12 Fashion Ads You Wanted to Live In

It's easy to lose yourself in a sea of pretty pictures on Tumblr and Pinterest these days. Still, there's something special about being able to hold an actual book of pictures between your fingers. (If you lean in closely enough, you can almost feel yourself stepping into its pages.)

For old time's sake, here's a look back at some of the greatest print ad photos we've all wanted to step into over the past 14 years.

Prada - Late 90s

It's 1999 and you're in bed in ratty pajamas, flipping through a copy of Vogue. You turn the page and find yourself staring at a brown skirt and tweed shoes, and a woven bag dangling just behind the model's ankles. If only you could have that bag, everything in your life would be okay. If nothing else, the bag would at least give you some semblance of being put together--in a Mrs. Dalloway sort of way. This photo is just a Muppet Babies' view of what your life would look like in Prada.

Fashion as Narrative (Pt.1)

Stories are important, just look at your Facebook timeline. When filled out completely it tells a history of your adult life, a constructed public face you want others to see.

Whenever I friend someone new, for example, I find myself clicking through his/her earliest albums and wall posts in order to try to determine who he/she has been over time. (Then I say to myself, "She really did drink Pabst before it was cool." ಠ_ಠ)

Like a web page, fashion is another aspect of ourselves that we assemble for the pleasure of others.  Our clothes and closets are a series of narratives that offer glimpses into the choices we've made and what we have liked over time; these narratives are not always linear, headed toward some perfect sartorial endpoint, but circular. The things we wear go out of style and come back in, sometimes more refined, or in other cases, identical to what was popular before.

And just think: In a few years, you're likely to look down and discover you're wearing a schizophrenic outfit--maybe a thrifted paisley top from the '70s, a metal bracelet made just after 9/11, and the latest platforms from Nordstrom. Our modern outfits tell many stories, blending decades and art movements--produced in places all over the world. Everything we wear is a piece of time and history.

My bracelet of rubies, bought when I was working 3 jobs at once

Popular fashion designers and celebrities love to capitalize on the power of the narratives through tabloid and Twitpic photos, interviews and editorial spreads. Little styling details like bright pink hair, braces, or a signature style help celebrities tell master narratives that they want the public to believe, projecting an identity without words at all.

It's the reason I spend so much time on Tumblr looking at photos of celebrities like Solange, who entrances me just by changing the narrative of her hair.

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Sometimes, I scroll through old photos of myself and wonder what story awaits its end for me? That is to say: what will I wear in the future and will I need to stock up on shoulder-padded power suits like I so desperately want to? (Also, will I ever be as cool as Solange?)