All About the Print

Faux fur leopard prints that are all over the place right now.

You cannot, of course, get the real deal anymore (as far as I know), but from designer labels to Walmart's Everyman's clothing line, we are graced with the presence of these winter warmers.

Perhaps it is the "inner feline" that is awakened. Or it is simply something undecipherabley attractive, innate and instinctive, about these prints, that has lured women to take out their pocket books and spend their dollars on a faux fur craze which has now lasted for several decades. And there's no risk of red paint to tarnish your respectability by (crazed) faux fur advocates (with whom you have NO allegiance, since you never know when they might turn).

Here is Walmart's $70 faux fur coat, soft and warm (I've tried it on!).


CAN$77 (US$60)

Walmart tells us:

Get coverage and style when you pull on George women's AOP faux fur car coat. Knit from soft, patterned faux fur, it’s styled with a revere collar [What is a revere collar - my link], jetted pockets and concealed snap closure. Fully lined, the shiny coat on this box-cut jacket will add an element of chic to any outfit you throw it over.

• 100% Polyester
• Faux fur knit
• All over pattern
• Full lining
• Revere collar
• Full snap button closure
• Jetted pockets
• Soft hand feel
• Dry clean only

Holt Renfriew, The Bay, Simons, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, all have their variations (all at least $100 more than what Walmart offers).

Everyman wins, hands down.

Below is a fascinating, and I think very good, article on the "history" of the leopard print.

Spring Swirl

Peach Swirl
[Photo By: KPA]

Negative Space

Negative Space
Marc Cain Mannequin, Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga
[Photo By: KPA]

Going to the Other Side

From Camera Lucida, March 7, 2012

---

Going to the Other Side

Going to the Other Side
(Lanvin's Spring/Summer fashion ad)

[Notice that the image on the right looks like a mirror image of that on the left (or vice versa)], but it isn't. I tried to do a mirror image match of the woman in pink with photoshop, but couldn't. And the light reflecting on the snake's head on the right isn't on the snake's head on the left.

Lanvin is literally taking us to the "other side," the alternate reality, where things look the same, but aren't.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Eve seems to be a recurring theme in fashion magazines (and fashion) these days. Recently, I blogged about the fashion house Blumarine, and its use of a female model in close association with a snake, from the snake skin attire that she was wearing to a strange conversion of her persona into that of a snake.

Lanvin seems to be on a zealous mission to bring Eve and the snake to the forefront, even more so than Blumarine. The March 2012 Vogue issue has a three-page Lanvin fashion ad where snakes are everywhere. Some (a few) are cleverly incorporated into the women's clothing and accessories, not as patterns nor their skin as the material for the clothing, but as sculpted three dimensional forms, almost alive in their sinewy presence. Most of the snakes, though, are crawling through the pages.

The writhing snakes are always in close proximity to a woman, and their relation to the males seems to be dictated by the women. For example, the complete version of the Eve/Snake shoots, available online here, has a sado-masochistic bondage scene. A man is lying down with his hand tied down with a snake while a woman threateningly brings a snake close to his face, as though to release the snake's poison on the man.


Where the man is holding a snake, he seems to have less control over it. Some snakes wrap themselves around a man's wrist or arm, acting as handcuffs or ropes to tie him down. Others slither across men's bodies (shoulders, arms, legs).


The women are sinewy and active, while the men are sitting or standing stiffly, like lifeless mannequins (a role reversal, since we are used to seeing female mannequins). And the men are often positioned lower than the women, reinforcing the female dominance.

The women's faces in all the photos are fully exposed. And despite their similar looks, with sleeked back hair (to resemble the snake), they still have distinct, strong personalities. The men have stunned expressions, and their hardened features are not as strong or as confident as the women's. In the image at the beginning of the post, the men are anonymous, their faces covered with masks to erase their identity and individuality.

[Close-up of the top image, showing men's masked faces]

The women are not interested in seducing the men, despite their provocative, aggressively female dress and posture, but in subduing them.


The sinewy, domineering women seem to have become snakes themselves. And having stunned the men into wooden passivity, they crawl all over them at their pleasure.

The snake has made woman his ultimate accomplice. And she has taken her complicity to the final level, where she is renouncing herself to become like, or be one with, the snake.


The Lanvin ads, with their clever associations, have made woman the protagonist in their images. This is easy to accept since women are always dominant in fashion shoots, fashion is about women. In the imagination of fashion photography, and in women’s fashion fantasies, modern sex relations can resume where the Garden of Eden ended. Eve finally does take over.

