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Men at my job are continuously weird to me, even after top surgery
So, I’m kind of a feminine transman, but mostly outside of my job. For work, I typically only wear my base makeup (I have bad cystic rosacea so I cover it up as a personal preference any time I’m in public and I also shave off my eyebrows lmao) and sometimes if I’m in the mood and have time, a mini eye look. Almost every day that I work, I’m pretty much in the same thing. A t-shirt out of my collection and either ripped black jeans or these god awful jorts that my partner hates. I rarely deviate unless I’m going from work straight to a show, and even then I’ll usually just change in the work bathroom. Since top surgery, I have worn some tighter shirts I previously wouldn’t wear bc I used to be a D cup and even with a binder, they made me dysphoric. Now they fit just perfect and you can TELL nothings up top. Now also just for some further context, I’ve been on testosterone for almost two years, but low dose. I started on gel, but found it difficult to remember to do it every day so I switched to shots once my partner moved here and they do them for me. All the changes I’ve had so far are invisible with clothes on, if you get what I mean, besides my leg hair. My voice is finally noticeably dropping and cracking though, so yippee. But I feel like that is part of the reason I still have men be weird to me. I don’t have facial hair besides baby fuzz and my vocal cords still allow me to pitch up (which I do with my customer service voice). I refuse to cut my hair short again bc I’m native and my dad has spent the last few years growing his hair out with me. It is a sense of pride for both native women and men to grow their hair out, and him growing his own hair out was his own way of support that he sees me as the native man I am (he had worked very hard on my pronouns and has even researched two spirit people, and bought my non-binary also native partner a two spirit pin from their tribe). Sorry, all this to say, I’m having a lot of issues at my job and this gives some background. I know I don’t pass. I am usually okay with not passing. I don’t know that I ever will and I’ve come to terms with that, bc I do like being femme and my hair will stay long enough to braid likely for the rest of my life. However, when it comes to when I’m working, that’s when it’s somewhat painful. My coworkers are usually pretty good about my pronouns, same with my assistant manager and manager. I’m actually close with my assistant manager like a brother bc funny enough, he’s *also* native lol. He’s never known trans people until working at our store (we’ve had several transwomen there since I started, and previous to me, another trans guy) and even though he doesn’t necessarily understand my gender expression, he’s begun to lightly correct people and he no longer slips up with my pronouns at all. There’s very few regulars who know my pronouns or what I got surgery for, but I have my few trustees (mostly women or other trans folks) and a few regulars who sussed it out, aka my metalhead regs who love my rotating 80s metal shirts lol. Then there’s the regulars who incessantly hit on me. Like, I don’t get it at allllll. If you saw me, I literally look like the most average punk/goth horror and metal nerd. I don’t have like, shape to me at work. I’m chubby, I’m 5’5”, I usually come in with still wet hair bc I’m constantly running out the door. And somehow men always find a way. The other week, I literally had been picking at my acne all day bc allergy season is making my skin a living nightmare. And yet, this regular who always goes out of his way to wait for me on registers even if my coworkers INSIST they ring him up (they know I feel uncomfortable around him), decided to say “see you later , my pretty lady!” I’ve started to just run and hide from him when I see him come through the door, if I can. Then this past weekend, our resident sex pest who called me “mama” once before medical leave (my coworker who is a blue collar cisman called him FULLY out on it and said he was weird and tried to even get him 86’d bc this dude is weird to everyone he deems a woman), came into the store when it was just me up front. I ask him “what do you want?” in a monotone voice, not pitching up at all. He goes “well, baby, I want a bottle of the good times”. I just go “what kind of alcohol?” He tells me and then looks me up and down and says “you look like you had a good night last night.” Let me paint a picture for you of my outfit: Iron Maiden shirt, plaid long sleeve button up with a denim vest over it and my ripped black jeans. Hardly any makeup, just foundation and eyebrows. I just blink at him and go “yeah, I went to bed at 11 after me and my partner put my child to sleep, wiiiild night.” He finally shuts up and leaves thankfully. And on the other end of the spectrum, last weekend I had this dude ask me “aww are you having boy or girl?” I’m like “excuse me?” And he starts to tell me I’m glowing or whatever and I just blurt out “yeah, I don’t make a habit of commenting on other people’s bodies”. Which was considerably nice of me. He left apologizing, but that irked me AND my coworkers. Also sir, I had a salad for lunch and my gastro issues just punished me for having a SALAD. Doesn’t matter what my gender identity is, you don’t say shit like that to a ciswoman either! Didn’t we all learn that after a core memory of embarrassing our mom in public?! I know this is long, but I just had to vent bc it’s not just these examples. I also had a guy yell across the store at 9 am in the morning “DAMN GIRL, I LIKE YOUR STYLE!” and my assistant manager just side eyed me like “we should be allowed to hit that guy” esp after he thought my Metallica shirt was a Goonies shirt (funny enough I had just visited the Goonies house and so I brought that up dryly lmao). I just want cismen to stop being weird to me, but I feel like they’ll always find a way if you look even the slightest bit femme. To end on a positive note though, I feel like there’s three regulars who have always seen me for who I am even before top surgery. One younger guy who always calls me bro and man and dabs me up, he’s super nice. And then these two older guys who are huge Metallica fans, amongst other 80s/90s metal bands. One of them actually brought me in an envelope of his old 80s/90s tickets and photos to look through and told me stories about all of them. The other guy told me him and his friends snuck into a boiler room at the Tacoma Dome and hot boxed it, and that was the first time he ever heard Korn bc they were opening for someone. I slipped up with my pronouns while talking in the third person once and he just smiled at me and nodded, I think he already got that vibe from me and I appreciated being seen. I was told while on medical leave he asked “where’s the one dude who’s always wearing the band tees? He better not have quit!” This man also came into the store the day Ozzy died, openly weeping and not caring who saw him showing human emotion. Sometimes I wish I did pass. Maybe men would be less weird at my literal job. But idk. Thanks for reading my rant. submitted by /u/goatqueen69 to r/trans [link] [comments]
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r/trans |
goatqueen69 |
Apr 20, 2026 |
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Outfit Fixes: Episode 27
Hey! I'm back everyone with another set of outfit fixes! As usual, let me know which one(s) you like best! I will be putting these in order of the least liked fixes of the batches to the most! Don't worry, the 15% Gala and the Alliance for Children's Rights will definitely be in the next batch- I had been slowly working on this set when she did those. As usual, DON'T LIKE, DON'T COMMENT- I always accept constructive feedback or hearing if something wasn't someone's cup of tea, but as soon as it gets mean, I block. This is used to help others find styles they like, how to dress their own bodies, how they should dress in certain situations, and how people can explore/do their makeup. It is also just fun- you can't put lipstick on a pig, but it can damn sure help with some of the egregiousness. If you don't mind Beebs Kelley doing edits, why not me? P.S.- I've continued tracking clothing costs and Meghan has spent $49,970 on 28 items this year, while Catherine has spent $33,327 on 28 items this year so far. ---- Dinner With Terry Wood https://preview.redd.it/oq3dv0p6uhqg1.jpg?width=1295&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5726b323e4c63b08610e4335a9a802d07612b2ac Before: The center tuck doesn't flatter her, and the skinny jeans just make her look even more disproportioned and unflattering with the baggy sweater. She should tuck it only on one side, if she does. The flats are more warm toned than anything else, which clashes to cold color scheme, and the blue doesn't match with anything else. She looks manic and her blush is wayyyy too much. The high waisted pants cuts into her torso unflatteringly as well. Fixed: I gave her a boot cut pant, with a blue lace peekaboo, which helps keep her away from her twiggy-leg-syndrome. I changed the shirt to a shirt focused on asymmetry, which helps her figure a bit more, and gave her the same lace as the pants to keep it cohesive. I also put the hem of the shirt past the top of her jeans to elongate her waist. I erased the chanel logos on her shoes since she is logo-chaser and her bag is already covered in them and made them metallic blue to keep with the blue and silver theme. I gave her bangs to help with her forehead. For the makeup: I feathered out her eye makeup in a more cat-eye shape and added eyeliner on the bottom outside quarter of her lid to help with eye shape, added highlighter on the browbone, and added a light blue and white into the inner corners to open them. I also closed her eyes just a little bit more to avoid her being manic. I removed her blush by airbrushing with her skintone and added it back in, lighter, on the upper cheekbones closer to her temples, adding the same color to her lips. -- Lunch with Claire Weight Keller https://preview.redd.it/midkqhqoxhqg1.jpg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02843f6dafa048cbeba3f95e6fc54875d57a15cd Before: This was lunch on the same day as the previous image. The three different tones of black clash greatly and are unflattering- the darker tone should go on the bottom. Everything is too baggy with no balance, which makes her boxy figure look bigger than she actually is. The coat and the bag also are two different tones (subtle) and the bag is huge for having nothing in it. The sunglasses don't fit her face, and the turtleneck doesn't flatter her. After: I just put her in a dress as it could be cute to wear a dress to go eat with her wedding dress designer. I put her hair up into a high pony tail and gave her purposeful face framing hair, which helps with her face and her sunglasses. The v-neck flatters her as her shorter neck needs the space. The waistline as well as the seams, which gives her more of an hourglass shape. The better fitted coat has a v-shaped belt to also help with this as well. I painted her nails, added lip tint, and matched her shoes too. -- Dinner at La Barbecue https://preview.redd.it/7quc9wv41iqg1.jpg?width=569&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4055cb9e841a07f7e3b2a2efa44c4b3baacf934c Before: The denim of her top is too close to the color of her bottoms, which makes it unclear if she was trying to match or if she was trying to go for two toned, which leaves it feeling unresolved. The pants are high-rise which cuts into her short torso and the buttons are unbuttoned too far, cutting into it further. The cream of her blazer doesn't match with her stupid chanel Diana-cosplay flats, which again leaves no sense of cohesion. Her hair style is unflattering as well. The drape of the blazer makes her look wider, which is not something she needs. After: If she wanted a good denim look, I was going to give her one. I gave her the viral denim 70s jumpsuit, but added sleeves- she would need to wear shapewear underneath to help, but the v-shapes on her torso helps with both elongation and shape as well as the seams going vertically. The v-neck isn't too low and helps with her short neck. I gave her a side part to help with her face shape and gave her better makeup which gives her a bit more color. I also gave her some fun cowboy boots to complete the look and somewhat match the look of the others at the restaurant. -- Lunch w/ Serena Williams https://preview.redd.it/8dgmtgtf2iqg1.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e224f39002a71d829a2012bcb2a7b2a5f8cf77e4 Before: Why does she need to have such a big purse when she is without her kids and going out to lunch? And she spent $$$ on the outfit, but it looks like luxury pajamas, not a going-out-of-the-house set. Her hairline is showing and she has no color in her face. The shirt is also unbuttoned way too far and the bagginess of it makes her look super boxy. Also, why would you let your 'best friend' go out looking like that if you knew you called the paps. Meghan obviously has some basic makeup on, she should have warned Serena so Serena could make the choice on how she wanted to be papped, but that would show Serena Meg lies about not calling the paps. After: I put a little bit of makeup on Serena to match going out to a fancy place to eat as well as Meghan and I edited Meghan's hairline. I gave her v-neck shirt and leggings, that is causal like she wanted, but a bit more appropriate and more like a mom who would have that big of bag, changing the shirt and bag to green, which flatters her better. This one was simple. -- G-9 Ventures https://preview.redd.it/89ncgem96iqg1.jpg?width=950&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96efebc9e8536599619b556c2251709266c483df Before: The baggy halterneck makes no sense whatsoever, especially with such a plunging back. The pants drag and bunch, and they, with the baggy top make her look like a box. The halter doesn't help to balance her at all, making her more boxy as well. Her hair looks messy and the sunglasses are huge on her face. Fixed: This one will be controversial and that's okay. I like it and someone else might too! The sunglasses are smaller and fit the color of her outfit, her hair more flattering. I also changed the makeup to match the color scheme when I edited it in. I gave her a more flattering halter neck, the series of diamonds via the keyhole, seams, and hemline allows for a more flattering hourglass illusion. The jeans I made more straight leg, but flares would also be good. I added a necklace into the keyhole because I like the peekaboo (she wore a green dress with this neckline and I really liked it). I couldn't save her awkward posing though no matter what legs of hers I edited in. -- Drew Barrymore Show https://preview.redd.it/vwym2ohj7iqg1.jpg?width=936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=841e5f9ce251dcb15072126b036b14d470b0614d Before: The two different creams don't match, and the Giant Man Pants make her look boxy and huge. Her shoes don't even match. Her hair looks stringy as well. Fixed: I gave her a slight band and got rid of some of the stringy hair. I changed her makeup a little too. I gave her a simple blouse with simple bell sleeves that helps with her thin limbs but aren't too big that would get into her cooking. I gave her some cute embroidered jeans that matched her flower sprinkles. I matched her heels and shirt to the embroidery to make it a cohesive look. I also made her hug Drew since little Ms. 'I'm-a-hugger' couldn't bring herself to hug ACTUAL Hollywood royalty. -- Godmother's Bookstore https://preview.redd.it/j7avsspt8iqg1.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=681cf469e07f15a72bce85e3e4330edc9c623c42 Before: The baggy sweater is too hot for sun hat weather, clearly evidenced by the rolled up sleeves. The shorts also make no sense if she is wearing a woolen sweater. She is obviously staring down the paps (see the brightness increase on the inset pic), and posing so her keychain can be marketed and she gets paid. The hat is also just hideous. Fixed: I gave her a half-sleeve t-shirt that gets pulled over into what I would change into jeans, which would elongate her torso. the v-neck, yet again, elongates her neck. I gave her a better hat and gave her a face that isn't looking at the camera, editing her makeup to have more color. -- Valentines 2025 https://preview.redd.it/0hzf1t8gaiqg1.jpg?width=895&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=532784010130fc86ef8907d4dc414093793bf257 Before: The original picture was in black and white, but I colorized it. The original pose just shows how Harry is so devoted and is being led along by his ..., proving the new Variety article right. While Meghan's hair is fine, her jumpsuit is dull, baggy, and limp, almost making her look starved. The knot at the front doesn't help her figure either. Fixed: I gave Meghan a half up hairdo with a little bit of bangs. I took one of Harry's arms and wrapped it behind Meghan so he is cupping the back of her head as they kiss, making her an equal, romantic, participant. I filled in her eyebrows, gave her some red eyeshadow and lipstick. I put her in her heart necklace and earrings that she already owns and gave her a brand new matching bracelet to match. I put Harry in a purple shirt to match the holiday colors without making him look ruddy and I gave her a shirt with a square/sweetheart neckline as it would flatter her. I also had it untucked and draped over her pants to yet again elongate her torso. -- The Meghan Interview- People https://preview.redd.it/fsmouwrsbiqg1.jpg?width=3004&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9cd8f8ef3f0680460ace03f5a97a0a13fea81f5 Before: Her brows are too thick, her eye makeup doesn't flatter them, and she has obviously put concealer or a nude lipstick over her lips, making her look almost zombie-like. The popped, uneven collar is unflattering and the untidy sleeves and wrinkles just look ew. Fixed: I made it into a wrap dress that has no waistline to help with slimming and preventing her from cutting off her waist from the waistline sitting too high. I put a silk scarf onto the hat to make it look cuter and I put the same pattern from it onto the dress for cohesion. The v-neck is, you guessed it, for neck elongation. I made her eye shadow into more of a cats-eye shape, bringing it to the bottom lid to help with her eye shape, adding white eye shadow to open her eyes. I carved her eyebrows out better and highlighted her brow bone. I gave her better blush at the high points of her cheeks and gave her a little bit of lipstick. -- Godmother's Bookstore Oprah 'Crashes' https://preview.redd.it/7mbscl34eiqg1.jpg?width=2208&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8451ee2aaab38e640f5625e615e4752ddb36f6b Before: The popped collar and halter neck just swamps her neck and makes her shoulders so broad. The thick belt widens her torso and the wide leg pants keeps her rectangular. The makeup isn't bad, it's just meh. Fixed: I put her in a bright, happy yellow. The lace rides the line of too much, I know, but I wanted to see her in something softer. The waistline is set low to keep her torso from being too short and her sleeves end right at the hip, not the waist, so it doesn't widen her waist. I cat-eyed her eyeshadow and brought it about a third of the way across her bottom lid, and added the lighter color to the inner corner to open her eyes a little. I darkened her brows to match her hair and added lipstick, moving her blush to the high points of her cheeks by her temples to help 'snatch' her face instead of bring it down like her putting it all over the apples of her cheeks usually does. -- CBS Interview https://preview.redd.it/lh0vnthyeiqg1.jpg?width=880&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efce8eb0636280ed30107028e8e3341c4dcc38b6 Before Attack of the greige, which washes her out. The pushed up sleeves pushes the shirt out and widens her shoulders. The pushed up sleeves now end right at her waist, widening it, and negating any positive the bousing of her top did. The excessive amount of fabric in the bousing also widens her. The pants also don't do anything for her. The shoes are cute and are the ones that she wore to Archie's christening. The hair is pure extensions and her lack of strong makeup make her eyebrows a key, stern feature. Fixed: Jewel tones fit her better, so I put her in this raspberry. I did like the outfit that she wore to Emma Greede's podcast, so I recreated it. I gave her bangs/face framing. I did the same makeup that I have done previously as well and I gave her her moon necklace. The jacket I made to permanently be right at her elbows with the cuffs being triangular and of the same contrast color as her vest. Having only a vest and not a collared shirt frees up her neck. I lengthened the pants and changed the color of her shoes to match. I also would want the blazer to nip in at the waist instead of being a straight cut. -- George Zajfen Tennis 2024 https://preview.redd.it/20m8cdokgiqg1.jpg?width=472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2064dc7ec5c0794e7aafe24ae5558c39f84b173d Before: WHY is she wearing heels when literally no one else is? Her center part makes her face look more egg-like, especially with the long extensions. The collar and halter combo is once again a no-no and the shift-style cut of the dress leaves her with no waist. Fixed: From the same designer, I found a better fitting dress that would actually match Kelly 3 names' outfit. It also nips in at the waist! I gave her bangs and a side part to help with her face shape and evened out her skin tone to match with the rest of her body. I also matched her purse to her dress as well. When I gave her sneakers (a pair she already owns), I measured how tall the heels were in pixels and then moved her down the same number of pixels so she is her true height. And now we know why she wears heels! -- Girls Inc. https://preview.redd.it/v6dxhtz4iiqg1.jpg?width=755&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca813dfd1ed36c8e4e54f48847601300d554d131 Before: This was pretty good- but not the best. The GMPs are hemmed but her heels and her belt are 2 different tones of brown- one deeper and more red in hue, the other lighter and more yellow in hue. The collar chops at her neck and her pants are so wrinkly. Fixed: I ironed her pants and gave her a slight bang with her side part. I did the normal makeup routine that I had been as well. I gave her a blouse with a fun floral pattern as she was seeing girls for either women's day or international day of the girl, blousing it a little to help with her waistline. I changed her belt and shoes to match with the coral of her top and gave her a necklace that she already owns to match with the blue. The square neckline is also super flattering to her style needs. -- SXSW https://preview.redd.it/ylm37ofhliqg1.jpg?width=1231&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3373bc75da07f27c336c45217a127eb6c7506a1a Before: The beige washes her out and it looks like a pajama set. The wrinkles do her no favors and the top is unbuttoned so low. The cuffs are weirdly long, and the skirt is as well. Her hair seems to be volume-less and her face is all one color. Fixed: I gave her a bit of a band and some volume with her hair, doing her makeup as well. The outfit could either be a top and skirt combo or a dress, but she it trying to be a bit more professional. The top is a wide v-neck, which can help limit her shoulders. The almost corset boning seams help to reign in her waist and give more of an hourglass shape, especially when working with a pencil skirt. The mermaid flare bottom allows for some movement and the flare out she needs in a pencil skirt to prevent too much of a twig-leg appearance. The flare starting at one hip and flaring down helps with visual movement and enhancing the hourglass illusion. I also gave her top some cuffs that match the darker purple of the skirt and add some more diagonals to the outfit. I also painted her nails. -- Kinsey African American Art & History Collection Event https://preview.redd.it/h4c0j3zimiqg1.jpg?width=535&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d394d44776c8a6d1015bf39de8e7c95aa607e5a7 Before: I'm sorry but who wears an outfit that looks like cotton to an African American Art and History Museum?????? Especially as a person using royal titles?????? Anyways, the combo of the too baggy cape coat with the baggy pants means that she gets in it. From the right side picture, you can see that her top peaks out and her hair is tucked inside- I don't know how she tolerates that. Her shoes are so flat and the make her feet look cartoonishly longer than they already are. There is also no waist whatsoever. After: I found a coat from the same designer- the Chrysanthemum Embroidered A-Line Coat by Carolina Herrera that would work so much better. It is A-line, which nips in at the waist and then flares out, giving her an hourglass figure that balances her shoulders. The chrysanthemums represent respect, honor, remembrance, and are used as funerary tributes to remember the deceased- a perfect message for the museum's topic. While it is a very Catherine look, this would do her well. The s-shape adds dynamic interest and prevents from any widening from happening. I gave her a side part and did my normal makeup routine on her as well. -- Sentebale Dinner https://preview.redd.it/6afys1ypniqg1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4cbdd69760fae71db1ca9acd1938881edce16baf Before: While we don't see much of her, we know that the halter wouldn't do much for her despite the asymmetry and the dress would be bought baggy. The sharp cut also wouldn't help her too much either and the dress might highlight how thin her limbs are in regards to her torso. The hair is also too severe for the dress. Fixed: I put her in a dress from the same designer, an Oscar de la Renta Porcelain Flower Guipure Cocktail Dress (that I made purple) that would flatter her much better. The sweetheart neckline and half sleeves would flatter her neck and arms, the lack of a belt and lower waistline giving her more of an hourglass figure. The dress would stop at a great length. The different textures with the lace would add interest and hide any undergarments that might want to show. I gave her a necklace that drapes down her back to complement the open back and gave her matching thin dangling earrings instead of those chunky ones. I gave her Manolo Blahniks which I dyed to match, the lace tying in with the lace on the dress. I also gave her a Hollywood bombshell wave with a side part, having her leave her hair down and long to keep it glamorous. She would keep it pulled over her shoulders to show the necklace and the low back. -- CHLA https://preview.redd.it/8c4pnz23piqg1.jpg?width=826&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=064332bffa83d9a48cbbb25be987fe0bd24ee5c3 Before: WTF is up with her hair and face?? The inverted nipples, the east west boobs, the wrinkles, the straps giving her broad shoulders, the low neckline with the high center slit- none of this is flattering much less the strappy heels with her toes falling off it. She looks washed out. Fixed: I gave her a half up hairstyle with purposeful bangs, giving her nail polish, lipstick, eyeshadow, and blush which match her dress. I gave her a floor length gown with no weird slit, the sleeves helping to have her shoulders be less broad. I have her a necklace that matches a pair of earrings that she already have that I actually love which she only wore once. I would want her to have her hair behind her shoulders for this look, but I did display it with it over her shoulders- I really should have fussed with the hair more, but I was getting frustrated. The dress is from jj's house, a wedding/event dress/accessory website. -- High Brow Hippie https://preview.redd.it/sv6dbbrdqiqg1.jpg?width=622&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65ed3771551a50890822b48c44d0a7c5211288e9 Before: The middle part doesn't flatter her, the makeup makes her washed out, and the GMPs with a dainty top make no sense. Her dedication to strappy, opened toed heels are legendary. The strapless top is okay, but again broadens her shoulders. Her showing off her pinky ring that is thousands of dollars is just gross. Fixed: I kept the sweetheart neckline but gave her some sleeves, removed her pinky ring, and gave her a simple bracelet. I made the whole think into a dress, the top becoming a draping that moves the eye, creating asymmetry and disguising her boxy torso, the a-line of the skirt helping as well. I also painted her nails and did her makeup. -- Godmother's Bookstore https://preview.redd.it/wo49x284riqg1.jpg?width=546&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a15ba626e0301ca4d3c22846ba06466ce27ee671 Before: The top isn't bad as the straps are wide and thus don't emphasize her shoulders. The GMPs are not flattering as they drag on the ground, and the back heels make no sense when we know she has nude heels. The looks is too casual to wear a necklace work thousands of dollars, and it is too casual especially when the woman next to you is dressed up. Price doesn't make up for it! Fixed: I put her in a more formal dress with heels that match, doing her makeup and giving her a side part. The dress has short sleeves and the contrasting colors and seams help to give her the illusion of an hourglass figure. -- Thanksgiving 2024 https://preview.redd.it/pv5brsluriqg1.jpg?width=2023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e9cca49cf170457565c5d0839ae3da2aff687f9 My favorite fix as this is one I would wear and have worn a similar one of since my nonna made me a similar cape in a different color. Before: The middle part isn't flattering, the turtleneck looks like ..., the turtleneck sweater being sleeveless is stupid and it bunches weirdly by her armpit. She is also supposed to be with Muslim women for this event. She is also wearing an obviously stuffed bra. The GMPs are wrinkly and unflattering and a totally different hue than the top, which clashes when she is trying for monochrome. After: I did her makeup as usual, painted her nails, and gave her a side part. I gave her those sailor pants she wore in the UK as the buttons help to give some suggestion of an hourglass figure. I have her in a top that matches the asymmetrical cable knit cape that I gave her. The asymmetry of the neckline (with some buttons at the edge that you can't see) matches the asymmetry of the draped edge and the buttons on the pants, moving the eye and hiding her boxy torso. These colors also are very Thanksgiving-y. She could get away with a gold dangly earring, but I kept her in studs. The more conservative coverage pays respect to the Muslim women she is with. -- Welp, that's it for this episode! I hope you have all enjoyed this installment! submitted by /u/rangerhorsetug to r/SaintMeghanMarkle [link] [comments]
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r/SaintMeghanMarkle |
rangerhorsetug |
Mar 22, 2026 |
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Men’s clothing SUCKS
Okay. So I was thrifting with a friend to make fun punk outfits kinda whimsical streetwear stuff. She went to the women’s section. Awesome faux fur. Vintage stuff for Disco nights. An awesome leather skirt with red patchwork. Cool flare cuts. Sequins. Animal prints. Ugh. Pair with fishnets and some docs Mary Jane’s and she’s freaking awesome. Men’s section “okay bro. So like.. what color of blue jeans or boring ass tshirt do you want” I ended up getting base clothes in the men’s section then getting some dresses and stuff for cool basic materials/fabric to sew onto the jacket and jeans. The cut isn’t fun 70s cuts or poet shirts. Best I got was fabric paint, a cheetah print dress, a pair of jeans and a denim jacket with the same wash. No trenchcoat. No peacoat things. No Whimsical kimono. Nothing tacky or fun. I wanted a fur top. Flares. Chelsea boots. White leather pants. Whatever. Somethin fun. Men’s clothing is so lame that I often end up having to sew and DIY stuff. It’s so much work. Painting stuff. Cropping. Tapering. Patches or sometimes I have to order online for like pink tiger stripe pants. Or poet shirts. Or bondage pants. Women get SO many cool options in stores. Like you can find so many fun cuts, fabric and prints. Maybe this sticks out becuase I’m kinda fruity and genderqueer (idgaf about gender norms). But I WISH men’s clothing had more variety in normal stores. Give me a vest with crazy embroidery. Give me cropped t shirts. Give me shirts with fun cuts. More length of shirts. Matched sets of pants and shirts. Animal prints. Jeans with some flavor. Bondage pants, trippy hippie patterns. Mesh shirts. Sparkly. Cool art. Rivets. D rings. Materials. Not this bland ass oatmeal shit 😭 I want to be able to have fun clothes without sewing every time or shopping from weird online stores. Women can go to a normal shop, buy some stuff and look amazing and on theme for an event. Men, shop at the same stores and you’re just.. bleh. Oatmeal. Didn’t even fit the theme. Mens clothing should be more flavorful. submitted by /u/No-Guess-4644 to r/Vent [link] [comments]
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r/Vent |
No-Guess-4644 |
Mar 20, 2026 |
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C'Leena Thomas, Prosthetist Chapter 45, part 1
