Hi guys! School is starting again tomorrow so I wanted to use this little bit of free time I still have for another blogpost. I'm keepin' the Etam Beauty reviews a-comin' because I'm loving them so much and I'm using them so often! This particular color is a complete winner, especially with green-brown hazel eyes, like mine! These kinds of greens (khaki, mossy, muted brown-greens) are always a yes for me because they're always flattering and I don't have to be in a daring mood to put it on. Swatchy-swatch!
Left to right: over primer - over a brown base - over a green base
In my look I used it over a brown base to give it some extra smokey oomph, and I felt like a rockstar with glam as fuck eyes.
Just like Vert ètoilè, it's a metallic color with lots of sparklies.
This look is Vert Elfique on the whole lid and under the lower lashline, some dark chocolatey brown and a gold in the corners from this essence palette:
Essence is a budget-friendly brand I'm pretty happy with too, quality and color wise. I used the gold etam eyeliner on the lower waterline, but that only shows up if the light falls on it directly. I keep searching for the perfect gold and silver eyeliners to use on my waterline but ALAS, no cigar just yet. The color on my lips is a warm purple color I lightly dotted onto my lips and smacked them together to divide the color evenly. This lipstick is A LOT darker if you put it on normally, and it's one of my faves because it's such a versatile color and texture. But that's a review for another day!
That's it for today! I'm off to brunch with my bae and play some Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Wish me luck with my first week back at college, starting tomorrow! Have a lovely week <3
A make-up post for you on sunday! I'm still playing around with my Etam eyeshadows and I will be playing around with this gorgeous Sleek palette I got for a couple of euros from fellow blogger Nathalie, I can't wait! So much make-up, so little free time!
So this color is, I think, my favorite of all the colors I have from Etam Beauty. It's this gorgeous mermaid-y blue-green color with lots of sparkle that creates a beautiful depth when you put it on. I absolutely love creating dramatic smokey eyes with this color, but it's also very wearable in a more subtle way.
From left to right: vert étoilé over primer, a blue base and a green base.
I CAN NOT stress enough how much fun it is to play around with bases. Especially with colors that are kind of holographic and have mulitple colors in them, it can make a world of difference and basically gives you a new color with every base. If you have some creamy eyepencils laying around, definitely try it out!
This is the look I did! I put a darker blue in the crease, a blue-green highlighter by essence in the inner corners and the rest is all vert étoilé!
For the neutral lips I used a nude lipgloss by Essence, which my sister swatched here. It goes with everything, costs less than 5 euro and feels really silky on the lips, so it's a big yes too. It doesn't last a very long time, but it's easy to reapply and I'm used to the reapplying, so for me that's not an issue.
HOW ABOUT THAT EYESHADOW THOUGH? Jebus, I can't stop looking at it. I keep looking at my swatched hand and thinking, everytime the light changes, "OMG IT SPARKLES". I'm a simple gal, people. So another BIG triumph for the Etam eyeshadows! My favorite thing about this eyeshadow is that it makes me feel like a mermaid, and mermaids are majestic as hell.
What's your favorite fairytale creature and CAN YOU THINK of a more majestic thing than mermaid eyeshadow?
*this is not a sponsored post, I bought everything with my own money.
HOWDY folks! I know I should maybe do a "well here I am, back in the blogging game!" thing but I really don't feel like it's necessary. That's kinda awkward and I have no idea what to write in a post like that so I'm just gonna jump right in. My future plans for the blog are mostly beauty/make-up related, since that's something I do and love almost everyday and I feel like I'll keep up the blogging more easily and with more GUSTO if I do it about something I really enjoy and am creative with on a regular basis. I just need my tripod and a remote control for taking the pictures, and mah brain, which is super chill and can be done at any time of the day (though my brain isn't worth much early in the morning and late at night, plus the lighting would be horrible at night BUT ANYWAYS) . And I really miss blogging as my kind of "look diary". Well there ya go, an awkward "well here I am, back in the blogging game!" mini post.
Onto the order of the day: my sister got a surprise package from Etam Beauty a couple of months ago. Etam is a brand/store usually known for pyjama's and lingerie, so I was pretty stoked and surprised when she opened the box and it showed make-up, nailpolish and soaps! After getting this color from her as a little present, I decided to play around with it and I loved it. I got so excited about this particular brand of beauty products that I bought four more colors! They're not expensive at all for what you get, they have great lasting power and the colors that I tried are wonderfully opaque. Etam has a great range of colors, beautiful neutral gold, brown and grey shades while also having some wonderful neons, sparkly colors and and a variety of textures.