Bowing to the Ancestors And Killing Eve

I tuned into the Golden Globes yesterday, not for the awards but for what the awardees would do and say. At one time, I would tune in to watch the fashion, but it is no longer so interesting. What has happened is that all these "equality now" "feminists" are hypocrites. They parade around in ten-thousand-dollar ball gowns by star designers as they mouth out their #MeToo proclamations. I can learn about fashion by going to my local department store and reading my monthly Elle.

I wasn't disappointed.

The most fascinating was Sandra Oh.


Sandra Oh in Killing Eve

She is currently starring in a television production called Killing Eve. Just the name of the series alone is disconcerting. Everyone, even the non-Christians, know that Eve is the name given to Adam's mate in the Genesis account. Eve of course betrays Adam and disobeys God with her complicity with the serpent.

God never killed Eve, but rather he banished her, along wth her foolish conspirator Adam, to life outside of paradise, a life of hardship, nothing like the life they led in His Holy Garden.

What exactly is Killing Eve and what is Oh doing in it?

Killing Eve follows the intertwining lives of two women – Eve (Sandra Oh), a quick-witted but bored MI5 security services operative whose desk job conflicts with her ambitions of being a spy, and Villanelle (Jodie Comer), a polished, highly skilled killer-for-hire, who enjoys the rich benefits that come from her violent career. As the two fiercely intelligent women go head to head, they become equally obsessed and entangled with one another in a combination of brutal mischief making, sharp humour, and high-stakes action. [Source: Bravo.ca]

Since I haven't watched nor plan to watch this latest installment in evil TV programming, I will reference a viewer who wrote:

Not dramatic or thrilling. I thought after Sandra Oh was nominated for an Emmy that this show would be worth watching. Not the case. The plot started out Ok but quickly went downhill. The production was awful. Comedic for no good reason. Horrible soundtrack of hip and rock music for no good reason. Lesbian love scenes for no good reason. Sandra Oh as a sorta-spy in non-Asian countries-totally stupid. The script was just horrible. Every character is over the top for no good reason. The only things good about this show were the location scenes. Otherwise. It's a dud and a total waste of time waiting for it to "get good." And the ending?? Ugh. Just a ploy to make another boring season. I think this show must have been created to find a way to use Sandra Oh. Keep looking! She's a very tired looking spy. Not at all compelling or interesting in this genre. Seems that only France, Israel, the Uk, and the Nordic Noir folks can make dramatic and thrilling spy/crime/political shows that keep you on the edge of your seat. [From: bjnordin-828-626007 commenting on IMBD]

And another:

There is no message, no meaning this a l'art pour l'art thing. Except romanticizing senseless human suffering and bloodshed is in no way an original, exciting or even acceptable form or art. If this were a satire, some black comedy that would be entirely different but the show is just too serious to be perceived as such. Humour here is just part of the makers' plot to try and manipulate the viewers' sense of ethics and decency into seeing monstrosity when mixed with aesthetics as something cool. Well it's not. [From: gabor_nb]

And another:

People wake up screaming at the top of their lungs. Targets of low budget assassinations ask "Why me?" and the star of the show says "I don't know." Shock for the sake of shock.

This show is about vapid, soul-less, sickening characters, and the cynical concept that if there is nothing to show, the audience will try to figure out the mystery. The joke here is that there is nothing behind the curtain. The characters have no human values. Pointless cruelty and death are the focus of this show. Killing Eve is degrading to the human spirit. This is just crass and trash.

The main writer for this show said that they do not do backgrounds for each character. That is lazy writing. This is an incredibly awful series about characters that nobody should care about, and stupid situations that end badly.[From: Johnny_West]

And another:

Men begging for their lives. men brutally murdered. men are stupid and amount to nothing. this series is a feminist wetdream. btw, the assassin isnt psychotic, she is a mary sue [From battever]

And what is a "mary sue?"

Mary Sue is a negative term used in fanfiction and literary criticism to describe an original character that is often overly idealized or assumed to be a projection of the author. When used by a male author, the character is referred to as a Gary Stu or Marty Stu. [From: Know Your Meme]

And another definition of a "mary sue:"

‘Mary Sue’ protagonist are hotly debated. What can be agreed is that it started its life in fan fiction circles, where it was used to suggest that a protagonist was a thinly veiled version of the author, allowing them to insert an idealized self into the story. [From: Standout Books]

That captures Oh perfectly, and especially her performance at the Globes last night.

Firstly Oh is the one "killing Eve," the Western, Christian Biblical female. She usurps God's role to do it for Him, but with a particular reference to her own non-Christian, non-Western background.

