Trick or treat?

It's really anyone's guess.


Happy Halloween!


(And for my Celtic friends, Happy New Year!)

Costumes vs. clothes - a dilema

Would a purchase of certain items for a Halloween costume be considered buying clothing? Or accessories?

Items like a red or black or blue suit from Neiman Marcus, a pair of frameless Japanese glasses, a US flag pin, and a baby blanket for a Down's syndrome infant doll that will be carried by a child paid to be your prop for the night?

If so, does anyone out there in the blogosphere besides Tina Fey have a sexy red suit, size 0-6 (depending on label, year it was made, and whether the skirt will hang low so that my belly can pop out - I am going as a PREGNANT Sarah Palin), that I can borrow?

Breaking the fast

What's the question on everyone's mind? What is keeping us up at night? With the suspense almost too much to bear, the answer just around the corner.

That's right, what will the bluestraveler buy first after hiatus is over?

Oh sure, in the US, there's a presidential election next week. And yes, the global economy is in the toilet, with more flushing to come. But those things are really out of our hands. (You don't believe that the US actually elected W twice in 8 years, do you? Go look at "Hacking Democracy" a short HBO film found on dailymotion.)

[ Hacking democracy Part 1
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u6pl_hacking-democracy-p1_shortfilms
Hacking democracy Part 2
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u6s6_hacking-democracy-p2_shortfilms
Hacking democracy Part 3
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u6tc_hacking-democracy-p3_shortfilms
Hacking democracy Part 4
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u6uc_hacking-democracy-p4_shortfilms
Hacking democracy Part 5
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u6wk_hacking-democracy-p5_shortfilms
Hacking democracy Part 6
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u72f_hacking-democracy-p6_shortfilms
Hacking democracy Part 7
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u76j_hacking-democracy-p7_shortfilms
Hacking Democracy Part 8
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u7in_hacking-democracy-p8_shortfilms
Hacking democracy Part 9
http://www.dailymotion.com/Channel_Zero/video/x4u7bg_hacking-democracy-p9_shortfilms ]

The first item of clothing or accessorizing purchased for oneself after a year should have some meaning to it. But it also might need to be something light, like juice after a food fast, so as not to cause shock to the system but to ease the body back into solids. One thing's for sure, it must be done with reflection on why one would make a purchase at all.

With my Timberland black belt breaking this weekend and the shoe repair guy saying it's not worth repairing (again), I wonder whether my first purchase should be one of necessity (although I've heard Timberland guarantees its stuff for life, and I may ship it back to the company for replacement), or should it be one of desire (like those black Chanel pumps that I've thought about this entire year)? Or should the economy dictate and I simply continue not to purchase anything like that until given a sign? (Not from the heavens - from the analysts!)

Any suggestions?

And I send a special thank you to whomever sent me 6 pair of sport socks! Most definitely needed! (Without this kind gift, sport socks may have been that first purchase...they get holes so easily!)

Stylista

Surely you've heard of it.

The newest reality show where "Project Runway" meets "The Devil Wears Prada" meets a bit of "Ugly Betty". Where 11 aspiring fashionistas vie for a junior editor job at Elle magazine in New York (which comes with a clothing allowance AND an apartment in Manhattan). Where the contestants hate each other and cry because of the competition and drama and sense of entitlement.

If you've ever questioned whether the insane (or is that inane?) obsession with fashion (or, for us snobs, style) exists, then this show is a must see!

And okay, I'll stop calling you Shirley!

Retail Therapy part 3

Part of Wikipedia's definition of 'retail therapy' (which is "shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition") includes the distinction betwen 'retail addiction' and 'retail therapy'.

"Retail addiction or shopping addiction should be considered a separate and serious problem. The term 'therapy' by definition implies a treatment for a problem (here, depression or stress), not a problem itself. Retail therapy may be the wrong treatment in many cases, but it is not, by definition, dangerous or problematic."

Who knew that Wikipedia had to provide disclaimers?

Retail Therapy part 2

Apparently not everyone thinks that shopping as therapy represents something negative.

On a women's health website, one writer opines that shopping empowers women - "Money is congealed energy, and releasing it releases life's possibilities." That means that for women who experience spending money in a positive way, shopping represents good therapy, and the enhanced mood merely represents a by-product of the positive nature of the experience.

[http://health.discovery.com/centers/womens/shopping/shoppingtherapy_03.html]

Sounds like there's a dream job out there called 'Shopping Therapist' just waiting to be created.

Retail Therapy part 1

If you ever want to understand how shopping malls became the new town centers and why the town centers were always the shopping districts, then you have to understand retail therapy. Shopping to improve one's mood is not new and it's not unique to any particular culture. It may be a bit out of control, but now more than ever it seems to have a negative connotation.

I think that if a trip to a mall or store keeps mom and dad from beating the kids, it can't be all bad.

But why shopping as therapy? What is it about the act of purchasing a new dress that acts like Prozac? (I mean, it's not as if that newly purchased dress is a Martini or Manhattan coursing through your bloodstream, although post-shopping liquid lunches seemingly are popular).

I think it's more about the dream of how the dress will improve your life. Your mood improves because in that dress you will meet Mr. Right, land that perfect job, get a compliment from your catty friend (or at least look better than her), and finally get approval from your mother. The dress makes it all possible.

It sounds simple, but even Cinderella only got to go to the ball because of the dress.

40 Days and 40 Nights

Who knew that the early track of 40 days was a very effective method of measuring and metering out each passing solar year? That ancient writings and artifacts (including certain monuments) make it clear that a cycle of 40 days was once carefully time tracked?

