Oh, fashion industry pt. 11,285

Exhibit A: "Christian Dior has an unequivocal zero-tolerance policy regarding anti-Semitism and racism."

Exhibit B: 

I'M JUST SAYING.

Happy Valentine's Day!

From Johnny Weir and Elise Overland

I hope you have a really lovely one.

Ella Lai -- more clothes, with bonus politics

 Thanks to a recent nudge, I realized that I meant to review some Ella Lai pieces -- since this is where most of my clothing budget for the last few months went. The lapse was entirely due to my failure to actually photograph some of the detailing I meant to talk about, because while some pieces are quite self-explanatory, others require additional deconstruction.

Anyway, I have her white shirt, which is really the most amazing shirt I own -- after all my complaining about the impossibility of finding a good white shirt, Ella made me one.  Beautifully tailored, no gaping, stiff collar -- what else can you possibly want in a shirt? Also, the darting on it as such that it is clearly shaped for a female body, and yet avoids that typical fitted nipped-in at the waist look -- it looks like a dress shirt, and fits well.

Also, since I live in cropped wool pants, I got these -- also perfectly fitted, in thin stretchy wool. I love them to death -- also notice that the bottom of the pant leg is lined in black silk, so they can be rolled up and look like you meant it. The leather belt is also fun, and it is tied rather than buckled, giving it unusual (and jaunty!) look.

For more detailed review however, I will talk about three pieces that won me over by unique detailing. First up, this dress.It is very fitted, and what I especially love about it is the high horizontal seam below the bust and open pleat at the bust:

As you can imagine, it makes for a very good fit, without bagging or blousing or being too tight. The dress is fully lined in what feels like blended silk in a very pretty steel-gray color, with a kick pleat in the back -- so it's fitted, and yet plenty comfortable. ALso, notice that my version doesn't have the puffed sleeve. Customization!

Then there are these pants. They are awesomely slouchy, the bottom of the leg is lined in gray silk for nonchalant rolling (and I really do love that, because rolled pants CAN look like the wearer was just too lazy to hem; not so with beautiful silk lining!) Anyway, I love them:

(This is me at a conference in Atlanta, where I was wearing the hell out of these pants.) Not only they look good and are comfy, but they also have the best closure ever: two buttons. No zippers, nothing but two buttons:

Genius!

And last but not least: my favorite jacket. Ella was kind enough to significantly modify a much longer gray jacket, to make mine camel, pure wool, shrunken, and perfect. The collar is lined in shantung silk, and can be worn up or down:

Of course, it is lined in blended silk, and as you can see from seaming and pocket detail, it is really well built. So my wool and silk uniform has been updated with some key pieces, all of which are classic and yet so originally and wittily constructed that they are never boring and really stand apart from all others.

And here's the thing. These pieces all run between $50 and $100, which might seem high if you're used to Target and Old Navy. But these items are designed by someone who cares deeply about her work and takes pride in her craftsmanship -- the attention to detail, the seam quality, the fabric selection (that's some nice wool on that jacket). Not to mention, these are made for your measurements. And considering this, these pieces are not at all expensive. I can email the person who is making them, we can discuss color swatches, she can change length or a sleeve shape or the neckline if I ask her to. The interaction with the person who makes your clothes is important: it gets one thinking about the practices in mass manufactured clothing, and the human rights and environmental abuses become more difficult to ignore.

And I get the usual argument of "$50 bucks will buy me 10 shirts in Walmart/Target/ON", I really do. I'd be a liar if I said that I don't own any ethically suspect pieces myself. And it takes experiences like this for me to realize that I like knowing where my clothes come from. I like knowing that were not made using child labor or that the manufacturer didn't completely ignore local environmental laws. It's the issue of price and cost, really: every cheap piece of clothing has a cost associated with it. Ten bucks is the price, but what is the cost in lost jobs in the US, in the exploited workers overseas, in the environmental damage -- herbicide pollution from cheap cotton production, eutrophication of lakes, desertification, salinization of soils... This is the sort of thing we all are paying for -- be it in increased medical cost, or lost wages, or decreased bargaining power as international conglomerates continue to increase their political influence. They call it externalization: for every sweatshop they build, they are the ones getting the profit, and we are left with splitting the cost and thinking that we somehow got the better of the bargain, because hey, a dress for the price of a latte!