All non-Westerners are now openly antagonistic towards Western culture, and whites. They of course are led by the traitorous whites themselves who hate their own people, their own culture, and their own country. The parasites are from within. And non-Western immigrants and the children of these non-Western immigrants born within these Western shores are simply following this lead. If whites were not so intent on destroying themselves, these others wouldn't have the cracks in the system to enter and continue with the havoc (or the agenda).

One powerful and fundamental way to destroy destroy Western Civilization is by destroying Christianity.

"We (non-Christians, non-Westerners) will destroy the myths and stories that built Western society, and lets start with the first female herself.

We like Eve because she disobeyed God. But she didn't go far enough. She is still part of that legend. We have to remove her entirely, by showcasing her violent nature which we can use to our advantage for her to wreck more havoc.

We will kill her off and install our own gods and goddesses, but with her spirit in mind, her betrayal.

We will kill Eve to resurrect her with our own image."

Forget Oh's "#MeToo" moment, and her "look at us now in all these hues and colors" rhetoric while receiving the golden award. She doesn't really care about feminism (that western-produced ideology), nor about multiculturalism, nor really about other cultures other than their usefulness to her agenda. She was married to white man after all, that race she purports to disdain. But marrying white still pays dividends for an immigrant's offspring, and she seems to date only white men. She has bigger agenda, a bigger mission, a bigger world to conquer. She wants to rid of the whites, the true enemy.


Divorced from director Alexander Payne (m.2003, d. 2006)


Boyfriend, Indie Musician Andrew Featherston in 2007


Current boyfriend, Russian immigrant (came as a child to the US) artist Lev Rukhin

And finally, she can establish her own Korea-Away-Form-Korea land, where she can bow to her parents and her gods with impunity. And where she can be more Korean than even her own Catholic parents, which is exactly what her parents desired, and subtly instilled in her when they packed their bags and came to Canada: "Our Children will not forget our ancestors, our ways."

Welcome to a glimpse at the Brave New World of America and Canada.


Invocation of the gods

What happened?


Image Source: From Article: "Why Sandra Oh Meditates on Mindful.Org

[Oh] practices Vipassana, a Buddhist form of meditation that’s interpreted as “seeing deeply.”
And Oh sees all of it — acting, meditating, waiting, even this very conversation between us
— as an extension of the same practice, an attempt to operate from a place
where you’re fully grounded within yourself, of “finding that authentic kernel.” [Source: "The Protagonist After decades in supporting parts, Emmy nominee Sandra Oh plays the hero in Killing Eve." Vulture Magazine]

"Bless her little louboutins. Long may Flotus reign."

Letter from a reader on my Melania Trump attire post, who has his own fashion sense ("cardigan draped over the shoulders":

Your dress recommendations, are great...I normally don't care for
pants-suits on women as it makes them look masculine - which I suppose is
the whole point why the sisterhood embrace them - but I give Melania a
pass. With those lines, there's certainly no mistaking Melania for a man.

She looks like a whole different species to Hillary.

Bless her little louboutins. Long may Flotus reign.

I've noticed Melania's signature fashion look, (apart from the high heels),
is a cardigan or coat draped over her shoulders. I find that look very
fetching but don't know why it works. Perhaps it is the pairing of classic
high-fashion garments with a touch of insouciance.
Regards, to you.
Stephen

Regards,
Stephen Ippolito

Perhaps the reason why the cardigan draped over the shoulders works is that it implies that someone helped place it there, and clearly a male partner who gently puts the garment on the female's shoulder.

I personally prefer the full assistance: helping the lady actually put on the jacket or coat. But in this modern era of borrowed femininity, I will settle for the "assisted" draped over the shoulder look.

And there is no doubt that Melania is feminine. Even her pantsuits showcase her (sexy) femininity.

The Flawless First Lady

The Conservative Treehouse updates us on the activities of POTUS, but rarely on FLOTUS, so here is his post today on Mrs. Trump herself, Melania, on a "First Lady's" mission to make America Great Again.

When I read TCT's blog post title for today: Melania Trump Liberty University Convocation and Town Hall Discussion on Opioid Crisis… I thought we would see a subdued Melania with less emphasis on her femaleness and more on her femininity coming across perhaps as a good aunt giving advice on her life experiences and how to try to stay on the right track.

And then I saw these photos:







Hillary wore her pantsuits, I'm sure, to cover her thick legs (calves especially). But what about wearing dresses and skirts which go down further than the knees? Not all the way down to the ankles like a 19th historical revival (which would not work anyway without the social and cultural revival of feminine modesty that the era practiced, and which would take a whole revolution to promote in our immodest times), but elegant dresses and skirts which go halfway down those "heavy" calves, which was Hillary's problem but certainly not Melania's? Many stores do carry such clothes and many can be elegant with the right combination of jacket and shoes.

