seamstress stories

Making the best of it

2012-03-07T19:43:00.000+01:00

[This is what it looks like when I get ripped off.

I should probably consider myself lucky.]

Like an artist constantly on the lookout for new shades of paint to add to their collection, I keep a mental list of things I want to add to my wardrobe. This list currently includes a navy blue cardigan, a dark green cardigan, a wedding dress and a crinoline (none of the two last ones for the immediate future). Until recently, a green sweater and a pair of black lace-up boots were also on this list - and had been there for the past two years, a time during which I only added thrifted, gifted, and inherited items to my wardrobe. I finally gave up on waiting for chance to bring them my way and started looking for quality second-hand items in stores, on ebay and on kleiderkreisel, a German flea-market site for private sellers. Within a month, I found a green sweater and a pair of boots that seemed to come close to what I ideally imagined, for prices entirely within my budget. I purchased them and happily awaited their arrival... The sweater came two days after I paid, was clean, soft, like new, a wonderful color, altogether perfect. The shoes, however, disappointed me again and again - or rather, the person selling them did. First she took more than two weeks to send them off from the time my money must have arrived on her account, all the while never answering my increasingly worried messages. Then the boots took two entire weeks to arrive - and again, the seller wasn't cooperative about sending me the parcel number so I could look up where they were - even after a neighbor told me he had seen a parcel addressed to me lying around in the hallway and I suspected that someone had stolen it after the shipping company carelessly left it there. She just didn't reply to my inquiries and hasn't to this day.

Finally, the long-awaited parcel! But the greatest disappointment was due when I opened it: Instead of the genuine leather boots I had been promised, at a price that was an absolute bargain compared to the supposed original price, I found a pair of pretty but fake leather shoes which are medium quality at best - and which, I estimate, should not have cost much more originally than I ended up paying second-hand. I left the seller a fuming review, basically shouting from the rooftops of the internet: "This girl lies about the quality and original price of her wares, communicates poorly and takes ages to ship them, DO NOT BUY FROM HER!" but since it was a transaction from private seller to private buyer that was all I could do. I won't be doing this again - lesson learned, I guess.

I'm trying to befriend those disappointing boots anyway. The money I paid wasn't painfully much and the damage is done, so I might as well wear them. They are in near-new condition, they fit me well and they are breaking in nicely after only a day of wear. Until something massively better comes along at a fair price and lower risk, I think I will be content with them.

[calming down after the anger]

[key: from a suitcase I found]

[but still on the lookout for any thrifty opportunity]

Spring is in the air

2012-03-02T20:03:00.000+01:00

... and after working non-stop, almost sans weekends, for the past three weeks, I decided to take a two-hour-break and refashion a plain white t-shirt into this lace-edged beauty. Lace trim from my favorite antiques store, t-shirt: Fruit of the Loom, was left by the Texan roommate when she moved out last summer. I made it more fitted and added some length to the sleeves using jersey sleeves from another piece I have in my stash. Oh, and the tassel fell off a belt - I sewed it back into shape and decided it made a nice pendant!

Aaaanyway, back to work now.

Art everywhere

2012-02-26T12:18:00.000+01:00

From a visit in a neighboring city,

a few weekends ago.

I really miss this sweater.

2012-02-11T09:42:00.001+01:00

It was one of the "uncool" things I was mocked for at school. It was from the eighties. I started high school in the mid-nineties. Today it would be high fashion even without adjustments... Still, I refashioned it - made it fitted and with a nicer neckline. Then I left it in America when I went back to Europe because I was de-cluttering at this point. Now I really miss it.

In other news, I've managed to kill my voice again. Coughing, drinking tea, and not saying much in the hope that it returns soon.

Clash of cultures

2012-02-02T08:11:00.000+01:00

Above: How I dressed for the larger part of last weekend.

Below: How I dressed for tango last Thursday. This is, in all sincerity, the best picture I could get under dire weather circumstances. And it's not getting better: We're supposed to get temperatures of -20C this week...

[Fake fur collar: thrifted,

shirt: from Cambodia,

skirt: was my mom's, altered,

shoes: Bullboxer]

Window-shopping

2012-01-31T21:29:00.000+01:00

Two outfits, beautifully displayed, unaffordable. Some day I may try to re-create them.

Reincarnated

2012-01-29T11:55:00.000+01:00

My favorite jeans skirt is back! I had a skirt just like this back before 2010, but I donated it when I moved back to Europe because it had become old and ill-fitting from too many rounds in the dryer. Now I found it again in the unlikely disguise of a heavily discounted denim table runner (I kid you not). A bit of sewing, and I'm reunited with my darling, better-fitting than ever.

Suffragette boots

2012-01-25T18:53:00.000+01:00

It was love at first sight, but in true Victorian abjuration, I denied myself the pleasure of buying them until they were 50% off in the post-Christmas sale. Which was maybe overly virtuous, since it's really difficult to find lace-up boots these days that are neither of the "combat" nor of the "hooker" variety, and I had been looking for ages. When I got back to the store in January, the price had dropped to an affordable level, there was a single pair left, and they were in my size. Fate? In any case, they are surprisingly comfortable, and I will wear them as often as their heel height permits.

Librarious

2012-01-23T22:57:00.000+01:00

Nothing new, really. I'm trying to balance work and play but there's always one of them suffering, and it had better not be work until I'm done with the next big project... In the meantime, here's a library day outfit: old jeans trying to look fashionably torn, a lagoon-colored t-shirt my mom deemed too psychedelic, and a huge scarf, gift from the boyfriend's mother.

Going to bed now - gotta be up bright and early tomorrow morning for yoga and studying.

Yellowed lace. Fake fur. Naphtalene.

2012-01-13T20:03:00.000+01:00

One of my close-to-campus haunts is a little antique store stuffed with unique furniture, old books and records, even a vintage motorbike. The guy who owns it only works there part-time since his main job is making furniture and clearing out houses, but everything he collects on this latter job finds its way to the tiny cramped room. Old children's books, photo albums, and suitcases full of ancient clothing in various states of decay. This is where I go for my best thrifting finds. The last time I salvaged a few lace trims and a handmade lace collar, a fake fur collar, and some fabric thingies smelling terribly of moth balls even after washing. I also got a cat-shaped hot water bottle whose practicality is yet to be determined. Total cost: 5 Euros, since cabinet makers care little about the value of handmade lace. Any advice on how to get rid of that moth ball smell?

Life these days

2012-01-09T23:35:00.000+01:00

Filling my study folder with exam notes and my collage book with inspirational paper scraps. Parties with overworked friends that revolve around nerdy conversations and the host's beautiful siamese cat. Dressing in comfortable staples for effortless chic on library days. Drinking tea from India. Going to the movies to see a documentary about a 19th century scientist and finding almost all seats occupied. Catching up with a friend half the wold away via Skype and filling the kitchen with berry and vanilla scent late at night in a spontaneous candle-making project. Sunsets I want to print onto fabric and turn into dresses for summers to come.

So, you're probably wondering...

2011-12-30T19:59:00.001+01:00

... whither I've disappeared. By the way, Happy New Year to all of you!

In mid-November, I decided that I really needed to be more productive, so I started simulating full-time-office-job working hours. This included blocking all things blog-related from my browser for these times. In my remaining time, I found that I often preferred spending my time in the company of friends, books, or my sewing machine, rather than writing about my barely eventful life online... I've been very productive indeed and I hope it will stay this way, so I can make no predictions about my blogging future for the next few months. However, be assured that I am reading and commenting as much as I can!

I recently got inspired to make a New Year's resolutions list not of things I want to change, but of things I want to keep! Here are some (not an exhaustive list):

1) I want to remain productive and motivated.

2) I want to maintain all friendships and relationships (amorous, familial, and academic) that I currently have.

3) I want to keep being creative - with sewing, cooking, writing, photographing, and other forms of artistic or domestic expression (I find that these two tend to blend for me).

4) I want to keep dressing up and taking care of my body.

5) I want to keep exploring the world, learning and experiencing new things, enjoying and sharing them with others.

6) I want to keep my attitude of understanding before judging, even though it makes life more complicated.

7) I want to keep dancing!

What do you want to keep doing?

Cheers and see you on the other side of New Year's Eve!

~poet

Winter lights

2011-12-02T20:32:00.001+01:00

The chocolate market is back in town, and I'm feasting mine eyes on the beautiful illuminations!

Yes, I'm still here...

2011-11-26T13:01:00.000+01:00

... just not very often. I'm working full-time on my research now and consequently spending less time on the internet. I leave home early and only return after dark on most days (since dark = 5pm these days), so I don't really get to take a lot of outfit pictures, or write a lot of ramblings about my usual favorite topics... I imagine few of you want to hear about my latest coding adventures!

I'll try to work on this. In the meantime, feast your eyes on pictures of early-20th-century gowns I saw at the textile museum Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice! I appreciate them not just as clothes, but as the works of art they were when nearly everything was sewn by hand.

This isn't a picture I took, since normal visitors aren't allowed to photograph anything in Venice museums... but there's more where it came from!

Inspiration band

2011-11-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

When I recently redecorated my room, I replaced my inspiration board with a green velvet ribbon pinned to the wall. I still use hair-clips to hold my bits of inspiration, though. Here's an impression of what it's been looking like lately!

[part of the Lush manifesto - the bit with "the right to make mistakes",

a 1960ish illustrated lady, and a grouchy owl]

[intricately made silk dress and autumnal kitsch]

[chocolate and tea wrappers, a much more cheerful owl,

fish transcending their boundaries,

and card 1 from an art installation in Venice.

I couldn't resist getting both the "occidental identity" and the

"oriental identity". If only it were that easy in real life!]

[a cat-adorned scarf I must imitate if ever I can,

another pretty dress,

another ID card,

and reminders of my natural cosmetics shopping spree]

These boots are made for walking... not for painting

2011-11-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

Julochka of moments of perfect clarity fame is doing a week of truthful blogging, reporting about the less-than-perfect things in daily life that are usually absent from the blogosphere. I love the idea, so I'll join her with a post about a crafting project that seemed to turn out perfectly... until!

You may remember the rubber boots I wore on flooded St. Mark's square from my Venice post. In fact, I bought them explicitly for this purpose (and made the boyfriend buy a pair for himself, which he was grateful for in retrospect) - foreseeing that there might be some of the famous Acqua Alta during our stay there. And because I can't resist a visual pun, I was going to embellish them with "Acqua Alta" in red Coca Cola font!

Like so:

I was really happy with how they turned out... However, since I used plain acrylic paint, which doesn't stay too well on stretchy surfaces, it started peeling off as soon as I took a walk in these boots. Everywhere. Because apparently, rubber boots stretch and bend everywhere. So I resigned myself and peeled off the remaining bits of paint.