I did a full lid look with it, which I will post later, and I did this look with it, which I would like to call "RAVE PIXIE". If Tinkerbell was a party gal.
I swatched it, on the left you have it over primer and on the right over a white cream base. Bases and primers are musts! Eyeshadow shows up much more sheer and often doesn't last the day without them, and it was such a big revelation for me when I started using them. It's bright bright bright pink!
This is with a white line of eyepencil under the pink. As you can see, it makes for a bright, awesome eyeliner-ish look! The consistency is still powder of course, but I wore this the whole day with great succes, no blurring. I paired it with a nude lipstick from Catrice (240 "Hey Nude") to keep the look simple and to let all the attention go to the eyeshadow.
The only downside of the eyeshadow, and that's only for this particular shade, is that it stains the skin. After removing it with my standard eyemake-up remover which does the trick for all my other stuff, I still had a faint pinkish sheen on the part of my eye where the shadow was. I think it's a think that happens sometimes with neon colors, as I've read about it on other blogs too. The pink sheen was gone after a night of sleep though, so it's nothing to worry about.
I am a BIG fan of this brand and I'm sure that I'll buy more colors in the future!
Hier komt het. Nog een "juffrouw truttenbol" die denkt dat ze iets te zeggen heeft. Pardon? Ja, want Marc Didden heeft in zijn opiniestuk een oproep gedaan aan de stijve, boze, mannenhatende feministen en heeft ons gereduceerd tot een triest hoopje ellende. Ook Guido Everaert vond het belangrijk om zijn 2 cents te geven en aan te kondigen dat wij met z'n allen toch een potje kunnen zeuren. Vanwaar ineens die uitbarsting? Een vrouw die haar mening geeft en het niet eens is met de manier waarop ze wordt behandeld. Oh jee.
Yasmine Schillebeeckx publiceerde op 8 maart het artikel "Mijn naam is niet Hey Sexy", waarin ze beschrijft hoe ze haar buik vol heeft van situaties waar mannen haar aandacht opeisen door naar haar te roepen, haar grenzen niet respecteren en haar te achtervolgen, bij wijze van een "compliment". Want ze doen dat toch allemaal zeker gewoon omdat ze haar willen laten weten dat ze haar wel zien zitten. Het artikel wordt opgepakt door De Morgen. De reacties op Yasmines artikel gaan van erg naar erger, bijvoorbeeld een anoniem persoon die het belangrijk vindt om te melden dat "de mannen in België toch maar schatjes zijn in vergelijking met die in India, dat ze anders eens naar daar moet verhuizen", refererend naar de groepsverkrachtingen die het afgelopen jaar steeds vaker aandacht krijgen van de media.
Alle issues waar vrouwen mee kampen worden geminimaliseerd onder het mom van "het is ergens anders toch nog veel erger". Ik denk dan altijd "ja, ik zal uw neus eens breken en dan zeggen dat het veel erger had kunnen zijn als ik uw been had gebroken.". Want tenzij dat we het allemaal eens zijn met het feit dat de gemiddelde vrouw zich niet honderd procent veilig voelt als ze over straat loopt vanwege alle negatieve ervaringen die ze al heeft gehad met seksuele intimidatie of aanranding, moeten we dit NIET wegsteken. We moeten stoppen met onze ogen te sluiten voor individuen die ons, onze vriendinnen, onze zussen, moeders en nichtjes het gevoel geven dat de wereld niet van ons is. Dat we geluk hebben om te kunnen rondlopen zonder lastig gevallen te worden en ja, als dat dan eens gebeurt, dan moeten we het er maar mee doen. Ze bedoelen het niet slecht! Alleen jammer dat je scheldwoorden als "slet" en "hoer" naar je hoofd krijgt als je niet ingaat op deze "avances". Maar ze bedoelen het niet slecht. Alleen jammer dat een artikel over intimidatie en aanranding vooral kan rekenen op reacties die haar ervaring en gevoelens in twijfel trekken.
