Carmen Miranda in That Night in Rio
Dovima (in the first bikini to be seen away from France) for Harper's Bazaar, Montego Bay, Jamaica, 1945
Bette Paige
Eve Arnold - Bar Girl in a Brothel, Havana, Cuba, 1954
Vacation for me this year feels a bit more like an overdue pilgrimage than a self-indulgent holiday. Both of my grandparents migrated from Cuba to New Jersey before the Castro revolution in the 50s, and since then no one I'm related to has cared to go back or at least see for the first time their roots, or rather, ruins. The means of getting a visa and transporting myself to the motherland has not been an easy task. Thanks to my friend Debbie, whose family friend owns a travel agency specifically for traveling to Cuba, I was able to get a ticket on a charter plane to take me to my pearl in the Caribbean....basically for free! It's three of us (two fire signs and a cancer) that are traveling together, we are all Cuban, some more than others, but i'm basically the only one who hasn't been yet. Many new discoveries and revelations are underway, and I can't wait! Hopefully lots of vintage discoveries too.
It's a 7-day trip, 2 of which are going to be spent on El Varadero beach sipping on mojitos under a wide-brimmed hat. Packing has to be light, very light and the outfits can't be too ostentatious, this leaves me in a bit of a humdrum. The outfit i'm wearing in the first picture is by Marc Jacobs and is incredibly discounted at the store right now. So tempted to go buy it! Reminds me of something Carmen Miranda would sport today.
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