comp lit and mediaphilia
Birchbox Travel (Photo credit: donireewalker)
Lately I have been thinking to myself that I should switch from being a book blogger to a fashion and beauty blogger, just to get some cooler different swag.
(I mostly kid. Please do not stop sending me book swag. I love the books. Forever. I might not have room for them in my apartment anymore, but they can share my bed.)
I would probably not be the best beauty or fashion blogger because, unlike when it comes to literature, I don’t have any specialized or advanced knowledge of this stuff. I recently started consistently wearing mascara. Sometimes I put on my primer and powder, too. For years, I was just an obsessive moisturizer and lip glosser. So this growing up, beauty-wise, is a big deal, friends. Anyway. I am trying to learn more about it (please read other of my blog entries to learn my general philosophy on fashion and beauty culture, the patriarchy, etc), because it’s high time I owned less clothing and beauty stuff but liked it more, looked better in it, and felt more confident in it. So I read magazines and blogs and sign up for things like Birchbox in order to get to that point where I have a general idea of what I’m doing.
Bookish people still have physical embodiments of their bookishness that needs to look presentable, and also, some of us, at least, happen to like the fun that comes with looking presentable, as blogs like Librarian Wardrobe will attest. This is why I have an entire Pinterest page dedicated to bookish, smartgirl, quirky clothing that I would love to have in my wardrobe in lieu of the things I have left over from college and 25 pounds ago. Continue reading →
Posted in fashion
Tagged beauty , body image , boobs , fashion , the good the bad the fashion
Feb · 16
Somehow I came across Polyvore four years ago. I joined, tried it and wasn’t very good at it, and mostly forgot about it as a social site or a creative site and just used it a couple times a year if I was looking to buy something. It’s really useful for shopping for something in particular, whether it’s an exact product or if you’re just looking for “light green scarf with fringe” or “cotton/poly leopard print blouse” or something else super specific because you have your reasons. Anyway, it’s great, especially when you are on a crusade to be grown up and have a set style and a decent, career-appropriate wardrobe like me, because you can rip things out of magazines, paste them into a journal, and also look up the exact things on Polyvore, where you can find out where you can buy them and (I think) sign up for sale notifications. Wins all around.
Image via CrunchBase
But really, Polyvore is this vibrant place where people who are really into fashion and makeup and interior design and also have an eye for it (i.e. not me, but I love swooning over it) can make “sets” that are like virtual collages of products, magazine cutouts, words, music, etc. They’re pretty brilliant, and there are a lot of people who are fucking amazing at it. You can get lost forever and wonder how some people just have an eye for the layering of items and laying out of items and on and on. I am jealous. Really.
As you can see, I did not quite get that the point was to saturate your set with things, not just make a really simple outfit. Continue reading →
Tagged books , fashion , growing up , inspiration , makeup , nostalgia , review , shopping , style , the good the bad the fashion , websites , writing
Sep · 27
I love Project Runway . As far as reality shows go, I appreciate it because it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It acknowledges it’s rigged and doesn’t pretend otherwise by inviting fan votes. It has judges who are part of the industry it supports (and who are respected in their fields) as judges and mentors, not people who are famous and boring and say empty things (see: Nicole Scherzinger on The Sing-Off ). And it’s interesting because the contestants on the show are regular ol’ people who just happen to be talented at something that works for TV (unlike a writing show, which I would love to be on and have challenges and stuff, but nobody but other writers and sadomasochists would want to watch), and so you really get to see them being interesting, and then dumb, and then ugly on the inside, just like real people. Shows like Real Housewives don’t do it for me, because those are ugly people who live unreal lives, so their ugliness is just gross and also just surreal. But contestants on Project Runway get to exhibit all of their human awkwardness. And to me, at least, it actually seems real–meaning that I can generally understand the points all the judges make, and sometimes I am utterly confused about their decisions until I consider that this is a competition for high fashion and couture, and often I am attracted to the clothes that I look like I would want to wear them to work or school, and that’s not usually the point of the show.
My favorite part of this show is probably any time that Michael Kors says something in Yiddish and Heidi Klum gets cutely confused because she thinks he’s speaking German. Continue reading →
Tagged body image , fashion , privilege , sociology , television , the good the bad the fashion
Sep · 18
I love this woman, I do. I think she puts up a dumb front for the scads of dumb people on and watching her show, but she knows her shit, she doesn’t apologize for her body, and she’s awesome.
Wanna be on top? Yes, yes I do.
I’m still waiting for the petite-people-get-modeling-tutorials cycle, and then I’m so there. Until then, my judgey judgey self is happy to talk about how hilarious shit on this show is but also how much I love Tyra Banks.
The current season of America’s Next Top Model that’s airing is totes different from EVERYTHING before, and that is BIG. According to Tyra, at least. Miss Jay and Mr. Jay are gone (le sigh), everybody in the cycle has to be enrolled at an institute of higher education (or at least of certification), and instead of judging depending on people who actually know the shit that goes on in the modeling industry (for better or for worse), it’s now judges plus fans on Facebook. One hilarious thing about this is the girls are on the confession cam complaining that eliminated girls still get to do all of the photo shoots (and then one will get to come back). How else would you film a show where the results have to be secret until airing unless you keep putting photo shoots from all the contestants up each week? Duh. Anyway, it goes to show how college does not make you smart.
Anyway, this is the type of reality show I like, based on the two criteria I have: 1. It is a competition, not just a following-the-lives-of-asshats docu-fake. 2. It is based on the opinions and critiques of people who actually have the clout. Continue reading →
Tagged famous people , fashion , modeling , other people , television , the good the bad the fashion
Sep · 17
Today (and the two days after this), it’s fashion and body television! I’m going to talk about three shows: Say Yes to the Dress , Project Runway , and America’s Next Top Model . I love them, but sometimes I feel incredibly guilty for watching them at all.
Say Yes to the Dress I like to say that I watch this show as a sociological experiment, and it is true that it often makes me think about how ridiculous and vapid people can be, and how the patriarchy ruins everything, and also how even though nobody is going to want to marry me and I never grew up thinking I was entitled to a wedding, I would love to be a wedding gown model, just so that I could see myself being gorgeous for a minute. Because yeah, $8000-dollar dresses are absurd, but they are also fantastic and beautiful. Continue reading →
Posted in television
Tagged "philosophy" , fashion , patriarchy , sociology , television , the good the bad the fashion , weddings
Sep · 16
about things the ftc wants me to tell you
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