Afgezien van de driehonderdduizend redenen die ervoor zorgen dat dit een problematisch gegeven is, vraag ik u dit, Meneer Didden en co: waarom vindt u het belangrijker om de vrouw en haar gevoelens af te breken dan de acties die haar een onveilig gevoel geven? Is het dan zo belangrijk om de vrijheid te hebben om tegen iemand aan te schurken die je niet kent en niet geïnteresseerd is? Is het dan zo'n belangrijk onderdeel van uw leven dat mannen vrouwen mogen behandelen als een gebruiksvoorwerp? Is het zo'n probleem dat vrouwen niet op elk moment van de dag over straat lopen om gemeten, gewogen en goedgekeurd te worden door mannen? Newsflash: Dit zijn niet enkel uw straten, en wij overdrijven niet.
Hieronder geef ik u mijn ervaringen, ervaringen die ervoor hebben gezorgd dat ik mij kwetsbaar voel, puur vanwege mijn vrouw-zijn.
Ik was 11. Het begin van de
pubertijd was begonnen, oh happy day. Ik ging met mijn moeder naar de
markt en terwijl zij rustig rondsnuisterde tussen de bloemenstalletjes,
merkte ik een oudere man op de fiets op. Hij, knipoogde, maakte
kusgeluidjes, stopte met fietsen en kwam dichter naar mij toe gewandeld.
Ik liep weg, naar mijn moeder, en hij zag dat ik met mijn moeder was. Ik
durfde niks tegen mijn moeder te zeggen en hoopte dat hij weg zou gaan.
Het volle uur dat we nog op die markt waren, bleef de man rondjes fietsen
en naar mij staren, als ik hem opmerkte dan knipoogde hij nog eens. Toen
we klaar waren op de markt heb ik mijn moeder gezegd dat ik snel naar de
auto wilde, en toen ik omkeek stond de man op het hoekje van de markt mij
nog altijd na te kijken. Ik was doodsbang dat hij ons zou volgen. Ik ben
beginnen huilen en heb alles tegen mijn moeder gezegd, die zei "als
hij dichter kwam, dan had ik hem wel klop gegeven" en "ja, je
bent een vrouw aan het worden.". Vanaf dat moment ben ik puberteit beginnen vervloeken.
Ik was 13. Ik zat op
de bus voor een halfuurtje/veertig minuten, en ik merkte dat een groepje
jongens tussen de 16 en 25 naar mij aan het kijken waren. Ik keek even hun
richting op en zij zagen dat als aanmoediging om dichter te komen. Een
halfuur lang zijn ze telkens een beetje dichter gekomen, kusgeluidjes
makend, gebaren die iets zeiden a la "schone borsten". Het was
een volle bus, met genoeg andere mensen die dit konden aanschouwen, maar
niemand reageerde. Een van de meest beangstigende halfuurtjes van mijn
leven. Toen we bij het eindstation aankwamen, ben ik heel snel naar de
geparkeerde auto van mijn moeder gerend, en toen ik in de auto zat en
omkeek zag ik de jongens naar de auto wandelen en zwaaien.
Nog altijd 13. Ik kom op straat iemand tegen die mijn vader kent en mij al
een tijdje niet meer had gezien. Ik krijg de opmerking dat ik "een
lekker wijf" ben geworden, en dat mijn borsten er goed uitzien in dat
shirt. Hij weet dat ik 13 ben.
Ik was 14. Ik had een
moeilijk sociaal leven omdat mijn ouders voor thuisstudie hadden gekozen
voor mij en ik zocht vrienden op internetfora. Na een foto te hebben
geplaatst van mijn in een zomerse outfit (gewoon een mouwloos shirt,
eigenlijk) kreeg ik persoonlijke berichtjes van een paar mannen, eerst met
"je bent mooi" en toen ik daar positief op reageerde kreeg ik te
horen dat ik de volgende keer mijn topje wel mocht uitlaten.
Ik was 19. Ik zat op de tram
tussen 8 en 9u 's avonds. Ik kwam terug van de verjaardag van mijn
kersverse vriendje en ik voelde me ontzettend gelukkig. Er kwam een man
tegenover mij zitten en zei "I love the way you look". Op een
ander moment had ik misschien met mijn ogen gerold maar op dit moment
voelde ik mij goed en gaf ik een blije "thank you!". Hij
probeerde een beetje te babbelen, vroeg mijn naam, alles okay. Na een minuutje ofzo kwam hij dichter en zei
"why don't you give me your number and we can have a good time."
