It's Coming!

My birthday is coming!  It's on Wednesday.

I would calculate how old I am but I'm not that good with big numbers... 

Seriously, I'm old.  I have t-shirts older than some of you.  :)

Some people celebrate birthdays; some people don't.  I'm in the first group.  A birthday is a nice occasion to enjoy yourself.

Last week, I was surprised to receive a brightly-decorated package from Poppy http://bearsandbunting.blogspot.com/  The package announces on the outside that it's a birthday gift and says not to open it until Wednesday.  I can't wait!  That was sooo sweet of Poppy.  Visit her blog and see what a lovely woman she is.

Do you like to celebrate your birthday?

BTW, I'm a Scorpio and I fit the profile for that sign completely.

Happy Halloween!

Julie Newmar

You youngsters probably don't recognize her name, but Julie Newmar was my first celebrity-crush.  She played Catwoman on the "Batman" television show in the 1960's.  I was young at the time and Julie seemed like the epitome of female beauty and sophistication.

Plus, she rolled her r's when murmuring the word "purrfect" which was the sexiest thing I'd ever heard up to that point.

Newmar had previously been a dancer and actress on Broadway.  She had some other roles on TV and in the movies, but Catwoman is the one she's most known for. 




After several appearances on the Batman show, Julie's character died by falling in a vat of toxic chemicals in the Batcave.  Watching that death-scene at age 10, I cried my eyes out.  The tragedy of her demise wrenched my heart right out of my chest.

Today, the real Julie Newmar is 77 years old and healthy.  As a dancer, she was always very fit which aided her longevity.

Have you ever heard of her?

IMDB Profile: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628325/
Wiki Profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Newmar

Deja Vu

I love animals, so when a reader posted that her beloved cat is ill and needs expensive veterinary care, I wanted to help.  So I did.

http://www.prosouppropaganda.com/2010/10/halo-cat-needs-help.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Pro-soupPropaganda+%28Pro-Soup+Propaganda%29

Longtime readers of this blog may recall a similar thing happened before.

http://shybiker.livejournal.com/5046.html

I consider myself lucky when I'm able to help others.  I believe that doing good benefits me as  much as it benefits other people.  Do you agree?

Halloween Is Coming!

It's almost here!

What are you doing?  Going to any parties?

Are you dressing up?  As what? 

(My costume is shown below.)

To check on the size of my Halloween costume, I tried it on a few days in advance.  Here it is.

I'm dressing up as Alice Kramden from "The Honeymooners," which was a classic TV show from the 1950's starring Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden.  Alice is his wife.

The joke of the show is that Alice is the smarter of the two, even though she is "only" a traditional housewife.  Ralph always gets into trouble and Alice, who warns him beforehand, pulls him out of the fire.  Despite quarrels, Ralph ends every show by admitting his error, conceding he should have listened to Alice, and professing his love for her.  Now, isn't that nice?!

Of course, I won't lug our real vacuum-cleaner around on Halloween due to its weight, but I'm going to look in toy stores for a light plastic toy one to complete the costume.

Crazy Shoes

This designer has created some crazy, but fun, shoes.  Would you wear 'em?

http://kobilevidesign.blogspot.com/

An Education

In responding to my outfits, you guys give me an education that is extremely valuable.  You candidly and compassionately point out my successes and failures, and often offer suggestions that hadn't occurred to me before.  My understanding of style is growing quickly under your tutelage.  Also, sometimes you explain things to me that I didn't consciously know but had hidden in the back of my mind. 

For example, have you ever liked something but not known why?

I put together an outfit recently and it appeals to me a lot.  (It's the one with the ruffled skirt.)  That outfit reaches deep inside me but, until one of you commented on it, I didn't know why.  Now I do.

The outfit, because of the short ruffled skirt, resembles a girl's dance-costume.  Way back in my childhood, I had an intense desire for colorful dance-costumes.  I wanted to be one of the girls who got to wear such pretty clothes.  Of course, I never could.

I didn't make any connection between that long-held desire and my outfit last week until Freeda pointed it out -- and she couldn't have been more right.  It is precisely because of the resemblance to a girl's dance-costume that the adult-outfit appeals to me so strongly.  And now that the resemblance is known, I can't believe how obvious it is and how strange that I didn't recognize it before.

Before making this connection, I took the pictures shown below.  This new outfit is even more obvious than the last one in tracing the source of its appeal.  It's funny how I didn't see that before.

