J.Crew in Guatemala

I feel like I just blogged about J.Crew's latest travel catalogue, featuring Turks & Caicos. Not a month has passed and the next has already arrived. This edition is a bit Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego since it's the first I've seen (since I started paying attention) that doesn't offer the location up front. J.Crew's June cover features a luminous model on a boat while the shots that follow feature the same woman modeling various bathing suits in front of an anonymous body of water (my guess: Lake Atitlan. But I'm getting ahead of myself...).

It isn't until page 19 that we find out that J.Crew's June's catalogue is set in glorious Guatemala. (I hear it's glorious, anyway – it's nearing top 5 on my list but I have yet to go.) A different, but familiar, model takes over and poses around the city of La Antigua, according to the handy Travel Note. I get the feeling that La Antigua is Guatemala's (cheaper) version of San Miguel de Allende – founded in 1543, it's also got the wonderfully preserved colonial architecture, a UNESCO World Heritage designation, and a plethora of Spanish schools. For the most part, the model lounges against walls or ambles between stonework.

At one point, a Travel Note mentions that they used La Antigua's Convento de las Capuchinas as a backdrop. The convent was severly damaged in a 1773 earthquake, which also took out much of the town. But according to TripAdvisor, "Now open to the public, tranquil gardens, sparse nuns’ cells and a terrific view from the roof make this a popular attraction." It's the only location identified in the women's section.

J.Crew's Guatemala photos end on page 41, only to be recontinued on page 100 with the guys. The lone male model spends his pages hanging out in the north part of the country, at the Mayan ruins of Tikal (also, incidentally, a UNESCO World Heritage site). According to the UNESCO website, it was a major center and inhabited by the Mayans for 16 centuries. According to the text in J.Crew, it was also one of the settings in the original Star Wars.

Apparently, Tikal doubled as the moon Yanvin IV, from which the Rebel Alliance based their attack on the Death Star. I didn't remember any of this, but a quick look at the movie (which I have – yes, I'm a closeted Star Wars geek) jogged the memory. The one Travel Note in the men's section mentions that some of the guys on the shoot were so excited upon hearing this trivia that they geeked out and used their iPhones as light sabers.