As we were snaking the path of the pearl white Rosewood Miramar Hotel, the grounds laced with well-manicured green shrubs, my blogger bestie, Mari and I realized we were lost.
That’s when we came across a petite woman with black kitten heels, the words, “Dior” printed on the white ribbon bow. They were like Dorothy’s red slippers, but rather than clicking them together and chanting “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home” I imagined one clicking this high fashion footwear together and exclaiming the words, “j’adore Dior! j’adore Dior!” Another fairytale rather, came to mind when the woman with the coveted shoes and kind eyes told us that she worked at the Dior pop-up at the hotel and could guide us to it. She introduced herself as “Alice, like Alice in Wonderland,” when we asked for her name.
Mari and I followed Alice down the path, and I cracked the joke, “Nice to meet you Alice. Thank you for leading us right to the fashionable wonderland we’ve been looking for! We were so lost.” We finally arrived to it fashionably later than expected. Before Mari and I was a white-paneled haven identical to the rest of the hotel, save for being outfitted in hot pink Dioriviera toile window panels that matched the rest of the ready-to-wear pieces inside. Ever since Mari sent me the link announcing this Dior pop-up, I knew it had to be our next adventure together, even if it would be a trek all the way to Montecito from our respective corners of Southern California to do so.
Montecito truly is a West Coast Wonderland: The Santa Barbara community is home to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Oprah and many other mega figures, for good reason. It’s widely known as the American Riviera, its coastline a U.S. equivalent to that of the French Riviera, another famed haunt for movie stars during the Cannes Film Festival. Perhaps that is why I subconsciously embodied Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco and an Old Hollywood style icon, in my look for the day:
I dawned a crisp-white dress with golden-rimmed tortoise-shell buttons, cinched at the waist with a buttery brown leather belt, with strapped sandals to match. I finished the look with a red lip, lush curls that danced in the ocean breeze and my grandmother’s Louis Vuitton bag, with an Italian silk scarf tied on the handle. In this outfit, I truly felt like a movie star, and Mari and I arriving to this Dior pop-up was a key plot point to our day. We enjoyed perusing the ready-to-wear Dior collection, curated in the form of an art exhibition and taking photos on the Dior hammock surrounded by spring blooms. Online shopping has changed the brick and mortar experience in that way: Since it’s more convenient to window shop online and build a weightless cart, the in-person shopping experience has to offer something extra: it has to well-curated and become an experience for the shopper. After a year of barely doing anything in person, a luxury pop-up like this one was a breath of fresh coastal air.
We took a turn wandering the Rosewood, marveling in its beachfront calm and classic beauty. “It has kind of a Hampton’s feel, doesn’t it?” Mari said to me while I enjoyed my vegan chocolate gelato by the pool under an Orangesicle-evoking canopy. “I was literally about to say that!” I exclaimed excitedly, the two of us soul sisters ever in sync. “It really is like the West Coast’s version of the Hamptons!” We concluded the day at Mari and Anton’s house over homemade gnocchi, chilled Lambrusco and a Paul Rudd film. For one day, I felt like the entire world was far away.
What is your favorite beach in the world?
Keeping it Krischic,
Kristin Vartan
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Keeping it Krischic 