Airing Her Dirty Laundry: Sartoriography

Good Monday, everyone. It's time for another edition (almost just wrote "addition"...must be Monday) of my interview-y feature, Airing Her Dirty Laundry. Emily, of the lovely blog sartoriography, and I have been IRL friends for a couple of months now, and we thought it was high time to have a proper introduction (that's right, we've been friends for months and have never asked each other a single question. We're awesome, but apparently rather uncommunicative). So we are asking each other the same series of questions today (here's my post on sartoriography). Some of the questions (and most of the answers) are a bit silly, but bear with us, and be sure to read all the way to the end.

Emily is wearing...Dress: Kelli's closet * Sandals: Target * Belt: Target * Bracelets: "small boy street vendor in Namibia"

1. Who's your style icon? May I say fictional people? Probably an amalgamation of Joan Holloway (of Mad Men fame) and Charlotte Gainsborough or her sister, Lou Doillon. I love the idea of blending sexy, curvy, vintage silhouettes with tough, rocker glam. Also, you are my style icon. I really love that you try so many typed of trends and outfits- jean shorts, pencil skirts, cuffed pants, wide-leg linen trousers, belted dresses, face-eating scarves... It's funny, because you and I are so physically different- short and tall, petite and curvy, short hair and long, etc. etc. And yet I get super inspired by what you wear and how you wear it. Our differences engender pride in my own unique appearance AND new ideas for interesting fashion I hadn't considered before seeing you rock them. :)

2. Name some of your favorite places to shop in Chicago. I'm a really big fan of thrift stores, especially Unique. You should know that, since we went there together and found a treasure trove of sartorial delights.

3. If you had to work at a fashion magazine, which would it be? Probably Mother Jones. My favorite material is hemp, my favorite scent patchouli. Actually, I think we should make our own fashion magazine. You quit your job, I'll drop out of school, and we'll breathe life back into a dying industry!

Wind baby! (self made...see original here)

4. How does your interest in fashion intersect with the rest of your life- your job, your relationships, your ethical perspectives, etc.? If I were answering this question seriously, I'd say something about how, when I need thoughts on an outfit, my boy person is incredibly generous with his advice and artistic analysis (relationship); about using fashion to negotiate the context of a male-dominated classroom and to inspire confidence in often intimidating intellectual situation (job); and about how my commitment to environmentalism and responsible consumption inspire (at least some) of my clothing choices and how my identification as a "feminist" is inextricably linked to my ideas about clothing and fashion (ethics). Instead, I'll say that fashion is what facilitated my friendship with you, and that's all that matters.

5. Is there any exciting news you'd like to share with the blogosphere? Yes. I'd like everyone reading this blog to know that...

Clare and I are roommates!

Uh...we got caught in the mother of all rainstorms and thought that documentation was in order.

That's right, world, an unstoppable blogging duo has been created. Joe will be leaving Chicago for graduate school soon, and though I plan to follow eventually, I'm happy to be hanging in Chicago for the time being, especially with my awesome new apartment and new roomie!

Fashion is ... Academic

Welcome to another installment of Fashion is... (see here, here, here, and here for the other guest posts by Sal, Kyla, Chelsea, and Audi). In this series, I've been trying to explore the multiplicity of meanings behind the idea of fashion and personal style, to try to get to the heart of the "why do we dress/care/blog?" question. I'm thrilled to have Tania of What Would a Nerd Wear posting here today on the role of fashion in academia. Tania has an incredibly sense of style, an incredible writing voice, and a completely accessible, she's-already-your-best-friend attitude and personality.

Like any literature student who once read Cleanth Brooks, I am fascinated by paradox, and the subject “fashion is academic” is as paradoxical as it comes, for me. On the one hand, fashion is academic precisely because everything is academic to the academic. Academics put their analytical skills to work for just about anything: The Bachelor is an acute display of commodity fetishism; parenting becomes an act of navigating everything you know about Freud; an argument with your roommate is narrated in the terms of a novel you’ve been reading lately; oh, and that scene in The Shining where Jack Nicholson throws a tennis ball against the wall for hours at a stretch? It’s starting to sound a lot like writing a dissertation.

