus, from my recent visits to the museum

and just look at catholic churches, around europe particularly, filled with waxy, almost real statues, golden details in the architecture, and stained glass windows that keep you staring the full hour of mass. the aesthetic of catholicism is beautiful and also morbid, fantastical and scary at the same time, loving yet judgmental.

pope francis was working on bridging the gap between the institution of the catholic church with the youth of today, many of us distanced from the religion we were born into. he was vocal about social issues, and showed pure respect, tolerance and acceptance, following the words of a loving god whose words we hear being preached every sunday.

pope francis' bedroom - humble and frugal to reflect the teachings of st francis of assisi

what a flawed and powerful institution, but in it's core, looking at jesus' teachings, how progressive it sounds, how loving and nonjudgmental it can be. pope francis was just a vessel of god, but a very very good one. i hope the church will choose a new pope just as progressive, if not more, to continue bringing back faith to the youth. religion and its institutions need to adapt with the times. look back into history, christianity adapted from roman paganism and judaism. and remember, who would jesus be today? who would he advocate for, what would he advocate for? the pope is our great teacher and reminder of this, but it is up to each of us to define what faith is to us and how to practice it to create a better world and to be better humans. in the end, isn't that the main goals for most, if not all religions?

i remember helping one of the local nuns in cro, years ago, with a church project for a holiday, and i remember telling her how i couldn't live in a uniform like her, and that's why i'd never be a nun. perhaps not the best thing to say to a nun, but teenage me was way to candid and impulsive with that yapping mouth.

to recognize a croatian girl, just look at her necklace - pure gold, with a croatian crest alongside a small cross. many of us have had it. i have multiple rings with a crucifix, i have a ring with "our father" inscribed in croatian. i once had a beaded bracelet with the story of jesus' birth. that got tangled in a friend's curly hair during a very drunk night out, and we had to yank the bracelet off, the beads spilling on the gross night club floor.

rose infused rosaries dangle from our car mirrors, and are worn, albeit, rarely. yet they're beautifully crafted and at least online, a more frequently used accessory. i got my mom one from padua during my high school visit to italy. it was glow in the dark, and my mom didn't know that, so she thought it was a miraculous rosary. another fashion statement found more in europe than maybe our local american churches, are delicate fans for summertime, with photoshopped prayers, church landscapes and saints.

do you remember your first communion outfit, or maybe confirmation outfit years later? in croatia, the girls usually wore white, and boys would wear suits, and then all of us had to wear these shapeless uniforms, much like the plain white toga an altar boy would wear. we would also be given necklaces with crosses, some wooden, some resin, depending on the year. i had a wooden one for my communion, and wore it until the rope broke.

i've got multiple bracelets and rosaries from places like padua, međugorje and other trips where we would end up visiting cathedrals.

dreaming of metallic legs

once again a fashion dream has appeared to me this week, and i must share it with you.

i had a dream i was at a local consignment store i frequent, it's so you, and i was looking at a pair of metallic, chrome prada pants on sale. in my dream i was being watched and judged by the sales lady, which i disliked, so i obviously picked a fight with her (while describing the dream to bestie victoria, she stated that i had a "pretty woman moment" in the store - that would be correct). further in the dream, i ask sib her opinion on these chrome pants (probably costing a good couple hundred dollars), and she stated i should invest in them. that's what really felt like a dream, because usually sib keeps the reins tight when it comes to frivolous purchases - especially for pieces like metallic pants.

i spent some time looking up pants on therealreal, particularly metallic prada ones, but there wasn't any that matched the ones from my dream. i broadened my search to different brands and price points up to $200 (but not further. i can't justify chrome pants for over that amount). i got lucky with the variety and price points, and many really matched what was in my dream!

i truly plan on visiting the consignment store, because why not? could this be a sign...