I have a lot of things that I should write about so I'll get busy organising my thoughts.
Here are some dresses:
Cool. cool cool cool.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
hello blog from over 12 months ago
I am always embarrassed by things past-me wrote. I don't even know what that sentence structure was, I'm out of grammatical practice.
I have a lot of things that I should write about so I'll get busy organising my thoughts.
Here are some dresses:
I have a lot of things that I should write about so I'll get busy organising my thoughts.
Here are some dresses:
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Monday, 19 March 2012
Suiting Up
It's been ages again. But hopefully I will keep this up, I've got uni work again so it's good to have a procrasti-blog.
So atm I'm all about the whole female/feminist fashion. To nutshell what I'm looking at, I would describe it as looking into whether it is possible to dress as a woman, look beautiful and also look fearsome. But that's another kettle of fish, today I'm just going to talk about what it's like dressing in men's clothing. I.e a shirt and tie, not only to dress in it but to wear it into town. I've done it twice now, and the reaction was similar but it's amazing that there was a difference between wearing a blazer and not.
My outfit consisted of tight black pants with pleather sides, heels, white shirt and deep red polka dot tie. First night out also featured a tailored women's suit jacket.
First night I wore this out I wore it to a 21st and then into town. Women didn't say a word to me about it all night, men couldn't HELP but say things. They ranged from "wow, nice tie!" to "you look beautiful" via "look here comes the lesbian!". Suits it seems, tend to polarise public opinion. The second time was less eventful due to the lack of suit and the lack of intoxication. But ultimately men do not hit on/dance with chicks in suits. Not that men hit on me anyways so maybe I was just more conscious of the lack of attention. The other night when I was walking home a man yelled "why are you wearing a suit?" and I yelled "because I want to!" to which he replied "well, it looks really good!"
This highly scientific social experiment leads me to draw the following conclusions:
- Men either like how I dress and are intimidated OR men think I'm a dyke.
Neither of these bother me particularly. I've doing a lot of reading about this lately. About what is male and what is female and why. I've a very long and tedious topic. When I say to people I'm doing feminist fashion, they all think that I'm putting women in suits and telling them to act like men but in the words of Vivienne Westwood "I've never thought it powerful to be like a second-rate man." Why are things demeaning because they are thought of as feminine? We are too easily suckered in by this, particularly as these fashion items only exist because we, as women, are the consumers who demand it.
Apparently, the stiletto heel was invented as a celebration of femininity as the heel itself is supposed to reflect the female form. In its more extreme form (by the 1960s or so) it was used as a symbolic way of showing a dissatisfaction with the conventional female image. It was also used as a right of passage, and it still is, when a girl gets her first pair of heels it is one of the steps towards womanhood. In my opinion, it is our differences as sexes that denotes power. I'm proud of my body, jiggly as it is, and I feel that power comes from a comfort with who you are. Even when in a suit, I'm not dressing AS a man, I wear full make up, my pants are skin tight and my shirts fitted, I am very clearly a woman. I feel powerful when I wear tailored dresses, when I know I look like a woman.
A male friend came up to me the other day to tell me he had seen me the previous day in a below the knee, cord, black/green floral dress. He wanted to let me know that he thought I looked "awesome, like not in a I wanna bang the living day lights out of you kinda hot, but like the woah! that chick looks classy and beautiful kinda hot" I was pretty stoked, I'm not going to lie.
So once again, I've blathered about and rambled on about my thoughts. But I though this example is a good example of the fact that respect comes from celebrating your femininity but lets face it, it also comes from not looking like a cheap slut. Now that kinda dressing is an issue for another day.
So atm I'm all about the whole female/feminist fashion. To nutshell what I'm looking at, I would describe it as looking into whether it is possible to dress as a woman, look beautiful and also look fearsome. But that's another kettle of fish, today I'm just going to talk about what it's like dressing in men's clothing. I.e a shirt and tie, not only to dress in it but to wear it into town. I've done it twice now, and the reaction was similar but it's amazing that there was a difference between wearing a blazer and not.
