Political Week In Review 6-30-2024

 

... and counting

We Will Not Be Erased

Houston, We Have A Problem!

 

... is a famous phrase that was said by astronaut Jim Lovell during NASA's Apollo 13 mission on April 13, 1970. The phrase was spoken after the crew of the Apollo 13 spacecraft realized that there had been an explosion in the service module while they were about 205,000 miles from Earth and had just finished a television broadcast. Lovell's calm and understated tone in reporting the problem to mission control in Houston has become a way to announce that something has gone [very] wrong.

Casa Susanna - Revisit

In upstate New York, Casa Susanna was a safe haven for trans women in 1960s America

By Suyin Haynes, CNN

 7 minute read 

Published 4:44 AM EDT, Wed June 26, 2024

Susanna Valenti
poses in the garden of her and her wife's home
in the Catskills, "Casa Susanna,"
circa 1964-1968.

CNN

 — 

With coiffed black hair, pearls, a hand on her hip and a high-heeled pointed toe, a woman poses jubilantly for the camera on the steps outside her home. Her name is Susanna Valenti, and her home is Casa Susanna, located in the Catskills, in upstate New York. In the 1950s and ’60s, Casa Susanna served as a safe haven and a sanctuary for people to explore their gender identity and expression in ways they were not able to in daily life. Photographs taken there show individuals in scenes of comfortable domesticity and community, getting dressed in traditionally feminine clothes and celebrating occasions and holidays together.

These images, part of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s (AGO) permanent collection, are brought together in a new publication, “Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959-1968,” and offer valuable insight into the environment that Valenti and her wife Marie Tonell created. Purchased in 2004 at a New York City flea market by two art dealers and later acquired by the AGO in 2015, this particular selection of 340 Casa Susanna images are part of a much wider archive, including some currently in the personal collection of photographer Cindy Sherman.

In recent years, the photographs have come to the attention of artists, scholars, activists and more interested in the intersections between queer identities, photography and the arts—and more collections of photographs made by members of the community who visited Casa Susanna have been found and archived, such as the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive. In the last decade, Casa Susanna has inspired a Broadway musical, Harvey Fierstein’s “Casa Valentina”; been referenced in the television series “Transparent”; and was the subject of an acclaimed documentary film released last year.

Most of the images are posed, and some are highly stylized, emulating the professional fashion and celebrity portraiture photoshoots of the era — in a way that was slightly paradoxical, said Sophie Hackett, given the growth of the women’s liberation and second wave feminist movements in broader society at the time. Pictured above, guests with Susanna Valenti (right) in her wife Marie Tonell's New York City apartment, circa 1960-63. Collection of Cindy Sherman/Courtesy Thames and Hudson

The photobook includes contextual essays and a foreword by historian, writer and documentary filmmaker Susan Stryker, who recalls images circulating within her generation and community of trans women in the late 1980s and 1990s. “They were just ubiquitous in trans underground networks,” Stryker said in an interview with CNN. “I have to say, I’ve been tickled in recent decades when people have discovered them and said, ‘oh, there’s a treasure trove of these things that we never knew existed.’ It’s like, ‘who never knew they existed?’”

Read More...

In the current climate, with trans rights the subject of legal and political challenges across the country, the existence and celebration of these photographs matter.

“The photographs show us that what we would now refer to as the trans community and all its various identities of course predates our current moment,” said Hackett. “They are moving as expressions of a community and as a community finds itself. You see the kinship, and you see the joy, and that’s one that’s in strict contrast to the lives they led and the struggles they had personally, and the risks they ran by gathering.”

Cool Summer Blues

 

I Love A Success Story - Lynn Conway (1938-2024)

Lynn Conway, Computing Pioneer and Transgender Advocate, Dies at 86

Lynn Ann Conway
 (January 2, 1938 – June 9, 2024) 

BY MAR HICKS & THE CONVERSATION US

My Note: Thanks Rae for bringing this to my attention. A true success story that was finally recognized for her contribution to the world.  

