Wednesday 28 September 2011

Society & Weight - Ranting.

So with the title, this post isn't a usual one. I was watching an episode of Sex and the City, and Carrie (who I already despise) said a completely despicable line that just made me furious. At the end of the episode, after screwing up yet another relationship, she said 'if the world's fattest twins could find love then there is a chance for us all' or something along those lines. I couldn't believe it! How can it be that just because of some one's weight they are used as an example of 'well if this person who is so much worse than me can find happiness, than there is a definite chance for me'. I was shocked, if you can't tell that already from my frenzied writing. 

This is no new issue, it has been covered over, and over, and over again about how society judges people on the way they look, not just women (although this is more frequent) but men also. As if the only thing that matters in this world and in society is being the same weight as a beanpole, being photoshopped perfect and look something that was computer animated. Shockingly, most legends are not remembered for their weight but for what they did. Example: Rosa Parks - she confronted segregation on buses, and made huge strides in the civil rights movement, she is not remembered in the slightest for how thin or big she was. Another, Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragette movement in the UK, she is not remembered for how she looked, but for what she did. There are countless of other examples of real women, but a fictional example I love is Tracey Turnblad from Hairspray, a big girl with big dreams who is not willing to change how she looks to fit into the stereotypical wants of a shallow society. Even the actress, Nikki Blonsky, managed to snag Zac Efron being the weight she was, and he was attracted to the personality. Not that man-catching is a way to define a woman.

I look at these women, and countless others, who did great things in the world and who are remembered for changing society for the better, and admiring them for this, not for how they looked. But yet, society still remains focused on the weight that women carry and judge them for this. Whether this is a new thing or not is debatable, of course women have always been judged on the weight they carry, but it seems to be so much more prominent with the growing media, women judging themselves against photoshopped images. Even in my beloved Disney, it provides excellent examples of how the good girls are slim, long-haired, perfect features characters. So it really is fed in from a young age to be good you are to be slim.

Now I am not being a hypocrite, I openly admit that I will have my days where I whinge and whine about my weight, moan that things do not look right on me because the fashion is more designed for those who are slim than those who are curvier, but at the end of the day I know that when it comes down to it I will be remembered for what I did and my personality, rather than my dress size. I would hate to be solely thought of as 'she was so pretty and so thin' and that be it for people to say rather than worthwhile qualities. I'd rather be happy eating my own weight in food and being curvier, than being miserable, keeping myself on a rigid diet and exercise regime to maintain a figure that society deemed 'attractive'. People should not be driven to that, driven to the point where they are controlling themselves so much to be deemed attractive by others, living their lives by what others want. That is the point it all comes down to, women control themselves to be a certain image to be deemed attractive by other women and men. Society needs to get some self-esteem and realise that as long as you think you are attractive and realise that you could be hideous on the outside, but a beautiful person, than you will always be attractive to people because that is who you are. Not how you look on the outside, which will change with age anyway.

No one deserves to feel that they are unattractive, and I have heard so many of my friends complain that they have been spoken badly about because of their weight, or they feel insecure in outfits because it shows them badly, and I am one of these I admit. But at the end of the day, when I hear comments like that in SATC it really hammers into me that I, nor anyone else, should judge how good of a person I am or how worthwhile I am by their appearance or weight. I am happy with how I look because my world doesn't focus around it, I don't limit myself to look a certain way, I live my life completely at my own will and not being restricted to do a certain level of exercise or diet myself because I have to keep to a certain shape. Marilyn Monroe is the classic example of curvier beauty, a size 16 in the 1950s (a size 12-14 now) is one of the most beautiful women to have ever lived, but even she was insecure about her looks because Hollywood constantly found faults. It would be better if everyone just lived by what they believed to be attractive to them and not society's view of attractiveness, or even better, focused on how to be a good person rather than how to look good. Surely it would be better to invest the sheer amount of time people waste worrying on how they look, but on how good of a person they are?

I know thin girls and girls bigger than me, but I don't look at them and think only of the way they look and how well they are going to do in life because of that, I look at the person. I leave you with this quote from The Twits by Roald Dahl, a rule everyone should live by and one I am definitely going to remember when I whine about my weight or spotty skin: 

"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”



Wednesday 21 September 2011

The Autumn Shopping List - Beauty & Charms!

