I do not pay a lot of attention to the Hot 100 as most of the songs recently seem to have Idol-itis – overproduced and full of melisma. However, someone on plurk mentioned having All About that Bass stuck in her head so I was curious and listened to it. I was surprised by its retro doo woo sound and was happy that such a positive body image song was leading the charts. Pop music popularity is dominated by the tweens, so the song’s popularity makes me optimistic about “kids today.”
Today I am wearing a versatile dress from Tee*fy. I love that it has options for the bodice. You
can wear the dress with the spaghetti straps alone or, as I did, add the optional harness. There are also lace cap sleeves you can add that slide right under the straps for a touch of romance. It has a fitted bodice with a mesh midriff. Christian Siriano says mesh is “done” but not if it looks as good as this. It is a great take on the Hotel Spoopy theme for October’s Collabor88.
One of the rules I live by comes from Voltaire, who said “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” A similar idea is attributed to Confucius, “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” I really took this aphorism to heart when a friend of mine was writing a book on dismantling racism. I was reading, editing and helping him find illustrations. The book was ready to go for a few years before it was published because he kept trying to perfect it, looking for a better example, a more perfect metaphor, a stronger anecdote, a better adjective. I ended up making him a sign on a huge poster board with Voltaire’s quote blown up big and stuck in on the wall by his desk. It still took him another six months to let it out of his perfection-seeking hands.
I was listening to Leonard Cohen’s newest album, Popular Problems. His 80 year old voice is rough, dry and imperfect, but those imperfections give it such an emotional resonance that my skin prickled and raised goosebumps and my eyes became hot with emotion ready to brim over in tears. While listening, that quote from Voltaire came to mind again and I had a small epiphany. The perfect is the enemy of the good in another way – not only does the search for perfection paralyze us, but it also does not move us emotionally. Thinking of another Canadian singer, Celine Dion has perfect pitch. Her voice is flawless and strong and she has never once moved me emotionally. Even singing songs with sentimental lyrics, she leaves me cold and I don’t care for her at all. Perfection is not beautiful, imperfection is.
Baiastice turns on the heat with these too hot to handle caged bra top and colorful belted miniskirt. In several colors and solids, it’s heating up the joint at Collablor88.
The heat is on, on the street
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat’s so loud, deep inside
The pressure’s high, just to stay alive
‘Cause the heat is on
Collabor88’s theme for the month is Miami Electric – featuring the electric tropical colors that bring to mind that sunny city. I have never been to Miami, so all I know about it is from the media. Those aerial shots in CSI Miami make it look like an architectural center of excellence – beautiful and pristine. Real Housewives made it seem less than perfect,let’s say but, of course, the strongest influence on my impression of Miami is the infamous Florida man. Let’s just say Florida man probably does not shop at Collabor88. Continue reading
Ghee has all sorts of knits and woolens for layering in rich jewel tones and foundation neutrals that make for great cold-weather fashion. I particularly love this tunic with a long cowl sweater. Underneath I am wearing ghee’s thermals that come in great colors and which I would recommend as investment purchases except for one big hurdle – they have no Slink Physique appliers which is becoming a deal breaker for things like tights, leggings and layering sweaters.
When I put on this dress, Half Measures, from Dead Dollz for Penumbra’s Autumn/Winter Fashion Week, I immediately thought of Audrey Hepburn. It has a similar front neckline to the little black dress by Givenchy for Breakfast at Tiffany’s. While the wide circle skirt is a complete opposite to the long, slim pencil skirt of that iconic gown, it is still something she would have worn.
Audrey Hepburn remains one of the great fashion icons achieving a kind of immortality with her legacy – not just in film but in fashion and even more importantly, with her activism. She was far more than a pretty face, but was a wise woman who worked tirelessly on behalf of refugees as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, a passionate commitment that may have risen out of her experiences as a teenager in World War II working as a courier for the resistance while one stepbrother went underground and the other was in a labor camp.
I have such a hard time remembering hisw to spell Loovus Dzevavor. Thankfully, Google autocomplete finishes it for me. I had a hard time, too, choosing just one of the delightful outfits from the Fall Winter Collection that was released for Penumbra Fashion Week. You can take a peek at a few others on the Loovus web site. I chose the wrap-up top and skirt because I love the inset triangles and how they highlight the curves of my hip. It’s a single mesh piece, but it feel like separates. There are two other versions of this outfit at Penumbra with the same top but different color skirts – brilliant and bold. Continue reading
Trinity Yazimoto of Petit Chat is doing something intriguing with her textiles in her Fashion Week collection. She is texturing her clothing with fabrics created from Second Life® photos that she took. In Sweet Mnemosyne, the outfit I am wearing, she using a picture of a woman in a giant bird cage in a field of flowers. I am excited to see someone using Second Life to create clothing textures as it is something new that I have not seen before.
The Old Astronomer is not a very good poem, but it does end well. Stars were on my mind thanks to the adorable Lootia shirts from Somnia for My Slink Obsession. Sanura Snowpaw of Somnia may have my head for how I am wearing it though. The shirts are actually long-sleeved, but I chose to wear them on my Slink Physique and then opted to not apply the sleeves for a tank top instead. A surprise benefit to wearing appliers – or an unintended consequence if you don’t like it, I suppose.
I wore the top with a grey denim skirt from Mai Bilavio who is also a creator for Vive9. While I was a My Slink Obsession, I also found some great nails from Licked & Painted and Adore & Abhor. I tag all my pictures on Flickr with the store names. If it’s more than one word, I have to put quotes around the store name. That makes me wish for more one word store names.