Blueberries, cream and biscuits

2011-11-14T09:00:00.000+01:00

I made a new skirt from a pair of huge shorts I got at the charity store for 1 Euro, and a new bag from a bike-chain-stained old pair of trousers roommate gave me to cut up and sew with ages ago! I made the lining with another old fabric from my stash, and covered up the stains that I couldn't avoid with fabric flowers. The wonderfully warm woolen hat was made by a dear friend. And a close relative of my sweater retails at H&M now, so I'm in fashion without shopping... So many things to feel lucky about.

Mermaid skin and the fairytale of flawless beauty

2011-11-11T21:30:00.000+01:00

This post is part of Oranges and Apples' visual Friend Friday about makeup-less faces and photos!

OK... this is awkward.

Me! Without any makeup! Self-consciously smiling!

Also, you can see that my right eye is a little more open than the left one

because I wear only one contact lens!

Now that I've gotten the picture out of the way, let me write one of those long analytical posts I like. Or something of the sort. There hasn't been any real daylight for the past two days and I've been sitting inside staring at my computer for hours, so forgive any apparent craziness.*

Yesterday I read a YA/children's book from a haunted old book store in Venice that is teeming with mermaids, so I will start my makeup-less post by rambling about them! It may seem unrelated but it will make sense in a minute...

[she's on the cover, this is from the book website]

We like to imagine mermaids as the epitome of beauty. A feature that goes with this is pale, luminous, flawless skin. In fact, the novel I bought explicitly mentions this and [spoiler!] paints it as a tragic sacrifice when the mermaid queen has to have her perfect skin "destroyed" by having a book of spells tattooed onto her entire body.**

Tattoo enthusiasts all around the world would disagree, and I also happen to think that she would look pretty cool covered in magic spells, especially if they're in a beautiful handwriting. But as Franca pointed out, flawless skin is one feature of conventional beauty that hasn't been questioned by the body-positive movement to the extent that body size and body shape have been. This is why makeup, with its effect of concealing skin "imperfections", is an issue that needs more discussing!

We know that perfect beauty is an illusion. Even for mythical creatures like mermaids: Entertain, for a moment, the idea that they actually existed and evolved, somehow, from hominids that reverted to the water (or dolphins that developed opposable thumbs, but that doesn't explain why their upper halves look so damn human!).

Bodies evolve, in the first place, to guarantee survival, not to look pretty - and what requirements would be posed to hominid skin during life underwater? Moisturizing itself wouldn't be its main concern. It would in fact have to produce a protective layer of oil against the water (and the salt in it?) - more so than needed in humans, who aren't constantly diving around. And it would have to be nearly pigment-less in order to take in what little sunlight shines through from the surface, if we are to assume our mermaid needs it to produce vitamin D.

So if you took a mermaid out of her natural habitat and exposed her to a life surrounded by air (as has happened, or so Mr. Anderson and Disney tell us), she would have pretty standard dry/oily combination skin, with a bonus complication of extreme sun sensitivity.

Why am I writing all this? Well, I've joked before that I must be descended from mermaids*... and sadly, I have exactly the kind of skin I described.

In fact it is, at the moment, the least conventionally pretty feature I call my own. It is sensitive and was never quite flawless, but for the past six months or so, it's been acting up more than usually. In everyday life, I don't wear any makeup except some coverstick where needed, but things got to a point where I felt more comfortable putting on mascara, blush and lipgloss (mostly alverde stuff) to distract from un-concealable blotches before leaving the house. This is when I knew I really had to do something about it.

After excluding other factors as much as possible (food and stress have their say, too) I believe my skin was calling for different cosmetics now that I'm a wise old lady of 25. I used a rather harsh anti-zits face-wash for the past few years, but it stopped working and started irritating my face. I seem to be on my way to clearer skin again after switching to natural cosmetics a short while ago... and funny enough, one main ingredient is seaweed.

----
*I'm quite sane and I do not actually believe that I'm descended from mermaids.

**Minor literary critic comment: The book also has some unfortunate gender-clichés and some race insensitivities in some places, but if you can look past that it's a great and entertaining read that does promote an okay value set.

By the banks of her own lagoon

2011-11-08T11:32:00.000+01:00

I'm back!

Can you guess where I've been?

Maybe this will help?

Or these guys (about as big as my hand):

... that's right, Venice.

We took off half a week between a holiday and a weekend and went for a very long off-season stroll through narrow streets and piazzas, across countless bridges and through as many museums as we could manage. We had a great time! I am still overpowered by the sheer amount and the diversity of high-quality art that exists in the lagoon city, and I'm longing to go back because I've only seen a fraction of it yet.

And yes, there was flooding. But only on the last morning, and not right in front of our hotel.

Also, on account of the fog and cold, I walked around all wrapped up most of the time, so this is the only fashion photo you'll get:

I have loads of things to catch up on, so we'll see about regular posting this week... In the meantime, tell me what you've been up to!

Red Hat

2011-11-05T10:00:00.001+01:00

For now it's fall weather still. So I made this hat from sweater leftovers. It also fits my at times fiery disposition!

Delicious sunlight

2011-11-03T10:00:00.005+01:00

Walking through cobblestone streets in sunlight and fog. Talking to dead poets who remain imaginary friends, and to the foes my own fears present. Eating bittersweet chocolate ice cream and drinking in air as cold. Dressing up in bright colors, like the jester in the king's court, the only person allowed to talk honestly, without lies pretending to flatter - an art in itself.

Space and sensibility

2011-11-01T10:33:00.003+01:00

[picture source]

Women are taught to take up less space: in their posture, their gestures, and their figure which is supposed to be as slim as possible. That's a well-discussed problem in feminist discourse, as is the fact that it plays out to our disadvantage in power dynamics at the workplace and elsewhere. If you don't take up space, you won't be noticed as much and you won't be able to assert any power. In recent months I've attended at least two career-focussed events that emphasized this problem.

So I'm wondering: What about the fashions of past days, the hoop skirts, panniers, petticoats, and outrageously large hats? Those were for women only, and they certainly did take up lots of space, and give them presence on the social stage. At the same time, they were encumbering, making their wearers physically inflexible and vulnerable.

What about the high heels and pushup bras of today? They carry the same double-faced meaning: They give us more physical presence, but they also render us more vulnerable - the increase in height means less stability in gait, the bigger boobs mark us all the better as objects for the male gaze.

And I can't quite make sense of what, if anything, fashion culture is implying by this. That we can't have it all? That we must necessarily renounce at least some of the privileges men are allowed to have just by being men - presence, power, physical strength and agility - even if we are able to attain one of them through our attire? That we're only allowed to increase our physical presence such that we remain or become attractive to the male gaze?

It seems to me I've got a case of over-thinking again. Won't you join me? What's your opinion?

Leaves of Absence

2011-10-31T18:25:00.000+01:00

I'll be gone for a few days but I have some scheduled posts coming up. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the results of yesterday's great pumpkin slaughter:

Also, my decorations involved so many leaves I decided to use them in my costume, too!

See you soon, and happy Halloween!

Winter Outfit & Contest

2011-10-29T09:00:00.000+02:00

My blog friend Dear Girl is hosting a winter outfit contest over at her blog - go check it out! Winners and long-time readers will be featured in the next issue of Northwest fashion and lifestyle magazine Scopic. This is my contribution - although fall is showing its kindest face here, I'm thinking warm colors will keep me cozy even as the temperatures get colder!

[Outfit details:

skirt, sweater, pendant - from my mother's student days,

belt - New Yorker, on sale,

hairpins - dm drugstore,

collar - selfmade,

coat and boots - thrifted]

Pockets!

2011-10-26T10:00:00.004+02:00

I've been doing mainly small sewing projects lately. Here's two of them, both from reclaimed materials: A cozy sweater for my cellphone, and a small going-out handbag.

More coming soon!

Take back Halloween

2011-10-24T22:43:00.000+02:00

I just discovered this amazing website with Halloween costumes referencing outstanding women in history and mythology - which makes my feminist, fashion- and costume-obsessed, history nerd heart sing with joy!

It is somewhat worrisome that I could recreate a bunch of them with stuff I have in my wardrobe right now. I do have some sort of obsession for keeping impractical dress-up stuff!

For my pumpkin carving party next Sunday, I'm seriously considering these:

Lise Meitner

I would wear:

this Gibson-girl skirt

this blouse

and a straw hat I just happen to have lying around!

I'd skip the gloves because these are impractical for pumpkin carving.

Boudicca

I would wear:

this tartan skirt,

this tunic, with the sleeves rolled up and a belt,

and my blue flannel blanket as a cape.

I'd still have to make all the warrior accessories, though,

and I have long convinced myself that

dying my hair red doesn't really work that well,

so this one's probably not going to happen.

Frida Kahlo

I would wear:

my Cambodian embroidered blouse

my black skirt with floral waistband,

possibly mixed with my sari silk skirt,

and lots of scarves

Persephone, Greek Goddess of the underworld

I would wear:

a too-large black dress I have in my stash, belted,

my black scarf as a veil,

fabric flowers made from leftover red lining fabric,

and coral / glass beads jewelry.

I'm definitely veering towards this one,

it's so classically elegant...

Are you celebrating Halloween? What will your costume be?

Orange + Pink

2011-10-23T12:08:00.000+02:00

Here's my other new skirt, the one I outfitted with a bubble hem. I was more careful at first and wore it with black only, but I forgot to take pictures, so here's the bolder next-day outfit in all its glory!

I wore this to attend a reading and discussion with Umberto Eco... of which I understood about half, thanks to my knowledge of Latin, French and Operatic Italian! It was recorded for TV, which was an event in itself with huge cameras on stage, and I'll be sure to re-watch it online when it becomes available!

I've also been to a Scottish Ball, a poetry slam, a Japanese-inspired ballet, and a Russian/Balkan-pop disco in the past two weeks - all the while also doing lots of uni work towards my MA thesis! Maybe I'll have more to say about them later, but now I have to run - an improvised neighborhood brunch awaits!

Bookish

2011-10-17T09:51:00.001+02:00

Ever since 7th grade, I've always kept a journal. In my old room at my parents' house, there's an entire drawer filled with diaries, most of which are embarrassing to read by now... but I have a principle about not burning books! During my time abroad, parts of my journaling migrated to a folder on my laptop, and parts of it into various blogs. But as I settled back into cozy European life and started surrounding myself with books again, I felt the need to have a physical creative outlet again. Or two. Or three. Here's the books I'm using right now:

On top: a book I currently use to keep to-do-lists, plans, and resolutions - and might just use for more intensive journaling in the future. It started out as a moleskine knockoff, but I re-covered it in postcards.

Next: my true moleskine calendar. I first had one of these in 2007, loved it and planned to use only moleskine calendars in the future, but in the three years afterwards, I never managed to get one in time for the new year... until 2011. It's funny in retrospect because it correlates with large parts of my life planning being on the wrong track starting in 2008, and I've only been able to get back onto a road that feels comfortable in the course of 2010.

Next: a sketchbook. I made this from leftover pages I took from an older journal that was complete in itself before being entirely filled. The cover was the packaging from a set of fancy stationery, and yes, I sewed it on because it didn't take kindly to glue. I haven't done much with it, but I used to have a sketchbook I found really helpful in early 2010 so it might come in handy at some point.

