Shirt: Target

Jeans: Levi's

Boots: n/a

Blazer: Chadwick's

Necklace: Etsy

Reversion

It was disgusting outside today, as per decree of the "New Jersey Springtime" Gods. For every week of nice weather, there must be one in which it reverts to mid- December!
Anyway, when it's this gross, I go for florals.

Dress: Modcloth

Trench: H&M

Sweater: n/a

Shoes: n/a

A Love Poem

I want to fall in love like a novel.

I want to dive into your metaphors,

absorb your imagery,

and taste your similes on your lips.

I want to feel every last soft adjective pressed close to my heart,

punctuated by elbows and knees like semicolons.

I want to appreciate editor’s errors,

smell your footnotes in your hair,

and to bookmark you and write in your margins.

I want to delight in every sentence,

not stopping until I've devoured the last letter.

I want to laugh and cry and

discover all the pages of you.

And when I'm through, I'll start all over

Finding layers of deeper meaning 

Under the text you show the world.

Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit

Today, I decided on a suit, which is always a good choice when in doubt.

Blazer: Forever 21

Trousers: Banana Republic

Shoes: n/a

Blouse: Forever 21

Rainy Tuesday

I really dislike Tuesdays, for some reason, and today the weather reverted back to the freezing-cold-and-rainy type thing. I was in a bad mood most of the day, but these stockings made everything a bit better.

Shirt: n/a

Skirt: H&M

Stockings: n/a

Boots: n/a

Land, Ho!

I just got this cute sailor dress from Modcloth, and it's the best! It's very flowy and soft, with a kind of chiffon overlay. It's not traditional- The base is kind of a pink and the blue is more blue than navy.
Anyway, I'm getting really into the whole "nautical" thing!

Dress: Modcloth

Cardigan: n/a

Shoes: Vintage

Dove

Dove Sketches “Real Beauty”

The company’s new ad incites mixed feelings.

Much controversy has recently been sparked by Dove’s latest ad “Real Beauty Sketches”. In the short video, several women are asked to describe themselves to an FBI forensic artist, as he draws them. They are separated by a curtain, and don’t see each other. Afterwards, they are asked to briefly get to know another participant in the study, and then describe her to the artist. The pictures are hung side by side, and the difference is striking.

The tagline for this ad is “You are more beautiful than you think”, which seems to be true for the women. They invariably portrayed themselves as uglier, older, and sadder than what their partner saw while talking to them. However, there has been debate about the diversity of the study and the features that are considered more beautiful than others. Nearly all the women are thin, young, and Caucasian; the compliments given to them are such things as “Thin face” “pretty blue eyes” and “small chin”. So while Dove is promoting “real beauty”, there is anger that what is considered beautiful is still not diverse- the women don’t end up appreciating what they look like, instead they end up realising that they are closer to the media ideal than they previously thought. One of the women in the study said:

"I should be more grateful of my natural beauty. It impacts the choices and friends that we make, the jobs we apply for, how we treat our children. It impacts everything. It couldn't be more central to your happiness."

This quote has been torn apart on the premise that it encourages seeing beauty as the most important, if not only, measure of self-worth.

On the other hand, women have reportedly cried at the end of the video, hailing its efforts to promote higher self-esteem as revolutionary. To them, it doesn't matter about the diversity or the compliments given. What they really care about is the overall message of self-acceptance, despite the backlash.

The almost universal opinion expressed, however, is that in the media and in fashion there needs to be more representation of healthy, average women, and less of the stick-thin airbrushed anomalies that are so lauded. There needs to be more of an effort to turn around the way the industry thinks, both for the health of the models and for the health of the customers. Everyone is struggling with body image, because the images they see are those that are undoubtedly photoshopped- even the models cannot reach society’s concept of perfection. The real issue here is that if women were not objectified and held to such an unattainable standard of youth and thinness, there would not be a need for ads like Dove’s trying (if not totally succeeding) to promote a concept of “real beauty”.

Sources

Dove

The Guardian UK

Little Drops (Tumblog)

ABC

Huffington Post

Huffington Post (Style)

A Rising Journalist

So today I had my first Fashion Journalism workshop at FIT- and it was great! I think I did pretty well, and I learned a lot about what counts when you're trying to get a job and the basics of writing a piece. We did a 1 hour quick write about the new Dove campaign aimed at people in the industry, with an objective viewpoint. I'll post it... The class dragged on a bit (It's from 930-430 with an hour lunch break) but overall I think it was very helpful. I guess it has to be that long seeing as there's only four days in the whole session.

