Plum Crazy

Updated F.A.Q.

I've updated my F.A.Q., because yet again a Google search for "navy pants and brown shoes" has led another questioner to my corner of the Internets. I am pleased to offer this fashion advice to any and all.

The answer hasn't changed since last I addressed this hot fashion topic, BTW. It's still "No."

Googling for Fashion Tips

To the person who came upon my website with the search "brown shoes with navy pants".

No. Just no. Step away from the brown shoes. If you're a woman, navy shoes. If you're a man, oxblood. Not brown.

Great Hair Product Alert!

Finally, I have found the nirvana of hair products for curly hair. No longer will I be forced to use a blowdryer if I want to have a decent hair day. So if anyone out there has curly hair but has feared to let it dry naturally because it looks weird, fear no more!* Tigi's Curls Rock Booster and Curls Rock Amplifier are awesome.

*Of course, the vast majority of my tiny readership is male, so this probably won't be of much use to you all. But just in case any women, other than my mother, happen to stumble here, trust me. Amazing stuff.

Thank You, Eddie Bauer

I really want to thank Eddie Bauer for selling women's jeans that sit at the waist. I don't know precisely when plumbers became fashion icons, but it is very hard these days to find jeans that aren't low-risers. I hate low-risers. I wouldn't have liked them when I was in my 20s, and I certainly don't like them now that I'm in my 40s. So when I was out buying new jeans this weekend, I searched around until I finally decided to try Eddie Bauer. Yay!

Sadly, I still haven't found decent chinos that sit at the waist. I think I'm going to buy men's chinos at the Gap. You know, they still sell a wide variety of men's jeans and chinos that sit at the waist.

Why?

I've been perusing the fall clothes styles, and I have one question:

Knickers?

What A Culture

Lord knows I understand the desire to look good. To look younger. To be attractive. I really do. I spend a lot of time and money on skin care and hair care.

What I don't understand, though, is why perfectly fine-looking women feel the need to undergo plastic surgery to "make" themselves look good. I'm not talking about women who were born with disfigurements, have been in accidents, lost a breast to cancer, or anything like that. I'm talking about women who look fine. They don't look like movie stars, but then again, most of the time movie stars don't look like movie stars either.

Yesterday, when I was home sick, I had left the TV on low in the background. At some point, Oprah came on. She had devoted her whole show to people who had undergone "extreme makeovers". I'm looking at these women (and one man). Not one of them needed plastic surgery to look better. A better haircut. Contact lenses or lasik surgery*. A little makeup. A different skin care regimen. Some nicer clothes. That was it. It's not even hard, and, with the exception of lasik, it costs a lot less than plastic surgery.

What is wrong when so many fine-looking people hate themselves so much that the only way they think they can feel better is to undergo voluntary surgery or have someone inject their faces with neurotoxins? [If you don't believe they hate themselves, listen to them speak about their desire to undergo plastic surgery and hear how many times the word "hate" is used.] I know I can be accused fairly of being a lesser victim of the same obsession. I do think, though, there's a fundamental difference between applying a skin cream (okay, multiple skin creams and oils) and being cut with a scalpel. Between having facials every month and having a doctor shoot your forehead full of poison.

I'm not advocating that we all walk around looking unkempt. I'm not advocating doing away with cosmetics (although, could we please not call them "cosmeceuticals"). I'd be the world's biggest hypocrite if I were. But shouldn't we be worrying when we're encouraging people to undergo dangerous and invasive medical procedures just because they hate themselves? I know what it's like to look in the mirror and hate what you see. But that's just a feeling that's not based in reality. Wouldn't we be much better off if we helped people accept the reality, rather than celebrating as we slip further and further into a fantasy?

UPDATE: Via Cruella-blog. Corsets, a known cause of physical problems in women, are coming back into fashion. Yes, you too can have an unnaturally small waist. Just as long as breathing easily doesn't mean all that much to you.

*I don't consider lasik surgery to be plastic surgery, since lasik does correct an actual, measurable physical defect.

Someone to Watch Over Me

I just paid $22.10, including shipping and handling, for the following 5 vintage watches. Only the pendant works, but I was wanting a pendant watch anyway, since I hate wearing watches on my wrist. I may try to get one or more of the bracelet watches functional again, though, depending on the cost.

Beauty Tip

I had my first cut and color in Hoboken yesterday, and I found a great stylist. This guy is amazing at mixing color. He also gave me a fabby tip which I tried out and will share with other women. You know how when you wake up and your hair is still clean, but then you put on a shower cap, hop under the water, and when you're done, it feels tacky? Well, he told me that if you wrap a towel around your head and then put on a shower cap, that keeps the humidity from your hair, so it won't get that tacky feel. I am pleased to announce that he's right.

Disclaimer: If your hair is very oily, this probably won't work for you. But if your hair is normal to dry and is getting dried out and damaged from being washed every day, then give it a shot.

Kim is Lil', Not Her Jewelry

Whoever stole Lil' Kim's jewelry probably did her a favor.

Forget War...

This is really scary. I got a sample of it when I ordered some stuff from Sephora. Oh, the humanity!

Prada Goes High Tech

High fashion and high tech aren't usually connected, except in my offbeat brain. But now the new Prada store in SoHo goes high tech!