The Verdict on the New Helmut Lang

Once, back in the early 2000s, I owned a black Helmut Lang pantsuit. That was a time when even the word “pantsuit” kind of made me cringe, but there was something about how this one was cut — three-button, single-breasted jacket and flat-front (but louche) pants — that skewed all its establishment implications. It made…

Get the Baby to the Doctor

“Mommy forgot the car key,” I said. “Silly Mommy!” Even I had to admit my voice sounded deranged. I wheeled us right, then left, then left again. We were moving at a wild speed because despair was following close behind. I raced it back to our street with the row of brownstones, their gracious stairs.…

The Threads of Identity in Palestinian Embroidery

In every stitch, there is a story. Like layers of history, the hand-stitched Palestinian embroidery known as tatreez, traditionally used to ornament Palestinian dress, tells of towns and villages lost, old customs abandoned, past lives and survival. The stitched designs and symbols once functioned almost as an identification card. The rooster, an old Christian symbol,…