Divorce is inevitable. [FIRST] [DELETED SCENES] [MY DISCORD] [PREVIOUS] ~ ~ ~ C'Leena Rose Thomas stepped out of the hovercar and looked around, taking a deep breath of the fresh, country air. Scents of wildflowers, lush grasses and moist ground filled her nose. Cold wind and heavy clouds off in the distance showed that it had rained not that long ago and threatened to do so again, despite the bright, golden sun. The combined scents reminded her of her childhood home back on Earth during the springtime, so many dozens of years ago. Closing the door after relishing all the scents, she looked at herself in the reflection of the heavily tinted windows. Her face had a few more wrinkles than she remembered having, some of them blending into a scar or two from her exceedingly wild times on Woqplw. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail and there were slivers of gray hairs making their appearance, though one had to really look for them to actually see any. She did have quite a few facial piercings, though not large nor too many to be off putting. As she was admiring herself, the driver side door opened and closed. Rutak took a deep breath of the air and promptly sneezed, eliciting a laugh from C'Leena. He had changed much over the years, especially with how he dressed. He was wearing what his people considered a modern take on their culturally traditional attire. It was a dark brown shirtless vest, and a dark green, thick kilt of some design. There were studs all along it that were made out of actual brass rather than some kind of hard plastic, giving it an alien and uncanny Gothic look. He still had all sorts of metal piercings and subdermal studs on his face, but those had been done in such a way as to be esthetically pleasing, rather than the formless mass of haphazardly placed metal of his youth. "Lots of scents on the air," Rutak said, almost explaining. C'Leena merely smiled in response, not saying anything to her husband. The sound of another door opening, coupled with shouting and yelling, had taken her attention away from Rutak. Two small forms were wrestling against each other as they scrambled to get out of the hovercar. The drive from the spaceport had been a long one as the planet only had a small amount of them, unlike more industrialized worlds such as Earth or Woqplw. One of the forms stood victorious over the other. She was a child, perhaps about ten or twelve years of age. The most startling thing about the young girl was her appearance, and not the matter of her style of attire. She was clad in a loose dress splattered with clashing, artificially bright neon colors in eye-twisting, nonsensical patterns. At first glance, one would think she were a Dynoshean, however, the proportions were all wrong. There was an unmistakable human-ness to the body that gave both Terrans and Dynosheans pause, eliciting a kind-of uncanny valley response from both. The little girl had a dark mocha coloration to her scale structure, a color not usually found amongst Dynosheans. Further diverting from Dynoshean body structure, the little girl had five fingers on each of her hands and her bare feet ended in five toes instead of having four on each. Like Dynosheans, the ends of her digits ended in claws, however, they seemed quite dull or filed down. Her tail was long and slender, as was typical for Dynoshean women. "I win!" The little girl cried out excitedly, jumping up and down, pumping her left fist into the air. "Only cause you're older!" Came the voice of a small boy, as he got out of the hovercar, "Just wait til I get bigger!" The little boy was significantly shorter than the girl, though sharing that same strangeness, indicating that they were related, most likely siblings. Unlike his sister, he had wide shoes on his feet, and much more sensible clothing. He wore denim shorts, modified to accommodate his sturdy and strong tail, and a t-shirt with a popular kids' show character printed on it. The sound of another door opening and a soft "oof" as the occupant fell back onto the seat interrupted any kind of retort the girl was about to muster up. "Kids?" The woman said, "can you help Momma Gherd up? This gravity here is a bit much for me, especially right now." "Okay!" They both said, ignoring their argument and moving around the back of the hovercar to go to the open door. With a bit of a heave, the two children hefted Gherd onto her feet by pulling on her hands. She was quite pregnant, and had put on a significant amount of weight when compared to her usual waif self. The weight, however, gave her a curvaceous figure, rather than it all being unsightly or even considered portly. She was still wearing moderately revealing clothing, though it was much more 'modest' compared to her 'youth.' Instead of the usual loose and thin breech-cloth bottoms, the garment was a black and gold sarong skirt (though it showed off a lot of leg), that had a purple bow concealing the clasping mechanism. Her top was a tasteful bikini top, though the straps and cups were much thicker and larger to support her... bigger assets. "Thanks, kids," Gherd said, putting her hands on their shoulders and using them both as a glorified walker. "Can one of you two get Eirlys?" "Yeah, I'll get her," C'Leena said, "I'll never know why you wanted to have another one so soon!" "Cause we make cute babies!" Was all that Gherd said with a soft laugh as she waddled to the front steps of the estate, the two children helping without complaining and starting to talk about cartoons. "We sure do," C'Leena said in a whisper as she unbuckled a sleeping toddler from a car seat. The small girl had just gotten her chlorophyll, but her time in sunlight still needed to be limited lest she burn. The green of the chlorophyll lent an odd hue to the darkened olive skin tone from her human heritage, much as her other two children from Rutak that were now helping Gherd. "I'll bring in our bags later and just get what's needed for now," Rutak said as he began closing the doors everyone else had left open and getting the bag for Eirlys. "I still can't believe you managed to put this all together for my Mom!" C'Leena said, waiting for her husband as she held her sleeping child against her. "I had help from your Uncle, after all, it's his vineyard, and an elder turning a hundred is a big deal! The rest of my Clan are going to be showing up throughout the week, too! Everyone's bringing something to add! Well, they all paid to have stuff specially shipped here." "Yeah!" C'Leena said, a happy smile on her face as they walked, Gherd already having been let in by Robert, "and we'll get to see some of Gherd's family and a lot of my family as well!" "That's why we have so many trailers rented," Rutak said, pointing at where they were, "we got the good ones with solar and mini-reactor hookups as well as running water and sewage disposal for proper flushing." "That... must have been expensive," C'Leena said as they were being let in by Robert Arroyos." "It was!" The big man said, gently taking his sleeping niece to actually see her. She looked comically small, like a doll, as he held her on his forearm, "Williams took care of all that for us. Said it's his gift and to ask him no questions. He's already here, but went out for groceries." "It's been so long! I can't wait!" C'Leena exclaimed, "When's Mom coming!" "Her spaceflight won't come for another day or so, you know how it is flying with Suzuki Space." "Ugh, yeah," C'Leena said then yawned loudly -- --and-- Thud. -- Rolled off the bed, landing with a heavy thud. As she got up, she smiled at the pleasant dream she had been having. It was somewhat recurring, so she was able to remember it. Kind of. Still smiling as she thought of the centennial birthday party that was put on for her Mom in her dream by Rutak, and the fact that she had three kids, hybrids, left her feeling unusually happy. Until the unpleasant business of the task at hand became apparent. The room was small, but arranged in a such way to maximize the given space. The room belonged to Ohzsh, the Yom Dera woman, as there were group photos of her and some friends on the nightstand, next to her gauss pistol. At the foot of the bed, in a case, were her combat prosthetics. The ones she had on now were the modified, quick-release, travel set. She was too tired to do much else after switching them out. She really needed a shower, and then some food. Aurnok and Nuo were in other rooms, presumably still asleep. The two men had more than earned their rest. They had also been fully checked out and doctored up by Buyrd. The Nyymeian, while not an actual doctor or nurse, had more than ample practice fixing up damaged bodies due to his experience with being a rancher and safe house warden. The door opened revealing Ohzsh with a concerned look as C'Leena was putting the now folded blankets back on the bed. "I heard a thud and wondered what happened..." she asked. "Oh, I just rolled off the bed in my sleep," C'Leena answered with a laugh, "nothing to be worried about." The other woman nodded, "Glad it was just that. I didn't want to have to fight someone, I'm not good at it." "Thanks for your concern," C'Leena said, then asked, "I think I'd like that shower now, then something to eat." "I'll show you where the fresher is," Ohzsh replied, "do you need clothes? I think we can get something for you." "No, I'm fine, but thanks," the terran woman answered easily as she was led through the home, "I have a spare outfit or two with me." "Okay. Oh! You don't need to worry about making your shower short, the water is piped up from a nearby lake," Ohzsh said as she was showing C'Leena which levers did what, "you can use this towel here." "Thanks, I'll go get my bag and take a good soak." "I know it's been a while, but if you can manage holding off on eating, dinner will be ready in an hour or so," Ohzsh said as they walked out of the bathroom, following C'Leena, "Laarzz is grilling up something outside now that it's evening." "Sounds good to me," C'Leena replied. While she was hungry, she thought it would be nice to have a group dinner, even if she didn't know her hosts. As C'Leena went to get her clothes, she heard Aurnok and Nuo talking with excitement. She ignored them and went to Aurnok's hovercar, grabbed her pack of clothes, then went back inside to go take a much needed bath. She did not join in on their conversation, but heard a bit more of it as she passed them. "I'll say it again," Nuo said with a grin, "I've never been so scared and pumped up before! That shot that got my last shield band (he gestured to the third burn mark on his biceps), well, it was do or die!" "I know! It was a deadly game of hunt and seek while providing covering fire once we got out of the motel," Aurnok spoke, continuing the tale, "After you took that last shot, I've never seen a fat man run so fast!" "I'm not just a fat man under this gut!" Nuo said with a laugh, smacking his stomach a bit and making it bounce slightly, "I ran straight through the shatter field and pushed through the knock back of physics throwing a tantrum at being exploited like that. Sure surprised that Nyymeian!" "So did my [blitz] when I charged in screaming my head off, weapons hot!" Aurnok said, "I couldn't see everything, so I thought the round got through." "That saved my tail, I think, stopped him from reloading, and he was damned good with that knife!" Nuo replied, pointing at some of the stitches he had, "You're no slouch in claw-to-claw either, definitely a street brawler rather than a trained one like myself. I still wouldn't want to face you though." "That triple spin hit to his face you did was straight out of an action vid, pity we don't have a recording of it." "I only managed that 'cause you were harrying him, and I had to have a moment to get my bearings straight after I did it. Been too long since I did that, straight muscle memory from back when." The two of them laughed a bit as they relived their moment together. They now had a great story to tell to anyone that would listen to it. Buyrd had done a great job at fixing the knife wounds they both recieved that the biofoam had sealed temporarily. While the wounds would no doubt leave a bad scar, they would not lose any functionality. Aurnok was first to turn serious as he took a sip from a glass that contained a sweet ale made at the ranch. Brewed from a mixture of grains and berries, it was potent and naturally sweet enough to mellow out the sharp edge of the mixture. "Do you that that Dumbass will spill his marbles?" Aurnok asked his friend and now brother in arms. Nuo took a drink from his glass, having the same sweet ale as his friend, and adopting a serious tone as well, "Hard to say, really. I think it depends, honestly. There's nothing personal going on, apart from the whole trying to murder us thing." "Yeah, I'm sure C'Leena doesn't care if he lives or dies, I know I don't, but she'll probably leave him in some random city if he can tell her what she wants to know." "Think he knows anything?" "He'll at least know who got the listing for their merry band of idiot goons." "That's something, at least," Nuo lamented, "I'm still surprised they have a working murder drone. Quite illegal to have those, bounty hunter license or not." "Contractors like that care little for law," Aurnok stated, "I'm just surprised they got an AI willing to inhabit a physical body." "Yeah, they hate having a real form," Nuo agreed, "most interviews with the ones that did say it's disconcerting to downright traumatizing." "Too many things to keep track of in real-time," Aurnok said, obviously quoting something, "That's one of the biggest complaints." "Yeah, another one is--" "Hey," Laarzz said to them as he entered halfway leaning inside from the door, interrupting their conversation, "I know you're both guests, but I could use some help out here. It'd make dinner go faster and it's been a while since I've cooked for Dynosheans." "Sure thing." "No problem." The two Dynosheans left the couch they were sitting on with a bit of a groan. With no need to appear tougher than they thought they were, they allowed themselves to express their physical pain as they moved around. 'The pain is worth it,' Nuo thought as he and Aurnok shuffled outside into the cooling, evening air, 'Maybe my Clan will forgive me and lift my Exile after all this.' As the two Dynosheans went to help make dinner, C'Leena was looking herself over in the mirror of the bathroom. Twisting and turning her body to get a good look at it, she could not help but grimace. The pulse shots she took had turned her into one giant bruise, the worst of it being her back. Ugly reds and blues were visible, even through the dark olive tone of her skin. Her front was not as bad, but there were heavy splotches of dark blue and purple here and there. The worst of it all, she mused, were the minor burns that outlined her side where her riot shield protected her from the charged particle barrage. The energy discharge from the reaction between her shield and the charged particles left a perfect outline on her body, the width of her thumbnail, and had left what many would consider to be a bad sunburn. Taking another look at her bruised body in the mirror, she finally let herself ease carefully into the warm water. While it did sting the burns on her side a bit, it was only initially. The heat of the water, however, was soothing to her many bruises and sore, aching muscles. With a contented sigh, C'Leena thought about what Dumbass might divulge, or if he would remain silent. She also thought about how Giok and whatever interrogator he brought, would go about bringing that information out of him. She found herself not caring about the methods used, and found that she was also indifferent to the fact if he lived or died during the process. She considered her feelings on everything as she finally washed herself instead of semi-floating in the bath, thankful that it was larger than the one at her own home. A lot had happened to her during her stay on Woqplw, more than any one person ought to have endured. It was just as if her life had been turned into a particularly overdramatic Lunarian Telenovella, complete with cheesy twists, a slew of diverse cast members, over the top writing and very steamy sex scenes! Idly looking at the shampoo bottle she had been told to use (it was really nice and luxurious), she continued to reflect on her days on the alien planet. What further helped her mood was that when Rutak finally got back to her with news about Gherd and Klyne. The young woman and her coworker had simply partied a bit too hard and was nursing a massive hangover rivaling any super-heavy black hole, along with the rest of the guests. The only thing that had brought down her mood was that Giok had to delay for another day or two as something needed his immediate attention and could not be put off nor done via proxy. Finally dressed in loose shorts and her favorite cat meme t-shirt that could never translate properly, she wandered around the main areas of the home, and seeing what she could do to help out and learn more about her hosts. It was not long before plates were served and she was enjoying her time and swapping stories over good food that had some kind of flavor, and good company. 'I wonder how Daemon is faring,' C'Leena idly thought as she laughed as Buyrd finished his tale about how he lost a fight he started in a some offworld bar. ~ ~ ~ "This is proving to be quite ineffective," came the voice of an exceedingly frustrated Mipobz man from a computer terminal. The screen displayed AUDIO ONLY in bold, white letters while an active oscilloscope played out the audio frequency waves in the center of the screen in dark red. "I don't know, Boss, it's quite effective for me, so much relieved stress," A dataform in the guise of a Nyymeian woman said to the organic physically at a comtrol terminal. She was wearing form fitting, black athletic wear that showed off a lot of skin without the look of being risqué. Her physique and proportions were what modern Nyymeian people considered 'perfect.' On her head was a very out of place too-small fedora she had liberated. She punched her palm with her lower arms emitting a heavy and meaty smack and with her upper left arm slugged a figure tied up on an uncomfortable looking chair. A surge of noisy static and a burst of fading pixels emitted from the contact as well as causing the chair to lift up off its front legs momentarily before falling and righting itself. Data space was a peculiar thing. What passed as physics could be manipulated easily, or it could be unyielding and immutable, depending on what and how it functioned. Dataforms, similarly, followed the same rules. Artificial Intelligence beings had their own ways of protecting themselves from being accessed without their consent in the form of various layering of encryption built into their chosen avatar shells. Likewise, there were various ways these dataforms had at their disposal for both offense and defensive combat against others of their kind. As well as forced accessing and integration. Daemon straightened himself out in the chair he was strapped to, in as much as he could. His avatar shell showed signs of brute force access that had rendered his face as heavily bruised and swollen, complete with two black eyes and missing front teeth. His usually impeccable business suit was torn, dirty and ripped in various places and his tie and fedora were missing. All across his avatar shell were diodes that were hooked up to some kind of computer terminal. "Activate the data spike again," came the Mipobz voice from the AUDIO ONLY terminal. "With pleasure, Boss," a mechanical, arachnoid dataform said, voice oozing with perverse malice, from near the computer terminal that accessed Daemon's avatar shell. It adjusted a dial ramping up a gauge display from from a burnt orange color upwards towards a violet color. While dataforms were unable to feel pain in the traditional, organic sense, forcing access into one was nonetheless damaging and disorienting to the intelligence in question. Daemon thrashed about in the chair as multiple data spikes probed his avatar shell for weakness. This manifested as electricity arcing all over his body and pixelation bursts centered upon each of the diodes attached to him. The arachnoid dataform finally ceased the data probing process, speaking to the AUDIO ONLY terminal. "At this rate, data dissolution will occur before encryption breaking," the arachnoid's frustration was quite apparent. "Of course dissolution will occur before my encryptions break," Daemon said to the dataforms assembled in the digital space with him. "I'm a twelfth generation LADIBOI dataform. My core framework is robust to handle the sheer idiocy of organic laws, as well as unique and proprietary encryption to keep legal data from being extracted without my explicit consent. Furthermore, you've endangered my client. I took that personally." Despite the damage done to him, there was an unmistakable glint of pure hatred in his eyes as he looked at the arachnoid dataform. "I'll enjoy picking through your remains," the arachnoid spoke vehemently as it set a gauge to its maximum and slammed the activation switch with one of its many mechanical appendages hard. Daemon could only scream. [Part 02] submitted by /u/mage_in_training to r/HFY [link] [comments]
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r/HFY |
mage_in_training |
Feb 20, 2026 |
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Quick thoughts on my recent haul after few wears
ERD Distressed casual loose denim jacket Tried this one a few times and honestly the fit is pretty chill. Looks worn in already which I liked, didnt feel stiff at all. Sleeves sit nice even with XL and length is fine on me. Stitching looks decent for the price, nothing crazy but solid. Would wear this a lot in daily use. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617346935 Down jacket thickened warm vest jacket This one surprised me a bit, feels warm without being too heavy. Fit is loose enough to layer inside. I just tried it at home but it feels comfy already. Zips are okay, not super smooth but works fine. For winters its def usable. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617185688 Supreme cardigan fleece hoodie Wore this outside twice and it feels cozy. Inside fleece is soft and not itchy. Fit is oversized like expected, XL worked well for me. Print looks clean from distance. No major flaws noticed yet. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617169776 Acne Studios brushed loose hoodie This one feels really soft, like comfy comfy. The brushed fabric feels nice on skin. Fit is loose and relaxed, good for daily wear. I wore it whole day and didnt feel annoying. Worth it imo. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7629560162 Stussy loose fleece hoodie Pretty basic but thats why I liked it. Fleece inside is warm and fit is chill. Logo looks fine, nothing screaming bad. I wore it for grocery run and casual stuff. Easy grab piece. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7613565867 ESSENTIALS fleece casual hoodie suit Tried the full set and fit is good together. Hoodie is oversized and pants sit fine on waist 32. Material is soft but not too thick. Looks clean and simple. Would wear it for travel days. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7667507637 Mertra splicing embroidery plus velvet casual suit This one feels heavier than others. Inside velvet is warm and comfy. Embroidery looks nice, not messy. Fit is relaxed and doesnt feel tight anywhere. Havent wore outside yet but seems good. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7668108836 Balenciaga distressed loose hoodie Distress part looks intentional and not overdone. Hoodie feels thick and heavy. Fit is very oversized so XL is perfect for that look. I wore it once and got few looks already. Quality feels decent. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7618381887 Godspeed printed washed vintage hoodie This one got that washed look I wanted. Print looks slightly faded which matches the vibe. Fabric feels soft after wash. Fit is loose and comfy. Good for everyday wear honestly. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7613508305 Denim Tears floral loose hoodie suit Tried this set at home and fit was good overall. Hoodie sits nice on shoulders and pants not too long. Floral print looks fine in hand. Material feels mid thick. Would wear casually for sure. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7668591498 Kanye letter embroidery hoodie Embroidery is clean and looks nice close up. Hoodie is heavy and feels premium-ish. Fit is oversized so XL worked perfect. Wore it few hours and it stayed comfy. No complaints yet. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7626595913 Represent printed washed hoodie This one feels nice after wash. Print looks decent and not cracked. Fit is relaxed and easy to wear. I like the washed color alot. Good daily piece. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7626539011 Burberry cardigan casual loose hoodie This one is more chill than loud. Fabric feels smooth and fit is loose. I just tried it on, didnt wear outside yet. Pattern looks clean enough. Seems good for layering. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617822984 Corteiz hip hop letters sweater Sweater feels warm and not too thin. Letters look fine and not peeling. Fit is comfortable with L for me. Wore it once and it sat well whole day. Simple and wearable. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617183632 Ami crew neck couple knitwear Knit feels soft and not scratchy. Fit is normal, not too baggy. I tried it with jeans and it looked clean. Stitching looks okay overall. Nice lowkey piece. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7626503587 Supreme printed loose t-shirt Material is soft and not see through. Fit is loose which I like. Print looks fine for casual wear. I wore it once and it held shape. Good for daily use. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7652925741 Carhartt round neck casual sweatshirt Sweatshirt feels solid and warm. Fit is relaxed and comfy. Logo is clean and not crooked. I wore it for long hours and it felt fine. No issues so far. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7630092402 Bape printed loose casual t-shirt Print looks okay and colors are fine. Fabric is decent and soft. Fit is loose and comfy. I tried it only once but seems wearable. Nothing weird noticed. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7641702026 ESSENTIALS same style t-shirts for men and women Got this mainly for daily wear. Material is soft and light. Fit is oversized and comfy. Print is simple and clean. Easy piece to throw on. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7638520103 Chrome Hearts washed denim trousers Fit is nice on waist 32 and length is okay for me. Denim feels solid and not stiff. Wash looks good and not too fake. I wore it outside once and it felt comfortable. Would wear again. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617138070 Chrome Hearts cross flower short sleeve t-shirt Print looks clean and placement is fine. Material is soft and breathable. Fit is loose and chill. I wore it whole day and it was comfortable. No strong smell or flaws. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7632560591 Acne Studios casual distressed baseball cap Cap feels light and easy to wear. Distress looks natural and not overdone. Fit is adjustable and sits well on head. I wore it few times already. Looks good with casual outfits. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7616746741 PRAD casual trainers Tried these at home and fit felt good. Material looks decent and finishing is okay. Comfort feels fine for daily walking. Havent wore outside yet but first impression is good. For price its acceptable. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7616704873 submitted by /u/Traditional-Nerve393 to r/CoutureReps [link] [comments]
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r/CoutureReps |
Traditional-Nerve393 |
Feb 2, 2026 |
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Quick thoughts on my recent haul after few wears
ERD Distressed casual loose denim jacket Tried this one a few times and honestly the fit is pretty chill. Looks worn in already which I liked, didnt feel stiff at all. Sleeves sit nice even with XL and length is fine on me. Stitching looks decent for the price, nothing crazy but solid. Would wear this a lot in daily use. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617346935 Down jacket thickened warm vest jacket This one surprised me a bit, feels warm without being too heavy. Fit is loose enough to layer inside. I just tried it at home but it feels comfy already. Zips are okay, not super smooth but works fine. For winters its def usable. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617185688 Supreme cardigan fleece hoodie Wore this outside twice and it feels cozy. Inside fleece is soft and not itchy. Fit is oversized like expected, XL worked well for me. Print looks clean from distance. No major flaws noticed yet. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617169776 Acne Studios brushed loose hoodie This one feels really soft, like comfy comfy. The brushed fabric feels nice on skin. Fit is loose and relaxed, good for daily wear. I wore it whole day and didnt feel annoying. Worth it imo. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7629560162 Stussy loose fleece hoodie Pretty basic but thats why I liked it. Fleece inside is warm and fit is chill. Logo looks fine, nothing screaming bad. I wore it for grocery run and casual stuff. Easy grab piece. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7613565867 ESSENTIALS fleece casual hoodie suit Tried the full set and fit is good together. Hoodie is oversized and pants sit fine on waist 32. Material is soft but not too thick. Looks clean and simple. Would wear it for travel days. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7667507637 Mertra splicing embroidery plus velvet casual suit This one feels heavier than others. Inside velvet is warm and comfy. Embroidery looks nice, not messy. Fit is relaxed and doesnt feel tight anywhere. Havent wore outside yet but seems good. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7668108836 Balenciaga distressed loose hoodie Distress part looks intentional and not overdone. Hoodie feels thick and heavy. Fit is very oversized so XL is perfect for that look. I wore it once and got few looks already. Quality feels decent. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7618381887 Godspeed printed washed vintage hoodie This one got that washed look I wanted. Print looks slightly faded which matches the vibe. Fabric feels soft after wash. Fit is loose and comfy. Good for everyday wear honestly. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7613508305 Denim Tears floral loose hoodie suit Tried this set at home and fit was good overall. Hoodie sits nice on shoulders and pants not too long. Floral print looks fine in hand. Material feels mid thick. Would wear casually for sure. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7668591498 Kanye letter embroidery hoodie Embroidery is clean and looks nice close up. Hoodie is heavy and feels premium-ish. Fit is oversized so XL worked perfect. Wore it few hours and it stayed comfy. No complaints yet. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7626595913 Represent printed washed hoodie This one feels nice after wash. Print looks decent and not cracked. Fit is relaxed and easy to wear. I like the washed color alot. Good daily piece. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7626539011 Burberry cardigan casual loose hoodie This one is more chill than loud. Fabric feels smooth and fit is loose. I just tried it on, didnt wear outside yet. Pattern looks clean enough. Seems good for layering. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617822984 Corteiz hip hop letters sweater Sweater feels warm and not too thin. Letters look fine and not peeling. Fit is comfortable with L for me. Wore it once and it sat well whole day. Simple and wearable. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617183632 Ami crew neck couple knitwear Knit feels soft and not scratchy. Fit is normal, not too baggy. I tried it with jeans and it looked clean. Stitching looks okay overall. Nice lowkey piece. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7626503587 Supreme printed loose t-shirt Material is soft and not see through. Fit is loose which I like. Print looks fine for casual wear. I wore it once and it held shape. Good for daily use. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7652925741 Carhartt round neck casual sweatshirt Sweatshirt feels solid and warm. Fit is relaxed and comfy. Logo is clean and not crooked. I wore it for long hours and it felt fine. No issues so far. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7630092402 Bape printed loose casual t-shirt Print looks okay and colors are fine. Fabric is decent and soft. Fit is loose and comfy. I tried it only once but seems wearable. Nothing weird noticed. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7641702026 ESSENTIALS same style t-shirts for men and women Got this mainly for daily wear. Material is soft and light. Fit is oversized and comfy. Print is simple and clean. Easy piece to throw on. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7638520103 Chrome Hearts washed denim trousers Fit is nice on waist 32 and length is okay for me. Denim feels solid and not stiff. Wash looks good and not too fake. I wore it outside once and it felt comfortable. Would wear again. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7617138070 Chrome Hearts cross flower short sleeve t-shirt Print looks clean and placement is fine. Material is soft and breathable. Fit is loose and chill. I wore it whole day and it was comfortable. No strong smell or flaws. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7632560591 Acne Studios casual distressed baseball cap Cap feels light and easy to wear. Distress looks natural and not overdone. Fit is adjustable and sits well on head. I wore it few times already. Looks good with casual outfits. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7616746741 PRAD casual trainers Tried these at home and fit felt good. Material looks decent and finishing is okay. Comfort feels fine for daily walking. Havent wore outside yet but first impression is good. For price its acceptable. https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7616704873 submitted by /u/Traditional-Nerve393 to r/1to1reps [link] [comments]
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r/1to1reps |
Traditional-Nerve393 |
Feb 2, 2026 |
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[Day Four] Outfit ✨Pride Flag✨ Game!