Ik
zei "No thanks, I'm not interested" waarmee hij nog dichter kwam
en zei "you know, we would have a great time" en zijn hand op
mijn dij legde. Ik werd steeds banger en ik zei nu heel duidelijk en luid
"Please leave me alone, I'm not interested, can you please just let
me be" en toen het duidelijk was dat ik op het punt stond om te
beginnen wenen/roepen is hij weg gegaan, een zitje verderop met de
verklaring "Jesus, you don't have to freak out, I was just trying to
have a good time, woman". 10 minuten later kwam hij nog eens terug om
te vragen of ik een sigaret voor hem had.
Ik was 20. Ik fietste op
klaarlichte dag van mijn vakantiejob naar huis, en ik krijg een platte
band. Een man fietst voorbij mij en zegt "baby, do you have a
boyfriend? Zullen we op date
gaan? I will rock your world afterwards". Nadat ik zeg "Nee
bedankt, ik heb een vriendje en ik ben niet geïnteresseerd" blijft
hij naast mij staan en probeert hij mij te overtuigen. Als ik toch
op mijn plattebandfiets stap en keihard wegfiets, fietst hij nog een
tijdje achter me.
Ik ben 21. Ik zit op de
tram, gewoon overdag, en er komt een man naast mij zitten. Twintig minuten
lang zitten we naast elkaar, en hij komt steeds dichterbij zitten. Na 10
minuten zit ik tegen de muur geklemd omdat ik afstand probeer te bewaren
en blijft hij dichter komen. Ik voel een hand mijn knie aaien. De volgende
halte stapt hij af, ik voel me razend.
Ik heb er zo nog wel een paar hoor, maar deze ervaringen waren voor mij de ervaringen die er uit sprongen. Deze ervaringen, inlcusief een ex die het grappig vond om op momenten in mijn kont of borsten te knijpen en dan lacherig te vragen "oeps, rand ik je nu aan, mevrouw de feminist?", hebben er voor gezorgd dat ik in situaties op straat meteen een scenario in mijn hoofd begin klaar te maken over wat ik moet doen als dat groepje mannen aan mijn kant komt lopen. Dat ik mij soms beter voel als ik mijn huissleutel in mijn zak heb zitten als wapen. Dat ik soms tegen de zomer op kijk en mijn borsten haat, want hoeveel ik ook van lichte bloemenjurkjes hou, soms heb ik geen zin in mij constant bewust te zijn van hoe er naar me wordt gekeken of geroepen.
Veeg deze ervaringen niet weg als u ermee geconfronteerd wordt. Luister, vraag, wees kritisch als u dat wilt maar sluit je ogen er niet voor en minimaliseer het niet. Dat is alles wat ik van u vraag. Wij overdrijven niet.
“You could make grown men gasp when you'd go walking past them”
- Garbage
I don't want to live on this planet anymore
People, the world is in the slut shaming business. And frankly, I don't care for it. I try to fight for causes that I believe in, such as gender equality, the end of any type of discrimination and trying to respect every human being, even though they do not believe the same things as I do. I try to be sensible and think through everything I say when I go into a discussion with someone who has a different opinion than me. But man, sometimes people can be bitches and I facepalm. I FACEPALM, MY FRIENDS. And I weep for humanity. Okay, let's not be this theatrical, but I am serious when I say that I get a very unsettling feeling in my stomach that makes me want to punch puppies (which I never do obviously, because puppies are the best, but all the more reason this type of thing upsets me).
What AM I talking about, you ask? Well, lemme put it down for you, G. More than a month ago, I went to a wedding. The guy that was getting married was one of the kids in a family that has known my family since, basically, the day I was born. That's almost twenty years! When we were kids, we played with barbiedolls and lego, we smashed each other in videogames and did all the fun stuff that kids do together. As life progressed, we got to see less and less of each other, because that's what life does. You go in different directions, you grow up faster or slower, someone gets a boyfriend earlier on or tries to focus on their schoolwork more. You get the picture, right? But my mom always stayed close to their mom, so sometimes I heard when someone broke up with their girlfriend or boyfriend or I sent them a happy birthday when it was that time of the year.