My outfit consisted of tight black pants with pleather sides, heels, white shirt and deep red polka dot tie. First night out also featured a tailored women's suit jacket.
First night I wore this out I wore it to a 21st and then into town. Women didn't say a word to me about it all night, men couldn't HELP but say things. They ranged from "wow, nice tie!" to "you look beautiful" via "look here comes the lesbian!". Suits it seems, tend to polarise public opinion. The second time was less eventful due to the lack of suit and the lack of intoxication. But ultimately men do not hit on/dance with chicks in suits. Not that men hit on me anyways so maybe I was just more conscious of the lack of attention. The other night when I was walking home a man yelled "why are you wearing a suit?" and I yelled "because I want to!" to which he replied "well, it looks really good!"
This highly scientific social experiment leads me to draw the following conclusions:
- Men either like how I dress and are intimidated OR men think I'm a dyke.
Neither of these bother me particularly. I've doing a lot of reading about this lately. About what is male and what is female and why. I've a very long and tedious topic. When I say to people I'm doing feminist fashion, they all think that I'm putting women in suits and telling them to act like men but in the words of Vivienne Westwood "I've never thought it powerful to be like a second-rate man." Why are things demeaning because they are thought of as feminine? We are too easily suckered in by this, particularly as these fashion items only exist because we, as women, are the consumers who demand it.
Apparently, the stiletto heel was invented as a celebration of femininity as the heel itself is supposed to reflect the female form. In its more extreme form (by the 1960s or so) it was used as a symbolic way of showing a dissatisfaction with the conventional female image. It was also used as a right of passage, and it still is, when a girl gets her first pair of heels it is one of the steps towards womanhood. In my opinion, it is our differences as sexes that denotes power. I'm proud of my body, jiggly as it is, and I feel that power comes from a comfort with who you are. Even when in a suit, I'm not dressing AS a man, I wear full make up, my pants are skin tight and my shirts fitted, I am very clearly a woman. I feel powerful when I wear tailored dresses, when I know I look like a woman.
A male friend came up to me the other day to tell me he had seen me the previous day in a below the knee, cord, black/green floral dress. He wanted to let me know that he thought I looked "awesome, like not in a I wanna bang the living day lights out of you kinda hot, but like the woah! that chick looks classy and beautiful kinda hot" I was pretty stoked, I'm not going to lie.
So once again, I've blathered about and rambled on about my thoughts. But I though this example is a good example of the fact that respect comes from celebrating your femininity but lets face it, it also comes from not looking like a cheap slut. Now that kinda dressing is an issue for another day.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
It's been a while.
It's been a summer in fact. I'm not sure what happens to me when I finish university for the year, but whatever it is it makes reading and writing the least appealing activity imaginable. There has as least been once realization; summer wedges don't exist for someone as fussy as me, instead I got these:
 |
| Mi Piaci - Betty |
Love them. I have numerous other purchases bought so that I can survive Christchurch and it's earthquake ridden mediocrity. I also now have a car which means I can wear high heels all the time. result.
Monday, 7 November 2011
I just bought a new laptop and that makes me sad...
I'm sure I will be very excited when it arrives but I am currently feeling like a traitor. The laptop I am fondly typing on has been in my life since I was 16. It still technically works but it has reached retirement age. Bits have started cracking and falling off, it freezes when things get too hard for it and it continuously drops its internet connection.
I'm feeling like I've taken a beloved puppy to the vets to be put down. This was not the emotion I anticipated. It's so odd being emotionally involved with a machine. It makes more sense to be involved with it rather than other less interesting objects but it has been a continuous feature in my daily life for 5 years. 5 YEARS. No other thing or person has been that?!
This is a truly embarrassing rant so I will end it here... lappy ILY.
I'm feeling like I've taken a beloved puppy to the vets to be put down. This was not the emotion I anticipated. It's so odd being emotionally involved with a machine. It makes more sense to be involved with it rather than other less interesting objects but it has been a continuous feature in my daily life for 5 years. 5 YEARS. No other thing or person has been that?!
