Betsy Johnson Spring 2014 Ready To Wear

I remember the Betsy Johnson brand from when I was working at Macy's. They had a 50's Barbie doll feel about them, so I was never really a fan and I have mixed feelings about their spring collection. It's super girly-floral-punk pairing fluffy organza, floral and leopard prints, fingerless gloves, and everywhere pink pink PINK! I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable wearing any of it, but I can't help feeling good about this collection, possibly because of the enthusiasm of the models. I have never before seen runway models having so much fun. How can you not enjoy a collection when it's presented like this?

Alberta Ferretti Spring 2014 Ready To Wear

According to Ferretti, this collection is about color and youthfulness, inspired by a mix of Southern Italian and South American influences. The WWD article I read accuses Ferretti of overdoing it, showing a total lack of restraint in the use of color and pattern, such as this example of a white crop top with floral embellishments paired with a floor-length skirt sporting thick, punch-you-in-the-face-bright stripes. I have to say, I do not see the problem here. Only one or two dresses in the entire collection are all over stripes. The majority of the collection tastefully breaks up the stripes with plain white so it never seems too overpowering. A zoot suit in that fabric is overdoing it it - a selection of fun skirts and a couple short flirty dresses, not so much.

I Think I Have Something To Say About Fashion Week

I don't normally have much to say about runway fashion. I even tend to avoid actually looking at it. I have a live and let live philosophy about the whole thing:  they can make whatever overpriced monstrosities they want as long as I don't have to wear them. However, I have been casually looking at Womens Wear Daily's coverage of the Spring ready-to-wear shows for 2014, and I find, belatedly and in the middle of Milan's Fashion Week, that I DO have something to say about what's going on in these collections. In fact, I have several somethings I want to say. I'm going to go through these one collection at a time and give my thoughts on each one. I'm not going to go over every collection this time around because I'm starting late and I don't want to still be doing this at Christmas, so I'm limiting myself to the shows I had strong reactions to. I may even come back at these designers with a few improvements/variations of my own. So stay tuned:  Refashioned Runway starts tomorrow.

Ready, Set, Tablet!

I got my very first tablet today. It's interesting to experience this new technology (new to me, that is), especially the touch screen. It's pretty sensitive,  but I'm starting to get the hang of it. Right now it's also fun to watch the tablet try to guess my words, but what this means for the blog is more posts closer to the events they are describing.

So get ready for a whole new world of blogging. Let's have some fun!

Family Friday: An Exercise in Exercise

Kids didn't use to have to exercise. They stayed fit enough running around being kids. They didn't have to diet. They could burn off anything just being themselves. I will admit that I did exercise as a child. I thought my mom's Jane Fonda tapes were so much fun, I would do them with her. Trouble is, kids don't run around outside much anymore. They don't jump or climb as much. They sit in front of the TV, in front of the computer, in front of gaming consoles. But I don't blame them. I don't even blame the media. I blame us. We tell our children, "Go outside and play," but when is the last time we went outside to play? With this in mind, I would like you to examine the following exchange:


Shawn:  Aimee, is there a way I can get in shape without moving?

Me:  No, movement is required for exercise.

Shawn:  Oh. Well, is there a way I can exercise without using my legs or running?

Me:  You could try sit-ups.

Shawn:  OK! How do I do sit-ups?

Me:  Lay down on your back. (Shawn lays down on his back.) Now sit up. (Shawn puts his hands on the ground beside him and pushes himself back to a seated position.)

Me:  (realizing my mistake) No! You have to sit up without using your hands. Put your hands behind your head or cross them across your chest.

Shawn:  (puts his hands behind his head and does a proper sit-up, actually more of a crunch as his head and shoulders barely rise off the floor) Oohhh! (flops back to the floor.)

Me:  (realizing this is probably as good as it is going to get for now) OK, now do it again.

Shawn:  (repeating crunch and flop) Oohhh!

Me:  Again.

Shawn:  (repeating crunch and flop) Oohhh! This is torture!!

I didn't have a useful response and Shawn did not try anymore sit-ups.

From This To That #1: Powering Through Powerade Bottles

This series is all about showing what my raw material sources get reduced down to after I harvest the parts I need for my crafts. The above photo shows two trash bags' worth of Powerade bottles. The photo just below shows what's left after I cut off the bottoms for paper mache molds, which incidentally fills less than one of those same trash bags. Not a bad start.

Recycle, But What About Reduce and Reuse?

We all used to hear a lot about recycling. We still do. 56% post-consumer material. Made from recycled sneakers. The list goes on. When we were taught the three environmentalist R's:  Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, the first two got glossed over somewhat, and recycling took center stage. The concepts of reduce and reuse deserve more attention, so here are my definitions for this popular threesome:

Reduce:  This concept is twofold. First we reduce our waste output by doing things that don't create waste in the first place, like using a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water, using a reusable shopping bag instead of the plastic or paper ones you get at the store, or buying buying items in bulk where possible so there is less packaging to throw away. Secondly, we can reduce our waste by saving some of what we would throw away for later reuse or recycling.

Reuse:  This is all about using what you might normally throw away all over again, either for it's original intended purpose or for a different purpose altogether. If you use a plastic freezer bag to store bagels over and over again, you're reusing. If you use an old jelly jar as a vase for cut flowers, congratulations! You're reusing too.

Recycle:  This one is frequently more about what your local recycling center can do for you than what you can do for yourself, but don't let that absolve you of your environmental responsibility. Recycling plants need to expend energy to turn those tin cans into tinfoil, melt glass down to be reformed, and all the other things they do. It can be satisfying to expend some of your own energy to make old things new again. Using old newspapers (and even the hated "junk mail") as paper mache is a great example of recycling and no one will ever know what's in it.

So there you have it. I hope this goes to show how important all three of these environmental concepts are, and I hope you give them all the equal respect they deserve.