In many ways, fashion is no exception. Fashion is academic, because I am an academic. Because I think and read and write like an academic, my scholarship is always implicated in my ideas about clothes. Because I am interested in how writers narrate personality, I am also interested in how clothing is a way to narrate a character. Naturally, I see dressing myself in the morning as one of the ways I narrate myself. It’s part of the story I tell about myself, but just one part, like Mrs. Dalloway might say, how she “drew the parts together, she alone knew how different, how incompatible and composed so for the world only into one centre, one diamond.” So this “one centre” that shows itself via my outward appearance is also a specious one, because it narrates a kind of cohesive self that I don’t really feel I inhabit.

And yet, fashion is also decidedly not academic. It is, according to the critical voice in my head, vain, silly, or un-serious. But its lightness is also one of the reasons why I love it. It is my hobby which is entirely separate from the English department—a rare and wonderful thing considering that all my other extracurriculars have reading lists and most of my friends are also academics. It is a relief to have a community who isn’t judging my love of a good pair of jeans or my anxiety about what to wear to teach. Teaching in a small department in a small town sometimes feels like living in the panopticon—someone is always watching. And for a while, my blog was a place of my very own; oddly, it was the most private part of my life even though it was also clearly the most public.

This post comes at a strange time for me, when the collision of fashion and academia seems particularly germane. Having recently realized that several of my colleagues found What Would a Nerd Wear and know my stylish little secret, I feel confronted more than usual with reconciling the relationship between my life as a scholar and my sometimes-frivolous-but-mostly-wonderful explorations with my wardrobe, my readers, and other style writers.

In the end, I remain stuck between these two experiences: fashion as an academic pursuit and fashion as the part of my life which is unrelated to my academic pursuits. Unable to reconcile these contradictory experiences of style, I’ll settle, happily, with paradox.

Thank you, Tania, for that beautiful post! And for any of you who aren't already mega-huge-major fans of Tania's blog, head over there now to give her some love!

Fashion is ... Creative

Welcome back to this Friday's installment of Between Laundry Days's "Fashion is..." series. We've already been visited by Sal of Already Pretty, Kyla of Blue Collar Catwalk, and Chelsea of Bright Side Dweller. I've had such a blast so far reading the posts and the delightfully insightful discussions that have come up in the comments. And I'm so excited to bring you another fave blogger of mine, Audi of Fashion for Nerds. Despite the title of her blog, Audi is, by far, one of the coolest bloggers out there. She's one of those women who I'd be way to shy to hang out with in person because, let's face it, she's kind of totally rad. Her style is individual, while still focusing on comfort and a fabulous sense of aesthetics. I'm so excited for Audi to be writing her guest post about fashion as a creative outlet.

Working as I do among hundreds of brilliant but mostly fashion-indifferent biology nerds, style is the means by which I explore creative invention and personal expression in a disciplined, highly technical environment. Each day brings a new opportunity to experiment with style and to craft an outfit that can reflect my mood, or even shape it. And just as there are many facets of my personality, so are there many facets of my style, which is ever evolving and mutable.

I think in order to really have fun with fashion and use it as a creative outlet, one must be willing to make mistakes, and believe me, I make plenty of those. But to me, taking risks and perhaps missing the mark on a single day is far better than wearing ‘safe’ selections every day that never make an impression. Another important aspect to dressing creatively is being willing to change your style, because even the most daring looks will become ‘safe’ if done enough times. There are many styles I’ve tried, and loved, over the years, but eventually each one made way for something new and different. I like the way those previous styles become frozen in time, defining certain periods of my life.

By using fashion to express my inner voice to the outside world, I can also shape my own moods and experiences. If I’m feeling low, I can wear vibrant colors and funky patterns to lift my spirits; if I’m feeling downtrodden at work, I can use towering heels and edgy styles to give me power; if I’m feeling too serious, I can wear something playful and laugh at myself. And even if my stylistic statements are comprehensible only to me, they’re still important because they change my relationship with the world and how I view myself in it. When my creativity flourishes I am at my best, and this affects how I interact with others as well as how they respond to me.

