Links to Love

I'm a huge proponent of bathos - the world is grim and depressing enough without me just piling on. So, in the interest of following up something solemn with something a little more light-hearted, here are some cool things, some fun things, some pretty things, and some awesome things. You can decide for yourself which things are which.

Diana Vreeland: Why don't you...

I recently watched the documentary about the incredible Diana Vreeland, The Eye Must Travel, and I was really interested in a feature from her Harper's Bazaar days that they mentioned. Every issue, she would ask "why don't you..." do something interesting, or decadent, or outrageous? This collection of her suggestions might inspire you to glam up your life a bit. One of the easier suggestions - "Why don't you tie black tulle bows to your wrists?" I don't know, why don't I?

How to draw on bigger (or smaller) lips

Flickr, for some reason, does not want me to have a picture of lips. I tried to upload three different images, and each time they timed out. I seriously think it's a conspiracy. Here's a picture of Al from Home Improvement.
This tutorial from Alle of xoVain is actually a must read for a vintage-makeup-loving lady. If you're trying to evoke a particular star or era, a little change in the shape of the lips can make a huge difference, and she walks you through a few of the most popular styles to try.

Oops, I got distracted (felt ornament tutorial)

I don't own any Christmas decorations, and I'm really cheap, so something that will let me spruce up my place without costing a whole lot of money sounds pretty ideal to me. These felt ornaments are easy to make and super cute, too.

K-Beauty 101

Sheet masks with snail slime extract make me preeeeeeeettyyyyyyyyy.
I'm heading to the Korean spa this weekend (So warm. So happy.), and while I'm there, I'm definitely going to stock up on some products at the massive market next door. My skin has been going insane lately, and I'm looking forward to giving it a little TLC.

Cheng I Sao, 19th Century Female Pirate

Speaking of things that make me all warm inside and out, this history of Cheng I Sao, a female pirate captain from the early 1800s, is beyond awesome. Ok, so yes, she was a pirate, and didn't have any problems with killing or enslaving anyone who crossed her path; however, she enforced rules against rape or unusually cruel treatment of female prisoners amongst her 50,000 strong pirate army. Not only that, but when she decided to retire, she got to keep all of her money, as did most of the men in her fleet, and she even set up a fund to help the former pirates transition back to civilian life. What a badass.

Links to Love

I think you'll want to know this: 
On Monday, I'm going to post a list of post-Thanksgiving sales and deals from vintage or vintage appropriate stores. I sent out feelers to a lot of different places, and I've got some great intel on the best places to shop, including a couple of really exciting exclusive deals. Even if you're not American, it's still a great time to find some truly amazing deals.
I'm going to be updating the list through Friday, so if you'd like to be included, it's not too late! 

You know what I hate? The sun. Well, not the sun per se, but the fact that I don't actually see much of it after late October. No sun means no natural lighting, and no natural lighting means I can't take outfit photos. I suppose I could take them inside, but with our dingy carpet and crappy lighting, I just don't really want to.
So, uh, links! You should love them!
Actually, I do like putting together these posts. I spend a lot of time reading things on the internet - amusing things, odd things, sad things, things that really, really piss me off. Once in a while I'll share an article on Facebook or whatever, but it's nice to just run the gamut with you guys sometimes.
A Rapper Is Facing Life In Prison For His Album Cover

Chuck D from Public Enemy once said that "rap is like CNN for black people." I honestly can't say if it still occupies the same place in African-American culture that it once did, but I think it's pretty obvious that describing the kind of world that you live in does not prompt people to act out what your describing. They way they're applying the law in this case is wrong-headed, stupid, and racially fraught. If a writer describes a murder, and then someone reads the book and commits a similar crime, is someone going to prosecute the writer for conspiracy? Or is it only black "gangsta" rappers who qualify for this skewed application of the law?
The Indian Sanitary Pad Revolutionary

