Steff Yotka is a contributor to Fashionista.com and a freelance stylist assistant in NYC.
"Let me preface this article by saying that during the years 2002 through 2006, I was unabashedly, wholeheartedly, and maybe even freakishly in love with anything and everything Marc Jacobs. Juergen Teller photos lined my bedroom walls, Marc by Marc Jacobs keyfobs hung from my backpack, and the date of every Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc runway show was marked on my calendar with hearts and exclamation points. I knew about anything remotely in the Marc Jacobs universe and was obsessed with it all. (I was very cool, obviously.)
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"This jacket is from the the Marc by Marc Jacobs spring '04 collection—a pivotal moment in my personal style. Bright, mismatched colors, intense and nonsensical layering, and glitter eyeshadow seemed instinctively right to a younger me, and instantly became my favorite things. 2004 was also a great year in my relationship with Style.com. I had just gotten my own desktop computer, and while my friends were on AIM, I was on Style.com organizing my favorite looks into hundreds of Microsoft Paint documents that I reviewed at least once a day. (It also explains why I've turned out to be such an encyclopedia of obscure runway facts from the '00s.) It was obvious from the moment the runway photos went up, that look 24, on Daria Werbowy, had to be mine.
"It took all of my Christmas money, birthday money, and an hour or so of pleading with my mom in the fitting room to purchase this jacket. It was worth it. Not only does it fit perfectly and go with every outfit I can conceive of, but seven years later, it's been on enough adventures with me to make it worthy of its own character in the movie version of my life.
"In high school, I wore it during one of my most successful breaking-and-entering adventures at Fashion Week in Bryant Park, that famously ended with me backstage at Anna Sui taking photos of Karen Elson. During a visit to the Marc by Marc store on Bleeker Street, a cute sales-dude gave me his number while I was wearing it. When Juergen Teller lectured at SVA, I wore it on the off chance he'd be like, 'Guten Tag, nice Marc by Marc jacket. Be my muse?' It traveled with me to my freshman dorm room, the last Fashion Week at Bryant Park, the first Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, job interviews, birthday parties, Paris, and just about everywhere else I went.
"Everything came full circle for me and my Marc by Marc jacket when we hopped the M14 bus to Milk the first weekend of June to help the MbMJ team with the resort '12 collection. That's where I met my new Marc by Marc accomplice: A shearling-lined parka that I'm planning to be gushing about seven years from now. The only question is: When can I buy it?"