I think Melania wears these thigh-hugging pants to show off her long legs, and to showcase her slim behind.

What does she think people look at when she crosses her legs as she sits down for the interview and exposes more thigh and upper-leg body?

Odd.

Serious conversation is lost and everything is focused on her, and specifically her body.

Maybe she just wants to look sexy?

Well yes, of course.

I googled "Melania Trump Liberty University Convocation and Town Hall Discussion on Opioid Crisis…" without quotations, and sure enough here is The Daily Caller who posts this more close-up photo of her (below) with her makeup masked face which he aptly titles: Melania Wows in Charcoal Grey Pant Suit During Trip to Liberty University, and gives us a rundown of Flotus' wardrobe:

Melania Trump absolutely shined Wednesday when she showed up wearing a striking charcoal grey pant suit during her trip to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The first lady looked flawless as ever during a town hall meeting about the country’s opioid epidemic, as she took the stage in the long sleeve jacket and pants that she paired with a scoop neck black top. (RELATED: Ivanka Turns Heads In Gorgeous Yellow Plaid Skirt Suit)

She completed the fantastic look with loose hair and black and grey snakeskin high-heels.

How about this for Melania? A dress in brighter colors with print that is not too overpowering. Something elegant, serious and feminine.

I found it by googling "A mid-calf dress with long sleeves" (no quotes).

Maybe those desperate young men might just listen to her then.

The Gay Gay Gay Shades of Summer

It's a gay gay gay summer, tell us those stacked chairs where the original four muskokas had more poetry and better design.


The previous Muskoka chairs in summer version of the Holt window display,
removed and replaced when "Pride" started to take over

[All Photos By: KPA]

Now all we see is the promiscuity.

But it is Pride Week after all, and we must CELEBRATE!



About a week ago, I posted the above image as a prelude to summer.

A couple of days ago, I went into the Holt department store and asked about the store designer who put together the window display.

A young woman told me that she did it, although she was following directions from "head office."

"You still have to interpret the guidelines. It looks great!" I encouraged her.

Then I had some kind of brainwave and asked if I could see the store's managers. I wanted to ask if I could somehow be involved in window display designs. That way, I can ask about this particular one without being too "inquisitive."

I went to the "customer service" post and asked the staff there to see a manager, who asked if he could help me.

"Well, I have some questions."

"Could you give me some idea of your question?" persisted the customer service assistant (a Chinese man with bleached blonde hair with dark roots showing - that is the pseudo-appropriation of white identity that is now common amongst non-white youth).

"Well, I have a design background. I would like to know if I could be involved in helping the design of future window displays."

"You can apply online and post your resume."

That was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I didn't want to work at Holt at all. Imagine my altercations with "rich" "foreigners" who have no real idea of the value, cultural specifically, of the goods they're buying.

"Oh yes. But could I still see a manager? It makes it easier to see if I qualify."

The man tapped his fingers somewhat aggressively on the counter. He thought a little. Then dialed a number.

Eventually a woman came down. She was short and stout and in her mid-forties. She also looked half black and half white. She was dressed in a black baggy get-up which did not fit with the colorful designer clothes she walked by.

To make a longer story short(er), the woman was just about to give me the email address of the Head Office honchos who direct the "visual look" of the store. Perhaps my insistence threw her off and she said: "It is better if you give me your phone number." I don't blame her. I would have done the same.

"Oh. OK. But I will give you my email. That is easier for me to communicate." (And I will also have a record of the transactions (or not) - although I didn't say this).

I added: "I have a design and photography background, graphic design, websites. But I also have textile design training and I can visualize things three dimensionally. I think that is helpful for window displays."

"Oh. Yes."

Me: "But could you show me if the theme of bright summer colors are a Canadiana theme with the Muskoka chairs?"

Manageress: "Well you know this has to do wth pride don't you?"

Me: "The whole display concept?"

Manageress: "Well it started off as a prelude to summer. But now it is merging with Pride Week."

Me: "Oh. I see!"

I didn't see that coming!!!

Me: "What exactly is "Pride? Is it to do with Multiculturalism?" I played the innocent.

Manageress: "No. It is Pride Week. There is a big Pride Month going on in Toronto and we wanted to be a part of it."

"Of course! The homosexual parades. Harry Rosen is also doing the same thing with their windows! And Simons too! I asked the young man at Harry Rosen what "Pride" meant and he said he didn't know!"

(I really did ask and he really did say "I don't know," as in "I have nothing to do with this!!!")

Then something clicked. This woman is a lesbian!!! The scorn for feminine beauty was apparent in her dark and shapeless garb; her obesity; her lack of any kind of decoration - no makeup, no jewelry.

