Changes

I'm obviously doing  little bit of a revamp around here. I've swapped over to a new template, I've added links for you guys, and I've added comments. Please, please leave me comments so that I know what you think about the new look. Also, please leave me your links so that I can tell more folks about you! I'll be back to the regular fashiony stuff soon, but keep an eye out for more changes to come. 

ALSO... I've just downloaded GIMP so that I can make the pictures prettier for you. If you're familiar with it and wouldn't mind answering some questions for me, please send me an email and earn my undying love.

Warning: Long and Rant-esque

I want to preface this post by saying the following things: First, I really try not to get too serious on this blog. Usually this is where I come talk about things like shoes and artwork that take my mind off of the real world at the end of the day. Secondly, I have been a loyal Vogue subscriber since about 2005, and although I have disagreed with their magazine several times, every month I trot down to my mailbox and am excited to see that month's issue taking up my entire mailbox (seriously, the September fall issue is huge).

With that being said, this month's issue pissed me off.

April is the yearly Shape Issue. This issue is the one that irks me every year because it features five body shapes: tall, pregnant, thin, curvy, and short. And every year the curvy girl is still just a slip of a thing! Let's check out one of this year's curvy girls, shall we? On the right is Shaila Freyer.

Now let me say this: Ms. Freyer is a beautiful woman. And she does have a bit of an hourglass shape. But if you asked me to describe her body type, I would not call it curvy.

Because I'm a bit of a packrat, I went back to last year's Shape Issue to check out the former "curvy" girls. This is what I got:

Ah, Scarlett Johansson. I have a bit of a girl crush on her. However, either she or JLo gets brought up anytime the idea of curves in fashion/entertainment/Hollywood. While both ladies are curvier than the standard body shape in those circles, they are waifs compared to most Americans.

But wait! Occasionally Vogue does give us a real-life curvy girl! I even have proof!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present exhibit A: Jill Scott has curves, and she knows how to use them. They even gave us a real life curvy girl with Scarlett last year:

Exhibit B: on the left is Ashley Graham, a plus size model and lovely lady if I may say so.

So you may be asking yourself, "Emily, they balance out the faux-curvy with real curvy, why are you so pissed?" Good question. I was even excited to hear that Queen Vogue herself, Anna Wintour, had made the following statement:

"I wish I could say the same for the young women who were just on the runways of the New York fall collections. Overall, they were pale and thin, and entirely lacking in the joyfulness and charm that once defined the supermodel. This, of course, is not their fault: Designers now near-uniformly favor a non-vivacious, homogenous ideal."

Queen Anna made this statement on page 98. Two hundred thirty-eight pages later, Vogue put these ladies on a diet.

If you follow fashion at all, these ladies need no introduction. They are the Mulleavy sisters, creators of the label Rodarte, which in my mind is one of the most innovative and interesting lines today. The first time I saw the sisters Mulleavy, I loved them. Finally, there was someone in fashion who looked like the people I live next door to, who hung out around models and trendsetters all day long and didn't look like the they were made out of the same mold. They were unique. They made me miss the days when Karl was chubby and Marc was an adorable dork. Then Vogue waltzed in with their magic skinny wand and made everyone shiny and pretty again!

Don't get me wrong: if the girls genuinely wanted to lose weight, then hooray for them. I am by no means advocating that everyone sit around and eat Twinkies all day. What I am saying is this - wouldn't it be nice if instead of sweeping in with a diet team, Vogue had instead taken the girls out shopping for beautiful clothes for curvy girls?

So listen up Vogue: I understand that fashion is aspirational. I understand that models are meant to accentuate the clothes and not the other way around. I get your point. My point is this- America doesn't look like you. And while we're cutting you some slack, how about giving back a little bit? Have an issue without a diet article. Show us clothes that come in sizes over an eight. And please, when you say you're gonna show us a curvy girl, make her actually curvy, ok?

Oh, and if you're listening... I wouldn't turn down a free purse if you wanted to send it my way.

Hooray for... Veggies?

It's finally beginning to feel like spring around here, which is exciting for lots of reasons (allergy season - hooray!). Driving home from work today, I was reminded of one of my favorite things about spring... the farmer's market! I'm really lucky to live in farming country around this time of year because it means that I can get fresh produce weekly. I in the neighborhood of a small farm stand that carries the basics (tomatoes, watermelon, flowers, etc.), but what I'm really looking forward to is the reopening of the two major markets here: the Mississippi Farmer's Market and the Greater Belhaven Market, which reopens next week. Both are awesome: the Mississippi Farmer's Market is the larger of the two and tends to have the bigger variety, while the Belhaven Market also carries crafts and has more of a community feel to it. The boyfriend also lives near to the Agricenter Farmer's Market (catchy name, right?), so I'm sure we'll be hauling our butts out of bed early on Saturdays to get some fresh produce there too (good thing he's a morning person!).