Lynn Conway, a trans woman and advocate for LGBTQ rights, was underappreciated and often underrecognized for her work in chip design

Lynn Conway may hold the record for longest delay between being unfairly fired and receiving an apology for it. In 1968, IBM – a company that now covers its logo in a rainbow flag each June for Pride Month – fired Conway when she expressed her intention to transition. She died on June 9, 2024 at age 86. IBM eventually apologized to the now-famous computing expert, but only 52 years later, when Conway was 82 years old.

Although Conway’s start as a trans woman while at IBM was inauspicious, she quickly found a new job under her post-transition name and identity at the prestigious Xerox PARC and for many years kept the fact that she was trans from her employers to avoid being unfairly dismissed again. In so doing, Conway escaped becoming a target of the sensationalistic and harmful news coverage about trans people that dominated mainstream media in the 20th century. At the same time, however, this meant she was also not able to fully tell her story.

Even today, mainstream media coverage of trans people often positions them as unfortunate victims or questions trans people’s right to exist at all.

Through her groundbreaking work on chip design, Conway joined a long line of illustrious women in computing in the 20th century who made computers into the powerful and flexible tools that they are today. Conway’s co-invention of very large-scale integration, or VLSI, rocketed chip design into the future. VLSI allowed etching circuits on a computer chip’s surface to be as space efficient as possible, ensuring the maximum number of transistors on a chip.

Maximizing the number of transistors on a chip meant that the resulting computer using that chip could be as fast and powerful as possible. For this innovation, Conway received industry and academic recognition. However, that recognition was long delayed.

The ‘Conway Effect’

Like many other women in computing, however, Conway felt that she had been denied her due credit because of the way that her male co-inventor of VLSI, Carver Mead, was repeatedly given more credit and incorrectly perceived as the lead on the project that led to this important innovation. Although Mead did not necessarily seek to unfairly take credit for himself, what Conway dubbed the Conway Effect led to him getting more, or sometimes all, of the credit.

The Conway Effect is a slightly modified version of what is known as the Mathilda Effect: Women’s scientific contributions are often attributed to the nearest man working on the same topic. The Conway Effect states that people who are “othered” in computing, including women and people of color of all genders, form a group that society does not expect to make great advances, and so they are not given full credit when they do because they are literally overlooked.

Denim Mistakes...

 How To Fix Them

How to Wear Jeans Without Looking Frumpy

April 2018  -  Updated October 2022

Here are some of the common denim mistakes women make that can make them look frumpy, and how to fix them!

10/25/2022 NOTE: This post was written in 2018. As we all know, fashion and style evolves and some of this advice may be dated, although I do believe the main points are all still valid. More current articles you might like are:

• Denim Trends for Fall 2022
• How to Wear Ankle Boots with Straight Leg Jeans
• What Shoes to Wear With Flares
• Outdated Fashion Trends & What to Wear Instead

Jeans are one of the most common wardrobe items in a woman’s closet, and these days there are soooo many styles and options available. It seems like it should be simple, but finding jeans that fit right and don’t make you look frumpy can be quite a challenge. If you’re worried that your jeans are making you look frumpy, this post is for you!

#1. Wearing jeans that are too big or too small.

#2. Ignoring the rear view.

#3. Not hemming your jeans.

#4. Wearing too much embellishment or too much distressing/whiskering.

#5. Tucking jeans that are too wide into your boots.

Political Week In Review 6-23-2024

Breathe and Have Patience

 

Or you can buy it on Amazon. 

MSNBC on DeSantis

Mehdi Hasan - A Blunt Reality Check on Ron DeSantis:

By Ed Mazza
Nov 14, 2022

MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan is hitting the brakes on the sudden media love affair with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who’s easy reelection last week has many in the GOP thinking he could be the one who finally takes down Donald Trump. 

Hasan noted “puff pieces” in favor of DeSantis already popping up. He stated at Huffpost:

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “Ron DeSantis’ 19-point win over Charlie Crist is objectively noteworthy, impressive, especially when you consider he’s dedicated his tenure as governor to demonizing queer children and teachers, lobbing Venezuelan migrants across the country, and presiding over 80,000 dead Floridians, the highest overall number of any state in the country.” 