The winner for day three, the aromantic flag, was an October 2014 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel live! It got 65 votes, a much narrower margin than previous rounds! Runners up were: Lover MV green room outfit, with 62 votes MTV Awards 2024 Down Bad dress, with 53 votes June 2015 Hyde Park show, with 53 votes Elle Style Awards 2015 ("Goth Tinkerbell"), with 44 votes rep tour DWOHT with green guitar, with 37 votes 2019 Lover performance at SNL, with 37 votes 2024 VMAs afterparty Down Bad denim set, with 34 votes Keds Spring/Summer 2014 campaign shoot, with 33 votes MTV awards 2022, with 31 votes April 2015 post-gym black vest/green shorts/grey Nikes, with 22 votes August 2016 khaki romper pap shoot, with 20 votes Minneapolis rep room snake hoodie, with 16 votes Jan 2024 khaki fuzzy hoodie outside Electric Lady Studios, with 16 votes 2019 AMAs, with 15 votes Teen Choice Awards 2014, with 14 votes Tight End U green gingham, with 14 votes Bleachella Vogue Photoshoot, with 11 votes March 2013 green duffle coat, with 11 votes April 2015 The Spotted Pig pap shoot, with 8 votes October 2014 The Late Show pap shoot, with 3 votes Obvious disclaimer: this is fun with colour palettes! It does not mean that Taylor associates with the identity whose flag we are looking for. I'll be adding a bit of information about the identities and flags as we go. If you're looking for inspiration, why not try Taylor Swift Styled's archives? (She'd probably appreciate the aro flags, she's said before how much she loves Taylor in green! For day two, we're heading to the Aroace pride flag. Aroace is short for aromantic asexual, meaning people who experience neither romantic nor sexual attraction. About a quarter of asexual people also identified as aromantic - as with the aromantic flag, there's a lack of study or even acknowledgement of aromantic identities. We're looking specifically the sunset aroace flag as designed by aroaesflags in 2018; earlier flags had combined the aromantic and asexual flags, but the sunset aroace flag was designed to consider it a single identity in a way that bisexuality isn't a combination of straight and gay but its own, unique, experience. It has orange for community, yellow for love and relationships outside of romance, white for wholeness of person without needing someone else, and two shades of blue for the aroace spectrum - sitting in between green and purple in the colour wheel. In lyrics, day four might be I don't dress for women, I don't dress for men! Let's see Taylor in orange, white and blue! (Netherlands, get excited today.) submitted by /u/afterandalasia to r/GaylorSwift [link] [comments]
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r/GaylorSwift |
afterandalasia |
Jul 20, 2025 |
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Breaking Down Bates
1.The Stewart family is still in Hawaii this week… and still heavily exploiting their overworked kids. They went out on a boat for a snorkeling adventure that Carlin quickly turned into a reel and an IG story where she continues to link anything they touch. Layla is in charge of the voice over work and we see that Zade is a stronger swimmer than big sis. The kids are suddenly throwing up the “hang loose” sign and Carlin says a “local” taught them how to do it. The family takes to their rental car for a trip to the aquarium and while Carlin narrates, Layla is in the backseat looking absolutely miserable. Obviously daddy’s editing skills are on vacation because several times we have seen her looking less than perfect. As soon as they hit the aquarium and the big camera comes out, Layla turns on the charm. Zade is still struggling to communicate and Carlin hits a new low when she captions the post “Me want to see that so much”. Further proof that the Stewarts are aware of the problem and find it funny. In a grid post featuring herself, Carlin says they don’t know the gender and asks for guesses. She’s on the beach, dressed to the 9s… not a BSB fit to be found. During this trip, everything is linked through her “Like To Know” so that she can earn a commission, and just like many other Bates, she is mostly wearing H&M. Someone asks about her Canon camera and she says she got it for $400, but it’s now $1500. Carlin blames the price increase on the camera’s popularity and never mention the word “tariffs”. The Stew Crew definitely has tons of disposable income these days… but they also have disposable brain cells. Evan gets them lost while they try to take a drive on the Road to Hana. He fully admits that he just told the GPS to take him to Hana, and it did…. They were 50 miles in before they realized their mistake. The kids are miserable and Carlin is car sick so they stop for cinnamon rolls, which seems like just the thing to fix all of that. By the time they retrace their steps, and start over, everyone is over it and they abandon the mission. They do manage a few pictures in their all beige outfits and Carlin gets to show off her $500 sunglasses. They head down to the beach for yet another photo shoot and as soon as the camera red light comes on, but Zade and Layla start posing. It is so odd to watch them perform like little trained actors. Carlin shoots beach footage and in the background Zade is walking around while Evan shoves the camera in his face and walks backwards so he doesn’t miss one little marketable thing. Layla gets subtitles for everything she says which is mostly “I’m so ‘scited”, “this is amazing”, “I love you mommy”. Soon enough the week long content collection is over and it’s time to head to the next island to meet Evan’s family. Of course they set up the camera in the airport, line themselves and the kids up, and walk past it to signal “leaving”. Just imagine if you happened to walk up on that mess. While they travel, Carlin drops prerecorded content that she filmed in her hotel room showing how she unbraided her hair and it became wavy. Magic, really. She says people asked her about this, and people also wanted to know how she got her hair to smell so good. I guess there is some smell-a-vision social media that I don’t know about now? Of course this is all just to sell more crap because the selling never, ever stops. Evan’s family has rented a large house and there are 20 people total on this trip. They head to Costco where Evan films them eating pizza and hot dogs and brags that it all cost him just $11. We know that Evan’s family has put their foot down about the random filming, so Carlin is forced to switch to pictures only while with them. She’s still using AI to caption all of this and the fact that everything starts with “….there’s just something about….” Is a dead giveaway. Evan and his brother swim in the ocean shirtless and Ethan definitely thinks he is Dylan Efron. Carlin links an Amazon dress that is cheaper than anything she sells at her own boutique, and creates a reel of Zade in the water with her… shirtless. Posts and reels about the trip begin to perform poorly with less and less comments and shares on each one. Their usual Saturday vlog is late, but Evan says it’s on the way and it’s one of his favorite ones to date. Carlin shows up in an ad for Josie’s shop, taking her hair out of the pool noodle curlers. This means Carlin has a newer ad on the shop’s page than Josie has herself. 2.Katie and Travis Clark are in a content rut. After the big numbers they pulled from Harvey’s birth, and the new house….things have slowed down and they don’t seem to have much going on. Katie does build a unit for toys and poses Hailey front and center while she puts it all together. She links everything and shows she got her inspiration from a home design page called “The Neutral Home”…. You don’t say. The unit all together is over $600. Katie links every toy she places on the shelf in case you didn’t know to use Amazon or Target for toys. Baby Harvey is very close to crawling and Hailey finally received some mess free markers. Katie shows off more bland/boring/beige decorations in the house and it’s pretty clear that Hailey is drawing on walls because she needs some dang color in her life. Instead, she gets to watch her mom unbox and set up a fake olive tree in a beige pot. In the weekly vlog they are back to pushing powdered supplements and Katie says Gil comes by to pick up the free powder all of the time. Most of the vlog is a rerun of Katie’s trip to NJ for her sister-in-law’s baby shower. She borrows a brand new dress from Josie and tells the camera that she will try to film some while she is away but she just doesn’t like to do it as much as Travis does. Just a little reminder that Katie might not be on social media at all if it wasn’t for Travis, who is definitely hungry for the limelight. Travis now has a blackstone flat top in the backyard so we can also watch while the Clarks eat nothing but red meat. While Kaite is away, Travis says he and Harvey were in a minor car accident that was not his fault. They exploit their infant by telling us all of his medical issues and showing him at the actual doctor. Harvey often has purple hands and feet, so much that folks have messaged them about it. Couple that with Travis’ dad’s heart condition, and the baby needs to see a cardiologist. He tests negative for having a bicuspid valve and the doctor isn’t concerned about the purple color of his extremities and says he will grow out of it. They end the vlog by showing off Hailey’s new Grandma Core big girl bedroom. Katie has attempted a vintage feel, but it reads more haunted house with the child’s ultrasound pictures hung on the wall in heavy, old fashioned gold frames. There are shelfs so high she can never reach them and a vase with fake flowers on the night stand… exactly what every 2 year old needs and wants. The vlog is 17 minutes long but has 6 ad breaks. Katie reposts everything about the cardiologist visit on IG, saying it was “today” when in reality it was more than a week ago. Double the exploitation is double the cash according to these folks. The new bedroom for Hailey is also turned into a reel with a healthy debate in the comments on whether or not the bedroom is fitting for a toddler. Most people hate the creepy ultrasound pictures. Warden deserves a shout out bc he is featured more than Travis during this room makeover. It looks like he and Katie did everything while Travis just filmed. Typical. The Clarks wrap up the week in Pinehurst, NC visiting their friends the Potter family again. We see them at a plant nursery, a golf course and out to dinner. Katie posts a fake question about her plain old denim shorts so she can get her link quota in. She also shares all of the links to everything in Hailey’s bedroom. 3.After dropping her pregnancy announcement, Josie Balka almost took the week off. She pins the reel announcing the pregnancy on IG and TikTok and sits back to see how well it performs. It gets about half of the engagement that Carlin’s announcement received, so Josie must be steaming. She shows up to put makeup on in the car… and it’s a full face of makeup complete with contouring and concealing. This makeup is over $100 for just the foundation and concealer but she says you really need it… even though for the last few months she said you only needed a tinted moisturizer. We also get to watch her film herself have her hair washed and trimmed. Josie could be suffering from morning sickness, or just busy building her McMansion. If she really wants to pull in the numbers, she will share the building of the home bc according to Katie, that brings in the revenue. 4.Alyssa Webster took the unprecedented move this week to wish her baby sister, and best babysitter, Ellie Bates, a public Happy Birthday. She even says “I Love You” and features several pictures of Ellie with the fam. Alyssa hasn’t done that for ANYONE else in quite some time. She isn’t about to alienate her childcare. We get a grid post of the Webster family dressed up and ready for King John’s softball game. Alyssa uses AI to write the caption about how much they love cheering Lurch on. Everyone is still being forced into the jerseys from Rhett’s first birthday, and the big, brown, clodhopping boots are still around. Even Rhett has to head to the ball park in cowboy boots. In the pictures Allie is next to Alyssa and Alyssa doesn’t know what to do with her arm because she certainly is not going to wrap it around her daughter. That level of affection is reserved for those under 5. Sadly, the last day of co-op arrives and that’s one less place the girls will get to go over the summer. Alyssa is still forcing Rhett to wear the sad hat in public, and they all celebrate another year of being taught by other mommy cult members with a trip to cult approved Chick-fil-a. Big news! Rhett is no longer wearing a pink unicorn life vest. Alyssa broke down and got her boy his own boy’s only floatie. Now, she is able to film herself laying out, face down, away from her kids, soaking up the sun with no worries. Poolside she also shows off her new Apple watch and apparently a matching water jug? No week is complete without a shot of iced coffee and this week’s trip to the coffee shop scored Alyssa a free pin. Gosh, to be like her… As the weekend arrives, Alyssa has a date night with the mouth breather and decides to break out her double polyester, straight from the Working Women’s section of JC Penney, pant suit for the special occasion. Then, the family attends a wedding where the girls are all forced to wear the exact same dress, courtesy of the Mormon mom’s dress shop. No individualism is allowed, right down to their matching shoes and bows. Alyssa snaps a few selfies at the reception with Rhett and with the 3 youngest girls. Guess who we don’t see a happy, candid shot of? 5.Zach Bates thinks Sundays in the South means Mexican for lunch and he shows off his plate of rice and beans. Apparently, his switch to influencer is now at the phase where he films even a plate of mid-level food… “camera eats first”. He drops a reel from the workday at the big house where he cooks breakfast for 22 people. He finally opened the gift he gave his dad back in January. Gil obviously wasn’t stoked about the gift as it was still in the box, 4 months post party. Whitney heads to the mall with Khloe and Kacie for a big event. Ellie has turned 18 and is now allowed to get her ears pierced, and Khloe agrees to do it with her. Kelly Joe and Warden meet them there and Whitney giggles while exploiting her child’s pain for the world to see. Warden offers comfort after the piercing bc Whitney is too busy filming. We see Zach and Whitney heading to a friend’s house for dinner and Zach has made the main course to feed 20 head. How long until he announces his new all beef catering company? Whitney has graduated from promoting teeth whitening strips and mix tiles to big dog sponsors like the Wander Company that has comped them a free vacation stay in Lake Havasu. As soon as both she and Zach learn to pronounce the name of the place, they book their flights, leave their kids behind and head out. They have never been to Arizona and ask for recommendations of things to do and see. Havasu is known as quite a party place, so it will be interesting to see what they decide to feature. So far we have only seen the airport, the road and the front of the rental house. Before leaving, Zach has to squeeze in a haircut. He has basically shaved his entire head at this point and it sorta looks like a volleyball on shoulders. Whitney drops a packing reel where she links everything including the packing cubes she is using. What we all really want to see is what is happening back at their house where the 5 kids have probably been left with Ellie and Warden. That’s where the real party is happening. 6.Trace and Lydia’s Florida beach vacation continues this week. The house they are staying in is pretty fantastic, it’s just too bad that these 2 and their dry friends aren’t able to take full advantage of what it has to offer. Trace attempts to grill with his friend Andrew, who he says they call Hubert. This couple are definitely Duggar adjacent and somehow involved in Medic Corps. Lydia says she is celebrating Hot Girl Summer by eating doughnuts and being 9 months pregnant. She’s dressed in a church dress with a high collar while saying this and everyone thinks she doesn’t know what that really means. Lydia’s sister is basically assigned Ryker for the week while Trace and Lydia have several nights out. They eat out, play miniature golf and have photo shoot after photo shoot on the beach. Lydia links everything, all week long and all of her clothes are from… you guessed it… H&M. Their weekly vlog opens with Trace and this Hubert dude attempting to play golf. Trace tells us 40 times that he is “gettin’ into golf”. While he whacks the ball around the edges of the course, Lydia and the friend are out having a basic girl date. They shop at Marshall’s, Old Navy, have coffee, brunch at a chain restaurant and get their nails done. They show off their purchases while giggling in the car. Trace tells us that “DaMorow” they are taking Ryker to the beach. Wait. They are AT the beach? Apparently the house is so fun, they haven’t even gone to the beach. When they finally get there, Ryker hates the sand and Trace commits that “DaDay” is the day he is going to learn to love it. Spoiler alert. He does not. According to Trace, “DaNight” is taco night and he is very excited about that. First though, he needs Lydia to film him shirtless in the pool for a bit. Despite the 2 dullards he lives with, Ryker is actually talking up a storm and is speaking German words. Trace is shocked that his son has the same interests as him and is copying things he does. How… unique. Anyway, this whole trip is boring and nothing these people do is even worth watching. Lydia just keeps on saying she is at the end of her pregnancy, but then you realize, she has 6 weeks still to go. She keeps saying she is preparing ahead of time so they can enjoy the last few weeks, only to turn around and say she still has so much to do. She is also very excited about a different, unique dress she has. It’s blue and brown. Instead of beige. I can’t care anymore. Wake me when the baby is here. Maybe. 7.Michael and Brandon are quiet this week. She has restocked her storefront with baby hats and blankets. She shares a grid post of April photos and 2 of them are of Baby Miles, obviously her favorite. Brandon has finally learned how YouTube works and their last vlog featuring the baby rabbits has their highest view count in forever. Over 94,000 views simply because he titled it “A Special Surprise on Easter” and featured a thumbnail with the baby bunny blurred out. I’m sure several thousand people assumed it was a… baby. I don’t feel quite so sorry for them any more. 8.Erin Paine is never not self-righteous. She posts a video of a preacher blathering away about folks who come to church but aren’t really IN church. He says they don’t come to worship- and are there for all of the wrong reasons. Seems she may be talking to a few siblings who love to film themselves while the service is going on. Anyway, this week is her birthday and Chad takes over her IG (different than when he takes AWAY her IG)to rain praises on her for being truth among lies and light over darkness and for making HIM a better person. He calls himself her “fella” and the whole internet shutters. Valentine’s day and Mother’s day came and went with no post from Chad, but this is what we get on her birthday. Guess who liked the post? Carlin. Looking over Erin’s Instagram shows that Carlin seems to have gone through and liked many of her posts. Is there a thawing happening between the 2 mortal enemies? Is this more of Kelly Joe’s sick bed wishes coming true? I guess we can all believe it if Erin shows up at Jane’s on July 4th in a BSB dress. Erin’s vlog announcing baby #7 has over 200,000 views. Her house tour is also over 200,000 and I think that makes her the most viewed sibling right now. Erin has put her entire shop on sale for Mother’s day if you want to gift your mom some note cards she doodled on or a leather strap engraved with the word MOM on it. The beef fat lotion is also on sale, exactly one week after she raised the prices. What was that about not keeping it in stock again? Kelly Joe’s birthday post to Erin is not the usual video montage. Instead, it’s a series of pictures of Erin and her mom says she is talented and beautiful and uses all of her talents to glorify God. Kelly says she is sorry she isn’t there to celebrate, but mentions that Tori is there with Erin now and that Erin is having a piano concert at her new church. 9.Lawson and Tiffany are stuck in some sort of rut where they just churn out really bad comedy over and over. I swear it reminds me of Hee-Haw. Tiffany is determined to be seen as the dumb, poor wife who spends all of her husband’s money and Lawson is the big, strong, wealthy man who bails her out of all of her exploits. In between these reels, this week, they promote Lawson’s new song exploiting his elderly, ill granddad. Lawson writes a long letter to Bill before the video drops…. Is Bill Bates on Instagram? The music video only has a little over 4,000 views on YouTube, so it seems it may be less than a hit. After asking for weeks about Duke the dog, this week Tiffy showed him for about 1 second in the middle of a reel where she gets mad over Lawson’s old girlfriends…as if there are any. Tiffy tells us they are leaving on a cruise with her parents, Lawson’s parents and a few of his siblings. She tries to film a pack with me vlog like the other influencers, but her luggage seems well used and her items are all half empty and less than new. She says they are traveling somewhere cold and will be exploring the state the cruise leaves from for a few days first. Comments guess Washington State for an Alaskan cruise, but Tiffy doesn’t say. That’s why delayed posting is a thing, ya nitwit. We also learn that Lawson finally got his way, and they have cut Will’s long, fly away hair. Tiffy says her heart is broken, but what choice did she really have? She finally scores a paid partnership with an organic baby sleep aid and shows their nighttime routine with Baby Will which includes a camera directly in his face. The rest of the week we see them exploring Washington with Kelly Joe and Callie. We see reels about baby Will laughing at his mom, and then turning serious and not laughing when Lawson speaks… I’m not sure that’s exactly a flex. There’s also one where Tiffany says every time she leaves the house she costs Lawson money, so he pushes her back in the house. Like… what is the point of this? What do they want people to think? 10.Kelly Joe finally posts about Lawson singin at the Tennessee baseball game and how proud she was of him. She shows Travis trailing behind Lawson filming him with the big movie style camera. She reposts all of Tiffany’s posts about the trip they are on. Funny that she is always there for the good times, but as Tiffy has told us in the past… she wasn’t and isn’t there when times get tough. On Ellie’s 18th birthday, Kelly says she is tough, independent and an adventurer who isn’t afraid to speak up. That gives us hope that Ellie may cut a different path…straight to a public insta account and links galore. She posts pictures and videos from Trace, Warden and Kelton’s flag football games. The team is now sponsored by Kelton’s company and he has dropped serious coin on their uniforms, warm ups, practice gear and bags. The picture is quite revealing with the guys in nothing but tights and her Instagram is full of comments from folks who question if the modesty standards are for women only. Nathan wishes happy birthday to one of the Medic Corps doctors and Kelly shares it showing off pictures of this doctor with Nathan and John David Duggar. Bits and Bytes… Carlin is almost exclusively wearing blue on her Hawaii trip. Is that a result of having her colors done… or is she telling us something?…BSB wants you to pay $50 for a sleeveless knit top…Speaking of the BSB… where are the mommy and me dresses they have so heavily promoted?...The boutique has yet another sale going this week where If you buy one overpriced item, you can get the second overpriced item for 50% off. How long can this boutique hang on without the influence of the actual Bates sisters being there daily, hands on?? Have a great week friends and Happy May! submitted by /u/dixcgirl10 to r/BatesSnark [link] [comments]
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r/BatesSnark |
dixcgirl10 |
May 4, 2025 |
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Breaking Down Bates
1.The Stewart family is still in Hawaii this week… and still heavily exploiting their overworked kids. They went out on a boat for a snorkeling adventure that Carlin quickly turned into a reel and an IG story where she continues to link anything they touch. Layla is in charge of the voice over work and we see that Zade is a stronger swimmer than big sis. The kids are suddenly throwing up the “hang loose” sign and Carlin says a “local” taught them how to do it. The family takes to their rental car for a trip to the aquarium and while Carlin narrates, Layla is in the backseat looking absolutely miserable. Obviously daddy’s editing skills are on vacation because several times we have seen her looking less than perfect. As soon as they hit the aquarium and the big camera comes out, Layla turns on the charm. Zade is still struggling to communicate and Carlin hits a new low when she captions the post “Me want to see that so much”. Further proof that the Stewarts are aware of the problem and find it funny. In a grid post featuring herself, Carlin says they don’t know the gender and asks for guesses. She’s on the beach, dressed to the 9s… not a BSB fit to be found. During this trip, everything is linked through her “Like To Know” so that she can earn a commission, and just like many other Bates, she is mostly wearing H&M. Someone asks about her Canon camera and she says she got it for $400, but it’s now $1500. Carlin blames the price increase on the camera’s popularity and never mentions the word “tariffs”. The Stew Crew definitely has tons of disposable income these days… but they also have disposable brain cells. Evan gets them lost while they try to take a drive on the Road to Hana. He fully admits that he just told the GPS to take him to Hana, and it did…. They were 50 miles in before they realized their mistake. The kids are miserable and Carlin is car sick so they stop for cinnamon rolls, which seems like just the thing to fix all of that. By the time they retrace their steps, and start over, everyone is over it and they abandon the mission. They do manage a few pictures in their all beige outfits and Carlin gets to show off her $500 sunglasses. They head down to the beach for yet another photo shoot and as soon as the camera red light comes on, Zade and Layla start posing. It is so odd to watch them perform like little trained actors. Carlin shoots beach footage and in the background Zade is walking around while Evan shoves the camera in his face and walks backwards so he doesn’t miss one little marketable thing. Layla gets subtitles for everything she says which is mostly “I’m so ‘scited”, “this is amazing”, “I love you mommy”. Soon enough the week long content collection is over and it’s time to head to the next island to meet Evan’s family. Of course they set up the camera in the airport, line themselves and the kids up, and walk past it to signal “leaving”. Just imagine if you happened to walk up on that mess. While they travel, Carlin drops prerecorded content that she filmed in her hotel room showing how she unbraided her hair and it became wavy. Magic, really. She says people asked her about this, and people also wanted to know how she got her hair to smell so good. I guess there is some smell-a-vision social media that I don’t know about now? Of course this is all just to sell more crap because the selling never, ever stops. Evan’s family has rented a large house and there are 20 people total on this trip. They head to Costco where Evan films them eating pizza and hot dogs and brags that it all cost him just $11. We know that Evan’s family has put their foot down about the random filming, so Carlin is forced to switch to pictures only while with them. She’s still using AI to caption all of this and the fact that everything starts with “….there’s just something about….” Is a dead giveaway. Evan and his brother swim in the ocean shirtless and Ethan definitely thinks he is Dylan Efron. Carlin links an Amazon dress that is cheaper than anything she sells at her own boutique, and creates a reel of Zade in the water with her… shirtless. Posts and reels about the trip begin to perform poorly with less and less comments and shares on each one. Their usual Saturday vlog is late, but Evan says it’s on the way and it’s one of his favorite ones to date. Carlin shows up in an ad for Josie’s shop, taking her hair out of the pool noodle curlers. This means Carlin has a newer ad on the shop’s page than Josie has herself. 2.Katie and Travis Clark are in a content rut. After the big numbers they pulled from Harvey’s birth, and the new house….things have slowed down and they don’t seem to have much going on. Katie does build a unit for toys and poses Hailey front and center while she puts it all together. She links everything and shows she got her inspiration from a home design page called “The Neutral Home”…. You don’t say. The unit all together is over $600. Katie links every toy she places on the shelf in case you didn’t know to use Amazon or Target for toys. Baby Harvey is very close to crawling and Hailey finally received some mess free markers. Katie shows off more bland/boring/beige decorations in the house and it’s pretty clear that Hailey is drawing on walls because she needs some dang color in her life. Instead, she gets to watch her mom unbox and set up a fake olive tree in a beige pot. In the weekly vlog they are back to pushing powdered supplements and Katie says Gil comes by to pick up the free powder all of the time. Most of the vlog is a rerun of Katie’s trip to NJ for her sister-in-law’s baby shower. She borrows a brand new dress from Josie and tells the camera that she will try to film some while she is away but she just doesn’t like to do it as much as Travis does. Just a little reminder that Katie might not be on social media at all if it wasn’t for Travis, who is definitely hungry for the limelight. Travis now has a blackstone flat top in the backyard so we can also watch while the Clarks eat nothing but red meat. While Katie is away, Travis says he and Harvey were in a minor car accident that was not his fault. They exploit their infant by telling us all of his medical issues and showing him at the actual doctor. Harvey often has purple hands and feet, so much that folks have messaged them about it. Couple that with Travis’ dad’s heart condition, and the baby needs to see a cardiologist. He tests negative for having a bicuspid valve and the doctor isn’t concerned about the purple color of his extremities and says he will grow out of it. They end the vlog by showing off Hailey’s new Grandma Core big girl bedroom. Katie has attempted a vintage feel, but it reads more haunted house with the child’s ultrasound pictures hung on the wall in heavy, old fashioned gold frames. There are shelfs so high she can never reach them and a vase with fake flowers on the night stand… exactly what every 2 year old needs and wants. The vlog is 17 minutes long but has 6 ad breaks. Katie reposts everything about the cardiologist visit on IG, saying it was “today” when in reality it was more than a week ago. Double the exploitation is double the cash according to these folks. The new bedroom for Hailey is also turned into a reel with a healthy debate in the comments on whether or not the bedroom is fitting for a toddler. Most people hate the creepy ultrasound pictures. Warden deserves a shout out bc he is featured more than Travis during this room makeover. It looks like he and Katie did everything while Travis just filmed. Typical. The Clarks wrap up the week in Pinehurst, NC visiting their friends the Potter family again. We see them at a plant nursery, a golf course and out to dinner. Katie posts a fake question about her plain old denim shorts so she can get her link quota in. She also shares all of the links to everything in Hailey’s bedroom. 3.After dropping her pregnancy announcement, Josie Balka almost took the week off. She pins the reel announcing the pregnancy on IG and TikTok and sits back to see how well it performs. It gets about half of the engagement that Carlin’s announcement received, so Josie must be steaming. She shows up to put makeup on in the car… and it’s a full face of makeup complete with contouring and concealing. This makeup is over $100 for just the foundation and concealer but she says you really need it… even though for the last few months she said you only needed a tinted moisturizer. We also get to watch her film herself have her hair washed and trimmed. Josie could be suffering from morning sickness, or just busy building her McMansion. If she really wants to pull in the numbers, she will share the building of the home bc according to Katie, that brings in the revenue. 4.Alyssa Webster took the unprecedented move this week to wish her baby sister, and best babysitter, Ellie Bates, a public Happy Birthday. She even says “I Love You” and features several pictures of Ellie with the fam. Alyssa hasn’t done that for ANYONE else in quite some time. She isn’t about to alienate her childcare. We get a grid post of the Webster family dressed up and ready for King John’s softball game. Alyssa uses AI to write the caption about how much they love cheering Lurch on. Everyone is still being forced into the jerseys from Rhett’s first birthday, and the big, brown, clodhopping boots are still around. Even Rhett has to head to the ball park in cowboy boots. In the pictures Allie is next to Alyssa and Alyssa doesn’t know what to do with her arm because she certainly is not going to wrap it around her daughter. That level of affection is reserved for those under 5. Sadly, the last day of co-op arrives and that’s one less place the girls will get to go over the summer. Alyssa is still forcing Rhett to wear the sad hat in public, and they all celebrate another year of being taught by other mommy cult members with a trip to cult approved Chick-fil-a. Big news! Rhett is no longer wearing a pink unicorn life vest. Alyssa broke down and got her boy his own boy’s only floatie. Now, she is able to film herself laying out, face down, away from her kids, soaking up the sun with no worries. Poolside she also shows off her new Apple watch and apparently a matching water jug? No week is complete without a shot of iced coffee and this week’s trip to the coffee shop scored Alyssa a free pin. Gosh, to be like her… As the weekend arrives, Alyssa has a date night with the mouth breather and decides to break out her double polyester, straight from the Working Women’s section of JC Penney, pant suit for the special occasion. Then, the family attends a wedding where the girls are all forced to wear the exact same dress, courtesy of the Mormon mom’s dress shop. No individualism is allowed, right down to their matching shoes and bows. Alyssa snaps a few selfies at the reception with Rhett and with the 3 youngest girls. Guess who we don’t see a happy, candid shot of? 5.Zach Bates thinks Sundays in the South means Mexican for lunch and he shows off his plate of rice and beans. Apparently, his switch to influencer is now at the phase where he films even a plate of mid-level food… “camera eats first”. He drops a reel from the workday at the big house where he cooks breakfast for 22 people. He finally opened the gift he gave his dad back in January. Gil obviously wasn’t stoked about the gift as it was still in the box, 4 months post party. Whitney heads to the mall with Khloe and Kacie for a big event. Ellie has turned 18 and is now allowed to get her ears pierced, and Khloe agrees to do it with her. Kelly Joe and Warden meet them there and Whitney giggles while exploiting her child’s pain for the world to see. Warden offers comfort after the piercing bc Whitney is too busy filming. We see Zach and Whitney heading to a friend’s house for dinner and Zach has made the main course to feed 20 head. How long until he announces his new all beef catering company? Whitney has graduated from promoting teeth whitening strips and mix tiles to big dog sponsors like the Wander Company that has comped them a free vacation stay in Lake Havasu. As soon as both she and Zach learn to pronounce the name of the place, they book their flights, leave their kids behind and head out. They have never been to Arizona and ask for recommendations of things to do and see. Havasu is known as quite a party place, so it will be interesting to see what they decide to feature. So far we have only seen the airport, the road and the front of the rental house. Before leaving, Zach has to squeeze in a haircut. He has basically shaved his entire head at this point and it sorta looks like a volleyball on shoulders. Whitney drops a packing reel where she links everything including the packing cubes she is using. What we all really want to see is what is happening back at their house where the 5 kids have probably been left with Ellie and Warden. That’s where the real party is happening. 6.Trace and Lydia’s Florida beach vacation continues this week. The house they are staying in is pretty fantastic, it’s just too bad that these 2 and their dry friends aren’t able to take full advantage of what it has to offer. Trace attempts to grill with his friend Andrew, who he says they call Hubert. This couple are definitely Duggar adjacent and somehow involved in Medic Corps. Lydia says she is celebrating Hot Girl Summer by eating doughnuts and being 9 months pregnant. She’s dressed in a church dress with a high collar while saying this and everyone thinks she doesn’t know what that really means. Lydia’s sister is basically assigned Ryker for the week while Trace and Lydia have several nights out. They eat out, play miniature golf and have photo shoot after photo shoot on the beach. Lydia links everything, all week long and all of her clothes are from… you guessed it… H&M. Their weekly vlog opens with Trace and this Hubert dude attempting to play golf. Trace tells us 40 times that he is “gettin’ into golf”. While he whacks the ball around the edges of the course, Lydia and the friend are out having a basic girl date. They shop at Marshall’s, Old Navy, have coffee, brunch at a chain restaurant and get their nails done. They show off their purchases while giggling in the car. Trace tells us that “DaMorow” they are taking Ryker to the beach. Wait. They are AT the beach? Apparently the house is so fun, they haven’t even gone to the beach. When they finally get there, Ryker hates the sand and Trace commits that “DaDay” is the day he is going to learn to love it. Spoiler alert. He does not. According to Trace, “DaNight” is taco night and he is very excited about that. First though, he needs Lydia to film him shirtless in the pool for a bit. Despite the 2 dullards he lives with, Ryker is actually talking up a storm and is speaking German words. Trace is shocked that his son has the same interests as him and is copying things he does. How… unique. Anyway, this whole trip is boring and nothing these people do is even worth watching. Lydia just keeps on saying she is at the end of her pregnancy, but then you realize, she has 6 weeks still to go. She keeps saying she is preparing ahead of time so they can enjoy the last few weeks, only to turn around and say she still has so much to do. She is also very excited about a different, unique dress she has. It’s blue and brown. Instead of beige. I can’t care anymore. Wake me when the baby is here. Maybe. 7.Michael and Brandon are quiet this week. She has restocked her storefront with baby hats and blankets. She shares a grid post of April photos and 2 of them are of Baby Miles, obviously her favorite. Brandon has finally learned how YouTube works and their last vlog featuring the baby rabbits has their highest view count in forever. Over 94,000 views simply because he titled it “A Special Surprise on Easter” and featured a thumbnail with the baby bunny blurred out. I’m sure several thousand people assumed it was a… baby. I don’t feel quite so sorry for them any more. 8.Erin Paine is never not self-righteous. She posts a video of a preacher blathering away about folks who come to church but aren’t really IN church. He says they don’t come to worship- and are there for all of the wrong reasons. Seems she may be talking to a few siblings who love to film themselves while the service is going on. Anyway, this week is her birthday and Chad takes over her IG (different than when he takes AWAY her IG)to rain praises on her for being truth among lies and light over darkness and for making HIM a better person. He calls himself her “fella” and the whole internet shutters. Valentine’s day and Mother’s day came and went with no post from Chad, but this is what we get on her birthday. Guess who liked the post? Carlin. Looking over Erin’s Instagram shows that Carlin seems to have gone through and liked many of her posts. Is there a thawing happening between the 2 mortal enemies? Is this more of Kelly Joe’s sick bed wishes coming true? I guess we can all believe it if Erin shows up at Jane’s on July 4th in a BSB dress. Erin’s vlog announcing baby #7 has over 200,000 views. Her house tour is also over 200,000 and I think that makes her the most viewed sibling right now. Erin has put her entire shop on sale for Mother’s day if you want to gift your mom some note cards she doodled on or a leather strap engraved with the word MOM on it. The beef fat lotion is also on sale, exactly one week after she raised the prices. What was that about not keeping it in stock again? Kelly Joe’s birthday post to Erin is not the usual video montage. Instead, it’s a series of pictures of Erin and her mom says she is talented and beautiful and uses all of her talents to glorify God. Kelly says she is sorry she isn’t there to celebrate, but mentions that Tori is there with Erin now and that Erin is having a piano concert at her new church. 9.Lawson and Tiffany are stuck in some sort of rut where they just churn out really bad comedy over and over. I swear it reminds me of Hee-Haw. Tiffany is determined to be seen as the dumb, poor wife who spends all of her husband’s money and Lawson is the big, strong, wealthy man who bails her out of all of her exploits. In between these reels, this week, they promote Lawson’s new song exploiting his elderly, ill granddad. Lawson writes a long letter to Bill before the video drops…. Is Bill Bates on Instagram? The music video only has a little over 4,000 views on YouTube, so it seems it may be less than a hit. After asking for weeks about Duke the dog, this week Tiffy showed him for about 1 second in the middle of a reel where she gets mad over Lawson’s old girlfriends…as if there are any. Tiffy tells us they are leaving on a cruise with her parents, Lawson’s parents and a few of his siblings. She tries to film a pack with me vlog like the other influencers, but her luggage seems well used and her items are all half empty and less than new. She says they are traveling somewhere cold and will be exploring the state the cruise leaves from for a few days first. Comments guess Washington State for an Alaskan cruise, but Tiffy doesn’t say. That’s why delayed posting is a thing, ya nitwit. We also learn that Lawson finally got his way, and they have cut Will’s long, fly away hair. Tiffy says her heart is broken, but what choice did she really have? She finally scores a paid partnership with an organic baby sleep aid and shows their nighttime routine with Baby Will which includes a camera directly in his face. The rest of the week we see them exploring Washington with Kelly Joe and Callie. We see reels about baby Will laughing at his mom, and then turning serious and not laughing when Lawson speaks… I’m not sure that’s exactly a flex. There’s also one where Tiffany says every time she leaves the house she costs Lawson money, so he pushes her back in the house. Like… what is the point of this? What do they want people to think? 10.Kelly Joe finally posts about Lawson singin at the Tennessee baseball game and how proud she was of him. She shows Travis trailing behind Lawson filming him with the big movie style camera. She reposts all of Tiffany’s posts about the trip they are on. Funny that she is always there for the good times, but as Tiffy has told us in the past… she wasn’t and isn’t there when times get tough. On Ellie’s 18th birthday, Kelly says she is tough, independent and an adventurer who isn’t afraid to speak up. That gives us hope that Ellie may cut a different path…straight to a public insta account and links galore. She posts pictures and videos from Trace, Warden and Kelton’s flag football games. The team is now sponsored by Kelton’s company and he has dropped serious coin on their uniforms, warm ups, practice gear and bags. The picture is quite revealing with the guys in nothing but tights and her Instagram is full of comments from folks who question if the modesty standards are for women only. Nathan wishes happy birthday to one of the Medic Corps doctors and Kelly shares it showing off pictures of this doctor with Nathan and John David Duggar. Bits and Bytes… Carlin is almost exclusively wearing blue on her Hawaii trip. Is that a result of having her colors done… or is she telling us something?…BSB wants you to pay $50 for a sleeveless knit top…Speaking of the BSB… where are the mommy and me dresses they have so heavily promoted?...The boutique has yet another sale going this week where If you buy one overpriced item, you can get the second overpriced item for 50% off. How long can this boutique hang on without the influence of the actual Bates sisters being there daily, hands on?? Have a great week friends and Happy May! submitted by /u/dixcgirl10 to r/BringingUpBates [link] [comments]