This is a truly embarrassing rant so I will end it here... lappy ILY.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Time to give something back:
For those of you who have designer pieces that no longer excite your fashion taste buds; Hospice are running a "Give it up for Hospice" campaign.
Hospice NZ is an organisation that relies a lot on the donations received and sold at their shops to provide assistance to Hospices around the country caring for those who are dying. They act under the notion that they are there to neither hasten nor prolong death but give support and dignity to those who need it.
Give it up for Hospice is a campaign that encourages us to give up a designer item from our wardrobe to go into "Hospice's Fashion Collection 2011". For more information visit www.giveitup.co.nz or "like" them on facebook (click here).
Hospice NZ is an organisation that relies a lot on the donations received and sold at their shops to provide assistance to Hospices around the country caring for those who are dying. They act under the notion that they are there to neither hasten nor prolong death but give support and dignity to those who need it.
Give it up for Hospice is a campaign that encourages us to give up a designer item from our wardrobe to go into "Hospice's Fashion Collection 2011". For more information visit www.giveitup.co.nz or "like" them on facebook (click here).
Damn you ASOS
Damn you are your 50% off shoe sale that starts at 7am NZ time.... damn you to fashion bargain hell...
www.asos.com
p.s have pre-checked the shoe selection and hope these little beauties are half price...
www.asos.com
p.s have pre-checked the shoe selection and hope these little beauties are half price...
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
The worth of fashion: a random collection of thoughts.
I just had a chat with one of my best friends about fashion. The conversation started with her asking if I liked Oscar Wilde, and if I had heard his quote of fashion, I laughed and said confirmed yes, I had indeed.
For those of you who haven't heard/read it it goes as follows:
"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable we have to be alter it every 6 months"
-Oscar Wilde
Even typing that made me smile. As a fashion student I agree with Mr Wilde's sentiments, I have a slightly differing perspective but I think there is an element to his words that rings true.
Fashion is simultaneously taken far too seriously and not seriously enough. In terms of taking it too seriously I don't understand people being afraid to wear something twice in the same week lest other people notice and somehow judge them as a twice-a-week-wearer or some such monster. But I also have a deep hatred of people who say that fashion doesn't matter, a common opinion among New Zealanders. It DOES matter. What you wear defines not only who you are, but more importantly who you want the rest of the world to think you are. It is armour and whether that is horrendous should-burst-into-flames-as-you-leave-the-house tracksuits or an Armani suit it fulfills the same role in your life.
Saying you don't care about fashion says as much about you as saying you do does. It says you consider it a frivolous world, a world you don't want to play a part in. Well, guess what buddy, you're in it and as long as you are in a western country, you can't escape it.
Going back to my discussion with my friend; I commented on how changing fashions reflected changing values in society whether a world war, the invention of the pill or the 2008 recession. They come and go in the blink of an eye and as such I happened upon a realisation that I am proud of considering it is 1am and my brain is asleep.
I have realised that I consider fashion to be both priceless and worthless. It is like a slap-up dinner at a fancy restaurant. It arrives, looks pretty, tastes delicious and it vanishes again as if it never existed with only your expanded waistline and indented wallet to show for the entire affair. With fashion the only difference is that it is your wardrobe instead of your waistline that is expanding; the sweet, sweet memories of what once was, the taste of the food and the feel of parading around in your favourite, fashionable clothes, can be worth every penny. (it also can leave you feeling uncomfortable and nauseous but enough of that.)
Yes, man can survive on a diet of meat and 2 veg but I'm not entirely sure I want to...
For those of you who haven't heard/read it it goes as follows:
"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable we have to be alter it every 6 months"
-Oscar Wilde
Even typing that made me smile. As a fashion student I agree with Mr Wilde's sentiments, I have a slightly differing perspective but I think there is an element to his words that rings true.
Fashion is simultaneously taken far too seriously and not seriously enough. In terms of taking it too seriously I don't understand people being afraid to wear something twice in the same week lest other people notice and somehow judge them as a twice-a-week-wearer or some such monster. But I also have a deep hatred of people who say that fashion doesn't matter, a common opinion among New Zealanders. It DOES matter. What you wear defines not only who you are, but more importantly who you want the rest of the world to think you are. It is armour and whether that is horrendous should-burst-into-flames-as-you-leave-the-house tracksuits or an Armani suit it fulfills the same role in your life.
