Glossed Over

Coming on the heels of my Princess Tirade, it's going to seem that i'm a wooly-armpitted, angry women's studies major. If you know me, you know my armpits are only wooly out of laziness, not politics, and that i love eyeliner and boots with heels that make chiropractors cringe, and that my absolute LEAST favorite reading assignments in my literature major were anything remotely feminist or 'empowering'.

i used to get InStyle and i frequently purchased Vanity Fair and occasionally Vogue. i also used to spend $30 on paper thin t-shirts at J Crew. i also used to crimp my hair so i could look like Vicki Vale. i also used to pick my nose and eat dry dog food. Point: i used to do stupid things. i don't do (most of) those anymore, but you know who's still doing the same stupid stuff they did 20 years ago? Fashion magazines. i realize that these esteemed publications make no bones about selling illusion and discontent, but seeing as how the world is getting wiser and more troubled, the contrast of ideals is ever more glaring. It's not limited to the glossies, either. i looked through an issue of Real Simple that trumpeted a beauty routine that encouraged eye creams in the $400 dollar range (for the bulk discount of 2.5 ounces, naturally.) Seems realistic and simple to me.

A good outlet for rolling your eyes at such shenanigans is Glossed Over. It's one woman's response to the disappointment magazines like InStyle, Glamour, etc cause. What i appreciate about the author is that she loves fashion as an art but doesn't let that cancel out her common sense or her sense of injustice. She points out a single issue of Lucky that crows about an $85 dollar bronzer that will donate 5% of your purchase to endangered tigers, only to tell you how great fur coats look a few pages later. Or this nugget from a recent issue of Glamour:

$1,712: Value of the gift bag from Glamour’s Women of the Year gala. 68.75: Percent of honorees cited at least in part for their work improving the lives of women in poverty or oppressive situations.

Or InStyle's recent suggestion that you take the $200/month you'd spend on gas and spend it on 1 ounce of Wrinkle Serum and then just take public transportation. (oh! i see we're back to real simplicity.)

Anyway, it's refreshing and often funny. And i've pretty much stopped buying fashion magazines since i discovered this site, with the exception of the occasional Vanity Fair, which actually employs investigatory journalists who investigate things more significant than Healthy, Shiny Hair! or How Madonna Works Off the Holidays. i won't say that i've stopped eating dog food, but i HAVE stopped buying overpriced basic at J Crew. Cheers to me.