The Diva In Us All

Last night, I had the pleasure of working as a cigarette girl for a 1940's Fashion Show, hosted by a local museum. I was asked to dress as closely to the period as possible, and they would provide me with gloves, a hat, and a cigarette box.

Now, if you don't know me in person, you won't know that I rarely change my hair. I'm a "if my hair can't be done in 5 minutes, I'm not doing it" person. I wear my hair pretty much the same way every day, but it's low maintenance hair so it works for me.

To prepare for the event, I started researching the 1940's online and discovered that, due to the war restrictions, clothing had to last from the 1930's, so fashion remained the same. Women used more and more elaborate hairstyles to make up for the fact that they were essentially wearing last seasons clothing.

Great! I thought to myself. But I found a really fantastic blogger who had pretty low maintenance hairstyle tips from the 1940's. So unfortunately my HipMix.net officemates had to put up with me wearing weird hairstyles for awhile.

On the day of the event, I found myself in a predicament. I don't have a curling iron, and my schedule did not allow for me curling my hair at the event. I would need to be mostly ready before I stepped foot in the venue. Since my hair is naturally curly, I thought to myself, maybe if I create my own ringlets, the effect will be the same. So after I stepped out of the shower, I parted my hair, combed it out with a wide tooth comb, and then hand created ringlets, squeezing out the excess water as I went. I did this all around my head, making larger ringlets at the back, and then I went back and put mousse all in my hair for hold and de-frizzing effects.

The effect worked! I had perfect little ringlets. Well, at least on one side of my head. The other side I towel dried first, thinking it would still work. It didn't, by the way. So don't do that. No towels!

At work, we've been preparing our Diva week, which was getting me pretty hyped up for the fashion show. I kept thinking to myself that all I wanted to do was get home and put makeup on! I don't think I've ever felt that way.

This is probably the first time that I really got what Dilara means when she talks about putting on her belly dance costume. There's something in the effort, the consideration, that makes you feel like a different person. I mean, I'm still me - just a different version. It was exhilarating to say the least. The compliments didn't hurt, either.

After the fashion show, I was feeling like more people needed to see all my effort. So I took the show on the road.

Next time? I'm researching period language and I'm only going to use period speech when in costume.

Before I leave you, here's an awesome makeup artist with great tutorials: http://www.kandeej.com/
And don't forget to enter our Diva contest! http://HipMix.net/share.php

Haunting Photos of Too-Thin Models

Taking a break from my regularly scheduled sitcom to bring you this message:

Guys, this photo really haunts me.

From Huffington Post Article

Look at the girl to the right's shoulder bones. You can see her back ribs, her vertebrae. How is this ok?

Move along to the girl on the left. See her prominent clavicle. I'm not saying these girls are unattractive, or that they aren't "naturally" skinny. But you can't airbrush a rib out of a runway walk. So why is this acceptable?

I understand the fashion industry's need for using small models. I've written about it before, and I'll probably write about it again. It makes it easier for displaying clothes on any model around the world with minimal alterations needed. I get it. I still think you need to make your base sample a size 2 or 4, but that's me.

Shouldn't we celebrate the curves of a woman, instead of placing clothes on tall, angular, alien-like creatures who look as if they could fall over at any moment?

Like this belly dancer, doesn't she look so much happier and healthier than the girls above?

Madeline Bingham, Awesome Belly Dancer

 I mean, obviously she is smiling. That's a start. But she looks like she could wear any of the clothes from that runway show and still make them look fantastic.

On a side note, if you know her, let her know she's awesome! She designs the most amazing belly dance costumes, like a wonder woman costume, and some others.

Ok, off my soap box. Hope to bring you the story of how I scare off visitors to our office!

Fashion Shows and Skinny Models My Coworker Wants to Feed

I attended a fashion show last night hosted by Posh Couture Magazine at Venue in Houston, Texas. While I enjoyed the clothing, I couldn't help but be appalled at how thin many of the models were.

Kathy Griffin once joked that all clothes look good on Nicole Kidman because she is basically a coat hanger. After my first fashion show, I felt like the clothes could have been displayed as well on a revolving coat hanger apparatus.

I understand that as a fashion designer, designing clothing for one size makes it easier to display your drawings on any model. It's the same reason drill teams and dance squads require everyone to wear the same makeup and hair style - uniformity is important for the end result. If all models are the same size, than design samples don't have to be altered if displayed on different models in Paris, New York, Milan, etc.

But do all design samples need to be size one? Can most clothing look just as good on a larger model?