Last weekend, we didn't make it to the farmer's market because both of us had colds, but we did still manage to make this big batch of deliciousness:

You cannot look at that and tell me that it doesn't look delicous. And let me tell you, it was. I've had pasta primavera before, but never this good. We got the recipe from one of my favorite sites, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I like it for two reasons. 1) She gives step-by-step pictures, so if you're a learning cook like me, you can make sure everything looks the way it should. 2) She lives in BFE like me, so she has to use unfussy ingredients that you can buy at your local Kroger instead of needing to head to the gourmet grocer for some fancy spice you'll never use again. She's revamping her website right now so it's a little confusing, but to get to the recipe, go here and then scroll down to the very last recipe on the page. 

Let me give you four suggestions for the recipe that we learned. 1) When she says cook the vegetables al dente (until just warmed but still firm), she means it. The crispness of the veggies really makes the meal that better. 2) She'll try to tell you it's a girly meal. It's not. It's cream sauce for god's sake! If you want to tempt your man even farther, let me make a suggestion for you: pancetta. Get six-ish slices of pancetta, cook them like you would bacon on the stove (we did them before any of the veggies), and throw them in the mix. Then you have cream sauce and pancetta. If your guy says no to that, then he's not worth keeping. 3) If you're headed to the farmer's market and looking at the produce and something strikes your fancy that's not in the ingredients, buy it and throw it in there anyway. This dish is really about using what's fresh and delicious. You can also omit anything that you're not a fan of easily. 4) I'm number's dyslexic, and so I bought one large zucchini and three small squash, and I felt like this was the perfect ratio. I'd recommend doing the same.

If you make this recipe, let me know how it turns out for you. Grab a loaf of French bread and a bottle of white wine and it should make a fabulous supper with oodles of leftovers.

P.S. If you're unsure of where your local farmer's market is located, check Google or this list. Happy eating!

Walk Tall

I'm typically not a fan of platforms. As a short girl, I'm all for shoes that make me taller, but I feel like sometimes they make my legs look stumpier than they already are. That being said, I'm slightly obsessed with these shoes from Nine West.

I'm telling myself that since the colors are fairly neutral, they won't make me stumpy. Hopefully I'll try them on soon. Stay tuned for a verdict.

I feel... inspired?

I'm not usually one to look at photo shoots in fashion magazines and feel the urge to seek out the photographer. I'm often inspired by the clothing, or the styling, and occasionally a single picture will stand out, but I've never had an entire shoot really stand out for me... until today.

I've been reading through a backlog of fashion magazines this month, and so I just got through March's Elle today. I was 90% through the magazine, flipping through, jealous of clothes I'd never be ale to afford, when this image stopped me in my tracks:

I had no idea who the model (actress Laura Ramsay) or designer was (Giles), and the location is nothing stunning on its own, yet something about this photo floored me. I immediately pored over the rest of the photos.

 

Jena Malone, Balenciaga gladiator boots, and Rodarte? I never would have combined these three, but it works here.

Who knew that a trailer park would make Junya Watanabe's designs look so wearable? And is anyone else getting a little Sienna vibe from this photo?

Now, I realize that a lot of the credit goes to both the stylist and prop stylist for this shoot. But I feel like the lighting really makes a lot of these shots. The clear desert lighting in the first two shots absolutely brings out how delicate the dresses are (petals on the Giles dress are made of rubber people... rubber!). Then the strand of Christmas lights in the back of the bottom photos really emphasizes the draping of the Junya dress.  Noticing details like that really requires an incredible eye.

The photographer for this shoot was Carter Smith. She's got a movie called The Ruins (starring the girls above) coming out soon, and I'll be interested to see if she can retain that eye behind a video lense as well. She also shot the cover shoot for April's Elle with Natalie Portman, so keep your eye out for that.

How friggin' cute!

I've had a less than fabulous day. Ok, it's been pretty damn crappy. And then my dog ate my biteplate (I grind my teeth. Go ahead, mock me.). So I was in a super grouchy mood and had no clue what I was going to blog about tonight. Probably about my love of whiskey. Then I read this, and suddenly I feel better. I hope it has the same effect on you.

I tried to resist... I really did...

... but now that NYC/London/Milan/Paris fashion weeks are over, I have to at least talk a little bit about some things that I like!

From Chanel:

First of all, let me just say how happy I am that the "it" Chanel polish will be silver because I already own a great (inexpensive!) silver polish so I will not be fighting the masses for the Chanel version when it hits stores in the fall.

Unfortunately, this means that I'm now coveting something more expensive! I think these shoes are funky enough but can still be really classic. I even kind of like the heels, and I'm usually really particular about heels.

from Sonia Rykiel:

I liked the clothes at this show fine. That's not what I got excited about. Sonia's shows are known for looking like fun. The models actually smile! Plus the finale always looks like a party. Last spring the models skipped barefoot carrying feather boas. This year was all about sequins and hats.

Irina can juggle and work the runway!

Rose-colored glasses... maybe that's the secret to her smile!

I'd smile too if I got to wear a crown and a party dress!

They even got Karlie to smile! Oh my god... I had forgotten she was fifteen!

Finale Fun!