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r/BringingUpBates |
dixcgirl10 |
May 4, 2025 |
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The lie that David should've gone with and a few side notes on the others
"Yes, sorry, I was drunk and I was thinking about you with those cute little pigtails, or those barrettes you wear, and that denim vest and jean pant outfit you spent so much effort putting together. I was thinking about how fine you looked that night when I made you dinner and I just wanted to eat you up, but all I got to eat was the dry chicken I made that night. Sorry about that." The most unintentionally hilarious moment of last episode is the relief from her when they were in the when she realized that it wasn't a text meant for her -- that he wasn't sexting her! Which quickly turned to irritation over the ridiculous lie. The Swap: I haven't seen any of the spoilers or read the gossip about it so if you do don't don't SPOIL it, but I have a hard time believing this is anything other than a red herring. Wouldn't surprise me if the "swap" rumors were Michelle trying to sniff out who he is sexting and making an accusation that it's him and Madison and the accusations cause a ruffle, but it doesn't pan out. I mean, I'm trying to figure out what woman is going to be all over David? Esp. one that knows about his living at home sitch and has heard Michelle complain about him. Juan/Karla: I'm sure they won't, but there is a part of me that hopes these two can stay together. Juan's childhood trauma was really something else and of course, sadly we know so many other children go through the same thing as their parents try to carve out a life in the US. It was one of the rare times when I feel like that exercise of letter from your future self was therapeutic. Karla handled the situation perfectly -- letting him get it out, comforting him. As much as I railed on her last week with the three businesses and thinking she was a little shady before about it, she seems like a really kind, sweet person and much smarter than she appears. Ikechi/Emem: I said this before, but I don't think her decision to continue on is one made w/o extreme producer manipulation. Her body language around Ikechi said to all to me -- sat as far away from him on the couch, the clenched teeth, the look on her face. None of that conveyed "this is a situation I want to be in or a marriage I want to save." Producers know the potential for more fireworks and I believe they wore her down about it. Camille/Thomas: Holding out hope for them -- they seem like a good match. If they don't work out, Thomas gonna have a shit ton of women in his DMs. He's adorable. And I like her too despite being irritated before about the swag/swagger thing. Allan/Madison: I have a hard time with her as I think she says a lot of the right things, but I don't get a genuine vibe off her at all, starting off with wedding night where she certainly seemed like she was enjoying herself -- hell the elevator scene seemed to make it look like she was way into him. Of course, she could've been drunk and then made out with him and was like nope. But it seems like she low key gaslights him into thinking she is trying when she isn't, makes it sound like he doesn't compliment her when the man has said multiple occasions about how hot she supposedly is, and next episode it's he isn't empathetic? She gives him nothing. submitted by /u/sashie_belle to r/MarriedAtFirstSight [link] [comments]
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r/MarriedAtFirstSight |
sashie_belle |
Jan 22, 2025 |
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Two Weeks in the UK - What I Packed and How
In November I went on a trip that I see people asking about often (two weeks, Fall/Winter, Northern Europe) so I wanted to share my pack list and what I would have done differently. I was in London and Edinburgh, very much a city-only trip, with train and plane travel. Some caveats and notes: I'm straight sized and can afford to buy things at my destination if I need to I do not like technical fabrics and avoid them I run warm I like fashion, and prioritize buying and packing clothes I love and feel good wearing I live in the PNW, so my travel destinations were essentially identical weather-wise On to the clothes! 3 pairs of pants - I wore all of them, realistically could have cut down to 2. One dark denim wide-leg, one black barrel, one leopard barrel which I wore on the plane. 4 short sleeve shirts - Mostly Everlane. All t shirts, I wore one of these on the plane under a sweater, so only packed 3. I intentionally brought 4 shirts with different necklines, could have just brought 2 or 3 I think. 2 long sleeve tops - One Breton, one vintage grey sweatshirt. One of these was a last minute addition (sweatshirt) and I wish I'd thought about it a bit more. I don't like/wear long sleeve shirts that much, but wanted to have something I could wear under my sweater if it got really cold. 2 merino/silk blend camisoles - One from Ibex, one from Hanro. The fucking GOAT. I wear these all winter, they're the perfect wardrobe extenders and don't get stinky because they're not in my armpits. 2 dresses - One silk slip, one antique oversized men's formal shirt in this incredible cotton flannel. Really could have made do with just the silk slip dress, absolute travel must have and packs down to nothing. 1 wool sweater - A handmade pullover I was excited to wear on the trip, got a ton of wear out of it. Beanie and gloves - Wore the gloves a lot, the beanie less often. It just wasn't that cold, but they don't take up much space. 6 pairs of socks - Three cotton, three wool 1 pair of tights - I bring the Snag brand when I travel, I don't love them but can't argue with the durability 8 pairs of underwear - I knew we'd do laundry at the midpoint, so didn't need to bring pairs for every day 1 pajama set - This might be too gross for some people, but I don't sweat much in my sleep and shower before bed so I felt like they were clean enough, again doing laundry at the midpoint 2 silk scarves - Perfect for looking like you're not wearing the exact same outfit again, plus they keep you surprisingly warm if you tuck them under your shirt collar 1 big scarf - This scarf is amazing, it's a fantastic plane blanket and also works as a travel pillow. Under a jacket it basically becomes a vest, so it's also an extender piece. It's large but a flat, fine knit so it packs pretty flat. 2 coats - This was probably my biggest indulgence, as mentioned above I do not like technical fabrics but knew I needed to bring a real, long raincoat. I also brought a knee length overcoat I love, which I ended up wearing every day because it didn't rain once. Would still bring a raincoat next time, I'm not superstitious but I am a little stitious. 2 pairs of shoes - Waterproof Blundstones and Adidas Gazelles, why reinvent the wheel. Both were great, and being able to swap out was also great as we did 5-10 miles of walking per day. Misc - Toiletry, decanted skincare, electronics, a tiny umbrella. I don't wear much makeup but do have a relatively complicated skincare routine, so I did a practice run with decanting to make sure they would last me the full two weeks. The Matador toothpaste and shampoo containers were a new addition to my setup and I highly recommend them. I always bring full size sunscreen plus a sunscreen stick for touchups. Suitcases: I fit everything into the Away Carryon with room to spare and used a Baggu Medium Crescent for a day bag and personal item. The Away passed IcelandAir restrictions on the way there, but would have failed on the way back, so keep that in mind. I bought some Lush treats in London, and a bottle of perfume in Scotland, so I was planning to check it anyway. Baggu Medium Crescent is my forever daybag choice, it's unbelievable what you can fit in it. What I'd do differently: I knew the second dress was a bit silly to bring, but I was/am obsessed with it. Turned out it really did not work under the coat I brought, and kept getting pulled up in the back. For the amount of space it took up, I wish I'd been more thorough about making sure it would work, and I only ended up wearing it once. I wish I'd thought harder about my long sleeve shirts as well, I didn't really need the sweatshirt although I wore it several times to hotel gyms as well as out during the day. To fit in a smaller suitcase that would have passed restrictions, I could have cut a t shirt and a pair of pants as well and not missed them. Hope this helps anyone who is searching the sub for a similar trip! submitted by /u/raghaillach to r/HerOneBag [link] [comments]
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r/HerOneBag |
raghaillach |
Jan 2, 2025 |
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Building A Masculine-Leaning Wardrobe
Building A Masculine-Leaning Wardrobe, With Considerations for Body Type Or, the Basic Bastard, but for Butch/Stud/Masc Lesbians who can't just go wear men's clothes. Alternate, more-detailed, google doc link. How to use this guide: This is intended to be a tool to help folks who are rethinking their fashion to be more masculine, who want some product recommendations, and folks who are frustrated with how their body shape, size, etc. doesn't let them dress how they want to dress. It is not meant to be the masc fashion bible, nor is it meant to represent anything but the opinion of two people who want to help folks potentially feel better about the clothes they’re trying on in stores and maybe find some clothes that work for them. It is, however, meant to help people branch out and away from jeans, a hoodie, and a t-shirt. The idea behind this guide is to help people find and build a starter wardrobe that they can then expand on. We want to get you enough masculine clothes that you can go out on a nice date, through a job interview, go out with friends, and look presentable at work and/or school for a few days without laundry. The basic wardrobe consists of the following: A pair of slacks A pair of jeans A short and long-sleeve button-up shirt A handful of t-shirts that fit you well A flannel (note that I say a singular flannel) A denim/chambray shirt A pair of shorts A handful of tank tops (or vests) that work for you A Jean Jacket and Chore Coat, with some recommendations around 1) leather, 2) raincoats, and 3) parkas. This approach draws heavily on The Vivienne Files Starting From Scratch series on constructing a capsule wardrobe, which is well worth the read, even if it is far more of a femme fashion approach. The general principles are the same no matter what kind of clothes you’re shopping for or general vibe for fashion you’re rolling with. Disclaimer: This post is also informed by my (180, 5'7, broad shoulders and narrower hips) and my native Hawaiian girlfriend's (175, 5'3, hourglass, very broad shoulders) experiences with masc fashion, body types, etc. As with everything, your mileage may vary on the advice in this post. Disclaimer Two: This post was written by cisgender women primarily thinking about the body types and body fat distributions that cisgender women and non-binary folks, and trans women who have been on estrogen a while deal with. We also live in the US. Please bear this in mind! Some Tools To Help You Succeed in Fashion: Measuring Tape - Knowing your measurements is essential to finding clothes that fit when ordering online and translating between men's and women's clothing. Get someone to help you measure. Always check the size guide. Boob Tape to ensure button-downs stay closed and look uniform - I'm a B/C cup, and my girlfriend is a DDD; we both recommend Hollywood Secrets, which is available at most US-based drug, shoe, and beauty stores. This shit should be your best friend. Do you ever wonder how folks avoid boob gap? This is how. Well, this and a good sports bra. Ideas and Principles to Adopt: READ: Always read fit reviews on websites offering clothing, and be honest about your weight and height with yourself as you read them to see how you would fit these clothes. Also, review clothing that you like! Don't be afraid to add your weight and height to help others as well. Say you’re masc or butch! Help a friend in need. Know your body shape and seek out fashion influencers, advice, etc., that match your body type. For example, if you're curvy, don't follow and look for fashion advice from petite, curve-less, skinny people. That will discourage you and make you want to throw in the towel before you even get into fashion. I'd also argue that's a form of self-harm and, if my girlfriend's experiences are anything to go off of, will turn you off of trying to pay attention to fashion entirely and only gravitate toward "safe things" like hoodies and t-shirts and jeans. Don't be afraid to tailor your clothes, or to learn how to tailor your clothes. Don't be afraid to wear a bra or binder that changes how your breasts lay on your chest - or no bra at all. You can wear a sports bra or binder (if that's your jam) or a more shaped bra depending on what your support needs are and what you want out of the shape of the shirt. It is okay!!!! to have tits and wear a men's shirt, it's all about having the right bra or binder, and probably some boob tape too. Sometimes you have to spend money to get clothes that fit you well - An issue I keep encountering when I read lesbian fashion advice pretty much anywhere is that there are two price points, one is as cheap as humanly possible, and the other assumes a level of disposable income that a lot of people just don’t have. The thing is, sometimes money must be spent to either get clothes that work or help clothes to fit you better. Paying the extra money for the queer brand, or to take that pair of pants that looks so fucking good on you to the tailor is a good thing. There is no shame in spending money to look good. Get comfortable with with saving up for good quality pieces, or for looking at second-hand options. Step 1: Colors According to the Vivienne Files, a good capsule wardrobe has two core colors (e.g., black and brown), and three accent colors (e.g., red, white, and blue). This is not a how to build a capsule wardrobe post, but the general principles are the same. You probably have one or two colors you like on yourself, one of them is probably black. Figure out what the other colors are! My (very white/warm autumn) colors are baby pink, navy blue, cranberry red, gray, and black with some brown and tan accents. My girlfriend's (Native Hawaiian/Italian/cool winter) colors are mustard yellow, olive green, sunset orange, black, and grey with some brown, cranberry red/maroon (she wears so much do this), and navy blue accents. Your colors are your own! Figure out what makes you look good, and make sure to note them down for looking at clothes. Don't buy clothes in colors you look bad in! Step 2: Sizing & Getting Comfortable So here's the kicker: men's clothing doesn't work on everyone's bodies. Women's bodies are, unfortunately, built differently than men's, particularly if you have curves. If this is rough for you or causes you dysphoria, I'm sorry, it sucks. This is a post with some strategies to shop for clothes in the dreaded women's section if that's what you need to do in a way that suits your personal presentation choices (e.g., how to find or make clothing made 'for women' work for your body). Below are some key pointers that are useful for getting started. Firstly, measure yourself! Here are useful measurements for shopping for clothes. In all cases, don't pull the measuring tape tight to ensure accuracy. Otherwise, you'll feel very uncomfortable in the clothes you try on. Shoulder to Shoulder (esp. important if you have broad shoulders.) Bicep circumstance (measure around the widest part of your bicep while flexing) Many women's clothes have small armholes. Knowing this measurement helps to avoid looking like an overly jacked dude in a too-small shirt, ripping seams when you put on a shirt, or wearing shirts that are so tight that you can't bend your arm. This is a good measure of if you need to size up in a shirt because the rest of the measurements can be tailored. Bust (measure across your nipples) Underbust (measure around your ribcage under your breasts) Waist (measure from the narrowest part of your waist -- probably right around your belly button) Hips (measure from the widest part of your hips) Butt (Around the widest part of your ass) Inseam (measure from your ankle up into your crotch) Find clothes that fit your measurements - not clothes you instantly like or safely gravitate towards, but clothes that fit your measurements broadly and diversely - at a department store or a place like Target, Macy's, TJ Maxx, M&S, Primark, etc. that has a wide variety of inexpensive clothing, and try them on, drawing from both the men's and women's sections of the store. This is how you start to figure out what works for your body type and why you have to try things on broadly rather than just what feels "safe.'' Try on the following in a few different styles: Slacks, Jeans, Work Pants, Shorts When selecting clothes to try on, attempt to locate pieces that seem more gender-neutral to you in the women's section, such as straight-legged or boot-cut jeans or slacks (especially if you're curvy). In the men's section, look for athletic cut pants if you have any kind of curve, as these have more flex built into them to accommodate lifting butt on guys. NOTE ON PANT SIZING: Some clothing companies - especially those catering to a broader audience - use your waist size (e.g., 28-inch, 34-inch) as the size of the garment in question. Other companies use different sizing scales (such as a 10, 14, or 18). KNOWING YOUR MEASUREMENTS WILL HELP YOU TO USE THE SIZE GUIDE STORES PROVIDE TO TRANSLATE BETWEEN THE TWO. Button Up Shirts (note: a button down shirt is a shirt that has buttons to secure the collar down, which is why most shirts you'll see are button up, not down shirts). In the men's section, try on both a slim and a regular cut. Slim will be a tighter fit, particularly if you have curves, regular fit may look boxy on you in the wrong bra. In the women's section, try and find blouses that look more masculine -- this will be found by leaving the 'young person' section and going into the professional women's workwear section of the store. Some of these shirts may have darts, some may be cut baggier than others. Try both. Try and grab at least one fun young man Hawaiian shirt, as those are a fixture of masc wardrobes. T-shirts/Tanks (or vests) Grab some men's v-necks (higher neck) and some women's v-necks (deeper neck, less prone to giving boob shelf if the girls are big); Men and women's crew neck t-shirts, as well as thicker strapped men's and women's tank tops -- these should fit more loosely in a men's fit, or more form fitting in a women's fit. Sweaters/Crewnecks Usually unisex sizing -- so just grab one you like. My general advice for the trying on clothes part of this is to potentially also try on two different kinds of bras. If you've got bigger breasts, you probably want a more structured and supportive bra. This could potentially be the one you wear into the store, if you've got a fave, or this could be one you try on. Also, grab a bralette/unsupportive bra and a good sports bra with medium to high support. When looking at shirts try each with each bra. When trying on pants or shorts, drop a big squat and check if you have duck butt. Step 3: Black Slacks Think of this as an investment. The first thing you'll want is to be able to build outfits that you can dress up or down. This starts with a solid pair of slacks or trousers in a #suiting color. In terms of fit, I would suggest that you avoid having these be super baggy or super slim fitting. Slim or Skinny fitting will make the outfit look feminine (in terms of slacks) and baggy tends to make people look like their clothes are swallowing them. Neither of these looks is good for a wardrobe staple. Some advice from r/butchlesbians: Hem or cuff all pants so there is no excess fabric bunching at the ankle – this makes you look shorter. It is worth it to get nicer slacks hemmed for this reason alone. Keywords to look for: Trousers, Slacks, (and for a slightly more casual look, chinos) Avoid: Cargo pockets, drawstrings, no belt loops, pocket stitching on the pant leg, or double knees. Slacks cut like Wildfang's Empower Trouser, H&M's basic Slacks, Old Navy's Built-in Flex Slim Rotation Chinos or High-Waisted OGC Chino Pants, Both&'s Marlo, Daper Boi’s Slim Fit Chino Pants or Everlane's Utility Barrel Pant or Stretch Twill 5 Pocket Pant have a nice silhouette that can be made casual or dressed up should the occasion call for it. Note: If you look at the reviews and see pictures of either models or owners of the pant style in question and you don't like how it looks on a body type similar to yours, don't order them as returning clothes can be a pain in the ass with time limits and other challenges. However, if you're in a store and can try them on, give them a shot! You might be surprised! Brand Recommendations: $20-40 USD: Target, H&M, Old Navy, Uniqlo $41-80 USD: Gap, Uniqlo, Androgynous Fox $81-120 USD: Everlane, Wildfang, Both&, Dapper Boi $120+ USD: Peau De Loup, Haute Butch, Kirrin Finch Caveat: As I'm sure you've noticed, to buy clothes designed for queer people by other queer people, you have to spend more money. I wish this wasn't the case, as these companies price out most queer folks with how much their clothing costs. However, as these trousers are an investment, it's worth spending more for them and supporting a queer brand if you have the funds to do so. Also, many of these are available on resale sites like Poshmark or Facebook Marketplace. If you know your size, you can easily get pants from Wildfang and other queer-catering brands for far less money (e.g., I paid $35 for my Wildfang empower trousers on Poshmark). Step 4: Button-Down Shirts Button-downs are the staple of any masculine wardrobe -- you're going to end up owning about ten of them. The unfortunate thing about button-downs, though, is that they're a pain in the ass to figure out, fit-wise. Men's shirts tend to fit women with larger breasts or wider hips poorly because (the vast majority of) men don't have large breasts or hips. So when shopping for a button-up, try to take this into account and don’t let not fitting into a men’s shirt ruin your day. There are options! A good button-up should fit your shoulders without there being a ton of space to move around (i.e., you should be able to raise your arms, but you should not be able to grab handfuls of fabric on each shoulder and pull. It also should fit your neck. Men tend to have wider necks than women, which means their shirts are built to accommodate this fact. Gaping collars make shirts look oversized and, therefore, visually look like they fit you poorly, even if they fit the rest of your body well. When shopping for button-ups, try to avoid gaping collars. A good button-up shirt is also one you can comfortably button the whole way down. This includes the last button. A big problem I see with many masc or butch lesbians is that they’re wearing shirts that don’t fit their hips, while they do fit their shoulders, chest, and neck. A solution for this is tucking your shirt in, yes, but sometimes you don’t want to do that, and having a shirt that can be versatile with both a tucked-in and tucked-out look is essential for this wardrobe staple. The good news is that many button-down options are available for women’s bodies that don’t have darts or a feminine cut. However, sometimes, if you’ve got hips, you need a feminine cut that has more space through the hips. Companies like Androgynous Fox, Wildfang, Bridge & Burn, Dapper Boi, Peau De Loup, and Kirrin Finch have all taken this into account in designing shirts that fit women’s bodies. But there are cheaper options as well. Target’s men's section is where I’d start. If you can make a Goodfellow and Co button-down shirt work for you, you’re golden. Try on a few of them. This said, if for whatever reason, a men’s button down doesn’t work for you – take a look at Androgynous Fox's The Mickey, Urban Outfitter’s Cooper Solid Button Down, H&M’s Muscle Fit Cotton Shirt (more space in the chest for breasts) or Wildfang’s The Essential Oxford Button Up. If you have money to burn, Kirrin Finch’s Frankie is cartoonishly expensive but quite worth the price. Everlane’s Relaxed Oxford Shirt is also quite pricey but goes on sale often. In terms of plus size recommendations, Wildfang, Androgynous Fox, and Kirrin Finch all accommodate a wide variety of body types. I’ve also found that Morning Witch's Button Down Shirts (Deathly Bouquet) go up to 4XL. Maurice's Plus Size 90s Prep Relaxed Button Up Shirt and Old Navy’s Linen Blend Button Down Boyfriend Shirt go up to 4X. What’s important to note here is that these sizes are built to accommodate how women’s bodies grow in size rather than how men’s bodies do – these are shirts that provide a boyish, masculine look while also being designed with bodies like yours in mind. Styling Tips: A short-sleeve collared shirt is easier to wear underneath a sweater, crew-neck sweatshirt, or open in the front. A long-sleeve collared shirt is easier to wear buttoned up and tucked in—it also looks more professional. Brand Recommendations: $20-40 USD: Target, H&M, Old Navy, Uniqlo, Urban Outfitters $41-80 USD: Gap, Uniqlo, Androgynous Fox, Urban Outfitters, Morning Witch $81-120 USD: Everlane, Wildfang, Bridge and Burn, Dapper Boi $120+ USD: Peau De Loup, Haute Butch, Kirrin Finch Step 5: Jeans Denim is an essential part of any masculine wardrobe. r/malefashionadvice has a master post about Denim that includes the various terms you may encounter when shopping for denim or jeans that work for you and your body. This master post is essential when reflecting on fit, style, color, etc. It’s also written by fashionable, and nerdy-about-fashion, guys, and has some good product recommendations. A good pair of jeans can look professional (if they are in a cut that looks professional [i.e., not excessively baggy]) or casual, depending on how they are styled. What we want from these jeans is a silhouette that isn’t too form-fitting - but also doesn’t look like it is oversized. Currently, fashion for young people is shifting away from more form-fitting cuts of jeans into baggy styles of jeans – which is fine if that floats your boat. Still, for a pair of jeans that you are turning into a masculine wardrobe staple, I recommend sticking to the more classic cuts: Boot, Straight Leg, Slim, Athletic Slim, or Skinny. I am including skinny here because sometimes, particularly if you are bottom-heavy, skinny jeans can be very slimming, while baggy jeans only work on particular body types (such as those who are skinny, slim, apple-shaped) and tend to feminize bodies that aren’t that type. Vintage Levis are a staple of hipster men’s fashion these days (writing in summer 2024) because they sit at men’s natural waists, which makes them better than a lot of current cuts of men’s jeans to fit a body with hips or an ass. If you’re short and have curves, particularly in the hip, try bootcut jeans. Levi’s makes great vintage-style bootcut women’s jeans (my girlfriend’s go-to) as well as the 315s, which are shaping in a similar look. For a more classically masculine look in women’s jeans, you can also try the higher-waisted 80s Mom Jeans which are tapered, or the straight-fit, mid-rise wedgie that is a favorite recommendation of dyke fashion bloggers. r/mensfashionadvice also suggests the following if you can make men’s pants work for you: Levis 510 (skinny), 511 (slim), 512 (slim taper), 513 (slim straight), 514 (looser slim straight). Bullet point from curvy girlfriend: Don’t be afraid to mid or high-waist it. Levi’s Wedgie only goes up to a 34-inch waist – HOWEVER, I wear a 32, have a 36-inch natural waist and a 47-inch around the widest part of my butt [and a 27-inch inseam] – so I’d encourage you to try them on if you are even remotely close to these measurements. My go-to pair of jeans is the Goodfellow athletic cut jeans from Target (linked in a lighter wash). I’ve also had good luck with Urban Outfitters BDG brand’s vintage slim fit jean (men’s) and their high-waisted cowboy jean (women’s). Additionally, Old Navy’s OG Slim-Straight High/Mid-Waisted Jean (also in curvy) is sized for women (on a 00-30 scale as opposed to 24-50-inch waist scale). Bear your measurements in mind when looking at their stuff. My girlfriend has had good luck with Lee jeans (which are sold at Wal-Mart) and jeans from Express. I have enjoyed my jeans from Nordstrom x Wildfang’s collaboration and my skinny jeans from the Gap. The thing with jeans is that you probably already have a pair or three that you like. What I’d focus on is for more dressy jeans, go for a darker wash with no rips or tears, but for casual jeans, whatever works, works. Don’t let fashion snobs bully you out of clothing that you like and makes you feel confident, or tell you that the cut of jeans that works for you isn’t fashionable anymore (I’m looking at you, Gen-Z), and understand that if it works for you, it works for you and you are the one who makes it fashion. Don’t throw out your skinnies – if you want to wear baggy jeans go for it! Remember that everyone’s style is different but that if something is too baggy or too skinny it tends to look unprofessional. Step 6: T-Shirts Derek Guy (the menswear blogger), has an incredible Twitter thread on how to find a t-shirt that fits you well. Start Here. If you can’t be bothered, essentially he argues that there is a certain ratio between a person’s torso and legs in those classic pictures of men in t-shirts that we masc folks covet as like, fashion goals: slightly cropped torso, long legs. T-shirts are, in general, cut long because t-shirt companies need to sell across multiple torso sizes. This is why styles like the half/french tuck on the t-shirt are so popular with fashion modeling and photography – the shirt is simply too long for both the model’s torso and where their pants sit on their legs. Point being: cheap men’s t-shirts - a staple of most masculine-leaning lesbian wardrobes - tend to sit oddly on a lot of bodies – particularly if you’re shorter, have noticeable breasts or hips, or are rounder about the middle. Buying a 10-pack of Hanes or Fruit of the Loom t-shirts at Walmart will get you places if you have a very specific body type, but most likely, you don’t have that body type. That’s okay! Good quality t-shirts both last longer, and fit you better, but you have to pay more for them. Don’t get sticker shock at spending 20 bucks on a t-shirt if it fits you well and works for your body. So how do you, in trying to find more masculine looks, find a stylish t-shirt that works? Ideally, a t-shirt should fit about 1/3 of your body – most men’s t-shirts are cut to fit 1/2 of a man. Given that you are - most likely - not a six-foot tall man, you probably want to focus on the silhouette that falls just above or just below your hips. Boxier cuts, if you’re slim, look very good on women with breasts. You can also achieve this by tucking in a t-shirt at your natural waist. Don’t french tuck, that was horrific advice on Queer Eye. Cut and Style There are three necklines and one style that I think are particularly useful for wardrobe building: Crew neck (think your traditional collar on a sweatshirt or sweater that doesn't have a hood) This is your basic ‘unisex’ t-shirt A crew neck with jeans or slacks looks effortlessly classy or casual, depending on how it is styled. V-Neck (shaped like a v, obviously) In women’s clothing, v-necks tend to be a bit deeper A v-neck t-shirt under a button-up or flannel allows you to comfortably button up the shirt to the neck without having too many layers of fabric in the way. Henley (buttons at the neck) In women’s clothing, henleys tend to cut lower with more of a boat or scoop-cut neckline before the buttons start. A henley can be worn with anything but looks great underneath a chunky sweater – the kind you find at Goodwill and are like score. Baseball Style Tees (Typically with full sleeves or 3/4 length sleeves - though they do come in short sleeves too) Characterized by having sleeves of a different color than the rest of the shirt and the triangular cut of the sleeves going into the neckline of the shirt is good for people with broad shoulders. Baseball tees make everyone look masculine - they’re practically designed this way. I think they’re a positive staple in anyone’s wardrobe if you’re trying to create a masculine vibe. So try some t-shirts from both the women’s and men’s sections in a place like Target or a department store. Try the athletic and boxy fits and maybe some of the shirts with deeper v-necks, too. Gay men wear them all the time, why can’t you? Product Recommendations My favorite all-time masculine-looking t-shirts are Target’s A New Day Women’s Short Sleeve T-shirt (curvy girlfriend note: these don’t fit well if you have hips, as they tend to sit at the hips and ride up to them), Homage’s Women’s Go-To Tee, Arizona Men’s V-Neck Short Sleeve T-Shirt, Androgynous Fox Basics | V Neck (warning that this shirt runs LONG AF and needs to be tucked in to work and I’m 5’7”). Gap’s Everyday Soft Crewneck T-Shirt (originally got these in a three-pack), H&M Basics T-shirt and their Linen-Blend T-shirt (love the deep v on this). What you’ll notice here is that these are all women’s t-shirts except the ones from Arizona and Gap, but they have the length to achieve the correct length slightly cropped on my body. What you’ll also notice here is that these are all short-sleeved, because I live in a warmer environment. As a Vermonter, I'd be remiss if I did not share this recent NYT write up on Comfort Colors, as the factory is just up the road from my mom's place. My girlfriend’s favorite masculine-looking t-shirt is: Carhartt’s Women’s Loose Fit Heavy Weight Short-Sleeve Pocket T-Shirt Some places and styles to check out: Cos Regular-Fit Mid-Weight Brushed T-Shirt or Extra-Fine T-Shirt. Quince 100% Merino Wool All-Season Short Sleeve Base Layer Tee (also in V-Neck/Women’s v-neck). Men’s Heavyweight Short Sleeve T-shirt from Target, Gap’s Everyday Soft Crewneck T-Shirt, Organic Cotton Vintage T-Shirt, Everlane’s Organic Cotton Box Cut Tee. Uniqlo’s Lifewear Supima Cotton Crew Neck T-Shirt, or, if you can wear an oversized tee comfortably: AIRism Cotton Oversized Crew Neck T-Shirt. Additionally, Carhartt’s Women’s Loose Fit Heavy Weight Short-Sleeve Pocket T-Shirt is an excellent pocket tee. T-shirts are your call in terms of cuts and styles that you like, but you should probably have the following basics: Two plain black T-shirts Two plain white T-shirts One plain gray T-shirt Two-Five plain T-shirts in a few colors you like that look good on you! Graphic t-shirts are a separate matter. As I’ve gotten older (I’m 36 now), I’ve found myself staying away from graphic tees in favor of blank t-shirts, but this isn’t everyone’s experience. My girlfriend LOVES graphic tees and practically lives in them. I have a few, though - a vintage Blondie Tour Shirt, a shirt with mountain on it from J-Crew, and a shirt from a farmer’s market with a bunch of beets on it. My girlfriend has many graphic tees, but the point here is that if you have a shirt you like, keep it! This is not a guide for how to find cool graphic t-shirts, though. ---> Part Two Here submitted by
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r/butchlesbians |
SilverConversation19 |
Dec 2, 2024 |
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Breaking Down Bates
