Skinny Privilege

Content warning: discussion of body shaming. 

Unless you've been living under a rock, you will probably have noticed that, regarding fashion industry, the increasing consensus is that the overuse of young, white and above all skinny models is a bad thing. There's been a big move towards body positivity in fashion and in society over the past several years, which is great news and something I really support. I think it's important that we show all women in media and celebrate each and every one of their physiques, and recognise that healthy isn't just the one image. Unfortunately, this is also where I differ from a lot of supposed 'body positivity' proponents, because I think all physiques should be celebrated.

Osteology Wishlist

Top - Scottish Ram Skull, Roe buck mount. Bottom - mole skull, Harbour seal skull.
Product images from The Weird & Wonderful and The Fox Den Shop; products no longer available. 

My birthday is swiftly approaching and, though everyone I know who is nice enough to spoil me has already organised themselves, If I could afford to be decadent I'd get something from the above list and treat myself.

Taxidermy, though I can appreciate it, has never really been my thing; it's always been bones. Skull are so stripped and matter-of-fact - there's no room for the fripperies of decoration that taxidermy delights in. Only the bare essentials are visible. (I'd perhaps make an exception for a muntjac mount, however.)

I spent all my childhood summers on the bleak and windy north-east coast, where if I was careful and kept my eyes open I could find tern skulls and sheep bones. My current collection features a variety of bones (sheep, deer, seagull and cow) and some fantastic skulls (deer, rabbit, seagull, tern), but I'd love to add some more unusual pre-cleaned pieces - possibly carved skulls, a jacob's ram skull or perhaps some reptilian pieces, but these are the bare bones (pun unfortunately intended) of what I'd like. How cool are mole skulls? A full skeleton would be amazing, but let's start small.




Fee

The Bionic Life

What do you know? After running an article on real-life bionic girl Viktoria Modesta some weeks ago, this week I not only found one article on Haute Macabre about interesting prostheses - or even two - but three. They've also covered The Alternative Limb Project, which I mentioned in my last post.

Prosthetics are exciting. Rather than the traditional model of disability, where your potential is seen as reduced (however untrue), prosthetics carry the possibility of your flaw becoming an asset; you are more than before. From the cellist to the fashion model, this new generation of prosthetics allow the incorporation of one's interests and visions into the very fabric of one's body.

Prosthetics are personally exciting to me also because there is a chance that these developments will significantly improve the lives of my future patients. Despite my rhapsodising, amputation is a serious and upsetting event for most patients, and not to be taken lightly. These developments, however, offer a means of making the road to recovery just a little bit easier.




Fee

Sophistique Noir's Monthly theme: Black and White

We wear a lot of black. We've been wearing black since the eighties. Hence, in the same way that friends and family are surprised and compliment me when I wear anything that doesn't make me look like I jumped in a coal bunker, the alternative fashion community is increasingly stirring to the sound of what could arguably considered our antithesis: white.

Lady Amaranth, photographed by Kestrel Photography.

The Mutant Stomp Friends correctly marked white as the colour of the year back in January, but it's been invading dark fashion as well; I first noticed this on instagram, with the stunning Torture Gardens' penchant for ghostly victorian frocks, but it's showing elsewhere; on the other end of the scale, pastel goth has been rocking this since its inception. I'm hesitant to call this a trend, as we've been playing with the concept through 'Ice Goth' for years - hell, Ra was rocking it back in 2012. Perhaps I'm just waking up to how common it really is?

Patience Kingsley of @Torturegardens.

We dark fashion fans like white for the same reasons we like black; whilst black has obvious funereal and occult connotations (as well as being the colour of fashion designers), white is associated with purity and the ethereal side of death. Its religious use at communion and weddings lends it an unearthly quality, which works well in horror.

Image from tumblr: source unknown. Harness by Creepyyeha. 