So I'm trying really hard to ditch the mass-produced and stick to thrifted and handmade, with a dash of off-the-rack items from companies and designers who at least claim to care about ethics. And I don't think true quality is possible without it.

I'm on World SF blog

World SF blog was kind enough to ask me to participate in their brand new "Author week" feature. Basically, each day there's new content -- an interview, the latest book review, a short story reprint, guest post, giveaways... all good stuff. Today we have an interview with me by Charles Tan, and I talk excessively about House of Discarded Dreams and some upcoming projects. It also has a picture of the very mysterious Tait, credited with a large chunk of House of Discarded Dreams.

Since it's the first time they're doing it, I hope it's a success. So please comment, enter giveaways, make scenes. And spread the word, should you feel so inclined.

(Your fashion natterings will resume shortly).

Short story sale!

"End of White" sold to Shotguns v. Cthulhu, an anthology from brand-new fiction imprint of Pelgrane, Stone Skin Press.

Here's the beginning: "Coronet Kovalevsky had never expected to find that land was finite. It seemed so abundant to him when he was younger, something you could never possibly run out of – or run off of – that the very suggestion seemed ludicrous. Yet there he was in the summer of 1919, teetering on the precipice of the Crimean peninsula, with very little idea of what to do after the Wrangel's inevitable defeat and his own presumed tumble into the Black Sea. He had decided that he would not join the Bolsheviks – not so much out of any deeply held belief but rather because of his inherent disposition to avoid any large amounts of soul-overhauling work."

Who can guess which Lovecraftian entity manifests here?

Lnks a la Mode

And once again, Independent Fashion Bloggers' Links a la Mode -- tons of good, fun stuff. Enjoy!

"I have confidence that spring will come again, Besides which you see I have confidence in me"

Edited by Florrie Clarke of Intrinsically Florrie

Within  this week's links I kept noticing a resounding honestly in the  heartfelt posts. When we blog or choose an outfit we are putting  ourselves out there for all to judge, and it's not surprising that doing  the activity can have an affect on our confidence for better or for  worse, especially when feedback starts coming in.
There's also been a  sense of rebellion in the air: from the emergence of the punk style to  controversy over Vogue, and in the week that saw the spectacle which is  the Golden Globes rises a questioning of what the red carpet is all  about.

Links à la Mode: January 20th

• A la Modest Drawing inspiration from Kabukis, Rainbow Brite, Ladytron, and Padmé Amidala while on Tatooine
• Antares: Alfa Scorpii Fashion without mercy: do I have to choose between fashion and my beliefs?
• By Anika Who gets to label me and my worth? I do! An honest account from this  curvy fashionista who fiercely supports all of our rights to label,  embrace and love our fashionable selves, what ever our size.
• City of Glitter To Cover-up or Not To Cover-up? A post exploring foundation and its role in our self-esteem.
• Crimson Rosella Blogging: A Self-confidence booster?
• Depict This The challenge of wearing vintage clothing in the real world
• Elle Enchanted My take on what bloggers need to consider before accepting a sponsor.
• Fashezine Inspired by Jennine Jacob's post on how fashion blogs will evolve in 2011, I thought I'd try my hand at a video.
• Fashion Limbo Online Christmas Shopping, the Aftermath - on lost packages, refunds and independent retailers.
• Fuyume The demise of the kimono industry.
• Fish Monkey's Writing Stuff Why I don't think that red carpets have any relevance to fashion.
• Independent Fashion Bloggers: 5 Tips for Taking Better Photos of Yourself
• Intrinsically Florrie The fashion show that's made me impatient for summer.
• Karma-Style Blog Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj have 'FoF' - Fearlessness of Fashion. Do you?
• My Heart Blogged Falling head over flats. My flats collections, and why you don't see me wearing heels.
• Scarlet Letter Style Why is the fashion world so critical? I have an idea on how to fix it
• The Column of Samantha Tyler Of Punks and their influence on Fashion
• The Fashion Pawn The fourth part of The B.O.B Series discusses all "About You:" Tips for your About You Page.
• The-Loud Mouth Sometimes, garbage piles up: Fashion blogging isn't just a hobby. For some, it can be an emotional release.
• The Taxonomy Of My Wardrobe Three Strikes Vogue - You're Out! Three examples of how the fashion  bible is inexcusably out of touch with readers and losing relevance in  today's world
• The Simply Luxorious Life Why Not . . . Create Your Own Signature Style?