Lowest: A collage scrapbook I started this summer to collect good memories - theater and movie tickets, plane tickets and museum admission passes from my travels, but also pictures that represent ideas important to me.

Here's a drawing and a collage for you:

Swap market finds, vol. 2/2011

2011-10-15T09:00:00.003+02:00

One week ago I went to the swap market for the second time this year. Here are some things I got!

Oil burner:

it's been filling my room with lavender

and almond blossom scent these past days

Teacup with cherry blossoms

and little lambs:

will be perfect for chai tea

Messenger bag

made from truck covering and a seatbelt:

I've always wanted one of these,

and with this one I can change its look.

For now it holds a picture of fabrics

from a fashion editorial.

Its siblings retail here.

Dainty little teacup and saucer:

I will never drink from this,

but it's so cute!

Clothes:

teal sweater,

witchy black-and-purple skirt,

woolen pencil skirt to be re-sized,

pink high-waisted skirt

that has since been equipped

with a bubble hem.

I also got a bunch of books, among them one with the sneaky title "How to manipulate people" which I just had to take off the market so it doesn't do any harm ;)

Witchy, and the magic of inspiration

2011-10-13T17:20:00.000+02:00

So I mentioned that I went to the swap market again... this skirt is one of the pieces I got there. The coloring, length and scalloped hem felt slightly witchy to me, so I added more purple, black lace, glass gems, a cardigan with a Snape-worthy row of Victorian buttons, and my grandma's pointy-toed boots. Further inspirations: the foggy fall weather that screams Halloween!

What's your inspiration for outfits?

Franca at Oranges and Apples and Elly at Magic Square Foundation recently talked about theirs, which led me to ponder mine.

The outfit described above is fairly typical for me: I usually start out with one piece - this could be a garment, an accessory or even just a color! - that suits a facet of my personality I want to dress up, and then add pieces that fit the "costume". Add the fact that owning inherited and altered stuff inevitably leads to many pieces that are Meaningful with a capital M... because I wore them at a special event, got them from a special person, or because of the mood I was in when making them. It's magic indeed.

Get-a-life list

2011-10-10T15:15:00.000+02:00

As usually towards the end of semester break, after months spent busy writing papers and not seeing enough people, my life spirals into a haze of exhaustion, insecurities, moping, self-pity and drama.

I have a wonderful circle of friends but I don't see them often enough! I have so many interests that I don't follow through with or share with others! I don't go out enough or work out enough! I am not meeting any new people to network with and inspire me! In short, I spend my days reading, working and theorizing instead of living.

So I've come up with a plan of action to change this - doubly important because the next semester is going to consist mainly of thesis-writing accomplished in the safety and comfort of my own home, with no obligatory lectures to go to.

This fall semester, which starts today, I am setting myself the following goals:

Do sports as often as possible, at least every other day. So far I've lined up Ceilidh dancing for Monday night, yoga and swimming for Tuesday morning and night, and tango for Thursday night. I'm thinking about running on the leftover days but I can't quite trust myself to follow through with this once the mornings get frosty. Any other ideas?
Go to one new event each week - this could be a poetry slam, a pub quiz, or a jam night, for example, but I'll take a public talk if nothing better comes up - and strike up a substantial conversation with at least one unknown person there. This is challenging because, while I've learnt to mask it quite well, I remain an introverted, deeply shy person at heart.
Alternatively, meet with one friend I'm not meeting often enough per week.
If possible, find someone to play music with. I used to play the clarinet quite well but I haven't had occasion to regularly practice in a few years, and I've only recently taken it up again. Jazz or klezmer music would be preferable not only because I love them, but because they're forgiving towards impromptu squeaks!
Connect with other bloggers in the area that I can actually meet in real life. I don't even know any! Hello world-between-Tübingen-and-Stuttgart, do you read me?

Hemmed

2011-10-09T12:50:00.000+02:00

Tiny success story: A skirt from the 1970s, inherited from my mom, that to teenage me felt like the most uncool piece ever before I discovered the good intentions of high waists and resolved to chop off a good 20 cm (10 in) off the hem. I really like it now and I think it will pair marvelously with fall colors and bright jewel tones - I've already worn it with pink and intend to wear it with teal, too. Also, this is the first time in three or four years that I actually like how my hair is losing its layers while growing out.

Yesterday I went to another swap market and brought back quite a bunch of goodies - books, decoration, and some clothes. Stay tuned for a report quite soon!

Museum Outpost

2011-10-06T18:31:00.005+02:00

This past Saturday: Tired from many detours, but happy to finally have found the exhibition on world-views [Weltsichten - Blick über den Tellerrand] in a building just loosely related to the organizing museum. Impressed by stunning art and anthropology exhibits, glad I wore walkable heels, hungry for the delicious 100%-fruit ice cream they sell at the train station, and with only the minor mishap of a broken handbag strap later that day. Which I fixed with slightly too red thread.

De-cor-ate

2011-10-05T20:35:00.000+02:00

I just redecorated - because having the same postcards hanging on my walls that I had with me in the US suddenly felt out-dated. I really love my magnetic poetry board and I'm finally showing it in the place it deserves! Also, I really own lots of tango postcards... and I made new arrangements for my jewelry so I can see it more clearly and wear it more often. How do you like my collection?

Into the woods

2011-10-03T15:17:00.000+02:00

... each time we go, it may be more in vain, we know,
into the woods, but even so, we have to take the journey...

Hiked to the stone quarry again. Was rewarded with sunshine, paid for it being stung by nettles and thorns. Quite an adventure!

Waiting

2011-09-29T15:42:00.000+02:00

As much as I love the warm, clear fall weather we're having right now, I feel decidedly strange because by the end of September, it should be colder. All summer long, I've had to layer warmer pieces, and now that it's actually still warm enough for bare legs and short sleeves during the day, my mind seems to have resigned itself to thinking up only long-sleeved stocking-legged outfits!

To further this, I'm existing in a strange in-between state altogether, with most work for the summer semester already finished but much more lying ahead to be done during fall and winter, and having to wait for bureaucratic things like my grades before I feel like I can fully continue.

Add in a slight photo-weariness after my last outfit shoot left me covered in bites from the gnats living around that willow and the fact that I'm not going anywhere dress-up-worthy to fully explain why I've been living in comfortable skirts and t-shirts, sans accessories, for the past week. I like it nearly as much as I like the occasional dress-up.

[traffic light ladies

photographed in parent-town]

Northanger Abbey

2011-09-27T17:00:00.000+02:00

Last week I visited with my family and watched the BBC movie with my sister (lamenting all the while that muslin gowns, bonnets and empire waists are not everyday wear any more), then had to get my hands on a Project Gutenberg ebook and read the whole thing... Since I read most Jane Austen novels as a teenage non-native speaker of English, it escaped me for a long time how funny and socially accurate her writing is. And how contemporary. No need to alter more than a few words*, and the whole plot could have taken place today**...

"I see what you think of me," said he gravely--"I shall make but a poor figure in your blog tomorrow."
"My blog!"
"Yes, I know exactly what you will say: Friday, went to the Lower Rooms; wore my sprigged muslin robe with blue trimmings--plain black shoes--appeared to much advantage; but was strangely harassed by a queer, half-witted man, who would make me dance with him, and distressed me by his nonsense."
[...]
"But, perhaps, I keep no blog."
"Perhaps you are not sitting in this room, and I am not sitting by you. These are points in which a doubt is equally possible. Not keep a blog! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenour of your life in Bath without one? How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a blog? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a blog? [...]"

Also, this online journal (for that was, naturally, the word I replaced) is now just over one year old!

* Being the humorless and over-analytical feminist that I am, I need to point out that of course "queer" had a different meaning then than it does now, and that no man worthy of hero-dom should even jokingly describe his own behavior towards a lady as "harassing" ;)

** Also, I am seriously pondering if replacing "novel" with "fanfiction" would make just as much sense.

The mermaids made me do it

2011-09-24T17:00:00.000+02:00

It's my favorite time of the year right now: crisp mornings with warm summer sun to follow, coloring leaves but still enough green to go around, and a sky so blue you want to swim in it. Quite appropriately I pulled a reverse Rusalka and put on my new pale green sweater with a white skirt before I headed out to go window-shopping with a friend.

[Sweater: Zara via flea market,

necklace: selfmade,

skirt Old Navy, thrifted,

shoes S.Oliver]

Loon-attic

2011-09-19T21:50:00.000+02:00

Sometimes I wish I cared less.

I wish I could appropriate whatever struck my aesthetic fancy, without worrying whether I am culturally entitled, or whether it's ethical to do so (cue fur and fast fashion). I wish I could dress in impractically high heels and impractically faerie dresses, and dance through nights and behave unreasonably regardless of consequences. Revel in my privilege without recognizing it. Perform a clichéd role without questioning, without minding that I'm performing. Endorse ideals that make me less difficult and more reckless. Do mildly self-destructive things that qualify as "antics" or "shenanigans" instead of the cozy, responsible pastimes I love.

Sometimes I wish I possessed a fin-de-siècle-ish hipster mindset, and the lifestyle that goes with it.

But my body has its frailties that keep me from doing all this, and I want to believe that the corresponding brakes in my spirit are actually strengths.

Perhaps I've never really been what they mean when they say young. Who knows? In any case, I am still a dancer.

A rusty garden

2011-09-16T16:07:00.017+02:00

So last weekend we visited the sculpture garden and studio of local artist Lutz Ackermann and were deeply impressed. He's a wise old revolutionary, bespectacled and bearded, who opens this enchanted place to the public four times a year and gives a guided tour full of wit and inspiration. Also, the overabundance of art in this place and the golden September sunlight work their magic to the fullest, such that all you have to do to take good pictures is randomly point your camera at things and click away. If we lived in the era of film I'd be poor now since I came away with about 130 photos... Here's a small sample.

FFB Post: In which I ponder the ethics of charity stores because I just can't stop thrifting

2011-09-14T21:23:00.000+02:00

Despite my resolution to stop acquiring new garments if they cost even the tiniest bit of money, because my wardrobe is filled with more than enough things to wear, I can't seem to let any bargains go by unnoticed. The only rule I can seem to stick to is nothing above 2 Euros. Which has recently led me to seek out flea markets - only for washable stuff, or items in very good condition - and charity stores.

And oh, the tristesse that are charity thrift stores in rural Germany! From the US I'm used to large chain-store charities with huge amounts of clothing, most of it rather up-to-date, some chic, all of it wearable, and nothing more expensive than a few dollars. Charity stores in the US are becoming kind of a hip thing.

In Germany, at least outside of bigger cities, charity stores remind you very clearly that they are, indeed, charity places: They're never chain stores, far and few in-between, badly stocked, and with inconvenient opening hours. The clothes sold there are so out-dated, and to a large part so ugly, that you would really only wear them if you couldn't afford anything else. And even the refashioner's most beloved beast, the interesting-fabric-and-lots-of-it monster, hardly lives here. Still they are priced just a little below higher-quality second-hand items in non-charity stores.

