http://www.xojane.com/issues/i-screamed-at-my-therapist-for-asking-about-my-short-skirt-and-then-got-sexually-harassed-a-mllion-times-so-maybe-he-was-right
I read this piece last week with very mixed feelings. On the one hand, yes of course women are free to wear whatever they please, and should be free from public censure including but not limited to sexual harassment. (When I say 'not limited to' I'm thinking of entreaties to smile, or like, hollering that you look bad or whatever. No good, any of it.)
The conflicted part comes when I think about the many reasons why I would never wear the outfit that Emily is talking about. The reasons I"m thinking of are:
-I don't want to get stared at more than usual on the street;
-I don't want to have men staring at my body;
-I don't need the attention.
Ok, those boil down to one reason I guess, I don't need or want the attention.
Emily has told us in the past that she is being treated for sex addiction, and that she is a self described attention seeker. I'm not making any assumptions about her past or her motivations, she is very forthright about these things.
And, I don't think you can really analyze the outfit and the reactions to it in a vacuum that doesn't take these things into consideration. And I get that this may be perceived as gross sexism.
The thing I can't get my mind around is--is the point of this piece (and a million others like it) that women will wear what they want when they want, and wish to take no heed of the cultural climate in which they make their sartorial choices? Like, are we saying that we want to behave AS THOUGH all fashion choices are equal, that none of them have any cultural or sexual implications?
It would be great to think that way: I dress the way I do to speed the revolution toward egalitarianism, in spite of the fact that I know I will be objectified all day long. It's a brave choice. Dressing for utopia.
But the sad fact is, we don't live in that utopia. We live in a time and place where our clothes and bodies and sexual presence will be commented on. Sometimes loudly, and on the street. For myself, I prefer to dress and present myself defensively, because I can't deal with the unpleasant repercussions of wearing the type of (really pretty/cute etc) outfit that Emily got so much flak for.
And I feel like to ignore the reality that there are consequences for these kinds of choices, is to say, de facto, that you're willing to deal with them. Emily knows that the fashion/publishing/women's magazine audience for whom she dresses (and for herself, obviously), is not the ONLY audience that will pass judgement on the clothes. I'm sure she's well aware that her therapist, and bicycle couriers and many random assorted sexist pigs, will also provide an eager audience.
And I hate that thinking this, or writing this, sounds like victim blaming. At the same time, while street harassers need to take responsibility for their actions, unfortunately most women are forced to either dress defensively, or assume the responsibility that these men seem to have abjured. And it does worry me a little that I sound like Camille Paglia.
Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Monday, October 8, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Elizabeth Wurtzel wants you to look your best
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/health-wellness-articles/looking-better-at-45-than-25#slide-1
I think this article was published on the Harper's Bazaar website a couple weeks ago. I'd seen the link via Jezebel. I'm interested in anything about Wurtzel because I get a big kick out of her. I like when people are really intelligent and simultaneously crazy and I think she fits the bill admirably. I remember reading Prozac Nation a long time ago and feeling like her story was really anyone's if a person chose to just let themselves become unhinged. If you gave in to every bad instinct, said everything you thought out loud, and were generally pretty narcissistic, I imagine as a woman your story would sound like hers. And in a way there is something sort of admirable about that lack of filters. It's a strange blend of self regard and oblivousness; well maybe more like unchecked ego.
But after reading the article from Harper's, I kind of agree with her. (I'm making myself cringe a little here). I'm not talking about her disdain for ungroomed twentysomething women (who don't seem to know or appreciate what the sexy third wavers did for them, nor wish to demonstrate their gratitude by wearing a little lipgloss!)....no, that's not it. I just kind of take (minor, barely interested) umbrage with the way convenience culture has eroded people's sense of decorum. At least that's how it seems. What you choose to wear or how you groom yourself is clearly your business; but wouldn't it be great if everyone put in a modicum of effort? I feel like that's part of what's so great about something like Advanced Style--far from 'giving up', these women answer to their own muses every day and choose to participate in the language of aesthetics. The fact that Advanced Style comes to mind sort of points to the idea that maybe this is a disease of the modern age. I'm sure everyone has looked at old family pictures or old photos on tumblr or somewhere and thought that people just looked better before the Vietnam War (I name that time arbitrarily, but maybe since the 1970s or something). You can't really argue that people look sloppier now.
What does it say when vintage mugshots look incredibly glamourous by today's standards? I think it says the standard has fallen.