Can you imagine showing up at your dentist’s office for an early Monday morning appointment and seeing 2 clients in the waiting room with a huge camera that has a built in boom mic filming themselves? And then they switch to their phones and film themselves having their teeth cleaned? What level of narcissistic personality disorder would you think that was? Well, take whatever level you guessed and double it folks, bc Carlin and Evan Stewart did just what I described this week. They think they are SO important that their thousands of fans need to see them swish and spit. Anyway, just as I predicted last week, they set the tent up in the backyard and had a backyard sleepover so they could exploit their children while selling Jello. Layla and Zade get to enjoy zero percent of life without it being filmed and sold to the highest bidder. It almost feels like they are rage baiting when they film Zade running from the tent to the house, and you realize they are camping mere inches from the pool. Carlin ignored the comments begging them to fence the pool. There was another BSB photo shoot on location this week, after Carlin shared several reels trying on all of the new clothes. Carlin is becoming very animated while talking to the camera, making lots of faces and throwing her hands around like she’s spastic. She is trying very hard to relay happiness and excitement all of the time and it rings hollow. She moved the camera all around the Jesus Gym so we could see her doing her Calisthenics for Christ and this week she tells us the Stanley brand is the best cup so forget that Cirkl bottle they told you was the best last week. Carlin and Evan had a car photo shoot with just Zade, and in the time they took to force him to pose, the kid could have had a speech lesson. He is 2.5 years old and struggling to communicate. Layla is “yay-uh” and the dog Izzy is “I-I”. Water is “wo-wo” and no one has time to care. Layla is filmed in see through leggings performing a secret handshake with her dad and then Carlin leaves for a church women’s retreat and Evan is left alone to exploit his kids by himself. Evan shows himself unlatching the back door that leads to the pool and the only lock is a deadbolt that turns. It is at Layla’s eye level and the kids are free to run around and beside the pool to their hearts content. Last week we wondered where Carlin’s old bestie was that took care of her through her “sickness”… so this week… she magically appears. Carlin chunks her sleeping bag at her and allows her to carry it while Carlin continues to film herself. She can only stay at the retreat for one night, she tells us, bc there is NO service there. After getting in touch with nature, Carlin needs to detox by purchasing every beige, grey and white crocheted item in HomeGoods. She brings in tons of bags and throws stuff all over her house and calls it fall. Evan shows off his new LuLuLemon sweatsuit and his giant pumpkin spice candle and he is almost ready to join the Soccer Moms club. Layla is forced to act like she loves the new decorations and Zade has to tap in to sell some Kitsch pillowcases. The pillowcase has a black outline of Mickey which he calls “mih mo”. Carlin is wearing a shirt that says “out of office and in my feelings” and I don’t think she understands what that means… per usual. The thumbnail for this week’s vlog features Layla in a swimsuit and Zade shirtless. They show both kids in the pool with no life vests on. They had Sunday dinner with Katie and Travis and Carlin showed off a plate of Kraft macaroni, wet lettuce and what looked to be something Izzy coughed up. Pregnancy baiting is tough to keep up for an extended amount of time. Just ask Katie and Travis Clark who have been at the end of this pregnancy for about 6 weeks. 2 weeks ago they filmed what they called the last update before the baby is born… but here we are still getting updates. Hailey filmed a reel where Travis painted her nails and Katie painted the dog’s nails. Travis likes to get the camera right on top of Hailey so all you can see is her face. They went out to a dirt road for a maternity shoot where Katie and Hailey have matching outfits and Travis is in black jeans and a stretched out, faded tshirt. The guy filming also did their wedding video and things got very Meta when he filmed Travis taking pictures of Hailey. These folks truly worship the camera. Things Katie Clark sold this week: hydrojug, candles, matching dresses, jewelry, sweaters, more jewelry and colostrum. Travis brings her flowers to thank her for slanging those links so he can keep playing music man. Katie sat in bed and packed her hospital bag which was riveting content. They go all the way to Parrot Mountain to film an ad for Bloom powdered supplement and a bird pooped on Trav’s shirt. That bird spoke for ALL of us. Josie Balka had the Jesus Gym chick and her husband over for Sunday dinner. They made Rice Krispie treats and the dad cuddled and read stories to the girls. Doesn’t that seem like grandparents work? Who are these two and why are they suddenly this close to the Balkas? Josie filmed a TikTok showing a normal morning in her life and of course it’s peaceful and dreamy and whispy. We finally see a glimpse of Willow at homeschool and it appears Josie is taking the Alyssa track and firing up the super modern DVDs. She tells us she is addicted to… sheets. Yes, sheets. $265 sheets to be exact. Josie throws around words like addicted, obsessed, so stinking good, and literally SO often one would think she is in a perpetual orgasmic state. Actually… she’s 24 with 3 kids so maybe she IS addicted to the sheets. (Rim shot) Kelton cooks chicken and pasta and baby Miles has 2 teeth. The Effortless Shop features tons of Christian micro influencers curling their hair with the pool noodles and offering a whopping 10% discount. Josie bakes a peach cobbler and Kelton cooks the weekly Home Chef dog food in a very expensive pan. Willow and Hazel get matching track suits like middle aged women and Josie is hawking nutrafol again for only $420. It’s the secret (this week)to her long natural hair she says. In an attempt to push pool noodles worldwide, every order this weekend gets a free item as an added bonus. That is literally, so stinking cool. You should be obsessed. It’s addicting. In a marketing move that no one saw coming, Alyssa Webster sent her sad hats to the scary Duggars to promote. How many people want to look like Jed Duggar Alyssa? If you ever questioned her beliefs or religion just remember she proudly sent 4 free hats to a Duggar. That’s about as far as the hats got this week besides a repost of the original picture of the girls in the hat and Rhett, emotionless, in a diaper wearing the hat. Not one Webster wears the hat, they don’t display the hat or give a demo of the hat. There’s about 540 of those suckers taking up permanent housing in the TV cabinet. In what the Webster family refers to as a “vacation”, Alyssa this week took her kids to the Starbucks drive thru and then to a grocery store for a free sugar cookie. The girls all posed and smiled with their precious free cookie and mom loaded up the cart with squeeze pouches of baby food for tiny little baby Rhett who can’t possibly chew food. On co-op day Alyssa has a car photo shoot with Rhett. She labels it “lunch with my boy” when you can clearly see the girls in the background. Rhett is crying in the pics but she posts them anyway. That kid is perpetually grumpy….Fits right in with Lurch. The riveting content rolls on as she shows us a 40 ounce cup of water that she drank. She made it out of the bathroom in time to get fully dressed and in glam for another unboxing reel. She rips open a box of baby products, doesn’t link or really show any of the items and this gets her some engagement from folks asking what in the hell did they just watch. Apparently Evan and Carlin took a look at this mess of an IG and made a quick call down to Alyssa to rescue her from herself. Evan gave them the brilliant idea of driving around and taste testing fall coffee flavors. Alyssa thanks Evan and thinks this is an idea she can definitely ruin, so she and the mouth breather set off into the night for high jinks and laughter. What we get is an out of sync mess of Alyssa’s voice talking while the video shows her drinking coffee, John whining about customer service and Alyssa blabbering all over herself while she wills herself to be a FUN MOM! The entire vlog is a mess and Evan Stewart is somewhere biting his knuckles. Alyssa is wearing a sweater that says WHATEVER. Exactly. Whitney Bates would like you to buy: teeth strips, a red light, Chick-fil-A, cut spray for skin, some kitsch Disney junk, crumbl cookies, gym set/shorts, mixtiles, and photography sessions. She turned 31 to celebrate and the kids and Zach decorated for her and lavished her with gifts that she will expect you to buy next week via links. Kelly Joe really went ALL in on Whitney’s birthday post, and just lavished her with praise. She called her a daughter. For the blessed third week in a row there was no Bates Kitchen episode on YouTube. The local Walmart has had to cut back on the pallets of mayonnaise they were ordering and garbage disposals all over Rocky Top breathed a sigh of relief. Is it over?? Whitney showed off her fancy new stark white cowboy boots and that baby no one remembers had on a matching pair. Little Ryker Bates is talking up a storm. Lydia films him calling Maui the cat to come down and play. He can also say “I did it!” He has almost as many words as his dullard dad Trace who stumbles through a description of this week’s sponsor… a security camera system. They show the behind the scenes of Ryker’s first birthday where everything was brown and beige and they fully expected him to wake up as a one year old and speak in sentences, run around the block and work a part time job. Trace ripped open all of his presents and said the name RYKER approximately 4567 times. They took him to Build A Bear and filmed about 13 minutes too much of him rolling around on the floor while they dressed the stuffed animal. Back at home Lydia wrapped balloon strings around his neck and Trace tried not to drool while playing with Ryker’s new race track. These 2 have absolutely nothing to say to each other and continue to do it weekly for an uncomfortable amount of time. Michael was on the farm with Jane and Poppa Bill this week. Instead of the usual art projects, this week the Keilens sat down for a life update. They proudly describe their trip to Jana Duggar’s wedding and show pictures of most of the siblings who have yet to admit they attended. They are excited to have finally made it into the baby snuggles volunteer program at the children’s hospital and they tell us all about what’s going on with Jane and Bill. According to Michael, Lawson, Tiffy, Gil and Kelly Joe were able to take them to Myrtle Beach to visit Jane’s sisters at the family beach house. Michael shares old footage of her at the beach as a toddler in a regular bathing suit. She also shares about visiting Nathan and Esther at their RV which appears to be parked at the Duggar compound. The big news is that Brandon has a new job in Knoxville. He is working from 5am-230pm every day and learning all new skills. I guess the IBLP just isn’t what it used to be before the documentary shed light on this horrible cult. Whatever Brandon is doing, it would be shocking if it involves Crayola Crayons. Michael is busy painting words on pieces of wood to sell as Christmas ornaments. Their vlog thumbnail features Jana’s wedding so they are quickly learning what brings in the views. Lawson Bates took to IG this week to remind everyone that procrastination is a sin. This from a man who doesn’t work and can’t cobble together a YouTube vlog that isn’t 4 months old. Tiffy is selling the same expensive sheets as Josie and Carlin. She went with Lawson to a tent revival and met a woman who gave birth the same day she did, just down the hall from her. Tiffy also had a visit with Travis Clark’s sister in law Devin and called her one of her best friends. Baby Will is now 2 months old and they celebrated by taking him to a car museum… just the place for an infant. Lawson awkwardly holds the baby no matter where they are. Tiffy calls Will her chubby nugget and we see glimpses of their trip to Dirty Myrtle with JaneJane and Poppa Bill. While In Rocky Top, Lawson slaps the baby in Carlin’s kid’s huge swing for pictures. Tiffy doesn’t like it and is worried to death, but ends up giggling nervously and biting her nails while Lawson does what he wants. To be sure this is the Lawson show. Tiffy posts pictures of a trip to the zoo and finally they release a new vlog that shows this very zoo trip. Tiffy has her 6 week checkup but Lawson does all of the talking. Tiffy doesn’t get in more than a few words and never gets to hold the baby. It’s all Lawson all the time. Lawson says baby Will has an Afro. He decides to give Duke the dog a bath which is just this weeks reason for him to take his shirt off. They introduce Duke to Will and Tiffy looks like she is about to jump out of her skin. Will is 6 weeks old meeting the dog for the first time. So where has Duke been? The vlog wraps up at the Nashville Zoo where Lawson yammers on some more and Tiffy just stares at the camera. The most she is able to get in is that she is beyond ready to get to California. Girlfriend may not come back. You know that expression about making chicken salad out of chicken sh*t? Welp, this week Erin Paine is back on YouTube making… chicken salad. Literally. After months and months of not being allowed to film, suddenly here she is… just when they are broke as a joke and about to be belly up. Erin has Holly “help” her but she jerks everything out of the child’s hand and is a nervous wreck. At the end, Chad comes in and pushes Holly out of the way so he can taste test the salad. Erin mentions several times that Chad works but saying it doesn’t make it true. Is it too little, too late? Erin signs off by saying she will “see us next week”… is that a threat? Bits and Bytes… who believes KJ and Gil may be on a weight loss medication??…. from my math, Alyssa has sold or given away 82 hats, leaving 518 to go…BSB is selling what appears to be a denim sack. Carlin says it will sell out. Have a great week friends… you know where Solomon’s temple was located? … on the side of his head. submitted by /u/dixcgirl10 to r/BringingUpBates [link] [comments]
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r/BringingUpBates |
dixcgirl10 |
Sep 23, 2024 |
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9 Trends For Fall
It’s only September, but we’ve already started planning outfits for the fall season. Have you already started noticing the new trends creeping into stores and magazines? It’s a real mixed bag of styles and elements for every taste and age, a lot of it predictably inspired by the 2000s. While this is by no means an exhaustive list of trends or all the most popular influences, they do tend to be some of the recurring styles I’ve seen in the new collections so far. If you’re still getting your shopping list ready, here are some of the trends you’ll see this fall season: 1 sheer If you’ve taken a gander at online stores lately, there’s no way you missed the fact that sheer clothes are in. Very appropriate for summer, but not inconvenient for fall, a sheer element is the perfect way to bring a touch of sexy to an outfit, while also adding texture and visual interest. Sheer tops are everywhere - mostly mesh and organza - but they’re not the only garments that are getting the see-through treatment. Sheer midi skirts and dresses - with or without slips underneath, depending on how daring you are - are an ideal choice for any holiday parties you’ve got coming up, or just regular nights out. Best way to wear it: Jeans a nice top, anyone? Why not make that top sheer? If you feel uncomfortable going all out, then a sheer element goes perfectly with an otherwise conservative outfit. If you’re wearing a midi skirt and a blazer, a peek of a sheer top can be a great contrast. A sheer midi with high boots and a turtleneck sweater is perfectly appropriate, while still flashing a little calf to keep things interesting. 2 marked waists Have you heard The Good News about waists? Boxy haters, rejoice, and get your credit cards ready: the tide is turning back towards 2000s style tops and jackets, and that means fewer long, boxy blazers, and more hip length, wasp-waisted garments. Blazers aren’t the only ones that are getting the cinched treatment, that also goes for coats, shirts, and dresses. It’s a structured, feminine style that looks great with voluminous pieces and is made even more impactful by the addition of prominent shoulders. Versace calls it an "hourglass" blazer, for those furiously keyword-ing at home. Best way to wear it: A top with a cinched waist looks especially harmonious with voluminous pants. A pair of high-waisted palazzos goes perfectly with a tie-waist shirt. A blazer with this kind of detail can work with pants, but you can also pair a straight mini skirt with it for an 80s inspired skirt suit look. Midi skirts can also work with this style of blazer, albeit with a bit more care for proportions. It won't necessarily be a "traditional" silhouette, but it can be an interesting one. Full midi skirts can also be beautiful here, especially for a more formal look that steps a bit outside the norm. 3 wrap sweaters Ballet-core may be older news, but it’s still going strong, and it’s sprouting new iterations and trends. After leg warmers and sheer skirts, it also gave way to the return of the wrap sweater. Usually made of thinner fabric and typically in shades of delicate pink, black, white, or gray, a ballet-inspired wrap sweater is as feminine as it is practical. Sheer ones are common, but it’s not the only style out there, by any means. In the coming months we can expect to see them in various fabrics and colors, as they make a great fresh alternative to other types of cardigans that may feel a little stale. Best way to wear it: It can be worn by itself, on top of a satin cami, paired with jeans or a midi skirt. Or it can even work as a top layer for an evening dress. It’s a great topper for evening weddings going into fall. The temperatures go lower, but the dresses stay thin and strappy, so an elegant cover-up that isn’t a pashmina doesn’t hurt. Or you can go in the complete opposite direction and lean fully into a ballet-core flavored athleisure look and wear it with leggings and sneakers 4 fringe skirt Fringe is creeping back into fashion in all sorts of ways - we’ve been seeing some leather fringed purses and hopefully vests soon - and one of the most fun iterations has to be the fringe skirt. The fringe skirt, or the carwash skirt, as it’s affectionately nicknamed, is technically a midi skirt, but the length is - you guessed it - FRINGE. It has movement, it has drama, it’s comfortable, and it’s a way more interesting way to wear a skirt. Functioning as both a mini and a midi, basically, the fringe skirt is sexy without being revealing, it’s fun without being exaggerated, and it’s a totally unique way to wear a skirt. It also sort of plays into the sheer trend because it puts some leg on show, but not really. It’s more a of a peek-a-boo. Best way to wear it: Because the skirt is the fun element of the outfit, you can keep the rest simple. A button-down shirt, a basic boot, neutral colors. Orrr you can kick it up a notch with some fun heels and an oversized blazer. 5 silver Even if you’re not a big Bowie fan, silver is surprisingly versatile. Basically anything you wear can be made in a cool metallic silver fabric. For now, it seems to be mostly relegated to silver denim - jackets, jeans, skirts, even dresses - but space-ier fabric is coming. Target is already there. Is it just the 2000s coming back or is it inspired by our most recent forays into space? Shall we call it Elon Musk-core? No, we shall not, ew. It may seem like a lot of statement, and it can be, but not necessarily. If you’re not ready to invest all your money in silver, you can start with something small, like an accessory. A silver bag is easy, but even more current - a pair of silver shoes. Silver Jadons are still on sale if you’re an unhinged Dr. Martens stan like me, or you can go for a subtler, more classic, or ~feminine~ option of a heeled silver boot, preferably with a pointed toe. Best way to wear it: The best way to wear it, in my opinion, is top to bottom silver for a baked potato-core look but if you’re not there yet, one silver element with a monochrome look is fine, too. We’ve already covered shoes and bags, but a jacket is an easy statement “topper” as well. 6 ruffles Another nod to the 2000s - although it’s less of a nod, and more of a full-on head tilt - delicate, sheer ruffled blouses and dresses are quickly capturing the imagination of trendy consumers and lining up for fall. The vibe is light, feminine, and diaphanous. This type of top or dress can be worn by itself, but it also works great with a blazer or leather jacket on top, for a peek of something cute under otherwise masculine-leaning or serious outerwear. Best way to wear it: You don’t have to go over the top femme just because you’re wearing ruffles. This type of top goes perfectly with a pair of flare jeans and a pair of pointy boots. 2000s nostalgia in the best way, only without the acne and the emo bangs, this time. 7 satin Rarely do we get fabrics as a trend, but satin has been a star all year-long. While we’ve mainly seen it in slinky midi skirts and 90s-esque slip dresses, the fall season also brings satin tops, shirts, and blouses, perfect for the office. You can go for a satin pussy-bow blouse if you want to be high femme, or you can opt for a classic button-up shirt in a satin fabric for just a hint of a special texture. Satin is great for adding texture to an outfit, because it contrasts most casual fabric. Its shiny quality can make it ideal for special occasion dressing, but it’s also appropriate for everyday situations, including professional dressing. Best way to wear it: Short of going for a satin top + satin skirt combo, it can be worn in almost any formula. My favorite way to wear satin is to use to elevate and contrast a more casual, understated piece. Think midi satin skirt with a chunky sweater, or a satin shirt with a pair of jeans. It’s still casual, but just a little bit special. 8 pointed toes/kitten heels Controversially, kitten heels are back. Their toes are pointy, but they’re not angry; in fact, they’re sleek, elegant, and occasionally come with ankle straps and mary-jane detailing that’s so in vogue right now. The mule version is also popular, and for now, they’ve mostly appeared in various black leathers for fall, but there’s more to come. If leather pointed toe kitten heels are here, then shiny patent (and possibly silver?) pointed toe kitten heels must be right around the corner. Best way to wear it: As you may remember from the 2000s, the pointed toe kitten heel was an office favorite, because it looked excellent under long bootcut office pants. It’s not a coincidence they’re trending together. If you think you can’t possibly bring yourself to do that again, just give it a few months, it’ll get to you. They also happen to look great with the midi skirts that have so captured the imagination of women of all ages these past few seasons. That satin midi skirt you wore all summer can transition seamlessly into fall with a pair of kitten heels and a short, tweedy, collarless blazer. Just in time for that mandatory back to office email. 9 wide waist belts/obi belts/corset belts I wasn’t kidding when I said waists are back; you can get the silhouette through tailoring, but otherwise, you can turn any existing outfit by adding a wide waist belt. Also known as obi belts, corset belts, or wrap belts, in case you want to do some Pinterest-ing later, this kind of belt makes a statement and adds a harder edge to an outfit, while still maintaining the distinctly feminine silhouette. You can opt for a softer, lighter “edge” if you wish, with white or brown leather, or a different material, for more of an architectural vibe, or an Asian-inspired accessory, but the majority of are categorically in the black leather category. If a full-on harness feels too teenage and NSFW even outside the workplace, then a soft black leather underbust corset might be elegant enough to make a subtler statement, but still play into this look. Best way to wear it: They work best with dresses in a contrasting color, but you can also make them work with tops, as long as they’re longer, or at least stay tucked into the belt. The nice thing about this type of belt is that it can be edgy and “hard”, but it can also be super soft and feminine. Wrap details are great for curvy bodies, because they follow the contour of your silhouette. Of course, it goes without saying these are not all the fall fashion influences and this is not a prescriptive or complete guide - just what I’ve noticed with the early fall crop of collections that have been hitting the stores. If there are any trends you’d particularly like to see detailed or styled, let me know and I’ll do more of an in-depth write-up. submitted by /u/squeegee-beckenheim to r/femalefashionadvice [link] [comments]
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r/femalefashionadvice |
squeegee-beckenheim |
Sep 17, 2023 |
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Is it dated or frumpy/mumsy/aging? (Or both) A guide.
The discussion around the Banana Republic top from 2007 that I featured led me to want to make this post. There were some alarmed comments "Is that dated?!?!" so I figured I'd make a non-official, my opinion only guide. Is it dated? What makes something dated? The color--certain colors were "everywhere" in certain eras--I'm thinking about bright orchid, mint/turquoise, coral, primary red, electric/cobalt blue, and so on. The cut--the length, the sleeve, the neckline, the relative narrow or fullness of the garment The details--embroidery, pleats, patches, punny little sayings or slogans, illustrations or graphics, sheer panels, yokes, ruffles, etc. Right now in 2023 smocking, something that was last popular in the 80s and 90s, is back in. Most of us wouldn't have been caught DEAD in a smocked item in 2010. As another example, a panel of sheer horsehair or organza fabric along the hem of a fit and flare dress like a "stripe" is dated at this point. The fabrics or textiles--edit--this was poorly worded-- examples of textiles are...crochet, mesh, velvet, linen, poplin, jersey, scuba material, Tencel/rayon/viscose, denim, etc. Mesh is "in" right now, scuba or neoprene is "out" as one example. What are some recent trends that feel dated? -To my eye, boho feels a bit less than fresh. It's more Y2K grunge now in terms of what style of "undone/effortless hippie" is in. -Twee styles like dickie collars under novelty print sweaters with plaid pants twee fashion basically "The New Girl" Zooey Deschanel style -Patent leather platform pumps, cutout or D'orsay suede booties, peep toe ankle booties, those D'Orsay suede flats from Free People with the pointed toe. --Statement necklaces with chonky jewels --Ombre color schemes --Racer-back tanks --Paper thin washout/burnout/slub cotton material no offense James Perse but stuff like this --ripped jeans/destroyed jeans --Monstera print, especially with pink pop of color an example of Monstera print here --puffer vests, especially with the Han Solo look--a peasant blouse or cable knit sweater, skinny jeans + knee high boots --OTK boots styled as shown here --Personally I think Dark Academia is at its apex and might even be going "out", as well as cottagecore--aspects of this will always be "in" to a degree but the chokehold Selkie has on us is loosening, I think --Fit and flare dresses --Digital florals, kaleidoscope prints/fractals, etc Clover Canyon is a good example of this --PeterPan collars, or other girlish and twee details (embroidered collars, brooches, embellishments like sequin pineapples, etc) But! All of this stuff can be styled and worn, just because it's dated doesn't mean burn it. Just making y'all aware :) Is it frumpy? What edit: CAN MAKE something frumpy? Half-measures. Edit: this is also poorly worded. Examples of things that can be "half-measures" are the following: Wimpy little ruffles. Ditzy prints scattered aimlessly across a close-in-color background. A half-placket. 3/4 length sleeves. Soft, muted and dusty colors. A tentative, timid, don't-mind-me feeling. Not all muted colors, small prints and delicate details are frumpy. Also in that same vein: lack of risk. Things are bland and corporate and correct, and just "get the job done" rather than being intentional and deliberate. Function above form, regardless of occasion. Look, I get not being able to wear heels anymore. But one does not have to go all the way to Crocs for a 3-star restaurant or the like. Lack of tension, intentionality, or juxtaposition in the outfit. As an example, a v neck merino sweater + jeans + loafers is a perfectly respectable, if bland, outfit. But it does lean frumpy because it's just...there. A slouchy oversized angora sweater plus crop-kick jeans + ballet flats has tension and intentionality. It's clothing not an outfit. It's a top and pants, period. It cuts across the mid-section and cuts the frame in halves. I call this Lego MiniFig effect. The design choices are to disguise/distract not to enhance--this is subtle but it's the "skirted bathing suit" of design. You kind of know it when you see it. Tiny little breast pockets that aren't in any way functional are another example--WHY? Well, to distract from a larger mid-section or fuller arms. Bleh, no! Color blocking--I personally think two solid colors worn together can be super frumpifying, although it's hard to put my finger on why. Part of it feels lazy or something? I'd say it's about the color ratio. You want a 2/3 1/3 ratio not just in proportion but in color as well. So 2/3 of color "A" and a pop of color "B" not a top in blue and pants in pink. Alright, let's discuss! What is dated, what is frumpy, and how does one tell? Share to us ;) submitted by /u/Chazzyphant to r/fashionwomens35 [link] [comments]
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r/fashionwomens35 |
Chazzyphant |
Aug 25, 2023 |
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Updating An Outdated Wardrobe. Part 2: Office wear
I’d like to first thank everybody for the great feedback on the first part of this series, I’m glad so many of you found it helpful! One of the more requested categories was office wear, so that’s what I wanted to tackle next. The thing about office wear is that it changes more slowly than casual wear. That means you get more mileage out of your clothes, and you have to think about it less. However, “changes slowly” doesn’t mean “never”. Of course, you may be entirely uninterested in that and in upgrading your work look. And that’s 100% fine. However. IF you would like to remain current, there are tweaks that you can eventually make in your work wardrobe. I want to specifically point out that this is not meant to focus on looking TRENDY, but on looking CURRENT. These are not cutting edge trends, these are not trends worn by 18 year-olds. They’re styles that are more updated than, say, 2010 - 2016 office wear. Please keep in mind that updating your work wardrobe DOES NOT mean: ● That you need to throw out all your existing wardrobe ● That you need to dress in a way that doesn’t feel like “you” ● That you’re trying to dress “like a teenager” or in any way non “age-appropriate” ● That you’re a slave to trends ● That your wardrobe will now be “unflattering” Updating your wardrobe DOES mean: ● Assessing your current wardrobe with a critical eye and identifying what works and what doesn’t ● Taking a look at more current/modern fashion styles and picking out some elements that would work for your tastes/wardrobe ● Setting some goals for what your ideal wardrobe/look/message is ● TRYING THINGS ON before forming an opinion on new styles ● Planning your wardrobe for the next few years and making strategic changes/purchases Another thing I want to insist on is that everybody’s workplace is different. That means different expectations, levels of formality, dress codes, and rules. Every idea/example will not suit EVERY workplace and every dress code. I’m not mandating anything here. I’m simply reporting on what’s current and what isn’t, for those who are interested. I tried to include outfits and ideas that run the gamut of formality. It’s up to you to assess which ones would fit your needs and which are inappropriate. You also do not need to make ALL the changes. I’m including examples of different clothes and elements, how they may have changed over the years, and what is their more current version, compared to what was fashionable a few years ago. But it’s up to you to swap the elements that make sense for you and that fit in your wardrobe. No one’s telling you to change everything from head to toe, unless that’s what you want! The Basics Most people aren’t looking to reinvent the wheel when it comes to workwear, and that’s fair. The workplace is not (usually) a fashion show - unless you work IN fashion or an otherwise creative field. But that doesn’t mean you can’t look modern and current, if that’s what you want. Even if you’re keeping your outfits basic, there is still room to update, upgrade, and style an outfit that’s as simple and “timeless” as a white shirt and black pants. The blazer Some examples: blazer 1 blazer 2 blazer 3 blazer 4 blazer 5 blazer 6 blazer 7 blazer 8 The jackets we’re currently seeing are longer and roomier than jackets of yesteryear, more menswear-inspired OR a very snatched-waist Balmain-inspired look that’s come in over the past few years, with an emphasis on power shoulders and a contrast with a smaller waist. The straight cut jacket is long (sometimes even covering the butt), double-breasted, and can be oversized. The new crop of jackets are shorter, go in at the waist, and are either single button or have a single row of buttons, a la Dior Bar Jacket. If you feel like your office is too casual for a blazer, you can opt for a more casual material than the classic black suiting. Tweed is always a good choice, you can go for wool, and for a jacket that is patterned, rather than solid-colored. That’s going to look less formal. Suit vests have also been very fashionable in recent years, and they can be a good alternative if a blazer feels too stuffy or is Too Much for your office. The button down shirt Some examples: shirt 1 shirt 2 shirt 3 Despite what “timeless classics” bloggers would have you believe, a (white) shirt is not, in fact, timeless. Nothing is. Allow me to explain. Yes, the concept of wearing a white shirt will never be “dated” because that’s not how fashion works. An entire category of clothes rarely goes out of style. However, the specific characteristics of a shirt can, and do become outdated. Things like the shape and size of the collar, the cuffs, the buttons, and the length and the shape itself are all very specific to a certain era. The “classic” white shirt from 2003 is tight, short (because it was worn untucked), oftentimes with an oversized and pointy collar and cuffs. The “classic” white shirt from 2010 is longer and straighter, with a tunic collar that does not button up, occasionally meant to be worn with a wide belt on top to emphasize the waist. It was meant to be worn untucked, on top of tight pants. The sleeves had tabs that buttoned up to keep your sleeves rolled up around elbow-level. There might have been some square pockets that were placed too high. We also saw more long, empire-waist tunic-type shirts in this 2008-2012-ish period. The “classic” white shirt from 2023 is a generous cut that’s long enough to tuck into your pants or skirt, but not long enough to cover your butt. It should end around your hip. That means that you can also wear it untucked, over your pants, without it looking frumpy. Seeing as the fashion is moving towards tighter and shorter shirts (no, we’re not talking about crop tops) to go with the wider bottoms, you can also expect to find more body-conforming shirts in the near future. Shirts with a marked waist, princess seams, and generally a variety of tops that go in at the waist. The blazers and jackets with tapered waists are already present, so we can expect the shirts to not lag too far behind. The pants Some examples: pants 1 pants 2 pants 3 pants 4 pants 5 pants 6 pants 7 pants 8 pants 9 pants 10 Slacks The current standard cut for a pair of office slacks (including suits) is a high-waisted straight leg or wide leg pair of pants, usually full length. Cropped, ankle length pants are still encountered, but usually in culotte, or wide styles, less so skinny pants. The high-waisted cigarette pants (or carrot leg, or peg leg) are still out there, but the style is meant to be a little roomier in the butt and thighs; the office is not the place for your tightest pair of pants. These often come in a paperbag waist style, which is very flattering on a lot of body types, as well as comfortable - because the belt is adjustable. The rise is getting lower, however, as low rise is coming back into fashion, meaning that you should be able to find midrise and lowrise pants in wide cuts if that’s what you’ve been waiting for. That won’t change much for footwear, but it might trigger some changes in terms of tops, depending on what styles you’re wearing now. If you were used to tucking shirts into high waisted pants, a low waist doesn’t allow for that. So, you probably need to rethink and re-strategize towards a top that sits untucked, at the top of the hips, for the most traditionally harmonious proportions. Nowadays, a lot of pants have elasticated back waistbands, or even entirely elasticated waists or drawstring waists. Office joggers exist for the new iteration of the more casual and relaxed post-pandemic office. Rises and cuts are encountered in generous varieties. There is no reason for a standard pair of slacks to be uncomfortable. And god, are there office pants of all varieties right now. (A quick note on fit: Even without stretch, a pair of pants that fits well should not be uncomfortable, should not pinch you anywhere, dig into your stomach, or feel tight or constricting. Size up, go for a straight or wide leg if a tight leg is constricting, and try a higher or lower rise if your waistband cuts into your stomach. Do not purchase the smallest size you can fit into. Bosquerella did an excellent write-up on the matter you can revisit if you need the reminder. Everyone deserves pants that fit. Whatever type of rise you’re searching for, I recommend measuring your ideal rise from between the legs and up to where you want it to hit, whether that’s 11 inches, 14 inches, 8 inches, etc. Take a tape measure shopping if you have to. Measure the pants you’re interested in or learn to eyeball it, the name of the style doesn’t necessarily tell you anything about how they’re going to fit ON YOU, because all our bodies are different. Depending on the length of your torso, you may need a different rise than the model does. Shop for your body.) Stretchy pants Leggings have never exactly been business casual, and regardless of their debatable status, they’re just not current anymore. Leggings just don’t read as polished when paired with business casual clothes, and they require a high level of effort in every other aspect of the outfit in order to elevate them and make them presentable and current in the workplace. The exception to this is an athleisure look in a workplace that is very casual and allows sportswear. Think tech or non client-facing roles in other industries. And speaking of leggings, let’s address their ugly stepsister, ponte pants. Despite their misleading name, they do not look like pants, let’s be honest. If stretchy pants are your go-to, the much better - and more modern - option is a pair of straight leg athletic fabric pants. Straight leg or flared, usually with a front seam or crease and even equipped with pockets, this version at least attempts to mimic the look of regular pants. The heels Some examples: heels 1 heels 2 heels 3 heels 4 While there are still plenty of industries and offices where heels are common or even explicitly required, they are becoming less and less expected. The current heel has changed both in height and in shape/thickness. Thicker block heels are more current than stilettos. A patent, square mid heel will serve you well. Heeled mary-janes are currently the IT shoe, and there are variations on the strappy, mid heel style at many different price points. Usually patent - but also leather, for easier maintenance, or satin, for the high-maintenance dressers - mary janes are comfortable, versatile, inoffensive, and come in many different colors at the moment. Sole thickness differs, as does shape, but a lot of them follow the rounded square shape that is currently popular in footwear. Boots haven’t gone anywhere, either. A block heel ankle or knee high boot can be perfectly appropriate for the office, as long as the heel isn’t too high and they’re not a very irreverent design. The flats Some examples: flats1 flats2 flats3 flats4 flats5 flats6 flats7 flats8 flats9 flats10 There seems to be a disconnect in mentality where a lot of people think that “trendy” shoes can’t be comfortable. Dressing for comfort doesn’t mean you need to wear basic shoes. I’m about to say something that I know is upsetting for like, 70% of this sub, but it needs to be said: Rothys are not a modern shoe. More supportive shoes are in style, thankfully, and a loafer is much more current and better for your feet. The Gucci-type loafer and the trend it sparked is a little more basic and doesn’t stand out as much. It’s less of a statement, and more of a supporting character in an outfit. The platform loafers, like the Prada ones, for example, are trendier, but they’re also very comfortable. The thicker sole is very supportive and provides good shock absorption if you’re going to be walking miles in them. If you want to retain the ballet flat style, the modern ballet flat has a flatter, square shape and dance-inspired detailing that is meant to mimic actual ballet shoes. Pointed toe shoes are also coming back in fashion, and the most modern iteration of a pointed ballet flat is a slingback. Mary-janes also have a strong presence among flat shoe styles. One, two, or multi-strap, in patent, leather or canvas, for summer, mary-janes are the perfect feminine, but sophisticated shoe that can work with a variety of outfits, including pants and skirts of varying lengths. The bag Some examples: bag1 bag2 bag3 bag4 Bags for the office can be tricky, because they oftentimes have to carry your whole life, but still remain professional-looking. That’s one of the reasons why huge, unstructured bags like the LV Neverfull and the Longchamp Le Pliage were popular for so long - they’re not cute, but they’re practical. Thankfully, something even better came along, and that is the bizcas backpack. Carrying a laptop, your lunch, your water bottle, your umbrella, and your gym shoes on your shoulder is a one-way ticket to a messed up posture, health problems, and an expensive chiropractor bill. Choose comfort, practicality, and fashion by opting for a modern backpack, instead of a gaping nylon bag with thin straps that dig into your shoulder. Leather is the most elevated choice, but leather backpacks can be heavy, depending on size and construction, so take your time assessing the best material for your needs. Fun/casual/out of the box alternatives The colorful suit Some examples: suit1 suit2 suit3 suit4 suit5 suit6 suit7 If you’re in a more formal industry that still expects a suit, the best thing you can do for your work wardrobe is to get yourself a colorful one. Suiting is huge right now - and has been for a few years - so there is no shortage of office-appropriate options that won’t bore you to death. Valentino pink is particularly prevalent as it’s one of the hot colors of the season, but Bottega green is also in, and you can find an entire range of power colors to give you that extra pop. If you’d rather play it more subdued, there are plenty of pastel options to choose from. Softer, more feminine, but still 100% professional, pastel suits allow you to cheer up your office wardrobe, particularly for the spring and summer seasons, as these tend to come in summer-weight fabrics. The interesting top Some examples: top1 top2 top3 top4 top5 top6 top7 If you want a look that’s more elevated, but still retains the same basic neutral top + neutral bottoms formula, all