Even if you’re not a fashion enthusiast or follower of haute couture, you’ve almost certainly heard the name Coco Chanel. She was a designer and an an icon who reshaped the very idea of elegance. She populated the “little black dress” term redefining what sophistication could look like.

I’ve always been intrigued by her — that intense gaze, that aura of independence. She often seemed unapproachable, wrapped in mystery and strength. But as a creative myself (I’m a fine-art photographer), I’ve learned that to survive in any creative field, you need both softness and fierce confidence. And beneath her steely persona, Coco Chanel clearly had a poetic side, you can’t create clothing that lifts women’s spirits without having a tender heart somewhere beneath the discipline.

When my husband and I visited the Coco Chanel exhibition in Atlanta, I smiled at how little he actually knew about her story. He had, of course, heard her name — who hasn’t? — but didn’t realize she was born in France, raised in an orphanage, and built an empire from sheer determination. The organizer shared these stories with such enthusiasm that even he became captivated. (He later whispered, half-joking, that perhaps he now finally understood why women adore French fashion!)

This is my very first article in the new Nostalgic & Vintage category on my blog. I created this space for all of us who love looking back, through history, art, fashion, or the little treasures of the past that carry so much meaning.

Recently, I started collecting vintage film cameras, and I already have five in my collection. I shared my observations from this experience in the article “Through a Vintage Film Camera I Found Time Again” Photography has always been a passion of mine, so much so that I turned it into my career. This little collection is partly the photographer in me reminiscing about the craft’s history, and partly a way to honor the charm of the past. There’s a cozy, reassuring vibe in vintage things; they bring comfort and make the romance of earlier times feel a little more real.

When I sat down to write this first article for the Nostalgic & Vintage category, I had a whole list of ideas. It was hard to choose which one deserved to come first, and every topic felt special in its own way. But in the end, I decided to begin with music and nostalgia.

Music is universal, it connects us all, and it might just be the most powerful way to romanticize the past.

Taking photos with old vintage film camera for the first time felt like stepping into another era, a world slower, quieter, more deliberate. It was frustrating, yes, but also strangely illuminating.

The mechanics of my used film camera Minolta caught me off guard. On my digital camera, the focus dances wherever I wish, quick and effortless. But with film, it stayed fixed. Such a small difference, yet it changed everything: how I framed, how I moved, how I saw. I had to think twice, maybe three times, before pressing the shutter. Suddenly, each photograph felt less like an impulse and more like a decision.

And then came the real test: thirty-six exposures. Just thirty-six. Digital spoils us with endless clicking: trial and error, rapid-fire bursts, the safety of delete buttons. Film does the opposite. It asks for restraint. Every shot mattered. Holding my old film camera I found myself pacing, circling, watching the light shift across a face, a street, a wall, and asking: is this really worth one of my frames? Many times, the answer was no. And strangely, saying no felt like a kind of freedom.