From a practical standpoint, dressing as a creative outlet means that my style varies a lot from day to day. For many years I struggled with the fact that I don’t really have a signature style, but more recently I’ve learned to embrace that fact. I might wear a vintage mod minidress one day, cropped pants and a tie the next, and ruffles and tulle the day after that, because I’ve grown to trust my instincts and know that each of these distinctly different styles conveys some small part of who I am, or who I want to be on that day. And exploring all these different sides of myself – feminine, sexy, playful, nerdy, bold, powerful – allows me the fullest enjoyment of fashion’s creative potential.

Audi, thank you so much again! You're just wonderful.

Fashion is ... Gendered?

For today's installment of my "Fashion is..." series (see here and here for the previous posts), I am proud, thrilled, and excited to bring you Chelsea from Bright Side Dweller, to talk to us about the socially gendered element of fashion. Chelsea is wonderful (I've already sung her praises in the Airing Her Dirty Laundry feature I did with her awhile back), and I am so excited to wish her a BIG congratulations on her recent engagement!!! If you read Chelsea's blog, it's obvious how in love her and Nic (her now-fiance!!) are, and I couldn't be happier for them. Anyway, I'll leave you now with Chelsea's lovely words of wisdom.

Fashion and gender are inextricably linked; for the most part the way that people dress expresses their gender to the world. This can be both fabulous and craptastic, and I'll tell ya why.

I am what many would call a "femme" lesbian. Definitions of the term vary almost from person to person, but my definition is pretty much about the way I dress and my gender identity. I am girly and feminine and I love it. I've been this way since my earliest memories when sparkly pink jellies were my shoe of choice, pants weren't pretty, and skirts were favored in direct relation to their twirliness.

I am attracted to women that are quite different from me; I like the boyish types. Whether they identify as "butch" or not does not really matter, as long as they hate makeup, skirts and heels - that's enough for me. I think it's adorable. I've been asked the question, "if you are attracted to women who dress like men, then why not just have the real thing?" and to that I respond that I am attracted to these women both because of their inherent woman-ness (body shape, soft skin, shared experience growing up female), their courage to be defiant of traditional gender norms just to be themselves, and the way the encapsulate masculinity and femininity at the same time. Plus they're freaking HOT.

Unfortunately the fashion world does not cater to both me and my boyish friends, and this can make shopping quite a challenge for women like my beloved. When searching for a collared shirt, she goes back and forth between the men's and boy's departments - men's shirts' sleeves and hems are too long, boy's shirts don't account for boobage. Pants end up being too long everywhere, especially the crotch, and then too narrow in the hips. Even "menswear inspired" pieces are feminized with their cropping and fitting and just don't feel right to her. Add to this the uncomfortable-ness of trying on true menswear in the dressing room and being stared at by scared ignorant people, and shopping turns into just an un-fun activity (the horror!). Similar problems undoubtedly affect men who prefer women's clothes, except dressing this way is even LESS socially accepted and can be downright dangerous in this gender-dichotomy-obsessed world we live in.

In my perfect world gender and fashion would break up and boys could buy dresses cut for their body type, women could find hot boyish suits right off the rack that didn't have to be altered like crazy, and people would stopping judging and stereotyping other people for how they express their true selves.

The end.

Thank you so much for this post, Chels. And congrats again!

Fashion is ... Comfortable

Welcome, all, to the second installment of my "fashion is..." series. Today I'm thrilled to have Kyla of Blue Collar Catwalk write a post on fashion as comfortable. Kyla is a woman that I honestly count in my list of close friends. She and I have not met, not face to face at least, but I feel that we're kindred spirits, and would be total bffs in real life. I've followed her blog since she started it a little over a year ago, and I've so enjoyed watching her style change and grow. She has a beautiful voice, a gorgeous smile, and a sincerely fabulous sense of style.

I'm so excited that Clare asked me to tackle this topic. So often, the idea of comfort is completely overlooked when it comes to fashion. The idea that we must suffer in the name of fashion as though it's some great achievement or rite of passage is ridiculous. Fashion is not digging seams, itchy materials and mega-blisters. Fashion is comfortable.