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Why I don't blog about Red Carpets

A few people asked me why don't I ever say anything about Red Carpet fashion, or celebrity fashion in general; and the reasoning is probably deserving of its own post, since Golden Globes just happened, and we had a thorough media coverage of all the pretty dresses worn by nice enough ladies. And I just don't consider that fashion -- or rather, this is such an explicit shill that I just can't bring myself to care. Basically, there are two issues at play: first, the designers who give away their dresses for free (to some of the very few people who could afford them), in order to make them into walking, occasionally talking, super-expensive billboards (it's not a secret to anyone that actresses do often get paid to wear certain designers, right? Right.) Billboards selling shit to us, people who cannot afford the dresses, in hopes that we'll remember the designer's name shopping for nail polishes, scarves, perfume and other revenue generators for luxury manufacturers. It's the tiny aspirational purchases that drive their profits, and it's the actors who help ignite the aspiring flame in us. So yeah, not interested.

The second aspect is what some call the Joan Rivers effect - the tendency to dress blandly and prettily and in the strictest conformity to heteronormative paradigm in order to avoid ridicule and being placed on worst dressed list and having Guiliana Rancic, as Tina Fey so eloquently put it last year, take a steaming dump on them. (Guiliana Rancic aside: I don't watch her show, so I have no idea of what that was in reference to, but in one of the show's promos, crying Guiliana says something to the effect, "But we're good people! Why are we being punished?!" Disclaimer: I neither wish harm on Guiliana Rancic nor do I believe that anyone is ever 'punished' in some vast cosmic justice sense, or deserves to be. However, a person who made a career out of ridiculing other women's bodies and dedicated herself to most fervent enforcing of patriarchal paradigm is NOT good people. Just saying. Anyway, long aside!)

So. Celebrities are so terrified that any hint of originality, personality or daring self-expression will lead to extensive media mockery (a justified fear, I may add, as Jessica Simpson and so many others well know), that their fashion choices tend toward safe. They hire stylists for fear that some uncontrollable bit of idiosyncratic taste will break through and spoil their otherwise unoffensive look. I mean, stylists only exists because there are so many grown wealthy women who cannot dress themselves, even with all the free designer swag thrown at them because they're worried that Fashion Police will take issue with the size of their earrings or unorthodox shoe choices.

So we're pretty much left with Tilda Swinton (pictured above), who is seemingly the only person left in Hollywood who knows she is awesome enough not to care, and Helena Bonham Carter who has the whole crazy avant-garde look down (her dress choices are routinely described as 'wacky' by people who seem to think it's a bad thing. She also wears Vivienne Westwood a lot, and can I just say how jealous I am?) Both of these actors routinely end up on various fashion faux-pas watchdog lists; I just hope that they will continue not to care. Wake me up when the rest of celebrities stop caring and fire all their stylists; meanwhile, I'll be perusing fashion editorials and street style blogs, because red carpet to fashion is like a burger joint to a petting zoo. Fashion is about self-expression, something that simply doesn't exist here.

New Year Gym

I never make New Year resolutions. I'm a big believer in fixing a problem as soon as I notice it exists rather than waiting for January; and am generally suspicious of set dates for anything. (Like NaNoWriMo – for me, it makes sense to write when I have a desire to write a novel and not write when I don't.)

I also know that other people aren't me and many DO like set dates – and hey, whatever works; but I can't help but to get all judgey when your New Year resolutions affect my gym time. Like, right now. As every gym rat will be happy to tell you, January is the worst. You have to find new times to work out because there's a gazillion people waiting for an elliptical. Lifting becomes an annoyance since neophytes can't be bothered to read the signs asking everyone to put back the weights and wipe the machines after use, and don't know any better than to sit on a leg extension machine for good half an hour, texting or just spacing out. And all of this would be a lot less annoying if these people were there to stay and gradually learned the etiquette – but they don't. 90% will disappear within 2 weeks, while another 5% will eke it out til Valentine's Day and then disappear too. They will come back next year though, just as clueless.