________________

In true DeSantis fashion, his Broward School Board burns down the house

According to an opinion piece in the Miami Herald, here is further proof on how is DeSantis is taking control, in an autoratis of way, even local government operations.  

Read the whole article.

DeSantis most recent action in Broward county (Ft. Lauderdale) only proves that DeSantis — adept at using Florida’s system of government to his advantage — can make decisions even in parts of the state where his policies are unpopular. If it happened in deep-blue Broward County, it can happen anywhere else. 

Previously Florida School Board elections have been non-partisan. Across the state, including in Miami-Dade, DeSantis-backed candidates won several school board seats. Those who assume it will be business as usual don’t understand what DeSantis’ endgame is. What happened in Broward is a taste of the scorched-earth politics that will follow. Be prepared for school boards to launch culture wars on things like LGBTQ books and sex education. Superintendents, who serve at the pleasure of elected [board] members, will have to walk the line [or be fired by a chosen school board picked by an autocratic governor].

  

Cute Summer Outfits To Wear

Count Down to  Summer 

Florida's Purity Police Strike Again

Ron DeSantis Is Now Attacking the Orlando Philharmonic Because It Once Hosted a Drag Show

Tori Otten February 3, 2023

In an administrative complaint, the Florida governor accused the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation of putting on a “sexually explicit show.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stripped the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation of its liquor license Friday for allowing children to attend a Christmas drag show.

DeSantis, who has been cracking down on LGBTQ rights, filed an administrative complaint through the state department of business and professional regulation accusing the Philharmonic’s foundation of putting on a “sexually explicit” show where minors would be present.

 

They claim it's about "sexually explicit conduct" or "obscene" material in front of minors but any parent can bring their kid to see a movie like Jackass 4 and see a bunch of dicks and graphic content. They don't seem to be targeting the local AMC Theaters. Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) February 3, 2023

The governor had previously warned any venues that hosted the touring show A Drag Queen Christmas that his administration would seek legal action against them. He has also mentioned the possibility of having child protective services investigate parents who take their children to drag shows.

Civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo pointed out that DeSantis couched the administrative complaint in language about morality, at one point saying that businesses that host drag shows are a “nuisance,” which is defined as something that “becomes manifestly injurious to the morals or manners of the people.” By framing drag shows as a morality law issue, Caraballo said, DeSantis strips the performances of free speech protections.

DeSantis has gone to all-out war with anything he deems “woke,” and with LGBTQ rights in particular. He enacted the state’s now infamous Don’t Say Gay law, banned transgender women from playing women’s sports, and vowed to defund diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on college campuses. He also unconstitutionally forced out Andrew Warren, a state attorney who said he would not unilaterally criminalize cases involving personal medical issues, such as abortion or trans health care.

DeSantis is also part of a larger trend of Republicans demonizing drag queens and trans people, accusing them of being pedophiles as a way to fearmonger about the LGBTQ community. Drag shows, Medicaid funding for gender-affirmative care, and even children’s hospitals have all come under attack.

___________________

First They Came

Pastor Martin Niemoller

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me.

I Love A Sucess Story - Lucy Sante

Transitioned at 66. She’s finally been made whole

By Leigh Haber Feb. 13, 2024

Lucy Sante

For the 66 years prior to her decision to transition from male to female, Lucy Sante existed in a “prison of denial,” alternating between vague restiveness and profound discontent. What was at the root of it? Nearly four decades of therapy hadn’t produced an answer. But as she chronicles in an arresting memoir, “I Heard Her Call My Name,” “transitioning got rid of my neuroses and left me with, in Freud’s phrase, ordinary human unhappiness.”

Throughout Sante’s life, there had been glimmers of a desire to become a woman, but she’d never probed whether there might be a deeper significance to these urges even when they were consuming her. She recalls at age 11 furtively trying on her mother’s underwear and dress, then widening her eyes and softening her mouth, as she thought a girl might. She fantasized about playing a female role in a class play or becoming a protégé of a wealthy socialite who would outfit her like a doll. Those reveries persisted throughout adolescence and into adulthood; but when they bubbled to the surface, Sante pushed them down, focusing on manhood, marrying twice, “attempting to shove any lingering gender business deep in the crawl space under the stairs, where no one including me would ever see it again.”