 Hello my lovelies! Hope you all are having a great week despite the grey clouds (at least its an opportunity to wear cute boots and knitwear!). I was meant to be going on my Trek America for three weeks starting yesterday, but a couple of weeks ago I injured my already damaged knee (clearly I am just a walking lucky charm...) and therefore was advised strongly by my physiotherapist that going would be a horrible, horrible mistake that would have quite nasty life-long consequences. So here I am, stuck in rainy England, inside the house on a pair of crutches. It is completely thrilling. 
The point is, with my Trek on hold and the rain making it 100X harder to walk outside with crutches (falling over again is not an option) I am pretty much under house arrest which is driving me insane, however, it has given me the time to start compiling a huge (Father Christmas would be jealous) list of things that I want to buy with my Trek spending money as well as trips to keep myself occupied until booking Trek again (Disneyland Paris, Spa weekend). So here it goes :







This is just some of the things I have had my eye on for a while! I love the Pandora charms because they are so detailed and they fit my personality, ever since the Carriage charm was released have been desperate to have it! It is the same with the Kerastase hair products, since buying the Elixir Oil which just works complete wonders with my curly, tangled hair, I have been absolutely dying to try the shampoo and conditioners from this range so it had to be thrown on the list, especially with hair becoming drier in the autumn/winter months. Make up wise, with the MAC foundation and the Lancome mascara, these are two products that I have discovered recently. I swatched the MAC Studio Sculpt foundation on a visit to Canterbury with Dani, and just loved it. Normally, I am not a foundation girl, relying more on powder, but this foundation felt smooth and had a good coverage, which definitely caught my interest despite the £23 price tag! Lancome Doll Eyes Mascara is a product I have been reading good things about, but I am still torn between this and Benefit's 'They're Real!' which I have tried and loved as well as Diorshow which have been told good things about so think that one will take some more thought! Plus, some fun buys are definitely the Muppet OPI Nail Varnishes, especially the Miss Piggy themed ones! They have the fun and drama of her star personality, so thought they would brighten up any outfit being worn!

Anyway, I do have a long, long, long list of clothes that I have been storing up, but thought would save those for when they are actually bought!


What do you think on the mascara front? Benefit, Dior or Lancome? Dare I even suggest Chanel?

Stephie x

p.s. I am selling some beloved items on eBay that need a good home, so click here to have a look :)

Friday 9 September 2011

Abercrombie, Aussie & Autumn!

Hello lovelies, hope you have all been having a great week and the miserable weather hasn't been getting you down too much! Sorry for the abscence again, have had a lot of things going on at home and therefore haven't really been able to blog that much. So, autumn has returned, now I rather like autumn as a season - the leaves are beautiful and line the street with warm colours, can get back into the habit of wearing wooly hats, jackets and boots without looking slightly odd as you would in summer, plus it is just slightly getting colder but not absolutely I-can't-feel-my-face freezing weather that comes with winter. Plus, its the season which my birthday falls in, not that that is a massive factor or anything... -innocent whistle-. Honestly, I just love the fashion of autumn and the colours, before you have to wear so many layers you look like an eskimo that got lost on their way to the polar bear olympics which winter brings, you can wear layers but style it just enough to keep some form of a figure rather than a moving bunch of fabric (a common fashion look for me in winter time, as I fall over from the weight of a fifth jumper).

Anyway, my parents returned home from the States with a lot of goodies in hand, and part of the collection was a Pandora bracelet which I had been interested in for a little while as something to show personality, a suitcase charm to go with it (for all my travelling adventures), a hoard of Abercrombie and Fitch clothes, a large 1940s wide brim hat (I'm ready for my close up, Mr DeMille) and oreos! But with the A&F hoard came preparation for autumn, and something that really worked well across the days when sunshine may actually appear (a miracle occurs, in other words) it is light enough, but can also be layered enough in Autumn not to freeze and become a Stephsicle. So I styled it with the first of the new autumn wardrobe:

Jacket: H&M; Blouse: Abercrombie & Fitch; Vest Top: New Look; Jeans: Topshop; Boots: Next.


Anyway, I loved that this blouse had the pink flowers on it, so could brighten up the other wise all dark colours with some pink/coral vest top to liven it up a little! So this is the first of the Autumn outfits really, no doubt that jacket will be coming in to use along with the cardigans, jumpers and hoodies alot more now... Also just a quick pic of the Pandora bracelet, quite looking forward to collecting the charms although already have my eye on loads so think this will be one of the things of many that will make me poor...

Finally, my Aussie giveaway prize has literally just arrived (the DHL man just arrived with it in hand, that wonderful, wonderful man) and it is awesome! Plus excited about the chance to go to the Aussie summer party!!! But will have to follow the instructions carefully to find out the challenge! So a massive thank you to Aussie for the package and the future challenge, and to Maria who put me up for the prize so thank you, thank you, thank you! Definitely looking forward to my popping candy and using Aussie shampoo again, just ran out so it came in the nick of time! Here are some pictures of the goodies:




Anyway, signing off now to pop my poppers and have some fizzwhiz candy :D

Stephie x