After writing the column on flowers and flowery teas and all things bloomingly lovely and springlike, I came across an article about the current trend for all things "fresh." The feeling of now, it seems, is freshness. The millennium approaches, and with it the newness of the year 2000, and the 21st century. The theme is rebirth. We begin again. To get ready, we want purity, emptiness, a clean slate, freshness.
Flowers are a good way to start, and this is the perfect season. Japan too is the place for it. The cuisine is replete with freshness, and the quintessence of the Zen state of mind is to be pure, clean and still. I thought I'd devote this column to freshness -- in case you hadn't guessed -- and frolic about with a few tidbit-sized ideas for ways to be fresh, fresher, freshest. (Even the word is enticing. Say it, and you find yourself feeling that way.)
Wear white. Conveniently, this is also, along with freshness, the color of the fashion moment. There is white everywhere in the stores. So, dress yourself in white from head to toe. Wear fabrics that breathe and slide smoothly upon your skin. White works well with luminosity, too: Try shimmering, silvery irridescent things and transparencies. Fabric that floats is good. Weightlessness. Consider taking your inspiration from clouds and blue skies.