Thank you for helping me sort through the many associations we have with clothing and the sometimes-hidden meaning clothes often have for us.

Women On The Supreme Court

There are nine Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Pop quiz: How many are women?

The term of the Court begins in October and, this year, the number of women on the Court is the highest it's ever been.  There are currently THREE female Justices.

They are: Ruth Bader Ginsburg (whom I've met in person; she was appointed in 1993), Sonia Sotomayer (appointed last year), and Elena Kagan (appointed this year).

The first woman ever to reach the Court was Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981.  She retired in 2006.  Ruth Bader Ginburg, who is currently serving, was the second woman who made it there.

I was admitted to the Supreme Court several years ago.  When I went there for the ceremony, my parents were very proud.  As immigrants, they hoped to see that kind of success for their child.

Fashion Daredevil

I'm breaking the rules.  Several of 'em.

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm experimenting. 

Yes, I know the skirt is too short.  Yes, I know you're not "supposed" to wear different shades of red together.  And yet...

I want to see what happens when I do odd things.  Sometimes unconventional ideas turn out to work well.  And sometimes they fall flat.  That's why it's called an "experiment."

The worst that can happen is you'll say I have bad taste.  I can handle that.  It's not like anyone is paying me money for fashion advice.  I'll keep my day-job just in case...

The Beginning

I just laid out a collection of new pieces and assembled them into seven different outfits.  I like how they look.  Some of the pieces are used more than once but in combination with others that make 'em look completely different.

I'm going to show you these ensembles over the next few days.  Let me mention two things. 

First, I'm experimenting -- and some of my choices are crazy.  Yes, crazy.  I'm mixing colors no human has put together before.  Maybe you'll approve, maybe not, but  isn't it fun to try?  The worst that can happen is you'll tell me an experiment failed -- and my ego can handle that.  I want to try new ideas with the hope that some of them work in a novel way.  Any successes will make the whole effort worthwhile.

Second, we all have particular items we've desired forever.  For me, there are a few dream-pieces I've always wanted to wear since childhood.  One of them just popped into my closet: a multi-tiered dress.  It's too small up top for me to wear as a dress, so I'm using it as a skirt.  Just putting it on is a dream come true for me, so playing with it in these outfits has special resonance.

Enough chatter.  Feel free to toss out any impressions you have.

The Blue Plaid Skirt

You asked for it, you got it.  The blue plaid skirt!

Isn't it the cutest skirt you've ever seen?  I love it.

The only question I have for you is... what length?  In the first two pictures, I'm wearing it long; in the third picture, I raised it a little.  Your opinion counts, so please vote!

Fashion Blog Cards

I'm so proud of myself!

After thinking about something for a while, a bright idea came to me out of the blue.  Then, I implemented the idea and its execution was smooth and easy.  Best of all, it cost nothing!

Here's where I started... I love my blog and I love telling people about it.  In person, when I'd gush about the blog, I was stymied as to how to communicate the long URL.  Saying it orally made no sense since I wanted people to be able to remember it easily.  Then, after considering analogous situations, I thought -- how about a business card?!  People can take it home and check out your blog with ease.  Plus, making the card is fun.

With the standard word-processing program on my computer, I created a "Fashion Blog Card" with little effort.  All you need to remember is that business cards are 2 inches by 3 1/2 inches, so that is your area to work within.  You want the card to fit in a recipient's wallet; this standard size makes sense.

The design of the card is up to you.  Mine is shown below.  I added a little color to the font to make it interesting.

I printed the cards on white cardstock (which is cheap and available at any stationery store), using my inexpensive color printer.  They look great.  There was no need to go to a professional printer and spend money on a gazillion cards.  Doing it yourself means you print only the few cards you'll need.

Here we go.  What do you think?  Maybe you should make some!

Wild At Heart

I confound people who judge me quickly, assume they know who I am, and are later shocked to discover sides and depth to me beyond their hasty assessment. I have many levels beneath the surface. Still waters run deep. :)

This occurs in fashion, too. While I often dress demurely, I have a quiet penchant for being wild and brassy with my style. As you'll see in a moment, I can switch from middle-aged matron to young rocker-chick in a heartbeat.

Here's my new mini-skirt with glittery animal-print. Not what you expected from me? That's your fault, buddy, not mine! :)

Friendship

You've all heard me talk about my close-friend, Xenia. Her exploits and abilities are exceptional.