And she had a long-developed instinct for potential "homophobia." And was intelligent too, able to gauge things in an instant. I could see why she was a manager.

She laughed at my anecdote. "We have nothing to do with the other stores."

She understood that people don't want to be associated with all this. And hence the clever and subversive ways in which she (they) lure the public.

I thanked her and left. I had given her my full name and my Reclaiming Beauty email address. I do that because it takes too much energy to sort out all my various pseudonyms. And plus my battle is now out in the open.

I haven't heard from anyone at Holts, head office or otherwise. I am sure this manager looked me up and saw my various profiles and my many blog posts, and never sent the communication.

Good!!! I am at least as clever as she is! I found out something I wouldn't have known, which is:

The Canadian landscape, which I blogged about here, was readily converted into a "Pride" canvass. " We're Proud to be Canadian!" they tell us.

And "We're all in it together!"

But no, we're not, all in this together!"

How a Kate Spade Luxury Store Explains Kate Spade's Suicide

Kate Spade Store, Square One Mississauga
Confetti!!
[Photo By: KPA
Taken yesterday, June 9th]

The store is still open. The confetti which were up since last week (before Spade's suicide) are still there. "Live Colorfully" was also hanging and lit for several days prior to Spade's death.

The black sign, condolences for her death, is of course new.

"Kate Spade, the visionary founder of our brand, has passed. Our thoughts are with her family at this incredibly heartbreaking time. We honor all the beauty she brought into this world."

---

I received this comment (via my newly installed comments section on the right margin) on my post: Kate Spade's Empty Luxury

Excellent article, Miss Asrat.

Just speaking for myself, whenever confronted by cold or indifferent sales
staff, I always put my faith in laziness and/or lack of proper training on
their part. It's usually the reason.

Laura Wood over at TTH has a piece up at the moment on Ms Spade that I hope
you might contribute to. Your views on style and aesthetics are always well
worth reading. Regards.

Regards,
Stephen Ippolito

Yes, I understand. But this has become a general culture. Rudeness in many forms is now brushed away. People talking so loudly right next to you; pedestrians walking right into you in a crowded street without any doubt that YOU will step aside for them rather than the usual jostle of two tangoing to pass each other without damage; saleswomen just let you stand and wait and wait and wait as they perform some other duty which clearly could be interrupted briefly with: "Will you hold for just a minute?"

We expect this kind of behaviour now and we behave accordingly (rude on the streets, in the store, at the coffee shop etc. etc.). No "please" and no "thank you."

I think it is a cosequence of several things:

The previously prevalent Anglo Saxon culture with its homogenous peoples who understand and LIKE each other would naturally behave compassionately when confronted with strangers (who act and behave like each other) and acquaintances (family and friends) alike.

Now all we have is strangers, WHO DON'T LOOK LIKE EACH OTHER, in our public spaces, and our acquaintances are within that huge multicultural bucket of strangers.

So what does a Filipino saleswoman care about that Hispanic/Arab looking woman standing in front of her? Let her wait. There are more urgent things to do like talk to this guy over the phone who could be some Anglo Saxon male.

See there are degrees of importance. Because it is now all (or mostly) about the material.

The Anglo Saxon Male then the Anglo Saxon Female would have the money (and the knowledge that Kate Spade's goods are expensive AND good) and are more likely to buy her products.

They take precedence even over her Filipino countrymen/women. What money do they have anyway? Maybe the Chinese. But even they are unreliable and less likely than tha ASM and ASF to buy things from the store.

But less so these Arabs/Hispanics. Partly because of their record of buying (or NOT buying) and also who wants to be around them anyway?

They don't belong here. She (me) doesn't belong here.

SO you see decisions are made on appearances, and no longer on human compassion. Multiculturalism and materialism has made us all into demons who dislike, and mistrust (probably quite rightly), one another.

And appearances are now everything. And one way of judging appearance is through the material, the clothing. The other of course is through skin color, hair type, eye shape, lip size, etc.

People judge me by the latter when making speedy decisions. If they have more time they put my PRESENTATION into their formula.

But people are often disoriented by me. I dress as well as I can with my very limited wardrobe. The hat you see me wearing in the profile photo cost me about $14. I've seen similar ones in some store at $150. My shoes are from Walmart for $35. I've seen women walking around in sneakers which cost $150.

(One day in Walmart when I was aggressively holding on to my spot in the very long line at the cash, the woman trying to barge in said "I've seen your $x Walmart shoes!" I.e. "Who do you think you ARE!?".)