(You can't really tell but the skirt is brown pleated chiffon with a black pleated chiffon layer under)

Skirt: Filene's Basement

Blouse: Vintage

Pleather Jacket: Forever 21

Shoes: n/a

Casual Friday

Shirt: Vintage

Shoes: n/a

Socks: Uniqlo

Shorts: n/a

Fashion at the Met

Today we went to the Met and saw a lovely exhibit- It's called Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity, and it was fantastic! It's pretty long and crowded, but they've grouped the clothing into comprehensive sections like "the white dress", and even if you're not too into fashion it's good because it's more about how painters such as Renoir and Tissot tried to evolve their paintings to advance their career by painting more modern subjects, and how every artist is a product of the era. Of course, this lead to fashion, and in the exhibit there are some of the original dresses pictured in the paintings, which is super cool. It's in town until sometime in May, so if you're in the area, stop by and take a look!!

City Girl

To celebrate the last day of spring break, I headed into New York to do some walking. I ended up with a lovely book by Édouard Levé from the Strand (it's told in second  person which is cool), and a nice sandwich from a Cambodian place called Num Pang. It was really good! If you're in the area, stop by.

Skirt: Nordstrom

Shirt: Forever 21

Blazer: New York and Company

Shoes: Converse

Beanie: Vintage

Book: The Strand

Character Studies- NaNoWriMo

She was the type of person who would wear black turtlenecks and berets in July. She carried around a beat-up leather satchel that looked important but that really held only a few textbooks and a shiny new laptop that she bought with her own hard-earned money working at a fast food place three nights a week. She could be frequently found in a little coffee shop called “Russian Tea-Room” writing a novel that never seemed to be finished, or plays that were never performed. She drank her coffee strong and black in public, and full of milk and sugar in private. She tried to keep a journal, and failed, and is a promising young artist who has never painted anything worth keeping. She was in art school, actually, studying journalism- perhaps not the best place to learn about that profession, but being in art school sounded better to her than having to say that she was in a community college because she couldn't afford anything else. The art school had given her a full scholarship because they were trying to expand their horizons.

Her name was Amy-Louise Jones. She was twenty years old but felt much older. She had once had terrifically long black hair, with just the right amount of wave, but to fit in with the avant-garde population of her school she had cut it all off into a 1920s bob and used too much product to keep it shiny and straight. She had big brown eyes- doe eyes- which her mother always told her were her best feature. She took it to heart and wore dramatic smudges of deep kohl on her lash line and blinked slowly to accentuate their persuasive power. She was too pale, perhaps artificially, and almost too thin. When she was at bars, she used a very long filter and waved it about in a languid manner, but the cigarette was never lit.

Rehearsal plus Wedding

The wedding was really, really lovely. It was so elegant and nice, and at the reception there was lots of amazing dancing and good cake. I think we'll be getting photos in a week or so, so those'll be up at some point. On the drive home, we saw the wienermobile and had some lovely scones. I think that this month I will take part in the NaNoWriMo challenge! (This website says it's November, but this year it's April) Basically the challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel (about 175 pages) in a month! I will post progress reports here- it sounds like a lot of fun.

Rehearsal Wear:

Dress: Modcloth

Shoes: Hugo Bass

Jacket: Guess

Bracelet: Modcloth

 Wedding Wear:

Dress: H&M

Shoes: Aeropostale

Velvet Bag: Vintage

Ring: n/a

Necklace: n/a

Shrug: Macy's

Train Memos

So, on the train to Washington DC. This is actually very convenient because I only have to drive back one way, so on the way there I can do work and things. Also, it's faster, quieter, and a good deal less stressful.

Anyway this wedding should be very nice- It's in a lovely church and the reception hall is nice. I think I'll be able to get some photos of the dresses and flowers and such up sometime this weekend. (The actual ceremony is on Saturday).

The landscape outside the train is lovely, and I'm really enjoying myself.

Amazing Top

I really fell in love with this shirt the moment I saw it- though in all black it has an interesting feel in opaque chiffon with a lace overlay on the top half and a leather collar. I do apologise that you can't see it that well- photos were taken in a rush before fencing.

Shirt: Pabal Gurung

Skirt: Filene's Basement

Socks: J-List

Shoes: Vintage

Ring: Courtesy of my friend Erica

Getting in the Spring Break Mood

Spring break is next week, which is always a cause for excitement. To get in the mood, I decided that floral would be appropriate. I must say I rather detest the whole idea of going out and getting really drunk at trashy beaches over this week. I would much rather be in Paris or someplace classy. Actually, four of my friends are paying a visit to that fine city. I think I'll hold a "I'm staying home and working" party for the people staying behind.

Also, my Aunt Diana is getting married this weekend, so I'm taking off Thursday after school to go DC. She's marrying a man named Jim, from Kentucky. I mean, how stereotypical is that name for an uncle? Uncle Jim. I like him a lot and am very excited. I'm sure there'll be pictures here of all the lovely dresses and flowers and things.

Shirt: Ladybug Fashions 

Skirt: Ladybug Fashions

Cardigan: Nordstroms

Boots: Forever 21

Ring: Modcloth