Saying you don't care about fashion says as much about you as saying you do does. It says you consider it a frivolous world, a world you don't want to play a part in. Well, guess what buddy, you're in it and as long as you are in a western country, you can't escape it.
Going back to my discussion with my friend; I commented on how changing fashions reflected changing values in society whether a world war, the invention of the pill or the 2008 recession. They come and go in the blink of an eye and as such I happened upon a realisation that I am proud of considering it is 1am and my brain is asleep.
I have realised that I consider fashion to be both priceless and worthless. It is like a slap-up dinner at a fancy restaurant. It arrives, looks pretty, tastes delicious and it vanishes again as if it never existed with only your expanded waistline and indented wallet to show for the entire affair. With fashion the only difference is that it is your wardrobe instead of your waistline that is expanding; the sweet, sweet memories of what once was, the taste of the food and the feel of parading around in your favourite, fashionable clothes, can be worth every penny. (it also can leave you feeling uncomfortable and nauseous but enough of that.)
Yes, man can survive on a diet of meat and 2 veg but I'm not entirely sure I want to...
Monday, 31 October 2011
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Fashion snobbery...
It's an interesting thing. I like to think I'm very open to other people's style but I was thinking about it and I'm not. I like, in my snobby fashion brain, to think that yes, I am very accepting of other people's style as long as they do in fact, possess style. Let me explain...
We have just finished a semester long paper which involves being split into groups and designing a collection for a certain NZ knitwear designer. (Won't mention the name as it's too soon to not hate them down to the core of my very being) To cut a long story short it's run by a 50-something year old man who likes to describe their clothing as "sexy"...... so we gave him sexy. A black and silver metallic dress slit to the navel and backless to be precise. At the end of the presentation he commented on the whole year as a whole saying "Our clothing is much sexier than anything you have shown us here today, our customers in Sydney want sexy clothing, this kind of stuff could possibly sell in Melbourne, in Sydney the people are a lot like they are in California" this proclamation was met with silence and I swear I saw tumbleweed roll by.
We didn't know what to say. So fundamentally, people in Sydney dress like sluts? My fashion snobbery flared up. Overt sexiness is not something that I even consider fashion design, but clearly there's a huge market for it. It is a fashion truth that makes my brain hurt, and by the collections shown by my fellow classmates, they also hate overt sexiness. What is it that makes us recoil from it so dramatically?
Think of contemporary fashion icons; Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Carine Roitfeld and even Michelle Obama. The styling couldn't vary much more drastically than between these women, yet they are all fashionable. Lady Gaga could be said to dress sexily, but I don't think she does? She has a lot of flesh on show but it's not sexy per say. She does it to shock, not to make you want to sleep with her. Hmm... I do struggle to grasp "sexiness" as a concept that isn't as a result of good tailoring, styling and confidence. This is why I hold the label in question in distain as I don't think they get it. To look like you are trying to be sexy immediately destroys the illusion and having skin on show doesn't guarantee sex appeal, it just makes you look like a prostitute.
When he left I think he thought we were idiots and that our fashion school was disappointing, I'm secretly smug as this opinion. It reaffirms my belief that we are great.
We have just finished a semester long paper which involves being split into groups and designing a collection for a certain NZ knitwear designer. (Won't mention the name as it's too soon to not hate them down to the core of my very being) To cut a long story short it's run by a 50-something year old man who likes to describe their clothing as "sexy"...... so we gave him sexy. A black and silver metallic dress slit to the navel and backless to be precise. At the end of the presentation he commented on the whole year as a whole saying "Our clothing is much sexier than anything you have shown us here today, our customers in Sydney want sexy clothing, this kind of stuff could possibly sell in Melbourne, in Sydney the people are a lot like they are in California" this proclamation was met with silence and I swear I saw tumbleweed roll by.