There are so many things I look for in my daily outfits, but the most important is comfort. For me, few things ruin an outfit quicker than a pinched toe, sagging pants or a pain-inducing waistband. Even moreso, if I don't have full range of motion with all body parts, then forget it. When I think about what I'm going to wear, I think about what my day will entail. Then, I ask myself a few questions: Will these shoes survive the weather? When I walk to lunch, will my feet survive these shoes? Will my underwear lines show in these pants? Is that bra going to drive me bonkers under this shirt? Can I even wear a bra under this shirt? Will I be able to close the trunk of the car if I layer under this jacket? Am I going to have to modify any movements in order to wear this all day? If the answer to any of these is "yes," then it's a pretty good sign to move on. After all, what good is personal style if it doesn't fit into your personal life? Sacrificing comfort for fashion seems like an oxymoron to me. I spend a lot of time and energy putting together looks that express who I am and who I am is a real girl with a real body, real job, and real life. If my clothing prevents me from experiencing any part of my day to the fullest, then what's the point? Fashion is not just putting on the clothes - it's wearing the clothes. And if wearing the clothes means sporting 5 bandaids or tugging and pulling with every movement, then what are you really saying about yourself?

I didn't always subscribe to this belief. I was the girl who trekked all over her Big Ten campus in 3" heels on a daily basis. I was also the girl walking really funny by the end of the day. Many of you know that I recently gave up all heels in lieu of flats, and I've enjoyed it more than I could have ever imagined. Before, I relied far too much on the shoes to make the statement. Now, I'm challenged to be more creative with my clothes and accessories, which has allowed for a much more cohesive and expressive style to come through.

Of course, comfort extends beyond footwear and starts with the basics. Have you ever worn underwear that doesn't stay put or an ill-fitting bra? Have you ever worn a pair of pants that constantly creep down or a shirt the constantly creeps up? So much of comfort comes down to fit. I encourage you all to be fitted for proper undergarments - I swear, it will change your life! And if things aren't staying in place, then there may be a better style or a different size that would better suit you. Could you imaging going through an entire day without having to fidget or readjust? Just think of the time you could save!

I've gotten to the point now where I just don't buy, keep or wear anything that's not truly comfortable. This means the garment must fit, must flatter and must stay in place. If it doesn't, then it must go - my closet space is far too precious. I've had one too many blisters, visible panty lines and chafing seams to know that if I'm not comfortable in my clothes, it's going to show in everything I do. Fashion should make us feel confident, not self-conscious.

Thank you so much for doing this with me, beautiful Kyla! Click here, or on any of the pictures, to go hang out at her blog for awhile. For those of you who want more of the "Fashion is..." series, click here for my introduction of it, and here for Sally of Already Pretty's wonderful post on fashion and body image.

Fashion is ... Personal Style

For the first installment of my "Fashion is..." series of guest posts, I am beyond thrilled to bring you Sally of Already Pretty. Sal is wonderful (this is, I'm sure, old news to most of you). Sal has inspired me in countless ways, and is one of the most beautiful, kind, and caring women I've had the pleasure of calling my friend. I'm honored that she was willing to write this post for me (and for all of you!). Enjoy.

I struggle every day to love my body. I write giant bloggy treatises encouraging women to embrace their natural selves, celebrate their unique beauty, and be true to their instincts, and I write them on a daily basis. But in addition to doing so as a means of expanding the societal definition of beauty and teaching women that they needn’t look like stick insects to feel amazing, I do so for myself. I do it because I need constant reminders that I am not unsightly, unattractive, unlovable. And since I’m generally too proud to fish for compliments, I generate those reminders on my own. I am writing letters to myself as much as I am posing questions to others.