So, the guy that got married is the sweetest guy and married the most beautiful, sweet and intelligent woman and I was incredibly honored and happy to be part of their special day. They looked gorgeous and happy together and I cried when they read their wedding vows. I knew what he went through to get to this point in his life, and I felt very proud and happy for him.
How my underwear got to be the topic of a facebook discussion
Now comes the most important part of the whole day: WHAT WAS I WEARING? I'm not kidding, people. Someone got married and people were worried about what I was wearing. How did those worries, that I care exactly ZERO POINT ZERO about, find their way into my life so that I started caring about them? Facebook. You see, my sister and me are part of a discussion group that sometimes feature subjects that I really care about, like fat shaming, feminism and slut shaming. The subject of slut shaming came up and one of the brothers from the guy that recently got married reacted on the discussion. One of his points was that, once a man sees a woman in a sexual context, they can't easily unsee it. Those were opinions that I don't care for and I feel that they add to the world in a very negative way, but my sister was already on a roll with telling him off in every possible way, so I tried to make a joke and stated my own opinion. Which boils down to "Slut shaming's bad, mmkay." Because you shouldn't judge people on the length of their skirt or the amount of sexy selfies they post on the internet, that's the oldest lesson in the book. I don't know about you guys, but my mom wasn't the most traditional mom and yet still she taught me not to judge a book by it's cover, however short of long that cover may be.
The facebook discussion carried on, with the high point being the following: the guy we were discussing slut shaming with, told me, to prove his point, that he saw black underwear showing through my cream dress at the wedding. And a month later, he still can't unsee that shit. Poor guy was traumatised by my wardrobe malfunction, if there was actually any underwear showing through. I looked in the mirror a gazillion times before we left for the wedding, my mom, boyfriend and parents in law never saw anything and my sister owned the dress previously, stating that there is no showing through of the underwear with that dress. Now, whether or not the underwear was showing through, let's come to a conclusion that's pretty obvious, shall we? When someones underwear is showing through their dress, it's USUALLY not on purpose. You should probably think "woops, that's a little silly/painful" and maybe tell the person so they can, I dunno, change their underwear or at least be aware of that fact. Or, see it for the fucking futile thing it is and let it go. The latter being the most obvious and intelligent thing to do, no? Or am I being holier than thou?
The discussion on facebook ended not very long after my sister called him out, telling him to back the fuck away from her sister (love ya, sis <3) and me stating that I had no idea whatsoever about my underwear and that he made me feel kinda crappy about myself. After some other people told him that he needed to apologize, he stated "I'm sorry" and continued to talk about why he came to the vile decision of talking about my underwear in a facebook discussion group. It wasn't terribly interesting, so I zoned out and I continued living my godforsaken, black underwear wearing life like the terrible slut I am (I'm really joking here, you guys, I don't feel sorry for myself :D).
You're usually such a sensible girl!
I thought "well, I never thought my underwear would be the topic of a discussion unless it was with my boyfriend or my sister" because you know, boyfriends are interested in underwear and sisters discuss patterns and cuts of anything, including thongs. Now, weeks later, I hear my mom having a heated discussion with someone on the phone, which is odd. My mom is a peaceful new age chick, never wanting to go "into conflict" with anybody. But now, my underwear was the lady of the hour again! Oh happy day, mama! Apparently, the family that I previously mentioned had been discussing my underwear! Not only the guy on facebook, but his brother, sister and mother too! The guy that had gotten married not so much, because he probably don't give a rats ass and I respect that very much. The conclusion of the family? I looked "inappropriate" and they "expected more from me" because I'm usually such a sensible and intelligent girl.
Lesson learned: the sluttier the dress, the dumber you are! As your hemline rises, your IQ lowers! I don't have a picture of the dress, but the concept was like this one:
But fancier, creamier, the neckline higher and sleeveless. I was deemed "inappropriate". I was slut shamed by almost an entire family that has known me since I was a baby, prancing around in diapers. Maybe you think "Tssk tssk, Naomi, what are you so miffed about? Everybody gossips about the way people dress at parties!" Well, read on!
The part where I get on my high horse
I know about the world. When you're a girl, you get judged from the get go. Kids in elementary school judged me because I had a funny accent and because I was chubby. You learn that the world is a superficial and hard place, even when you're a kid. When puberty comes along, it all gets worse. Your body is suddenly the most important thing in the world and everybody gets a say in it. The way you dress is always wrong and what you say is always wrong, because there will always be somebody that will disagree with you. As you get older, you realise that you'd rather not give a fuck about what other people think of you. Does that actually ever happen? I don't think so. Everybody cares about what other people think. Especially the people that you love, people that you've known for a long time, people that should know you for the person you are. People that should know better than to judge you by the showing of your underwear.