I also don't look Arab or Hispanic (or Indian) or even mulatto once people look closer at me. I AM DIFFERENT. I also don't speak in any any of these accents but rather in a kind of a British one. I also behave reserved and a little distant. I am friendly and polite but not effusive.

And I dress very modestly. Not out of some piety but because I really don't like my butt to be showing and my decolletage to be the focus of a conversation.

But I don't dress like a nun. I love color, pattern and cut.

So the Filipino woman's very first reaction to this "Arab woman" was "Oh she can wait."

Next because I waited and waited (I'm sure she thought I would leave) and finally I bulldozed her with questions (I knew she couldn't answer), and she saw who I really was, she realizes she had a whole other kettle of fish in front of her.

I walked out of the store as she was answering me (this time I did get MAD), but I had all I needed:

- Mississauga is a racist place
- Multi-culti people DISLIKE one another (to be frank I have no rancour towards Filipinos. Many are kind, and the women are motherly, and being good Catholics they are spiritual too).
- The material supersedes any human compassion people may have
- And this inhumanness builds a city, a place, a world where the Kate Spades, who have lost even a vestige of their spiritual world and who have abandoned GOD, realize is NOTHING. All those pretty colors cannot ease the soul, they realize too late. And they commit suicide.

So there you have it: How a Kate Spade Luxury Store Explains Kate Spade's Suicide.

Kate Spade's Empty Luxury

Square One Mall's Luxury Wing Kate Spade Store

The Sicily Dress from Kate Spade's website, which resembles the grey dress above, is for $238 at Kate Spade Online.



I was going to do a post on Kate Spade. She has a brand new big store in the Square One Mall Luxury Wing. I would go in once in while, but found her goods (dresses, handbags, scarves) to be so expensive that I would leave disappointed. And despite the light (often pastel) colors, I didn't find her designs to be exceptional and worthy of their price tag.

She was all over the place. The Chapters/Indigo bookstore has her notecards and other paper goods, and The Bay department store has her household goods where dishes and side plates were displayed.

And the last time I went to her store in Square One (about five days ago), I saw a couple of perfumes sitting on the counter. Perfume too! I looked for a cardboard stick to test spray the perfumes but couldn't find any.

Both sales women were busy, one was with a customer (who just didn't seem to be interested in buying, but rather was asking a lot of questions) and another was on the phone. I stood and waited for a while, then looked around the store to pass time. I'm glad I did that because it clarified my earlier impressions that despite the prettiness, there was nothing really special there (and for that price!).

Still no service!

"Excuse me, can I just as a quick question?" I interrupted the woman with the customer. "I'll be with you in a minute" she smiled back.

The woman on the phone got off the phone and went to the back of the store. When she came back, I asked again: "Can I just ask a quick question?"

"Just a minute," she walked past me.

Again her customer took a lot repetition for her to finish the call.

"Do you have any kind of cardboard paper to test the perfume?"

"Oh yes. Here is one."

I sprayed the perfume and smelt it. It was sweetish, maybe flowery.

"Do you have any information on the perfume? What its notes are?"

"No."

"Usually perfume houses send stores all the details of their perfumes. It could be in your database."

"Yes," she said after looking up the information and read out to me what she saw on the screen.

"Thanks! Great. I guess you don't have a printer, but sorry to be a bother. Can you write it down for me?"

It's all in the "attitude" right? The woman by now was so tired of my 5-minute presence in the empty store that she quickly scribbled something on some paper (a print from the cash). Of course, I had to as her "Is this word an 'e ,' an 'r,'?"

By then, I got impatient.

Then I realized: "This is part of that blitz. That wonderful crew at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, which has deemed me a racist fascist, has sent emails out to the Square One management. I am to be treated 'carefully'."

Wow!

The perfume "connoisseur" was a Filipino woman. Of course I must be shunned avoided and NOT served.

Of course I could be wrong. But in any case if the Kate Spade management didn't receive any "blitz," then her treatment of me is even worse. She would be mistreating me based solely on my appearance and her prejudice. Look who is racist now!

I've always maintained that the various non-white contingencies of Mississauga (Indians/Hindu, Chinese/?, Filipinos/Catholics, Arabs/Muslims, Blacks/Christians) DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER! THEY DON'T WANT TO BE GROUPED TOGETHER IN SOME MULTI-CULTI HAPPY FAMILY!!

MULTICULTURALISM IS ONE BIG FARCE!!

I think that was how this woman was reacting.

I took an extra spray of the perfume. Wrote down its name and left the store.

Who exactly in the Square One Mall is buying Kate Spade's goods anyway?

I wonder when this mall will start to resemble an abandoned site?