The other subject that I write about on a daily basis is personal style. Once again, I do this because I know so many women who feel stylistically lost and long for friendly, supportive guidance. But I ALSO do it for myself. Before I began exploring my style, thinking hard about which garments actually flattered my figure as-is, and learning to love clothes instead of fight them, I truly hated myself. My looks, my body, everything physical about me infuriated and repulsed me. And, at some point, I realized that I was spending an inordinate amount of energy hating myself and decided I could find better uses for that energy. Since I was sick of unsuccessful attempts to change my body, I focused on changing how I presented my body. I focused on fashion, and was transformed.

The cycle of self-loathing is inextricably linked to the cycle of self-neglect: Feel bad, look bad, feel worse, look worse, and on and on. But I’ve found that a cycle of self-love can be perpetuated by a cycle of self-care. If you feel awful about how you look and allow yourself to LOOK as awful as you feel, you spiral down. But if you feel awful about how you look and work against that negativity - beautifying yourself with the tools you have at hand - you spiral up. The cycle of self-care feeding self-love creating more self-care allows you to broadcast a profile of self-respect and power. It reminds you that you can control how you feel about yourself. I have firsthand experience with this phenomenon, so I can attest to its effectiveness.

Personal style is considered by many to be frivolous, unimportant, wasteful, shallow. But I am not exaggerating when I say that unlocking my personal style taught me how to finally see and acknowledge the beauty in my body, just as it is. Yes, I still struggle to love myself fully and wholly, and rely on my blog to discuss those struggles with like-minded women. But without the explorations of figure, form, and flattery that personal style has provided me, I’d still be wrestling alone with my loathing instead of examining my tastes and motives and creating dialogue around them. I’m grateful to have learned so much about my inner self through expressive dressing, and amazed to find that exploring fashion has set me firmly on the path to self-acceptance.

Thank you, Sal! You have been one of my inspirations from day 1, and a major reason why I have fallen in love with this online world of style and support.

We're Coming to Town

Dress: Tulle * Cardigan: Derek Heart, remixed * Tights: Filene's Basement * Boots: Ciao Bella, remixed * Belt: Target, remixed

Okay, before I really get into this post, I would like to first establish that this is the best dress ever. It is very possibly the best dress that has ever been made, and I'm nearly certain that it was made specifically with me in mind. I think I would like to wear it every day. Can we all agree that this is the best dress ever? Yes? Okay, good, now back to business.

But first, a silly picture of me jumping (nearly every day, when I'm taking outfit pictures, I attempt at least one jumping picture. I have seen other bloggers successfully take them, and I'm certain that somewhere inside of me there is an awesome jumping picture waiting to be taken. This is not that picture, but it's funny and a little cute, so it made the final cut):

Okay, but in all (or at least more) seriousness, I actually do want to write about something today. I've been thinking a lot in the past couple of months about that age old question, older than time itself, that we've all been asking ourselves, hoping beyond hope to get an answer: why do we blog? Why, for the love of all things decent, have we embarked on this crazy project of photography and words and virtual community? We all have our own answers to that question, and I actually don't really want to get into that right now, in this post. But in the process of thinking about it, and establishing why I do this, I started thinking about what fashion, and style, and the simple act of getting dressed every day, actually mean to me. I am not one of those people who has always been into fashion. I honestly had no idea what companies like Chanel, and Prada, and Gucci made as a kid (and really, up until very recently). As far as I was concerned, the big names in fashion meant about as much as ... well, nothing. I just didn't care. I wasn't particularly unfashionable as a kid, I just wore what made sense that day, what was comfortable, and, for the most part, what other kids seemed to be wearing, with a few notable exceptions (that I might note in a different post...I did go through most of junior high and early high school wearing men's cargo shorts, which makes pretty much no sense in retrospect). And really, to be honest, a lot of parts of the fashion world are still totally beyond me. While fashion week is kind of cool in the whole Devil-Wears-Prada-that's-how-you-got-that-blue-sweater way, it just doesn't hold the fascination to me that it does to many people. To me, fashion is something else, something that I can't quite pinpoint, but I want to explore.