Then in 2020 Sante tentatively tried out a gender-swapping feature of FaceApp to conjure a sense of what she might look like as a woman. “She was me,” Sante writes. “When I saw her I felt something liquefy in the core of my body … I had at last met my reckoning.”

Soon she was “feeding every portrait and snapshot and ID-card picture I possessed of myself into the magic gender portal,” including images of herself as a teenager. “That could have been me,” she remembers thinking. “Fifty years under water, and I’d never get them back.” She eagerly shares news that she is transitioning and explains her “origin story” with her close circle of friends, among them her longtime partner, Mimi. Most were supportive, though Mimi concludes this would mean the end of their romantic relationship. But “the dam had burst. … Now that I have opened Pandora’s box,” Sante writes, “I cannot close it again.”

“I Heard Her Call My Name” is a memoir without a conventional beginning, middle and end. Sante, who studied at a Jesuit all-boys school in Manhattan before being “sent down,” learned “how to put myself on trial and serve simultaneously as prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, jury, bailiff, and an array of witnesses pro and con.” She’s relentless in her self-interrogation. No period of her life is exempt from her poking and prodding; there are frequent shifts from present-day musings to childhood episodes that might unlock an answer to Sante’s perpetual question: Who am I? The author’s approach is circuitous, and there are never definitive answers. Had she been faking it as a man? Was she too old to be embarking on this journey? Would she be seen as “pathetic” in a dress and wig? Or, most pressing: “How can my ‘egg’ have ‘cracked’ 60-odd years after I knew?”

Read More...

The final pages of “I Heard Her Call My Name” find Sante pondering the plight of trans people in the world, and amazed that she herself is comfortably among them. “I am the person I feared most in my life,” she observes. “I lay in pieces for so long, but now I have, as the Mafia guys say, been made whole.”

Feminine Differential - Second Look , Dolman Shirt

 

Back in May of 2023 I extolled the simple feminine differential of a white Dolman Shirt. Pinterest send me links a few days back that featured the look above with jeans. I digress: Pinterest "says I have a good eye".  They don't know how true a statement. 

I found the shirt on the LOFT site, titled "Utility Dolman Shirt (Utility Dolman Shirt)" and at 50% off ($19.99). An easy decision. The material is 100% Viscose, substantial and is not a typical thin knit; it drape beautifully. 

I paired it with another sale item: Talbots - JEGGINGS - HAMPTON WASH - CURVY FIT. (Talbots - JEGGINGS - HAMPTON WASH - CURVY FIT) 79.99 less 50% that day. These have become my live in jeans, with a perfect fit.  

This past week week I added to my bra/panty collection from my SOMA store.  The bra is our "EMBRACEABLE Perfect Coverage (EMBRACEABLE Perfect Coverage Bra), in PATTERNED PALMS NAVY. I had been watching it for several weeks and finally "give in" to the bra / panty set.  We get great employee discounts, like I needed another bra. 

I love working at SOMA, although only a day or two per week.  The environment is completely feminine, and customers are so happy when we fit and recommend the "perfect fitting" bra. Do give the store a try.  We are very open to fitting all. Tell me about your experience. 

Political Week In Review 6-16-2024

 

A vehicle is driven through a flooded street in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on Thursday.

Massive flooding in Florida is bringing new attention to the climate change denial of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Republican allies in the state legislature.

In May, DeSantis took steps to deprioritize climate change resilience, a truly reckless and cruel decision considering the existential crisis climate change poses to the state.

Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones criticized DeSantis’ climate approach and said the impact of flooding and other climate disasters is felt most by vulnerable communities. 

"Florida refuses to acknowledge 'climate change,' despite streets turning into rivers and @GovRonDeSantis vetoing crucial infrastructure projects in vulnerable communities,"

With much of Florida underwater now, it’s glaringly apparent he had no clue what he was talking about. 

Blend Your Worlds...

