If ever there was an excuse

If ever there was an excuse to be as miserable and absolutely broken in spirit as I have been over this weekend, I have it. Yes, the last 4 days have been spent moping in my room, wanting to do absolutely nothing, so that's what I've been doing. I wish I could say I've been so busy being a good student that I have simply not had the time to post, but really, I've just been puzzling over my existence and whether or not I should share too many feelings here. I get a minuscule number of reads, but a few of those are my family and friends. Now that shouldn't be too huge, to let my family or friends know how I'm feeling, but it is indescribably uncomfortable. I'd much rather be anonymous in many situations and especially situations where I need to show emotions.

So have I been in hiding? Yes. 

Do I not feel like showing my face to the world? Absolutely. 

Is it killing me that I have to go out in the world when my heart would rather just cease palpitating? You got it. 

So should I be hiding and letting the world turn around me while mourning my own loss instead of trying to re-enter it with a smile on my face? I don't know. I certainly feel selfish for holing myself up, but when I go out, the smile that doesn't quite reach my eyes occurs automatically. That's where they strain shows. My eyes is where I hold all of the stubborn determination to keep from tearing up. If I just keep my head down and eyes averted, no one will know the difference.

Are there any ladies left?

Now I'm not modern-bashing, but does anyone else just wish that once in a while women would wear dresses or skirts that are knee length? Or, I'll go one step further: How about calf-length? No, not many women I see in my day not wearing some version of pants has a hemline nearer their hips than knees. Today, shirts are actually being made long so they can perhaps be worn as dresses if one is daring enough.

If you feel the need to show something off, why not try a small waist, or delicate ankles? Not many people can go wrong with either of those. Or perhaps some should exercise the ever-lacking quality in our culture, modesty. Modesty is beautiful. Even if someone is going to wear jeans, a shirt, and shoes, there's a large difference between a tailored sweater, solid-wash jeans, and plain-colored shoes and a strapless top, 'fashion-shredded' jeans, and the slippers you put on when you rolled out of bed this morning. Besides, do you really want anyone in a professional setting seeing you the same way your roommates do? I should think not.

Why a sudden realization and need to state this? Its something that someone needs to point out. Not only do I feel like a lady, but when I wear a long skirt, I get comments about how put-together I look. Once an older gentleman said, "Excuse me Miss, but you look exquisite today." Yes, if you're wondering, that did make my day!

Also, long skirts are DIFFERENT, even for me! Most all of my skirts hover around knee-length, so wearing something to my calf feels like a treat. The whole point of having choices in fashion is to be free, be different, express yourself, and have fun. In this way, I can see one reason women are choosing overly short skirts today and that is fun. If your shirt-turned-dress excites you so much you can't even imagine your day without it, wear it! Having said that, how do you feel about leggings? Patterned tights? Knee-high socks? It's definitely cold in the mornings, and soon it will be well into the afternoon.

Oh well. The message nowadays is to each his own and I should be respecting that, but I do have opinions that my outspoken nature can't help but voice. But really, everything comes back around and as much as I hate "trends" can't there just be a sudden revival of the long, clean skirt?

Emma the Con Artiste?

The movie The Brothers Bloom is underrated by many, some find it a snooze-fest, others lack the mental patience to follow the characters without doubt. It is, however, my movie of the week. It's been playing in the background of my mind for a week now. 

Simply, it is the story of two brothers, Bloom (Adrian Brody) and Stephen (Mark Ruffalo), who have been con men ever since their broken childhood of dead-end towns and foster homes. Bloom decides he finally wants out of the life, but Stephen talks him into one last con. 

With their pyromaniac partner, Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), Stephen introduces us to the Mark of their last con: Penelope. An eccentric heiress, Penelope (Rachel Weisz) is a shut-in, and has lived alone in her family's large New Jersey mansion her whole life. 

The con is simple, Bloom sweeps Penelope off her feet and convinces her to go to Prague with Stephen, Bang Bang, and himself. There, they hatch a scheme to trick Penelope into helping their 'activities', all whilst swindling her out of a tidy 2.5 million dollars.

Everything is real to Penelope for the first time, but what will Bloom do when he stops pretending?

There are so many things to look at in the movie, I don't see how anyone could get bored with it. Every time I watch I notice something new, or something that has always been there makes me have a new though. The roles are played impeccably. Its so easy to trust Stephen that you have not doubts as to why Bloom has gone along with him for so long. Penelope is awkwardly beautiful. You'll believe her in every misstep she takes. Bloom is all about internal struggle, by half way through the movie you'll be wondering if he really believes in the con anymore. Bang Bang is probably the hardest character to comprehend. She is chronically silent except for a karaoke interlude and a cryptic statement to Bloom when he needs it most. All in all, this movie is a must see, a full sensory experience that will have you sporting bowler hats and capes whilst doodling your name with "the con artiste" attached in various script.

One of my favorite ladies.

Okay, it's time to jump back into something I'm comfortable with, and this video I found really sparked the idea for this post. Marge and Gower dancing in their first starring picture, Lovely to Look At:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzNrOf-FKw8

Also, I somehow found time to watch a series of interviews with Marge Champion, and by herself, she's so much more amazing than I knew. Of course, when she was famous, she was famous with Gower, so you didn't get to see just her. It's very interesting. Just a couple of fun facts: Her father owned a dancing school in Hollywood, and he was famous in that right, her first job was as the motion model for Snow White at Disney, she was married to Artie Babbit before she married Gower, and her birthday is Sept 2. Yes, the woman is 91 and she still dances, she says, every single day. She's just so amazing!

Off the beaten path (for me)

Before I start yammering on about my fabulous corset that arrived in the mail yesterday, I feel like I should give credit where it's due:

Dita Von Tesse is a style icon in every sense of the word, and she's almost synonymous with corsetry. I've really learned so so so much about corsetry in the last few days, I wish I could take an actual class on this. Why? Because I wanted to feel educated when my own corset got here. 

Let's talk about Halloween! I'm just so excited about Halloween this year, my fiance and I are going to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time! This is where my first idea of corsets came up, and I've dreamed up a couple of pretty nice costumes for both RHPS and the Halloween festival in Ashland! 

The corset I fell for:
 
I found it on a site called OrchardCorset that has a youtube account and I quickly watched all 60-odd videos they provided. This is a discontinued style, so it's on sale, but I loved it at first sight! 

So this is what I'm going for:

First outfit for my fiance, second for me.

 

If you said my inspiration was the So You Think You Can Dance routine by Courtney and Mark to "The Garden" by Mirah, choreographed by Sonya Tahek, you're right!

So if those are all my thoughts, how does the corset look on me, you ask? Well, let's just say that this is definitely the beginning of a long and happy friendship.