An additional perk is getting to listen to conversations of those resolutioners. It is shocking to me how many are there to lose weight they gained during the Holidays. How many view physical exercise as a temporary thing, a quick solution to a problem – to exercise 2 weeks and then not do it again until next year. And I am terrified at how the notion of exercise became tied into the whole weight loss industry: instead of exercising consistently because it's the sort of thing that's good for you, REGARDLESS of weight loss, it becomes the means, while the weight loss itself became a signifier of health. That's so backwards it makes my eyes cross.

And this is not just people at the gym, you know: perfectly respectable personal trainers to the stars and Victoria's Secret models advocate only working out with small weights and avoiding resistance on the elliptical because it will make your muscles bigger. But hey, it's all about health! Physical fitness experts sell cleanses which make you lose weight fast (and we all know that starvation diets permanently lower your metabolic rate, but hey, that's an acceptable price for thinness! We mean health.) Jillian Michaels, the terrifying trainer of the Biggest Loser, advocates dehydration and starvation diet as means of quick weight loss for an important event. But hey, she just wants fatties to be healthy. Even on supposedly pro-women internet forums, questions about exercise quickly devolve into weight loss tips. (I especially love the advocates of circuit training – which is awesome, don't get me wrong – making fun of those of us who spend an hour on the elliptical. “It's not necessary,” they say, “circuit training makes you lose weight faster.” Sure, and aerobic training builds endurance and has tons of other health benefits. But silly me, I thought we were talking about health.)

And you know, I understand why people might choose not to exercise. I understand that being healthy might not be a priority, or the opportunities might be lacking, or whatever. But if health is a priority, I'd say ditch the resolutions and a New Year, and start an exercise program when it suits you, with long-term goals in mind rather than viewing it as a quick fix for a month of overeating. After all, health at every size (HAES) means that your weight is not the main factor in your health – thin people need good diet and exercise too. And if you're a regular, I won't give you a stink-eye for hogging the elliptical.

Bewere the Night TOC

Queries has been addressed, contributors confirmed, and BEWERE THE NIGHT has a ToC. The order might change, but otherwise this is the lineup:

Introduction
“The Thief of Precious Things” A.C. Wise
“Poison Eaters” Holly Black   
“Go Home Stranger” Justin Howe   
“The Heavy” Cherie Priest   
“Tusk and Skin” Marissa Lingen   
“A Song to the Moon” Richard Bowes   
“In the Seeonee Hills” Erica Hildebrand   
“The Sinews of His Heart” Melissa Yuan-Innes
“(Nothing but) Flowers” Nick Mamatas   
“The Coldest Game” Maria V. Snyder
“Red on Red” Jen White   
“Extra Credit” Seth Cadin   
“Thirst” Vandana Singh
“Grotesque Angels” Gwendolyn Clare   
“Blue Joe” Stephanie Burgis   
“The Werewizard of Oz” Lavie Tidhar   
“Seven Year Itch” Leah Cutter   
“An Unnatural History of Scarecrows” Mario Milosevic   
“The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall” Kaaron Warren   
“Snow on Sugar Mountain” Elizabeth Hand   
“The Aphotic Ghost” Carlos Hernandez   
“The Fowler's Daughter” Michelle Muenzler    
“Moonlight and Bleach” Sandra MacDonald   
“She Drives the Men to Crimes of Passion!” Genevieve Valentine   
“Coyotaje” Marie Brennan   
“Swear Not by the Moon” Renee Carter Hall   
“Infested” Nadia Bulkin   
“Watchmen” Aaron Sterns   
“And Neither Have I Wings to Fly” Carrie Laben   

Preorder at Amazon.

My Life in Clothes by Summer Brenner -- Review

I came across Summer Brenner's book, My Life in Clothes, due to a usual confluence of events: I blog about fashion a lot and my next anthology will be about fashion. When I mentioned it to Nick Mamatas, he introduced me to a bona fide fashion writer Summer Brenner – she just published her book of short stories with Red Hen Press. Of course, I asked for a review copy, and Summer was gracious enough to send one.