There is one store in the town where the boyfriend works that I haven't been to because in order to buy there you have to prove you're truly needy, and I guess being a student on a budget does not count. Possibly prices are lower there.

And actually, I think allowing people to shop at charities only if they can't afford to buy anywhere else is a splendid idea: It means that nobody more affluent gets to take advantage of these offers.

The question of how ethical it is to buy at charity stores for the thrill of the bargain and on the search for refashionable clothing-monsters when you're financially better off than the most needy has popped up around the refashioning blogosphere a few times. I do tend to believe that one should go for the highest price range one can afford, both for ethical and for quality reasons. (Or not buy anything at all, which I attempt but fail to do!)

However, the target demographic of charity stores does not in fact take advantage of these offers to the extent they could. Which I fully understand: clothes are also a status symbol, and as long as you don't feel you're choosing to buy out-dated unique pieces for your own creative expression (which in itself is a privilege - I talked about this in an earlier FFB post), but have to buy them out of financial need, you will feel you're broadcasting your poverty to everyone.

So you'll rather go for cheaply made fast fashion that at least looks relatively current - especially if pricing at these places still skims the lower bound of fast-fashion summer sales, which it does. As a person who grew up wearing uncool, outdated clothing, I completely sympathize.

Thus, at least, I justify snatching a few pieces from the disappointingly-stocked one-euro-bin at my local charity store... and by planning to set up a charity of my own that teaches kids from low-income families how to refashion things sometime later in life.

Tiny teapot

2011-09-12T08:50:00.000+02:00

A gift from the British ex-roommate. Rather cute, isn't it? And entirely appropriate for a tea-o-phile like me.

Autumn is stalling and that's lovely

2011-09-10T19:02:00.000+02:00

Writing, always writing. Also: Cooking plum compote with cinnamon. Painting my toe nails the color of poetic leaves. Visiting flea markets in melancholy late summer sunshine. Falling in love with the combination of orange and yellow. Autumnal colors against blue skies, in general.

Ain't no sunshine

2011-09-07T11:51:00.000+02:00

I've been sitting indoors writing at my paper, so the lack of sunshine and abundance of rain do not bother me as much... In a rain break, I made the boyfriend take pictures of my over-coordinated teal-grey-and-cognac outfit. I tie-dyed the skirt a while ago after not wearing it for two years because it had stains... too bad that fabric dye is as expensive as fast fashion, I will also have to give it up.

Just like last fall, I've become obsessed with pairing these cognac shoes and grey stockings:

... and - though that's news - with this necklace, which the boyfriend brought from his travels. Hematite, which feels cold on the skin when you put it on but soon warms up to the wearer...

Raindrops, nail polish, nerdy lists and ginger tea

2011-09-04T18:17:00.000+02:00

Sort of an update, hi everyone!

I continue to be very busy with off-the-internet things, such as term papers, reading, scrap-booking, and welcoming the boyfriend back home from his summer tour through Africa. I've read four Commissario Brunetti crime novels in two days during a smoldering hot week in late August, followed by The Language of Flowers which actually made me cry, and some of Lion Feuchtwanger's writings, who always manages to create characters I'd like to meet and have lively discussions over dinner with.

I've also bought an inappropriate amount of nail polish on sale and fooled around with it even though I lack the skill that comes with years of practice,

photographed myself against raindrops on the window pane,

made apple pie with apples harvested from the sadly neglected apple trees in my dorm's backyard, and listed all my clothes in a spreadsheet. Including scarves, belts and shoes but excluding loungewear, sportswear and undies, I own around 230 pieces of clothing, and that's not counting the things that languish unworn in a box in my basement, or sit around waiting for me to refashion them! The good news is that most of these are thrifted or gifted. The bad news is that, after my shopping ban begun last summer ended these past months, I did kind of go on a summer sales shopping spree. I am now, more than ever, convinced that I do not need anything new, and renew my vows to only take what comes my way for free.

As the rain drums at the windowpanes and I sip ginger tea - because I'm not afraid of clichés - I find myself intensely looking forward to fall and the wardrobe changes that come with it. The sad excuse of a summer that we had this year was not exactly sartorially motivating, since I hardly had occasion to change out of my spring wardrobe, but crisp air, seriously lower temperatures and fall colors and fabrics will certainly be fun to experiment with. I may go back to documenting my efforts here, but I believe there will be less refashioning and more creative play with things I've already got.

The end of yay

2011-08-17T22:02:00.000+02:00

Recently, blogging has once again started to feel like a chore instead of fun, and I'm thinking I need a hiatus. I might not post for a while. I also might not sew, I have a wardrobe full of clothes. If I find that blog-less life becomes me better, I might not come back except for a farewell post and to delete this blog a short while after. Just so you know.

Pattern Mix 2

2011-08-13T20:22:00.000+02:00

We went to Schwäbisch Hall last Thursday and saw two art exhibitions: one featuring Niki de St. Phalle, the other with works by Tilman Riemenschneider.

[Dress: H&M sale 2011,

shirt: Crossroads Trading Co. 2009]

Photos by the boyfriend.

I'm off to summer school tomorrow and I will probably not post anything next week.

People keep giving me free stuff

2011-08-11T10:14:00.003+02:00

Hi there, it's been a while since I did a proper post... as predicted, life during these so-called semester holidays is much busier than mid-semester. I continue to be holed up at home or in my department's computer pool, or as may be the case sitting at a big drafting table in the boyfriend's cozy attic, working away on my research and term papers. The dreary weather doesn't exactly encourage going out and dressing up either. But yesterday while we were running errands in town we happened to stroll into a flea market, and since some people were already packing up, there were quite a few goodies to be had for free.

In particular, I got two pairs of shoes that fit me perfectly. Both are good-quality brands and still in good condition... so yay.

I must admit that I would not have gotten either of these if I'd have had to buy them because they don't entirely meet my criteria for good shoes: The boots are somewhat reminiscent of cowboy boots, so I fear a style faux pas. The sandals' heels are too chunky, and didn't I say recently that I don't approve of patent leather all that much? However, since they cost me nothing, I'm willing to give them a try. Style is after all a constantly evolving thing.

Also, do you recognize that skirt? I made it from a much-too-large sundress of my grandma's, but it had a floral pattern in a color that didn't make for lots of combining, so I tossed it in the dye bath a while ago and find it has improved very much. Like the butterfly t-shirt (super-soft worn jersey, so comfortable!) it may become a favorite piece of mine.

This is what it looked like before:

EBEW Roundup: Pattern mixing

2011-08-09T18:06:00.000+02:00

Once again the Everybody-Everywear event rolled 'round before I knew it, and I didn't prepare a straightforward outfit - though I have one in mind now that I think about it, and will parade it on the blog soon enough. So once again I went to the archives. Today's actual post, which I wrote earlier, will be taken off the net and re-posted in two days for all my readers to enjoy.

[florals with florals, September 2010]

[botanical with fair isle, October 2010]

[florals, florals, and geometry, ca. 1989]

[fair isle with tartan, November 2010]

[paisley with stripes, November 2010]

[paisley with fair isle, February 2011]

[paisley with botanical, March 2011]

[fair-isle-ish geometric with polka dots, June 2011]

[a pattern-mixed shirt, July 2011]

[floral with botanical, June 2011]

Sunday something: Flower crown

2011-08-07T11:21:00.000+02:00

Pictures by my sister, from my visit last week.

I've been meaning to make a flower crown all summer.

Candles

2011-08-02T21:56:00.000+02:00

Tonight I lit candles on my balcony and sat outside reading until it was too dark.

Sunday Something: Mirror Image

2011-07-31T13:53:00.000+02:00

Gloomy as the light may be in the weather we're having, it makes for some great reflections in window panes. I've started reading Villette again and I find that Lucy Snowe is really the kind of weird, introverted person I'd be friends with, though like any person living in this era, she has some very different opinions about genders and relationships.

In Hiding

2011-07-29T08:45:00.000+02:00

I've been so busy writing papers for university that I have barely dressed up at all - the first half of this week was spent almost entirely in sweaters and jeans with worn-out knees. Today I'm taking the train to visit my little sister and help her prepare her birthday party (which is tonight), so I put on something equally comfortable but slightly more classy.

As you can see I'm still not too sure about it... This is a dress I bought at the H&M sale. I adore the polka-dots, but it's too transparent to be worn as a dress and it's also very good at hiding the fact that I have a waist. Ultimate comfort, no? I feel a refashion is in order once I return, and maybe some thrifting for vintage slips.

Conflicted

2011-07-27T09:00:00.011+02:00

Sometimes I do fashion-related things that go against my overall principles because aesthetics beckons me to do so. There's been quite a few of these questionable fashion choices recently - I'm thinking because the end of the semester, and the busy writing break ahead, have taken their toll on my nerves...

I bought a bunch of bargains at the H&M sales when I didn't exactly need them and although it's fast fashion - because I wanted to try out some new things, such as maxi dresses and lace tunics, and fast fashion sales prices are just the financial risk I'm able (or willing) to take in case a new style doesn't suit me after all.

I wore some Soviet medals to the "White nights" ball, even though I disagree with a lot of what happened in the Soviet Union, and even though the wearing of said medals for mere aesthetic reasons probably counts as cultural appropriation, because they fit the motto of the ball. (Also note that only one of them is actually Soviet. The other two have a cathedral and Kate the Great's coat of arms on them! Hey, at least I know what I'm appropriating... )

I won a tiny bit of fur in a lottery at the medieval fair, and since temperatures are hardly summerly right now, I made it into a mini collar. It's cute and entirely unethical. I don't know what to do with it.

I don't even know if I'm merely over-thinking this or if I should indeed feel as conflicted as I do. Advice?

White nights

2011-07-26T09:00:00.001+02:00

What happens when I take a camera out dancing:

1. pictures get blurry

2. the battery dies.

Still, here's what I got. The motto of the ball was "White nights of St. Petersburg".

There were awesome paintings for decoration,

there was fake caviar,

and there were some great choreographies (ours went pretty well too!).

No words

2011-07-24T16:09:00.000+02:00

Quoth the Raven

2011-07-22T11:24:00.000+02:00

Oh hi, it's been a while... The weather's been rain, rain, and more rain. After two years in California, I'm actually quite happy about rain, especially when it comes with a thunderstorm, but it doesn't make for many good photo opportunities.

So I dug up these pictures of a tryout outfit with a black lace top I bought in the sales (I've been snatching up some real bargains last week because the sales are the only time that prices hit US thrift store levels here in Germany). Not too sure about it yet... what do you think?

[Top: H&M,

shorts: Crossroads Trading Co.,

earrings: I made them]

Also, there's a ball tomorrow and me and boyfriend are freaking out about the few steps of our choreography that we haven't mastered yet. Dress options have been endlessly pondered, and the outcome will be presented here... if I manage to get good photos!