And be a happier person.

 

A Very Uncomfortable Truth - Reality

Jon Stewart Smashes the Myth of Corporate Morality in Pride, BLM, and Beyond | The Daily Show

It’s Pride Month! While some corporations like Target are hiding their pride for the sake of loud conservatives, others are doing everything they can to virtue signal to consumers. Jon Stewart rips off the mask of corporate “values” and examines how corporations will perform caring about issues like DEI, climate change, or patriotism, as long as it means bigger profits, and how quickly they backtrack on those moral stands when it no longer suits their bottom line. 

I Love A Success Story - Nes

12-Year-Old Boy Finds Instagram Success by Posing as a Girl

 A 12-year-old boy from Thailand has managed to reach celebrity status and make enough money to build his family a new house by showing off his makeup and cross-dressing skills on Instagram.

Nes (@nes_tyyy), a boy from Thailand's Phang-Nga province, reportedly started playing with his mother's makeup at a very young age, but instead of discouraging him, his parents not only supported his hobby, ut also started giving him tips.

Today, the 12-year-old boy has over 280,000 fans on Instagram alone and is able to support his family by posting makeup tutorials and photos of himself cross-dressing as a girl on the popular photo sharing platform.

He recently made news headlines all over Asia after posting a photo of the new house he managed to build for his parents.

"Nes is only 12-years-old, but Nes is able to build a house for his parents," the young Instagram star wrote on his profile. "To all the generous people, thank you".

Although Nes isn't the only boy posting makeup tutorials online - it's actually becoming a strong trend all over Asia - what sets him apart is his ability to use his skills to make himself look like a girl. He often poses in lavish dresses, wearing impressive wigs, fake eyelashes and expertly done makeup that puts some professional makeup artists to shame.

According to SETN, Nes is sometimes ridiculed by his schoolmates for his hobby, but he doesn't care, as this is what makes him happy.

Nes' talents have not only earned him hundreds of thousands of loyal fans on Instagram, but also lucrative promotional deals and invitations to various events, both in Thailand and in foreign countries like China.

Federal judge strikes Florida ban on gender-affirming care for children

The judge also blocked requirements that would make accessing care harder for transgender adults.

By AREK SARKISSIAN

06/11/2024 02:52 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s new restrictions on gender-affirming treatment for children are unconstitutional, and that Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican lawmakers who supported them were not acting in the interest of public health.

By refusing to allow children to access treatments, Tallahassee-based district court Judge Robert L. Hinkle wrote in a ruling handed down Tuesday that DeSantis and Republicans who voted for the measure responded in a way that was similar to racism and misogyny.

“Enforcing this moral view is not, however, a legitimate state interest that can sustain this statute,” Hinkle — an appointee of President Bill Clinton — wrote, partly borrowing from arguments that lawyers for the plaintiffs gave during trial in December.

The ruling is a major win for a coalition of human rights groups that filed the federal lawsuit arguing the ban violated equal protection rights. “Today’s ruling affirms the principle that individuals should be able to make informed decisions about their own personal medical treatments without discrimination by the State,” Thomas Redburn, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

In response to Hinkle’s ruling, Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said the court was wrong to override the wishes of the people, which were conveyed through their elected representatives, and the state of Florida will appeal.

“We disagree with the Court’s erroneous rulings on the law, on the facts, and on the science,” Redfern wrote in a text. “As we’ve seen here in Florida, the United Kingdom, and across Europe, there is no quality evidence to support the chemical and physical mutilation of children. These procedures do permanent, life-altering damage to children, and history will look back on this fad in horror.”

Hinkle’s ruling also struck down restrictions for adults that were included in FL SB254 (23R), which DeSantis signed into law just over a year ago. They include requiring that only doctors, as opposed to other medical professionals, prescribe medicine for gender-affirming treatment and requiring annual x-rays without regard for circumstance.

The law was the result of a presentation that Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo gave to the state boards of Medicine and Osteopathic medicine in 2022 that compelled the two boards to approve similar restrictions by making new rules. DeSantis then asked the Legislature to codify the board rules, saying that gender-affirming care includes castrating and sterilizing children, and mastectomies for girls. Hinkle noted in the ruling that surgeries on minors are extremely rare.