The stories here, strictly speaking, are more vignettes than short stories – if they were paintings, they would be small nature mortes, often built around a single vivid image, and sometimes not expanding past it. They draw from the past and the present, for the narrator's own life and her grandparents, and become fused in one cohesive meditation on history, personal growth, and their sartorial corollaries. In other words, it's a lovely book.

The premise, as the title indicates, is a simple one: each of the stories is built around a sartorial memory – clothes being sometimes central, sometimes peripheral, and memories of them often serving as a metaphorical hook to hang a story on. But they are always vivid, always honest, and story by story, the narrator's (author's) past unfolds, garment by garment: it's almost like helping a friend to sort through their closet and listening to them reminisce about each item. Of course, it's never as simple as that.

“Limping barefoot from the hall, I rested on Elaine's arm, strands of French twist falling, stockings ruined, my cousin's lavender dress stained, the rabbit cape askew. It had been the sweetest night of my life.” (From “The Dancing Shoes”) Not the best – sweetest.  Brenner's writing is concise and precise, words like paintbrush strokes, spare and assured. Memories so vivid you can smell them and taste their perfume on the roof of your mouth.

There's also a fair amount of humor in these stories. This is from “My Life in Clothes”: “”I never saw a girl who attracted so many boys.” <...>Edith's voice choked with admiration. She had conceived a blond, willowy wildcard in a gene pool that normally favored short, heavy, and mousy brown.” The gentle poking at relatives, the self-deprecation creates a particular warmth and a gentle counterpoint to the harsher, more revealing moments, because Brenner doesn't shrink away from ruined relationships or family dramas.

Indeed, the dominating feature of the book is its sometimes painful honesty. It ranges from the earnestness of a plain teen (“”Everyone says she'll be beautiful someday.” Someday made it sound like I existed only in the future.” (From  “The Red Beret”)) to almost mournful self-revelation of an adult in a failing marriage. Garment by garment, story by story, the author reveals more and more of herself, until you feel like you know her and would recognize her in the streets, if not by face then by her wardrobe.

And what a wardrobe! “On the rack of a hospital charity store, I found the very thing I needed: sheared raccoon. Its ugliness called to me. It cost ten dollars and weighed ten pounds. When real winter fell like an instrument of torture, I was prepared. I wore the coat every day and slept under it at night. It was a lifesaver.

“As the months dragged on, the coat began to fall apart. Pockets ripped, and the rotten lining tore. I left one cuff as a souvenir in New Haven. The other, I flung from the eighteenth floor of a New York Hotel.” (“The Spring Coat”) Well, you get the idea.

Intertwined throughout, are the stories of the author's relatives – grandparents, parents, cousins... “Psychic Shopper” tells a fascinating tale of cousin Peggy, who could select a perfect wardrobe for any client without ever meeting them. This unlikely tale is punctuated with accurate and hilarious observations, that ground it beautifully:

“
Never trust a man to describe a woman accurately
Men's impressions are generally vague
Men and women never agree on what's attractive
If men had their way, a woman would never cut her hair or wear loose pants.”

It is also worth mentioning that this book is not what you would call a fashion or personal style exploration. It is possible to be obsessive about clothing without putting forth any familiar signifiers, such as specific designers or styles. Clothes here are often plain, old, thrifted, borrowed, bought on a whim... their value comes from the associated experience rather than themselves. In that sense, this is the Velveteen Rabbit of fashion books – and well worth spending time with. It's now on sale at Amazon. If you love clothes, memoirs, and family histories, this book will delight you and possibly make you want to go shopping for vintage fur.

Plants of Grenada

Birds of Grenada

We returned from a most wonderful vacation at Grenada. I spent most of my time snorkeling and photographing. Here're some bird pics:

Things I've learned from BEWERE THE NIGHT

And that's a wrap! All the responses went out, so please query if you haven't received yours. I will announce the final ToC as soon as I confirm a couple of contributors, but for now some things I've learned while dealing with an open call anthology. Was it worth it? Yes, considering that less than half of the stories in the antho were solicited. The rest were received over the transom – some from writers familiar to me, others I only heard of, and finally some new ones to me.

In the course of reading 300+ submissions and many more queries, several things struck me as worthy of talking about. Take this list as descriptive of my experience and nothing more.

