Fashion Friday: Trompe L'Oeil Edition

Really neat Hermès dresses/shirt/coat from 1951.

"It's a Question of Discipline"

"'I wouldn't be caught dead on the street in workout gear,' she said. 'But in an attempt to blend into L.A. life, I purchased my first workout ensemble. On several occasions I have stayed in it and met a friend for lunch, but it certainly won't be a habit. I felt uncomfortable and even found myself apologizing to my husband for looking like a slob. To a degree I dress for my husband and make an effort to be put together, but more than anything it's for me.'"

From an article in the WSJ on always dressing to impress. File this under "reasons to have high standards and stick to them".

College Teaches You More Than Math

(Now that finals have blissfully faded into the past-that-is-no-longer, I feel like I can finally post this)

One thing that college has taught me is that there are very few woman who are truly happy with the way they look. I am by no means thin, and I start seeing red a bit whenever somebody pats the fashion industry on the back for being "realistic" and including "curvy size eights" ::eyeroll:: When I was in high school, I looked askance at all of the thin girls I knew and thought bitterly that surely they must be happy -- they were thin for crying out loud!

Then I got to college, and listened to first my roommate, then the rest of the dorm moan about how fat and ugly they were. How could this be? This group of girls moaning about their weight included a beauty who ran a mile every day, my roommate who is curvaceous in the absolute best sense of that word and an assortment of sixes, eights and tens who were all perfectly healthy, curves and all. Maybe we weren't all in the best of shape, but we could hardly be labeled overweight, let alone obese. Seeing these girls (whom I regarded as pretty-near-perfectly-sized) just as unhappy with their figures as I was with mine astonished me.

Honestly, I don't have anything else very profound to say. We've all been sold a bill of goods* by the people behind the checkout glossies, and I can't imagine that attaining the nigh-on impossible ideal body that they present would make me (or anybody else) happy. As cheesy and trite and cliched and banal as it sounds, who you are on the inside really does matter more.

(No, duh, disclaimer: losing weight for reasons of health is a different kettle of fish from losing weight for the sake of societal pressures and conventions and fitting into the popular clothes)

---------------------------------
*You don't suppose the fact that fashion magazines are at least half advertisements has anything to do with this, hmm? Buy this face cream, that sweater, those boots, and be THIN! PRETTY! HAPPY! It's almost like they're businesses... ::le eyeroll::

Fashion Friday: Tights

And now for something completely frivolous. Although I've returned to the (comparatively) warm and balmy weather of SoCal, I miss the winter and would gladly head back to Minnesota, especially if it gave me the chance to wear patterned tights. It's a trend that I've always wanted to try, but never had the chance to. As long as you have to wear an extra layer on your legs, why not make it interesting?

{Gray Peacock Tights}

{Colorblock Tights}

{V Who You Are Tights}

{Wine Tights}

The Power of Skirts

Interesting article that manages to discuss skirts, feminism and communism all in the same breath.

In Which I Pontificate Upon Two Disparate Topics

Firstly, a slight reflection on the word memoir:

Memoir is a much more enticing word than biography. A memoir is memories, personal impressions, what a person sees as important about one, particular episode or period of life. A biography must grapple with facts, reciting the events of one person's life from birth to death, inclusive. Plus, memoir is taken from a French word; biography from the Greek. Which language strikes you as more elegant and intriguing?

Secondly, a brief rant about Ironman 2:

During the climactic encounter with the Bad Guys, Scarlett Johansson's character strips down to her undergarments and dons a skintight...something. Honestly, I couldn't tell what it was supposed to be. Sure, it might be a little inconvenient to fight the villain's minions in the secretary's de rigueur pencil skirt, but really? Is it that much more realistic that she would take five minutes to change into a shrink-wrap bodysuit before taking out the security guards? Blurgh (that is a disgusted noise, FYI). Would they make a male sidekick change from suit to speedo? Hazarding a guess here, I'd say no.

See? We're Not the Only Ones

Interesting article in the StarTribune on Thursday about a group of women who vowed to wear more dresses this summer. Coincidence, or are women finally tired of the jeans-and-T-shirt look that has become a staple of our grunge culture?

Summer Attractions

After reading Desdemona's post about On the Verge, I commented, "Hurrah for femininity! When the collegiates get back, we should hold a summit on ways to add femininity to the world. ;)" Apparently Desdemona got an idea into her pretty little head, and she is now organizing:

The Femininity Summit 2010

Changing the World, One Catholic Gal at a Time.

Of course, the summit will mainly consist of eating pie, drinking coffee, and giggling our heads off, but we'll also be talking about what it means to be a woman, how being a woman affects our lives, how we relate to God as women, and what that means for how we dress, act, speak, etc. We'll tackle sticky wickets like the fine line between flaunting your body and wearing potato sacks; how to treat yourself with the dignity you deserve; and what to do in those oh-so-awkward moments in public when poise and confidence seem impossible. We'll post the results -- which most likely will be slightly edited and clarified ;) -- and show the world that not everyone conforms to its standard of "pretty", "hot" or "sexy".

