clevermanka | It's always something

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It's always something

Holy crap that's a big dog.

Remember a few months ago I talked about my realization that I'll never be able to achieve what I consider the perfect body shape for a woman because I'm not a pear shape? I've been sporadically looking at new inspiration images that better reflect what's possible with my hourglass figure and I decided I wouldn't mind looking like Sadie. I can't say I care for some of her performances and interpretations of bellydance, but dat body, damn.

I had a major setback on the John Watson coat. Fabric.com (who has never disappointed me before) sent me five yards of fabric that does not match the sample square they sent me. Like, at all. It's a different shade of black, the nap is tighter, and it's about half the weight of the sample. It absolutely will not work for a coat. Hell, it'd be pretty light for a skirt. I am most displeased. And maybe a little bit panicked at this point. Where am I going to find coat-weight fabric this time of year? Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

This costume. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure it will be awesome but JFC it seems like every time I do a costume there is some sort of crisis. With Steampunk'd it was the backordered trim, and with the Orientalist it was...um. I don't remember what. But I remember some sort of materials issue. Ngggggg. *flail*

In light of this latest setback, I'm proceeding with the Sherlock coat and its not-quite perfect fabric color. I don't have time to dick around with dying it at this point. I keep telling myself I'm doing an interpretation of the characters and costumes, not a recreation.

Still would've liked to have a better fabric match, though. Piss.

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Wow, she has a beautiful body. Whoa!

I haven't even begun plotting the coat, so I shall be in the same boat as you. I'm sorry to hear about the fabric. :(

Yowza.

And the dog's impressive, too.

Oh man, that's beyond annoying. What was the fabric for Watson's? I have a pinstripe wool that I've never cut.

(Euwww, they sleep with that monster?)

Sadie is inspiring on so many levels.
Most of all? She was not always that toned (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ete0O-tgCZU), so I think she's a fabulous example of what can be done.

MISERY LOVES COMPANY.

I might have to go with a black denim for Watson's coat, since I know I can find it.

Sorry, msmitti. I know you didn't want denim, but that might be our best option at this point.

Nah, it's not wool. It's like a heavy cotton blend denim/twill fabric, solid black.

Regarding that video: She's such a great dancer. Why she gotta do all that ... questionable stuff that makes me cringe?

I dunno either, but it sure got her name out there!

Why are you looking outside yourself? She has a great, even comic-book quality body, And it is inspirational. What I'm curious about: There are plenty and various sexy folk out there, some dramatically different from each other. What I hear when someone says "I wouldn't mind looking like that..." is "I am externalizing my value." I'm troubled by this, not a huge amount or anything, perhaps quizzical even.
Let's spin a hypothetical scenario... You achieve your height of physical perfection. and it does not particularly match with how you imagined it to be, does not quite correspond with your personal ideal. Yet is extremely sexy. Will you fail to notice this because it fails to match certain important details of the "standard" that has been set, whether by you or someone else? What if you had been equally sexy the whole time?
It seems to me that setting standards is potentially useful (for motivation etc) but can be problematic in the long run.
In the end It all points to a weird discrepancy between self image and reality.
As a side note: lots of the fun of cosplay comes from making it work with what you have., even if it's only a fake mustache and some cardboard boxes.

Damn, that is a HUGE dog. That's not a dog, that's a HORSE. O_o

Also, I don't know who that Sadie woman is, but by the gods, she is HOT. Yes please.

Ugh, the fabric was THAT different? Fail, fabric.com :/ Any way you can contact them about that, maybe it really is the wrong fabric? But yeah, costumery is always a drama, there's never anything that goes smoothly, there's always ONE item that seems to go missing/be near impossible to find/patterns that won't fit right... you can do it though. YOU CAN DO EEEEET.

Why are you looking outside yourself?

Because I'm a visual person and I like to have a goal that I can see with my eyes. I also know that, due to long-time eating disorder issues, I cannot view my body in a mirror in an objective fashion. I can view photos (of myself and others) objectively, but can't do the same in person. That's messed up, I know. Oh well. It's not something I care to put the energy into resolving at this point.

What if you had been equally sexy the whole time?

I am a sexy motherfucker right now. I can out-sexy just about anyone in a room, yo.

No worries on my self-esteem issues.

making it work with what you have

Good words to remember for any circumstance, really.

Sadie is kind of notorious in the bellydance world. Most people love her or hate her. But the fact that she has an amazing bod is pretty inarguable.

Yeah, total fail on Fabric.com's part. They've already issued me an RMA label, though. So yay. I just gotta take it to the UPS store tonight.

The condition you describe, body dysmorphia, is a thing, and is increasingly common (though in guys, it tends to cause bodybuilding and "bigorexia" as opposed to the yearning for more generally-recognized "beautiful body" iteration in women; obviously, individual cases will vary).

Rhetorically, I need to either disagree with you or ask for clarification: "You achieve your height of physical perfection. and it does not particularly match with how you imagined it to be, does not quite correspond with your personal ideal." If the person doing the achieving is dissatisfied, does that not suggest they have not actually achieved their goal of "perfection"? That seems... not to work.

If someone's goal is to be a 9.5 out of 10 on $arbitrary_hotness_metric, they'll still look great as a 9.2, but they won't have achieved what they're striving for (yet). (I agree with the point you're making, just needling you on semantics. :-D )

I don't think it's necessarily a matter of externalization; it may be entirely self-directed out of a sense of personal aesthetics (which, yes, may be influenced by outside factors to a greater or lesser extent). Some folks *do* crave/thrive on/desire/need/whatever external validation - whether that's something they've weighed consciously or not is something they'll need to examine their own constellation of motivations to discern.