I am aware of the way our world works. People judge because people judge them. But most importantly, people judge because it's a lot fucking easier to just go around judging people than to question your own thoughts and actions before you go and soil the world with the opinions nobody cares about. Think about this: somewhere, there's a girl that's been called a slut one too many times because she wore a short skirt to school. She feels so bad about herself that she starts questioning whether she's even a decent human being. Maybe she stops caring, maybe she goes through years of therapy trying to make up for the lack of self-esteem, maybe she starts cutting herself. What matters most, people? Feeling good after you come to the conclusion and talking about the fact that somebody is a dumb whore because she wore something inappropriate, in your most humble opinion, or realising that you're just being judgy and that you should know better by now and try to think twice before you become sheeple that judge because others judge too?
Have you not been judged? Maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't do unto other what you don't want others to do unto you. I do enjoy the irony of quoting the bible on the topic of slutshaming.
I just wish that people would care about the emotional wellbeing of the other person moreso than about feeling the need to put a stamp on someone.
So today I stand before you as a slut. And you know what? I will fly my slut flag proudly. Sorry to all the poor underpriveleged guys who won't ever be able to unsee me in my bikini, being a total skankho.
Bloggers and friends, princes and thieves, sisters and brothers, I have not forsaken you. I've been kind of reorganizing my life. It's strange and different and good and wonderful. My school year ended on a positive note and I started my summerjob, working in a shoestore. Since the place I'm still officially living with the momster is in a little hole of a town where I couldn't find a summer job if I would turn over every rock, I'm temporarily living with the boyfriend. Which is all going really fucking amazing and I can't believe it. You see, this is one of the first times in my 19-year-old life that I'm in a completely normal, secure and happy situation without threat of it changing once I turn around. I'm not quite used to it yet.
You see, I'm the kind of person that seems quite figured out, calm and confident to the outside world while I'm actually questioning everything that happens, inside my own head and to the people closest to me. Sometimes, I feel like I'm waiting until the happy times are through and things go back to normal. Normal being "fucked up". These past few months have been the most amazing time in my life and while I fully realise that and am incredibly happy, I've come to the conclusion that I've never been more insecure either. Trying to maintain your own identity and figuring out what exactly is happening while you're living life is tough shit. When you're used to your life going a certain way, whether that's insecure and unhappy or otherwise, it's strange to suddenly come to the conclusion that life can be, in fact, pretty good. Relationships can be positive and easy. Friendships can be full of unconditional love and respect. Family can be supportive and fun. Obviously it's a positive conclusion, yet coming to the conclusion that life is not what you expected it to be is unsettling. I lived a big part of my life thinking that life will kick you in the cojones anyways so you might as well get used to it. There are so many things that can get you down and double that amount can kick you while you're already down. We keep getting up, because that's the only thing we can do, but everytime our heart gains another scratch and our ass gains another bruise.
Now, in the last couple of months, my heart has been recovering and my ass has only been bruised because of my own clumsy shenanigans. I've gone to see The Who, my true love, with my other true love in Amsterdam. Thinking back to the last time I saw The Who, when I was a wee gal of only 13, I realised once again how much life changes. But this time, it changed for the better. Insecurities are part of growing up and part of life, I guess. To quote The Muppets, because they're my soulmates, You always believe in other people, but that's easy. Sooner or later, you gotta believe in yourself, too, because that's what growing up is. Right in the heart, Muppet, right in the bleeding heart.
Next time I leave 2 months in between blogposts, come and slap me, will you? I miss clearing my mind while you poor ol' souls have to read my ramblings. I want to share a picture with you of my dudebro love & yours truly, because you have been my loyal readers and I've shared bad times with you quite often. Now it's time for some positive shite, DARN IT!
And I want to share my last photography project with you too! For one of my photography classes I had to do a presentation about a photographer and take pictures inspired by his or her work. I chose Cindy Sherman (please check her out, she's amazing and feminist!) and took the following pictures for my class:
I'm defintely way more into the simple black and white pictures but they were loads of fun to do. My teacher told me I could've been Cindy Sherman's little sister with a talent for self portraits and a possible future in teaching. I'm a happy little photographer in the making!
