Being Smart and Pretty

I'm reaching back into my picture archive (back and way back) for this post. I'm also going to nominate this picture for Megan and Keely's Remix Week Fashion Challenge, even though it's dreadfully late. I think it works pretty well for the day in which the challenge was to remix a summer dress for fall.

Summer	Fall

dress — no label (Fair Trade store)

sweater — Amanda Smith (thrifted)

sandals — Born (DSW)

belt — (thrifted)

This dress is actually pretty easy to transition from the summer to the fall — just add a sweater, and it's pretty much good to go for those summery days that we still get in September. If I was to wear this later on in September or into October, I'd probably scrap the bare legs and wear colored tights and some type of closed shoe, styling it similar to the look that I wore here. I'm really excited that this blue — this cobalt blue — is one of the big colors for this fall, because I have a lot of it in my closet.

And for all you doubters out there who don't believe that I hang onto my clothes forever and ever and ever ... Here is proof positive. Here's a picture of me wearing the same dress for my daughter's graduation. (In fact, I bought it for that occasion.) Those of you who have been reading my blog may remember that my kids all graduated this year (you can read about it here), so you're probably thinking, "That's not that old!" BUT! I wore this when my oldest daughter's graduated from high school back in May 2005, which makes this dress over 6 years old.

I have another, more important reason, for dredging up this picture from the archives. Most people who know me probably consider me pretty outspoken and passionate when it comes to my beliefs — not just about politics, but really about everything. I struggle sometimes when I get into a heated argument, because it's pretty easy to push my buttons and I can end up saying things that I regret.

For the most part, I have tried to keep those tensions out of this blog. I needed some place where I could relax and be easygoing. I can't be serious ALL the time. But still I feel kind of strange sometimes because I wonder who is this person who is paying SO much attention to her clothes. But how do I bring up these more serious issues that really matter to me without losing the lighthearted and fun aspects of this blog.

Today, however, something came in my inbox that I felt that I had to take a stand on and address here. I was asked to sign a petition that was directed at the CEOs of JC Penney and Forever 21 telling them that I will hold them accountable for the clothing sold in their stores and and that they need to make a public commitment to keep sexist clothing for girls from making it to their shelves in the future. I signed that petition so fast it would make your head spin.

What was so bad that I wanted to take the chance of getting all heated up? 

These two T-shirts.

I was appalled and horrified to see them.

My daughter, a scant six years after earning her high school diploma, is now my doctor daughter — she graduated from pharmacy school this past May with a doctor of pharmacy degree. She is now doing a pharmacy residency, having turned down a very lucrative job offer to do so, and earning a teaching certificate at the same time. She is only 24 years old (she's not even old enough to rent a car yet), and she has the world at her fingertips.

She got where she is by doing her homework, and she will be the first to tell you that she did not have an easy time in high school. She worked her patootie off, and received very little recognition — in terms of grades or awards — for all her hard work. Until she went to pharmacy school, that is. And then her hard work paid off, and it paid off in spades.

I know these T-shirts were meant to be funny or cute. I know that. But they're not funny or cute, and I believe that they are even dangerous. In a world where women still earn less than most of their male counterparts, these T-shirts subtly (maybe not so subtly) encourage the mind set that girls shouldn't be smart, and they definitely shouldn't be smart in math or science. And these shirts are targeted to girls at an age where many drop out of those fields.

To be fair, the shirts have been pulled off the shelves, but how did they even get on the shelves in the first place?! In this day and age? Forever 21, I can almost understand. But JC Penney? C'mon. I dunno ... just when I think we're starting to get more enlightened, we go back to the dark ages.

You can read more about the controversy here and here.

To sign the petition holding the CEOs accountable, go here.

Then Came Irene ...

I have a lot of black clothes. A lot. I don't know why that is — I don't think of myself as a dark and gloomy person, which is what I associate black clothes with (ever since I watched the "Fades to Black" episode of Roseanne, where Darlene stopped playing basketball and started wearing all black).

tank — (Cost Co)

skirt — Express (Express)

boots — Haley by Faded Glory (thrifted)

And I can't even claim that this affection for brown and black clothes is because bright colors don't look good on me. I found that out when I wore pink and blue here. It was probably because I just wanted to blend into the background and not stand out. These days, however, I am finding that it's not all that bad to be noticed, and it's actually kind of fun to get the hairy eyeballs.

So, here's a way to wear black and STAND OUT at the same time! The trick is to wear boots with a tank top — together, the two are completely and totally incongruous.

One caveat about this outfit ... I liked it, but I have to say that I'm worried that I'm too much of an old lady to wear it ... how depressing is that? Just when you're old enough to have some fun, you're too old to enjoy it.

This outfit is actually my entry for Megan and Keely's "Old Favorite" Remix Challenge, in which we were challenged to take a favorite piece of clothing and wear it somewhat differently than we had before.

My skirt is my "old favorite." It's a simple cotton blend, with a drawstring waist (which lets me slide it up and down on my hips to adjust the length). I've had this skirt for ages. In fact, I liked it so much when I got it that I went out and bought another one — just like it. Yeah. I actually have two of these skirts. It seems kind of silly when I think about it now.

I haven't been blogging that long, but I've still worn this skirt a number of times, in a number of ways, and in different seasons (winter, spring, and summer).


I had the best of intentions to finish Kayla's 21-Day Challenge, and then move on to Megan and Keely's Remix Challenge for this week. But what is it they say? "The best laid schemes of mice and men"? or is it "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" (and by the way, I had no idea that this quote is attributed to John Lennon)? maybe it's even "Life's a b*tch, and then you die." 

Or wait -- I've got it!

When it rains it pours! And I mean that literally.*

  
Regardless of the quote, first Irene and now Lee have wreaked havoc, to say the least, on my life and put a damper on my plans to do much of anything but go into crisis management mode. I had (and yes, HAD is now the operative word) this beautifully finished and carpeted basement. I have been getting ready to move, so I have been packing up things that I don't need and storing the boxes in my basement, because I thought they would be safe and out of the way. In the 15 or so years that I have lived in this house, I have never had a drop of water in the basement.

Well that was before Irene decided to make her ugly way up the coast and dumped over 10 inches of rain overnight (and this was on top of the 6 inches of rain we got in one day the week before).

Now, I have moldy walls ...

wet carpeting, and soaked and disintegrated boxes ...  (I'm sparing you the picture of my mountain of boxes that are now on my porch, getting even wetter ... )

And of course nothing is covered by insurance, because it's an act of God. or whatever. Honestly, I just wanted to cry, which I did a lot of. But I have also been hauling a helluva lot of boxes back up the d*mn steps, trying to salvage what I can, and get everything dried out. And that is a lost cause since Lee has decided to add insult to injury as he makes his s-l-o-o-o-w and ponderous way, dumping rain and more rain, on the waterlogged Northeast.

Between the rain, the extra work, the damage to my basement, and the expense that it will entail to repair said damage, my heart has just not been into dressing for the occasion, taking pictures, and blogging ... Hopefully, with this post, I'll be able to get back on track a bit.

*Everything in my house right now is damp. My clothes are damp. My bed is damp. My floors are damp. My papers are damp. My doors are so swollen from the rain that I can barely shut them.Yeah. I'm pretty miserable.

Head on over to Megan Mae Daily to check out how ladies are remixing their clothes.