Life changing.
Somehow I missed this article when it came out a few months ago, but I stumbled across it on the BBC website recently. I think it's actually pretty amazing what one person can do, even with limited resources, when they really bend their mind to a problem.
It seems crazy to me that for all of human history, half the population has had to deal with menstruation, and yet in some areas of the world, it's still this crippling taboo. Some women use sand and ashes to absorb the blood, which, seriously, is so WTF that I can't even. If they use rags, they might be too embarrassed to actually wash them. All of this, obviously, is terrible for your lady parts, and can lead to infections. The man who invented this machine was shunned by his village and deserted by his mother and the wife that inspired him before he found success. Not only is he helping improve hygiene for Indian women, he's also providing employment for poor, rural women who buy his machines and then sell the pads that they make. I never thought I'd find a dude who makes maxi pads so inspirational.
French man quits ISIS because it was too hard to stop smoking

American government formulates plan to drop cigarettes over occupied territory, wins war.

The new trailer for Pitch Perfect 2

Seeing this.
Pretty Hurts

I really love this series on The Cut from New York Magazine. This group of articles explores the relationship women have with beauty, and what goes into fitting into society's ideas about what a woman should look like. My two favorites: Photographer Captures Fat Shaming; New York Women Draw Their Own Boobs
Marijuana, Coke, Nicotine: The Truth About "Natural" Drugs
My biggest takeaway from this - pot is a Schedule I drug, coke is Schedule II. That means coke is considered less dangerous and more legit that marijuana. It is a strange, strange world that we live in.
Belle de Jour

Ok, maybe sometimes I do want to dress like a French girl.

Links to Love

It's been way too long since I've done one of these posts. Let's jump on in.

Kim Kardashian Doesn't Realize She's the Butt of a Racist Joke

I don't know enough about Kim Kardashian to have formed much of an opinion about her as a person. She comes across as tone deaf and oblivious, and she's pretty tacky. Maybe it's my tendency to root for the underdog, but despite (or perhaps because of) all the negative press she gets, I don't really dislike her. However, I found this article about the racial implications of her photo shoot really eye opening.
When I was talking about this with my boyfriend, his response was something along the lines of "there are so many bigger, worse things in the world. Why are we even talking about this?" I think the reason why people get so involved in the whole issue is that these photos didn't happen in a vacuum. Black women are devalued in our society, and the way that they are portrayed sexually plays a huge part in that. These photos are not the same things as black women being targeted by a serial killer who knew their disappearances wouldn't be investigated as thoroughly because of their skin color, but it's a symptom of the same problem. No, Kim Kardashian is not black, but she does have the kind of figure that is typically associated with black women, making the parallels obvious.

A Vintage Nerd - Dell Purse Book 1964: 75 Hairstyles

Photo taken from A Vintage Nerd
And onto a subject that's a little less fraught. I love this post from Daphne at A Vintage Nerd about the cute little purse book she came across. My hair is getting long enough that I can set it with sponge rollers, so I'm thinking about giving some of these a try this weekend.

Who is the lumbersexual and is anything about him real?

I was deeply amused by this article. Although I think the actual term is pretty silly, I definitely know guys like this. The Lumberjack look is slowly edging out of Old-Timey Mustache and Pomp look in my neighborhood, but I'm pretty sure none of the guys that used to wax their mustaches to points have picked up any backwoods survival skills in the past six months. Of course, I also know flannel and beard dudes who really could build a log cabin from scratch if they wanted to, so maybe it's just a look.

The Disabled Children Locked Up in Cages
I talked a little bit about the stigma against mental disorders in the post that I put up for Veteran's Day, and this just shows how much worse it can get for people who are considered "abnormal." This is just heartbreaking - it's like baby prison for kids with autism or other disorders that make them difficult to care for.

The Psychology of "It's So Cute I Could Eat It" Phenomenon

Speaking of things that trigger my cute aggression, head over to She Loves Dresses to wish Jenny a happy birthday. She created an awesome project prompting her readers to send her selfies with a note about something they love about themselves. She also makes me want to squeeze her until she squeaks. Weird.
Into it. Apparently it helps us even out emotionally. The more aggressive you get, the bigger decline you have in positive emotions, bringing you back to a normal base state.