 In some ways, white is almost more indulgent than wearing all black; it takes balls to wear an ivory dress for an entire day. It also makes you stand out more - lots of people can wear all black, but white really turns heads. White can alternately lend a crispness or softness, but it's when it's paired in harmony with black that, for dark fashion, it really comes into its own; a leather harness, dark lipstick or other signifiers of your normal style can really make an otherwise bleached outfit. I anticipate most outfit posts on this month's black and white theme will be predominantly black with white touches, so I figure this is a nice alternative suggestion.

Ghost Bones by anhonestdrug featuring white hair clips

Me? I think white is lovely, and there's a wonderful clean optimism about it... but then my gaze drifts back to my wardrobe, and I just want to take out my velvets and my silks and my leather, rub my face into their fabric and drown in a Fitzgerald-esque pile of luxurious decadence. I am haunted by black. 

Plus, it hides stains far better. 

Fiona C.

Music: She's Lost Control

It's certainly not an original pick for a Joy Division song, but I was finishing some work late last night (to blame for this late post), and 'She Lost Control' came on. It's a good song, even if I tend to avoid it because of how overplayed it can be, but this time, given my current teaching block is neurology, it made me pause.

Curtis was a well known epileptic, and contrary to popular belief actually wrote this song about a girl with epilepsy whom he saw fitting, and later discovered had actually died as a result of a seizure. His own condition being poorly controlled, I can't imagine how terrifying that was for him.

I had to tell a (simulated) patient on thursday that he had to give up the job that was keeping his family of six out of debt because he wasn't safe behind the wheel of his van. Like psychological illness - which Curtis also experienced - epilepsy is perhaps more frightening than any physical illness because it is your own brain turning against you; you are utterly alone. This is even before you factor in the stigma faced by patients, or the all the limitations placed on them. It's disabling and isolating, which really comes across in the song. I wish it could have gone better for him.




Fee

Personal Style: Dry Your Eyes

The results are in; for those not living in the UK or keeping up with its news, Scotland voted in their referendum on independence on thursday, and the vote was a no. I've been a yes supporter for a long time, and I was gutted; this issue means a lot, and I spent a fair chunk of the morning crying. Between this and a backlog of work, I've not had time for blogging. 

I took these photos maybe two weeks ago, but due to my disaster of a schedule haven't posted them until now. I'm a big fan of this jumper with everything in my wardrobe, but Dundee has been surprisingly warm and unsuitable for autumnal clothing, so it's been relegated to the top shelf for now. Maxis are also a favourite, and I've since picked up a skirt to sit beside this dress. 

When I was taking these photos, I could hear high pitched bird noises, and found that some pigeons seemed to be stuck behind a girder attached to the wall. I took pity on them and called the SSPCA, but when they arrived and called me apparently the pigeons had left and it must have been a nest I'd heard. Oops. 

I'm still feeling low post-result, but it not time to give up; 45% of Scotland is not happy, and I have to dry my eyes and join in. Yesterday was a day for mourning, but today we demand our politicians prove their accountability and give us our powers. Then, next generation, we try again. 

Fiona

P.s. I realise both my header and sidebar have gone down, and I apologise for this. This is clearly my fault for being a useless coder and will try and fix it today. (Edit: header is fixed, and I'll do the sidebar later today!)

Improbable longing: Silver leotard

Source.

First on my list of 'items so ridiculous I shouldn't want them, but really, really do'. Hell, if body suits are a thing, then why can't I wear a dance leotard out?

I've been planning my halloween costume recently (more on this come the end of October), and found this in my search for something I could modify. I take aesthetic delight in it beyond its role as a costume piece, and dream of using it as an actual part of my wardrobe in the way (IN)DECOROUS TASTE found that nude body suits are an absurdly practical staple. Polo necks have been surging through my wardrobe over the past half year and conquering ground as they go, and silver has been my go to accent for some time now. Though really, I would get it in black as well.

I'd probably wear this on a night out with big hair, a cropped jacket and obnoxious heels, because even if I wear it seriously doing so is still a crazy performance. Spaceman inspiration? I can't get enough.




Fee