"The Beauty of the Power Game"

Drafts:

(These images are screen grabs from this NYT video gallery directed by Dewey Nicks)

Composition:
Left, from top:
Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and Jelena Jankovic
Right, from top:
Serena Williams, Vera Zvonareva, and Samantha Stosur

Usage:
I (Liz) hope you guys don't mind too much if I depart a little from our normal post content to discuss this New York Times Video Gallery, released last week in preparation for the US Open, which begins today.  I've told you before that I am a big tennis fan and an athlete, so I find myself both excited by the premise of this video gallery and disappointed by its execution.  I'll share my reaction to the videos, but I'm most curious to hear what the rest of you think.

First, a few thoughts on what I liked about the video gallery.  I really appreciate what I understand as the premise: to show female professional tennis players in slow motion in order to help us recognize the "beauty" of their bodily movements.  I know "beauty" is a loaded and sometimes dangerous word, but as a student of aesthetic theory, I do think appreciating "beauty" in itself is a worthwhile pursuit.  The title suggests that a woman's physical strength and power can be beautiful, which I think is a step in the right direction.  A few of them are even sweating noticeably!  I was fascinated by watching the women move in slow motion.  I've seen Kim Clijsters perform that split hundreds of times, but this was the first time I noticed that she placed her left hand on the ground to push herself back up.  I was intrigued by where their eyes were focused as they struck the ball.  The movement of their muscles in slow motion is, I think, quite beautiful.  The music does an interesting job of encouraging us to make a connection between these athletic movements and the bodily movements of dancers, particularly ballet dancers, which are more traditionally recognized as "beautiful."

But I think that's where my appreciation for the piece ends.  As I continued to think about it, all I could find were more points of frustration.  I'm bothered by the decision to put the women in designer costumes and, in 5 of the 7 videos, to leave their hair down so it could float around.  I think these editorial decisions reinforce the suggestion that women need to fancy themselves up in order for their appearance to read as "beautiful."  If the intent was really to have highlighted the beauty in their movement or their power, I can't understand why they weren't dressed in either their regular court clothes or even a more neutral ensemble.  If each of them were wearing the same black tank and shorts, for example, I think our focus would have been directed more toward their bodily movements.  Instead, I was thinking "Is JJ playing tennis in Herve Leger?  How is that possible?"

At first, I was delighted to see Samantha Stosur included in the gallery.  Of all the ladies included, she cultivates an appearance that is the least traditionally "feminine."  On court, she wears a dress with athletic-inspired styling accents, hats and visors, and wraparound sunglasses.  She pulls her hair into a tight ponytail and doesn't wear noticeable makeup.  Aside from Serena Williams, Stosur is easily the most muscular woman in the top 20.  It's the combination of these factors, I think, which results in rumors that she is a lesbian (as if that matters) and a steroid user (though she must consent to regular random drug screenings and has never tested positive).  Since I know these things about her, I was both glad to see her in a montage dedicated to "beauty" and surprised that she's been styled in a bandeau top with a bare midriff.  It seems completely inconsistent with her persona, whereas everyone else seems to at least be dressed in something she might have picked up off the stylist's rack.

Stosur's one of the ladies whose hair is pulled back, but you might not notice it, because her face is completely outside the fame within 5 seconds of the 23 second clip.  What gives, New York Times?  In four of the videos, the player's face is prominently featured for the entire clip.  The videos of Jankovic and Azarenka only show their faces for about half the time, but the camera pans up toward their faces rather than panning away from them immediately, as is the case in the Stosur clip.  Stosur's body is prominently featured, and had they focused only on her face, I probably would have complained that they seemed uncomfortable with her physical strength.  But the decision to figuratively cut off her head in a video that purports to celebrate the beauty of her power doesn't sit well with me, either.

My frustration about the refusal to feature Stosur's face was only heightened when I got to the final video.  The clip of Vera Zvonarava is focused almost entirely on her vibrant blue eyes and her floating hair.  Her arm only comes into the picture to strike the ball near the end of the clip.  The darkness of the scene behind her also serves to emphasize her hair and eyes, which I think we can agree fit the traditional Western standards of beauty.

So while I think this video gallery had great potential to ask its viewers to reconsider how they define "beauty" or "power," I think it ultimately fails to do so.  Maybe I wouldn't have expected so much from it if they'd titled it "Nice looking girls in nice looking clothes in slow motion."  But the title drew me in before, ultimately, the content let me down.

Prompts:

• What's your take on the video gallery?  Which elements of the players' movements or the video production stood out the most to you?  Am I being too critical or not critical enough?

Home Away from (Academia) (Home)

Draft:

Earlier Drafts:
I found this charming, oversized blazer on sale in charm central, Savannah, Ga.
A turquoise necklace in the bib style?  Count me in.
I've worn these sweet yellow flats with a spectrum of hues.

Composition:
strapless floral dress (ShopMamie)
linen blazer (Gap)
turquoise necklace (ShopMamie)
yellow flats (Target)

Usage:
Liz coaxed me out of hiding yesterday for a dinner and shopping date.  Given that I have spent the past week hibernating in T-shirts and devouring stacks of chick-lit novels, I was grateful for the outing.  I washed my hair and wore real clothing*.  It was awesome.

Equally awesome?  My hiatus from the computer has helped me feel at home with myself, stylistically and otherwise.  When I last posted, I was preparing to paint the very last room in the townhouse my husband and I had purchased in October and delayed updating 'til May.  Since that post, we've committed ourselves full-force to final renovations.  Now we're feeling at home in our first place, among our own furniture, with our own art hanging on the walls.  We sleep better at night, we host friends more often, and we devote dinners to real conversation, not to rattling off To-Do lists.  Nevermind that our second bathroom is still tiled floor-to-ceiling with dragonfly-inspired ceramic work.  It's fulfilling to feel ownership of something, flaws and all, I'm remembering.

