In the WooWoo Wonderland™

The Fifty Books Challenge, year four! (Years one, two, three, and four just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.




( Beth was a fat, pro-choice, sexually confused choir nerd with a great voice, an eighties perm, and a Kool Aid dye job... )

Cross-posted to yonder Tumblr.



There's been a considerable and laudable recent effort to abolish the troublesome "Real women have curves!" quasi-campaign in the collective progressive mindset (personal favorite here.

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For my fellow pin-up/vintage/Marilyn Monroe/classic film fans:

Here is a particularly gorgeous entry of her various pin-up and nude photography shoots. If you, like I, are still trying to wipe the memory of the desecration made by Linday Lohan (Bert Stern, what were you thinking?!) of Marilyn's last photo shoot a few years ago, this is a must-see.

Being on something of a glamor bender (as opposed to a glamour-bender, which is something I'm always on), due in no small part to meaculpa_g's influence and super fucking rad birthday package (!), I've been wandering through YouTube and have found some fabulous instructional videos, or rather, they found me. I was cruising through some of my favorite '2os links and these popped up alongside.

Notes: Back in the day, when I aped via make-up the style of Miss Bow, I never soaped or otherwise plastered down my eyebrows, partially why I ended up looking like Marilyn Monroe (with a dark wig) trapped in a Silent movie. I'm not sure if it would've helped, given how... resilient my eyebrows are (thick and dark), but this (an easier, cheaper version of Kevyn Aucoin's clever "tape" suggestion) makes me want to try it. Well, if I still did things that way.
Maybe it's better now since I realize make-up doesn't have to look the same all the time? I still can't believe I actually went to work at Marshall's (for those that don't know, Marshall's is a bargain basement department store that I somehow thought it was a good idea to work for) in my disgusting ghetta redneck urban sprawl nightmare suburb in make-up like this whilst my clothing looked like a punk hippie flapper explosion. I marvel at both my ingenuity and audacity to wear that stuff. Of course, the particularly cruel comments I received (in fairness, I did get some nice ones: a woman told me "You belong in an art opening New York City, not in this crummy lil' town.")in this kinda ended that, but still.

And rawr, our instructor is quite the looker, y/y? Of course, the accent is a big factor.

PROS:
• Good historical background (relevant for doing period make-up)
• She may not use shapes as a reference, but she does give movement as to how to blend
• She does mention brand name products, but it can't really be called shilling since the items are fairly specific.
• She gives colors rather than just brand names, ALWAYS handy.
• Her advice works for both make-up artists as well as "self-appliers".
• Proper respect goes to La Bow.

CONS:
• She doesn't have her hair pulled back, a must for make-up
• She doesn't mention cleansing or moisturizing, another must for make-up, particularly in heavy jobs like this one
• She rushes through several segments (the eyebrows especially need more tutorial)
• In doing foundation and concealer, you should always set it with the powder BEFORE you add anything else. Also, it's just easier to rid any "imperfections" like under eye circles BEFORE you start the fancy stuff.
• Finishing with powdering is a great way to fuck up the eye make-up you just worked so carefully on constructing.
• Since, as she notes, the '20s lip shape is as important as the eye, you should "erase" the lines of your lips FIRST (concealer) to give you a blank slate to work with.
• It's much smarter to apply lip liner under the lipstick rather than the other way around. Not only does it last longer (and is harder to smudge), it gives you a better control over the shape, something vital to this look. You can go back after you've done your lipstick to retouch and "clean up" with the lip liner and the concealer respectively.
• She doesn't mention anything about maintenance of this look. Even if you're wearing it just for a photoshoot, you need to know what to have on hand, what's especially smudgeable, et cetera.
• Anyone else not see "flapper" so much as "Courtney Love", particularly with the floppy hair?

Notes: Seeing as how I manage to have those rolling fingerwaves by my face (for the most part) even when my hair is long and my hair is naturally curly, I will never really need this video. However, the presentation is so charming and creative it's worth paying attention to.

