October 2009

Ten Stupid Fashion Trends

by MomGrind

Despite the stupidity of a few male fashion designers, I love fashion. When it’s not about starving oneself to fit into a size zero or saying that Barbie Doll’s ankles are too fat, fashion is about self expression, creativity and beauty. But over the years, there have been several fashion trends that were, er, stupid. Here are ten of them:

Knee Warmers

Featured by French designer Vanessa Bruno in her Spring 2010 collection. If fashion these days is about looking long and lean, then this does exactly the opposite – it visually cuts your legs to make them look shorter and fuller.

Schoolgirl Look for Adult Women

It’s difficult to decide what I hate more – when women are called “girls” or when women are expected to look like girls. What’s the point of this look anyway? Catering to men’s fantasy of having sex with a minor?? I sure hope not.

Leg Warmers

An incredibly hot trend in the eighties, leg warmers have been showing up here and there in some collections. Unless you’re a dancer and really need them to prevent injury, you just look stupid when you’re wearing leg warmers.

Harem Pants

Harem pants are not just incredibly ugly – they will make your figure look hideous too. Wearing harem pants is basically an excellent way to visually add ten pounds and take five inches off your frame.

Huge Shoulder Pads

Back in the eighties, women totally fell for this look because they believed it would make them look more powerful. There have been a few attempts to revive shoulder pads in past years. Thankfully, none of them succeeded.

Baggy Pants

Perhaps it’s just me, but the look of male underwear peeking above pants that are so big they practically fall to their knees? Not very attractive. I’ve already mentioned my disapproval of the (mostly) teen fashion of baggy pants on this blog, and while patient readers have explained the origins of this fashion trend, I still find it incredibly stupid.

Butt Writing

Butt Writing, or ass writing if you prefer, is about making sure everyone notices your butt. In some cases, it’s about turning your behind into a walking advertisement for certain brands. I’ve already complained about this fashion trend. How come it’s still here?

Extremely Low Rise Jeans

The main problem with extremely low rise jeans: this fashion trend often provides innocent bystanders with way, way TMI.

Torn Jeans

The designers call them “distressed” jeans, much like car salespeople are using “pre-owned” rather then “used,” I imagine. I still say it makes absolutely no sense to pay $225 for a pair of ruined pants.

Statement Shoes

Sure, we all love to make a strong statement and look fabulous, but when the statement is made by wearing shoes that seriously increase your chances of breaking an ankle, one has to wonder, is it a beautiful look, or are we looking here at yet another STUPID FASHION TREND?

Loved this Comment:
S.T.U.P.I.D.
S-illy
T-rends
U-sing
P-eople’s
I-diocy
D-isasterously

Lori Hoeck, who writes about self defense on her website and blog, Thinking like a Black Belt.

Women Love Pink

by MomGrind

I mean, I don’t KNOW that women love pink. I am a woman and I do not love pink at all (I do love purple, though. Is that a feminine enough color?)

However, manufacturers of all types of products seem to feel strongly that women do love pink, should love pink, and must love pink, and so any product specifically marketed to women is almost always pink colored.

In a previous post, we already explored pink products for women such as a power drill, a laptop, and even ear plugs.

Today, allow me to introduce the most feminine product of all: a laxative for women. Its color?

Pink. Duh.

womans-laxative

Outrageous Photoshopping

by MomGrind

Today, I am full of hope. More and more, the media – even mainstream media – is picking up stories about outrageous photoshopping, about fashion images who were so heavily manipulated that they present a disturbingly distorted, unrealistic image of the female body.

The more widespread criticism of these images becomes, the easier it will be for me, when my kids become teens (one of them is a pre-teen, and yes, she’s already worried about her weight), to place such images in the right context – not as something to aspire to and emulate, but as something to ridicule and laugh at.

If we keep doing such a good job of pointing at such images and criticizing them without worrying about outrageous attempts at shutting us up through legal threats, maybe – just maybe – the fashion industry will finally start changing.

Ralph Lauren’s apology is certainly a step in the right direction, although allegedly firing model Filippa Hamilton for being too heavy is not. I am looking forward to seeing less hatred of women and more acceptance of the natural female form, with all its different shapes and sizes and ages, in the fashion industry. It might take several more years, but after seeing how widespread this recent media backlash has been, I am feeling truly hopeful – for the first time since I started writing this blog.

