Fashion fastness fails

Now, here I was thinking some very clever thoughts and then NewScientist goes and puts out an article on the same topic and I feel less Eureka-like :(

But my thoughts were about fashion. I love vintage clothes. I love the uniqueness of an outfit not being something ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD could possibly be wearing (1940's dress, contemporary Primark heels, plus bag from 1980's that belonged to my mum and a necklace from Africa that is made of porcupine quills that was a gift from my old boss). I also enjoy the greenness of it all. Recycled, reused fabrics and items save our planet by refusing to add to the landfill and cause more waste! Hurrah! Plus I love the old cloths, the way of fastening a bag that seems rudimentary now and thusly obsolete, but which I think is just fab.

Now we are lucky to have fabrics that lasted from prehistoric times - little scraps that sit on mummified bones from Egypt. However, these are simple natural fibres - maybe this made them longer-lasting. My worry is that contemporary fashion is so fleeting (deliberately so to encourage profligacy and spending to help profit margins) that nothing will survive. We wont value it, so we wont keep it. Trunks of treasured items no more. They will be in the charity shop, then in the 'clothes for Africa' rag pile, then sold in Taiwan to poor families, then used as cleaning cloths when they are no longer wearable. Plus the items themselves are not built to last. In built obsolescence like washing machines (it is possible to build one that will last - it would be expensive and commercial suicide, but it is possible and would save our scrappage and subsequent re-mining for more raw materials) is resulting in poor quality clothes. A few washes and the cloth is pilled. A few more uses and the seams might go, embroidery unravels, beads fall off, printing fades. Still more use and the zip might break, a button will get lost and the elastic waistband gives way.

What will happen in 2110? One hundred years hence? Will they know what was fashionable? Will they look at trends? Will they know which tailoring styles were preferred, which fabrics, which colours? Will certain brand names remain: Gucci, NewLook, Nike? Could we look at different genders, different countries, different socio-economic groups and know what they would have worn or aspired to wear? What would these surviving clothes, textiles, magazines, catalogues, photographs, etc. tell us about the work that was conducted by these people? The type of homes they lived in? The social events they attended and the families they belonged to/created? History is excitingly discursive thus far and we can learn a lot about trade, class, etc. through people's wardrobes. Will be able to do this in the future?

I was wondering all this as we dawdled along a road and everyone seemed to be wearing something with Lycra in it - stretchy skirt......black, opaque tights.........fitted blouse.........neon leggings with the obligatory flat ballet pump. These elasticated items will shrivel and the elastic will degrade. The shape of the items might well be lost, how we wore them will be forgotten.

Satisfyingly sturdy craftsmanship sounds retro and expensive, but if we want to preserve our sartorial selves, we might need to think beyond the immediate. Savvy production now will help the fashion historians of the future.

 

Along the same vein, I am wondering how our current icons will be received in the eons to come. Will Helen Mirren be as memorable as Greta Garbo or Elizabeth Taylor? Ms. Mirren is held in high-esteem for her talent and her fortune to remain youthful and attractive in her advancing years. There is a lot of press coverage and we are moving towards her being part of the starry firmament with Dames Eileen Atkins and Judi Dench

What of Mary Portas? Her cinnamon bob is memorable as are her confident outfits and clunky shoes. She is her own woman (as we all should be) which I applaud and she looks fashionable, though I would say that she doesn't look stylish. There are a lot of her clothing choices that I don't think suit her. But it isn't any of my business; she doesn't care what I think and neither should she. But she is becoming an icon.


This emerging iconography is very interesting. How will the subjects see themselves in decades' time? 'Ooh, I can't believe I wore that red swim suit.' 'Where are those enormous rings that I used to port?' How will we respond as the audience?

Already we have some idea. One of the woemn in the public eye has aged and altered as expected since her 1980s debut. Madonna is another unique person who has been developing a varied personal style and stage presence, much to her credit. A fish that doesn't keep swimming dies - is that the old phrase? I think we have enjoyed Madonna's variety and braveness.

I wonder who will be the next icon with longevity enough that we can map their progress and enjoy the changes in their personna personnified. I think Tilda Swinton is a good bet. She will only get more beautiful as she ages. Though I think her style is unlikely to change much. She has a happy berth, wide enough for creativity but within a range of cuts that keeps her looking like Tilda. If we ever saw her in cropped top with padded bra, miniskirt and heels, we would be confused. That isn't where she sits on our radar. 'Genderbending-simplicity-on-a-genuinely-lithe-frame' is what we expect.