For the math-obsessed out there, there is a formula and axiom that I won't go into (since I found it on some bizarre creationalist website). It's enough to say that the 40 days and 40 nights has some sort of ancient meaning. We've all heard about Moses going out and fasting for the 40 days and 40 nights, that there are 40 days and 40 nights in lent (for the christians) or post Mardi-gras, pre-easter bunny (for the heathens), and that there is a 2002 movie entitled 40 Days and 40 Nights starring Josh Hartnett who, for some reason, is determined to stay celebate for that time period.

But did you know that there are now 40 days and 40 nights left of hiatus?

More on Fashion vs. Style

In more research about how style differs from fashion, I came across one David G. Hartwell's Three Laws of Fashion:

To Dress in ignorance of Fashion is to Dress badly.
To Dress knowingly in Fashion is to become invisible.
To Dress knowingly in opposition to Fashion is to have your own style.

Apparently any random blogster can create "laws" or rules of fashion (and use Capital letters whenever it suits Him/Her).

I quote him here only to reiterate my earlier blog about most people feeling one way or another because of how others regard the clothes they wear or don't wear. David G. Hartwell is living proof of this - he's telling anyone who reads him (and cares) that if you are ignorant of fashion, then you are a bad dresser and if you abide by the latest trend, then you are just like everyone else. If, however, you dress his way, and know fashion but contradict it with your dress, then you have a style. (See above photo - those are polka dots on the tie.)

Sounds like an excuse for not seeing so well in his old age.

Fashion in Northanger Abbey

I’ve just finished reading all of Jane Austen’s novels.

I’d never read them before (shocking really; me, with a degree in English and History, never reading Austen!) and felt a gaping hole in my education because of it. I attempted to get a book club together a la the movie, The Jane Austen Book Club, but that fell apart quickly due to alcohol. (Note to self – do not try to start a ‘pub book club’.) So I read them on my own.

As you may know, during this hiatus of mine, I've tried to examine how clothes and clothes shopping impact feelings. I've discovered it goes even further than that. Wearing certain types of clothes, being "in fashion," and having an accepted style, all impact our feelings. The interesting part of this examination for me is that much of how we feel when we wear certain clothes depends on how we are perceived by other people.

Austen brings that out in her novels. While she doesn’t spend a lot of time on fashion in her stories, she does use fashion to better explain her characters. [That became clearest to me in Northanger Abbey, where the preoccupation of fashion by two characters shows their false natures, and the comment of another shows her (and Austen’s) views on fashion - “Dress is at all times a frivolous distinction, and excessive solicitude about it often destroys its own aim.”]

Things haven’t changed much. From the kids needing to wear certain brands and labels or risk mockery at school to the adults attending fashion shows to the popularity of certain television shows to the multitude of blogs picturing what the blogsters are wearing today, we all spend too much time fretting about what we wear.

And why does what we wear make us feel one way or another? Why aren’t we taught to be more confident and aware of whom we are through what we do and not what we wear? Are we truly all a bunch of unaware Neanderthals in need of therapy?

If the Manolo Blahnik fits...

Mirror Mirror

A friend recently stayed at my place and, after praising me for the excellent lighted bathroom mirror (given to me by a special someone), proceeded to chastise me for having no full-length mirror.

Truth be told, I used to have a full-length mirror. It was bashed to pieces last year by my robotic vacuum (the iRobot Roomba, also given to me by that special someone - http://store.irobot.com), which was vacuuming my bedroom unsupervised. (Note that the Roomba is now on a 7-year bad luck hiatus after this event, since it took me more time to clean up the glass than it would have to simply vacuum the damn room myself. Whether its hiatus is bad luck for it or me remains undetermined.)

I understand the purpose of a full-length mirror, but I never bought into the need for one. I usually pack my work clothes in a bag and ride my bike or walk to work, so I don’t leave my place wearing work clothes. At other times, I’m usually throwing clothes on my body and running out the door, with no time to think of whether I have everything I need, nevermind checking on how I look. (I sometimes wonder what my neighbors think when they see me running errands after my yoga practice or run, still disheveled in my exercise clothes. But then I blissfully forget and do it again the next weekend.)

Janet Street-Porter, a 61-year old woman who writes for the UK’s Guardian doesn’t have a full-length mirror because she doesn’t want to see those aging parts of her body. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jan/26/fashion.beauty]
She goes even further than the full-length version, saying, “Life’s too f*%#ing short to spend it in front of a mirror.”

She has a point.

But is it lack of caring, confidence or simple unawareness that keep her (and me) from getting the mirror?

Speaking of Barbie

None of this hiatus stuff for Barbie!

She and Skipper always had new clothes and accessories. She had the right colors and sizes for her unusual but somehow acceptable body. Her shoes fit her perfectly and never left a mark. (And they were all high heels!) Her makeup - always impeccable.

Say what you will, but there's a bit of Barbie in all of us. (See the descriptions of the "new" Barbies below and fill in your own city.)

http://suvine.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/these-dolls-are-about-parts-of-miami-guess-which-one-is-me/

http://www.greenchair.net/funny/colorado-barbie.htm

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-jersey/30782-new-jersey-barbie-dolls.html

You've Come a Long Way, Barbie

Okay, this really will be my last comment on the Fall Fashion shows.
Uncanny resemblance, no?

Masked marauders

Just to wrap up my observations on the hiatus-year fashion shows, in Paris, designs masking female models' faces caused a bit of controversy with feminists. Something about the lack of female self-possession.

Y'heard me. That's feminists objecting to the covering up of the faces of scantily clad, anorexic waifs who parade the egotistical designs of men before leering audiences. And it's the masks causing them problems.

Thus ends the 2008 Fashion Shows!