PS. Thank you to reader Barbara Swafford who offers useful blogging tips on her blog “Blogging without a Blog,” and to Linda Abbit, who writes about elder care, for emailing me with this story.

Loved this Comment: “Great photoshopping job, guys. Especially the woman on the right. Lookit the size of her HEAD compared to the body. (Snicker). Not to mention her arm length and size of her hands, compared to her hips. (Ring! Ring!). Hey, that was ET just calling. HE wants his body back.” Friar, The Deep Friar.

Did Karl Lagerfeld Just Call Me Fat?

by MomGrind

karl_lagerfeld When an eccentric (to put it mildly) fashion designer announces that people prefer to look at extremely thin models because fashion is about fantasy, and that the only people who object are “fat mummies” who “sit in front of the television eating bags of crisps,” one must wonder: how do we make sure a person like that does not have power over us?

Mr. Lagerfeld is certainly entitled to his own opinions, and free speech in the Western world dictates that he is also entitled to freely voice those opinions, regardless of how hateful, bigoted and offensive they are. The high fashion designer has never been afraid of controversy, defending fur against PETA, and – according to some reports – saying that model Heidi Klum is too heavy to be a runway model.

The real issue as far as I’m concerned is not Mr. Lagerfeld’s misogyny, but his power over women. A top fashion designer, Mr. Lagerfeld is widely regarded as a fashion guru and his fashion creations, featuring very structured, dramatic and feminine women’s wear, mostly in black and white, are considered as masterpieces.

As the recent love fest around child rapist Roman Polanski demonstrates, our society tends to forgive talented, ambitious, rich men their eccentricities, even their crimes. It is therefore highly unlikely that Mr. Lagerfeld will be pushed to the sidelines and ignored just because he hates women. We women however must make sure we put whatever this man says in the right context, as the personal opinions of someone with an extremely odd and unusual personality who lives in his own fantasy world, completely disconnected from the daily reality of most of us.

Loved this Comment: “Personally, I intend to protest by eating a bag of potato chips.” Els Withers.

Photo by siebbi

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

by MomGrind

pumpkin cupcakes

We make these sweet little pumpkin cupcakes every year for Halloween, and again for Thanksgiving. They are far more light and airy than pumpkin pie, they’re not too sweet, and they go perfectly with coffee or with milk for breakfast or for an afternoon snack. Bonus: they are relatively healthy, too. If you want an even healthier version, made with whole-wheat flour and Greek yogurt frosting, click here: Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cupcakes with Greek Yogurt Frosting.

Recipe makes 15 cupcakes

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, softened

For frosting (optional):
1 8-ounce package (224 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon high quality vanilla extract
2 – 4 tablespoons pumpkin puree. The pumpkin puree makes the frosting runnier than usual. Start with 2 tablespoons and add more only if it’s not too runny. I use 4 tablespoons.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Line 15 muffin cups with paper liners and spray with nonstick spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda) with a fork.

3. In another bowl, beat together the liquid ingredients (pumpkin puree, whole milk, eggs, and butter) using a whisker.

4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well with a fork. Batter will be thick and a little spongy.

5. Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each cup almost to top.

6. Bake about 20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes.

7. Five minutes before cupcakes are done cooling, prepare the frosting: beat the cream cheese until softened, using an electric mixer on medium. Slowly add the sugar and vanilla extract, then the pumpkin puree, and beat for a couple more minutes, until creamy.

8. Frost the cupcakes and decorate, if you wish. We like to decorate pumpkin cupcakes with candy corn.

The frosted cupcakes keep well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Take them out of the fridge an hour before serving them. The non-frosted pumpkin cupcakes freeze well, and are easily thawed in the microwave.

Nutrition per cupcake
Calories 275.8
Total Fat 10.6 g
Saturated Fat 6.2 g
Cholesterol 53.1 mg
Sodium 222.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate 47.0 g
Dietary Fiber 1.4 g
Sugars 32.6 g
Protein 4.3 g

Sexy, Belly-Baring, Glam: Inappropriate Halloween Costumes for Kids

by MomGrind

I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand these Halloween costumes for kids. Halloween or not, I don’t think there’s any need, or excuse, to sexualize little girls. Can’t we give them just a few more precious years of childhood?

Genie Child Costume for ages 4 and up:
genie-child-costume