I can understand what Wurtzel is saying, I too, had a mom who wouldn't leave the house without makeup on for many years, who always had her hair done in a salon, who believed in the value of showing up looking good. And while I would never claim that slovenliness lets down feminism--I don't leave the house either if I don't think I look good. I don't own sweatpants, wouldn't go out in yoga pants, wear running shoes only for running, and a day without makeup is a sick day for me. To each her own.
But back to Wurtzel: I fervently loved Prozac Nation, Bitch, More, Now Again: A Memoir of Addiction, and this gem below. She's awesome. I'll always love her.
I think this article was published on the Harper's Bazaar website a couple weeks ago. I'd seen the link via Jezebel. I'm interested in anything about Wurtzel because I get a big kick out of her. I like when people are really intelligent and simultaneously crazy and I think she fits the bill admirably. I remember reading Prozac Nation a long time ago and feeling like her story was really anyone's if a person chose to just let themselves become unhinged. If you gave in to every bad instinct, said everything you thought out loud, and were generally pretty narcissistic, I imagine as a woman your story would sound like hers. And in a way there is something sort of admirable about that lack of filters. It's a strange blend of self regard and oblivousness; well maybe more like unchecked ego.
But after reading the article from Harper's, I kind of agree with her. (I'm making myself cringe a little here). I'm not talking about her disdain for ungroomed twentysomething women (who don't seem to know or appreciate what the sexy third wavers did for them, nor wish to demonstrate their gratitude by wearing a little lipgloss!)....no, that's not it. I just kind of take (minor, barely interested) umbrage with the way convenience culture has eroded people's sense of decorum. At least that's how it seems. What you choose to wear or how you groom yourself is clearly your business; but wouldn't it be great if everyone put in a modicum of effort? I feel like that's part of what's so great about something like Advanced Style--far from 'giving up', these women answer to their own muses every day and choose to participate in the language of aesthetics. The fact that Advanced Style comes to mind sort of points to the idea that maybe this is a disease of the modern age. I'm sure everyone has looked at old family pictures or old photos on tumblr or somewhere and thought that people just looked better before the Vietnam War (I name that time arbitrarily, but maybe since the 1970s or something). You can't really argue that people look sloppier now.
What does it say when vintage mugshots look incredibly glamourous by today's standards? I think it says the standard has fallen.
I can understand what Wurtzel is saying, I too, had a mom who wouldn't leave the house without makeup on for many years, who always had her hair done in a salon, who believed in the value of showing up looking good. And while I would never claim that slovenliness lets down feminism--I don't leave the house either if I don't think I look good. I don't own sweatpants, wouldn't go out in yoga pants, wear running shoes only for running, and a day without makeup is a sick day for me. To each her own.
But back to Wurtzel: I fervently loved Prozac Nation, Bitch, More, Now Again: A Memoir of Addiction, and this gem below. She's awesome. I'll always love her.
Apparently she shot the film of her book Prozac Nation in the foot with her interview response about 9/11 (to Toronto's Globe and Mail):
"I had not the slightest emotional reaction. I thought, 'This is a really strange art project.' It was the most amazing sight in terms of sheer elegance. It fell like water. It just slid, like a turtleneck going over someone's head."
I even kind of love her for that.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
YouTube Intervention Request
Who knows exactly when it became a problem, somewhere along the line the switch flipped from casual interest to full 'monkey on the back' addiction. My name is Sarah and I'm addicted to YouTube makeup tutorials. Let me clarify, tutorials were the gateway drug. I had to figure out that winged eyeliner. False eyelashes, leopard print nails, after that it was contouring with powder, then with foundation. A haul video snuck in there, suddenly I needed those too. It went beyond makeup--the fishtail braid, the fat hipster bun, the amazing rookie 2 minute beehive.
I needed my own YouTube account and subscriptions. I know I'm not alone--some of these videos have hundreds of thousands of views! And there is not one cat playing piano to be seen!
Once upon a time I was a womens' magazine junkie. Throughout high school and university I read about 10 magazines monthly. I still love them. Over time though, I came to feel I was wasting time and money reading them. I started feeling guilty about loving something so superficial and wasteful, and for spending hard earned cash on the beauty myth. All those hours spent poring over fashion spreads--couldn't an educated woman think of better things to do? In the interval between fashion magazine obsession and online video obsession I came to a conclusion--I like what I like. I like fashion, I like makeup, I love a big fat September issue with insane pictorials. And apparently I like watching strangers execute the smoky eye with surgical precision using a particular Wet'n'Wild palette that was limited edition last fall.