We didn't know what to say. So fundamentally, people in Sydney dress like sluts? My fashion snobbery flared up. Overt sexiness is not something that I even consider fashion design, but clearly there's a huge market for it. It is a fashion truth that makes my brain hurt, and by the collections shown by my fellow classmates, they also hate overt sexiness. What is it that makes us recoil from it so dramatically?
Think of contemporary fashion icons; Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Carine Roitfeld and even Michelle Obama. The styling couldn't vary much more drastically than between these women, yet they are all fashionable. Lady Gaga could be said to dress sexily, but I don't think she does? She has a lot of flesh on show but it's not sexy per say. She does it to shock, not to make you want to sleep with her. Hmm... I do struggle to grasp "sexiness" as a concept that isn't as a result of good tailoring, styling and confidence. This is why I hold the label in question in distain as I don't think they get it. To look like you are trying to be sexy immediately destroys the illusion and having skin on show doesn't guarantee sex appeal, it just makes you look like a prostitute.
When he left I think he thought we were idiots and that our fashion school was disappointing, I'm secretly smug as this opinion. It reaffirms my belief that we are great.
Hand-ins are over....
I'm just supposed to be writing a materials report with a large section on pilling......SO HELLO BLOG.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
My current train of thought goes something like this:
eat, sew, talk about it, stress, sew, sewing, I'm oh shit, stress, eat, unpick, sew, sew, eat, eat, stress, talk about it all again, try organise models, stress, sew, go home for tea, eat, remember I have a business assignment due in two days that I haven't looked at, decide to watch Space Jam because the temporary joy that gives me is greater than actually having done my work. Turns out this is not an effective long term solution. stress.
Monday, 3 October 2011
RWC observation no.2
Canadia you are my favourites.
I went to the NZ vs. Canada match last week and it was joyous. The All Blacks were joyous as they won by a country mile and the Canadians were stoked as they scored two tries.
To quote the man sitting in front of me:
"We're Canada, we don't expect to win, we're just happy to be invited to your world cup party!"
It was the friendliest sporting fixture I have ever attended, next week I am going to a semi-final which is going to be the exact opposite... ah well I'm planning on devising some form of kiwi costume so that will be magnificent.
I went to the NZ vs. Canada match last week and it was joyous. The All Blacks were joyous as they won by a country mile and the Canadians were stoked as they scored two tries.
To quote the man sitting in front of me:
"We're Canada, we don't expect to win, we're just happy to be invited to your world cup party!"
It was the friendliest sporting fixture I have ever attended, next week I am going to a semi-final which is going to be the exact opposite... ah well I'm planning on devising some form of kiwi costume so that will be magnificent.
"Anti-fashion"
The Anti-fashion movement has always somewhat perplexed me. I tend to file it in the disdainful section of my brain that also houses vegetarian sausages, alcohol-free beer and the phrase "have your cake and eat it".
I just don't understand these things and why they exist so I choose to file them away in a dusty corner of my cranium and pretend I don't have to deal with them. I do however live with a sporadic vegetarian, work in a bar and have excess weight due to cake consumption followed by empty plate despair; as such it's probably about time that I tackle these demons.
Anti-fashion according to wikipedia.org:
Anti-fashion is an umbrella term for various styles of dress which are explicitly contrary to the fashion of the day. Anti-fashion styles may represent an attitude of indifference or may arise from political or practical goals which make fashion a secondary priority. The term is sometimes even used for styles championed by high profile designers, when they encourage or create trends that don't follow the mainstream fashion of the time.
This helps with my confusion a little but I still struggle to comprehend fashion shows that display the Anti-fashion. At what point does one switch from one to the other?
Chanel is one of the most recognisable fashion brands in the world. A person who wears Chanel (convincingly) is widely regarded as a highly fashionable person. However according to Elizabeth Wilson, Chanel's style was described as "anti-fashion" by Cecil Beaton with her look being called "nihilistic".
From what I've gathered about Gabrielle Chanel, I think she would be pretty stoked with her clothing being
regarded as mainstream (if exclusive) fashion. Chanel was about practicality and her own vision of how a
woman should look and dress and clearly is it possibly to move from the Anti-fashion umbrella into a world
of haute couture and style celebration.
