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Monsoon Rains...

That's what this beautiful image by Raghubir Singh is called.

The word it brings to my mind though is: RESILIENCE.

The resilience of these women with their fragile looking bodies bracing themselves against the wind and rain,  yet remaining in the middle of it instead of running for cover. The resilience of women all around the world with our perceived fragile dispositions (we are the weaker sex they say, but they lie), braving the world and life on this planet with so so few cultures that really, honestly honor women. Resilience.

Boobquake!!

I love it when women ignore, bend, break, surpass, taunt and laugh at the ridiculous rules and restrictions that the societies we live in attempt to place on us. I especially like it when they and do so in an ultra feminine way.

Boobquake is such a great example of this, I had to share it with you!


Here's the story:
Apparently, Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi stated the following last week: "Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes''

Seriously?! Whahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Ehem... excuse me...

While most women groups around the world were incensed by this idiotic claim, Jennifer McCreight came up a very creative, in fact down right genius, way to prove this ridiculous man wrong. Boobquake!

Jennifer started a Facebook page inviting women around the world to join her in wearing their most immodest boob showing top or leg showing short shorts yesterday May 26th.

She wrote: "With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake. If not, I'm sure Sedighi can come up with a rational explanation for why the ground didn't rumble. And if we really get through to him, maybe it'll be one involving plate tectonics."

More than 70.000 women joined her in this boob-tastic experiment. And no, there was no earthquake in Teheran yesterday and so far none today. Not even a slight tremor, despite the fact that the city sits on a web of fault lines.

So, Jennifer and her "girls" have proven that boobs do not cause earthquakes.

Perhaps the holy man -and I use this term loosely- should change his message and encourage the young men he is trying to protect to take responsibility for their own actions and chastity instead of blaming, vilifying and trying to dis-empower women. Who knows, they just might grow into real men with high morals standards and strength of character, instead angry misogynistic weaklings who can't control themselves.

Crowns...

I grew up going to church. Every week my Mom dressed us up in our Saturday best (I grew up SDA) and off we went. This is me age 7 or 8 on my way to church. Cute. :-)

It was a beautiful thing, quite literally. 'Cause although church was obviously not about looking nice, I have to admit, it was a mini fashion show. There were some pretty colourful characters too! I remember there was a lady who always had her shoes redone with the same fabric as her dresses. Can you imagine?!

The Sartorialist has featured quite a few "deacons" in on their way to and from church on Sunday, but never the "Church Ladies". I've often wondered why since in my memory the women were just as stylish, if not more so, dressed in their finery,...fur, ribbons, lace, bows, gloves, shoes and wonderfully elaborate hats.

Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry's book Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats is a beautiful collection of portraits of these very women.

The book, first published nearly ten years ago is now in it's seventh printing and has even inspired a play of the same name.

Here are some of my favourite portraits from the book.

Photos by Micheal Cunningham

My top 10 Pick-Me-Ups...

Got the winter blues? Here is my top 10 list of girlie pick me ups. The little things that always make me feel better instantly.

1. I paint my nails red. That always gives me a little boost and brings out my inner vixen. ;-) It's hard not to feel sexy and feminine with ten little scarlet jewels on my fingers. My secret is a silky base coat and quick dry top coat topped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Speed Dry Drops for good measure.

2. I wash my hair. Not just a quick wash & condition while showering, I really take my time with this one. Deep conditioning mask, oil treatment the works. Healthy bouncy sexy hair... need I say more?

3. I give myself a home facial. I start by steaming my face to get the all the hidden yuck out of my pores, then I scrub all the dead skin off that the steam softened. I scrub my lips as well for soft plump kissable lips. After I wash the scrub off, I mix up a home made face mask. Here are some great recipes for home made face masks. I finish it all off with healthy portion of moisturiser and lip conditioner.

4. The trusty foot bath. This is sooo relaxing. Some warm water, foot scrub and then rub. Mmmm...

5. A nice looooong bath or shower, including a full body scrub and some sweet body lotion or oil afterwards.

6. I cook a great meal and have my girls over for dinner. Quality time with friends and family really makes me happy.

7. I play my favourite songs and have a little sing along if possible. Yeah I sound a little "alley cat" (...okay, I sound a lot "alley cat"), but who cares, this always makes me feel better.

8. Salsa! Put on some salsa music and shake my bonbon in my living room. ;-) (It's great for cleaning the house too!)

9. Clean out my make up case or tackle some other small task that's been nagging in the back of my mind for a while. That small feeling of accomplishment can be a big mood booster!

10. Say "I love you" to some special. Or if that's not possible, I just think of all the reasons why I love them and it always puts a smile on my face.

Feeling good is so essential to looking good. It's important to take time out to take care of your self, show yourself some love, lift your spirits, put a smile your face. A smile is after all your best accessory, don't you think?

Miss Madam...

I'm a Madam now, no longer a Miss.

No it's not what you think, I didn't get married. Nor have I taken up where Madam Fleiss left off. :-) (can you imagine... hahaha)

No, Let me explain.

The dutch word for "Miss" is "Mejuffrouw" similar to the french "Mademoiselle", but no one ever says "Mejuffrouw" anymore, and it is hardly even used in writing. It is generally thought of as outdated. So when you're younger people don't actually address you, they just speak or say hello or something of the kind to start a conversation.

