Russian Prison Tattoo T-Shirts...Perhaps a Slightly Bad Idea?

Do you guys like Sourpuss Clothing? I think some of their stuff is really cute, and I've frequently been just-on-the-verge of ordering something. This morning, though, I found something I definitely WON'T be buying.

Are they crazy?
These are T-shirts with designs based on Russian prison tattoos.

Exhibit A:

no offense to the cute model...she's workin' those Bettie bangs!

There are several more designs, but you get the picture.
Offensive much? The first one looks like a big 'ol scary Nazi insignia. I believe that a skull of any kind means the wearer is a murderer. The third one, apparently, includes a very, very foul word in Russian. Such a bad word that the Russian-speaking individual that I asked couldn't say it out loud.

I live in an area where there are a lot of Russian immigrants and I can only imagine the reactions I'd get if I walked down the street wearing one of these shirts.

I mean, at first glance they're kind-of cool looking, and I'm honestly not a prude...I don't have any tatts myself, but I do like them when they're well-designed and well-thought out...I've actually been really close to getting one a few times.
But think about what these particular designs represent!!! The guys that have these type of tatts in real life are murderers and rapists. Torturers. Serial killers. Do we really want to celebrate and glorify that, people?
Think about the innocent victims of these criminals...how would they feel seeing one of these images walking down the street?

Maybe Sourpuss is going for shock-value here. I'm sure there is a large segment of the population that will think these are cool, bad-a**looking, and will snatch them up right away.

I think anyone who would wear one of these shirts is an ignorant, insensitive jerk.

So there.

What do you guys think? Would you wear one of these shirts?

Corsets: Retro-Cool or Completely Insane?

 I just stumbled upon an ABC news clip about the growing trend of women wearing corsets, not just for dress-up, but every day...full-on waist training. I'm aghast!

x-ray of corseted waist and rib deformation

Here's a link to the abc news clip

I do think corsets can be beautiful, and who wouldn't love a tiny waist? But every day? Aren't we taking a major step backward here ladies? What's next, Chinese foot binding?
Here's what wearing a corset does to your anatomy, when you do it to the extreme level that these ladies are doing it:

drawing showing displaced internal organs

 ((not the most up-to-date illustration, but it gets the point across)))


 I did a bit of quick poking around on the old interwebs and found that opinions abound on this subject...I found lots of corset-enthusiasts who swear up & down that there is no medical reason that extreme corset training is bad for you...many of them say that "it's the same thing that happens to your internal organs during pregnancy"...um, it's not?

In my opinion, wearing a corset for a special event, like a costume ball, or for stage performances and things like that seems OK. It really does create a dramatic look, but at what cost? I recently came upon a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, who said, "be the change you want to see in the world". Is this really the change we want to see? A giant step backward into pre- women's rights times? A world where looks matter more than health? Where freedom of breath and movement is less important that image? No thanks!

I think one of the real reasons this bothers me so much is that it hits me on a personal level. You see, I have a weird little medical condition called Idiopathic Gastroparesis. What that means, in a nutshell, is that my stomach empties more slowly than the average person's. I have to eat small meals, and I have to avoid certain foods like carbonated beverages and hard-to-digest things, or I get really, really sick. No-one knows what causes it, and there is no cure. It's not the end of the world, and I'm leaning to live with it, but why someone would do this to themselves intentionally is beyond me. Because, in effect, that's one of the "side effects" of corset training: a person wearing a super-tight corset is basically giving themselves this condition. The "corset expert" in the video even says (a wearer) is going to get really bad heartburn. Lovely! What do these people think heartburn is? It's the acidic contents of your stomach burning away at the sensitive lining of your esophagus. Yeah, that's healthy!!

OK, enough ranting for now...
what do you wonderful readers think? Is this a trend that needs to go away, fast, or something you like?
Id love to hear your opinions :-)

Book Review: Over-Dressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion

To say I read a lot might be the understatement of the century. I read books, both fiction and non-, tons of magazines (hey, even fashion mags count as "reading") and even the old-fashioned newspaper. Rarely, though, do I read a book that causes me to actually change the way I think and act.

This book changed me!

The author's premise is simple. Fashion and shopping have evolved to a place where stores like Forever 21, Zara, and H&M fill their racks with a constantly churning influx of poorly made, super-trendy items. Whereas shopping for clothes used to be seasonal, now it's become constant. Never-ending. There is always something new on the racks and it's so cheap you can shop every week! The clothes are almost considered "disposable"...wear 'em a few times, and toss them in the "Goodwill" pile.

But it feels good, right? What gal doesn't love to be able to pick up something cute and fresh for a bargain price? I do! Or that is to say, I did...

The thing is, this "fast fashion" thing is bad...really bad.
It's bad for the environment, bad for the economy, bad for the workers who make the clothes, and perhaps most importantly, bad for us psychologically...we're like junkies, looking for our next fashion "fix"!

The factories that make the textiles that make the clothes, mostly in China, but increasingly in even-poorer countries like Bangladesh, are completely unrestricted as they belch toxins and pollutants into the sky and pour poisons into the rivers. Most of these clothes are made of polyester and similar fabrics that are all petroleum products. The workers that make the clothes are paid, at best, less than the poverty-level limit set by the World Bank. There are fake "demonstration" factories, clean and cool, that are set up to fool visitors into thinking that the factories are all OK & safe, but they are not. In Bangladesh, hundreds of people have been killed in fires when there were no safety standards set in place. The factories are dangerous, sweltering, and the workers toil seven days a week for a measly wage to make that cute little Forever 21 top.

factories in China are environmental nightmares!