So, in exploring what fashion means to me, and how it relates to the world of fashion and style blogging, which has become such an important part of my life, I have set out to find out what some of my blogger comrades think about the whole thing. I'm so thrilled, then, to introduce the newest feature on Between Laundry Days, called "fashion is...". I'll be hosting a series of guest posts from some of my very favorite bloggers, to pick their brains about the many sides of fashion, and how fashion relates to each of us: our bodies, our self esteem, our sexuality, our creativity, our evolution. I'm more than a little excited to have these women contribute to BLD, and I hope each of them knows that they have each truly influenced my experience in this virtual landscape, and I deeply appreciate them. I'm keeping the "identities" of each guest blogger under wraps until their post, just to make things a little more dramatic. Tomorrow will be the first "fashion is..." post, so make sure to come back. See you then!

Title song: David Bowie, "Fashion"

Airing Her Dirty Laundry: My Edit

Welcome to another installment of Airing Her Dirty Laundry! In these posts, I feature some of my favorite blogger friends, and ask them a few questions. I'm so excited to be featuring Jentine from My Edit in this post. Yen is the coolest girl, and an awesome writer (I can't tell you how many of her posts have had me laughing out loud). I like to think that she and I would be awesome in-real-life friends. I think we would drink red wine (or jello shots, more on that later), talk about word verifications, and be all around awesome. As a bonus, some of her gorgeousness and style just might rub off on me! Anyway, welcome, Jentine!

Between Laundry Days: Tell us about yourself!
My Edit: I am tall, blonde, and I enjoy walks on the beach.

BLD: You walk down the street and meet yourself from 10 years ago. What do you say to past Jentine?
My Edit: haha...so much to say...#1. I would teach myself how to do a proper blow-out and how to use a straightener with minimal effort and maximum effect. Actually, I don't even think we had good straightners when we were in highschool....mine had steam. Kids, consider yourselves lucky for all the Chi straightners you have in your life...

#2. All that highschool bullshit that you are so concerned with now will not matter AT ALL in two years.

#3. As cheesy as it sounds, I would tell myself that life is not going to go exactly as I imagined but it's a good life, a very good life.

BLD: You're at a coffeeshop and meet yourself 10 years from now. What do you say to future Jentine?

My Edit: 'What did I tell you about sunscreen?'...I don't think I would want to know too much about my future... Life is difficult enough to navigate without having to think about the inescapeable challenges ahead.

BLD: Why are word verifications on blog comments awesome? What is your fave word verification to date?

My Edit: Word verifications are awesome because they remind me to get a life. At midnight, they seriously switch over to read 'gettobednow'. My best word verification was something dirty that made me giggle and realise how immature I really am. I want my readers to think I'm mature, so I have to keep the word a secret. But it was good...

BLD: Do you have any great fashion-related guilty pleasure/faux pas stories to share?

My Edit: In high school I somehow made it unto the basketball team (I was tall, that's all I got...) and our team did not do so well. What we lacked in talent, we made up in flare. A friend and I tie-dyed white knee-highs and everyone on the team wore one crazy sock and one regular sock (I'm sure we were on a budget and couldn't afford to buy everyone a pair...seriously). So, not only were we pretty terrible, we looked hilarious with our one neon sock. Maybe that was a clue that fashion, instead of athleticism was my destiny.

BLD: What makes Canada so darn awesome?

My Edit: Let me count the ways...

Canada has universal healthy care.

Canada has Winners (TJ Maxx but better...).

Canada hosted an amzing Olympics and we won lots of glittery golden discs.

BLD: My birthday is coming up. If we were in-real-life friends, what would we do for the festivities?

My Edit: Body shots...what else?

BLD: If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time?

My Edit: I would love to do a slow and meandering road trip across Canada and stop in random places and loot their thrift stores. Then I would take my treasure back home (while I've been away my contractor will have made me a new walk-in closet...) and have a dance party to celebrate the goodness that is thrifting. When I recover I would write a travel guide for the best places to shop second-hand in Canada and then Matt and I would spend some time in Europe visiting my brothers and finish off our travels with my whole family being in Africa for World Cup in order to cheer on the Netherlands in their quest for soccer domination (finally).

BLD: What is the one, single food you could never give up?

My Edit: Cheese.

BLD: What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with "My Edit" as your title? What's your favorite thing about fashion blogging?