Actually, I might be wrong; Ms. Swinton doesn't look that unexpected in this outfit:

Gay cure?

Plenty of church groups and some psychiatrists claim that any form non-heterosexuality can be cured with enough prayer or therapy. But really, what are they trying to do? Someone can choose to never act on their non-het feelings/inclinations, does that make them straight enough? Or is having the thoughts and feelings too much and they are trying to correct those, too? If you define a sexual orientation by behaviour then stopping someone's actions is enough, but if you want to change how someone responds inside to a person to whom they are emotionally/intellectually/romantically/sexually attracted then I don't think there is a quantity of prayer or therapy big enough to help that - the heart wants what the heart wants - it just does. You can't know who you are going to fancy today, tomorrow or in ten years' time. You just have to be open to hearing your heart and hope that those that love you will be supportive, the rest is just chaff blowing in the wind. It's only when displayed behaviour is censored and sanctioned that harassment and discrimination become a problem.

This article might stimulate more thoughts in the dialogue of choice/cure.

Friday Follow-through

Gay elephant disappoints its owners! Politicians in Poland are complaining that the breeding programme is an expensive failure after Ninio has shown little interest in females, preferring boy time! (@DailyMail)

Librarians fumble classification of famous archaeology text: Prof Stringer's important book, Homo Britannicus was incorrectly shelved in the LGBT/queer section! (@DailyMail)

Queerty has a fascinating article on Jesus as a Gay Man based on a new book by Kittredge Cherry - what a fabulous name for an author, and she is a lesbian, too!

Bilerico moves the debate towards racism after the writer remembered being called someone's 'perfect little geisha boy', meant as an affectionate term, but brought up the wrong sort of feelings in Jason Tseng.

Women are finding less satisfaction with their career than men - they are preferring to have a happy home life, whereas their male counterparts are prioritising their employment prospects. (@DailyMail)

Happily childfree woman has had to reconsider her opinion now that she has a puppy in her life messing up her hormones! (@DailyMail)

Google founder's wife has produced a product (with the help of her organisations) that allows a person to be genetically tested for tell-tale mutated genes, etc. that might signal a predisposition to getting certain diseases. Both Sergey Brin and his wife, Ann Wojcicki, and their child have been tested; they are especially concerned about Parkinson's Disease, since there is history of it in the family.

I think this development is wonderful and I suspect that eventually it will be common practice for those wanting to procreate to ask the other person involved in the matter (that is the other person providing the genetic material) to provide their testing results before they decide to make babies together. If you have a higher risk of creating children with dreadful painful diseases, you might decide against producing offspring together. This does conflict with my distaste for abortion and euthanasia; I think all life has value and afflicted people can teach those around them so much about patience, compassion and love. However, if the choice was available before procreating (as in the movie Gattacca) then I, and I would think countless others, would want to know what they face beforehand. Not that you can ever really prepare to parent a severely disabled child. Plus, those scientists in the article are right, chance and environmental factors are not taken into account in the testing.

Would the testing go too far... with only tall, athletic, non-disabled children being created in the ideal world? I'm not sure we can avoid selection - you might not want to marry a bald fat man with coronary disease to prevent your babies being afflicted. Mothers choosing sperm donor candidates choose ones with 'best' qualities. I surely want intelligent, healthy, blonde babies...but that might say more about my ego than my desire for the 'best' children.

Cartographic Crush

How have I lived so long on this wonderful planet having never heard of lovemaps before?

Also from WIKIPEDIA:

Genderfuck is a politics of identity stemming from the identity politics movements of the 1950s and 1960s, a guiding principle of which is the idea that the personal is political.^[3]

The term dates at least to 1979, when an article by Christopher Lonc, entitled "Genderfuck and Its Delights", appeared in the magazine Gay Sunshine. Lonc wrote "I want to criticize and poke fun at the roles of women and of men too. I want to try and show how not-normal I can be. I want to ridicule and destroy the whole cosmology of restrictive sex roles and sexual identification."^[4]

and...^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Faeries}

Genderbending films!

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Victoria}

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_and_Carla}

Ooh, and one for the calendar: Gay Shame ...goes girly!

So I realised something last night...

You might just be the perfect girl for me.

You are the woman I hadn't known I wanted or needed. Your diversity and difference was strange to begin with, not frightening or weird, just unexpected and unexperienced. When I thought about it more and analysed my 'oh, I can't love her - she is too different' I realised that my expression of that sentiment was half-hearted. I actually rather liked the newness, the difference. In fact the facets of your person and personality that seemed destined to put me off might in fact be the very reason I fall head over heels for you.