PROS:
• Come on, the fakey Silent film jump is adorable!
• As are the title cards, which are actually more than just creative, they make it easier to follow.
• She offers both tight and loose curls
• She emphasizes "DO NOT"s, save for that t-shirt (see below)
• She is working an opposite style into her hair (she has longish straight hair and is doing a short hairstyle with curls) with really nothing more than bobby pins


CONS:
• We don't see any close-ups of her doing the pin curls-- typical for this type of video, but very necessary.
• Speaking of close-ups, we could've used one for the back.
• In a hair tutorial for style, never put "style as desired".
• Ack, can you imagine getting that t-shirt off to change into the '2os garb we see her in at the end? It's pretty safe to say the hairstyle would be significantly damaged.
• She could've been a little more specific about what kind of decorative clip works and what doesn't-- how heavy or how light, for example.

And in case you were wondering, yes I am going to have a ginormous braggy post soon of all the gorgeous, generous, and fabulous gifts I received for my birthday. Hopefully I'll have pictures of one of frozendoll's gift, a muchly needed haircut!

Icon lovers on my list, there's a fabulous batch of icons you need to see here, created by [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]. Warning: artistic female nudity. Beautiful sets from Leonard Nimoy's kickass The Full Body Project (please see his wonderful interview on The Colbert Report here and celebrate him for the feminist he is) and from Women at Large.

We easily forget that beauty can come in all sizes and "fat" doesn't automatically equal "unhealthy" (nor thin = healthy). There's also some lovely icons of the Venus of Willendorf (Ancient Mother I hear You calling...).

In one of the more amusing moments of late, my friend and former colleague Bri exclaimed "Did you catch Megan Fox on Conan? She's stolen your look! Pencil skirt and long dark curly hair!"

In my defense, I did not and do not wear my beloved pencil skirt with stilettos (don't own 'em). Also, my hair is not a weave.
I recommend not watching/listening to the video for very long. Megan Fox is... almost blisteringly obnoxious.

Eh, I've been "compared" to worse celebrities.

NOT SO FUN FACT: In The Sun's recent list of female sex symbols through the years, they had the utter audacity to list this twat alongside the original IT Girl, La Bow. WHAT THE FUCK. Fox wishes she was that talented and witty, not to mention genuine.

I'm aware that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is an almost farcically sexist story (times or no) despite being written by a woman (history's forgotten pioneer, Anita Loos) and the movie version manages to be even more... squirm-worthy, but goddamn if the song-and-dance numbers are glorious.

Someday, when I have my own cabaret, I'm going to find someone to perform this with me. The choreography in this film manages to be fairly simple but excellent: I'm not sure why it stands out to me. I contrast this to a film whose choreography was complex but intensely disappointing, the 2002 version of Chicago (which I still enjoyed). Maybe because I heard the score on that before I saw the movie?

As for this, provided you ignore the lyrics, it's still amazing. I knew the exact choreography by heart by the time I was thirteen (I remember as a wee tot my mother grousing over Madonna's "homage" in "Material Girl"). I still could probably feign a pretty close imitation, complete with lip sync.

When I was 15 (and had for the first time developed a figure that came anything close to Monroe) I found a pattern for this dress (a very poor one, I might add) and a suitable Marilyn wig. Thankfully I had the good sense not to pursue it, since the only place I would've worn it would've been to (yikes) school.

Say what you will about Monroe, but she had presence.

I think its inevitable that as we read each other's journals we create mental pictures of each other. Post this on your own journal to find out who your friends see when they read about your life.

Two Rules:
1) The person must be in the movies or on TV (but doesn't have to be an actor/actress). The person can be specific to a role (e.g. Jennifer Elhe's Elizabeth Bennet) or just the person him/herself.

2) Post a picture!


I can't resist. ;^)
I had to make sure my icon for this didn't feature any of the actresses/actors/comedians I love.

You Are a Classic Beauty!

You have a timeless beauty that looks great in every decade! Instead following trends, you stick to what works, and boy does it work for you! You may never skimp on your beauty routine, but the upside? Your classic looks tends to attract class - not trash.

I got this quiz from a really nice-seeming chick who works in burlesque! They are actually looking for another girl at where she works! I wonder what that pays...