“You know how mothers talk about how they need to save their child’s life? They get these superpowers, and I think that’s what happens to girls in their early 20’s: they want to be glamorous,” [Tea Hacic](https://www.instagram.com/teahacic/?hl=en), the author of the book, _Life of the Party,_ best explains. “Glamour was such a new concept for me coming from North Carolina. You later find out that glamour is just kids who have parents with money, or it’s a washed-up PR with a bunch of shit in her closet. But before you can get too disillusioned with glamour, it can be a reason to do so much stuff.” _Life of the Party_ and its main character, Mia, an autobiographical composite of Hacic, serves as a guide and a recollection of youth as seen through the dichotomy of control vs. desperation, Americana vs. Milanese, luxury vs. poverty, and uppers vs. downers.
I first met Hacic in 2018 when I was wearing a giant pink fur coat by the designer Quentin Veron at a fashion party. She was already draped in a Pepto Bismol-pink-like Cicciolina by way of a Bratz doll, guiding along a grip of European party girls. We would see each other at various events, though we truly didn’t get to know each other until one night out which ended in a naked jacuzzi session at a mansion in the hills. Her south- ern politeness was enchanting, attributed to her Carolinian upbringing and the stern Balkan sensibility of Croatian parents.
Once I received _Life of the Party,_ I spent until 5 in the morning ripping through pages. The party seduced me, the darkness shocked me, and Mia’s wondrous naïveté uplifted me. “Of course we are always going to be comparing ourselves to others and trying to be more of something that we are,” Hacic quips, about the less-cautionary tale of youth in the city as more coming-of-age. “It’s important to be able to look at yourself and be like, ‘I’m cool as fuck,’ but you won’t realize it until later.” Mia traverses her life of hard partying, sadistic men, diabolically lovable bosses, a setting stained with cigarette smoke, champagne stained couture, and cocaine perspirations. When asked about the process of tapping into that specific youthful head- space, Hacic offers up her recipe. “I wanted to write a memoir about this time, but the problem was that I’d grown out of that period. I was like, ‘you’ve gotta get back into that dumb bitch 22-year-old brain.’”
Tea Hacic wears [**I LOVE PRETTY**](https://ilovepretty.store/) top and skirt, [**VERSACE**](https://www.versace.com/) necklace, and [**VIVIENNE WESTWOOD**](https://www.viviennewestwood.com/en/) necklace.
Having built a fanbase in Italy as a sex columnist, presenter, and contributing editor of _Wonderland_ Magazine, her career saw an evolution to comedy via an accidentally viral social media moment—the synthesis of her comedic chops and slapstick performances. These come in the form of a drunken “pregnant” wife screaming at her husband while cooking, and the angst of a Vivienne Westwood-clad SoundCloud rapper skate brat named Chaos, amongst others. Though the intercontinental ap- peal is often lost in translation, literally, Hacic continues on. “I was like, ‘it’s only going to get published in Italy because that’s where my followers are.’ In Italy, I have a very large following that started ten years ago when I was writing for _Vice_ and _Wired_ Italy,” she shares. “This summer blew up when I did these viral videos for them. They are an audience that wants the silly slapstick, viral stuff and they don’t want the book. Meanwhile in America, I think the videos that I’m doing in Italy wouldn’t work here, but the book does. It’s something that I’m constantly feeling torn between!”
Under the glamour and slutty outfits Mia wears, there is a distinguished man in _Life of the Party_ who frames the story, luring her with his enigmatic tendencies and intoxicating Mia’s senses. Ultimately, the man ravishes her in a display of sadomasochism that makes _Fifty Shades of Grey_ feel like falling asleep during foreplay. The punishing dynamic she presents is a totem of pre-_Me Too_ violence against women. Explaining this artifice, “In the era of _Me Too_, we’re finally listening to women’s stories. If Mia lived like this today, I don’t think a lot of this would’ve happened to her or that she would’ve let these things happen to her,” reflects Hacic. “At the same time, I think it’s really important to point out that Mia gets into a lot of trouble because of men who take advantage of her, but she also never says ‘no.’ She actually dives right into it and then feels really bad after and tries to tell herself she doesn’t feel bad. _Life of the Party_ looks at how it can be really confusing when you believe in people and then they disappoint you.”