Antique store haul

2011-07-19T20:34:00.000+02:00

We've had gloomy, rainy, cold, and altogether grump-inducing weather for a week now, and I feel accordingly. Now I know it's not the best idea to try and cure gloom with shopping, but when I decided to explore the small antique store near our department and found a bunch of jewelry for a few euros, I couldn't help but rejoice. Some of these need fixing, but that's fine with me.

Sunday Something: The plans she plans

2011-07-17T18:11:00.000+02:00

I like to plan things out: Outfits, meals, when to see which movie or go to which concert with which people. A part of my mind is constantly occupied making to-do-lists and crossing them off.

You could call that obsessive, you could call me a control freak, and for a while I worried that these accusations were true.

But I think there's more to my planning, or rather, something different: for amidst all the structuring I always leave room for improvisation and deviation. It's just that I like the joys of anticipation when I have an idea of what lies ahead.

[Raindrops look like glitter if you use the flash!]

IFB Links à la mode: Love Yourself Always and Forever.

2011-07-17T17:00:00.000+02:00

I almost didn't see this, but now I did. Squee!

Love Yourself Always and Forever.

Edited by Nubia of NubiasNonsense

Loving yourself might very well be the key of living a happy life. Love your strengths, your weaknesses, everything! Everyone who made a submission to Links à la mode should be very proud and content with themselves. You are all fashion bloggers with a voice and have something to share with others. Did you know that your post could make someone's day? Your DIY shorts might have been the highlight of a young girls day. Your inspirational post might have motivated someone who had the blues. These are all reasons to keep writing great content and when in doubt remember... YOU INFLUENCE PEOPLE.

Links à la Mode: June 7th

Aqui : Heres now: tie a turban
Arash Mazinani : Build Your Brand: How To Create Your Signature Look
Bachman's Sparrow : How to Keep the Passion Going in Blogging and Other Endeavors
Brunette Blogging : The Blogging Sins
Couturelust : DIY Isabel Marant pink lace up shorts
Dignity Zine : Photoshop Expose, Penelope Cruz in Vogue
Divergent Musings : The Cost of Blogging
Dramatis Personae : What Carrie Bradshaw Taught Me About Aging & Getting Older
FIERCE : Don’t Keep Up With the Blogging Joneses, Just Keep Up With Yourself
IFB : The Reality of Blogging While Working a Full Time Job
Inbetween Seams : Let’s Talk About Internships: What to Wear
LAW OF FASHION : taking trends to the office [neon]
LucyPlease : Making a User Friendly Blog
Made to Travel : My Faves in Ethical Swimwear
Oh, the Plaves You'll Go! : Naturally Beautiful
Seamstress stories : Adaptation
Style Nugget : Commenting: Still the Best Thing About Blogging?
Sugar and Spice : Be a Better Fashion Blogger
The Fashion Police : Skin Color is Not a Not a Fashion Statement
Titine & Totoche : Warao Tribute

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PLEASE READ IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE
If you would like to submit your link for next week’s Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links HERE. The HTML code for this week will be found in the Links a la Mode group will be published later today. ~Jennine

BDIB: Maxi Skirt

2011-07-14T10:26:00.006+02:00

[Skirt: my mom's, from the 1970s,

shirt: Esprit, gifted & altered,

shoes... oh wait, I'm not wearing shoes!]

This outfit is for the Bloggers do it Better challenge, but I would have worn it anyway - we were cooking Indian food last weekend, and the summer weather was sending me some hippie vibes. My mom had this wrap skirt when she was a student, and wore it alternately as a skirt and a dress because it was slightly too long. Since I'm even shorter than her I finally decided to cut off about 5 inches at the bottom. The leftover fabric was turned into a halterneck top which I'll show you some other time!

I have my head full of sewing plans but oh so little time to complete them!

FFB: So classy! Fashion, feminism and social class.

2011-07-13T11:46:00.000+02:00

This is a Feminist Fashion Bloggers post, this month's topic is social class. The roundup of other posts is here.

When I was a teenager, I didn't have any cool clothes. I had inherited stuff that didn't fit me very well, I had last year's sales items, and I even had some of the kind of clothes that you buy at discount supermarkets for 5 euro a piece.

The reason was that my parents, both first-generation academics with a working-class background and no inherited wealth, had just bought a house and were doing their best to pay it off as quickly as possible, to live as thriftily as they could, and also that they valued intellectual nourishment much more than aesthetic expression. Having up-to-date clothing just didn't seem a necessity to them, even though I soon found out that in a high school setting it kind of was. Still, their thrifty ethics is so ingrained in me that when I started sewing and refashioning, it was first to avoid spending a lot of money on clothes, and only second to derive creative pleasure.

I had a friend through much of high school whose background, while similarly intellectual, was still very different from mine - her family had been academics, and relatively wealthy, for many more generations. I was often reminded that learning to play an instrument and taking ballet classes were privileges afforded to me and that even though learning such skills should ideally be part of any education, there were still many kids who weren't so lucky. For her, piano lessons and playing tennis were just the standard pastimes of her class, something she took for granted and was frankly a little bored by.

Our difference extended into the realm of fashion. We both took an interest in making our own clothing - she knitted many a sweater, and I must say they were high-quality and aesthetic pieces. She wasn't using just any old yarn. I in turn sewed some clothes, often from discounted fabric or discarded clothes, pretty much like I do today. In addition, I had all this inherited and heavily discounted stuff, while she usually sported high-quality current-but-individualistic fashion.

Our friendship could have thrived on our similar interests, but the noticeable class divide ended up being the doom of it: To her, my ethics of re-using things, of being thrifty, and my attempts to remain unashamed of wearing discounted, out-of-fashion clothes if necessary, implied something about my character and refinement, about my "class" in a sense of how good a person I was, not just about my family's financial strain after buying a house. She could not cease to mock me or to look down upon me the slightest bit, and that was just not the best basis for a friendship.

All this happened about a decade ago. Come today, refashioning and re-using is suddenly much more en vogue, especially under its eco-conscious aspect. People who buy fast fashion because they can't afford to buy better quality and don't have the time or skills to make their own clothes are the ones looked down upon now, and again they are judged not for their financial plight but for the character flaw that their behavior supposedly exhibits.

Through most of Western history, it was a sign of wealth if you could have others make your clothes for you, if you could buy clothes, instead of sewing and knitting the few pieces you possessed yourself. Simultaneously, having the leisure time to do purely decorative needlework instead of hard physical labor meant you were privileged. And this second notion is the one that remains today, in the age of industrially produced clothing. The whole sewing and crafting range of activities has become a pastime for privileged people from the middle class upwards: Fabric and wool are expensive - I learnt as much when I bought fabric for sewing my prom dress at the end of high school and spent thrice the amount that my friends spent on store-bought dresses. Sewing and mending skills aren't common knowledge any more, and even without factoring in the "time-is-money" consideration, replacing something is often cheaper than having it fixed.

If you don't have granny's closet at your disposal, you may also be out of luck with second-hand quality items: They still sell at higher prices than fast fashion, and the vintage hype has only contributed to this trend.

And even though expensive but well-made clothing may end up at a lower cost-per-wear than cheap clothing simply because it lasts longer, being able to buy it when you're poor isn't a no-brainer: It is very easy to get caught in the vicious cycle of never having enough time to save up the money to buy something high-quality because the fast fashion you were able to afford in the first place breaks down and needs replacing too soon. Never mind that being poor often means you're struggling with far more serious problems in day-to-day life than what to wear.

Being able to question the origin and ethics of one's clothing, being able to make one's own clothing, having time and leisure to do creative stuff - all these things are luxuries afforded by wealth or sheer luck, and looking down upon those less lucky, or blaming them for their lack of refinement, seems like a big no-no to me.

Let me add that I speak not only from my teenage experience but also from my current living situation as a student: Though educationally privileged and with considerable skills and freely assignable time, I do live on a rather tight budget, and refashioning is both a luxury and a necessity for me. If it weren't for my grandma's closet and the fact that I learnt sewing at some time, I would probably buy fast fashion too - hell, I sometimes do, simply because there are some things that need be bought, and that I don't see myself busting my budget for (such as undies which will be boiled in the laundry, or ballet flats which regardless of cheapness - I've tried - will be worn out within a year).

There is this complex interaction of two main dimensions of social class - education and character refinement with financial resources at one's disposal - and even in such a purportedly superficial matter as fashion, it shows how they condition each other, how constrained financial means result in perceived or actual lack of refinement, and that in turn makes financial success less likely.

But where does feminism come in, what contribution can it make? There are two points I can think of right away: The notion that "the personal is political", that we see the effect of social injustice across all areas of life, and that in particular, fashion isn't the frivolous meaningless thing it's made out to be (an idea that is at its core misogynist, as we know) - and the notion of solidarity instead of rivalry. What do you think, are there more?

EBEW: Yellow

2011-07-12T10:14:00.000+02:00

These days it's hard to find a photo location that is well-lit but doesn't make you squint. Sunny yellow doesn't exactly counter-act this either! This is one of my favorite dresses, but I had a habit of wearing it for special occasions only, which habit I am now trying to break.

[Dress: victoria park dress via Crossroads Trading Co.,

scarf: swap market,

earrings and bracelet: selfmade]

As usually, I'm adding a roundup of outfits that include the color yellow. It appears I've been seriously remixing my yellow corduroy skirt!

Color-coding

2011-07-11T12:37:00.000+02:00

I sometimes veer towards the obsessive, and what better area to apply these tendencies than to order my over-full wardrobe by colors and function? I did this while talking on the phone to the boyfriend (yes, I do multi-tasking too!) and complained that I had too much stuff, upon which he remarked that I could never have too many clothes, only too little wardrobe space. Smart guy, no?

[Disclaimer: This only applies for clothes which are refashioned, good-quality (vintage) bargains or freebies, or inherited pieces, or other things which have sentimental value. I do not approve of over-spending for fashion or of keeping broken and worn-out things!]

[Scarves]

[Above: light sweaters, t-shirts and camisoles,

below: skirts and shorts]

[Above: pants, warm sweaters, and shrugs,

below: shirts, dresses, and coats]

[these aren't ordered by color as much as by length and fancy-ness]

[heels, in descending order of practicality]

This week is going to be a busy one, with FFB, EBEW and BDIB coming up and the semester close to its end!

IFB Links à la mode July 7th, 2011: Ask and you shall receive

2011-07-08T09:00:00.005+02:00

I'm proud and happy to report my post about body confidence vs. body bashing made it onto this week's IFB Links à la mode! Go check out all the others, too, there are some great bits of wisdom in there!

Ask and you shall receive

Edited by Vahni of Grit & Glamour

This blogging thing...it's been around a while now, and many are realizing what a rewarding endeavor it is, on a sartorial and psychological level. One thing I love about blogging is the opportunity to ask a question, ponder a theory—and have others share their thoughts and opinions as well. In this week's roundup, several bloggers reflect on the positive influence blogging has had on their lives and self-esteem. (Superb! Yay for blogging!) Others ruminated on everything from whether style is really subjective, to whether fashion as an exhibit is a trend. Or not.