The Wrap Dress

Diane von Furstenberg didn't invent the wrap dress, but she was the one who brought them to the masses and made them into the wardrobe staple that they are today. According to DVF herself,

"...the V-neck wrap design fit a woman’s body like no other dress: snug around the chest and arms, tied flatteringly slim around the waist, full enough over the legs for a woman to take an unrestricted stride, yet tight enough to show off her bottom."

Hot stuff.


What do you remember learning from Sesame Street?

I may be the only kid in America that doesn't have fond memories of growing up with Sesame Street. I'm sure I must have watched it at some point, but I honestly don't remember it at all. There was a lot of Warner Brothers in my life that shaped my formative years, though - Animaniacs, Histeria, and anything and everything Bugs Bunny. I'd say irony and hammerspace were worthwhile subjects to discover at a young age...

Links to Love

I'm feeling a little makeup obsessed right now, so I've got quite a few beauty themed links for you guys. 

What makeup should you probably throw away?

I'm sure we're all guilty of this - keeping makeup that you don't use way past its sell by date. I actually just did a massive makeup drawer clean out, though, and I'm really happy. Old eyeshadows, sample sizes of things that I have no interest in using, six year old lipsticks that would probably give me a cold sore if I ever used them again, all deposited right in the trash. It definitely makes getting ready in the morning much easier.
How to create a Dolce&Gabbana-Inspired floral chain

Sooooo preeeeeeetty. I might have to give this a try for Halloween.
Hear me out: I don't hate looking kind of goth in the fall

Given how gothy my personal beauty ideals are, I definitely don't mind looking kind of goth any time of the year. I think she's got a point, though - there's nothing wrong with looking a little dark and witchy in the cooler months, when everyone is gravitating towards dark lipstick and smoky eyes anyway. There can be something really beautiful about that, and it's kind of a shame that so many people want to fight against it.
8 Beauty rules that are sexist, racist, and dumb

I didn't even know that most of these were a thing. Mascara on your lower lashes is slutty? Who came up with that one? I like the only two rules that she suggests, which are to wear makeup that makes you happy and to blend well. Words to live by.
The best skincare products for getting redness under control, no matter what you're willing to spend
I was really happy when this article popped up, because my skin's been going a little nuts lately. I don't know if it's the weather or hormones or what, but my skin is back to doing this weird thing where it's simultaneously flaky and oil, and I'm having some acne issues, and my cheeks have decided that being red and uneven is way more fun than being skin colored. Booo-urns. I'm seriously considering picking up some of this stuff, just to see if it would help.

Links to love

I've got a photo heavy set of links for you guys today, so I hope you enjoy them!

The Photographer Who Rejected Racism in the American South

This fantastic article about recently discovered photographic plates depicting a wide range of folks from the South is really fantastic. In a time and a place when the law mandated that blacks and whites live separate lives in every way possible, this man opened his doors to anyone who wanted their portrait taken. It reminds me a little bit of the way Vivian Maier photographs were found - this little slice of history that could too easily have been lost.
First Look: Bettina at Galleria Carla Sozzani

Bettina (born Simone Michelle Bodin) was one of the most iconic models of the 40s and 50s, but I don't think she has quite the same name recognition as someone like Dovima or Suzy Parker. It seems like she had an incredible life, though, and I would love to hunt down a copy of her 1965 autobiography.
Will misogyny bring down the atheist movement?
It kind of weird to realize that Buzzfeed, home of lists of things from the 90s that you'd forgotten about and quizzes about which Harry Potter character you should mate with, actually does really interesting, well-researched articles as well. This one, about sexual harassment in the skeptic movement, was a great read, if a very depressing one. You would think that people devoted to rational thought would be slightly more rational about sexual harassment in their ranks, but the same issues that crop up when women start to move into any traditionally male dominated spaces are present here as well.

