(this should have posted a week ago)
Instead of cuts, we have curves, hips, and waists. This is a hard reality friends, but having delivered this dose of realism, here’s the upshot: you have beautiful, resilient bodies, and they are waiting - practically begging and pleading - for you to love them just the way they are.
- Josh Klipp, at Original Plumbing.
I have memories of being a little girl, probably six or seven, and thinking that my stomach was too big. Saying to myself, “It’s ok because it’s just baby fat.” When I was eight I began to hate my thighs. In high school I started to resent my arms. By the time I hit college, my body was alien to me. I steadily gained weight, not really thinking about the consequences or the reasons. Looking back, I see that I wanted to hide my breasts and my curves. My stomach getting larger helped make the front of my torso uniform. I didn’t wear sweats all the time, but my clothes were baggier. I hated my rolls and was disgusted with myself, which only led me to put on more weight. All in all, a pretty familiar story in America right now.
Then after college I began to pay attention to clothes for the first time. I found myself drooling over men’s fashion. It was the Tom Ford S/S 2009 collection that did it (which would have been shown in Fall 2008). That took my breath away and made me feel in the pit of my stomach that fashion might be more than I gave it credit for. Sporadically over the next year or so, I’d begin noticing looks I liked and seeking out resources to learn more about this new world. I found different blogs that I still go back to. I found the tips and tricks from GQ helpful (though the editorial is some of the most misogynistic and demoralizing writing I have ever read). I began to specify what pieces, exactly, worked for me and what didn’t. What looks I wanted to emulate and why. I began to have a language. I began to see a point of view and I began to cultivate my own story through my wardrobe.
Read more at Spirit Month
I feel like I have a responsibility to my community and other young girls to help redefine what it looks like to be a woman. I don’t believe in men’s wear or women’s wear, I just like what I like. And I think we should just be respected for being an individual…. I’ve been in Vogue, now, and different publications, which is cool, because I think that it just shows a different perspective of how women can dress.
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Janelle Monae to io9
That whole interview is just crazy good you guys.
I love that she’s making great music (+ all kinds of other art) and it’s wrapped up in some of my favorite themes ever. SCIENCE FICTION. DANCE MUSIC. TOGETHER. Plus just some great politics, which are equally important.
If you haven’t heard of Janelle Monae, I don’t really know where you’ve been - she’s kind of all over the place right now (I just heard her track in a Target commercial the other day) - but here’s a refresher lesson:
The “Many Moons” short film (a cyborg-feminist-futurist fashion show. yeah, you heard right.)
“Tightrope feat. Big Boi” (dance party in tuxes/equestrian wear and at an asylum) (the Wondamix is also amazing)
and here’s her recent shoot for InStyle. She’s also JET’s cover model this month.
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MEGAN FOX & MEN’S FASHION..
If you go to the homepage of the NYT Magazine right now, and scroll down a bit, you’ll find a video interviewing Megan Fox for about 6 minutes. I couldn’t find a way to direct link to the video or to embed it, but in it she once again proves that she’s not just a pretty face. Between her pretty logical and mathematically sound reasoning on why she’s usually the Mean Girl and her comments on comic books (long a haven for nerds), Megan Fox is someone I’ll continue to keep my eye on.
Though I do take umbrage with the cat lady comments. Ah, so be it.
Additionally, I’ve been really bathing in menswear fashion photos lately. I found a few blogs thanks to this article from the NYT that Steve linked me to. And via those blogs I’ve started learning designers and finding other places to look at and read about men’s fashion. It’s a world that keeps reeling me in. May I recommend:
A Continuous Lean: Probably the best of the bunch I found, but it’s focus on Made in America is a little off putting to me. Not because I don’t believe in American quality, or the benefits of keeping your money local, but because I don’t think it’s fair to ignore the ingenuity and quality coming out of other countries.
Fine and Dandy Shop: My other new favorite and a little more personable than ACL. It’s recent interview with A New York Dandy’s John Wellington turned me onto V Man magazine. Which I hope to pick up a copy of this week while on vacation.
Kauffmann Mercantile: Found this via ACL and while it’s less fashion and more gear, definitely an interesting blog to follow if you’re interested in the history of good quality products and design (often times also common place).
Glenn O’Brien: O’Brien is GQ’s Style Guy and was recently interviewed by ACL. (Through which I found out about designer Thom Browne, not to be confused with another designer I’m a fan of, Tom Ford.) Anyway - O’Brien’s advice seems pretty well grounded and his discussions of style are entertaining as much as they are informative. He also writes for The GQ Eye feature.
NYT Sunday Styles: Finally there’s the Sunday Styles section of the NYT. I remember a few years ago when Steve and I sat around ogling their annual (I think) publication focused purely on men’s fashion. Now I’ve bookmarked it and will check it every week.
