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Daily Archive: 14/09/2014

Sunday

14

September 2014

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COMMENTS

Paris Street Style

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

paris street style

Ah! Yes. This is the book I was looking for. Much more comprehensive than Kate Spade’s ‘Style,’ this 200-page guide features many photos but also a lot of suggestions. It has a point of view, a logical order, and something more than just some lists of clothes to check out. It is based on the premise that most people who have been to Paris accept: women there look amazing. Old, young, tiny, large. They have something figured out and they manage to look uniformly and yet eccentrically phenomenal in a way that I’ve not seen in other parts of the world (including the U.S.).

First, the drawbacks: nearly all the women pictured are, at most, a size 4-6. So yes, it’s much easier to look fantastic if you can buy your clothes anywhere and have the body type that designers have in their minds when they begin to illustrate their fall lines. The authors do not focus nearly enough on how to develop a style when one can only shop in a limited number of places due to size, or when one has extremely limited funds.

With those (admittedly large) caveats in mind, this book does offer some interesting advice about fashion, trends, and building a good wardrobe. Some of the suggestions are ones I have heard before – for example, that accessories are the key to creating many different looks – but others, while not necessarily new, stuck in my head more when delivered in this book. The best is the one about investing in a very few high quality pieces, and taking the time to make sure these items will last. I have a few of these – a trench coat that has seen ten rainy springs, a black skirt that is to me such a classic cut that I’m baffled that I can’t find it anywhere else and so have had it relined to make sure it lasts. But today when I went in search of a couple of items I found myself thinking back to this book and applying what I’ve learned to each bit of clothing to really sort out if buying it would be a good idea (hint: many more times than not, the answer was no).

This book also features several interviews with Parisian shop owners who discuss their view of the French style and what people should keep in mind when developing their own styles. Those parts are fun to read, and some offer great insight into fashion and style; others are not as useful. But once you’ve read the last bit of advice, the authors leave you a treat: a list of shops, cafes and spots the authors recommend checking out. It’s like a bonus tiny travel guide!

Sunday

14

September 2014

0

COMMENTS

What I’m Reading – September 14, 2014

Written by , Posted in What I'm Reading

Sexism, Reproductive Rights

– “So the disparity is not because mothers actually become less productive employees and fathers work harder when they become parents — but because employers expect them to.” The Motherhood Penalty vs. the Fatherhood Bonus (h/t @dreamhamptom)

– “Because, really, women’s abortions are none of your business – not even those of a public figure, not even one who became an international figure because of abortion rights.” Bravo for Wendy Davis, but women’s abortions are none of your business (via @JessicaValenti)

– “Miranda’s mother, Dianna Larkin, has referred to the outfit as a “suit of shame” and says that Miranda started sobbing as soon as she was forced to put it on.” High Schooler Forced To Wear ‘Shame Suit’ As Punishment For Short Skirt (via @ThinkProgress)

– “Whalen told authorities there was no local clinic available to perform an abortion and her daughter did not have health insurance to cover a hospital abortion.” Mom Ann Whalen Sentenced To Prison For Giving Daughter Abortion Pills

– “What Alden’s bio fails to mention is he has also overseen a series of failures when it comes to how his department has handled off-field issues with players, specifically from the basketball and football teams when it involves violence against women.” Missouri Football’s Rape Culture and So On and So Forth (via @scATX)

– “Domestic violence is so much more complicated than a lack of money, or not having self-respect, or feeling like it’s OK for your man to beat up on you.” Why I Married My Abuser (h/t @DrJaneChi)

– “But judging by the list of banned content, GoFundMe doesn’t necessarily want a positive experience for all visitors. It wants a positive experience for visitors who align with a specific social outlook.” GoFundMe, the site that has raised money for convicted murderers, will draw the line at abortion and ‘sorcery’ (h/t @ClinicEscort)

– “When an incident of intimate partner violence in which a man knocks a woman unconscious gains national attention and every question or comment you think to make has to do with her behavior, you really hate women.” How to know that you hate women (via @mychalsmith)

Racism + Sexism

– “Black feminism is championing a more nuanced understanding of how oppression and privilege operate” After naked photo hack, ‘white feminists’ ignore Jill Scott (h/t @courtenlow)

– “Black women are almost three times as likely to experience death as a result of DV/IPV than White women.” Why Black Women Struggle More With Domestic Violence (via @FeministaJones)

Racism

– “The dream was to make the league palatable to a stereotypical, upscale suburban audience.” Out for Executing the NBA Game Plan: The Atlanta Hawks and That Levenson (via @EdgeOfSports)

– “There have been numerous calls for the NFL to ease up its marijuana punishments, based both on weed’s expanding legality and its potential use as relief for chronic pain.” The NFL Just Suspended Ray Rice Indefinitely. Why the Hell Did It Take So Long?

– “The Economist revealed just how many white people remain reluctant to believe black people about the experience of being black.” The Economist’s review of my book reveals how white people still refuse to believe black people about being black

– “Misee felt unable to continue working under such conditions and decided to quit the dental practice on the spot, much to the dismay of her bosses. They assumed Misee would simply promise to stop voicing her opinions on social media about racial injustice. ” Racial discrimination & resignation of Dr. Misee Harris – An Open Letter to media (h/t @SarahKendzior)

Policing

– “The effect is to make the city more appealing to successful, and mostly white, middle class professionals – while burdening the city’s poorest with more bills to pay.” Bratton-style policing means more fines and arrests for black residents of Detroit (h/t @FatBodyPolitics)

– “The captain, he said, told him we had been filming in an unauthorized location, though he could not tell us where that location was. (We’d been advised earlier that it was okay to film so long as we did not go on the bridge itself.)” Video: What We Saw Before Being Kicked Out of the SWAT Convention (via @MotherJones)

– “Better data, and the will to collect it, is necessary to get the full picture of how many criminals and law-abiding citizens are killed by police every year.” Here’s the Data That Shows Cops Kill Black People at a Higher Rate Than White People (via @MotherJones)

– “The police-military institutions sponsoring and consorting with weapons exhibitions like Urban Shield are not only ensuring that police agencies remain militarized but that the rising climate of both xenophobia and Islamophobia does not shift, the latter having a tremendous and direct influence over the use of the former.” ‘Urban Shield’: where hostility towards minorities meets policing on steroids (via @roqchams)

Trans Rights

– “An inventor, an executive, a lawyer, and even a founder of a religion, there are so many intriguing aspects of Rothblatt’s life. It’s a shame so much had to be made of her gender.” About that New York Magazine Cover Story (via @ParkerMolloy)

Children

– “While no one actually endorses child abuse or neglect, there is disagreement within the homeschooling community about how best to address the problem — and how widespread it is.” ‘Anonymous Tip’: Homeschooling’s Obsession With ‘False’ Reports Of Child Abuse

Disasters

– “Many people asked to return money were deemed ineligible for aid because their damaged properties were vacation houses or rental properties, not their primary homes.” FEMA Wants at Least $5.8 Million in Sandy Aid Repaid (via @AP)

Science

– “It is very clear that there are certain major issues where there is only one correct scientific answer, and political conservatives are much more likely to deny that answer than are liberals or moderates.” Stop Pretending That Liberals Are Just As Anti-Science As Conservatives (via @MotherJones)

Cool Stuffs 

– “To the company’s initial surprise, the feature is popular among late night office dwellers.” Genius Pizza Box Transforms Into Plates, And Then Storage For Leftovers (h/t @DrJaneChi)