The beauty of online makeup videos is that 1) the women are real, not airbrushed and often not professional; and 2) most of the time they aren't getting anything from their endorsement. On occasion there is an endorsement arrangement and the vlogger tells you upfront. These women actually use and like the products they demonstrate, and often have an encyclopedic knowledge of what else is available. What is worth spending money on and what to avoid. This is where I`ve learned what products to spend money on (foundation) and what to get on the cheap (most everything else).
The best videos are probably those by actual makeup artists, but those aren't my favourites. My favourites are the amateurs with encyclopedic knowledge. The girls and women, mostly from all over North America who live and breathe makeup. I love that they`re all different types of real women and you kind of get a sense of their personalities after watching a few vids. They`ve done a lot of work and research so I don`t have to, once you get to `know`them, they can save you time and money. They know the best products, the best techniques. The amateurs aren`t often pretentious, they`re funny, self deprecating even....real.
Makeup ads lie all the time, I kind of like the hyperbole. But in makeup vlogs, there is usually no incentive to mislead you.
I also love the `haul`videos, especially hauls from drugstores and fast fashion retailers. You kind of get a shopper`s high without spending money. If something looks really amazing, you can get it yourself and you haven`t spent that much money. I like the way the women talk through their purchases, explaining why they like this or that thing. I don`t know why I find it entertaining.
For some I like the personality of the vlogger, others share my taste, still more are totally taste divergent but still interesting for some reason, and then there are a handful that I might watch because I dislike the vlogger or her taste (hate-watching in other words). The tutorial videos with tens of thousands of view might be amazing, the ones with a handful of views might be amazing in a different way.
I'm the kind of person who wants to look into your makeup bag. I love that feature in US magazine where the starlet opens her purse for the readers, but even more fascinating to me would be the handbag of the woman sitting next to me on the bus. I know I"m not alone here, I remember a ski trip in my twenties where the first evening was spent not at the chalet, but with 5 women swilling wine and excavating our makeup bags. I love hearing what products other people swear by.
I don`t even care that much if the video production is poor (it`s usually not even that bad), the vlogger awkward, the products useless to me--something about the amateur makeup tutorial is just riveting mindlessly riveting. The comments on the videos aren`t usually that scathing, which is nice--most people watching are doing so because they like the vlogger. There seems to be fewer trolls on the comments. The piece de resistance? I get to see someone else's bathroom.
Do you like fashion or beauty video blogs? Which ones are your favourite?
I needed my own YouTube account and subscriptions. I know I'm not alone--some of these videos have hundreds of thousands of views! And there is not one cat playing piano to be seen!
Once upon a time I was a womens' magazine junkie. Throughout high school and university I read about 10 magazines monthly. I still love them. Over time though, I came to feel I was wasting time and money reading them. I started feeling guilty about loving something so superficial and wasteful, and for spending hard earned cash on the beauty myth. All those hours spent poring over fashion spreads--couldn't an educated woman think of better things to do? In the interval between fashion magazine obsession and online video obsession I came to a conclusion--I like what I like. I like fashion, I like makeup, I love a big fat September issue with insane pictorials. And apparently I like watching strangers execute the smoky eye with surgical precision using a particular Wet'n'Wild palette that was limited edition last fall.
The beauty of online makeup videos is that 1) the women are real, not airbrushed and often not professional; and 2) most of the time they aren't getting anything from their endorsement. On occasion there is an endorsement arrangement and the vlogger tells you upfront. These women actually use and like the products they demonstrate, and often have an encyclopedic knowledge of what else is available. What is worth spending money on and what to avoid. This is where I`ve learned what products to spend money on (foundation) and what to get on the cheap (most everything else).
The best videos are probably those by actual makeup artists, but those aren't my favourites. My favourites are the amateurs with encyclopedic knowledge. The girls and women, mostly from all over North America who live and breathe makeup. I love that they`re all different types of real women and you kind of get a sense of their personalities after watching a few vids. They`ve done a lot of work and research so I don`t have to, once you get to `know`them, they can save you time and money. They know the best products, the best techniques. The amateurs aren`t often pretentious, they`re funny, self deprecating even....real.
Makeup ads lie all the time, I kind of like the hyperbole. But in makeup vlogs, there is usually no incentive to mislead you.
I also love the `haul`videos, especially hauls from drugstores and fast fashion retailers. You kind of get a shopper`s high without spending money. If something looks really amazing, you can get it yourself and you haven`t spent that much money. I like the way the women talk through their purchases, explaining why they like this or that thing. I don`t know why I find it entertaining.