Stumped for post ideas? Want more engagement with your readers? Been contemplating the style-related proclivities of society? Ask, lovelies. Everyone has an opinion, and most are chomping at the bit to share. But the most wonderful aspect of this kind of engagement is not more comments. Those are nice, yes. It's through discussion that personalities are revealed and relationships are forged. Your readers aren't just a little avatar and some words. They are vibrant individuals—and your biggest fans!

Links à la Mode: June 30th

Alex Drake Vintage: 10 Things I Like About the 1980s

Angela Osborn: 6 Lessons Learned from Coco Chanel

Any Second Now: Heartfelt lessons and thanks in this first year of blogging.

Beautifully Invisible: We Are Women. We Are Beautiful. We Are Real.

Beyond Fabric: On personal style and individuality—because redundant is the last thing you want to be.

Blah Blah Becky: Proof that it's always worth trying a trend: cropped tops without muffin top.

Boheme Noir: Fashion Show Coverage: Roberto Cavalli S/S 12 Menswear

Bubbling with Elegance and Grace: Fashion Designer Exhibitions: Is this the new trend?

By Anika: Closet check: Do your clothes make you feel good about your self?

College-Style: #Trending in Milan: Using Twitter to keep up with girls' and guys' fashion #trends

Divergent Musings: Five ways that blogging has improved my life (it can improve yours too)!

Grit & Glamour: Worker V:2.0 (Ode to the Pencil Skirt)

Hippie Lace: You Cast Your Spell On Me: Spell & The Gypsy Collective

Idee Fixe: Kindness: A Tale of Kindness, Generosity, and a Vintage Coat

KP Fusion: In the business of blogging, is style really subjective?

My Orange Stilettos: Just because you're short doesn't mean you can't wear a midi.

Oranges and Apples: On "going out" clothes and sexual attractiveness.

Seamstress Stories: Boundaries on body confidence and a culture of bonding through body bashing.

Style Sizzle: 10 fashion lessons learned from living in the desert.

The Stylish Butterfly: The advantages of being the worst dressed—it works for Helena Bonham Carter!

SPONSOR:
Day Dress Sale at Shopbop: Nanette Lepore, 3.1 Phillip Lim, DKNY, Lela Rose, Daftbird, Tibi, Red Valentino, Rebecca Taylor, Lucy in Disguise, Shoshanna, & DVF Wrap Dresses

Adaptation

2011-07-07T09:00:00.002+02:00

[Skirt and sweater: my mom's;

skirt shortened and relieved of awkward belt loops,

sweater knitted by her from silk yarn and washed a considerable amount of times;

boots: thrifted]

I've been thinking lately about a less pleasant aspect in the life of a clothing scavenger like me: If you make it your goal to build almost your entire wardrobe from inherited pieces, you have little to no choice, at first glance, about what items go in there. Of course you can reject stuff that isn't to your liking, and you can refashion stuff that doesn't fit, dye stuff whose color you don't like, and change some clothes into entirely different clothes. But what goes into your stash isn't entirely up to you, and you've got to work with what you get. This is why I have hardly any dark forest or bottle green things, even though I love the color, and why I own (and love!) a ton of florals.

During the more or less miserable part of my teenage years, when I didn't have regular access to a sewing machine (it was mom's and using it required permission and fussing and cleaning up right afterwards), when I didn't know enough about my body to dress to feel good (because it was constantly changing, too) and when I was under more social pressure to conform to trends, living in inherited clothing was a large contributing factor to said misery. High-waisted skirts, though in principle very flattering to my particular silhouette, were not exactly en vogue back in the mid-90s, and you know how pinchy a waistband can get without that extra inch of wiggle room. High-waisted pants were even worse because my mom has a much straighter body shape than I do, and the ones that fit her when she was a teenager, alas, they simply didn't accommodate for my hip bones and bottom curves. Cue stomach cramps, feeling fat and weirdly-shaped.

HOWEVER, because after all this blog is a chronicle of me having happy refashionista times, I must stress that I turned around to embrace the narrowed-down choice as a creative challenge. I find refashioning incredibly empowering (and not faux-empowering either), I really enjoy making something not-so-great into something better and customizing it for me, myself and I. By working through the same clothes I awkwardly wore as a teenager, and making them fit my body and current style better, I continue to reclaim my body confidence.

Everyday magic

2011-07-05T19:03:00.000+02:00

Life has been a rush lately. Keeping myself on board by paying attention to the little bits of magic in life. Fluffy night-time butterflies, unicorns, and sets of possible worlds.

Sunday Something: Overconfidence

2011-07-03T22:45:00.000+02:00

I haven't written one of these long, rambling, thoughtful posts in a while, and I used to really enjoy them - so I'll do one in the course of Dress Your Best. Because I really like my brain, and letting it roam around between decoratively arranged streams of consciousness is as close as I'll get to dressing it up! So here's some musings about the boundaries we impose on body confidence, to round off the Dress Your Best weeks.

[I'm putting on my thinking hat!]

My little sister, who has lately been saying lots of insightful things, read my post about dressing to flatter my bust and pointed out to me that, well, maybe people will think I'm over-confident if I don't criticize anything about myself. Implying that I wouldn't want people to think that of me.

Alas, 'tis true - and I think that, at least when it comes to body shapes and dressing up, it shouldn't be. It is really hard to have too much body confidence! That's kind of the point of the Dress-your-best challenge, as well as of any body image blog I've seen around the internet.

My sister's comment reminded me of something else though, something that may be at the root of this reproach of overconfidence:

The social script that allows - or obliges - women to bond over body bashing.

"My thighs are so fat, I wish I was slim like you!" - "What do you mean, slim? Look at that belly pouch! I wish I was toned like you are!"

There's a bunch of stuff going on in an interaction like this. Each participant puts herself down while complimenting the other. The motivations are manifold and I can only grasp them intuitively (I've never studied social psychology after all!), but here's an attempt:

One part of it may be to avoid competition and discord - because girls are told that competition is unfeminine and that creating a harmonious environment at all costs is their task. You don't want others to be envious of your good features because that creates discord, therefore don't let your good features shine - adopt a submissive manner, put yourself below others. Submissive behavior towards men as figures of authority is another script that women were taught, luckily much more in the past than in the present, but the remnants still seem to stick around, even in the interaction of women among themselves.

The other part may be the wish to have someone contradict you - saying nasty things about yourself in the hope of having others jump in to correct you and catch a compliment that way.

Of course if everybody engages in this script, everybody gets some compliments, nobody needs to feel envious or left out, and everybody is happy... or is she? The problem is that the bad things we say about ourselves stick around in our minds, and we end up believing them much more than the nice things others tell us. Ever notice how difficult it is to take a compliment without giving an answer that deprecates the lauded feature? Also, it's not like we actually avoid competition that way - we just turn it even more toxic by attempting to ban it, and it remains a nasty undercurrent in all interactions. Because this pattern of interaction fosters insecurities and low confidence, and if anything, these increase the need to prove oneself better than others.

And that really isn't necessary - we know there isn't just one narrow beauty standard in the world, there's enough beauty for everyone to claim their bit of it. Competition may be part of human nature, but please, let's give it a level and healthy playing field without the stumbling blocks of self-deprecation.

Still, it's scary to break out of long-standing social scripts. And if I say good things about my own body, that's exactly what I'm doing. There's no way this will prevent me from also complimenting others on their bodies - in fact, being happy with myself makes me more likely to notice good features in others, and to be able to acknowledge them without toxicity creeping in. But it may offend them just because it's breaking the customary behavior pattern, just because it's not what they're used to, and because it means they have to question their own habits.

And since being scared of change is also part of human nature, they'd rather think there's something wrong with whoever is challenging them to do so, or with themselves. They end up believing that I can only do X because I have some imaginary feature Y, which they don't have, and envying me, or that I am really just impertinent for doing X because "it's not done!", and hating me for that reason. It's happened - I briefly lived with two girls who were very good at engaging in body-bashing-talk ("Ugh, I'm so fat, I should wear spanx all the time! Ugh, I really HATE my hair!"), and when I pointed out that their bodies were really fine, there was nothing to hate about them, without the addendum of self-bashing that would have been required to meet expectations, they turned their dislike onto me. It may not have helped that I was in fact slightly more petite than them, but it should really not have mattered because there's beauty at every size of body frame.

Why oh why do we keep doing this to ourselves?

[Take note that there are some few things I don't like that much about my body. I'm aware it fits the "young, slim, conventionally pretty" mold rather closely, and I honestly can't tell how much of my confidence comes from that (I've talked about this at length in an FFB post back in March) - but I'm also aware that my skin has a tendency to break out in pimples at the slightest hint of stress, and that my joints aren't the most stable, that my upper legs, like those of almost every woman above age 16, bear some of the dints commonly known as cellulite, and that I'm entirely un-athletic. Does this make me hate my body, though? Not on most days. And I am pretty glad about that because there was a time when I hated my body non-stop, and it really wasn't fun.]

Friendship and a haunted garden

2011-06-29T09:00:00.006+02:00

My very best friend since the days of high school came to visit me this past weekend. We talked a lot, ate well, and took long walks through parks and city. In the end, blame it on mutual peer pressure and heavy discounting, we both decided to get the same skirt at Benetton, and then proceeded to both wear it as a dress the next day. Because we're too cool for friendship bracelets.

I played around with different belts and cover-ups, but altogether this skirt-to-dress is destined for dressing my shoulders and my waist best!

[belt from this dress]

[cardigan made from a large cowl-neck sweater]

I also put my hair up in the semblance of a French twist, and I'm quite proud of this accomplishment.

[velvet belt from the for-free-flea,

velvet shrug from my grandma,

red dancing shoes]

These pictures were taken in the near-wilderness garden of an office building next door. There's a brook, plenty of weeping willows, and nobody ever clears away the branches that cover the ground. I think the building houses parts of the psychology department, but since it was Sunday when I took these pictures, luckily there was nobody around to proclaim me a lunatic.

Subtle-tees and awkwardness

2011-06-27T09:09:00.001+02:00

Is it really inappropriate TMI if, in the course of "Dress your best", I state that I really like the size, shape and behavior of my bust?

Will this make all the creeps on the internet stare at me (and worse)? Or am I just imagining that the female breast has become so sexualized in this society that it's near-impossible to talk about it without sexual connotations?

What I do know is that there exists the cliché that a woman must necessarily find something wrong with her breasts (too big, too small, too saggy). Well, I don't, and I don't think anyone else should.

For me, dressing my bust best isn't accomplished by excessively low-cut tops - I guess I could get away with them, but they don't feel secure, if only because I feel cold really easily. Neither do I want to wear the kind of t-shirts where you have a bold image or even a message displayed right across the boobs - it defies the very attempt to avoid unnecessarily sexualizing stares, and mocks both the wearer and the observer (though sometimes, when the message or image is really cool, I'd reconsider!). Good foundations would be a start, but I'm nowhere near showing off my bra to the internet. So subtler accentuation is the way to go, and here are two outfits which try to accomplish that.