One of the biggest Anti-fashion movements is Punk. For me it immediately springs to mind as soon as
Anti-fashion is mentioned. How bitter must the original punks be when they see little teenage-avril lavinge-
types dressed up in tutus, doc martins and tartan?! I know I'd be bitter. The rebellion is gone, the sentiment
twisted into over-sexed commercialism. The philosophy of Punk shall be a topic for another day but it
brings me nicely onto a hero of mine, Vivianne Westwood. For those who don't know Vivianne's history
it is important to note that in the 1970s she, along with Malcolm McLaren, her husband and manager of the
Sex Pistols, opened a boutique fashion store in London called Sex. The Sex Pistols wore clothing from
the store and it flourished, going against the anti-materialistic nature of the punk movement. I guess it's like
any anti-commercialist movement- it's only a matter of time before someone starts making a profit. (Che
Guevara T-shirts being the ironic example I shake my head at most.) But getting back to Anti-fashion,
when googling Westwood I saw that on many sites her clothing was still described as Anti-fashion
(despite her success as one of the world's most successful designers). And her clothing doesfit the
wikipedia definition, it is often contrary to the fashion of the day/today. So Westwood creates
Anti-fashion fashion..... my brain hurts.
Well Vivienne, you've screwed up my brain. I think my problem with comprehending this topic is my black and white view of the world and it's time to accept that Anti-fashion can be fashion.... it hurts just to type that. I feel like it's a concept that I can see and keep trying to grasp it but slips between my fingertips.
It's like non-stick glue, it shouldn't exist?! So I think I shall have to put it down to a nuance of the english language, fashion has far too many meanings. Can we rename Anti-fashion as Anti-mode? Ok this new
naming business is easing the stress on my brain.
Here's my new definition, one that will help me think about anti-fashion in the future:
"Anti-mode is a style of fashion that goes against the most popular trends and conventions of the time."
Hmmm... still not overly convinced... I think Chanel and Westwood would laugh at me and feel smug.
I just don't understand these things and why they exist so I choose to file them away in a dusty corner of my cranium and pretend I don't have to deal with them. I do however live with a sporadic vegetarian, work in a bar and have excess weight due to cake consumption followed by empty plate despair; as such it's probably about time that I tackle these demons.
Anti-fashion according to wikipedia.org:
Anti-fashion is an umbrella term for various styles of dress which are explicitly contrary to the fashion of the day. Anti-fashion styles may represent an attitude of indifference or may arise from political or practical goals which make fashion a secondary priority. The term is sometimes even used for styles championed by high profile designers, when they encourage or create trends that don't follow the mainstream fashion of the time.
This helps with my confusion a little but I still struggle to comprehend fashion shows that display the Anti-fashion. At what point does one switch from one to the other?
Chanel is one of the most recognisable fashion brands in the world. A person who wears Chanel (convincingly) is widely regarded as a highly fashionable person. However according to Elizabeth Wilson, Chanel's style was described as "anti-fashion" by Cecil Beaton with her look being called "nihilistic".
From what I've gathered about Gabrielle Chanel, I think she would be pretty stoked with her clothing being
regarded as mainstream (if exclusive) fashion. Chanel was about practicality and her own vision of how a
woman should look and dress and clearly is it possibly to move from the Anti-fashion umbrella into a world
of haute couture and style celebration.
Anti-fashion is mentioned. How bitter must the original punks be when they see little teenage-avril lavinge-
types dressed up in tutus, doc martins and tartan?! I know I'd be bitter. The rebellion is gone, the sentiment
twisted into over-sexed commercialism. The philosophy of Punk shall be a topic for another day but it
brings me nicely onto a hero of mine, Vivianne Westwood. For those who don't know Vivianne's history
it is important to note that in the 1970s she, along with Malcolm McLaren, her husband and manager of the
Sex Pistols, opened a boutique fashion store in London called Sex. The Sex Pistols wore clothing from
the store and it flourished, going against the anti-materialistic nature of the punk movement. I guess it's like
any anti-commercialist movement- it's only a matter of time before someone starts making a profit. (Che
Guevara T-shirts being the ironic example I shake my head at most.) But getting back to Anti-fashion,
when googling Westwood I saw that on many sites her clothing was still described as Anti-fashion
(despite her success as one of the world's most successful designers). And her clothing doesfit the
wikipedia definition, it is often contrary to the fashion of the day/today. So Westwood creates
Anti-fashion fashion..... my brain hurts.