In the ruling, Hinkle wrote DeSantis’ comments about castration were false, and they proved that the governor’s intent of the measure was not to protect the public.

“Whether based on morals, religion, unmoored hatred, or anything else, prohibiting or impeding a person from conforming to the person’s gender identity rather than to the person’s natal sex is not a legitimate state interest,” Hinkle wrote.

The plaintiffs in the case were four transgender adults and seven parents who appeared on behalf of transgender children, and it was the second major lawsuit filed against efforts by Florida to block transgender care. Hinkle in June of last year issued a separate ruling striking down rules made by the state Agency for Health Care Administration that banned Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care.

Hinkle in June 2023 had also issued a preliminary injunction in the case he decided Tuesday that blocked part of the ban on transgender treatments for children for the plaintiffs. The state appealed that ruling and that decision is pending, although Hinkle’s more expansive ruling could make that appeal moot.

Dressing Tips To Slim Heavy Calves and Ankles

 

Personal Note:  My calves and legs are not my best feminine asset.  I wear pants whenever I am not wearing heels and the only boots that I can wear are ankle boots. I was ahead of a woman on stairs a few years ago and she stated "You must be a dancer".  I knew immediately what she was referencing.  Genetics rule in the development of my calves/legs and not long hours on the dance floor or gym.   

This is an expanded post from 2016.  It is such as issued for me thought a revisit would be helpful as I have expanded the suggestions.   

I appreciate that this is not just my unique issue and welcome the suggestions that Debora has collected for those of us that welcome help.  

As Deborah states: "You may not be able to change the muscular legs or heavy ankles mother nature gave you, but you can make them a lot less noticeable. Here are 10 Dressing Tips to magically slim, heavy calves and thick ankles."

1. Avoid Flat Shoes

You may love flats, but they don’t love you. Flat shoes emphasize big calves and ankles and make you look squat. You’re better off with a medium-height heel, which tricks the eye into making your legs look longer and leaner.

Also, the wider your legs, the sturdier your heel should be. A  thick, chunky heel balances out heavy legs. A sturdy wedge or platform shoe works well. Avoid skinny stilettos, spike, or tiny kitten heels, which create too much contrast and exaggerate large calves.

If there’s no way you can wear heels ( even low ones), then a d’Orsay flat or peep-toe flat is a good option. The open part of the shoe exposes more foot elongating your legs and emphasizes heavy ankles and legs.

2.  Stay Away from  Ankle Straps

Any strap around your ankles or ties lacing up your calves (i.e., tie-up espadrilles) draws attention to these trouble spots making legs and ankles look extra large. The best shoes are open at the ankles.  A slingback shoe that wraps at the back of the ankle instead of in front is fine too.

3.  Pointy Toe is Perfect

Round toe shoes make legs look shorter and heavier, while pointy toe ones visually slim and elongate.

Ricky Lake

4.  Low Vamp Helps

The lower the vamp, the longer and slimmer your leg will appear.

5.  Nude Shoes Slim

When you match the color of your skin to your shoes, your legs gain a few inches.

6. Wear Dark Tights

Dark opaque tights worn with matching dark shoes make your legs look slender. Add a black skirt or dress into the mix, and your legs will appear to go on for miles.  Please stay away from contrasting or patterned tights as they will become an unflattering focal point.

7.  Full Skirts Slim

Heavy legs and ankles may make you feel like you can’t wear a skirt, but it’s simply not the case.  The general rule is the wide the hemline, the slimmer your legs look. Narrow pencil skirts that taper inward or any skirt that clings will emphasize the size of your lower legs. Instead, opt for swingy full or A-line cut skirts. These are the perfect dresses for big legs because they make your calves and ankles seem narrower by contrast.

Helen Mirren

As for the best skirt length? It’s just around the knees, either just above or slightly below, wherever you’d say is the narrowest part of your leg. It’s best if the hem is plain with no fancy stitching or embellishment.