My Edit: I saw some fashion blogs and I thought I can talk about stuff and wear pretty clothes...Sometimes 'My Edit' sounds like a pompous name...as if it's my way or the highway. I guess I just wanted the name of my blog to reflect my take on fashion, I love searching for inspirtation online or in magazines but I still want to dress in a way that reflects me. In university, I remember being being influenced by lots of styles in my illustration class but at the end of the day, no matter how hard I tried to emmulate their style, all my illustrations looked like they were mine. Now, I see that that is a good thing... and that's the same way I feel about clothing. I might take more risks now and shop more (oops) but I'm still going to stick with what I like. Very selfish indeed.The best part of fashion blogging is that I started to love fashion again. I was burnt out after getting my fashion degree and unsure of where I fit in. I knew I couldn't sit in a cubicle (and that's what a lot of design jobs are, don't fool yourselves) but participating in blogging has made me feel like I'm part of the fashion community where I can appreciate fashion for its an art form and not for its paycheque. It's also introiduced me to some wonderful people around the globe, all of which would likely participate in the body shots for your birthday party Clare!

{Hear that, everyone? Drinks are on Yen this April!} Thank you sooo much, sweet Jentine, for agreeing to let me pick your ridiculously fashionable brain. As for all the rest of you, head over to Yen's blog, My Edit, for more hilarity, fashion, and gorgeous bloggy pictures!

Airing Her Dirty Laundry: Bright Side Dweller

Welcome to the second edition of Airing Her Dirty Laundry. This is the feature where I show off some of my favorite blogger friends. I know it's been insanely long since I did this, and I'm hoping to make it a more regular installment. In any case, today, the lovely Chelsea of Bright Side Dweller is gracing us with her presence.

Chelsea has been one of my favorite bloggers ever since I discovered her blog. Not only is she gorgeous, with a super-fun sense of style, but she also has this wonderful, bubbly personality. Chelsea agreed to answer a few questions for me, so check it out!

1. Tell us about yourself!
Well that is a loaded question! Honestly I just skipped over this one and answered the rest first to try and warm myself up, but I'm not so sure it worked :)

Here is some demographic info: I'm 26, female, gay, employed by a University, live with my girlfriend and our two cats. I grew up in Southern California (any other Valley girls out there??) until age 15 when I moved to Washington, DC. I stayed in DC until I finished high school, then headed right back to SoCal for college. I graduated in 2001, then moved up to the Bay Area all by myself! I absolutely love living in the Bay... I find that many people I meet here are open-minded and accepting, and there is an endless supply of fun and interesting things to do. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life in the future, but I'm working on embracing the here and now in 2010 :)

Some of my favorite things (in no particular order) are: blogging, Harry Potter, sushi, hot days spent at the beach or pool, a good book that I can get all wrapped up in, singing along to the radio in my car, getting inspired by other fashion blogs, wine, my girlfriend, shopping, and my cats! My passions include advocating for women in health care settings, helping to influence everyone to improve their body image and ignore the media's definition of beauty, and being part of the cause for equal rights for all people in America and worldwide.

2. You walk down the street and meet yourself from 10 years ago. What do you say to past Chelsea?
Put that cigarette down (I quit 3 years ago, but wish I never had had to!). Your are beautiful just as you are... right now. And about that guy you meet in the Summer of 2001? Bad news. Haha, I guess I have a little advice for young Chelsea :)

3. You're at a coffeeshop and meet yourself 10 years from now. What do you ask future Chelsea?
Since I feel so much wiser now than myself at 16, I imagine I'll be even more of a know-it-all at 36, so I'd ask myself for advice. I wouldn't want to know too many personal details (takes the fun out of working it all out!), but advice would be helpful :) Oh and then I'd ask political questions (did Obama get re-elected? war in afghanistan/iraq/pakistan? same-sex marriage? universal healthcare??), because it seems there is SO MUCH being worked out in this country right now and I'm sure there will be a whole new mess of issues in 10 years, but these are most important to me now. (Sorry to get all political on y'all! I try to keep that out of my blog, but I can't help it for this question!)