 |
| I just want to screw up everything - Vivienne Westwood |
It's like non-stick glue, it shouldn't exist?! So I think I shall have to put it down to a nuance of the english language, fashion has far too many meanings. Can we rename Anti-fashion as Anti-mode? Ok this new
naming business is easing the stress on my brain.
Here's my new definition, one that will help me think about anti-fashion in the future:
"Anti-mode is a style of fashion that goes against the most popular trends and conventions of the time."
Hmmm... still not overly convinced... I think Chanel and Westwood would laugh at me and feel smug.
Cohese cohesion.
Is cohese a word?
As in, "chalk and cheese do not cohese"
I think the answer is no, but it should be yes. I am aware that it should be "are not cohesive" but I used cohese in conversation today and it had a wonderful ring to it so I don't care.
Cohese coheses. accept it.
As in, "chalk and cheese do not cohese"
I think the answer is no, but it should be yes. I am aware that it should be "are not cohesive" but I used cohese in conversation today and it had a wonderful ring to it so I don't care.
Cohese coheses. accept it.
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Come on shoe designers...
My good friend Alex is one of my favourite dressers. She combines everyday essentials with kookier items (tablecloth dress anyone?) and as such she can be described as quite the resourceful shopper.
There is, however, one wardrobe essential that has eluded her for many a year..... a pair of wedges.
I'm not sure the exact specifications a wedge must meet for Alex to be satisfied but with summer coming up, she is not alone in her struggle.
Example of the A-typical wedge:
There is, however, one wardrobe essential that has eluded her for many a year..... a pair of wedges.
I'm not sure the exact specifications a wedge must meet for Alex to be satisfied but with summer coming up, she is not alone in her struggle.
Example of the A-typical wedge:
It's not too horrific I hear you say, agreed, I deliberately chose potentially the nicest ones on ASOS, and they can be all yours for only £60! But here is where my issues come into play:
Ankle straps: Very few people can do ankle straps, actually quite a few can, very few non-skinny people should do ankle straps. I hear the dreaded word "cankle" echoing around my head and I am pretty sure the nausea will follow me into my dreams.
The "wedge texture": i.e what the wedge is made out of. I do believe a wedge should be the same texture as the rest of the shoe UNLESS is super expensive wood. The prime example of what I mean by this is shown by the monstrosity below:
(Thanks amazon.com for that one, they're surprisingly on sale...)
Peep toe: Excluding summer wedges which should be peep toe as all sandals are, the winter wedge is ALWAYS peep toe when it really shouldn't be. I want to send a memo to designers informing them that in winter WOMEN WEAR TIGHTS. Yes, you know you do. I slightly think the wedge/tight situation is responsible for the socks and wedges trend of last year. You love your wedges and you love your feet being warm but no one loves those seams awkwardly showing through your peep toe. Round toes in winter please designers.
And then there's a point that rarely can be avoided, it's hard to find a wedge that just doesn't exude kitchness.
I TAKE IT ALL BACK I JUST FOUND THESE... only $505.... damn you net-a-porter and your glorious goodness.
 |
CARVENTwo-tone leather wedge moccasins |
I think I should change the subject of this to be; "There are no nice wedges.... that I can afford" :( sad face.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
RWC observation no.1:
Why do all Argentineans have beards? Is it a nation of weak-chinned people?
Although your broken English was pretty good Mr Argentina supporter, "you are the prettiest woman in New Zealand", beer bellies and huge beards are just two deal breakers I can't overlook. Sorry...?