Isn't that the strangest thing?

Smoothie-goodness

Three satsumas and a banana with a glass of water to emolify (emoliate and mollify - I thought there would be a word like this but no!) - delicioso!

Also: Great organic, fair trade, super-lovely online store: www.simplyfair.co.uk - MASSIVE sale! Boxes of 25 teabags for 10p! AMAZING!

Further ideas for future career - please note that there is no need for me to make any money in this way, as I am lucky enough to be independently wealthy thanks to my very hard-working family, however, I would obviously like them to add happiness and fulfillment to my life as well as improving the world at large:
Clothes designer/manufacturer
Model - either by going to Japan and getting one of those instant contracts all blondes get offered, or by signing myself up for speciality shoots - maybe torsos, or necks for showcasing jewellery - maybe those 'ordinary model' agencies...
Flotilla Hostess/Captain
Guide on holiday/clubbing trips with deafblind or deaf people like Mandy
Sensory foster carer/Sensory respite care centre manager
Academia and book-writing - this is actually the one to which I am heading right now
Dancer/entertainer, or hostess at such a venue (bar, club, restaurant, cafe)
Corporate or government advisor
Speed-dating/matchmaking service for disabled people
'Religious' minister/vicar
Marriage celebrant
Security consultant
School headmistress
Palliative care consultant

Oh, and whilst channelling the Bard, I was thinking many deep cod-Shakespearean thoughts:
Where dost thou go? T'is nearer to trek the world's width than to ask favours of thine children. Never was it necessary, when seed did care for the flower in its autumn days. But with each new moon the fervour increases; A fever in the breast that compels to obtain for thine own use that which is destined for thine fathers. And on the day when the well runs dry, and strong hands abandon the mill to fetch water from further afield, the calf will protect and suckle the bull and the steer as they did in their day for the calf.

I also hope to set up the following activities: Best garden in a saucer; Orangery producing own juice.

Movie comparisons:
Erin Brockovich vs. Silkwood: Corporate chemical catastrophe costs lives
Mulan vs. The Worst Witch - young girl having to save the day after being rejected by peers

Words I want to incorporate in my thesis:
abnegate: to deny oneself something
accrete: to grow together; form around/on something
acoupe: to blame, accuse
acrasial: adj excessive, disordered, irregular
adamantine: adj stubborn, resistant to persuasion
adjuvant: adj helpful, ancillary
adonize: to beautify or adorn oneself
adumbrate: vb indicate or describe outline of something
adventitious: adj accidental, unintentional
acolaust: noun Derived from the Greek, the word acolastic(ke) means "a prodigall person" or "one that liveth under no correction, riotous." An acolastic is "incorrigible, not better by chastisement." These are all 17th century usages. The definition given by the OED of acolaust is "One the revels in sensual pleasures (like the prodigal of the parable)," as indicated by the 17th century quotation: "The acolaust loathes the service of that churl, that allowed him no better diet than husks."
tziganologist studies Hungarian gypsies.
euphony
sybarite
voluptuary
prescient
desultory
importunate
fiascoid (fiasco-like)
dilatory
dilotante (S.Plath's spelling - actually, dilettante)
aquiline
phalanx
beignet (type of French doughnut)
provenance
emaciated
faddish
flaccid
imbecilic
verjus (acidic juice from unripe grapes - Middle French = green juice)
ostensibly

Hip-hop homophobia?

Amongst others there is a relevant blog, but the commentators seem a bit wide of the mark to me. With regard to music with supposedly homophobic lyrics, there was a suggestion that they are 'just word' and thus not influential. I said:
I worry that by ignoring 'just words' that they might drip feed into people's minds and actually become an accepted and acceptable 'ideology'. References to violence that glamorise and encourage deadly conflict, torture, harassment and victimisation cannot be supported. I don't buy music or movies that depict violence as normal, but as the ultimate and damaging response to extreme situations. I think it is normalised references to violence and aggression that engender fear and hatred in our society. We should be preventing any reference to violence (physical or verbal) and directed disrespect for an individual or a group of persons in popular media - music, tv, films, magazines, online communities, graffiti. Anything with a message of unprovoked violence being good, beneficial, the only answer, necessary should be countered with images of the aftermath - the suffering of the beaten child, the raped teenager, the abused geriatric, the victimised family, the slandered community. I think we ignore subtle, unimportant references to violence and discrimination as 'just words' at our peril.

As the brave Sandhurst Comprehensive from Berkshire promotes in their annual trip to Auschwitz, 'Don't be a bystander - stand up to bigotry and bullying'. The Anne Frank Declaration should be promoted in every school, in every home.