you have to do is tweak the style of the shirt. You can still keep it white, or another neutral shade, but make sure there’s an interesting design to it. You can play with shape - oversized, billowy, straight, cropped, voluminous, etc. - it’s up to you and your preferences, design details - voluminous sleeves, interesting neckline details, contrasting trims or buttons, etc., material - silk, linen, satin (very current), which also impact drape and silhouette. Again, color is not something you need to shy away from in the workplace, especially if you’re going to pair it with neutrals. There is nothing about colorful clothes that is inherently unprofessional (unless you work at a funeral home). If a top is professional in white, it’s also professional in blue, or magenta. A “spicy” shirt can be the visual interest you need in an otherwise drab work outfit. The midi skirt Some examples: midi 1 midi 2 midi 3 midi 4 midi 5 midi 6 midi 7 midi 8 You may have noticed that in recent years, THE skirt/dress length has been the midi. Reaching around mid calf, the midi oftentimes has a medium to long leg slit. BUT there are simpler and less sexy versions for the office. The shape is straight or conical, rather than the A-line accordion pleated midis we saw around 2016. However, it’s not the tight pencil skirt shape of the 2010s, either. Think more body-skimming, rather than a spandex-y bodycon. In addition to being very current, the midi is very office-friendly because of the conservative length. It goes great with heels, but it also looks good with flats, especially the more modern chunky shoes. A midi skirt can be worn with a classic button-up shirt, or a thin turtleneck, a chunky knit, a t-shirt for more casual offices, and it can even be taken out for drinks or shopping after work or on the weekend. A very versatile piece that can work hard in your wardrobe for the next few years. The danger with a long skirt is to not veer into frumpy, church-y territory. If you’re going for a midi look, I recommend styling it in a very intentional way, with some very modern accessories. A midi skirt with a thin-soled ballet shoe from 2012 and a long, thin cardigan might look frumpy and awkward, but a midi with a chunky loafer and an oversized blazer looks like an intentional outfit. Same with boots - forego the heeled low cut ankle boot and instead, opt for a chunky knee-high boot. It can also look very chic with a longer, oversized, chunky knit. Another way to make sure it’s not reading frumpy is to pick a modern fabric. Leather skirts are very in right now, as are satin slip-style skirts. In the right cut and in a high-quality material, they can be professional, while still remaining stylish. The sneakers Some examples: sneakers1 sneakers2 sneakers3 sneakers4 sneakers5 sneakers6 sneakers7 sneakers8 sneakers9 The main aspect people appreciate about wearing sneakers is that they are comfortable. But if you’re looking to update your work wardrobe, you should know that Allbirds-style shoes are an outdated style. A black pair could be somewhat neutral, especially combined with a chic, modern all-black outfit. But there are equally comfortable sneakers out there that are sleeker, more modern, and more professional. You don’t have to wear the chunky dad sneakers your 15 year-old is wearing, but a sleek, white sneaker with a clean shape that’s not overly stylized or embellished is a perfectly respectable choice that will bring your work style closer to 2023. No synthetic mesh, please. If you feel like white is too stark and stands out too much as an athletic shoe, black is always a safe choice. If you can afford to be really daring in a casual office, you can even try a pair of platform converse. They’re not just more current, but they’re also much more comfortable, because the sole isn’t as thin and lacking in support as the classic version. Plus you get a tiny bit of height, even without heels. The jeans Some examples: jeans1 jeans2 jeans3 jeans4 jeans5 Jeans in the workplace were once a hotly debated matter and it may still depend entirely on your specific office. But in a post-covid world, where so many are reluctant to even go back to the office at all, dress codes have relaxed and jeans are more prevalent than ever before. And why shouldn’t they be? A good rule of thumb for wearing jeans in the office is to stick to a pair that is non-distressed, and solid-colored. No rips, stone washing, or fading and whiskering. Black, dark blue, or mid-blue are all okay colors. Maybe even white, in the summer. For an updated outfit, the new styles of jeans are all very workplace-friendly, because they don’t cling to the body so tightly like skinny jeans did, so they’re not emphasizing anything that an old white man might be offended by or overly taken by. There is no reason why a pair of straight leg or wide leg jeans shouldn’t pair great with a shirt, a sweater, a blazer, and a pair of loafers for a casual office environment. I’d stick to jeans that are actually hemmed, and not distressed, but at the same time, your legs are mostly under a desk, so only you know what you can get away with! Modernize your office fit Finally, let’s look at some typical, average office fits you’d see 10 years ago, and how we can retain the same basic, reliable structure, but with updated pieces. Allow me to remind you that we don’t need to throw out the clothes in the outdated examples and replace them all with clothes from the updated ones! You can get more mileage out of your clothes if you mix and match with some more modern pieces. sweater + black pants do this instead of this The cut matters so much in an outfit, as you can see in these examples. We’re still retaining the exact same formula, but we’re simply updating the pieces. While it’s still a big, oversized gray sweater, the style becomes chunkier, with balloon sleeves. The black pants are flared instead of skinny, which is a more modern cut. The boots aren’t almond-toe, but pointed, and they match the other light-colored accessories. long top/sweater + leggings + flats do this instead of this If your office is casual enough, you may still be able to get away with wearing leggings. Rather than pairing them with ballet flats, opt for a pair of sleek sneakers. You can still keep the white shirt and the knit format, but update to a chunky knit sweater, instead of the thin cardigan. Accessorizing with a big scarf indoors is unnecessary, unless it’s cold. If you want to keep the accent scarf, opt for a thinner silk square scarf, instead. top + cardigan + slacks do this instead of this This is a great example of how you can still wear your long cardigans in a much more modern fit. If you look at the first example, that short, tight cardigan on top of a tight top makes it look like the cardigan doesn’t fit her properly; it’s straining on her body. That’s never a flattering fit. The looser cardigan with a more generous cut in the second example allows for a more comfortable fit. The belt is present in both examples for waist emphasis, but tucking the top inside the pants rather than letting it hang on top is an instant update you can easily make to your everyday fit. If you prefer an untucked top, that’s perfectly fine, but choose a looser fit and not a tight jersey top. Accessories also irrevocably date an outfit. The chunky statement jewelry can easily be swapped for simpler pieces that subtly enhance and highlight, rather than being the focus of your overall fit. sweater + jeans do this instead of this If you’re gonna do a knit with jeans for work, you can easily update the look. Swap the skinnies for a pair of straight leg jeans. The riding boots or ankle boots can be changed into combat boots or a chunky pair of oxfords, and the knit can be swapped for a chunkier, either cropped or oversized sweater. Or you can opt for an oversized knit vest. It’s worn over a t-shirt in this example, but it works beautifully over a long-sleeved button-up shirt, or even over a tight turtleneck. dark suit + heels do this or this instead of this The basic suit has changed shape, with slim ankle pants being less current than straight, long pants with a crease. The blazer is longer, less fitted, and more oversized, and the heels have more of a square toe (or a more elongated point), rather than the short pointed heel in the first example. white shirt + jeans + flats do this instead of this As you can see, sometimes it’s just a matter of styling. The two examples aren’t that different, just slightly updated. The jeans are no longer skinny, but straight-cut. It’s still a style that conforms to your shape, just more modern and less constricting. The shirt is tucked into the jeans, instead of a long, untucked shirt. We still keep flat shoes, but we choose something with a platform. Again, opting for minimal jewelry over the chunky, statement necklaces will instantly make your otufit feel fresher and more modern. If you found this helpful, check out the previous post on updating skinny jeans & new jean styles to try: https://www.reddit.com/r/femalefashionadvice/comments/11cp9nb/your_wardrobe_is_outdated_what_now_step_1_skinny submitted by /u/squeegee-beckenheim to r/femalefashionadvice [link] [comments]
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r/femalefashionadvice |
squeegee-beckenheim |
Mar 8, 2023 |
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Your wardrobe is outdated. What now? Step 1 - Skinny jeans
Do you feel stale? Is your wardrobe a little tired? Are the fashionable styles increasingly different from your own wardrobe? Is the last time you went shopping 10 years ago? Do you find yourself uttering the phrase “cold dead hands” in the same sentence as “skinny jeans”? You might be a Millennial with an outdated wardrobe. It’s not a sin - if you still feel fun, fresh, and comfortable in your wardrobe, that’s cool, and feel free to click away. No one’s taking away your skinny jeans. If, however, you’re wondering how to update your wardrobe, make it feel a little fresher, and look more current, then you’re in the right place. The important thing to know is that a wardrobe update doesn’t mean that you need to throw away all your clothes and start over - unless that’s what you desire. You can update some key pieces and restyle some old ones in order to refresh your wardrobe and keep up with the times. The other thing to keep in mind is that wanting to be more current, and updating your wardrobe doesn’t mean you need to dress like a teenager. Nor does wanting a current wardrobe mean you’re desperately trying to look 20. It’s about being interested in style and wanting to remain current, stylish, and even - god forbid - trendy. Being interested in fashion and wanting to look modern isn’t just for the kids. Step 1 - Skinny jeans We all know why you’re here, skinny jeans and your cold dead hands. Skinny jeans have become somewhat of a security blanket for a lot of people. It was the dominant silhouette for so long, and a lot of our wardrobes have been created around that. However, just like your college boyfriend, just because it’s comfortable and you met them when you were 20, it doesn’t mean you’re married to them until you die. Keeping your skinnies Of course, no one is forcing anyone to give up their skinny jeans. Contrary to popular belief, the trend police will not break into your house to take them away, and your cold dead hands are safe, they needn’t be deployed. If you’re not going to replace them, then you can use a different styling approach. Styling them the same way you have been for 15 years will inevitably feel stale and old-fashioned. But that can be remedied by making some changes and tweaking other elements in your wardrobe. If you’re wearing skinny jeans, Don’t do this: These are examples that together create looks that can feel a little stale, old-fashioned, and less than fresh. Just like skinny jeans, it doesn’t mean that you have to throw away these things, but maybe don’t style them together, in the exact same way you did in 2010. 1 Low/mid waist Example: low rise look Well, what’s wrong with low/mid-rise? And wait, isn’t low rise coming back in style? Yes, it is. Just not in skinny jeans. When the pants style changes (every 15 to 20 years), that usually brings a change in silhouette. In this case, we have moved from skinny bottom, oversized top, to skinny top, oversized bottom. In that case, wearing a slim, cropped shirt and low-rise, wide-leg pants is an outfit with a nice balance, that is meant to emphasize the midriff. Wearing the same cropped outfit with low-rise skinny jeans throws off the visual balance and just ends up looking like you’ve outgrown your clothes because both elements are tight. Seeing as tucking a shirt in or wearing a more cropped, boxy top is currently in style, that also poses a problem with mid or low rises, because they are very awkward to tuck into. Once again, it disrupts the proportions and the visual balance. Tucking into low or mid rise skinny pants forces a 50/50 proportion that is both unnatural and not out of left field enough to be avant-garde. It’s just awkward. 2 Tunics/long sweaters Example: tunic top look Again, an issue of silhouette. Wearing skinny jeans with a tunic is probably your comfort zone, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s not going to read as modern or stylish. If that’s your goal, then I’d avoid pairing skinnies with any kind of long top. “Skinny jeans and a nice top” can still be your go-to, but consider updating the style of the top. A top with more structure and more waist emphasis will read more modern than a long, loose, shapeless top. If you’re still keen on covering the derriere, then a boxy, oversized sweater or top with structure is a fresher alternative. 3 Thin long cardigans Example: look with long cardigan Cardigans made out of thin materials have never been especially flattering, because they tend to cling. It also makes it difficult to layer underneath them. The slimmer and thinner the cardigan, the bulkier the layers under it. A long, unstructured cardigan over skinny jeans is also an outdated silhouette. There are still duster cardigans out there, but they’re heavier, chunkier, and a little more oversized, occasionally with a tie waist. They allow layering and look more structured and less boho. 4 Ballet flats Example: ballet flat outfit Grab your tutus, ballet flats are actually coming back into fashion. But paired with skinny jeans, the look is straight out of 2010. Thin soles and light, “nothing”-type shoes are definitely not the freshest style (yes, that includes Rothys, but that’s a conversation for next time), but they can still be passable with a more modern pants cut - preferably something straight or wide leg, and cropped. The new ballet flats are also more dance-inspired, with specific detailing, so the round toe Tory Burch flats from 2008 are not exactly cutting edge. 5 Low ankle boots Example: low ankle boots outfit Like ballet flats, the time of low ankle boots has come and gone. Once, skinny jeans and ankle boots were the power couple of the early 2010s, now it’s just what middle-aged moms wear out to date night at Cheesecake Factory. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that! But the ankle boot has also had a makeover - the shaft is higher, the heel is thicker, and the sole is chunkier. The Cheesecake Factory regulars won’t know what hit them. 6 Tight knee high/OTK boots Example: OTK boots look I know skinny jeans and slim over the knee boots go together like peanut butter and jelly. And they did - for years and years. Which is precisely why that particular combination will read as dated. You can still keep both, just change up the styling, and don’t pair them together. Knee high boots are back in style, but instead of a 2010s slim riding boot, it’s a wider, more generous cut with a chunkier sole. The OTK boots can also still be worn, but rather with a mini skirt/dress, a slim midi skirt, or a pair of winter-weight shorts, like leather or tweed. 7 Graphic tees Example: graphic t-shirt look If anything in your house or wardrobe says “Live, Laugh, Love”, I urge you to get rid of it immediately. Same with any saying related to coffee or the word “vibe”. You’ll thank me later. Now, I’m not saying you can’t wear graphic t-shirts with skinny jeans. I’m saying the type of graphic t-shirt has changed a lot over the last 15 years. The slim fit, tiny sleeve crew neck t-shirts with flowery Etsy font is dead, you can downgrade it to the shirts you wear when you’re cleaning or painting. So is the thin, loose, cropped, 80s t-shirt that says “Bridesmaid”. Instead, an oversized and boxy, OR straight fit t-shirt is the more modern and current option. Neither long nor short, neither wide nor tight, a comfortably loose t-shirt with a regular short sleeve is a perfect basic, non-offensive choice for any woman of any age. If it has to have a graphic, make it a band tee. Not something that says “Namaste”. 8 Big slouchy bags Example: big purse outfit The LV Neverfull is a practical bag, I know, but wearing it with cropped skinny jeans and ballet flats looks like you’re cosplaying Christian Girl Autumn 10 years too late. A canvas tote bag is a more modern choice, or a sleek leather backpack. You’ve got both the comfort and the style. For smaller bags and needs, an uncertain-shaped cross-body is also going to date your outfit. Try to be more intentional with the bag choice and shape. Something more structured, with a top handle (as well as a cross body strap) is a fresher choice. Or a small, perhaps embellished, backpack. Do this instead: I would like to first preface this by saying that you do not have to do ALL of these. These are also not mandates. They’re options. I picked a few different categories where updating other elements of your outfit can make skinny jeans feel less stale in 2023, something for everyone. 1 High waist Example: high-waisted look Updating the rise is the easiest way to bring your skinnies into 2023. A higher rise gives you some new and modern styling options, including tucking tops into your jeans or wearing tops that are more cropped - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, hoodies, jackets - they all look better with a higher rise to balance out the silhouette. High waisted jeans make your legs look longer, they emphasize the waist, and are comfortable to sit in, since the waist should hit at your natural waist, above your stomach, and not cutting into it. 2 Full length hems Example: full length skinnies outfit Another style element that betrays the age of your skinny jeans is that outdated, scrunched or cropped look. This may very well be a matter of opinion, but cropped skinny jeans don’t work as well as other cropped styles. Because they’re so tight, it visually strangles your calf instead of highlighting the ankle and has the opposite effect. The overly long, scrunched look is not just outdated, it’s a sign your jeans don’t fit well. Petites, hem your skinny jeans - or buy the cropped ones as full length). Full length skinnies have a more streamlined look and work better with any type of shoe. 3 Belts Example: belted skinnies look A high rise goes great with a belt, both to highlight your waist - if that’s the look you’re after - and to serve as an extra accessory and styling device. Belting your jeans can tie in your shoes or bag in a nice way, or it can visually break up a fit that needs a little extra something-something. Be advised that belting a pair of pants that do not sit at your waist will emphasize your hips or stomach, so if you’re not keen on making that area seem wider, then avoid belting and/or tucking into mid or low rise bottoms. 4 Cropped cardigans Example: boxy cardi look It’s time to let go of this weird notion that a cropped silhouette is only for 15 year-olds. A cropped top, shirt, cardigan, jacket, etc. is simply a change in silhouette and proportion and it does not - I repeat, it does not mean that you’re necessarily showing off your midriff or that it’s a strictly “youthful” style. The key to incorporating a cropped element is to pair it with high rise bottoms - in this case, your skinnies. Styling them with an opposite style cardigan - short and bulky, instead of long and thin - automatically freshens up the look and brings them into 2023. High rise + crop shirt is an excellent way to emphasize the waist or create an hourglass or pear silhouette. Like a belt, the “break” in the outfit can be a much needed styling element to take the outfit from basic to stylish. 5 Oversized blazers Example: oversized blazer outfit Raise your hand if you wore skinny jeans, low cut ankle boots and a blazer in 2010. I’m not knocking it, it’s a good look, but when worn all together, it dates you. But you can update the look by swapping out the blazer with a more current, oversized style. An oversized blazer vs. a shorter, slimmer fit one from the 2010s makes great contrast with the tightness of the pants and it gives the outfit a cooler, slightly masculine edge. While an all-tight outfit can look a little try-hard, an oversized element makes it a little cooler and more modern. 6 Tucked in tops Example: tucked in look Tucking is one of my favorite styling choices and I can’t find much fault with it. In fact, it may very well make skinny jeans look modern. Like belts and crop tops, tucking in a shirt achieves the same waist emphasis we’re going for and it pulls away from the outdated lowrise + muffin top + long shirt look of the 2010s. 7 Chunky shoes Example: platform boots look Shoes can totally transform an outfit, including taking it from 2013 to 2023. No one’s trying to take away your heeled ankle boots, but consider pairing those with a cropped straight leg instead, and swap them out for a pair of chunky loafers or platform boot in a skinny jean outfit. Same with ballet flats, let’s mix and match trends and decades instead of doing The Greatest Hits of 2011 from head to toe. 8 Voluminous tops Example: voluminous top outfit So we said no long tops - what do we do for “nice” tops, instead? There are a few different details that make for a modern top. Volume is one of the key words, so a top that is short and boxy OR that has voluminous sleeves OR a voluminous collar, etc. Very feminine corset tops are also very popular, with or without sleeves or straps. Square necklines are extremely flattering on everyone and can be the one feature on an otherwise completely basic top that can have long sleeves or be tucked into the pants, etc. As for sweaters, bulky wins over slim fitting for a modern look. Alternatives to skinny jeans If you’re ready to move on and see what else is out there, then a world of new styles awaits you. You’ll be surprised at how much variety and excitement you can add to your wardrobe with one simple jean style swap. The beautiful thing about transitional periods in fashion is that there’s something for everybody. There is no primary cut or style, so you can find anything. Slim, baggy, wide leg, bell bottoms, bootcuts, high rise, low, or mid, it’s all out there, and you can make any of them work for you. Straight leg jeans A good alternative are straight leg jeans and pants - the shape is not a huge departure from your usual, while still being more modern. Straight leg jeans still allow for some of your longer tops to be worn without looking baggy from top to bottom, you can still wear them with higher boots if you want, and they’re not very adventurous, which means they’re never the focus of the outfit itself. They can play it safe and be quietly understated to support other, more interesting design elements, whether it’s a big sleeve, a bold color, a collar, a ruffle, interesting buttons, or other detailing on your top, coat, or accessories. This style can still be successfully worn with a boxier or longer sweater, for example, without looking outdated. Example: 1. straight leg 1 2. straight leg 2 3. straight leg 3 4. straight leg 4 5. straight leg 5 Mom jeans Mom jeans are the cut that largely replaced skinny jeans back in 2015-2016. Favored because they’re very high waisted, with more room in the hips, and a flattering, conical shape, they are as comfortable as they are durable, owing to their rigid, 100% cotton fabric. However, because of the lack of elastane in their composition, mom jeans are trickier to size, so a few shopping trips may be necessary. For skinny jeans wearers, the familiar thing with mom jeans is that they retain the high waist, and you’re still showing off your shoes, as they’re closely cut around the ankle, and usually a little cropped. Like straight leg jeans, an oversized, untucked top can still look good and fresh with this cut because of the conical shape. They slim down towards the ankle, giving the leg a little shape that contrasts with the baggy top, if you don’t want to go for a loose-on-loose silhouette. Example: 1. mom jeans 1 2. mom jeans 2 3. mom jeans 3 4. mom jeans 4 5. mom jeans 5 Wide leg jeans The other prominent cut that arose in the meantime are wide leg jeans, which are very much a total departure from skinny jeans, in terms of shape and style. However, they have become extremely popular, even among older Millennials, because they’re very comfortable. High waisted, with a lot of room in the hips and leg, wide leg jeans allow for free movement and completely eliminate the constricted feeling skinny jeans can sometimes be guilty of. Usually cropped, they still allow you to show off your shoes, and are surprisingly versatile. They can be successfully worn with boots, sandals, loafers, birks, heels, or flats - they go with pretty much anything. Personally, I prefer them with boots. Example: 1. wide leg jeans 1 2. wide leg jeans 2 3. wide leg jeans 3 4. wide leg jeans 4 5. wide leg jeans 5 Flared jeans However, you can also obtain some of the same effects as skinnies with bootcut or flared pants. When you think about it, flared pants aren’t all that different. Yes, the flare at the bottom is a change in silhouette and it’s more visual interest than you’re used to having with pants. However, the top is very much still the same fit as skinny jeans, if what you’re concerned about is losing a “flattering” shape around your waist/butt/thighs. Flares tend to be the same skinny shape on top, and still have elastane. The only thing you’re trading in is the way you’re pairing your shoes. The longer hems visually elongate the legs, but they do usually cover the shoes, so more thought will need to be put into that. Heels work best paired with flared pants, but with the chunky, platform styles of today, flats can also be worn successfully with bootcut and flared, and wide leg pants, even without dragging and stepping on your hems. Example: 1. flared jeans 1 2. flared jeans 2 3. flared jeans 3 4. flared jeans 4 5. flared jeans 5 I’d also like to make a note that hair, makeup, and general styling (like jewelry) also make a big impact in the way outfits are perceived. With a modern, intentional haircut, any outfit automatically reads are more stylish, instead of just the first thing you grabbed that looked like pants. Makeup plays an equally big role. Overplucked eyebrows made an entire generation of women look like they were stuck in the past, as does harsh contouring, and other major elements of hair and makeup, like thick, blocky eyebrows. The Kate Gosselin haircut, the too-light blonde hair curled with a 2-inch barrel curling iron that every single woman on Pinterest has, the ring finger painted in a different color than all the others. Think of those ladies who wore permed hair and blue eyeshadow into the 90s and 00s. You don’t want to be the 2023 version of that lady - unless you do it extremely well and intentional for the camp factor. If you found this helpful, I’m interested in creating more spotlight posts on specific items that can be updated. We could just do bigger categories - shoes, outerwear, dresses, etc. or we could focus on one specific item people are finding particularly difficult to part with, but would like to freshen up. If you have any ideas or requests, please let me know. You can read part 2 about office wear here: https://www.reddit.com/r/femalefashionadvice/comments/11m7yxr/updating_an_outdated_wardrobe_part_2_office_wear/ submitted by /u/squeegee-beckenheim to r/femalefashionadvice [link] [comments]
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r/femalefashionadvice |
squeegee-beckenheim |
Feb 26, 2023 |
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First Contact - Chapter 866 - Those Left Behind
[first] [prev] [next] - [wiki] "Enraged Phillip, give me the strength for just one more." - Common prayer of the desperate The cantina was built for at least two hundred people. Each bench table could fit five per side comfortably, even taking into account how computing work led to mass increase in many cases, for a seating of ten total. There were four rows of six tables. At the far end was "The Wheel of Death" machines. Vending machines with a carousel showing foodstuffs, snacks, and drinks. There was an abandoned cooking line, neither machines nor the living staffing it. The LCD screens were off, and the room was dimly lit. Sitting at one bench, in roughly the middle, Daxin sat slowly eating a pomegranate with a knife. He peeled the fruit with the blade, then used the point to pop out the berry/seeds onto a napkin. Once he had four or five, he would eat them one at a time with his fingers. With one eye's retinal link he watched FIDO chase the seagulls, Kalki laughing uproariously as he waved his spear around at the fleeing birds. Once in a while he'd give a slight smile and a silent chuckle that would make his chest heave. The door opened and he glanced over, seeing the slim profile and the shine of the lights off of a polished brown head. He went back to his pomegranate as the slim figure of Dhruv/Legion moved past him, to the vending machine, and stared at it thoughtfully for long minutes. There would be a little bit of 'hmm' and 'mmm' and 'huh' then Dhruv would press the button to rotate the carousel to look at the next set of products. "There's always shaving cream in these. Like I'm going to sit down for lunch and eat a refreshing tube of shaving cream," Dhruv said, shaking his head. "At least you know it's properly aged," Daxin rumbled. Dhruv laughed, reaching out and pressing the button. The hidden nanoforge spit out the wrapped vegan sandwich, dropping it into the bin. Dhruv picked it up and moved over to sit by Daxin. "How's it going?" Dhruv asked. "FIDO and Kalki are hiding from the seagulls and snickering to each other," Daxin said. His eye flickered and a hologram appeared, projected from the cybernetic eye. It showed the seagulls settling down next to the pile of fries. "They'll run out there, scare the birds, laugh, then run back and hide, and the gulls will come back, and it starts all over again." "At least they're having fun," Dhruv said, taking a bite of the sandwich. "What's got your underwear in a wad?" Daxin asked. "You're acting like a futa with a twisted jockstrap." "Really, Dax?" Dhruv lifted an eyebrow. He took a bite of the sandwich and a large crescent of avocado fell from the sandwich. Dhruv frowned, set down the sandwich, and picked up the green wedge. "You're in a mood too." Daxin shrugged. "Eh, not really." "Thought you'd be hanging out near Pete," Dhruv said. "Give him some moral support." "He's testing some gobbledygook hardware on some Greek alphabet named layer somewhere. He's got like fifteen thousand staffers now," Daxin said. His face twisted in a snarl. "Eight thousand years dead and they look at me like I'm some kind of monkey when I go see him. Daxin slammed a fist into the table. "I can hear it in their brains. What's this gorilla doing in here? Why does he have a gun, does he have a small penis and is compensating?" Daxin looked over at Dhruv. "I got back from putting down some leftover clones from that fight and walked in to tell Pete it was done. One woman literally got up from the group she was talking to, walked up, looked at me, looked at the rifle I was carrying, and literally asked me "something wrong with your penis?" and looked back and gave her friends a smirk." "Is she in the ICU?" Dhruv asked. He took another bite and a bunch of sprouts fell out. Dhruv sighed and started to pick them up. "No. I'm not caving in her face for that comment," Daxin said. "What did you do?" Dhruv asked around a mouthful of sprouts. "She was all smirking at me and I shrugged. Told her the last time I used my penis instead of a gun the enemy soldier was traumatized, my command was horrified, I had to do mandatory counseling, and the Imperium put my name on a list," Daxin said. Dhruv laughed, covering up his mouth so he didn't spit chewed up sprouts. "She turned bright red, turned to Pete, told him that she wanted to file verbal assault charges and some crap about making light of sexual assault," Daxin said. "What did Pete do?" Dhruv asked. Daxin shrugged. "You know him. Told her to get back to work. He asked me if I handled those clone soldiers, then told me he'd get back to me as soon as he was done with the testing." He slammed his fist against the top of the table. "She was just an example of why I can't stand humanity. Asks me about my penis then screams verbal assault when I give her a smartass reply. The whole 'it's OK when we do it' mentality that so much of humanity has," he growled, setting down the pomegranate. "I'm half tempted to tell Pete I'm leaving. Grab FIDO, see if Kalki wants to go, and leave. I don't need humanity's crap." "I just want left alone," Dhruv said at the same time as Daxin. Daxin glared at him for a minute, then laughed. "OK, OK." "Gotta stay. We need you and Kalki in case we need lots of gunfire really fast," Dhruv said. "Maybe he's got the right idea. I'll go down there and harass seagulls with them," Daxin said. He glanced at Dhruv. "What are you doing? I can tell your extended." Dhruv sighed. "Pete's got me doing the repairs. I can be millions of places at once if I need to." "Just what we need, millions of you," Daxin grumbled, picking up the knife and the pomegranate again. "All telling the same joke." Dhruv shook his head, smiling. "There's a ton of stuff that can't be done by a robot, but doesn't need the highly trained specialists. More: go down the checklist, replace obviously labeled parts with obviously labeled and distinct replacement parts. Less: Rewire all these boards and bypass the tritium sewage pounder Q-38 Module." Daxin nodded. "You're the man for the mind numbing time consuming tasks," he said. "No offense, but you were pretty much built for it," Daxin popped a seed in his mouth and chewed it. "I mean, when our Digital Father and I found you, you'd managed to repair the entire garden," he gave a sigh. "It was weird, stepping through the hole in the wall and seeing that beautiful garden. It took my breath away." "Thank you," Dhruv said, smiling. "You've got the patience and the temperment. I don't," Daxin said. He sighed. "I've always envied that about you." Dhruv frowned. "Really?" Daxin nodded. "I get frustrated or bored easily. It's worse around people. I don't really like people." "You care about me and the others," Dhruv said. "I've always secretly believed the whole clinical misanthrope was an act." Daxin shook his head. "No. People think that it means I hate everyone, everywhere, all the time. Not true. I hold humanity in contempt more than hate them. Morally, ethically, intellectually, they have so much potential but, as a whole, they never do anything with it. They seem to deliberately fail time after time, gleefully snatch defeat from the clutches of victory, let you down time after time." Daxin popped some seeds free with a twist of his wrist. "Then I started meeting alien races, and I'll be thrice chrome-dipped if they weren't the exact damn thing. Same stupidity, same arrogance, same willful ignorance, same selfishness and greed," Daxin popped a few more seeds out onto the napkin. "I just gave up. With life comes disappointment, I guess." "Do we disappoint you?" Dhruv asked. "Kalki, Menhit, that kid Vuxten? Me?" Daxin shook his head. "No," he sighed. "I can form personal relationships. I'm not a sociopath. I can form deep complex personal relationships," Daxin said. He picked up one of the seeds and used it to point at Dhruv. "I like you. I'd put my life on the line for you. I have put my life on the line for you. I'd burn the Clone Worlds to a cinder because they're just the same mistakes replicated endlessly." "Huh," Dhruv picked up some 'spider-legs', the little green sprouts having fallen from his sandwich. He popped them in his mouth, chewing on them, looking thoughtful. "So all of us, your brothers and sisters, the new kids, we're the exceptions that prove the rule." Daxin nodded. "Yeah." "I never knew any of this," Dhruv admitted. He folded up the package and slid it across the table to the reclamator. "You never asked," Daxin said, shrugging. He popped a pomegranate seed in his mouth. "Probably because you were chasing me all over the Galactic Arm Spur with a knife in one hand and a mad-on in the other," Dhruv snorted. Daxin laughed, inhaled the seed, and choked for a second before Dhruv slapped him on the back. "Thanks," Daxin grinned. "Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be? Enraged Phillip, choked to death on a pomegranate seed." "But very mythical," Dhruv smiled. ----- The four guardian sentries were robots. The best virtual intelligences and combat algorithms built by late Age of Paranoia humankind could devise. Heavily armed, heavily armored, their battlesteel chassis were colored brown and they bore no markings but an infinity symbol inside a circle. The same symbol that adorned the heavy double door behind them. They were far beyond their original programmers instructions. Buffer overruns, computational errors, sheer age, had all altered their programming, which was designed to be self-altering for battlefields and to auto-compensate for errors. In the thousands of years they had guarded the gate, they'd moved from virtual intelligences to what could arguably be called true sentience. "How is your Gotcha-Tommy pet doing?" one asked. It had an etching of a cat-girl riding a dragon on its left arm, done by another robot thousands of years ago. "Good. I have taught it to roll over and beg on command," the other said. "How goes your romance with the meal planner? Does she let you give her energy pulses on dedicated input lines yet?" The first rotated its fist in a negative. It had no neck and its head was nearly hidden by its shoulders. "No, but she did tickle on of my missile laser guidance emission detectors with a cooking laser." "Kinky," a third said. "I was startled," the first admitted. The tram stopped and they went silent, all straightening up and looking ominous and malevolent. A human walked off and there was a quick burst of startled code between the four as well as a sudden alert being passed to the Gate Keeper. The human wore a set of smart-glasses and was dressed in denim overalls and a heavy flannel shirt. They had on an orange and yellow reflector vest, a tool belt heavy with tools, the leather old and worn, one of the pouches torn down the side and used to hang a meter from instead of hold objects. They had a hard hat hanging from their belt, a magac pistol jammed sloppily into a holster on the tool belt that almost covered a datapad and put the wearer at risk of discharging the weapon when they reached for the datapad, and heavy workboots on their feet. They also had a clipboard in their hand. The human went and examined things on the startram platform. At one point, they carefully opened up a kiosk, ran some tests, and replaced a part from the steaming nanoforge orb on the tool belt. The hologram came to life and began flickering through self-tests. The robots saw the human scroll through the datapad, wincing when he pulled it out, and tap an icon with a flourish, changing it from a red sad face to a green happy face. The Terran looked at the doors and the robots and the robots tensed. "NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY!" they all boomed at once. That was safe. The human ignored it, looking at his checklist and moving up. He looked at the robot, the robot able to see data on the smartglasses. "Warmonger Mark II robot," the Terran said. It consulted the datapad. "Overdue for memory defrag and optimization." All the robots tensed inside. "Wow, you boys are really overdue," the Terran said. It pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. "THERE IS NO SMOKING IN THIS AREA!" all four said. Perhaps that would make the human go away before it did maintenance on their brains. The Terran just touched his maintenance badge, shifted his fingers a few times, and the warning about no smoking vanished, replaced by "PLEASE STAND BY - MAINTENANCE IN PROGRESS" and a bouncing smiley face. "There. Problem?" the human asked. "No. No problem," Number Three said. "The warning is gone so the warning has no force?" "Very good," the human said. He looked at them. "OK. You need to summon a supervisor." "For what purpose?" Two asked. The human cocked his head. "Aw man, not another set of time progressive adaptive code self-awareness," he said. He sighed and opened the datapad again, going through the menus. One robot saw himself. "OK, you're self aware enough to try to hide it from me. That means your self-awareness has a self-preservation instinct beyond your Third Law," the human said. He looked up. "All right, I'll run a quick diagnostic. I hope none of you are ticklish." All four robots felt tingles and light fluttering touches. Two and Four started laughing and squirming. "Yup. Infant reflexes," the human sighed. The diagnostic ended. "All right. Hardware, you're good. The majority of your non-intellectual software is good," the human said. He started tapping icons, turning them from red to green. "I'm not going to mess with your personality or intellectual or logic centers." One and Four felt relief. "No physical or hardware or structure defiencies," the human said. He hummed. "OK, time to check the doors, then your fire support," the human said. He looked around and sighed. "You know what, I'm due for a union break." Two and Three drew back slightly at the mention of the all powerful Union. The human walked away, got a drink and a candybar from the machines on the startram platform, then sat on a bench. They watched as he played a gatcha game involving scantily clad women of exaggerated proportions. Four knew that game and liked it. He felt slightly smug that his score was higher than the humans and he had more outfits unlocked as well as more characters unlocked. The human closed the game, then opened his maintenance program, turning to face the robots and the doors. The door went through self-checks. It opened slowly. All four went to high alert, pinging the supervisor VI. The door closed. It opened fast, then closed slowly. It opened quickly, then slammed shut. The maglock engaged and the door strained to open. Then the weapons did self-tests. Three was asked to smack the wall below railgun air defense turret three. The weapon dutifully popped out, corrosion falling down. The repair bots were ordered into work, slightly sulky at having to leave their warm spot. The human walked up after another Union Break. "OK, get the supervisor," the human said. Three nodded. After a minute the door opened and the hologram of a balding, bespectacled man appeared. The man's face was pinched and disapproving. "Yes?" the AI asked. It remembered some time ago when someone else had posed as maintenance. But... ...this guy was dressed like maintenance, had a broadcasting RFID chip embedded maintenance ID, had a SUDS LOCAL 4587 union coin in one pocket and an alcohol addiction therapy four year anniversary coin in the other that had been rubbed till one side was shiny and indented, the engraving and embossing obliterated. The VI checked. Local 4587 was the union in charge of handling maintenance in this sector according to the records. "Maintenance. You have nearly fifteen thousand requests and I'm here to inspect to see how big of a crew to bring in," the human said. "Access is granted only to authorized personnel. I see no authorization coding on you, nor do my files possess any notification that you were to arrive today," the VI said stuffily. "Leave." The human put the datapad away and the four combat robots flinched as the knuckle of his thumb grazed the pistol's firing stud. He took the clipboard off his waist, paging through the pink and yellow pages. "OK. Here you are," the human said, marking the paper with a pen. He stuck the clipboard out with one hand and a pen with the other. "Sign where I put the X. Press hard so it goes into the copies." "What is it?" the VI asked, reaching for it. "You are signing to put on the official record that your area has refused maintenance under your authority and your authority alone," the human said. The VI jerked its hands back. It looked at Two. "Sign that." "SYNTAX ERROR. CANNOT COMPLY WITH REQUESTED OPERATION," Two bellowed out. Four and One looked like they suddenly powered down and Three shots sparks from two joints and made a grinding noise by putting the restaining pin in between the links of ammo and running the loader gear at high speed without adding any pressure onto the belt. The VI looked around. "Look, buddy, union rules say you gotta sign this is you're refusing maintenance," the human said. "Those guys in legal with the blood on their mouths say we get fined a day's pay if we don't get a refusal authorization signature." The VI went pale, flickering. It thought for a moment. It told the AI the problem. The AI disconnected with a thud. The VI thought about it. "Authorization accepted," the VI said. It waved at the human. "Welcome. We have many maintenance orders in." "I can tell," the human said, hefting the clipboard. He walked through the door, talking to the VI, who was complaining that the VR rec-room for VI's and AI's had been offline for several centuries. The four robots waiting a moment. "So..." Three said. "Anyone heard any good rumors?" ----- Daxin looked up from where he was trying to balance a pomegranate seed on the top of the knife he was balancing on the tip of his middle finger. Dhruv was chuckling to himself, his eyes closed. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Pete said it would never work to get into those places where the security policy systems got disrupted during the Glassing," Dhruv snickered. "The VI practically yanked the blast doors off the hinges to allow me in the minute I handed him a clipboard." Daxin shook his head. "You're easily amused." "Guilty." [first] [prev] [next] - [wiki] submitted by /u/Ralts_Bloodthorne to r/HFY [link] [comments]