For some I like the personality of the vlogger, others share my taste, still more are totally taste divergent but still interesting for some reason, and then there are a handful that I might watch because I dislike the vlogger or her taste (hate-watching in other words). The tutorial videos with tens of thousands of view might be amazing, the ones with a handful of views might be amazing in a different way.
I'm the kind of person who wants to look into your makeup bag. I love that feature in US magazine where the starlet opens her purse for the readers, but even more fascinating to me would be the handbag of the woman sitting next to me on the bus. I know I"m not alone here, I remember a ski trip in my twenties where the first evening was spent not at the chalet, but with 5 women swilling wine and excavating our makeup bags. I love hearing what products other people swear by.
I don`t even care that much if the video production is poor (it`s usually not even that bad), the vlogger awkward, the products useless to me--something about the amateur makeup tutorial is just riveting mindlessly riveting. The comments on the videos aren`t usually that scathing, which is nice--most people watching are doing so because they like the vlogger. There seems to be fewer trolls on the comments. The piece de resistance? I get to see someone else's bathroom.
Do you like fashion or beauty video blogs? Which ones are your favourite?
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
ADVANCED STYLE.....plus FILM TRAILER!~
I'm really excited about the Advanced Style book that just came out last week. I love that women in their 70s and (way) older are being taken seriously as fashion innovators. The book and coming film aren't not kitsch or condescending, it's an actual celebration of personal style (and of the persons behind the style). These women look avant garde, they look completely modern. It's not pearls and wool pencil skirts or houndstooth collarless fitted jackets, necessarily. It's got major elements of DIY--the film trailer features a woman who fashions her own false eyelashes, another who does her own sewing despite arthritis.
Granny fashion has been having a moment since about the mid nineties. Enid Coleslaw's 'old lady fashion', the endless moment of the granny boot, cat's eye glasses, pencil skirts, fall capes, ladylike heels, depression era dresses, grey and mauve hair from last season--many times these things signify counterculture awareness, a nod to pin-up style, rockabilly, Harold and Maude, Little Edie from Grey Gardens....on and on it goes. The look is impeccable, meticulous and hip at the same time. The difference is that 'Advanced Style' as introduced to us by Ari Seth Cohen and his model muses is actually worn by the elderly.
Why is it so wonderful to see? Why do I feel happy and even reassured by the denizens of advanced style? I think it's because it's about hope, beauty and aesthetics, three things there are way too little of. I stopped reading fashion blogsfor a while because it felt like an DIY alternative to mainstream fashion publications--but the exclusivity is still palpable in lots of popular blogs. You get the sense that everyone got the same notes for the each season--everyone in fishtail braids, or straw boaters, or the same muted greys, muted peach, the same soft focus pictures of skinny unsmiling young white girls.
Things like Advanced Style, fatshion blogs, Tavi Gevinson's blog--are the antidote to all that. There is a core element of true expression there--of using clothes to say something about yourself or your obsessions. These are places where aesthetics are valued as ethics, and the ethics are punk rock, DIY, a celebration of one's self.
And that is where Advanced Style will step in and blow ya mind--these women are not up for the competition. They are dressing for themselves, they are proud of looking so bangin'--and they are (possibly older than) your grandparents! I like that many of the women featured on the site are totally iconoclastic, the 'rule book' doesn't apply to them because the rule book the rest of us are being sold ages you out after about age 35! Like other fashion rebels (fatshion bloggers for example), they have liberated themselves from the tyranny of commercial fashion.
They've also honed their style over many years, it's unlikely that any of these women are new to fashion and style aspirations. What makes them so remarkable is they dare to express the narcissism of the truly stylish--you have to really like yourself to go to this much effort, don't you? In the end I think advanced style is so awesome for the simple reason that these women do not seem to give a fuck. Existing in a blissful world free from the oppressive male gaze (I'm being a little tongue in cheek here), they are free to create a sartorial language and expression that is totally unique to them. This type of expressive fashion requires commitment, time, an eye for detail. In a time where juicy couture sweats and flip flops are considered appropriate clothes for public view, it's totally refreshing to see people put the effort in. And to put the effort in for the love of fashion, the love of clothes, the need to create a unique self expression, to stand out. It cheers me, it truly does.
Do you think fashion blogs have been co-opted? What's your favourite source of insane eye-style-candy?
