Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.—Coco Chanel
Fashion is something that eludes 98 percent of all people. Take this wedding dress, for example, from designer Catherine Fritsch; as wonderful a concept as it is, the dress didn’t actually sell until years after this photo was initially released. The problem isn’t with the dress, but the not-quite-in-touch fashion opinions of those who turned it down. Thinking of all the brides who went with dresses as staid and boring as their now-married lives makes me sad. Fashion is about expression and personality and when one chooses less-than-interesting fashion for themselves they’re not exactly putting their best foot forward.
This photo also reminds me of just how much people change over the years. Originally taken in 2011, our model, Erin, was a bright, young college student working on her degree. She’s now married with a beautiful little girl and is head of a relatively significant government agency. Makeup artist Christopher Thompson now runs a haunted B&B in Atlanta, Indiana. Catherine Fritsch rebranded last year and her Rue Violet line generally sells quite well. Isn’t it wonderful to watch people grow?
Speaking of growing, let’s get to today’s list:
5 Signs You Are A Fashion Failure
When you see a dog wearing the same outfit as you and the dog wears it better.
Just because you saw something on last season’s runway, or your favorite celebrity, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you. Consider how a garment is cut, whether it’s full or tailored. Full cuts are more generous and work with a wider variety of body types. Tailored looks, though, especially those designed to be tight around the hips and waist, make the wearer look like a sausage bursting from its casing if their curves don’t match the designer’s ideal. It’s better to have a wardrobe that actually looks good on you rather than trying to adopt someone else’s style.
When there’s no Pantone® number to match anything you’re wearing.
A couple of caveats at the beginning of this one: if you’re legitimately color blind you get a pass as well as if you’re young enough your mother still dresses you. For those who don’t know, Pantone® is the color-matching system used by printers to make sure they’re printing the correct color. Pantone has identified hundreds of thousands of shades of everything and indexed them numerically; they pretty much have ever visible color covered. Yet, every once in a while I’ll come across someone who has put a color combination on their body that even the Pantone book doesn’t cover it. No, dear, it doesn’t look good no matter what your friends say; they’re laughing behind your back. There are color wheels and charts all over the Internet. Use one.
When people follow you because they’re sure you must be on your way to a circus.
I’ve seen designers send some pretty bizarre looks down the runway, but nothing beats the collision of styles that occurs when some people start mixing separates. Not everyone has a talent for matching styles and fabrics well. As a result, we see things like polka dots and ruffles mixed with denim and lace and two or three different animal prints along with stripes running in three different directions and eight contrasting colors all in the same look. No. Stop. Barnum & Bailey is not a personal style. Seek help.
When you’re wearing fishnet and the park ranger gives you a ticket for carrying over the limit.
The only thing that really looks good in fishnet every time is fish. Sure, we see a lot of it on the runways, but the best applications are as accents or carefully matched accessories, and even those don’t always work in the real world where we have to figure out how to dress ourselves. Remember, fishnet exposes what lies beneath it. Do you really need what is under your fishnet exposed? Also, just because fishnet is flexible doesn’t mean its tensile strength should be tested. Fishnet is ultimately a tailored element; don’t push it.
When the tags in all your clothes say “Made In Bangladesh.”
Check the labels in your clothes before you buy anything. If the label says made in Bangladesh, Taiwan, Singapore, or Vietnam, know that your garment is assembled by the poorest of the poor, typically in conditions worse than those in which we house our farm animals. Among those, Bangladesh is likely the worst. If you’re buying clothes from H&M, Wal-Mart, Target, Old Navy, Penney’s, K-Mart, or any other discounter, chances are you’re contributing to the economic enslavement of thousands. Read here, here, here, and here for more details, then change your buying habits.
One of the many things I dislike about American buying habits this time of year is the over-emphasis on sales and who has the lowest prices. Fashion isn’t cheap. Quality clothes aren’t often found on the racks of discounters. Where and how you spend your money makes a difference in the lives of thousands of people. In the shopping realm of the holiday season, today is Small Business Saturday. We strongly encourage you to take advantage and look for garments made by local designers. Sure, you’re not going to find any $5 price tags, but your money is more likely to help someone rather than contribute to their enslavement.
Use some common sense, people. Shop smart. Happy holidays.
12/11/16: 5 Things You Need To Know
Baby, it’s cold outside
https://youtu.be/ooHJxkcKr4U
Good morning! It is a brisk 21° this morning in Indianapolis. Many of us woke up to a dusting or a little more of snow covering the roads. Today’s forecast calls for a little more snow converting to ice and eventually rain before the day is over. The ice is what you’ll want to watch. While no significant accumulation is expected, we all know that any ice at all can make surfaces dangerous, so be especially careful before noon today.
Being the weekend, the world is a little quieter, which is a nice thing. We did manage to find five things we think you should know today, so let’s take a look at those now.
1. Tragedy in Nigeria
Worshipers at a church in Lagos, Nigeria were trapped this morning when the steel girders holding up the recently constructed structure suddenly fell. At this point, Associated Press is reporting at least 160 are dead, but that number is likely to rise.1
Rushed construction is getting the early blame for the accident. Apparently, workers were rushing to finish the job in time for a special service there yesterday installing the church’s founder, Akan Weeks, as bishop. A crane being used to lift the steel girders out of the rubble is said to be hiding more bodies. Journalists in the area say that church leaders are attempting to prevent anyone from getting an accurate count of the dead or taking any pictures.