Some women prefer a tea-length skirt to cover muscular calves, and this can sometimes work so long as 1) the skirt doesn’t stop right before or right at midcalf (emphasizing the problem spot) 2. you wear your tea-length skirt with a modern shoe, as this length can sometimes look frumpy.

Other skirts or dresses for thick legs are maxis that cover the problem area altogether. A maxi dress that ends at the ankle and has a high side slit adds some allure.

8. Direct Attention Up Top

Another good old dressing trick is: If you don’t want people looking at your legs, distract them. Wear dark colors below your waist and highlight your top half by wearing lighter colors near your face. Restrict prints to your upper body, and use fun accessories like scarves and jewelry to draw the eye up and away from thick calves and ankles.

9. Step into Long Pants

Hillary Clinton has made pantsuits her trademark, and it’s no wonder. Pants are perfect for hiding her famous “cankles” ( thick calves fused at thick ankles).  Your best bet is solid-colored pants in a dark color, but make sure they’re not too skinny. Tight pants will emphasize your calves. Bootcut or wide legs pants help hide the problem. And no cropped pants and capris. They draw the eye to the fullest part of your calves and ankles and make your legs look stumpy.

10. Get a Pair of Tall Boots

For large calves –  a tall dress boot or a riding boot is excellent. Knee-high boots with some detail at the top like stitching, a stud, or a tassel will draw the eye up and away from thick ankles.

Yes, you can wear booties, a little higher than the ankle is better and with matching, stockings or pants in the same color as your booties is best.

Don’t let your heavy calves or ankles drag you down! Many of the world’s top athletes, ballerinas, and celebrities have thick legs, but that doesn’t stop them from looking fabulous, so don’t let it stop you either.

Feminine Differential - Capris (I Hate Them)

 Why I Hate Capris (and What to Wear Instead)

How terrible

Of all the articles I’ve ever written, this one about my dislike of Capris, written on a whim a few years ago, is my most popular. 

Today, it’s been read by over one million women. 

And it gets people fired up, which was never my intention, but I guess that’s just the nature of the world. 

If you’ve been part of our community for some time now, you know it’s not my style to tell you what to wear. Instead, I like to give suggestions and advice that help you find what works best for you. 

But the Capri pant is the exception. 

It is the most unflattering, frumpy-dumpy, ugliest piece of clothing designed for women in modern history. 

Here’s the deal.

Retail doesn’t care about women. So no one is sitting in an office, deciding on the next season’s inventory assortment, asking themselves:

• Is this the best option for our customers? 
• Is it flattering? 
• Will it work with what they already have? 
• Will she feel confident in it?”
• They are not trying to advocate for us. 
• But I am. 

The basis of my entire business is to sort through the mess you see in stores and online and highlight the best options each season while providing inspiration and practical tips.

So, today, I will show you why capris are so unflattering and offer better alternatives.

We Deserve Better Than Capris

Why I Hate Capris

Today, to help prove my point, I purchased two pairs of capris. One in denim and one in khaki, both sold as “capris” for about $40 each from a mainstream retailer. 

There are a lot of angry comments about how these are not capris. Yes, they are. They have the word “Capri” on the tag. 

For context, I am 5’10, and I wear a solid size 8. I paired them with a simple white tee, a long necklace, and wedge sandals to make them look as okay as possible. 

I swear to you that these “fit” me. They are not too tight.

They both look so terrible on me; I can’t believe I’m putting these up for all the internet to see.

Read more at "The Well Dressed Life"

Political Week In Review 6-9-2024

Donald Trump Is Proudly Bought and Paid For By Big Oil and Gas

NEW: Donald Trump asked Big Oil and Gas CEOs to give $1 billion to his campaign and vowed to immediately roll back environmental regulations if reelected.
Washington Post: “What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign”

Trump's words:

“You all are wealthy enough, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. 

At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted, according to people with knowledge of the meeting.

You Can Wear...

 

The Journey...

 

I Love A Success Story - Katy Montgomerie

I'm a trans woman and I used to be TRANSPHOBIC!

By:  Katy Montgomerie

Katy Montgomerie