The Skirt vs The Pant

A couple weeks ago my husband randomly asked me if I prefer jeans or long skirts/dresses. I knew right off that the answer was long skirts and dresses, but it of course is way more complicated than that. Which has in turn lead to a lot of thinking. 

I'm 24 years old and I think it's safe to say I've spent most of my life wearing some form of denim. And I like it, I think it's comfortable, I have even been known to sleep in my jeans. I like a good pair of jeans and if it's cold and snowy or really wet or I'm going hiking or any other active activity I will probably always choose a pair of jeans. 

On the other hand, more particularly since I've gotten older I find that I actually like skirts better, especially long full skirts. Beyond the fact that it's actually healthier for woman to wear skirts (there are tons of resources for this so I'm not going to bother citing any unless someone asks) and the fact that they're comfortable, I honestly like the way they look better and how they feel when I walk in them or sit in them.  Also you don't have to worry about the material wearing thin between your legs, thus a skirt will last a lot longer then a pair of pants (p.s. Unless you have thin model type legs, this is pretty much always an issue).

I read a quote a month or two ago by a woman named Tasha Tudor, she said “Why do woman want to dress like men when they are fortunate enough to be woman? Why lose femininity, which is one of our greatest charms? We get more accomplished by being charming then we would by flaunting around in pants and smoking. I am very fond of men. I think they are wonderful creatures. I love them dearly. But I don't want to look like one. When women gave up their long skirts, they made a grave error…”                                                                                                                                        Now of course I know first hand the practicality of wearing pants, but I still find it sad that they have become so common. I will still have a couple pairs of pants, but I think I'm going to add more skirts and dresses to my wardrobe this year.

* all photos can be found on my Pinterest board, My Dream Closet.

Being Intentional

I mentioned in my post about the Miracle gel nail polish that I was trying to be more intentional with my life. I feel like it's really easy when you become a mom, especially a stay at home mom to get a bit shall we say lazy or lax with your life. Now when I was a teenager I was very intentional about my appearance, I wasn't over the top but I was intentional. I brushed my hair and put on at least eyeliner everyday and I would take ages in my closet finding what I wanted to wear, I think I owned one pair of sweatpants and I never wore them.

Now as a stay home it's easy to find myself wearing the same shirt 3 days in a row with badly chipped nail polish, dry skin, hair that hasn't been brushed and no make up and really, really not caring. But that reality has started to bother me recently. Not just my indifference towards my appearance, but my indifference towards a lot of things, from my appearance, to my health, to relationships. I remembered recently a time when I was in college and God challenged me to "fast" make up for a week, and it was actually really hard because I had gotten to the point where I cared to much. Now though I feel the pendulum has swung to far in the opposite direction and I'm needing to pull it down to a normal place again.

So this years resolution is to be more intentional. I am not going to wait till Newyears to make it either, 'cause let's face it there is no time like the present. We signed a contract for our new place today, lots of change is coming and it's going to be a good season. 

So I challenge you, any of you ... If you are feeling lazy about your life, make a change and make this the year of intentionality.

Corsets and Costumes

I'm on a bit of a costume kick and this year I'm feeling a little 18th century obsessed! I've gone to a couple rennesance fairs and of course made my own costumes and I must say I was very happy with them. My first costuming adventure began after falling in love with the Lord of the Rings, I began drafting my own patterns and hand sewing my elven dresses which all things considered I think came out very well. But when I made my first corset/stays for the renn fair, that was a game changer. I love the weight and the layers and the shapes created by the clothing of yesteryear, if I could wear them all the time I probably would.

Well anyways, a few years ago ... Okay about 5, I bought an actual stays pattern packet rather then drafting my own. I found that half done corset in a bag last month and decided to finish it, it was only then that I realized it was an 18th century design ( not rennesance). But I liked it, and I was determined to finish so I started researching 18th century clothing and oh is it lovely! I am so excited to finish the stays and beggin the rest of the costume!

I've almost decided to go ahead and wear it to the renn fair anyways, I mean really half the costumes there aren't historically accurate and lots of people don't even wear costumes! I think only a handful of people will notice and probably most of them wouldn't even bother saying anything.

So here is some inspiration from my Pinterest board on costumes! And yes, I do plan to make my husband wear a kilt. I'll be sure to post costume updates along the way and I'll tell you why I love corsets so much.