Noun:

"the act of causing to become beautiful or handsome "

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Modesty

Wowza, the girl next to me is writing too. But I think she’s writing for class – it’s about fur. xD I’m such a creeper.
Anyways. Today, I’d like to make a shout-out to a lovely blog I read, which is Maidens of Worth. Anna and Miriam describe themselves as “Two maidens desiring to be maidens of worth in God's sight”. I really appreciate reading their words, because even though our worlds are vastly, vastly different, we’re all young women growing up in a world in which it’s hard to live in a holy way.

Anna, Miriam, and any other girls who make the choice to live modestly have to make a lot of really difficult decisions. What’s immodest? Is this shirt okay, if it’s under another one? Are these pants immodest because they’re too tight?
I once read a really interesting question, although now I can’t remember where I read it for the life of me…
Is it immodest to wear a bathing suit on a nudist beach, thereby drawing attention to your own body?

Now granted, I wouldn’t be on a nudist beach at all, unless maybe I was in Europe, but even so, there will be people there in swimsuits as well. Dictionary.com defines modest (in terms of dress) as “having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior”. In today’s world, though, I don’t think that’s necessarily right. I know that some of my behavior would drive my Victorian or earlier ancestors to despair, but to some of my friends it’s so old fashioned its crazy!

Here’s Anna this past November with a friend (Anna’s the one in the brown skirt). I can’t dress like that. A) I can’t get the clothes, even if they would suit me, and B) they wouldn’t suit me at ALL.


Here’s a different woman, Alex Curran. She’s not immodest – ostentatious, yes, but not immodest. She’s not showing off excessive skin. My only qualm is that her heels are REALLY, REALLY high. Not something you want to walk around in for a while. That’s more of a practicality, though, than an actual issue with modesty.
So what am I wearing? I can’t take a picture of it now (although actually, my friend might. Who knows. She’s going to take pictures of me, as usual, in like five minutes. Acks, better write faster), but I’m wearing flamboyant skinny jeans (they’re turquoise with black checkerboard pattern on them!), under a dark grey/black short dress with brown boots and a black button down with pearl buttons. That could hardly be called immodest. Flamboyant, maybe, but not immodest (it’s the pants). Personally, I don’t wear these pants without a very long shirt or a dress over them because the zipper hates me and doesn’t stay zipped and I’d rather not be embarrassed in public.



So, I totally forgot where I was going with this. Oops. Well, new point!
I think that modest dress is overall more attractive and better. A girl who can dress herself modestly, without showing off all of her, uhm, assets, has class. She doesn’t need to show off her skin because she’s got something else. In not showing off everything ever, she’s leaving a bit to the imagination, letting you wonder. Isn't wondering better than knowing everything all at once?

Being immodest also makes you look, well, cheap. After a point, you'll just end up being almost abhorrent to the people who see you because they're naturally turned OFF by someone looking cheap.

Granted there are exceptions to every rule.
But seriously.
Cover it up.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

An Apple A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Which is not to say, of course, that I'm going to eat you, dear...

So, my friend Floam told me that I should blog about her body type, which, as we have determined with rigorous scientific testing (read: "DO YOU HAVE A BIG BUTT? DO YOU GAIN WEIGHT ON YOUR STOMACH?!") is an apple shape.

So, I'm going to dress her, or at least tell her what she should wear to suit her body type.

Start at the top:
TUNICS: Tunics are good for apple shapes because they'll skim over the stomach and hide the fact that there is extra weight there. Tunics are also very versatile. Much as I hate to say it, they can be worn with just leggings if they're long enough, or with jeans of any type. There are also a million kinds of them. Cut the sleeves off a baggy t-shirt and take in the sides a bit, and you have a long, pretty tunic with a sort of rock'n'roll look, but a pretty, beaded tunic will look formal and elegant when need be.


Seeee? One very cool shirt, made of an old baggy tshirt.

EMPIRE: Empire waists cinch you where you're smallest - just under the bust. When they are tight there, then they'll skim loosely over the stomach and the eye will follow that and ignore it. And they make your boobs look bigger, if you're boob-challenged.

seee? pretty!

WAISTCOATS ARE WIN: Waistcoats. Wins. A dark waistcoat over a light colored tank top makes your arms look pretty and also makes your stomach look smaller because the dark color and the light color. It's a visual effect thing.

SHIRT LENGTH: Long shirts are best because they can smooth out any sort of muffin top, and it will negate any chances of having an awkward tummy escape-attempt. Shirts that end at the widest point of the hips make your hips look wider.

NECKLINE: Wearing a shirt with a low neckline and some flashy attention-grabbing necklaces is good, because it keeps the eye upward and not on your stomach. It'll also have the effect of making your boobs look bigger.

OTHER NOTES: Light layers will make your midsection look smaller. Chiffon is good for this, but really any sort of light thing. Black is slimming, but dark colors work well too. Don't wear SUPER tight shirts because that's just not flattering on anyone.

Okay so now that that top is done, the bottom:
PANTS: Wide-legged pants will help balance out your figure. If your weight is concentrated in your upper half, having more volume at your lower half will help you look balanced and not top-heavy. For warmer weather, wide-legged capris will show off your feet and ankles but have the same effect. Skinny jeans. So fashionable, right? Well, unless you're wearing a long top over them, don't wear them, because they'll have the effect of instantly making you look more top heavy than you are because there isn't a lot of volume on the bottom.

SKIRTS: As an apple, you're probably top-heavy, so wear fuller skirts. Wear them with a fitted top, and you'll look looovely and balanced. Heavens above, don't wear miniskirts. They make you look even more top heavy than you are. Wear skirts that have high waistlines, at your natural waist-ish, because they'll smooth out your stomach and hide any strain in your shirt.

And last, but not least, a word on dresses:

Don't wear something that will emphasize your stomach. Dresses that have built in folds along the stomach will be good, as long as they don't un-fold over the stomach because that will make you look heavier.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Hel-Looks

Bwahaha, Hel-Looks.
Have you seen it?

I'm entering a competition called Miss Doll Europe as Finland, and I figure since Helsinki is in Finland, I should use Hel-Looks to see what people in Finland wear.

I'm appalled, sometimes.
Other times, I'm impressed.




That one is particularly bad, I think.
So bad.
So bad.

I can't even begin to describe how bad.

And then there's super cute stuff on there, like this:


So yes. Go check it out. Laugh yourself silly at the people there.

Hel-Looks