So this is one of my "weirdest" outfits in a while and I felt pretty awesome wearing it. I wear strange things from time to time and people stare at me. I get people staring and pointing and I wonder why I bother wearing strange things because people take appearances so seriously. I have these moments where I wonder why I wear "strange" things. Do I want attention? Do I want to make a statement? Do I feel like being a rebel or do I like shocking people? Am I one of those stereotypical young girls who's trying to "find" herself? Am I trying to say something meaningful when I'm, in fact, full of quasi-sense making bullshit? I question things and I wonder. After every time I think or talk about this, be it with my sister, Mr. Canon Girl or Jules, I come to the same conclusion: it doesn't really matter.
Whatever reasoning is behind what you wear, you convey a certain image to the outside world. That image may be that of a prep, a jock, a punk or a girl-next-door. People will judge you. You might judge you. But somewhere along the line you forget why you're actually wearing something: because you fucking FEEL like it. Sometimes I feel like wearing short skirts or a snakeskinprint skinny. People will feel the need to tell me that my legs are too thick to wear said clothing items. Because of that, I will start questioning why I wear it. Do I WANT people to say things like that? Am I provoking them, by having these legs and putting them in certain pants? Or am I just wearing PANTS? Life is made way too complicated, I can tell you that. The most important thing to realise is the following: it's all just opinions. I've been called "easter bunny", "ugly" and "cool girl" in the last couple of weeks by random people/kids on the street. I guess I have to live with the fact that, as long as I choose to come across as "extreme" in one way or another, people will react in extreme ways. A flock of insecure fourteen-year-old girls might call me ugly and point their fingers at me. A group of laughing twelve-year-old girls will scream out "check out that cool girl!" and smile at me.
Either way, after thinking about the art that is walking down the street in a society that tells people their opinions matter, I stand in front of my closet. I look at the colors, prints and take a look in the mirror. My hair needs shaving. My eyebrow might need piercing. When I want to close my closet doors, a bright green oversized shirt catches my eye and I feel like wearing it with something purple. That's how the magic happens, people. I don't have grand philosophies about my wardrobe choices. I don't think "Let's kick the world in the balls today!".
Sometimes, the chick in the weird clothing just liked the idea of putting green and purple together and called it a day.
I kid you not, this is the strangest compliment I've ever gotten. If it, indeed, is a compliment. My sis and me were having our weekly photoshoot at her town square and a family strolled by. Suddenly, a kid pointed at me and squealed "Look mommy! It's a little Easter Bunny!". My sis and me cracked up, obviously, but to this very day I'm still confused as to how the kid came to the conclusion that I am, in fact, The Easter Bunny. I personally don't see the connection but hey, it's a bunny that carries loads of chocolate around, how bad can it be? I can be The Easter Bunny, baby.
We took these pictures just after dying my hair and I think I've almost had all colors of the rainbow by now. I'm thoroughly enjoying being a redhead though, I feel it suits me a little better than purple or pink. It's a little more powerwoman and less cutesy punk (but I still love the cutesy punk look to death). A good little plus is that, turns out, my gentlemanfriend is a sucker for redheads. Aren't we all, though? Now the outfit (YES ERMAHGERD FINALLY) and the new hair!
Fur collar: Zara Coat: Thrifted Dress, necklace: H&M Tights: VeritasGlasses: sisters' Boots: the fab shoes Cardigan: 3 suisses Hairdye: La Riche Directions Vermillion Red
You know what would look with this outfit? A horizontal eyebrow piercing. *sniffles* Oh Naomi, you scoundrel. One of these weeks, expect a piercing post. I've been thinking of getting a new piercing. I have my heart set on a horizontal eyebrow piercing and I was wondering whether any one of my lovely readers has any experience with this kind of piercing? I kind of did my septum piercing on a whim and it worked out just fine but now that I'm thinking about doing a new one I might as well ask around, right? I loooove the look of them:
It feels like a piece of jewelry on your face more than a piercing... if you know what I'm saying. Am I making ANY sense? I'm not sure how to explain, I really love the placement. It's going to happen, I can feel it. I CAN FEEL IT IN ME BONES.
