15 October, 2015

“Moda Italiano”….A Sailboat Obsession!

Alright….it’s time I got this project started in earnest. (smile)  I’m sitting here actually a little bit excited because I’m finally feeling “in the zone” to write the first story that will have a photo associated with it!  This is really an appropriate title because it was literally the first piece that totally became an “I must have it” item for me from the moment I saw it.  And….it definitely started my total fascination with the sailboat sculptures that I have in the collection now.

There are seven sailboats in “Skip’s Fleet” (well….there actually are eight, but the eighth is white porcelain, not really glass), and this one I’ve named “Moda Italiano” (after the store I purchased it from) was the first one I acquired.  I remember that it was September ’93, very shortly after I had moved back to California (from New York), and started at MATTEL.  I had just gotten my apartment in Torrance, and was basking in the total warmth of the realization that I was going to be having a great new job, and the chance to create a living space that would be totally reflective of my persona.

So-o-o-o, I began canvassing stores to see what types of accent pieces I could put in my place.  Of course, all of the major furnishings were a given already. Anyway, I’m driving and I see this really interesting store called MODA ITALIANO, and it had a beautiful large glass sailboat in one of their window displays. I was just mesmerized by it.  It must’ve been about 2 ½ feet tall (mine is actually 28 inches, so it was among the tallest ones there), and was a multi colored piece.  Man….I’ve got to check this place out!!

I walked inside, and just looked throughout the store, and came across this clear sailboat sitting on a black marble base, with a frosted and white “spinnaker sail” and I was hooked!! (smile)  I knew it would be a really cool piece to have as the centerpiece on my coffee table. I also knew that I was going to probably be hit with “sticker shock” when I asked the price!!

So-o-o-o, I ask the clerk what the price was.  What??  I was stunned….okay, the price was definitely not in my budget for a piece like that.  Certainly not starting out to try to decorate my little apartment!!

He went on to explain that this piece was some fancy Italian Plexiglas (oh….so it’s not really glass!!) and hand- made yada, yada, yada.  I told him that I was not in that price realm, but it definitely was a beautiful piece.  So much for that.  Every single weekend, I would go into that store and look at my sailboat….yeah, the one I could not afford.

I came to know the clerk’s name (I don’t remember it today though), and he came to know me, and we would just talk about some of the pieces in the store and so on.  I even dragged my brother Rob into the store a couple of times, and he was (as he still is to this day) very solid in his belief that I only live once, and my new position at my job would most likely enable me to afford the piece.

Literally a couple of months go by, and on one of my weekend visits, the clerk tells me “Look Skip….you’ve been comin’ in here for weeks and you haven’t bought s***!!  What do you want man??”  He’s laughing while he says this to me.  I tell him “I want my sailboat, but your current price isn’t gonna cut it for me!!”  He then says “How about if I take 33% off, and you can have it.  I can’t do more than that!!”  I say “Yeah….you’re right, okay”, and the deed is done.

The point to this whole story is that to this day, I still will not purchase an item I’ve seen that I really would like to have right when I see it, and it’s cost me a few items that I’ll never see again.  I plan on doing an installment titled “The ones that got away!!”, and you’ll read the tales of the many pieces I let slip right through my fingers!! (sigh)

However….thanks to my brother’s input, my sailboat obsession resulted in my having the one piece that sort of represents my memory of “setting sail on my new adventure” closing the chapter on New York, and starting to be my own person in California!!  Look for the next installment….it’ll be coming soon!!