I'm just going to leave Emma Watson's speech to the UN here for you. It's both awesome and relevant.
Realistically Colorized Historical Photos

I love the stark beauty of black and white images, but there is a distancing effect to photos that aren't in color. I mean, we see the world in color, so black and white can seem sort of unreal to me. That's why I loved these photos that have been digitally colorized. They may or may not be accurate, but there's such a sense of vibrancy and life to the color images that it kind of took my breath away.
30 Years of the Coens

So this isn't one article, but a series of articles from an author rewatching all of the Coen Brothers' films in chronological order. I haven't seen all of their films - not by a long shot - but reading these reviews makes me want to have a binge weekend with them. My favorite, given who I am and how old I am, is The Big Lebowski, but I've never seen a Coen Brothers' movie that I didn't enjoy.

Links to love

I've got some great reads for you guys today.
Flashback Summer: Loving Your Body vs. Making a Change

This is something that I've been thinking about in my own life. While I don't have any major weight issues, I have had a bit of creeping weight gain over the past few years. Part of me has just done a mental shrug, but I also know that it's easier to keep my weight down now than it would be to lose 5, or 10, or 20 lbs a few years down the road. What I think is a really important is continuing to love and respect yourself, even if you don't fit your own ideal. I don't think hating your body gets you anything but an eating disorder. You should always try to be your own friend, even when the temptation is to be your worst critic instead. After all, you wouldn't tell a friend that she's fat and ugly and gross and no one will ever love her. Why do so many women tell that to themselves? 
Ask Polly: Why Don't the Men I Date Ever Love Me?

Absolutely epic letter from an advice columnist to a woman who wrote in. It's worth a read, and it's definitely spurring me to find my spark. Say it with me: I. Should. Be. Cherished.
Use This One Word If You Want Your Facebook Posts to Do Better

Well, now I know how I'm going to start all of my status updates about blog posts. "Congratulations, world! You get to read more of my wit and witticisms."
The Afghan Girls Who Live As Boys

This article was really fascinating to me. What's interesting is not just that this happens, but that it happens regularly, and is accepted in society. It reminded me a little bit of something that I read about Albanian Sworn Virgins - women in the western Balkans (these days, mostly just in Albania) who swear to remain celibate in order to live their lives as men. Like Afghanistan, Albania is a strictly patriarchal society, and in the absence of a man to take care of the things that a man is supposed to take care of (like earning money or providing protection), women have to find some kind of workaround. While I deplore the necessity for it, I have to appreciate that there are accepted measures that women can take, where everyone kind of acknowledges that there has to be a way to circumvent the rules sometimes.
Take a One Way Trip From Tatty to Natty

And she eve handles her own luggage.
I love this article about the virtues of dressing up when you're traveling. Sure, there's something to be said for wearing comfortable clothes as well, but there's never really a good reason to be strolling through the airport in your PJs. When I think of glamorous travel, I always think of this photo of Dita, strolling through the airport looking like a million bucks. Sure, most of us don't have her means, or a hoard or paparazzi waiting for us when we disembark, but I like to dress like I do.

Links to Love

It's been a while since I've done one of these, hasn't it? Frankly, there are a lot of stories out there that I could be linking to right now, most of them just really depressing. Let's see... there's Ferguson, and the way white privilege and black disempowerment are coming to a head, not just in the South but everywhere in America. There's the rise of ISIS in the Middle East and the brutal beheading of journalist James Foley. There's the horrendous assault against Christy Mack by her ex-boyfriend, an MMA fighter, and the equally horrendous response on social media because she's a sex worker.
It's easy to start feeling angry and depressed with all of terrible things going on in the world, and to be honest, I don't want to talk about them (at least, not any more than I just have). So this week, I've got some frivolous and fun stuff to take my mind off of the gloom.
1. The Secret History of "Flashdance"

The movie Flashdance is one of those pop culture touchstones you don't have to have actually seen to be familiar with. It made millions of dollars and resonated with millions of people, but what most of those people don't know is that it's actually based on the lives and images of real dancers who worked in Toronto in the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately, they were taken advantage of by unscrupulous people in the movie business, and have made virtually nothing off of the use of their stories and images. The real stories of Gina Healey and Maureen Marder are fascinating, although they never got their own Hollywood endings.
2. Sleep Hack - Keep Your Feet Outside Your Covers