Granny fashion has been having a moment since about the mid nineties. Enid Coleslaw's 'old lady fashion', the endless moment of the granny boot, cat's eye glasses, pencil skirts, fall capes, ladylike heels, depression era dresses, grey and mauve hair from last season--many times these things signify counterculture awareness, a nod to pin-up style, rockabilly, Harold and Maude, Little Edie from Grey Gardens....on and on it goes. The look is impeccable, meticulous and hip at the same time. The difference is that 'Advanced Style' as introduced to us by Ari Seth Cohen and his model muses is actually worn by the elderly.
Why is it so wonderful to see? Why do I feel happy and even reassured by the denizens of advanced style? I think it's because it's about hope, beauty and aesthetics, three things there are way too little of. I stopped reading fashion blogsfor a while because it felt like an DIY alternative to mainstream fashion publications--but the exclusivity is still palpable in lots of popular blogs. You get the sense that everyone got the same notes for the each season--everyone in fishtail braids, or straw boaters, or the same muted greys, muted peach, the same soft focus pictures of skinny unsmiling young white girls.
Things like Advanced Style, fatshion blogs, Tavi Gevinson's blog--are the antidote to all that. There is a core element of true expression there--of using clothes to say something about yourself or your obsessions. These are places where aesthetics are valued as ethics, and the ethics are punk rock, DIY, a celebration of one's self.
And that is where Advanced Style will step in and blow ya mind--these women are not up for the competition. They are dressing for themselves, they are proud of looking so bangin'--and they are (possibly older than) your grandparents! I like that many of the women featured on the site are totally iconoclastic, the 'rule book' doesn't apply to them because the rule book the rest of us are being sold ages you out after about age 35! Like other fashion rebels (fatshion bloggers for example), they have liberated themselves from the tyranny of commercial fashion.
They've also honed their style over many years, it's unlikely that any of these women are new to fashion and style aspirations. What makes them so remarkable is they dare to express the narcissism of the truly stylish--you have to really like yourself to go to this much effort, don't you? In the end I think advanced style is so awesome for the simple reason that these women do not seem to give a fuck. Existing in a blissful world free from the oppressive male gaze (I'm being a little tongue in cheek here), they are free to create a sartorial language and expression that is totally unique to them. This type of expressive fashion requires commitment, time, an eye for detail. In a time where juicy couture sweats and flip flops are considered appropriate clothes for public view, it's totally refreshing to see people put the effort in. And to put the effort in for the love of fashion, the love of clothes, the need to create a unique self expression, to stand out. It cheers me, it truly does.
Do you think fashion blogs have been co-opted? What's your favourite source of insane eye-style-candy?
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Slutwalk Toronto Friday May 25--more blah blah blah
Slutwalk is tomorrow evening. Originally I had lots of criticisms of it, I'm sort of coming around now. My issue isn't with the use of the word "slut"; I understand the concept of 'reclaiming' a term that's been used as a perjorative. I think that's probably a good thing. But in a way this isn't really turning the word on its ear exactly, since I guess the idea is to dress like a stereotypical 'slut' to challenge the assumptions that go along with that.
Nor is my issue the obvious one; that this march, it's messaging etc aren't necessarily that well understood by the average person who sees the march. Unless the point of it is 'we'll wear what we fucking want' in which case, yeah, I guess that message would be understood.
I read a good piece in Bitch magazine last year. They had a pro and a con side discussing the slutwalk phenomenon. I found some coverage from last fall on Racialicious. Mainstream women's movements have always been criticized for ignoring class and race issues; obviously Slutwalk has the same issues. I don't know if POC have embraced the walk in Toronto or NYC for that matter. I do think it's interesting to consider the implications of 'taking back the word'. I understand well that to subvert of reclaim the meaning of the word 'slut' would be empowering to some women. However, that belief is from my own experience: I haven't been called a 'slut' much in my life at all. Regardless of my behaviour, this label isn't one I've had to deflect, ignore or labour with in any way. It's an academic exercise for me. But for women of colour or working class women, or ANY other women for that matter, may have a different relationship to the word. A relationship that would make them leery of taking it on for ANY reason at all.
But last week I read some more stuff online about the walk and I'm sort of coming around in a way. I do believe that any way to encourage an open narrative about sexual assault, issues of implied and overt consent to sexual attention, and victim-blaming, should be welcomed anytime in any context.
The thing I don't like about it is it's still a discussion about women's clothes. I'm not sure that this discussion is best served by more analysis of what women wear and what messaging is implied by their sartorial choices. I think it's reductionist and it misses the point completely. This discussion should be about men; their actions, consequences for their actions; and for god's sake leave women's clothing choices out of it for once!
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