"How ungenerously in later life we disclaim the virtuous moods of our youth, living in retrospect long, summer days of unreflecting dissipation, Dresden figures of pastoral gaiety! Our wisdom, we prefer to think, is all of our own gathering, while, if the truth be told, it is, most of it, the last coin of a legacy that dwindles with time. - Brideshead Revisited"

As this was the year of a Brideshead Revisited re-make (though why you would think you could do better than made-for-tv version with Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews I don't know) the timing does seem right for something eccentrically whimsical in the teddy bear line. Not quite bears, though they do fall under the category of "furry and decadently outlandish"...these furry, bejewelled, little creatures from Jun Takahashi's Undercover collection for Spring/Summer '09. I say 'creatures' because I couldn't quite figure out what they were until I ran across a piece that explained that "This season Takahashi notes that he was inspired by white, fluffy creatures with luminous eyes called "Graces". These creatures, invented by Takahashi, keep their distance from humans. A secret organization called Gila, he says, has succeeded in breeding and protecting the Graces. Gila also has played a crucial role in fostering a relationship between both the Graces and the human species."

This could very well be my favorite accessory from the Spring/Summer collections. So much so that I have a sudden urge to unearth some stuffed toys...and costume jewelry...and go for a walk...like Sebastian with Aloysius...or an ethereal pirate with his stuffed parrot.