Que sera, sera

I don't want my life to be without: jazz hands, painted nails, costume jewellery, bargains, wacky make-up, sequins, foreign languages, reading, sushi, movies, salad, red wine, roaring fires, fresh fruit, writing, barbecues, giggles, dancing, restaurants, baking cakes, massages, beautiful shoes, pancakes, vintage clothes, photographs, swimming, art galleries and museums, Ready-Steady-Cooking, books, the smell of clean laundry, sailing, long baths, sunshine, green fields, beaches, hot tea, cold bed linen, oh, and love.

What of the future, then?

In my fifth year of my PhD, I am having to seriously think about where my life is going and, if I don't like the direction, what I will need to do to change it. This requires me to have some understanding of what I want my ideal life to look like and what a realistic approximation would amount to.

I don't feel the need to have money accumulation as my life goal: 2 reasons - I think my parents' cash will last me and that I suspect that I wont survive until old age, I have the feeling that others will outlive me - because the idea of being at a close family member's funeral is too surreal, too unlikely, not being able to see myself in the cortege, or giving a eulogy, I cannot picture the graveside scene, the congregation; I can picture the pain, the grief, the numbness, the disbelief; but am I projecting or protecting myself? Having been to two funerals so far, of fairly close family members, I am about to go to another next week for a much closer family member. I cannot think about what it means; that life has left their body, that it is cold somewhere on a metal tray in a chilled locker - when I do think about it properly my heart breaks and I cry, because to truly understand loss is to know the depth of sadness of all those affected, to feel their hearts breaking in unison, and it is too much, it is too sad to be real. But it is; it is real. So where does that leave me, ever the arrogant, bring-it-back-to-me? My life feels empty, worthless and depressed since a bunch of things left my world - a constant love companion - not someone to be in my vicinity every minute, but a reliable person with whom to confide, with whom to laugh, with whom to make love, with whom to cuddle and fall asleep. I also miss volunteer work with disabled people - concentrating on finishing my PhD has made me realise that those activities gave me more pleasure than most other things with which I have occupied my time. Is it that they were free trips, so I was working the system and getting something (lots) for nothing? Was it that I was so experienced in the role that I was a (natural) leader and someone to whom the others could look up, then eventually an actual paid leader? Do I just like being in charge, being the organiser, having knowledge and skills valuable to others and therefore feeling important and needed? Or do I really like being useful, helping, getting a sense of accomplishment by making someone else's life better even if just for an hour, a day, a week? Or do I like using other languages, communicating in a new novel way, showing my skills to the others, to passersby admiring my skills, surely thinking how clever I am to be able to use my hands to express language - maybe going so far as to think I am such a good person to be giving my time to help unfortunates? SO is it just an ego trip, wanting to be a guardian angel? However, I do also like using Spanish as well as BSL, DeafBlind manual, a bit of Paget-Gorman, Welsh BSL, Scottish BSL, gesture - all methods of communicating with people with hearing loss/deafness (and sight loss/blindness/deafblindness). I do think about living in Spain - I like the lifestyle, the food, the weather, the wine, the buildings, the smell when I get off the plane of hot pavement and rich earth, the smell when walking in the market of spices and fried dough, the smell when walking down the restaurant lined city streets of grilled fish and good meat. I also like that everyone looks better with a tan - I'm sorry but they do - no more spots, just a smoothness - I know if they overdo it they will end up wrinkly, but a sprinkling of darkened melanin is great. I think I might like being in Spain because it feels like being in a secret club, knowing the language and being able to read the road signs, when my travelling companions cannot - they rely on me, and I can show off... All about me... I like hearing myself speak Spanish, I like being able to read the free newspapers...

