Dear Diary

If I'd Known Then: Women Under 35 Write Letters to Their Younger Selves

A blurb from Fashion Week Daily:

What do Plum Sykes, Dylan Lauren, and Atoosa Rubenstein all have in common? Three of fashion's most put-together women all have things they'd like to teach their younger, shyer, more awkward selves. The go-getters have each contributed letters to the upcoming book, If I'd Known Then: Women In Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves, edited by Ellyn Spragins (of The New York Times's "Love & Money" column fame), to be released by Perseus in May. Additionally, the book features contributions from Jessica Alba, Natasha Bedingfield, Sasha Cohen, Spanx founder Sarah Blakely, and many others.

While Lauren's letter to herself begins, "Dear Dill Pickle, Am I fat? Would he like me better if I were thinner?" Rubenstein's is addressed to her 7th-grade self, urging her to be strong and think of the bright future ahead despite the group of older bullies tormenting her in the present. Meanwhile, Sykes, whose real name is Victoria (she was nicknamed "plum" because a variety of the fruit is called Victoria) wrote a Bergdorf Blondes-esque note to her shy younger self. "The thing that you don't know that I do is that popular teen extroverts turn into loud, pushy adults," she penned. "Really interesting people tend to be the quiet ones. They don't need to show off or shout about themselves because their talent speaks for itself. It's chic to be shy."