The Nigerian government has said there will be a full investigation. However, you should know that building collapse is common across Nigeria due to corruption with contractors and shoddy building practices. A similar collapse occurred at a church in 2014 killing 116 people. While two engineers and church leaders have been accused of wrongdoing in that collapse, the state government has not been able to bring anyone to trial.
1. Associated Press: HOSPITAL DIRECTOR: 160 DEAD IN COLLAPSED NIGERIAN CHURCH BY HILARY UGURU AND MICHELLE FAUL Dec 11, 4:43 AM EST
2. From the You’ve-Gotta-Be-Kidding-Me Department
You’re probably not going to want to believe this, but the Ku Klux Klan has told the Associated Press that they’re not White Supremacists1. I know, crazy, right?
First off, let me just be very clear that the young woman in our picture is not a White Supremacist and does not support them in any way. We don’t have any pictures of sheet-clad idiots, though, and her posture in this image reflects the weariness we feel from having to put up with the constant babbling from the Klan and other white supremacy groups since the November election.
Of course, like most everything else the Klan and other hate groups say and do, this statement is utter nonsense. Even the Klan rulebook, published in 1915 and still used by many groups, declares them to be white supremacists dedicated to those ideals.
So, to all members of the KKK and any other neo-Nazi, white supremacists hate group, we have two words for you: fuck off. As long as you spew your hate, as long as you fail to recognize that all people have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as long as you paint swastikas and burn crosses, as long as you hide your identities under robes that represent hate, as long as your actions lean toward violence, as long as you claim that white people are the only ones fit to govern, as long as you attempt to deny people of color and equal place and standing, as long as you divide people by religion and country of origin, we are going to call you what you are: white supremacists.
We’re going to call you something else as well: Haters. That’s what you are and no matter how hard you try to deny it, an ass doesn’t become a thoroughbred just because you put a saddle on it. We’re tired of this nonsense littering our public discourse. Sit down and shut up.
1. Associated Press: “KKK, OTHER RACIST GROUPS DISAVOW THE WHITE SUPREMACIST LABEL” BY JAY REEVES Dec 10, 4:27 PM EST
3. Our longevity just slipped a bit
Children born in 2015 are not likely to live quite as long as those born the year before. Now, before you go getting upset, the difference is only about a month. A child in the United States has a life expectancy of about 78 years and 9½ months, on average. This is according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control this past Thursday.1 When compared to a 1950’s life expectancy of around 68 years, we’re not doing too bad.
However, this is the first single-year slip we’ve seen since 1993 when the US was in the middle of the AIDS epidemic. What is worth noting about this decline is that there is no outstanding disease or war factor that can claim responsibility. There were increases in deaths due to several of the nation’s top killers, from heart disease to chronic lower lung disease, accidental injuries, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, kidney disease and suicide.2
Who do we have to blame for this downturn? Ourselves, for the most part. While medical care among the poor and indigent remains a factor, the fact is we’re not taking care of ourselves, eating right, and exercising. I know I’m just as much to blame as anyone else. We all need to improve.
1. Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Mortality in the United States, 2015 By Jiaquan Xu, M.D., Sherry L. Murphy, B.S., Kenneth D. Kochanek, M.A., and Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D.
2. Associated Press: “US LIFE EXPECTANCY FALLS, AS MANY KINDS OF DEATH INCREASE” BY MIKE STOBBE Dec 8, 6:41 PM EST
4. The Power of Pizza
Remember last weekend when some gun-toting conspiracy theorist walked into a Washington, D.C. pizza joint and opened fire? Well, as you might imagine, that wasn’t all too good for business. The pizza place, which has the rather strange name of Comet Ping Pong, has been struggling a bit this week since that happened. So have all the other businesses in that immediate vicinity. Even once the police finished their investigation and the tv cameras moved out, people were still a bit hesitant to satisfy their pizza craving in that part of town.
So, over 2,000 people showed up this weekend, starting on Friday, to show their support for Comet Ping Pong and other restaurants targeted by fake news stories. At one point, according to the Associated Press1, patrons had to wait an hour and a half just to get a table and 45 minutes for take out. The restaurant has also been getting help through a GoFundMe that so far has raised over $28,000.
1. Associated Press: “PATRONS USE DOUGH TO BACK PIZZA PLACE TARGETED BY FAKE NEWS” By BY JESSICA GRESKO Dec 10, 12:38 PM EST
5. And Finally …
If Kermit the Frog thought it wasn’t easy being green back in 1979, he’s really going to have problems with 2017. Pantone, those wonderful keepers of color definition, has decided that the color for 2017 is one called Greenery. According to AdWeek1, the color was chosen to help us out with the year ahead. Given some of the other prognostications I’ve seen for next year, they could be right about this one. Green is widely known to be a color that has a calming influence. Given the political and economic landscape going into 2017, I would say we need all the calming influences we can get.
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said in a statement: “Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment. Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalize, Greenery symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose.”
I’m not sure painting everything green is going to help that much if we see the economy turn South or find ourselves in yet another war. Still, it’s not a bad color to look at. Be thankful they didn’t choose Puce.
1. AdWeek: Pantone’s Color of the Year Is Greenery, Designed to Perk Us Up in 2017 By Kristina Monllos December 8, 2016, 4:08 PM EST
That will have to do it for today. Thank you for sharing your time with us. We look forward to seeing you back here again tomorrow.
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