Though it can be seen as quite a niche take on the fashion world, people who live in Milan have given praise to Hacic’s depiction of the fashion capital. Comments like, ‘Oh my god you finally described Milan as it actually is, which is kind of like a dump with great fashion parties,’ have been the overall sentiment. Wherever the book lands in the historical landscape of party girls who fashion, one thing is for sure: they surely won’t have as much heart as the way that is depicted.
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**Tea’s Drunk Spaghetti Recipe**
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**Ingredients:**
* Spaghetti…duh. A handful of dry pasta is enough for each party. But we know you’re eating alone.
* Tons of olive oil
* A bottle of red wine. (a good one, you’re drinking it, too.)
* 2 cloves of garlic
* 2 table spoons of butter
* tons of salt!!!
* parmesan (if you’re a monster)
**Directions:**
**1.** Fill your pot halfway with water. (You do have a pot, right? if not, use a frying pan. trust me, it works!)
They say watched water doesn’t boil. I disagree. Watch that pot. Talk to her. She needs encouragement! Or bullying, if you wish.
**2.** Once she’s boiling, salt that water! Make her as salty as you are. They say, “The water should taste like the ocean.”
Do you know what the ocean tastes like? You keep saying, “I love LA. It’s near the ocean” but you’ve never been to Malibu! you’ve never been to Venice!
OK, consider a salted swimming pool in the hills. We all know you were at that party…We saw the pics.
**3.** Throw your Handfull (or more) of pasta in! Let it sink…now, pour in some wine! The water should be violet. chug some wine. yum.
**4.** Note the pasta should be al dente! Do not overcook it! Don’t be nasty! This isn’t the olive garden! Maximum 8-9 minutes, please.
Meanwhile:
**5.** Warm up a frying pan. Throw in two (chopped) cloves of garlic and some butter. Get that sexy simmer. _Yas!_ do you smell that? That’s the smell of a successful bitch.
Add some olive oil. Stir. Throw that wine in… A couple cups? Careful, it will splash… Bring to a low-key boil. You know, Let it do that thing where it transforms from a liquid to a ~sauce~
**6.** Chug some wine. Consider your past. Laugh at it. You’re a legend!
**7.** Now, you have a single sweet moment to spare. Don’t waste it on cleaning. Find the perfect show to watch. You know you can’t eat until your show starts. Do that immediately-you don’t want your pasta getting cold while you scroll desperately.
If you can’t find a new show to watch, go for Sex and the City.
**8.** Your pasta is done. Run! Drain the spaghetti. (scary, I know. You can do it. Watch that hair, watch your makeup.)
**9.** Throw the pasta into the simmering pan! It will be messy and you. Will. Love it! Top it with olive oil.
**10.** Eat directly from the pan. If you’re sophisticated, smash it on a plate. If you’re a monster, add parmesan.
**11.** Finish off the bottle of wine, if there is any left. Stunning!
**ps:** Did you turn your stove off? Turn it off!
**pps:** Unlike the other messes you make, this one’s on you to clean up.
baci! xoxo
tea
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[Tea Hacic Life of the Party is available here](https://www.amazon.com/Life-Party-Tea-Hacic-Vlahovic-ebook/dp/B086J9761R/)
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Photographed and Flaunt Film Directed by: [Mynxii White](https://www.instagram.com/mynxiiwhite/).
Styled by: [Jules Wood](https://www.instagram.com/juleswstylist_/) at [Opus Beauty](https://opusbeauty.com).
Hair & Makeup: [Stephanie Navarro](https://www.instagram.com/beautiebystephanie/) using [Davines](https://www.davines.com) and [MAC Cosmetics](https://www.maccosmetics.com) at [The Rex Agency](https://therexagency.com).
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