4. What is your perfect winter day:
Even though I've lived in non-snowy climates most of my life, I absolutely love the snow and all the activities that come along with it! My perfect wintry day would be spent downhill skiing, breaking at lunch for hearty beef stew in the lodge, and then heading back up the mountain. I would end the day at my hypothetical cabin with a hot shower and home cooked (not by me) dinner. As my girl and I step into the outdoor hot tub for a soak, it starts snowing. And there's an ice cold beer in my hand. And then I win the lottery.

5. Do you have any great fashion-related guilty pleasure/faux pas stories to share?
Since started my blog, I've started to totally tune out at random times to brainstorm outfits. Nic's watching some sort of sports game? I'm thinking what can I pair my new oxford booties with tomorrow! Also, I almost always fall asleep to outfit planning. It's sick!

6. What do you want to be when you grow up (real or imaginary)?
Oh boy, the question of the moment! I am not really sure. Since third grade I have wanted desperately to become a country music singer (like solo artist Wynonna Judd or Jennifer Nettles of the group Sugarland). I know this is an imaginary goal, but I can't help but fantasize about it, especially while driving my car alone with the radio :) But in reality, I'm just not really sure anymore. I have been wanting to become a nurse practitioner for a couple of years now, but am questioning if that is what I really want. I am also thinking about teaching high school science and/or math or going for my masters in social work. I'm kind of in this existential crisis mode right now... there is just so much potential in life it can be overwhelming!

7. What is the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
I just finished The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, by Diane Chamberlain, and I would absolutely recommend it! I love the way Chamberlain writes, and the intensity and excitement of the story made me hardly able to put the book down! Some of my other favorite books that this kind of reminded me of are The Lovely Bones and The Time Traveler's Wife.

8. If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time?
I would absolutely travel. I'd visit all my friends that are in other places that I just haven't managed to get to like New York City and New Orleans, and then I'd hit up all the places I've got on my travel list (and then some): Amsterdam, Egypt, Greece, Costa Rica, Puerta Vallarta, Prague...

9. What is the one, single food that you would never give up?
Burritos. They are the best invention ever... delicious, customizable, portable, can contain all of the food groups, good source of fiber... need I say more? Oh, but what about sushi?! I could not give that up either. I'm cheating and picking two :)

10. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with "bright side dweller" as your title? What's your favorite thing about fashion blogging? I remember the first fashion blog I came across, Some Girls Wander. A friend on facebook had linked to Emily's "big" blog, from which I found her fashioney one. I was instantly obsessed... I looked at every single outfit of hers (she has just beautiful clothes and very personal style), and waited impatiently for her new posts. Since she does not update Some Girls Wander that often, I just had to get my eyes on some other fashionable ladies, so I started exploring Emily's blogroll, and from there my passion/obsession for blogging was born. What I loved about all of the fashion blogs I came across was that there was such a rich diversity that is sorely lacking in the media, particularly when the subject is fashion. Women (and men!) of all different shapes, sizes, ethnicities, ages, locations, sexualities, disabilities (and plenty of other factors I am not recalling immediately) were proudly posting pictures of their personal style. I felt empowered seeing these images, knowing that each person had had the guts to put her or himself out there even if s/he did not look like a model, or fit into seven jeans. This, to me, is where fashion is... with real people. Runway shows are great and can be a good source of inspiration, but are also incredibly inaccessible to most women I know, and never make me feel more confident or improve my self-esteem. After spending months following countless fashion blogs, I finally decided to start my own. I named it "bright side dweller" because I consider optimism one of my most prominent personality traits. Sometimes I can focus on the "bright side" to a fault, having unrealistic expectations, hence the "dweller" part of the title. So there you go :) My goals for blogging were to promote health body image and self-esteem, break down stereotypes that people may have about gay women and fashion, and honestly increase my own confidence. While I feel like my blog does accomplish these goals in my/its own way, the community I have found, the friends I have met through blogging, and the creative outlet it has provided me have been the most treasured yet unexpected rewards.


Thanks, Chelsea! Okay, everyone, go check out Chelsea's awesome blog, bright side dweller.