1. Guidelines contain all the information a writer needs. Some guidelines are very detailed and particular – and as a writer I tend to not submit to places which threaten eternal damnation if things aren't formatted just so. For most venues, standard manuscript format is fine. No need to email the editor asking about margins – in fact, I feel that it's counterproductive, since the time I'm spending reading emails asking about my format requirements is the time I'm not spending reading subs. As for definitions of what is and isn't urban fantasy: unless specified, assume it is broad. Same for sex and violence: unless specified, assume there are no restrictions. I want stories, not assignments. I hate themed anthos that only allow for the narrowest possible interpretation of the theme because they end up bland and repetitive. Surprise me.
   
   
2. Addendum: Do not email me with advice – really, I got this. I post my guidelines where I post them because it works for me, and I put all the info I care about into them. If I don't have font specs it's because I don't care. 
   
   
3. Cover letters: the time I'm spending reading cover letters is the time I'm not spending reading subs. Keep them short. Chatty covers about nothing in particular work against you. So do summaries of stories in cover letters, more than five credits, explanations of your credits. The last one worth mentioning separately: don't tell the editor in a cover letter of how good/respectable the venues you've sold to are. Because I either heard of them and already have an opinion, or I haven't heard of them, and thus it's irrelevant. Also, don't let your cover letter write the check your story can't cash: if you tell me I'm going to be terrified, it sets up certain expectations. 
   
   
4. Blog comments: time I'm spending reading... you get the theme here. Asking about tropes is pointless since if the story is good, tropes are irrelevant, and if it isn't, tropes aren't going to save it. Informing me of the story you plan to write is not particularly helpful, since I won't remember anyway, but not harmful either.
   
   
5. Considering the amount of subs I'm receiving and the fact that I'm just one person with a full-time job and a writing thing of my own, I cannot provide detailed feedback, suggestions, referrals etc. Writers entitled to editor's response but not feedback. Emailing a followup asking what I REALLY thought about your story will likely meet with silence.

So, editors in the audience! Any other helpful tips you can share?

New Favorite Meme

Thanks to glvalentine, who pointed me to my new favorite meme, based on the Babysitters Club. It originated here. Anyway, Kristy is super-judgey:

I predict that now all my teaching will be done via this meme.

New Review

Wow, Denver Post likes The House of Discarded Dreams!

""The House of Discarded Dreams" is a beguiling, surrealistic fantasy wonderfully brought to logic-defying life." See? You need this book!

OH TOM FORD NO

So Tom Ford feels that fat women shouldn't wear clothes. Of course, he disguises it as concern for poor dears, what with the pinching and the squeezing and the sausaging. Not like he would actually, you know, design clothes for fat women that would fit them. I was never a fan of his designs, since his Gucci days -- he tends toward the sexy silhouette and his overall esthetic is so about male gaze it's not funny. So I don't get why people get so excited about his return to women's wear -- don't we have Herve Leger and Bebe (for the not-so-wealthy) already for all your sexpot needs? But generally, I didn't care until he did this:

Oh Tom Ford, must you go ahead and represent everything that is wrong with fashion?

End of the Year

December seems to be traditionally the time for year-end summaries and talk of accomplishments and hopefulness. 2010 has been a pretty bad year for me, but there were some positives:

The House of Discarded Dreams was published. It's a weird little book and I love it and am glad to see it in print.

Heart of Iron: St Petersburg to Beijing sold and will be published next year. I talk of it as a steampunk book a lot, but really, it's an alternate history novel in which I tried to avoid things I hate in alternate history novels (such as the same historical personages occupying the same roles despite widely divergent histories.) Not so here! Also, I anticipate people complaining that insufficient time is spent on larger conflicts (the prelude to the Crimean War and Taiping rebellion). I probably should start disclaiming that I'm not interested in larger conflicts.

Tin Cans came out in Haunted Legends, and I'm proud of this story. I also wrote another short story, A Handsome Fellow, I really like. Both deal with Russian history, with the latter firmly focused on the Siege of Leningrad.

Running with the Pack saw publication, and Bewere the Night is progressing well. I'm planning another antho after that. Yes, there's a title. And it'll be all about fashion.

I also started compiling a short story collection. Anyone wants to suggest a title?

OK, here are my positives. Not bad!