I also like hostessing: having people over for parties - making drinks, putting up decorations, choosing a theme, getting the right outfit, laying on nibbles, designing a play list; dinners - seating plans, menus, conversation; formal events - is it that I like to be in charge, since I prefer to host an event than leave my house to attend one elsewhere? - I am not agoraphobic, but I don't like to go out in the dark/cold/wet, I don't like paying for a taxi, I like being able to pop on my slippers after spending the first hours in heels, I like being able to pop to my bathroom to reapply lipstick/deodorant, but I do not like people rooting through my stuff - I am convinced they might steel something as a souvenir given the chance, so I lock most room doors and I put away my treasures, I don't like people going into my kitchen to make their own drinks, I am the hostess, that is my job, I think it must be that I am a control freak, I also like them coming and leaving a bottle of wine when they go so that I have supplies for the next gig... I like gathering my diverse group of friends and acquaintances, I like seeing if they get along, if they are shocked by each other, who will get drunk and tell an outrageous story about me - I guess I like the events to be about me and therefore others' parties are not going to focus on me - I even ensure the games we play are those that I either excel at or am hilariously bad at - ensuring that the attention is again on me. Perhaps I should go into performance, I am funny, but I do not have the passion or drive to strive for this goal, I am not particularly interested in it; I do not wake wanting to be on stage - I like to sing, act, dance, perform in any way, but I don't feel a need burning inside me - and to survive rejections and auditions would require that I think, plus there is so much competition, that doing well, surviving and being a success, making any money would be practically impossible, I am attractive enough, but not such a stunner with such talent that I would sell a million concert/movie tickets, albums, etc.

So where does that leave me? - wanting to ensure my life includes hostessing, working with the disadvantaged, employing various languages - charity work - and also ensuring minimal negative impact on the planet, or if possible a positive impact, maybe I can ensure all my businesses are donating to the right causes or planting trees, building hospitals, etc. Or maybe I can be in the Foreign Service; I'd make a great ambassador or ambassadress (spouse of the big cheese). I think it is probably time for a lesbian couple to be in some embassy somewhere running the show and representing Britishness. I love dressing up; if I had a formal function five nights a week I would be delighted - loads of excuses to wear one of my vintage dresses then brag that it cost £1 in a charity shop, do my hair in some extravagant, unusual way, wow the crowds, schmooze the big wigs, be nice to the waiters, compliment the hostess and the chef, tell jokes, amuse the other guests, leave them thinking 'Golly, she was rather lovely' - maybe they would think me so much fun that I would be invited to all their parties and I would become everyone's pal... not in sharing and being close, but one of those people always ready to add colour and liveliness to any social gathering. I do make sure that whenever I am late somewhere that I have a great reason/excuse - a hilarious story is good, or an amazing bit of news/gossip to distract from my rude tardiness. I think ambassadorial work would suit me - dressing up, hostessing, being friendly to strangers, learning the intricacies of new cultures, promoting British traditions and manners, being non-committal about likes/dislikes, being neutral on most topics, or saying something banal and meaningless when asked a tricky question - how do you like the fondue/my new shoes/Stephen's haircut? =Did you get the recipe from a book or from a favourite website? I've been searching for a cookery website for years - I saw it a while back and lost the address and cannot find it again for love nor money (distract and move conversation back to me - I am convinced they are not really interested in my opinion of their fondue, they were just making filler conversation and trying to find something to say)/Oh, are they new shoes - did he score the soles to prevent slippage? I hear that is one of the key pieces of advice given to grooms before the big day - wouldn't that be awful falling over during the first dance? (also employing the fact that as a blonde I might be forgiven for being ditsy and forgetting that there was an original question which had been ignored/forgotten)/Is Stephen going for a job interview? Isn't there some old wives tale about the days on which one should cut one's hair for particular types of good luck (this is a bit cruel and might be employed with neurotic people who you don't care if you send them off worrying that a Thursday cut brings love happiness rather than career success)...

SO a life with these factors sounds good, but I would want to be able to be around and/or raise children, write, design and make beautiful and fun things with which to decorate my cave/home, watch movies, spend most of my time outside in the sunshine (not too hot - I don't like to sweat), swim and dance a lot, avoid being in cars or having to learn to drive, eat lovely food, hopefully organic, even better if grown myself, wear gorgeous unusual clothes with the happiness of knowing that there is no-one else in the world wearing exactly that outfit right now...

I worry that this is a lot to ask, when some people just don't want to be hungry, cold, in pain, afraid, or alone.

Suprising things

Some surprising things:

Michael Winner's article about him working as Santa then crying.

After a fight someone takes a major dump in their beloved's bathroom before a planned luxurious soak - when they knew damn well that they were going to be using the room for an extended period for relaxation.

The fact that my usually long nails have been mysteriously breaking which to me is a mythical sign that lesbo-action is on the cards.

That I was the only femme at the ylaf (apart from the organiser's girlfriend) - long hair, long nails and short skirts - and why shaven female heads signal illness, dykeness and madness...

How my chocolate advent calendar is not a paragon of equality and justice: the cracker shaped chocs are narrow and no deeper or greater in any other quality/quantity (see website above for multitude options of such), than the other shapes which are in general bigger and thus more chocolaty... I think this might be a perverse lesson in restraint, being grateful for what one has, etc.