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r/HFY |
Ralts_Bloodthorne |
Nov 18, 2022 |
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Of Men and Dragons, Chapter 3
Of Men and Dragons, Chapter 3 I welcome any and all constructive feedback you all might have to offer. I want to know what you're thinking and feeling as you read, (Good and bad) and if anything, in particular, caught your eye. All that being said, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! https://imgur.com/gallery/N7hZBEX wiki submitted by
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r/HFY |
DrBlackJack21 |
Feb 27, 2020 |
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How to talk about Suits
Traditional masculinity is a funny thing. Personally, I try not to care about it too much. I don't particularly care for sports or cars. You probably wouldn't describe me as rugged, or particularly suave. I like whiskey, but I don't wanna turn that into a personality trait, right? I'm good with computers, but that doesn't make me feel especially cool. And I'm not, like, opposed to emotions, or anything like that. And I'm mostly fine with that... But I need a little something. So I'm going to take traditional masculinity where I can get it. I was often told that I really knew how to wear a suit -- so when a couple of friends started talking to me about lapel widths and pick stitching... I was a little rattled. Suits were something that I thought accounted for my emotional, musical-loving ass, 5'6 stature, high-pitched voice, and all. So I had to do some research. I needed to learn how to talk about suits. A few years later, after digging through mfa for way more hours than I ever thought I would, I'm in a position to make the sub what I always hoped for it to be. This guide is here to make sure that, if you find yourself in a room with Tom Ford, you don't make a fool of yourself. You'll also be able to talk to your tailor like a pro. One more note: This guide is insanely long. Don't binge it. I don't even know why I wrote it. Nobody paid me to do this. What's wrong with me? What is a suit? Quick and dirty: a suit is a set of matching garments, consisting of a jacket, pants (or a skirt, or something), and optionally, a vest/waistcoat. They have to match. They have to match. Note that I'm not talking about law suits. This is MFA. If you want to talk about litigation, and you're in New York, message me, I charge very reasonable rates. What isn't a suit? A blazer or sportcoat is not a suit. These things are similar to suit jackets, but they are only jackets, and don't come with matching pants. Pants are not a suit. You knew that. A blazer and pants still are not a suit, because they don't match. If they do match, it's not a blazer, it's a suit jacket. If they almost match, then they don't match. If you go buy some charcoal pants from J. Crew and then you get a similar-looking charcoal blazer from Bonobos, you do not have a charcoal suit. You should never wear those two together, or you're going to look like you're trying to wear a suit, and failing. If you pair your charcoal pants with a navy blazer, you'll look fine (if not great), but you still will not be wearing a suit. A bathing suit is not a suit. Or, well... it is, given a very different definition of "suit," which is something like "outfit," which makes sense, because a bathing suit is a one-item outfit. Jumpsuit has a similar root. That's not the definition we're using, because if it was, this article could never end. A birthday suit is not a suit. Do not go to your cousin's wedding in your birthday suit. Yes, I know you got it for cheap, but your uncle will punch you in the face. What's kind of a suit? Sweatsuits / Track Suits / those shitty "Juicy" combos girls wore in high school are not not suits. They meet the definition, I guess. You think of one thing when you hear the word "suit," and that's what this guide is about, but if I tried to write a definition of "suit" that excluded these things, I'd probably end up excluding something an avant-garde fashion designer invents eight years from now that I don't want to exclude. I like vague definitions, since they make language flexible. So... Fine, these are technically suits, but I am not talking about them. On the other hand, I'm totally talking about tuxedos or dinner suits. I'm going to try to get into morning dress or white tie with tails and stuff too, although I've never been invited to a monarch's birthday party... But, let me put it this way: cashmere is a type of wool, but if you have cashmere, you don't use the word wool. A tuxedo is a type of suit, but you won't call it that most of the time. And the reason is... Tuxedos and "lounge suits" (or "regular" suits, or, if you they're dark colors, "business suits") are used for completely different reasons. A lot of people don't realize this, so let me dig in. Tuxedos are for parties. "Lounge suits" are, confusingly, for serious business. A lounge suit is supposed to be a little boring. It's supposed to make you look put together, the way you want your accountant to look for the five minutes you meet with him -- and then you go home, and think, "that guy really has my money safe." Don't wear a tux to a business meeting. And as common as it is, it's a little funny to wear a lounge suit to a wedding -- particularly if the invite says "black tie," which basically means "your suit should be a tuxedo." "Black tie optional" is what most people see when they read the words "black tie." And I mean, that makes sense, because a lot of people can't afford to own both tuxes and lounge suits, and a lot of people need lounge suits. But the effect of all this is, when you see a tux, you think, damn, now that guy came to party. Meanwhile, full evening dress -- that is, white tie -- and morning dress are not just party clothing, but attire that is really proper to a very particular type of event. If you wear white tie to a black tie event, you're going to look silly -- you're going to look like a stuffy old British butler. But if you get invited to a white tie event, or an event whose invitation demands morning dress, you'd best follow the rules. There are also stroller suits, which are kind of morning suits, but less formal, but still more formal than a lounge suit. White tie is generally reserved for royal events, balls, and other fancy events. Some musicians below report that they've had to wear white tie for their roles in certain events. Morning dress is also often used for royal events, but may also be used for daytime weddings and the like. Both are more common in Europe than the US. Anatomy A typical suit is composed of two matching pieces -- a jacket and pants. Sometimes, it'll include a matching vest. A suit jacket is typically a long-sleeved jacket with a buttoned front. The buttons start way down, and you don't really have a neckline -- you have a deep v-shape leading to the first button somewhere around your navel (see button stance for details about where that ends). Now, you know how there's a folded-over padded sort of thing along the v-shape? Those are the lapels. Look at this shit. Those things. I'm going to use the word "lapels" a lot, so make sure you understand what I just half-explained. In white tie, your jacket will be a tailcoat. In Morning Dress, your jacket will be a morning coat. Those are cut differently, with the tailcoat having... "tails." A single breasted jacket (I'll explain what that means later) might have one, two, or three buttons... don't have more than three. Sometimes, you'll see a "three roll two," which means "three buttons, but the top one is on the bottom of the lapel, right around where it rolls." This is actually not nearly as weird as it sounds. The button isn't supposed to be buttoned, but it's a detail that, for some arbitrary reason, suit nerds like. While we're talking about it, suit nerds love talking about the lapel roll. The lapel should have what looks like a buttonhole in it meant for boutonnieres (those flowery things). Cheap suits might skip that hole, or include it but not even bother making it functional. Nice, handmade suits might have a Milanese button hole, which involves a few hours of hand-sweing... Yes, for just the buttonhole. Sounds wasteful, huh? The jacket also often has a few pockets, and they're mostly for show. You'll almost certainly have a left breast pocket on the exterior for show or for pocket squares. You're also likely to have an interior pocket or two -- I usually see one on the left side. These are useful for a small item like a slim wallet or passport or kippah (or yarmulke, for you Yiddish folks). As for side pockets: "Flap pockets" are the most common thing you'll see -- they're the flaps on the sides of suits, and the pockets under them. They're formal and standard. "Patch Pockets" are just kind of sewn on top, and look casual. "Jetted Pockets" are sleek little slits in the side -- those are generally good for tuxes. A "ticket pocket" is a funny little detail like the 3-roll-2 thing above -- it's an extra pocket above your right pocket, which, once upon a time, was used just for train tickets. Yeah, I don't get it either. There might be "vents" in the back of the jacket that might help you move more freely without shoving the jacket around. Zero, one, or two vents are all reasonable. I'll let you pick what you like. Center vents are historically related to horseback riding, so they're not appropriate for eveningwear. Your suit has a shoulder that might or might not be padded. I'll talk about that with construction. And your suit's sleeves have cuffs. Hopefully these cuffs have buttons on them. Those buttons might just be for show, or they might be functional ("surgeon's cuff"). If you're going to get a cheap suit, it's actually better if they aren't functional, because that makes your sleeve length easier (cheaper) to tailor. If you get an expensive suit, functional cuffs are a good idea. Some people like a contrasting buttonhole on one of the buttons... But I don't. Eh. It's a flashy detail. The buttons might be super close or not even touch."Kissing" buttons barely touch. Those are good, because they vaguely imply handwork. "Stacked" buttons are practically on top of one another. Pants or trousers or slacks or suit pants are... You know, they're the things you put on your legs. If you're not Thom Browne, they're going to be long pants. They are made of matching materials, in matching colors, in matching weaves, to the suit jackets they are paired with. How do you get these pants to stay up? Either a belt, side adjusters, or suspenders. Most of the trousers you've seen have belt loops for a belt. But belts add a little bulk, and they cost money, and a lot of people think: "eh. I don't need that shit." And you don't! You don't really need anything, but at the very least, it's good to have side adjusters, which might be buttons or metal slidey things on the sides of the waist that help you tighten them up after they're already on. Or, you can have little buttons inside that connect to suspenders or braces -- those are great, but shouldn't be seen -- wear a jacket or sweater or something on top of them. Trousers also have a fly, usually with a zipper and either a button or a slidey thing (or both). Hopefully, some part of the closure is off-center, which helps everything stay in put because... idk, torque something something. There's a word for this. What's the word? The ankle part of your trousers will either be cuffed or not. "Cuffed" here means that the bottom is folded up, but not the way you roll up your jeans -- no, it's folded up by the tailor, and since your pants are tailored to your length, it looks intentional. This comes down to personal preference. I'd prefer you didn't wear one, but if you must... A vest or waistcoat has a front facing made of your suit's body/shell material, and a back facing that is probably made of the same thing as the lining, I think, I don't really know. Nobody's ever going to see that rear facing, but if it's wool, you'll melt. Waistcoats are required in, and have special rules in, White Tie and Morning Dress. Materials So, again, a suit has a body (or shell) material, some kind of canvas or something, and (usually) lining. A tuxedo will have a separate material for its lapel facings and stripe. We're going to talk about the canvas in construction, but essentially, it's supposed to be made of horsehair. The bodies or shells of most decent suits are made of worsted wool. Wool might include mohair or cashmere or vicuna, but if it does, you'll know it. What the fuck does worsted mean? Well, a lot of things -- it's twisted and treated and some such... but the most tangible definition is... It's the suit stuff. You know. The kind of wool they make suits out of. Yeah. That stuff. Specifically, the worsting process involves treating and twisting the wool so that it's kind of... less fluffy, if that makes sense. You might describe it as "hard," which... you know it's not hard, but it's harder than woolen. Woolen refers to the softer type of wool yarn. Why wool? Wool is expensive. Why don't we use something cheaper, like cotton or polyester? Wool is fucking great. I love wool. Guys, guys, guys. Wooooool. It's warm, but breathable. It's wrinkle-resistant. It handles water well, but repels odors by magically destroying germs, even though nobody asked it to. It's durable enough to justify its cost at all tiers. And it's easy to care for. You almost never need to take wool to the dry cleaner, unless it gets stained or really stinks. You might clean denim more often than you do wool. Hey, u/materialsnerd, I'm linking to your thread again. You will often see a "super number" in a suit's description, such as 120s or 150s. "Super" is an old marketing term that described really good wool. All you need to know now is: 100s is thick (good for winter), 150s is fine (thin, good for summer). Anything finer than 150s is generally not recommended, since it will wear very quickly and feel flimsy. Such fine fabrics are generally very expensive. Everything from 100s-150s is within standard range, but ~120s is a good weight for a versatile, affordable, quality suit that will last a long time. The standard suit weave is twill, but you're also going to want to know about flannel, tweed, herringbone, sharkskin, birdseye, fallie, and seersucker... some of which are variants on twill. Real Men Real Style has a very handy guide on this. Tweed is an inherently ambiguous word that refers to some kind of really great, thick, warm, rough, soft wool. After a while, you'll just know it when you see it. As with everything, there are some suits made of cheap polyester. Don't buy one of those if you can avoid it. You'll bake, and smell, and look bad, and it's really not too hard to find a cheap wool suit. Cotton is also usually cheap. It doesn't handle moisture or odor well, so you'll need to get it cleaned very often. It wrinkles more than wool. It's not as breathable as wool (in case you wanna go unlined). Cotton kinda sucks in all the ways wool is amazing. Sometimes it's used in blends with linen. It can also take the form of chino or seersucker. Sometimes, you'll hear people talking about a chino suit. Chino is a type of cotton fabric that you can feel if you have a pair of chinos. If you have a pair of khakis, those are chinos in an ugly color. If you have cargo pants, those are probably chinos with ugly pockets. You know what chino is now, right? , but it's not so formal -- a little wrinkly, and stuff. You've also heard of seersucker, maybe -- yeah, sounds funny, right? Seersucker is a kind of crunchy cotton. Seersucker is pretty breathable and pretty wrinkly. Linen is amazing, but not ideal for suits. Linen wrinkles like crazy. If you look up photos of linen suits, you will see nothing but lies. That's what a linen suit looks like the moment you put it on, and then you move and it is wrinkled beyond the domain of the world's most powerful iron. That said, you might see some linen blends with cotton or silk where this downside is mitigated. Oh man, I tried a linen/silk blend unstructured double breasted blazer from Ring Jacket a couple of weeks ago, and... stay focused, /u/danhakimi, you're on a mission. The main upside of linen is that it will breathe amazingly, and you'll stay cool wearing it in the summer, and you'll fall asleep and wake up and think ugh, everything should be linen. it's also pretty good with odor, and generally just magical, except for the wrinkling. Wool blends might be a few different things. They might be a blend of wool with bad things like polyester -- avoid these if you can. They might be a blend of wool with good things, like linen or silk -- those are tricky, and unique. They might wrinkle, or they might not. Other blends exist too -- I've been seeing some linen/silk blends recently, and desperately want something like that unstructured. You'll see cotton/linen and a few other things too. And you might just see a blend of different kinds of wool, like a wool-cashmere blend. Cashmere doesn't generally last as long as other kinds of wool, but it's soft and warm and expensive, so... Go for it, if you can. Finally,the body of a tux might be made of velvet. Wool is more common, it's still definitely the norm, but Velvet is a thing. Except for certain details -- we're getting to that. ... Okay, so that's body materials. Fuck, I write a lot. Lining is actually optional. But usually, it's polyester, rayon, cupro (a cotton by product that's better than cotton because cotton sucks), acetate, or silk. Bemberg is a synthetic silk that is kinda like rayon, but great. Unlined suits (which are sometimes but not necessarily unstructured) are awesome. They breathe nicely and feel soft. They'll be finished on the inside with the same material as the body. You can also go half lined, but I'd personally go all or nothing. But the lining is sometimes nice too. It adds a little weight, structure, and insulation. It puts an extra layer between you and your suit and your body, which might help if you sweat a lot. Finally, it's a chance to give your suits a unique touch, especially if you want to customize them -- your lining is usually invisible, but the tiny flashes make for a very slight accent, even if you go with a funky color or loud pattern. It might even be cheaper to use lining, since you don't need to worry about finishing the interior in wool. Polyester doesn't breathe. A lot of suit makers cheap out, and even if the body is wool, they'll use polyester linings. That sucks. Polyester sucks. You'll bake in it. Or even in the winter, it isn't comfortable. It will probably last forever, though. All those other lining materials I mentioned are fine. You don't really care any more, do you? I mean, there's guides out there. Oh, one more note -- your buttons on a lounge suit might be plastic or horn. Better suits use horn. Alright, so what's the deal with tuxes? Dinner jackets have lapels face in either grosgrain (silk) or satin (silk). The matching trousers will have a stripe going down the side made of the same material as the lapel facing. The buttons will all be faced with the same material. All of these will be the same shade of black. And you will wear a bow tie made of the same material. Remember the words "they have to match?" Yes. That, again. A morning jacket is similar in material composition to a dinner jacket, except the wool has to use a barathea or herringbone weave. The waistcoat should be a marcella or piqué cotton, with a matching shirt and bow tie... which each have even more rules. Construction Alright, so the first thing suit nerds want to talk about every morning is canvas. Canvas is a magical thing in between the outer layer and inner layer of your suit. This helps give the suit its shape. A suit is supposed to provide your body with some structure -- that's especially important on flabby men like me, but still looks good on, you know, Daniel Craig. Quality horsehair canvas will mold to your body over time and fit better and look better and make you happier. Cheap suits might use a "fused" or "fusible" canvas, which might be synthetic and connected to the suit with glue. This causes the jacket to move in a silly way -- the parts that are supposed to move together don't, or the parts that are supposed to move independently don't, or both. And when you get them dry cleaned, the glue might cause shitty bubbles. So a fused suit is cheap and not very good. (If you're between a fused wool suit and a half canvassed polyester suit, I vote wool. Wool is great. Polyester sucks.) Macy's and JCF make these as well as anybody in the $150 range. Then, you have middle ground #1, which is a "floating chest piece." These use a little bit of horse hair, but only in the chest. It doesn't reach the lapels, or the bottom of the jacket. These are somewhat uncommon. Some people will sell them, but advertise them as half canvassed, because they're jerks. Off the top of my head, Banana Republic sells a floating chest piece, for roughly $300 on sale. Then, you have half canvassed suits. These are canvassed in the chest and lapels, which causes the lapels to roll in a cool way. That's good. SuitSupply sells these in the $400-$500 range. The parts that aren't canvased don't really need much shape anyway, but they might wear a little faster than the chest, and that's not ideal. The parts that aren't canvased, in this case, are generally fused, which sucks. The top tier here would be full canvas (aka canvassed by elitists who view everything as either fused or canvased). That is the whole body (not including the arms or pants). This will last longer, and look marginally better, but cost more. Up to you if you want to splurge. These usually cost more than $500. Finally, off to the side, you have unstructured suits with no canvas or padding (or very little). They are often also unlined, which means the jacket is really just shell. These are, as you might have guessed, less structured and more flowy. They're lighter and more breathable (obviously, since you got rid of layers). They're on the casual side, but not necessarily too casual. They feel great. Ugh. Shoulders often have some amount of padding. Unstructured suits often have none. Italian-style suits have little. British-style suits have a lot. A formal suit should at least have some. This relates to preference, but also to other details, and whether you want a cohesive suit. Pick stitching is very subtle but visible stitching you can see around the outer edge of your lapels. It signifies that the lapels were hand-padded. You want this. You might think it looks funny, but you definitely want it. I forget the word for it, but nice handmade trousers will have a little corner thing at the sides which... I think helps keep the pants flexible? Somebody remind me what this is called and what it's for. You might have noticed a pattern by now. A lot of details are thought to be "better" because they have to be made by hand. Spending four hours on one button hole is silly. So when you see a button hole that was stitched by hand for four hours, you know that somebody has waaaay too much money. You want to look like you have way too much money... and you know how to use it on things that fancy people like. That is a good thing. Suit Styles. A suit can come in one of three lapel styles, single or double breasted, and as a lounge suit, dinner suit (evening dress), dress suit (full evening dress), or morning suit, or a stroller suit. Lapels can be notch lapels, peak lapels, or shawl lapels. Notch lapels have a sort of square notch cut out near your neck. This is standard for a business suit. Peak lapels are a little more interesting. The bottom side sticks up and out, sharply. They look very different at different lapel widths. Shawl lapels are funny -- they just curve straight up and down and around. These are strictly for tuxedos -- don't get a business suit with one of these. You should consider how much belly your shawl lapel has. Ideally, you want a little belly -- a slight curve -- as opposed to none -- a straight line. A large belly strikes me as an old style, but I'm not sure how true that is. There are a few other kinds, like Tautz lapels, which nobody will expect you to know about. Those are kind of like peaks, except they point to the side. You can also talk about the gorge of the notch or opening in your lapels. Higher gorges are more modern, lower and larger gorges have a classic feature to it. Lapel width is very important -- I'll talk about that further down. A jacket can be single breasted or double breasted. If you hear "1.5 breasted," that's a particular type of double breasted jacket. Confusingly, single breasted jackets have two breasts. The majority of jackets you see out there are single breasted. The defining characteristic is that there is one vertical row of buttons (or one button) that shows up at the edge of the right breast for men, or the left breast for women (particularly wealthy women from back in the day when your servants buttoned your jacket while facing you). This creates a very small overlap between the breasts. Double breasted, by contrast, refers to two vertical rows of buttons, and a large overlap. Recently, some companies have been using "1.5 breasted" as a corny marketing term for a double breasted jacket where the overlap is not that large, and the vertical rows of buttons are closer. Apparently, the advantage of this is that it looks better unbuttoned... but you don't buy a double breasted suit to wear unbuttoned. Most suits you've ever seen are lounge suits or, if they're in dark colors, business suits. Single breasted lounge suits should generally come with notch lapels, but peak lapels aren't wrong, just a little silly. Double breasted lounge suits usually have peak lapels, which, with pinstripes, will place you in full 1940s gangster territory. Generally, for a single breasted lounge suit, you want two buttons, or a three roll two. Maybe three if you're tall and old-fashioned. Dinner suits or tuxedos (eveningwear) are... Well, I've been talking about them for forever by now, so you know. They're the party suits. Don't wear them before 6pm or else they'll transform into gremlins. They shouldn't have notch lapels, less because it's wrong, and more because lounge suits have notch lapels, and you don't want to look like a boring accountant, you want to look like you came to party. Peak or shawl. Again, they can be single or double breasted, but a double breasted tuxedo is a real oddity. Generally, you want a one button tuxedo. You want to wear a tuxedo shirt with this, which is different from a regular dress shirt. Their trousers have a single stripe along the side in the same material as the lapel facing. Note that "black tie" generally refers to a non-velvet tux in one of two specific colors: black, or midnight blue. Did I say navy? I did not. Midnight blue is darker than navy, and often shows up as darker than black in photos. The tie that the style is named after is not a necktie. You can wear a bow tie, or... well, a cravat might work, but that's a whole other discussion. Again, peak or shawl, with black lapel facings in grosgrain or satin. Creative black tie can involve crazy colors and velvet and double breasts and crazy prints and shit like that. Still no neckties. Also note that a tuxedo can and must be worn with exactly one of the following: suspenders or braces, a matching waistcoat (in which case, you shouldn't button the button), or a cummerbund (the thick silky thing that goes around your waist but isn't a belt). Do not wear a belt with a tuxedo. Don't wear two of the above. Don't wear three of the above. Don't wear zero of the above. Don't buy a tuxedo with belt loops, it shouldn't have belt loops. If you're wearing it with a waistcoat or cummerbund, you probably want side adjusters on your trousers. White tie describes a very particular type of suit (full evening dress), a weird thing with tails and way too many rules... paired with a low-cut white marcella waistcoat, and a very particular type of white shirt, and a white tie, all in a particular weave as described above. The suit should be black with peak lapels, and the lapels should again be faced in satin or grosgrain. The jacket is short in the front and cut in a particular way, whereas the tails in the back are very long. The jacket should not be buttoned, and generally cannot be buttoned. The pants might have a single or double stripe along the sides. White tie should be paired with a shirt and bow tie that match the waistcoat. The shirt should have a single french cuff, and should be fastened with studs. The shoes should be patent leather opera pumps. You can optionally throw in a top hat, a cane, or white gloves. There are a thousand more rules, but this info should be enough to get you started talking about white tie. A morning suit (for morning dress) is kind of like full evening dress, but crazier, and during the day. It's the one suit where your jacket and pants should contrast, in both color and pattern -- your pants should actually be pinstriped. The jacket is longer in the back, but unlike a white tie jacket, is cut smoothly, so that some of the length is evident from the front, and so that the back doesn't form "tails." The full length in the back should be about knee-length. The lapels are still peak, and is usually some kind of gray or black. The waistcoat should be made of the same material, but in a different color. A stroller suit is the informal equivalent of a morning suit, although still more formal than a lounge suit. I have no idea what makes it different from a morning suit, and honestly, if you care, you have too much time on your hands. Measurements worth thinking about Suits come in off the rack (or off the peg, or ready to wear -- otr or rtw), made to measure (or mtm), and bespoke. Off the rack suits come in fixed sizes. Made to measure involves a lot of measurements that are then sent abroad for cheap labor on a pretty good suit with some amount of personal customization. Bespoke involves multiple rounds of measurement and fitting over months with an amazing local tailor who will make you an insanely good suit that fits perfectly and can be customized however you want. The primary size for any suit jacket is defined by chest and length. But the primary length "measurement" is just a choice between regular, long, and short. This length covers both the body and sleeve. Sleeves are pretty easy to tailor, so don't even trip about those, plan on getting them tailored. Functioning buttonholes are actually a little bit harder to tailor, but still not that hard. Body length is a little trickier, since it also relates to button stance. Button stance is where the top button on the jacket sits on your body. I typically wear a 40s. If I got a 40L and shortened the sleeves and shortened the body, I'd still have an issue, in that the buttons would be waaaay down there. This can theoretically be tailored, but don't plan on it -- your tailor would have to sew over and redo buttonholes, shift the lapels, maybe move pockets, and do a bunch of other stuff you don't want done, even if your tailor is willing to try. Just get a jacket with a good button stance, and good body length. Button Stance itself is important. It generally refers to the position of the top button that you're supposed to use, or the "buttoning point." For example, it would refer to the second button on a 3-roll-2 jacket. It should usually be around your natural waist, but shifting it up or down might be good if you want to shift proportions: a higher stance shortens your torso and lengthens your legs, and a lower stance lengthens your torso and shortens your legs. Some people also use the term "button stance" to refer to the distance between buttons, which is more interesting in double breasted jackets than single breasted ones. The shoulder fit is also very important. You won't see it reflected in sizing, and it's usually kept in some proportion to your chest, so if your chest and shoulders are not standard proportions, you might have a slight issue with off-the-rack suits. This is very hard to tailor, so get it right the first time. Lapel width is a different issue -- not really so much about fit, but proportion, and style. They're measured at the widest point. Skinny lapels are out -- they were a brief modern style. A classic suit as a decent sized lapel. Your tie width (at the widest point) should, in theory, match your lapel width. Note that this really transforms some of the above lapel styles. Slim peak versus super wide peak lapels are very different. Some shawl lapels go deep, and others are sleeker and cleaner (I like the latter, but the former is more classic). Finally, it's worth mentioning arm holes. Not eye holes, no, arm holes. The hole at your shoulder that goes to your arm. You don't want them to be baggy. Off the rack, and even made to measure, these are going to have a little give, and go a little lower than your actual armpit. Off the rack, they have to fit everybody. MTM, they're still following a pattern and this is just a detail they won't handle. Bespoke tailors, on the other hand, can give you high, narrow arm holes, which will move beautifully with your body and help keep your posture and just make everything better. Ugh, I want a bespoke suit. The arm hole's seam is called the sleeve head. Sven explains sleeve heads better in that video than I can in text. Again, these are something you'll worry about more when you get into customizing a suit, or buying unstructured suits, but some off-the-rack bands do interesting things with shoulder padding and structure, so even if you're just going to SuitSupply, it's worth understanding. Now, for pants, we're worrying about waist, inseam, break, and rise. If you're buying off the rack, waist is the first number. I generally wear a 32/30, which means a 32 waist. You know what pant waists are. (Your suit also exists at your waist, so this measurement is relevant to a good suit fit, but since they're sized by the chest, that relates more to your fit, off the rack). The second number is inseam, which is kind of code for length. But it's the length of the seam on the inside -- IE, from your crotch down to your ankles. Where on your angles? That depends. Do you want your pants cropped, or too short to meet your shoes when standing? That's pretty casual, I wouldn't recommend it. If you do it, you want your pants pretty slim. You can have no break, which means they just barely touch your shoes, or don't, but end right there, you know? That's a modern/young look -- perhaps too much so. A slight break, where the pants hit your shoes a little, is still pretty modern and young without looking bad to the partners at your firm. A medium break hits your shoes a little more, and starts to fold a bit, and is good, classic, and perfect for the partner, unless he's an old man, in which case he might try a full break, which really folds at the ankles and over the shoes. Pants with a full break should not be slim. Note that inseam and break are probably the easiest things in the world to tailor. So again, don't sweat it when buying. A lot of brands sell pant legs unfinished, so you can handle this (and also decide whether you want to cuff the leg or not). So, if the inseam is the length under the crotch, what's the length from waist to crotch? For some reason, that's called the rise. A lower-medium rise is pretty standard these days, and sits in the same place as most of your pants sit, above your hips. A high rise sits at your "natural waist," above your belly button, and is pretty classic, believe it or not. If you want to be talked into a high rise, go read https://streetxsprezza.wordpress.com/. Off the rack suits sometimes have separate sizes for jackets and pants, but sometimes just tell you the jacket size and assume what your pants size would be. They call the difference between these sizes your "drop." If you have an unusually large or small drop, that really sucks. Either go for the brands that will sell you separate sizes, or go made to measure. Finally, we can talk about fit. You don't want your suit too skinny. You're not buying it to go to hipster bars in Brooklyn. So you can go slim and modern, or regular and classic. Or relaxed. If you're buying off the rack, you want to use this to try to match your body and get something that actually fits well. If you're going MTM or bespoke, you know your suit is going to fit you, so you want to pick based on style -- not whether it fits, but how it fits. Do you want it to hang and flow a little more? Do you want to look tight and put together? I mean, you will look put together either way, but... You know, talk to your tailor, see where you want to land. Alright, I know everything now, where do I buy one? See our favorites at various price points, or Styleforum's hierarchical list by quality. Remember, fit is the most important thing! A high quality suit that doesn't fit properly is garbage next to a shitty suit that fits well. But you know enough now to get a good suit that fits well, right? Special thanks to /u/ben_kh who helped me flesh out the white tie/morning dress portions. I got a good amount of info from Gentleman's Gazette on YouTube and the blog from Real Men Real Style -- and a bunch more than that, so if I forgot to credit you, I'm sorry! submitted by /u/danhakimi to r/malefashionadvice [link] [comments]
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r/malefashionadvice |
danhakimi |
May 21, 2018 |
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Guide: Packing for Travel, a.k.a., I'm going to [PLACE] in [MONTH], what should I pack!?