It's that time of year again!

Reposting from Dec 5 2009:

Someone recently emailed me asking if I had an Amazon wishlist. While I appreciate the kindness and consideration, I would like to say that I don't need anything. There are, however, people who do -- especially now, since things have been so difficult for many people. Consider this a holiday PSA, but if you have money to spare, donate to charity or to women's and homeless shelters, Habitat for Humanity etc etc. The Hunger Site has a good list of various international charities that accept donations, and where as little as $15 can provide real help to people who need it, while Oxfam focuses on long-term local solutions to poverty and environmental degradation. Please suggest your favorite charities in comments and feel free to repost.

ekaterinasedia.com: The Fashion Show

This show is my crack. By now, it left Project Runway in the dust, even though Tim Gunn is irreplaceable.
Surprisingly, Calvin is growing on me. David, however, is creepy. This impression is predicated entirely on his weird laugh every time he says "vagina" (and he says it a lot).

Isaac Mizrahi is turning into a nurturer, and Iman is just being herself and awesome. And I like the guest judges! They all have something to do with fashion (unlike, you know, actresses who get dressed by other people. I am totally writing a post about why Red Carpet is not fashion.) Deeta von Teese and Anja Rubik somehow seem
more plugged in than some obscure actress PR has been trotting out for some unfathomable reason.

Anyway, I'm excited to see Johnny Weir and Rachel Zoe as guest judges. Like, literally.
http://ekaterinasedia.com/index.php/2010/12/01/the-fashion-show/
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Links a la Mode -- IFB

And once again my cranky natterings are included in IFB's weekly roundup.  Enjoy many insightful posts!

Giving Thanks

Edited by: Holier than Now

It's  Thanksgiving here in the U.S. and many of us are looking forward to the  Black Friday sales - oh wait, I mean spending time with our families  and friends! But it's wonderful (and kind of weird) that so many of the  people that influence and support us on a daily basis won't be gathered  around our table; they'll be hanging around our web address, retweeting  our (sometimes) witty comments, liking our latest post on Facebook, etc.  Whether or not you celebrate turkey day, as a blogger it's hard not to  be full of gratitude for the resources we share on a regular basis. This  week, Tickle Me Chic helps ban the blogging blues, Previously Owned does your holiday gift shopping for you, and Make the World a Prettier Place sums up the reason so many of us are grateful just to be alive (hello? fashion!) with a visual history.

Links à la Mode: November 25th

• Be Fabulous Daily Applying old-school academic standards of original content and citation of sources to fashion blogging
• Boheme Noir Best outfits 2010 of style icon Giovanna Battaglia
• Fashion Butter: How to DIY Fur Collar with Chains
• Fish Monkey's Writing Stuff Lanvin + H&M: Is there a downside?
• Frock and Roll A code of ethnics for advertorials on your blog
• Grit and Glamour RSS and Sharing for Dummies—and Lazies
• Haute Halifax Out of sight, out of mind? A look at the impact of the textile industry in Africa
• Holier than Now The Under $50 Gift Guide: Fashion, guy-friendly goods, eco and charitable finds and more
• Independent Fashion Bloggers: Are you addicted to blogging?
• Make the World a Prettier Place 30 Vogue covers from 1922 to 2005
• Mary Van Notes A vintage style post from a tree house
• Pancake Stacker Lessons from "Changing Fashion: Internet and Blogging" featuring Liz of Late Afternoon, Yvan Rodic of The Face Hunter, and more
• Positively Bleak Tips on staving off the winter blues - with a bonus compilation of free demos and EPs from alternative rock bands!
• Previously Owned A carefully selected gift list for the foodie, fashionable, beauty obsessed and generous
• The Chic Curve Winter coats for everyBODY. No matter what size or shape, there is a fabulous jacket just for you!
• The Coveted: Frock Luxury Vintage: A local NYC discovery
• The Fashion Pawn The Business of Blogging: Your Blog Brand
• The Lingerie Addict: 5 things Every Woman  Should Know About Her Lingerie
• The New Professional A bloglover's tips for keeping up with your blog reading
• Tickle Me Chic: Get rid of those blogging blues: Tips and links to ban discouragement
• Wanderlost 10 things to look forward to this winter

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