Although your broken English was pretty good Mr Argentina supporter, "you are the prettiest woman in New Zealand", beer bellies and huge beards are just two deal breakers I can't overlook. Sorry...?
Two dresses, one collection.
Aquilano.Rimondi are a designing duo from Italy who decided to launch their own line in 2009 after success at various companies since they left design school. They shot to fame by entering the Vogue Italia young designers competition. Got an email about that the other day, maybe I should actually enter?!
Now, after some research on the designers it turns out I love them. I think my fanhood was cemeted by them being quoted as saying Inspirational women are:
"Women who are open to the evolution of fashion, who are elegant and modern but not too trendy and who are never excessive in what they wear."
I like to think that's me.(like being the operative word)
Their clothing is by and large beautiful, their style matches my own taste in almost every way.
I have only one thing to say, how can the people who designed the top dress design the sack on the bottom??
Maybe it's my own personal taste, but if the skinny coat-hanger walking it down the runway looks fat in it, that is a deal-breaker. To be honest, the latter dress is SO wonderful (very McQueen-like) I forgive them for the other. Check out the rest of the beautiful collection at http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2012RTW-AQURIM
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Rainbow High
I spent a delightful Friday evening last weekend watching Evita instead of going out. It was definitely a good call.
Asides from Antonio Banderas, I also fell in love with THE COSTUMES. drool. They were just amazing, each and every single one of them. I feel the following snippet from the movie accurately shows off why I was in wonderment.
...................joy! pure joy!
Eva Peron's story has been forever immortalised in the musical Evita which should make her happy as she is quoted as having said, "My biggest fear in life is to be forgotten". Given that she was wearing outfits such as that shown below, there was very little chance of her being forgotten.
Watching the movie got me thinking about how female heads of state dress versus first ladies married to male leaders.
Leaders:
Julia
Helen.
Angela.Now for the wives:
Carla
Michelle.
BronaghI tried to be not too biased in my choice of leaders vs. first ladies but I kind of failed. There weren't that many female leaders to chose from and I did chose quite stylish wives (I threw Bronagh in there for NZ balance).
Now, as a young woman who is yet to even attempt at fulfilling her career potential, I am very interested in the way that powerful women dress and I see myself as well dressed but also very career able. After looking at the women shown above here are the general trends that can be observed, displayed excellently in a screenshot from excel:
I know that female politicians are not there to look pretty. And it did piss my feminist self off when Silvio Berlusconi referred to Angela Merkel as an "unfuckable lard-arse". I'm not here to discuss today the merits of women as leaders but I am interested in why female leaders tend to be terribly dressed.
Time: Time is probably an important factor as they have world-saving things to do and entire economies resting on their shoulders so doing their hair probably isn't at the top of their priorities. But MEN do it, Barack Obama, arguably the world's most powerful man, never has a hair out of place. His outfits always are infallible, he probably has a stylist so why don't his female counterparts? Someone to pick all their outfits, lay them out, they just have to put them on in the morning?!
Respect: Recently there was a woman who was apparently fired for being "too sexy". According to bank employee, Debrahlee Lorenzana, she was told "not (to) wear pencil skirts, turtlenecks, (...and) business suits that were fitted. Basically they said it drew too much attention"
Now, this incident does trigger a few thoughts. If a women is good looking does she command less respect? Does it make other people awkward to deal with a woman in a professional capacity if she is also somewhat of a babe or are they just threatened? To become a female politician you have to be hard-nosed and driven, competing in a male-dominated world. You must be seen as an equal, if not superior, to your colleagues. Vanity is seen as a weakness and in a world in which one must appear strong, it is ill-advised to appear so.
Personality: A large factor that cannot be ignored is the personality type of women that go into politics. Lets face it, they are nerdy. And in general, nerds aren't known for caring too much about what they wear. It's a very simplistic attitude to the matter but I do feel that it holds some credibility.
LET'S MAKE A GRAPH TO SUMMARISE:
I feel I have waffled on far too much and strayed quite substantially from my original point about first ladies. To gain forgiveness for this error, here is a picture of Antonio Banderas:
Brooding mmmmmmm.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)