As if that weren't enough, there's another element:  these stores are counterfeiters. Copycats. They copy directly from fashion designers and artists, frequently knocking off entire collections almost identically. Forever 21 has been sued over 50 times in the last few years for copyright infringement. Zara in particular is known for reproducing entire designer's collections, and Urban Outfitters has been alleged to take the work of small, independent jewelry artists and has their items reproduced in overseas factories with no money or credit to the original designer. The copyright laws governing fashion in the US are appallingly weak, and these companies use this to their great advantage. As an artist, I find this especially disturbing!

So this is all really depressing, right? I know! It's awful to hear and makes me want to shut my eyes and ears and block it out. But we can't stick our heads in the sand, ostrich-like, and ignore these horrible facts.

There are things we can do! First of all, get a copy of this book and read it! It's well-written and just detailed enough to get a very complex point across. You can buy it at Amazon: here
If you feel like diving in deeper, the author cites many references.

Next, change the way you shop!! I did!
Buying vintage? Fabulous! Thrift stores? Another great step in the right direction. Most importantly, though...buy *new* clothing SPARINGLY and WITH THOUGHT and buy only from responsible retailers! Support designers using sustainable materials. Seek out companies that manufacture responsibly.
$$$$$$$$ We have power...the power of our dollars $$$$$$

I'm not saying this is easy. It's not. I went to the mall the other day, mostly to escape the heat, and let me tell ya...the siren song of those stores was mighty hard to resist. I DID resist it, though...and I'm going to keep trying. Because the health of our country and our planet is more important than another cute dress.

Mood: Inspired!

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post! The pity-party is now officially over.

attitude is everything!

 Thanks, especially, to my friend Steve the Kaleidoscope Guy who graced me with this outstanding quote:

"If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind"
                                                                                                     ~ Kurt Vonnegut

I think I might need to needlepoint this on a pillow ;-)

I'm Melllllting...

I tell you what, dear readers, I don't know much.

One thing I do know, however, is that one of the principal tenets of Professional Blogging (ha! Say that with a straight face) is that you are not supposed to Blog About Blogging. Sort of a "don't break the fourth wall" sort of a thing, I guess.
Well, I guess I'm not a professional, 'cause here goes:  I'm feeling pretty icky about writing my blog, lately. It doesn't help at all that the Weather Gods appear to be punishing me right now and it's easily 85 degrees in my office... no AC, no laptop that I could take and work in the coolness of the local library :-(

Mostly, though, it's that I can't get over the feeling that I'm just sending random thoughts and pictures out into the void...

Is any one out there???
Is anybody actually reading this???

I have tons and tons of fun (honestly!) ideas for blog posts, but I guess I feel like if no-one is reading them then what's the point?
If anyone's actually reading this, please comment and tell me :-)
It would be massively appreciated.

A Few Brief Thoughts About Marilyn Monroe

Lots of big to-do is being made in the media about the fact that tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Marilyn's death, and hot on the heels of last year's film "My Week With Marilyn" are several new books about her life.
I find the whole thing so interesting...both the continued fascination we seem to have, culturally, with this long-dead actress, and also how the fascination with her seems to ebb and wane with regularity. Why is this?

I'm *ahem* old enough to remember the last big Marilyn resurgence, in the 80's. The nation's economy was really booming at that time, and on the surface it seems that things couldn't have been more different than they are right now, but I think we were yearning, culturally, for more innocent times. Right now this is also the case...we long for simpler and happier times, as a culture, when our lives feel too complex and fraught with problems of a very un-innocent nature.

The thing that I find so ironic is that Marilyn's life was rarely simple or happy, so obviously was it filled with difficulty and complexity. The image that she crafted and sent out into the world was the epitome of simplicity and innocence, and yet it was such a shallow facade. Although I admire her enormous beauty and talent, I honestly look at images of her and feel mostly sadness. In her face, I see pain flickering under that child-like smile. Such tragedy. Perhaps that's the real root of our fascination: she presents the ultimate irony in the most lovely-to-look-at wrapping...blessed with incomparable beauty, charisma, brains (yes) and talent, she was also cursed with insecurity, a horrible early childhood, a long string of failed relationships, and the drug addiction that ultimately killed her.

If Marilyn had lived, we can only wonder at what her life's trajectory might have been, but it seems a reasonable guess that she may have lived a later life similar to that of her contemporaries. Perhaps she would have ended up in an institution, and then a life of quiet religious contemplation in obscurity, like Bettie Page. What if she had evolved as an actress and continued to do more interesting, deeper films into her older age? We may have been treated to an aged Marilyn, a la Bette Davis on the "Tonight Show", giving us hilarious one-liners in a creaky old cigarette-cured voice. The one sure thing, if she had lived, is that we wouldn't be quite as obsessed with her as a culture as we are now. It's her untimely and sordid death, and her frozen-in-time images that feed the obsession. There is something more than a little creepy and morbid going on here (and I'm a fan of creepy and morbid, usually!) that may not be the healthiest thing...obsessions rarely are.

Perhaps it's time to let poor Marilyn rest in the peace she most assuredly deserved.

My Love-Hate Affair with Anthropologie