ERMAHGERD so contrary to the promise in my last blogpost it did actually take a gazillion years for me to start a new blogpost but my new motto is BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, RIGHT? I've spent my spring break a little differently than I originally thought I would but it wasn't too bad, actually. It was pretty epic, in a "do absolutely nothing in life except scurry around the house, get sick and play videogames with the boyfriend" kind of way. Which is amazing, really. It's easy and comfortable and wonderful and I don't ever want it to end. People always say "Love hurts when you do it right" but isn't love supposed to be that one thing that gives you a little security in the world? Someone you can hang with without feeling the need to entertain the other person. Someone to have fun with without wondering whether or not the person will or will not think you're a complete goofball. Someone to talk to about anything and everything, make jokes that possibly only the two of you would ever appreciate, kiss each other whenever, just because you can, play videogames and sing songs with. Everything else in life is already pretty fucking complicated, it's REALLY nice that this particular part of life can be easy. But not less magical (no SIR-EE).
Now that my love rant is over I can start my post on Made In Asia. So this was a nerd con much like F.A.C.T.S., but a little more obscure Japanese stuff and old school games (YES) and a little less well known among the geeks here. I wasn't sure what to expect beforehand but the boyfriend got us tickets and my videogame site gig asked me to do an article on the convention so this was the perfect opportunity to mix business with pleasure. Not wanting to go to a nerd con without going full nerd, I grabbed a cosplay together I already kind of had hanging in my closet and called it a day. The cosplay was pretty good and Misty from Pokémon is still one of my best feminist rollmodels (I swear, the feisty anime chicks I encountered in my childhood made me fond of strange haircolors and not afraid to speak my mind) so I was a happy little turtle. Get ready for pictjahz!
First things first: the cosplay! The weather wasn't all that fabulous on the day of the con so I went there with some leggings layered over it and a nintendo cardigan (still geek-appropriate) but at the con it was hot as ever so the skimpy outfit wasn't a bad idea. I almost can't believe I wore shorts because my legs have been my biggest insecurity for as long as I can remember but I really not care anymore nowadays. FUCK bodyshaming, imma cosplay that shit like a boss and feel awesome! Thanks to the boyfriend for the pictures!
James from Team Rocket was at the con too, luckily he's got diddly squat evilness without Meowth and Jessie by his side!
Later, I ran into a flock of pokéballs (yeah, these nerd cons get pretty freaky)
And Brock was smart enough to leave Ash at home and come with Typhlosion (epic home-made costume!)
Since I also had some pictures to take of the actual con for the gamingsite, here come the merchandise and videogames pictures!
Old school consoles + games:
A Zelda clutch. I need this in my life because it's ZELDA AND A GORGEOUS HANDBAG. You see, I'm a responsible style/geek blogger, I mix videogames with fashion!
Juts thought this picture was kind of awesome, with some super loaded guy being incredibly serious, just hanging out with his happy bud. The atmosphere at nerd cons is always so cool, people are happy and crazy and don't give a rats ass about whether you're dressed like a fairytale princess, soldier with plastic machine gun or plumber.
My boyfriend's cousin's wife (a wonderfully geeky couple too) bought these amazing earrings at the con and I actually went back to the little stand where they sold them to buy the 1-up version. Turns out my boyfriend owns a bright green hoodie with a 1-up, which I obviously stole as soon as I got into his house.
My boyfriend's other cousin always has epic nailery going on and bought a really cute ring at the con:
My boyfriend's cousin's wife's best friend (PHEW A MOUTH FULL THERE) had a Totoro bag and I want to marry it:
And also bought some cute Alice in Wonderland earrings:
Sonic chillin' with the Mario Bros:
Retro gaming!
Ghibli merchandise <3
EPIC SHIRTERY:
I bought the Reservoir Brawls shirt. Because a Tarantino - Smash Bros crossover is the best thing in the world, obvi. Next up: my little eye spied a Shin Chan game and me and my sis are cray-cray about Shin Chan.
More amazing merchandise:
I'll end my post with happy cosplayers + free hugs sign and a promise that there's going to be another nerd con at the end this april to which I'll definitely be going again (and I'll be writing an article about it too, yay!) so more epic pictures! I also have some epic outfit posts stacked up by now so I'll try and be positive by saying that I'll be posting again soon! Hoping I'll return to you with a picture of me and Mr. Canon Girl.