I was surprised to just see her refer to me (with a link) on her blog. That is so sweet!

http://www.doedeereblogazine.com

Friends make life better. I'm lucky to have Xenia as a friend.

Thrift Store Maven

I don't have the natural beauty of, say, Ashley, or the creative imagination of Xenia. So I have to work with what I have. One way I'm extending my appearance is to add new clothes to my repertoire, all of which were purchased at thrift-stores. Here are some finds I discovered today.

The skirt and top cost a total of $7. If you have good eyesight, you can see new earrings ($2).

I picked up the gold scarf at Marshall's for $8. I've never used a scarf in an outfit before but see many of you deploy them to great advantage. I hope to acquire that skill.

I normally don't buy long skirts but you guys have convinced me of their appeal. I saw this blue plaid for $5 and thought it might be fun to play with. The best part of these purchases is that they allow me to experiment and explore without worrying about money. If an outfit cost $7 and doesn't work, who cares? People spend more than that on coffee!

Blue Hair?!

My good friend Xenia just dyed her hair blue. BLUE!

I've never seen anyone under 60 do this. When she told me a few weeks ago she was planning to, I was skeptical. I couldn't imagine how it'd be anything other than awful.

But I was wrong. Here it is -- and I like it. What do you guys think?

A Second Profile!

This is my friend Jen. She's a sweetheart. Jen just got married last week (10/10/10).

Amazingly, Jen posted a profile of me today on her blog. I had no advance notice it was coming. The post is so nice and so kind.

http://thenarcissistsdiary.blogspot.com/2010/10/blogger-spotlight-shybiker.html

Jen's blog was created with the specific aim to help women feel better about themselves. She writes it with a friend and the two of them offer real support and sound advice. Their blog is a true public service.

I'm really honored Jen chose to write about me.

An Interview!

My favorite blogger, Ashley, just celebrated "Love Your Body Day" by posting interviews with five other fashion-bloggers. I am one of them!

The interviews are very interesting and go beyond what you expect. They're worth reading:

http://2eyesinthemirror.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-love-your-body-day.html

Love Your Body Day

Today, October 20th, is Love Your Body Day. It's a day designed to create awareness about how our society (and especially commercial-advertising) views women's bodies and affects women's self-image.

A depressing statistic is that 80% of women are unhappy with their bodies. In my view, everyone ought to be proud of themselves and happy with who they are, physically and otherwise. The fact that so many people have been persuaded their bodies aren't good enough is sad. So sad it deserves scrutiny.

You can find more information here: http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/

A blogger I admire is planning a special post for today. As soon as it's up, I'll alert you to it. It will definitely be worth visiting!

Variations On A Theme

My last outfit-post showcased a cute new skirt I found. Your responses had several great ideas on how to style it. I plan to try your ideas as soon as I pick up the items you recommended.

In the meantime, I experimented a little more on my own with things already in my closet. Here are the results. Some of the ensembles don't work, I now realize, but it's hard to predict in advance what will and won't gel. I'm beginning to get more of a feel for creating outfits and don't mind making mistakes along the way.

Trial By Jury

I never talk about work because it's stressful and I try to escape it when I leave work. Today, however, is an exception.

I just conducted a jury trial and am proud of how I performed. It isn't merely that I won the case but the manner in which I accomplished that outcome that pleases me.

In addition to crafting an approach, I persuaded the jury with a lucid story and cogent argument. Those efforts contrasted sharply with my adversary who lost the jurors by rambling and bumbling through his presentation.

What makes me feel really good is that I stood in front of six strangers, spoke to them with confidence and poise, and delivered a compelling narrative that they accepted as true.

I grabbed their attention with my Opening Statement at the beginning of the trial. Later, my Closing Argument had them absolutely transfixed. I had every eye upon me and, rather than flinch from that attention, I seized it to serve my client's interests. My verbal communication was calm, strong and as graceful as I've ever mustered. The experience was supremely rewarding.

You probably don't know this but, as a child, I was very shy. Public speaking terrified me and dealing with strangers was excruciating. I've spent decades overcoming that with hard work and practice. Experience helped me get better, less nervous and more poised. Having and transcending that background is why today's performance means so much to me.

I'm feeling good. :)

New Skirt

I found a lovely new skirt at a thrift-store and am playing with ways to style it. Here are two.

Do you have any other ideas?