The dutch word for Ma'am (Madam) is "Mevrouw", which is not strictly used for married women, but basically for any woman who is clearly not a girl anymore.

...and I am now one of them. I've noticed that nearly everyone has been calling me "Mevrouw" lately. At first it was only younger people, say under 25's, but now even older people call me "Mevrouw". 

I'm not sure when it happened. I'm not even sure how it happened, but I kinda like it!

Finally some respect!!  :-)

Mamma mia!

Don't you love Madonna as the new face of Dolce & Gabbana?!

I love the sensuality of the images. Sure, washing dishes is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think "sensual". Then again, getting elbow deep in warm sudsy water while wearing a skin tight leopard print dress might do it for some... who knows...?  ;-)

For me though, the sensuality of these images isn't in the act of washing dishes (obviously), nor is it in the sexiness of the dress. No, for me, it is her femininity; so strong and mature.

I love her voluptuousness in this photo, the fullness of her face and bust-line.

(photos courtesy of: myfashionlife.com)

I am not going to join other bloggers with their snarky statements of the obvious, because of course, not for a single moment do I think that Madonna slaves over a hot stove for her family or even does the dishes. But in a sense, I see this campaign as a celebration of the women who do.

Sexy is of course more than the leopard print dress they're advertising, but the dress does stand for something. It stands for being all woman in all aspects of your life. Being a strong woman, without loosing your femininity. Taking care of yourself so that you can better take care of your family, especially in the little things like feeding and clothing them. That is sexy!

Also, this campaign is such a departure from the campaigns we are used to seeing of unreal/surreal images that are in total disconnect to anything most women experience in their daily lives.

Am I going too deep here? Am I seeing things that aren't there? Am I just glad to see Madonna in something other than leotard-onesy-bodysuit thingy's she been showing us for the past 2 years...? Who knows...

Ageing beautifully...

When it comes to the media's influence on women and their self image, I've always been very defiant. I consider myself lucky to have grown up in a culture where thin is not the standard of beauty. It was really the opposite; thicker, ruebens-esque girls are considered more beautiful. Where I come from, soft round faces and curvy "child bearing" hips are the norm. As a result I have a healthy body image and absolutely no desire to be a size 34 (size 2 US) or *gasp* 32 (size 0 US). And I'm very thankful for that..

I have basically the same attitude about growing older and I really admire women who grow older gracefully, beautifully. Women like Carine Roitfeld, Natalie Cole, Franca Sozzani, jazz singer Nancy Wilson and the stunningly, just stunningly, beautiful Ing-Mari Lamy. Women who take care of themselves and claim their age and maturity, wrinkles and all!

Many women complain about glass ceilings and not being taken seriously, but then turn around and deny or hide their maturity, wisdom and wealth of experience behind a façade of "youth". The way I see it: If you look like a twenty year old, you really should expect to be treated like a twenty year old i.e. inexperienced, naive, insecure etc. This is why men become more "handsome and distinguished" with age and women don't. They accept it, embrace it and use it to their advantage, while women complain about getting older, hide it or are in denial.

Whenever I hear a woman freaking out about turning 30, 40, 50 etc., I can't help rolling my eyes and thinking: "Grow up!" Grow up and get real. Let go of what Hollywood and the media is feeding you. We don't live in Hollywood, we live out here in the real world. And out here, us real women age. Contrary to what the media is telling you, growing older is a beautiful thing. You get to know yourself. You become more comfortable in your own skin and with each experience (good and bad) you get a little bit stronger, a little bit wiser and more confident. Trust me, you get better.

I like getting older. I like the calming effect it has had on me. I even like my Lily Munster streak of grey hair that has grown out since I stopped dyeing my hair a year ago. :) I am happier and more comfortable with myself than I've ever been and I smile a whole lot more than when I was in my twenties. :)


P.S. Check out Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty". The principle behind the campaign is to "celebrate the natural physical variation embodied by all women and inspire them to have the confidence to be comfortable with themselves." Good job!

Why are you giving me a boob-job?

While browsing through a large department store with friends last Sunday, one of my girlfriends remarked that it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a bra nowadays that isn't either padded or has pre-formed cups.

My initial reaction was: "Well, that can't be right. Surely there are still normal bra's to be found in this huge store."

But as we scoured the lingerie section brand after brand turned up little to nothing. In fact, after going through the entire lingerie section we found a grand total of three 'normal' bra's. Two of which were genuinely ugly and the third was in a discount bin. This started to bug me. Was it just that particular department store's buying policy or is this a growing trend in lingerie design?

So I've been checking the latest collections of some the major brands and I found that most brands had maybe one or two unpadded/non pre-formed bra's. Only Tezenis and Victoria's Secret had a decent selection of normal bra's.

Seriously? Are you kidding me? What is going on here?

For the record I prefer pre-formed bra's, because frankly the world doesn't have to know when I'm cold. I like that little bit of protection, but that is my personal preference. My friend doesn't like them, because she finds that they make her breasts look and feel unnatural. And this is exactly my point. Not all women want huge breasts, not all women want a generic pre-determined, perfectly lifted and rounded breast shape. It's irritating enough to have the media tell us how we should to look and what size we should be. Now we have lingerie manufacturers deciding for us what our breasts should look like? Please!

Different women want different things and we deserve and reserve the right to decide what that is and how we achieve it, thank you very much.