Photo unrelated to article. I just want my bedroom to look like that.
I'm kind of scared of the dark. I mean, not really anymore, but sometimes I still get creeped out. Up until recently I had this thing where my feet had to be covered by the blanket, because it they weren't I would get this feeling like something was going to reach out and grab them. When I moved, though, I left my bed frame behind (on purpose, it was really shitty), and now that my mattress is right on the floor that fear has gone away. But anyway, what I mean to say is that this trick actually works! I've been doing this ever since I read about it last week, and I'm finding I fall asleep much faster than normal.
3. Before Elvis There Was Nothing - Black and White Photos of Elvis in the 50s

I sometimes forget that before Elvis was a chubby, sweaty guy in a rhinestone jumpsuit, he was super hot. Thank you for reminding me.
And hey, spend some time exploring the website these are from. Vintag.es always has fantastic vintage photographs of everything from fashion to high culture to daily life. I try to check the site daily because the updates are so frequent. Definitely one to bookmark.
4. Escape is the unlikely link between The Shawshank Redemption and Natural Born Killers


I'm all about the double feature, and I might actually have to do this one. I would also quite like to do the one that they mentioned in passing as a joke - The Lion King and The Professional.
5.Why does asparagus make our urine smell?

Truly one of the great mysteries of our times.
6. Could the cravat make a comeback?

Man, I really hope so. That would be so sweet.

Links to Love

I seem to have gotten a rather large influx of new readers with my last post on street harassment, largely due (I believe) to a link from my lovely friend Mallory of Miskatonic Musings. While I'm happy to see that what I wrote resonated with a lot of women, it made me really sad as well - we shouldn't have to go through this on such a regular basis. And I do want to make it clear that I take no issue with a sincere compliment, but what we're talking about is a very different thing, and yes, we can tell the difference. It's not a compliment when a guy licks his lips and stares at your tits when says "nice dress," it's harassment.
Also sad is that fact that as bad as it can feel here in the US, there are places in the world where it's far worse. In India and parts of the Middle East, just to name other places where it's been making the news recently, women experience much higher rates of street harassment, and it's more likely to escalate to physical contact such as groping or assault. A cultural shift that emphasizes women's autonomy and dignity is what is necessary to stop a lot of the issues that women face, from street harassment to sexual assault and domestic violence.
But, hey, all this shit is making me depressed, so let's talk about something else.
1. The Scientifiic Case for Decriminalizing Sex Work
Want to check the spread of HIV and AIDS? Start treating sex workers like human beings.

According to recent data from the World Health Organization, female sex workers are 14 times as likely to have HIV as other women, yet fear of arrest and stigma often prevents them from seeking medical care.

2. I'm Forcing Myself To Wear Beloved Old Clothes I Can't Bear To Donate
I totally get where this girl is coming from. I don't follow the "if you haven't worn it in a year, get rid of it" rule because it always seems like when I've done that, the thing I just got rid of becomes cool again and I miss it, but I definitely have items from my early college days that I just cannot get rid of. Mostly old band t-shirts. Sentimental value, y'all.

3. Why Can't We Stop Talking About Bikini Bodies?
If you have a body and a bikini, you have a bikini body. Even Gisele doesn't look like Gisele without a lot of work, so it's about time we stop making women feel like they need to have perfectly toned and supple bodies in order to rock a swimsuit in public.

4. Sisterhood of the Traveling Dress
The lovely Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments is sending one of the dresses in her fabulous collection around the US (and then on to the rest of the world). If you're interested, post a comment by tomorrow. I'm signed up already, and I can't wait to style this beautiful piece.

5. Weird Al Endures
Weird Al's new album, Mandatory Fun, is #1 on the Billboard Charts. Just soak that up for a moment.

Links to Love

1. Rare shots of New York's 1990s drag scene
It seems appropriate, since I was posting photos of my guy and I in drag yesterday, to post some photos of folks who are actually good at it.


2. The Rules of Being Glamorous
The first thought I had when I saw the title of this post from the awesome British blogger Retrochick was "really? I thought you were cooler than that." And then I read it, and it's way more about how to just have a happy, engaged life. These are good rules to follow, whether you're looking for glamour or not.