I'll use myself as an example, because I've had this criticism leveled at me both explicitly (by my ex) and implicitly (by both my ex, and other friends who, though well-meaning in their comments, were making similar arguments to the one you're presenting; to wit, "you look good" and/or "you look good enough, why do you keep going?").

None of us see ourselves as others see us; that's the "discrepancy" between self image and reality. I have, occasionally (and with increasing frequency as I approach my own goals) caught a glimpse of myself looking the way that I imagine others view me... and, yes, it's a very pleasing and satisfying view (for values of "pleasing" and "satisfying" that map 1:1 to my sense of aesthetics, not necessarily those of society at large or anyone else in particular, though there is a not-insubstantial amount of overlap).

I suspect that anyone who undertakes a moderately serious healthy living regimen (whether that is exclusively nutrition-based, exercise-based, or a blend of these things, or even to include elective surgery) engages in something similar, and I hope they can have the same degree of success for their efforts that I'm finally enjoying (http://digitaldiscipline.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/justifiably-smug/) (note: link contains shirtless male torso, opposite side from icon used above).

denim jacket is better than no jacket! I'm sure whatever you put together will be lovely :)

icon fail :(

OH JOHN. ALL THE LOVE.

Acknowledging the fact that you're a creepy perfectionist (but in a good) way, do you think the coat'll hold up as a costume piece? Might not work as a true-to-life coat, but as a "Worn at a con in summer" thing?

And, weighing in, there's not a thing wrong with hourglass. Nope, not a thing at all.

do you think the coat'll hold up as a costume piece

Even if

msmitti and I weren't financially invested in these being wearable garments outside of the masquerade, the answer would be no. The twill they sent wouldn't hold up to the leather patches or the corduroy collar. It'd buckle and pucker in a very unattractive fashion. ALAS.

The doggie vid won't load. :(

LOL! I wouldn't mind looking like Sadie, either!!

That sucks that the sample doesn't match the real deal. The only time that ever happened to me, I actually liked what I got more than the sample, but I'm sure that's rare. It wasn't fabric. It was the sample for my current countertop!

The doggie vid won't load. :(

*hmph!*

HOW DARE THEY? NOTIFY MSNBC IMMEDIATELY!

Might be due to script blocking or ad blocking add-ons in chrome or firefox (i couldn't view it, either, so i link-chased to the one from the grauniad that had still photos)

(Wrote a big, thoughtful response to this. LJ ate it. TWICE now.)

Right on, man.

(That's all I can bear to recreate.)

Let's postulate that there is an Actual Physical Perfection that is actually achievable, limited by genes etc. (scroo yoo Plato!) and that there is a Desired Physical Perfection that may, or may not be, achievable, influenced by... well whatever it's influenced by... Your Mom, abusive ex's, high-school coaches, porn, soap, Emus etc.

The closer these are together the less frustration will probably occur in one's exercise career.
does this clarify?

In the world of analogy:
I want to look like HER=External locus
I want to look MY best=Internal locus

One is not necessarily better than (or exclusive from)another but they do lead to different sets of problems and solutions. I feel more comfortable solving the problems of the latter...

You are correct in the blending assessment, i'm more curious about those who take the more external route, cause to me the pitfalls seem less manageable.

The coats will probably be smashing, one way or another.

I want to sew well enough to make tab curtains, extremely simple skirts, and pillows. I can already make pillows, actually, but I want to actually make the pillows instead of merely claiming the much-atrophied ability to do so.

I hate it when that happens. Khaaaaaan!

If you ever want a sewing tutorial...email me between KCRF and NYE.

I believe we are, to a fairly high degree of precision, in agreement. Now what do we argue about? ;-)

I want to look like HER=External locus
I want to look MY best=Internal locus

In a perfect world, this is definitely the way to go. Alas, I don't know that I am currently capable of determining when I even look good, much less my best.

Fortunately, I am not in any danger of having to make that determination any time soon. Talk to me in a year and we'll see if I need to evaluate/modify my ability to self-analyze.

Thanks to my Grammie, I'm good to wing it with my basic sewing skills on an ordinary, simple machine, but I might hit you up (during the specified time frame) to get a very brief serger demo, if one is on offer.

Emus?

Here's the crazy thing: when I was in my best shape (whatever that means) I had the lowest regard for myself physically. weird
And have had roughly the same self assessment at several very different stages. Also weird.

Most people perceive "pear" as "big ass", so it's a surprise that you would consider it ideal.

Huh. Intriguing. I know next to nothing about it, but what of her interpretations are problematic, or is it more a stylistic thing?

Oh, good. I hope you can find something a little more close to the source material.

I'm just full of surprises.

You bet! My serger skills are kinda minimal, though, so it could be a learning experience for us both. Depending on what you want to do.

This! I am totally a pear shape and I've always considered an hour glass as the ideal. I've always felt that pear shape was small boobs and big hips/butt/thighs, in other words, not ideal at all.

sorry...random commenter...I've just honestly never heard of pear being ideal!

small boobs and big hips/butt/thighs

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I'll just put this out here:

I mean OMFG, HAWT AND YES PLEASE.

I never saw this comment, so didn't respond. Sorry! Sadie's known for doing a lot of hyper-sexualized stuff. I'm not one of those dancers who're all "bellydance is for wimmin and isn't sexy blah blah" because I think the dance is whatever you want it to be. It's a freaking folk dance for godssake.

But Sadie. Well. She did this S/M themed choreography a couple years ago that actually involved humping men dressed up as harem eunuchs.

*wince*

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