A Walk on Marshall’s Beach

Lulu’s dress (similar)
Steve Madden sandals
Celine sunglasses
La Vie Parisienne earrings

I am so guilty of letting my imagination run away with me – particularly when it comes to outfits and outfit photos. I had a vision of how I wanted this shoot to look before I knew Marshall’s Beach actually existed (and, because I am obstinate, I simply decided that there must be a beach with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. For once, I turned out to be right.) And before I had found the perfect white maxi dress. I knew that this was a moment I wanted to experience, that I wanted to capture and so, without making any practical considerations, I decided that it would. These photos are exactly what I wanted them to be, and more – when we were on the beach, Ian really ran with the idea that I had spent hours explaining to him. But the running part was both literal and figurative. And while part of me wants to just let you all enjoy these beautiful shots, I think it’s important to do a reality check once in a while and be honest about what goes into getting the perfect photos. The fact is, Marshall’s Beach is without a doubt one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever walked on. But it is secluded and, while it isn’t officially a nude beach, a significant number of the regulars use the area to sunbathe without clothes of any kind. Most of them are straight men. Some of them are relatively aggressive in their pursuit of rare female sunbathers, like me. We were on the beach for a little over an hour and in that time, one man approached us on four separate occasions, asking to take my picture – bear in mind that he had no clothes on, while Ian and I were both fully dressed. I have an arsenal of different polite, “no thank-you,” type responses to use in situations like this, which crop up far more often than they should when you take photos in public places regularly, but nothing deterred him and by the end of the shoot, I felt so frazzled and harassed that, in my rush to leave, I left my sandals on the beach. I had another pair of shoes with me that was more practical for walking on the sand (because seriously, no one can walk on the sand in heels, not even me) so I left in those. It wasn’t until hours later, after dinner and a few glasses of wine, that I went to unpack my beach bag and realised what had happened. So often, fashion blogging is characterised, even criticised, as just a lot of pretty pictures, the implication being that our work lacks substance – and while it’s true that we work hard to create beautiful images, there is so much more that goes into them that isn’t captured by the camera lens. I have lived all kinds of experiences in the six years since I started Coco & Vera in my kitchen, most of them beautiful but some of them questionable and unintentionally dangerous. I suppose that when it comes down to it, what I’m trying to say is that these photos only capture my vision of the day we had, not the reality of it – and although the lack of reality is part of what makes some people feel that fashion blogs are trivial, I disagree; reality is highly overrated. It is often dull, draining and unpleasant, and I would vastly prefer to remember my experience at Marshall’s Beach as just the few lovely moments in these snapshots. A little escapism isn’t such a bad thing, now and then…

Parfois, j’ai l’impression de ne pas pouvoir m’exprimer précisément en traduisant mes pensées anglaises – aujourd’hui, par exemple. Et donc, je ne m’oblige pas. Je vous reviens en français lundi, mes belles. Bon week-end !