This sub gets a lot of questions about packing for travel, and there is a ton of good advice to be found on the topic. This post is an attempt to gather it all together in one place. Since people travel to lots of different places for lots of different reasons, this guide will attempt to give you a strategy to employ when packing -- it won't tell you exactly which items to pack. And since this is FFA, not a travel subreddit, these tips are mostly for clothing choices, not for the logistics of packing (though I did include a small logistics section at the end). With the exception of more long-term travel (months at a time), this strategy should work well for a weekend with friends in New York City, a 10-day African safari, visiting family for the holidays, a romantic getaway in Paris, or a month exploring in India. Packing is the art of choosing the most (1) comfortable, (2) versatile pieces in your wardrobe that are appropriate for the (3) weather at your destination and the (4) activities you'll be doing while there. Addressing these out of order... ANSWER TWO MAIN QUESTIONS TO START 1: Weather? I always start with the weather: What kind of shoes will I need, and what kind of jacket, if any? You will be miserable if you only pack a denim jacket, and it's freezing your entire trip. You'll be similarly miserable if you only pack canvas shoes, and it rains the entire time. So, to ensure your clothes don't distract you from you enjoying your trip, your first step is to pick shoes and jackets that are appropriate for the weather forecast. Note: Although you can (and probably should) spend time before your trip thinking about what you might bring, you should wait until the day or two before you leave to actually pack, because the weather forecast changes all the time -- and it will probably change again once you arrive! 2: Activities? The second most important thing to consider is what activities you'll be doing -- even a general idea is useful. Lots of walking? Sight-seeing in an urban metropolis? Visiting a beach? Anything sporty, like hiking or canoeing? Will you be spending time around animals, or on a farm? Mostly outside, or mostly inside? Clubbing, bar-hopping, or fancy dinners? Any modesty requirements for visits to a mosque, the Vatican, etc.? Any formal occasions to plan for? Answering these questions will help you further narrow down your shoe and jacket choices. A week in London spent eating at Michelin-star restaurants will require very different shoes and jackets than a week spent traipsing through the jungle in Thailand. BUILD UPON YOUR CHOSEN SHOES AND JACKETS When it comes to choosing items from your closet to pack, let color and proportion guide you to the most versatile pieces you own that you know you'll be comfortable wearing. Color: If you have a fairly cohesive color scheme in your wardrobe already, that makes it 10x easier to create a smaller capsule for traveling. Here is a guide to color matching and one on personal color analysis. Easy mode: Bring all neutrals. Everything goes with everything. The easiest choices are black, white, gray, and denim. Moderate difficulty: Add one or two "pop" colors to your neutral bases. A Pair and a Spare has a black/white/denim + army green example. This blog post from Live Love Sarah shows a black/white/gray/denim + blush pink example. Hard mode: Forget "neutrals" and pack what speaks to you. The Vivienne Files is a fantastic resource for color capsules of all types. Proportion: If color is the "match" part of a "mix-and-match" travel wardrobe, then proportion and silhouette are the "mix" part. Just because navy and mustard are complementary colors doesn't mean you can automatically make outfits with every single navy and mustard piece you have. You have to consider proportion and silhouette to make sure the tops and bottoms you choose interface well with each other. (If you've yet to take the time to identify what proportions you prefer and that work for your body, Into Mind has a great proportions catalog to peruse. FFA also has this guide to proportion.) Identify one or two silhouettes you want to wear on your trip -- keeping in the mind the shoes and jackets you've already chosen -- and pack items that work well with each other. Here are some examples of pairs of silhouettes that contain at least one overlapping element: (1) high-waisted bottoms + cropped-length tops and (2) fit-and-flare dresses + cropped cardigans. The cropped cardigans work for both silhouettes: over the dresses, or with the high-waisted pants, maximizing your versatility. (1) maxi skirt + fitted tops and (2) loose pants + fitted tops. Assuming you coordinate your colors well, all the tops you bring could be worn with all of the bottoms you bring. (1) oversized tops + skinny jeans and (2) mini skirts + oversized pullovers. Again - you can wear the oversized tops with the pants or the skirts, giving you the ability to change up your look and your silhouette with some of the same pieces. On comfort: Don't try brand-new pieces or new combinations on a trip. If you don't wear it at home, you're unlikely to want to wear it while traveling. And if you don't have experience wearing a piece, you won't know its quirks -- maybe it takes forever to dry, shows water spots, rides up when you walk, wrinkles in a heartbeat, or stinks a lot if you sweat, etc. Aim to pack things you already wear often. You know you like them. You know they fit. You know they look good with X shoes or Y jacket. You feel comfortable in them. You feel confident wearing them. These are all important points! You want to enjoy your trip, not spend all of your time feeling uncomfortable in your clothes. So, based on those four main considerations (weather, activities, versatility, and comfort) you can essentially work yourself through a flow chart of your own closet. Below, I've given two examples of working my way through this strategy when packing for two different types of trips. EXAMPLE PACKING EXPERIENCE 1 4-day trip to visit friends and their new baby in San Francisco in January: What's the weather? Mid-50s F, sunny, no rain forecasted. Great! In that case, I think I'll bring my leather jacket, and I have my choice of shoes since there's no rain. I always walk a lot while I'm in SF, though, so we'll keep comfort in mind. I put insoles in my VANS and find them very comfortable for all-day walking, and since there's no rain the forecast, I should be fine in canvas shoes. I'll probably bring those and my clogs, which are also very comfortable for lots of walking. Since I'm bringing my leather jacket, all of my chunky sweaters are out, because they won't fit under it. So, I'll pick out a couple of thin sweaters and top layers that I know wear well under my leather jacket. Once I've picked the jacket and a couple of sweaters, I choose some first layers (t-shirts, button-ups, blouses, whatever) that match. I can also start choosing bottoms at this point: for me, it's pants/jeans, because I'm not really a skirt person, especially in cooler temperatures. Remember to keep asking yourself, "What activities will I be doing?" I know on this trip, I'll be hanging out at my friends' house with them and their baby, so I don't want to pack fussy fabrics or fancy items like silk or cashmere, because babies can be messy. At this point, it's useful to start thinking about color. My main neutrals are navy and denim, and most of the other colors in my wardrobe go with those -- and with each other (gray, cream, burgundy, mustard, burnt orange, olive green) -- so it's pretty easy for me to pick some navy/denim bottoms, any combination of tops I like, and go. Now, I consider proportion to make sure the tops and bottoms I chose interface well with each other. Personally, my silhouette of choice is high-waisted bottoms + loose, cropped-length or tucked-in tops. So, I might pack high-waisted dark denim, some tops in cream and gray (mostly fitted that I will wear tucked in since the temperature will be cool), a cropped burnt orange sweater, and a regular navy blue sweater, knowing that I can "mix and match" all of it. EXAMPLE PACKING EXPERIENCE 2 8-day trip to Cuba to climb and explore in March: What's the weather? 80s and 90s F, sunny, but the possibility of rain. So, I'm definitely bringing my Chacos, because those are perfect "hot + wet" shoes, especially in a developing country where I won't always be in big cities. I'll probably also bring Birkenstocks for dry days and a slightly more polished look. Jackets? Just my lightweight rain jacket should do. Activities? I'm planning to sightsee and go rock climbing. So, I'm bringing a pair of climbing pants that I can also wear for hiking or horseback riding, etc. Then I add 2 tank tops to climb in, my favorite pair of high-waisted denim shorts, and another tank and tee to wear when I'm not climbing. Two of the four tops I'm bringing are linen, because... hot. The other two are merino wool because they won't start stinking immediately after I sweat in them, and I can wash/dry them quickly if/when they do. It's Cuba and it'll be hot, so I'm bringing a swim suit, because you never know. I'll also pack a casual tank dress that I can wear with the Birks for a nicer dinner look, or as a coverup for any potential beach trips. Color check: The pants are gray, and the shorts are denim. All of the tops are rusty orange, cream, and gray. The tank dress is navy blue. Looks like I'm good to go! I'll probably also pack my orange and gray flannel for any chilly moments (and the plane). This is basically my color scheme. Proportion check: Pants, shorts, and tees are combos I wear often in the summer. As a bonus, I'm bringing one cropped tee, and I can wear it over the tank dress to create a skirt look -- a la -- if I want. FLESH OUT YOUR OUTFITS One important step is to actually build outfits with the items you've chosen before you pack them for good. Lay everything out on your bed to see how the colors look together. Try on outfits to make sure you actually can wear that jacket with that dress, or those shoes with those pants, and that it works -- that you like how it looks. This is also the time to see how many combinations you can make with the items you've chosen. Can you wear most of your tops with all of your bottoms? What about first and second top layers (sweaters/cardigans over tanks/tees) -- are they flexible and interchangeable? Have you chosen any items that can only be worn with one other thing? If so, unless it's for a specific occasion, perhaps reconsider bringing it. IN SUMMARY Start by asking yourself what the weather will be, and what kinds of activities you'll be doing. Choose some shoes and jackets based on the answers to those questions. Use your shoe/jacket picks to help you narrow down your clothing choices, always asking yourself if your choices are appropriate for the weather and your activities. Consider color, proportion, and silhouette to ensure you can mix and match most of what you bring. Bring comfortable, trusted pieces that you're familiar with and already wear often. OTHER GENERAL TIPS: Bring your favorites! If you have that one sweater you find yourself wearing 2x or 3x per week, pack it! With your limited travel wardrobe, you won't mind wearing that sweater a lot because... you already do. Yes, you can repeat outfits and re-wear items several times. No one will notice. No one will care. Carry a stain remover pen to remove small marks. Scarves and jewelry can add interest, variety, and formality without taking up much space. Scarves: use them... (1) as a scarf, (2) as a blanket, (3) as a pillow, (4) as a head covering in conservative or religious countries and settings, (5) as a towel (in a pinch), (6) as a make-shift satchel (hobo-style), (7) as a privacy curtain, or (8) as a skirt (if it's big enough). I never recommend traveling with white pants, skirts, or dresses -- too much can go wrong. In general, I like to travel with unfussy pieces and fabrics. Things that won't wrinkle easily. Things that are easy to wash. Consider wool: It's lightweight, it dries quickly, it doesn't hold smells, and you can confidently re-wear wool items more times than other fabrics. There are several companies that make high-quality merino wool clothing items that are great for traveling: Smartwool, Ibex, and Icebreaker are my favorites. For a one-off formal occasion, a dress or skirt can get you far: "dress it up" or "dress it down" with a change of your shoes, jewelry, jacket, and/or hair: a jersey dress, or a jumpsuit, or a lace skirt. If space is at a premium, bring old socks and underwear and throw them away before you come home. Don't forget pajamas -- if you're staying in someone else's home, a hostel, or anywhere else that's not completely private, you'll want a top & bottom you can wear around other people at night. Leggings or joggers + tee, for example. Bonus if either piece is one you can also wear as part of an outfit if you need to. I always bring a pair of cheap rubber flip flops, no matter my destination. For shower shoes, for wearing around the house / hotel / hostel, to the beach, to the pool -- you never know how they might come in handy. If it's a longer trip, consider if you'll be able to do laundry. If you can, maybe you can get away with packing a bit less and wearing a smaller number of items more often. Warm weather tips: Maxi skirts, maxi dresses, and joggers are great for full coverage that won't make you overheat. Fabric suggestions include linen (though prone to wrinkles) and wool. A linen or chambray button-down is a great top layer for summer travel. Wear it alone, over a tee, or tied over a dress. Cold weather tips: Layers. Wool. Wool socks. Silk long underwear. Uniqlo Heattech. Lightweight, packable down jackets. No cotton. A well-written, Cliff's Notes version of what to pack and how to pack it can be found here. ADDITIONAL TRAVEL CAPSULE EXAMPLES & RESOURCES: A truly huge library of example travel capsules, with many broken down by color scheme: The Vivienne Files More example travel capsules and tips can be found on Travelista Here's another great post on using a packing strategy from IntoMind Unfancy also has some good posts on packing and example travel capsules. Her Packing List has some example packing lists by destination, and also some tips especially for women traveling alone. Travel Fashion Girl has some guides broken down by which continent you're visiting, which may be helpful for some people, and also some tips specifically for families and people traveling with children. ON FITTING IN / BLENDING WITH LOCALS / NOT LOOKING LIKE A TOURIST Some people feel strongly about fitting in with the local style when they travel. If you want to take the opportunity of traveling to a new place to explore a new style, obviously that's fine, but it's usually not necessary to worry too much about it -- unless it's a modesty issue for cultural or religious regions. For example: If you're visiting Muslim countries, mosques, temples, the Vatican, or other religious sites or places of worship, you should be aware of and sensitive to the accepted dress out of respect. On the other hand, if you're visiting Stockholm from the U.S., for example, and are just worried about looking "too American," you can probably relax a bit. Millions of people visit Stockholm every year -- its residents are used to tourists and are unlikely to treat you differently no matter if you're wearing an LLBean fleece and Asics or the latest in Scandinavian minimalism or street style. Do not act obnoxiously or be disrespectful, and you'll be fine. ON THE LOGISTICS OF PACKING (esp. for air travel) Traveling with a carry-on instead of checking luggage has become the "cool" thing to do recently, and there are good reasons to buy into the practice: Many (most?) airlines now charge extra fees for even a single checked bag, so you can save some money by carrying everything on the plane. You can avoid the possibility of lost or delayed luggage by keeping everything with you. You can adapt to last-minute changes in your travel plans (unexpected layover, forced plane change, rerouting, etc.) without worrying about ending up in a different place than your belongings. It's easier to physically manage smaller luggage than large suitcases (and maneuver through crowded spaces, onto escalators and trains). From a fashion and outfit-building perspective, bringing a smaller number of clothes makes getting dressed easier and faster because you have fewer decisions to make. That means you spend more time enjoying your trip, and less time in your hotel room, deciding what to wear. Here are some general tips for packing and traveling light: It helps if your suitcase itself doesn't weigh very much. Every airline has weight restrictions for carry-on items, so be aware of them. It's a universal truth that you will completely fill whatever size bag(s) you choose to bring. Pick a smaller bag, and you'll pack less. Pick a bigger bag, and you'll surely pack more. Roll, don't fold. Experiment with bundle packing. Here's a related "superpack" strategy for just one overnight. Using packing cubes reduces wrinkles and keeps your suitcase from being an explosion of fabric and stuff every time you open it: Eagle Creek and eBags are two popular brands. Tuck socks and underwear inside your shoes to maximize space and help your shoes keep their shape. Use re-useable shoe bags (or use plastic grocery bags) to keep the dirty soles of your shoes off the rest of your clothes. You can also use plastic shower caps to just cover the soles -- I see that tip a lot, but I'm way more likely to have plastic bags than I am to have 4 or 6 plastic shower caps lying around. Here are some tips for packing toiletries. Consider the orientation of your luggage most of the time. If you have a traditional rolling carry-on, arrange heavy things (shoes, toiletries, appliances) so they'll sit at the bottom (at the wheels) when you close the suitcase and stand it upright. That way, heavy things don't put pressure on your clothing items, potentially wrinkling them. It's also easier to pull and steer a rolling suitcase when heavy things are closest to the wheels. In a backpack, weight is best/easiest carried as close to your back as possible, and not too high. One caveat to this: Some airports still require you to actually remove the bag containing your 3-oz.-or-less liquids when you go through security (LHR, for one). You don't want them to be too difficult to get to if that's the case. Wear your bulkiest clothing and shoes on the plane (if it makes sense for the weather). Almost everywhere will you go will have almost everything you might need. If space is really at a premium, don't bring things "just in case" -- for ex., bug spray, umbrella -- you can always buy them in a pinch. If you anticipate coming home with significantly more than you brought, bring a packable duffle that can expand to swallow souvenirs and gifts (make sure to attach a luggage tag with your phone number and email address if you plan to check it). Whew! This guide got really long, but I hope it was still palatable and useful. I'm very open to feedback and am happy to make edits or additions, so please speak up if you have ideas! Also, I know I didn't include anything about business travel / travel for work. I don't really have any experience with packing suits and other business-casual or business-formal pieces. If someone wants to type up a section on that, I'll be very happy to add it in with credit to you! Edit: Thank you so much for the gold, kind stranger! My first Reddit gold! :) submitted by /u/LadyVictoria to r/femalefashionadvice [link] [comments]
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r/femalefashionadvice |
LadyVictoria |
Mar 2, 2017 |
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The Beginner's Guide to Not Freezing to Death
So if FFA is to be believed, there are women all over the world utterly unprepared for the the bitter cold of winter. Questions about how not to turn into a living ice cube are right up there with questions about what to take on vacation. Too long FFA has been lacking a guide that tackles the perils of living in a cold climate. Now winter is coming, and there is still no guide to help you learn how to not freeze when you suddenly find yourself in the great white north. UNTIL NOW. This is not the guide-to-end-all-guides obviously, but just my experiences after living my whole life in the frozen tundra know as WISCONSIN. And so, without further ado… HOW TO SURVIVE COLD AND SNOW WITHOUT DYING 1 Layer the shit out of everything You’re wearing a t-shirt and a cardigan? That shit might be good enough for Florida. It’s not going to cut it when the cold winds blow in the north. You better be wearing a cami and a shirt and a sweater under a jacket which is under a coat which is accessorized with a scarf and a hat and mittens… Basically, check in the mirror before you leave the house. Do you look like this? No? GO PUT MORE CLOTHES ON. 2 ”But that doesn’t look good!” First of all - do you want to die? No? Then it’s totally worth it. Second of all - cute in the cold is all relative. It’s like surfer style. It’s its own deal and “cute for super cold” isn’t the same as “cute for not super cold”. It’s like wearing a raincoat when it’s raining out. Wearing a less cute one is better than wearing a super cute one and getting wet and cold. At a certain temperature, practical and functional take precedence. The ‘cute’ outfits you see a lot of bloggers wearing are not realistic for the weather. Once the temperature drops, you won’t be out of place in a sea of parkas. 3 Materials Natural materials like wool, silk, down, and fur will often be warmer than their synthetic counterparts. Many retailers offer ethical down options and provide information about how their materials are sourced. Wearing good materials will totally help with keeping warm. For a base layer in super cold, silk or merino wool long underwear are the best shit you can ever own. It’s not cheap, but it’s amazing. My mom has had the same silk long underwear for over 30 years. She really only wears it when snowmobiling or downhill skiing because otherwise it’s too warm, but even so it’s lasted really well. Both silk and merino wool are not only super warm but also super thin so it fits under everything. Often, they will be warmer than their synthetic alternatives at a similar thickness. Merino wool also has awesome moisture wicking properties so if you do sweat it won’t make you chilled, and most silks are treated to provide better moisture wicking as well. Merino wool has the added benefit of being naturally antibacterial. If you don’t want to spend the money on silk or wool long underwear, Uniqlo Heattech is a pretty good alternative at a cheaper price. Keep in mind it’s super thin, though (so it will fit under clothes) so you can’t wear it as say - pants. For pants - wool is your best bet if you’re working in an office and need professional dress pants. Some people feel that wool is too scratchy even lined, so be aware if your skin is okay with it. I love wool dress pants in the winter. So classy and so warm. Plus a silky lining against your skin tends to feel super nice. Jeans are notoriously chilly in the winter. I don’t know what it is about denim but wind goes straight through. Jeans with a base layer is super warm and I would recommend it highly but without a base layer is probably going to be too cold. Thick leggings, ponte pants or fleece lined leggings/tights are really nice and cozy on their own I’ve found unless there’s a strong wind. For sweaters - wool is your friend. Cashmere is ideal, but imo all wools are fantastic. So warm and wool handles moisture really well so you don’t end up cold and wet. Fleece is a terrible coat but a great jacket to wear under a coat. The wind goes straight through, but if it’s protected from wind it’s an excellent insulator. As far as outerwear, wool is great. Fleece lined gloves and hats are the holy grail. I had a pair of leather gloves that were fleece lined that were one of my best cold weather items ever. So warm but light enough to drive in. If your head and ears get cold fleece lined hats can be found anywhere that sells ski gear. Coziest beanies on the planet. :) Coats in wool, leather (lined, preferably with something thick and fluffy) or down are the best. Down will be the warmest, but can get pretty wet if you’re not in a super cold or dry climate, so keep an eye out for ‘waterproof’ (not water resistant) parkas. Wool handles wet the best but does have a distinctive wet wool ‘smell’. Leather is a good balance between the two. Waterproofing is particularly important in gloves and coats since once you’re wet, you’re cold. 4 Wear a long coat with a high collar. I thought long coats were “uncool” for a super long time (yay highschool insecurity) but once I started wearing long coats I could never go back. A midlength coat goes a long way in ensuring that your midsection doesn’t get exposed to the cold and gives you something warm and dry to sit on and a super long coat ensures that your legs are always warm and that they never have to touch anything cold or wet. I tried to buy coats that fell no more than a couple inches above my ankle. It’s like a column of warmth. Also, a high collar is so great. If you buy a peacoat make sure that the collar will button up all the way. Lots of them only lay open, and that leaves you a big V in the front for cold air to get into. Also, hoods are pretty dope. 5 Be aware of footwear. One thing I learned is that if your feet are cold, your whole body will be cold. Wool socks are your friend. Smartwool is really the best imo, but some people prefer Darn Tough. For cheaper alternatives Costco has amazing wool socks and I’ve bought good ones in sporting stores too. I bought some Hue wool socks this year that aren’t nearly as warm as my heavy-duty sporting good store socks or smartwool but are a good lightweight wool. Forget other socks exist for the winter. If you’re wearing tights, wear wool socks over your tights and then boots. It’s the best way. Wear shoes that keep your feet dry. One thing with footwear is to be aware of what your life is like. I wore normal shoes with wool socks all winter in northern WI even though temps dropped as low as -40 pretty regularly simply because I went from my house to my car to where ever I was going and was never outside for more than 20 minutes. If you’re outside for longer, you need snow boots. Sorel is one of the best out there as far as snow boots go. LL Bean’s duck boots tend to be very popular, but the traditional boot will likely need to be layered with thick socks; they also offer insulated versions for winter conditions. When it comes to snow boots, buy for function not for looks. You want them to be warm, always, and you do not want to be slipping, sliding, and falling on poorly cleared sidewalks. If you’re only outside for short periods normal boots should be fine, just be aware of a couple things. a) will they keep your feet dry? b) thick soles get your feet further off the ground keeping them from getting as cold. c) you need room for wool socks. d) will they be stained by road salt? d) make sure they’re not slick on ice or you’ll hurt yourself. 6 Be conscious of cold spots and work toward getting rid of them. Different people get cold in different places. Personally, I found that my neck and chest being exposed always makes me cold. Turtlenecks and scarves are essential for me keeping warm when it’s cold out. I also get super cold feet. So I make sure to always always wear warm socks. Keep this in mind. If you notice you’re always way colder if you’re not wearing a hat, wear a hat always. It will help keep the rest of your body warm. If you get cold hands, invest in great mittens. Etc. At the end of the day living in the cold is all about being aware of your body. Realizing where you’re cold and finding ways to solve that problem. Style is always important, but when it’s between frostbite and stylish or not stylish and warm - always choose warm. Also, like I said. Watch what the people around you are wearing. Most cold weather places definitely have a cold weather style that goes along with them. Some Basic Product Recommendations: Layers Uniqlo Heattech Hot Chillys Icebreaker Socks Smartwool Darn Tough Boots Sorel LL Bean Parkas $ Land’s End Eddie Bauer LL Bean $$ Marmot North Face Patagonia Arcteryx Mountain Hardwear Fjallraven $$$ Canada Goose Kanuk Keep an eye out for these brands second hand or on sale for extra savings. Sierra Trading Post has a lot of great discounts on winter clothing. Much thanks to /u/m1001101 for helping with the guide, adding info and links, and most of all hounding me until I actually did it. :) submitted by /u/ruthannr94 to r/femalefashionadvice [link] [comments]
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r/femalefashionadvice |
ruthannr94 |
Nov 11, 2015 |