[t-shirt: from a friend, resized and sleeves chopped off;

skirt: grandma's, dyed;

earrings: street fair in Berkeley;

flats: no-name & new]

[t-shirt: refashioned from two of roommate's castoff shirts;

skirt: super-sale at discount clothes store, shortened and with added pockets;

shoes: my mother's, straps partly repaired by me]

A word on these shoes: ballerina flats are the only shoes where I'll buy the cheaper variant because no matter how well-made they are, my lifestyle - which includes lots of biking and walking, and making ballet flats my default summer shoe wear - is going to wear them out within a year or two. Also, I don't often find high-quality ballerina flats whose shape I really like. Also, these are the first sequined things I've ever owned.

A word on these shoes: Sigh. I thought I had saved them from old-age-breakage, but they won't stay safely on my feet. Which, given that they're platform heels, is downright dangerous for my ankles. I will have to tinker with them a little more.

Finally, an insight into my creative process: Here's how I got the idea for the second t-shirt.

1) three t-shirts from roommate, in matching colors, with prettily adorned sleeves

2) cut them apart and lay them out on the bed in the shape of a dress

3) start sewing, realize during try-ons that the skirt of the dress falls awkwardly, make t-shirt instead!

Cheers,

poet

Sunday Something: A rose is a rose

2011-06-26T09:00:00.008+02:00

Rusalka

2011-06-24T09:06:00.082+02:00

I've always felt there must be a Rusalka or some other kind of water sprite up in the distant branches of my family tree. I love to swim, I love the woods, I feel drawn to small bodies of water and I'm less afraid of the sea when swimming than when on a sailboat. Or maybe it's just that I was exposed to Disney's Little Mermaid too early during my formative years...

[shirt: Xanaka, 2007;

skirt: my grandma's, dyed and shortened;

shoes: S.Oliver, 2011;

necklace: was an earring]

This skirt was an off-white color and had the same awkward more-than-midi length that all other skirts from my grandma have on me. I threw it into the same dye bath as this blouse, but since it's polyester, it came out a very pale shade of sea-foam green. Which was just as well because I had been wanting something in the color ever since seeing this.

The lovely ladies at Academichic are hosting a "Dress Your Best" fortnight that's all about dressing to flatter those parts of your body you like best, instead of the usual strategy to conceal those you perceive as flawed. I think that's a great idea, and I'll try to participate.

This outfit is dedicated to my legs and feet, capable of dancing, biking, and making mildly scary old ladies at Goodwill exclaim "My, what nice legs you have". I felt ambivalent about them for a long time because their shortness alone makes me 5 inches shorter than my little sister, because they're eternally paler than the rest of me, and because I was wearing shoes that were half a size too large for me for a long time, which made for an inexplicable feeling of clumsiness. Over time, these problems have been resolved, and I've come to think they're just fine, and certainly better than mermaids' flippers. A knee-length swirly skirt and moderate open-toed heels are flattering them in the best of ways... even if painting my toe-nails green to match my skirt may have been a questionable move!

Rain Fair

2011-06-22T09:00:00.007+02:00

This past weekend, I went to a renaissance / medieval fair with friends on a gray and overcast day. It had rained monsoon-ishly the night before, and it rained the afternoon of the same day, so warm clothing and authentically dirty boots were in order. Here's my not so authentic costume - I did realize in the course of the day it looked more Pirates of the Caribbean than medieval, but I had a really fun time and nobody was obviously bothered by it, so who cares?

[Hat: H&M 2007, with found feathers;

dress: ca. 1970s - from my mom's hippie days and nearly loved to pieces;

corset: contemporary gothic, from a friend, re-sized;

skirt: from that same friend;

scarf: gift from roommate (who also took this photo, thanks!);

bag: from my grandma]

The small luxuries in the life of a tea-drinking girl

2011-06-20T09:00:00.022+02:00

Some very few of my long-time readers will remember I used to have a design-your-own mug from Starbucks.

I lost it in the course of paper-writing and wedding-planning-helping frenzy at the end of last semester, and I went without one for the larger part of spring because I stubbornly refused to buy another over-priced name-brand mug when I don't even drink their coffee... However, the appeal of the customizable, combined with the cold weather as of late, finally made me give in. Of course, as these things always go, the original mug was rediscovered only days after my purchase - it had been hiding in the trunk of some friends' car...

Anyway, as I arrived home with my new purchase, I settled for a long night of crafting... at last I got to use some of the magazine snippets that first go up onto my inspiration board, then get stored away into boxes:

I ended up making three different designs to exchange, each with a decorated backside because the mug I bought is transparent on the inside, too. The shape and design-ability reminded me of past centuries' art-covered hand fans, and maybe the coffee or tea mug is a present-day girl's equivalent accessory.

[for my poet and seamstress persona]

[for the purpose of reclaiming pink]

[for the appreciator of all things vintage]

What have you been crafting lately?

The amazing technicolor skirt

2011-06-18T11:50:00.011+02:00

When I pulled this skirt from the £-1-bin in a thrift store at Camden Markets, I thought I understood why it had been placed there: the eclectic color combination, I believed, would make it difficult to combine with anything but neutrals - black and gray being the obvious choices. Still, I was willing to give it a chance - the outer layer is 100% silk after all, and it's got a nicely fluttering cut and length that make it perfect for tango dancing.

I did start out wearing it with black and gray, but then through various lucky strokes of fate, I acquired a bunch of tops on the pink-red-orange part of the color spectrum. This one came from a friend, was taken in to fit me, and looks a lot pinker in the photos than in real life, but it matches one of the multiple rose shades perfectly. Others remain to be tried, and if we ever get truly summery weather again I might even pair it with one of my parrot tank tops, both of which I had to dye yellow after their fling with my orange Cambodian shirt in the laundry...

Do tell, what are your strategies

for seemingly difficult pieces?

Bloggers do it better challenge: Why yes, I do own something neon!

2011-06-16T09:00:00.007+02:00

This outfit happened to fit the conditions somewhat accidentally, but it will definitely go into this week's "Bloggers do it better" challenge at Pretty Shiny Sparkly: Neon with neutrals. To recap, the dress was originally two large orange conference t-shirts, I dyed them red and made them into this, and the dye has washed out a bit since then, resulting in a shade of neon red that I find hard to wear on its own as the summery shape suggests. In that respect, the hideously cold weather we've been having came in quite handy since I got to pair it with a cardigan and footless tights - a first for me; I'm wary of everything too leggings-like because I was traumatized by those during my childhood in the late 80s and early 90s! They became a necessity because I noticed my dancing shoes will wear out too quickly if I continue to wear them with real socks on my feet.

FFB Post: Is there any feminism in "Twilight"?

2011-06-15T09:00:00.000+02:00

This month, we of the Feminist Fashion Blogger guild are talking about feminism in pop culture. Many things come to mind that could be discussed: the negative cliché of the humorless feminist, the over-sexualized or infantilized depiction of women in nearly all popular media, etcetera pp.

Being as swamped with work as I am, I'm in the mood for something slightly fluffier, something that may - at first glance at least - promise less of the well-deserved grumpiness that any of the discussions above would engender, and possibly a more positive outcome. Today I'm going to try and look at one of my guilty pleasure readings from a feminist angle.

[Picture source]

We all know them, and I suspect a lot of us have them: Books that are obviously trashy, obviously out of line with our worldview at large, and yet we secretly enjoy reading them. Are they simply so bad they're good? I won't go into our reasons for this enjoyment (I suspect they are complex, and messier than I want to deal with right now), I'll just look at one stereotypical example I've read, and try to find if there's at least some feminist spark to it, some way it can be partly redeemed.

The prototypical "guilty pleasure reading" example of this age and time, the one that has been endlessly discussed and dissected and even academically researched, is the infamous "Twilight" series. These are the same books I read with a ravenous appetite, and that I claim have been a truly bad influence at a time when I was younger, more vulnerable, and generally in a bad place in life... I have first loved them, then loathed them with a passion, and now I arrive at a point where I too can just dissect them.

Most of us are well familiar with the many things that are wrong with Twilight: The main character Bella, who is but an empty shell for any reader to step into, whose flaws and weaknesses are the only traits that are clearly described. In crass contrast, the flawless, super-strong and super-alluring villain-hero vampire Edward, who perfectly embodies the idea of the male as a predator. Their relationship mangled by controlling, emotionally abusive behavior on his part (which is readily dismissed by claiming he just knows what's best for her), and co-dependent, pressuring and pressured, clingy behavior on her part (her life completely empties of meaningful content when he leaves her in book 2, where we find a few empty pages under month-name headers - that's a neat little trick when you come across it for the first time, but upon further thinking, I can't help but remember that some of my own busiest writing times have been in phases of intense heartbreak). The blatant gender clichés, narrow beauty ideal, and hetero-normativity distributed throughout the book (Bella's single father can't cook for himself? Edward's badass sister Alice can't help her obsession with sparkly high fashion? All vampires are incredibly, transcendently beautiful, measured by human standards instead of transcending them? Even though vampires pair up for affection, not for baby-making, and move somewhat outside the boundaries of old- or new-fashioned morality, not one gay or lesbian vampire couple in sight?). The no-sex-before-marriage, anti-abortion agenda shimmering through the threadbare teenage heartache story.

Not much feminism here, right?

However... There are a few small things "Twilight" gets right. Or at least you can pretend it does. If you've got a Twilight-obsessed teen in your life, instead of ranting about the things that are bad, you may want to point out these more positive bits:

Point 1, Twilight plentifully acknowledges female desire. I mean, the whole series is basically about nothing else than Bella having the hots for Edward (and intermittently, thinking she may have the hots for Jacob)! True, her desire is portrayed as a source of trouble and as a force that renders her even weaker and more irresponsible than she is to begin with, but its existence is never denied, it is one of the driving forces for what plot development there is, and its fulfillment provides the (excuse the pun) climax of the whole story. [Note: I was first alerted to this somewhere on the internet, but I forgot where - if you know, tell me so I can properly credit the author!]

Point 2, the one bad thing that Edward Cullen isn't is a rapist. Despite being definitely a predator (a vampire, hello-o?), and despite the violence that is mingled with his sexual desire, one of the reasons for his supposed awesomeness is that he has this amazingly strong self-control. Since he's depicted as the paragon lover, one message that a young girl might draw from these books is: A guy who truly cares about you will avoid situations in which he might harm you; don't demand anything less.

That's still quite questionable - it would be so much better if we did away with the idea that male sexuality is necessarily violent, predatory, and harmful altogether, or if we abolished the positively connoted image of a controlling male who gets to make all decisions, and even deny the fulfillment of a wish both partners share, simply because he is assumed to know what's best - but it may be a baby step in the right direction.