Since reading - and relating to - Katie's candid post about body insecurities, I've become convinced that transferring my home ownership lessons to my clothing choices would revolutionize my self-perception.  Katie mentioned that wearing identical bridesmaid dresses invites body comparison; likewise, I've noticed that living in a neighborhood of nearly-identical brick townhouses invites neighborly property evaluation.  That's to be expected.  But the similarities between my street-mate's house and mine inspire me to make my space unique.  Even though I appreciate the hostas in her front yard, say, I enjoy my unruly azaleas because, well, they're mine.  They represent several Saturday mornings of my own sweaty, T-shirt-tanning diligence.  (I feel like there's a Robert Frost poem about this.  The property-owning and hedge-trimming, not the farmer's-tanning, I mean.)  What if I dressed my body out of a similar spirit of appreciation and pride of ownership?

For me, Krista's guest-post about maternity wear sealed the deal on this sartorial lesson.  I love that she dresses to celebrate her baby bump, reveling in her stage of life and appreciating her body's capabilities.  Even though I'm not in a baby-making headspace these days, her wardrobe advice for expecting moms makes me feel confident about dressing for my circumstances.  Admittedly, I've been stressing over composing professional outfits while I'm away from academia.  Right now I can't make the pseudo-professorial clothes work, not only because I'm no longer in the environment, but also because my heart's not in it.  I'm in a different place now, and Krista's post reminded me that it's okay.  I'm beginning to appreciate my body for its replace-my-reading-plan-with-DIY-projects accomplishments, and I'm starting to dress like this post-grad school phase of life is home.  For now, at least.  It feels pretty good.

*This dress might function best as a beach cover-up.  I'm still deciding.  For now, as long as the temperatures remain scorchingly high, I feel bold enough to go city-street public with it.

Prompts:

• How do you best represent yourself during life transitions?  Do you find that your wardrobe choices change dramatically, or do you take comfort in keeping your wardrobe choices consistent?
• What's your take on the body = house analogy?  Veteran homeowners, do you find that owning a house makes you appreciate it in different ways?  Have your property-owning responsibilities affected the way you dress?
• From reading your blogs - it's great to catch up on your lives after being away! - it seems like many of you are also rethinking self-perception through clothing choices.  Please share the sartorial/life lessons you've learned this season!

Body Insecurities

Draft:

Composition:
royal blue bridesmaid dress (Exquisite Bride)
silver heels (BCBGMaxAzaria)
chain and pearl bracelet (gift from bride)
on nails: OPI Russian Navy Matte

Usage:
Apologies for my extended absence.  Due to several factors - including, but not limited to, traveling, recovering from the constant motion of this summer, and my general laziness - I haven't been in this corner of cyberspace.  However, there is one other reason that made me a bit gun-shy regarding posting.  You see, I've been going through a small bout of body insecurity. 

It's funny - after writing those words, I feel like I've betrayed some of the general precepts behind this blog and others like it.  After all, we've discussed loving our bodies just as they are, and we've celebrated our varying shapes, sizes, and styles.  In fact, one of the things that I love the most about the fashion blogging community is the body-positive environment it presents.  However, this atmosphere of body confidence, while refreshing and something I wish to see more in the media, also creates a space where discussing insecurities about our bodies, the things that we may occasionally wish we could change, becomes taboo (at least it seems that way to me).

Now, the type of body insecurity that I'm feeling right now is nothing extreme, consuming, or even particularly acute.  Just a run-of-the-mill occasional dissatisfaction with the way I look right now.  Pangs that I think everyone feels at one point or another to be thinner or curvier, to be taller or shorter, to have a smaller nose or longer legs, to have more muscles or thicker hair, etc.  These sporadic desires to just be different are, I think, natural and human.  When they become all-encompassing and cause people to take drastic, self-destructive action (as opposed to healthy steps - like if you want to lose weight and you start eating healthier versus developing an eating disorder) or when they really cause self-esteem to plummet, that is when body insecurity becomes dangerous.  Otherwise, I think it is just part of the ups and downs of life.

The reason I chose this particular outfit to post has nothing really to do with the outfit itself.  I actually think this dress looks quite nice on me.  The color really suits me, it highlights my curves, and I really liked the jewelry the bride gave us.  One thing, though, that bridesmaids dresses do is invite comparison between women.  When four women are standing together wearing different outfits, the eye may not naturally take in their varying shapes and sizes as much as it does when they are wearing the same dress.  The four women wearing this dress did, to some degree, represent different shapes and body types.  However, I was definitely the biggest one of the four - not to say that I am large because I am not - but next to three other women wearing the same dress as me only four sizes smaller, one notices it more.  Or rather, I noticed it more. 

Please note: this is not what "set off" any insecurities.  Nothing in particular acted as a trigger.  Just part of an ebb and flow of my ever-changing self-image.  I'm not worried about it, and I know it will soon pass.  I can change what is in my control, and I must accept what is given.  I will never be a size 2.  My nose will always be a bit larger than I want it to be.  My hair will always be baby fine.  But change that and you change what is uniquely me.  And I don't want to give that up.

Prompts:

• What do you feel insecure about?
• How do you overcome insecurity about your looks or really about anything at all?
• Has blogging changed your self-image at all?  Does it make you more confident about your body? (I think it has in my case).