Modest Swimsuits?

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

YES!

Say YES to swimsuits that aren't bikinis.

Say EWW to bikinis.

Yesterday, I took my little siblings to their swim lessons, and I sat in the waiting room, watching them swim and reading Richard II. I also may or may not have been evesdropping on a hilarious and fascinating conversation that two young twenty-something women were having. One of them said to her friend (or sister, mayhaps?):

"Okay, this may sound really weird, but I really like the swimsuits that these little girls are wearing. I wish they made some like that in our size. Is that weird?"

"No, no. They're cute!"

"Yeah, I know! All they make now are two-pieces."

"Yeah, and like no one looks good in a two-piece."

"Yeaaaahhhh!.... .... Like that one-that's super cute. I wish they made some like that for us."

I thought: No one really likes bikinis. No one. No matter how fit you are, you just don't look beautiful in one. But if you walk into the store-that's all that's there. It's completely frustrating and demoralizing. And Catholic/Protestant/Homeschooled/Ex-homeschooled girls aren't the only ones frustrated by it. I think the general public will recognize that

this:

is much more stylish, unique, sophisticated, and chic than some silly old bikini.

(In case you haven't found out, I'm in love with one-shouldered looks. On the appropriate outfits, of course.)

I've decided to ask myself this question before wearing a swimsuit:

Would Audrey Hepburn wear it?

Audrey Hepburn has the most beautiful, timeless, sophisticated and modest sense of style that you could ever find. And, she is universally recognized in our secular world as a style icon.

Would Audrey Hepburn wear a bikini?

NO.

Would she wear this:

Yes.

Modestia's list of why to wear modest swimsuits:

Bikinis are boring. If most people are wearing them, are you really fashion forward?

Bikinis are not flattering on the vast majority of people, even “skinny” people.

Modest designs, especially vintage cuts, are more flattering for more body types. And that’s pretty much a fact.

You can stop being self-conscious and have fun!

You’ll get a ton of compliments on your cute and flattering suit.

The men in your life will thank you for it.

Other men will stare, but they’ll be thinking, “Man, who is that hot modest girl that totally looks like Mary!”

And perhaps most important:

You will have kept your convictions.

From The Rebelution's Modesty Survey:

--------Guys' thoughts on bikinis-----

"Ugh. Guy's brains are not compartmentalized. Underwear is underwear, folks."

"Two things: First, if your choice on the bottom is to shave or to show hair, it's immodest. Second, if your underwear covers more than your swimsuit, and you wouldn't walk around in your underwear, shouldn't that tell you something about your swimsuit?"

"Of course they are modest! After all, bikinis are nothing more than colorful underwear (less, actually, but that is besides the point) and we all know that underwear is perfectly acceptable and modest to wear in public. What guy could possibly be stumbled by seeing a girl only wearing underwear? Only some home-schooled, stuck-up, legalistic prude could object to that."
(Sarcastic, funny guy who appreciates modesy. PHF=100.)

Here Comes the Bride...

Click on dress for full view.

Mori Lee has the most beautiful wedding dresses I've ever seen. I saw this exact dress at the Chapel of Love at MOA on the Friday after Thanksgiving(I don't really like calling it Black Friday for some reason, so we'll just call it what it is: the Friday after Thanksgiving).

And I may or may not have let out a shriek of delight and joy when I saw this dress.

I may have gasped out of sheer wonder and awe.

Then again I may not have.

The truth remains shrouded in mystery and mysteriousness.

But what I definitely did do was make my friend from work (who I was wandering about with; she was looking for a hard drive from Best Buy-but we ended up finding my future wedding dress. A happy tradeoff? I think yes.) stop for a good couple of minutes and admire the dress while I took a picture-it was with my phone, so it wasn't a very good picture. But, then I snooped about on the Chapel of Love website, and I found the dress!


Sidebar: Who on earth would want to get married in the Mall of America??????

Just sayin'.


But, anyhow, I just wanted to show you my wedding dress! Because it officially is going to be my wedding dress. No, I'm not planning on getting married anytime in the near future. But, as my Boy Scout brother would say: Be Prepared.

I'm Eighteen.

Clocks are ticking.

Bridesmaids' dresses, anyone? ;)

Modest Bridal Week

For those of you that have never visited Modestia, you're definitely missing out! Rebecca finds the most beautiful, modest fashions out there, and her sense of style is fantastic. She has her own fashion weeks in the fall and the spring, and right now it's Modest Bridal Week! Just waltz on over to her blog and check out the gorgeous wedding dresses that

a.) Aren't that ubiquitous strapless style! (She addresses that in this post, which I love.)

and

b.) Don't have cap sleeves!

It's good stuff.

Sweetness is also...

...finding something in the grab box that fits you. And is cute.