Speaking of baby steps, that whole gruesome pregnancy-and-birth-story in book 4... it's pretty icky to say the least, and it was a point where I definitely stopped enjoying my guilty pleasure reading. Of course it's an anti-abortion agenda in pro-choice clothing... Bella's life is clearly in danger, everyone around her advises her to not carry the baby to term, but she feels that she must do so because it will be "her perfect baby". But since, as any fashion blogger will know, it is in part true that "Fine feathers make fine birds", those borrowed pro-choice plumes may turn out to give the message a different spin. Bella gets to have her child because she wants it that way. And because this is thankfully a world a few degrees removed from reality, hooray for vampire venom magic saving her life.

Just don't try this at home, 'kay?

***

I hope you enjoyed this post - I know I have only given a short overview and not a detailed analysis, so feel free to weigh in with your observations in the comments!

You can find other Feminist Fashion Bloggers posts here.

***

PS: I was advised I should add this video for general education and amusement. It doesn't really have that much to do with my conclusions - it is primarily about all things that are horribly wrong with Twilight - but I had a really good laugh when I watched it and so will you (if you haven't already).

Everybody Everywear: Lace. An approximation.

2011-06-14T09:00:00.006+02:00

[The weather as of now...

at least it feels this cold outside.

Oh summer, where art thou?]

I am yet again sneaking into the Everybody Everywear Challenge by means of a roundup post. Last month, I was sick in bed and not inclined to dress up, this month I am at the boyfriend's place and completely forgot to take anything that meets the conditions. Not that this would have been easy: A quick survey of my wardrobe so far shows that I own hardly anything that can be called lace without a generous stretch of the concept. I once had a dress that resembled a 19th-century mourning outfit, complete with black lace sleeves and choke-tight collar, but I cut it apart into a sleek black evening gown without the lace, which has since been lost into various small crafting projects.

Here's an approximation to lace, taken from the outfits I've photographed since the start of my fashion blogging career.

[my mom's hippie blouse with bobbin lace sleeve insets,

worn under a heavily embroidered white dress...

that was Californian winter for you!]

[lace-adorned singlet from Mango,

bought in Prague 2004]

[playing pirate in a skirt with lace border,

mis-named "the curtain" by a well-meaning friend]

[If I layer it thick enough,

will tulle pass as lace?]

[a skirt made from eyelet fabric]

[Mango-in-Prague singlet

with my new polka-dot skirt]

Two things I've learned:
There's definitely a gap in my wardrobe waiting to be filled, and
I actually like making EBEW-themed roundup posts - showing things I've already worn sometime in the past feels more genuine than deliberately creating an outfit for a challenge. I take back what I said about sneaking earlier :)

Sunday Something: Not done playing with it yet

2011-06-12T09:00:00.006+02:00

This is as out-of-the-way as I often desire my hair to be. To achieve this, I have to braid it into 4 braids and pin them up onto my head - which takes about 20 minutes altogether, and of course feels kind of heavy after a while. And it's not perfected yet, the back looks kind of wonky.

Granted, it looks fun/quirky/romantic (and braids have been rather popular for the past few years!), but it won't fit under a hat or a bike helmet. Sigh.

Still, I think I might yet hunt around for different hairdos instead of haircuts for a while. There is nothing to lose by waiting, is there? This hairdo, by the way, was inspired by A Beautiful Mess.

(Hint, hint:) I'm happy about any other instructions you might want to send my way!

Refashion: Electric blue satin sandals

2011-06-10T11:04:00.004+02:00

During my awkward teenage years, the only summer shoes I had were a pair of patent-leather strappy sandals, which, while possessing a certain Graeco-Roman elegance (foreshadowing the gladiator era for sure!), were still too wide for me and generally contributed to my overall awkwardness.

Today I'm not one for awkwardness or for patent leather, so I recently decided to refashion them into something I would wear today.

No before pics (I was eager to get to work) but here are some of the straps I cut off, and you can just imagine the whole sandal having criss-crossing straps like that, somewhat randomly distributed.

I kept little bits of the original straps attached to the sole, punched holes in them with the puncher I normally use for paper, and added blue satin ribbons in a t-strap pattern.

They close by tying a bow around the remaining heel strap, and I am looking forward to debuting them sometime soon... I just have to find out what to match them with, since I don't think I have this flashy shade of blue in my closet! Another solution would be to just use a different satin ribbon... the possibilities for variation and re-use are endless.

Short spell of summer

2011-06-08T09:00:00.005+02:00

Wore this on Sunday in the few hours before a massive thunderstorm.

[Shorts: my mom's,

top: made from scratch,

flower brooch: Eddie's,

flip-flops: no-name]

The shorts are something my mother wore as a younger woman, and when I inherited them as a teen, I first felt terribly uncomfortable with them: the look-at-me color, the amount of leg I wasn't used to showing but wanted to show at the same time, and most of all, the fact that they are high-waisted, made them awkward to wear for me. However, I've now made peace with them and actually consider their high-waistedness their best feature: It means I can wear them with the few crop tops or plain too short tops I have without freezing - I get cold really easily when wearing midriff-baring things!

The top is part of an ensemble that has since been refashioned, and it is, may I say, daring - but very comfortable once you get used to the bow around the waist.

Kindness

2011-06-06T12:03:00.000+02:00

I forgot to tell you I won something in the refashion co-op 80 dresses around the world challenge. The parcel arrived on Friday afternoon and contained a piece of crochet-trimmed fabric, a beautiful brooch, and a postcard with kind words.

[I don't think anyone's ever gifted me something handspun!]

It came from Eddie Duckling, and I'm quite happy about it. You should really check out her blog, where she does cool stuff like dyeing fabric with natural dyes, knitting bulldogs, and much more!

I've already worn the brooch as a headdress and attached to my current summer jacket, but I'm still figuring out what to do with the fabric.

Thanks so much!

PS: Hair update - I'm quite determined by now to cut it off (thanks to your helpful comments and my own ruminations), the question is when to do it. It'll be quite a drastic change, and I should probably get it over with well before I start interviewing for internships later this month... at the same time I'm still somewhat afraid! The mind is a quite confusing thing.

Working all day, all day, all day

2011-06-04T12:31:00.001+02:00

Variations on a well-known theme. Sometimes I can't decide whether I'm a dancer or a sailor, but in most possible worlds I am neither. I'm just a busy scientist spending the weekend over papers and presentations.

[Sweater: was my mom's,

skirt: was my grandma's]

PS: I'm seriously, seriously considering getting a pixie haircut. I'm hesitant because I've always been the girl with the long braid, but it's become annoying how much work it is, and how it's always in the way. Any advice?

Over-planned and under-planned

2011-06-02T11:10:00.020+02:00

On Monday night, in addition to all the uni work, roommate and me took part in our dorm's biannual "Running Dinner" - an event where teams of two each prepare one course of a meal, then go to visit other teams for the other courses. It's a lot of fun, which is why we decided to sacrifice our precious time for it, and it was well worth spending the morning baking rhubarb cake, making coconut cream (though as of now I can't stand the scent of coconut for a while), then dashing off to classes and back home, where I had half an hour left before I had to be presentable for dinner.

In the middle of all this, I somehow also managed to buy a pair of utterly new summer sandals in silver-white. I did a lot of reasoning beforehand and found that this was well justified:

1) My black-gold sandals don't go with lots of my summer things, and I'm slightly paranoid about non-matching clothes.

2) I recently discovered that my toes want more air in this climate than they did in California, where ballet flats and boots were my go-to shoes year-round. But while the Bay Area is continuously basking in eternally windy spring-fall, spring seems to have been abolished in Central Europe in favor of summer directly following winter, and that means it's really hot!

3) These were slightly less of a steal than my other sandals, but they fit perfectly, look exactly like what I had in mind, and I'll wear them for years.

4) I decided last year I will only buy quality shoes from now on.

5) I'm going to a very fancy wedding today (did I mention my schedule is over-full with both academic and social events?), and the dress I want to wear requires both heels and this color combo, which were previously not present in my wardrobe.

This is the kind of thought process that goes on before I can justify buying anything new! Luckily I keep getting other people's cast-offs to refashion, so a lot of my thinking is left free for academic matters or to use creatively.

Far less thinking goes into making stuff from scratch when I have the materials available in my stash, which is how I ended up sewing a matching handbag from a pillowcase during an early hour on Wednesday morning:

As I said, on Monday I came home shortly before Running Dinner started, and I just happened to grab the one skirt that would perfectly match up the top I'd been wearing all day with the shoes I had just bought. You can't really see it in the pictures, but the skirt has a floral pattern on purpl-ish ground that combines white and pink flowers with teal leaves.

[Top: made from scratch,

skirt: made from a sundress my mother had,

shoes: S.Oliver, new]

I added some super-colorful hair clips and went off to have a good time.

These pictures were taken after midnight, when roommate and me had finished washing up all the plates and teacups... hence the suboptimal lighting. Though I'm beginning to think the Absinthe Lady makes a rather good photo backdrop!

Polka-dots and pleats

2011-05-31T09:00:00.006+02:00

This skirt is another of my grandma's, and it had a rather unflattering more-than-midi length on me, so I chopped off a bit. I'm also hoping to lose the pleats in the course of time because I can't be bothered to iron them into the new hemline right now... The weeks ahead are really the busiest in a long time!

Sunday Something: Awake

2011-05-29T14:07:00.000+02:00

Eating ten chocolate-covered coffee beans as part of one's breakfast results in thirst and wakefulness. Resizing long-sleeved knit tops means taking in a centimeter at the sleeves and two centimeter at the body per size you're taking in. The near-complete version of Metropolis is one of the most aesthetic movies I've seen in a long time, despite its out-dated message. The semester has reached its busiest moment, and at the same time the weather is at its best, which results in a conflict of interest. I'm resolving it by doing my readings in my hammock, next to the sprouting strawberries.

Clean and simple

2011-05-26T09:00:00.012+02:00

With a timetable bursting at the seams, spring sunshine transitioning into summer heat and hay fever in full bloom, I find myself craving clean yet playful simplicity in my outfits. White tees, denim cutoffs, embroidered summer dresses and flats should satisfy it. I think I'll live in these for a while...

[white tee: from a friend, shortened;

shorts: from roommate's jeans;

sunglasses: random]

[white dress: Gia, bought at store closing on Bancroft Ave., Berkeley,

flats: Zara via Crossroads Trading Co.,

shrug: top of an overall my grandma made]

Oh grasses, why do you hate me so?

In other news, my strawberries are in bloom.

Yup, that's a pink sweater

2011-05-24T09:00:00.001+02:00

And I really like it. Seems that my efforts to reclaim pink are paying off!

[Sweater: Esprit via for-free-flea;

pants: Vero Moda, on sale last summer, 6 euro;

shoes: Banana Republic via Ross, $7]

I really like those shoes, too, though I'm noticing my ankle joints aren't so fond of walking in heels with little support all day, so they can't become an everyday treat.

It's been a strange mixture of sunshine and rain these past days, hence the long sleeves.