Jean Harlow is always glamorous, even when she's just running lines.

3. Why are we grossed out by women with armpit hair?
Best guess - all of the sexy pheromones hair diffuses makes us think of sex, and since sex is a taboo, we have to get rid of the hair to get rid of all the dirty thoughts it gives us. *shrug* Ok, works for me.

Sophia Loren: Sexy armpit hair having lady.
Also, did anyone else watch Golden Girls? Remember that episode where Rose talks about how she wasn't allowed to shave her legs, and so her classmates came up with the meanest nickname for her? And it was "Rose with the hairy legs"? I think about that every time someone discusses body hair on a woman.
4. Pocahontas: Fantasy and Reality

The divide in interpreting her story is not just between cultures; in academic circles, there are still factions with brittle pride warring over whether Pocahontas really saved John Smith from death, whether he made the story up, or whether the narrative was about a ritual drama John Smith simply didn't understand. Some experts argue about the appropriation of Pocahontas as an American Indian woman that the larger public has reduced to a “Pocahottie” Halloween outfit. None of these tropes is centered within a firm Algonquian indigenous worldview, perhaps an almost impossible task 400 years later. Divergent takes on historical events will not always be reconciled.

5. How the bicycle paved the way for women's rights
I don't bike as much as I would like to (my iron steed needs some maintenance before I start commuting on it again), but I love the sense of freedom and speed that it gives me. The best part might be the illustrations that accompany it, which were taken from an 1897 magazine article about the state of ladies' legs after all of that manly cycling activity.


6. My Imaginary Friends: The Beauty YouTuber Economy
I don't watch a lot of YouTube videos like this, but I love what the writer has to say about the way we relate to bloggers in general. There are some people that I read where I'm like, "I want to be your friend, I think it would be a hoot to stand around with cocktails in our hands pretending like we're famous while people covertly check us out." Glad to know I'm not alone in this.

Talia Castellano was a young beauty blogger who used makeup to keep her spirits up as she fought her battle with cancer.

Links to Love

Firstly, I created a Facebook page for the blog last week, so please mosey on over there and like it! If you do I'll think warm thoughts about you while I'm baking cookies. I mean, I'd offer to just send you cookies, but that seems like a lot of work. Cakes and Cakes Vintage on Facebook
1. Why red carpet makeup looks bad in real life
Sure, makeup is about making yourself look good, but it's also about having fun. There are certain things, like contouring, that work really well in photos, but if you view it as something that can reconfigure your face in real life, well, you're going to be disappointed, and you're gonna look kind of strange.


2. Abraham Lincoln's Steampunk Presidency
Did you know that Abe Lincoln (in addition to being a Vampire Hunter) is the only U.S. president to hold a patent? And he also presided over one of the most technologically innovative periods in history.


3. Being Happy With Sugar
There are a lot of reasons why people are gaining weight, and a lot of it, in nearly every corner of the globe. It might be human nature to look for the magic bullet, the one thing that we can cut out and demonize so that we don't have to make substantive changes in the way that we live, but that's incredibly unproductive. Do we need to eat less sugar? Oh, most definitely. However, like fat and carbs, sugar is fine for you so long as you don't eat too much of it. 


4. Colleges become the victims of progressivism
Ready for your hate read of the day? This guy, among another things, thinks that there are privileges that come with being a sexual assault victim, and even uses scare quotes around the words sexual assault. Also, apparently it isn't really rape if a woman says no, but doesn't resist physically, because of course it's only rape if a stranger jumps out of the bushes holds a knife to your throat. I am getting pissed off again just writing about it.

5. Thom Browne Resort 2015
Ok, so you had your hate read of the day; let's go out on a nice note with something pretty. I love Thom Browne, an American designer who is mostly known for having an uncanny ability to translate his absolutely bonkers runway looks into chic, wearable pieces in real life. His resort collection isn't as out there as other seasons, but there's still something a little 40s meets 70s meets acid trip, and I love it.