The Well Dressed Lady: Part II

I returned to the store yesterday afternoon to pick up Moonlight in Paris along with some other book that would make my total purchase $5 (or more...).

I looked and looked. I searched via the store's computer catalogue. I went into sections where I knew the book shouldn't be but tried anyway.

Finally, I asked one of the store assistants to help me, but to no avail.

I was very disappointed. This, according to my email notification, was the last day to redeem my "free" dollars.

I took a couple of breaths, and looked again at the $2-5 stacks.
Then I found this!
The Well-Dressed Lady's Pocket Guide
By Karen Homer

Wow!

It is a tiny book, 4x6.5", hardback, and with a creative illustration, a wispy ink drawing on the cover. (The lady's earring and the book title are in a metallic silver, which looks grey when I use photoshop.)



I skimmed through it and I liked the chapters (a good start):
- Shapes and Silhouettes
- Dresses
- Skirts

The final one being: "Your Wardrobe."

But you can't have it all; there is a section on jeans. How can you be a "lady" in jeans? Maybe they got that song title wrong: Lady in Blue and thought it meant "blue jeans."

Anyway so far so good despite glitches.

The introduction ends like this:

With the disappearance of universal fashion etiquette and previously unimaginable social mobility of the last 50 years, it might seem the wish to be well-dressed, with its connotations of snobbery and elitism, has fallen out of favour. But many women realize they want a style that endures - essentially classic, yet still individual, giving a nod to fashion but always appropriate. And while good clothes can be more expensive when compared to the disposable attitude to fashion - buy it cheap then throw it away - compiling a well-thought-out wardrobe that wll cover any occasions more economical in the long run. And that's exactly what this pocket book for the well-dressed woman will teach you how to do.

Diamond Rings and Uncommon Courtesy

Laura Wood at The Thinking Housewife has a post on a KFC customer who was rewarded with special freebies by his local KFC manager for being so consistently courteous to the staff.

He writes:

I am of course very grateful for the lady’s kind gesture – but it occurs to me that basic civility should just be the default setting. It should surely always be expected in interpersonal dealings. Surely western society has reached its nadir when what used to be called “common courtesy” is now not only uncommon but is so rare that it’s being rewarded with gifts. How and why did this situation come about?

I am lucky that it comes naturally to me to say "please" and "thank you" to the staff at any shop franchise, or organization (by phone or in person).

Perhaps it helps that I write in a blog titled Reclaiming Beauty. Or perhaps it helps that I try to leave the house dressed as attractively and respectively as possible, not to attract attention, but to feel that I look like a worthy (female) human being, which in turn helps to make me feel like a worthy human being, which then makes me realize that we are all in this together.

I absolutely don't do this to manipulate people. But perhaps that is what some people think. Or when I go to a store and ask politely and courteously to see an item, dressed as I am, they may think they have got themselves a customer, especially if it is an expensive jewelry or perfume store (my two favorite places!).

That is why outright rudeness always throws me off, although now less so than before.

As in today.

I went by the Michael Hill Jewelers in the Square One Mall (in the "luxury wing") and saw a big sign which said: "Try On the Royal Engagement Ring!"

Why not? I thought. I am no fan of the royals, especially this calculating Meghan Markle. But like Christmas chocolates and halloween costumes, sometimes it is fun just to join in for a minute.

One of the saleswomen was busy catering to turbaned Sikh. She looked Indian, and she spoke in fluent "Canadian" English. But she would occasionally drop in some foreign word (Hindi? Punjabi?) which was clearly part of her method, and a pleasant one, to win over these customers.

This was going on forever, so I asked her with a "Sorry but can I interrupt? Could you tell me where Meghan's ring is?"

She pointed "around at the other side."

I went around to the other side, but there was no sign pointing me to the ring.

I spoke softly: "Sorry can you just show me?"

"I've got customers right now" she sad abruptly and, in my opinion, rudely. I nodded my head, showed my dissatisfaction with pursed lips, and went to the other saleswoman who was dealing with a man looking at a collection of gold chains.

I didn't think he was going to buy anything. He wasn't making decisive inspections, other than to look at how the chains looked next to his neck.

This time, I waited for my turn, although I couldn't help a "they look good" comment at this uninterested buyer (or maybe he just didn't have the cash).

He left and the shoplady turned around to put the chains back, as she asked kindly: "How can I help you?"

"It is not usual to see a man take so much time over jewelry," I commented.

"Actually what I wanted was to see the Meghan's ring."

She then went into the cabinet and took out what the ring that was "supposed to look like it."

"Oh so it is not the actual ring."

"Well it is the same three-stone diamond ring on gold."

"It looks so small! Do you think this is the size that he really gave her? I'm sure he spent more than these $800!"

Then she got irritated.

"Well all we have is a model."

Clearly I was never going to buy this $800 ring. Maybe I looked like I would buy another ring of say $150, given my "appearance." But I only stopped by (and waited those additional minutes) because the store was doing some kind of Meghan Markle Diamond display. Looking at a princess ring doesn't mean I'm going to buy it, or any other.

I picked up the precious bounty, turned it over (but never put it on my finger), smiled a little, grimaced some, then just put it back in the dark satin box, and walked out of the store.

If she wanted a princess, well she was getting her now!

Both these saleswoman had an unsuccessful day: The Sikh men walked out without making a purchase (there they go, and they didn't even buy anything" I said laughing, while I was still talking to the Meghan ring expert." And the man infatuated with the gold chains didn't even say he would be back (perhaps when cash ready).

And of course they lost me. There are hundreds of diamond stores. And people persist until they find the right place before taking out their wallets for toilet paper, let alone diamond stones!

I never bother shopkeepers for these "luxury" views when they are busy or during rush hour. What does she have to lose by being courteous, or even nice, to me? And who knows what will happen next year, or even next month? I plan to win the lottery, but I wouldn't grace her store to buy my diamond set, and add to her coveted commission salary.

I know it is best to be courteous even in the face of a rudeness and callousness. But then we have to fight back, and force manners on these plebeians. It might take them out of their rut! And the next modest customer, who may have a simple request, might get better treatment.

That is what courtesy is about. But in Mississauga, where people don't even speak the same common language, the language of common courtesy is non-existent.

This is how civilizations whittle away, when civility has been tossed aside.

Note:
The Meghan Ring, which the saleswoman showed me was nothing like the real ring which had a huge central diamond ring with tiny ones to each side. The one I saw (and grimace at) had three all the same size. Maybe this woman's behavior was because she didn't know what ring to show me. And this is perhaps even worse than her rudeness!

And Meghan's Diamond Ring is "priceless."

Spring Scarves II

Mousy Models Fulfilling An Ideological Mandate

Holt Renfrew's Official Video for Spring 2018 (now on display on the store's mega-screen at the
Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga)

"See Carolyn Murphy and Liya Kebede don the season’s most forward-thinking flourishes for the Holt Renfrew Spring 2018 Magazine."

Spring Awakening/L’éveil du printemps: Video
Soundtrack: Tribal -
"Custom track made specifically for Holts.
The title of the song is Yup, Okay"

Spring Awakening/L’éveil du printemps: Editorial

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below is an unpublished article from August 2011.

[2018 Update: Kebede is now gracing the big screen at Holt Renfrew's Mississauga store.]

Of course now it is no longer enough to have female models prancing around. We need some kind of interaction between them after all! And almost always that has some lesbian connotations. These women are not just besties!

Liya Kebede, the American model of Ethiopian origin, is on the May 2009 cover of Vogue magazine, and that's supposed to be a good thing. After Michelle Obama in March and Beyonce in April, Vogue is apparently on a roll adding her to the roster of "black" faces.
I don't know how Kebede got into the modeling business. By Ethiopian standards, she is not even that good looking. She is too dark, and her features are too mousy. She looks more Somali than Ethiopian. In a normal setting in her homeland, she would be called “cute” (especially if she also had personality), but not a beauty.

But, in America, what they seem to want in their "ethnic" models is that they either go all the way to the extreme end of the spectrum, like the Sudanese model Alek Wek, or have just enough Caucasian features (small lips, straight nose, high cheekbones without being too strong) and dark skin to figure as an acceptable "black" model. All this without looking too Negroid. This is actually the look of the super model, and mother of them all, the Somali Iman. It is not surprising that Halle Berry, a mousy-featured favorite film star, is so popular. Another mousy but popular model is the Indian Padma Lakshmi. Liya, Halle, Iman and Padma could actually be sisters.

It is frustrating to look at these women as models of beauty, when all they're really doing is fulfilling some ideological need of putting nonwhite models, whose looks are not too threatening, on main stream fashion magazines.

Tough Beauty in NYC

"Upper West Side" NYC Nail Polish

This is a post I wrote in 2011:

Tough Beauty in NYC

There is a make-up brand called New York Color (abbreviated simply as NYC which looks like it stand for New York City). Their In a New York Color Minute nail polish - meant to dry in a minute - are the most fun (if that is a word to use for make-up) since they're all named after neighborhoods in Manhattan, which is of course synonymous with NYC.

Imagine wearing the “East Village” turquoise blue, or the “Park Avenue” gray, and living the sophisticated life of a Park Avenue socialite or an East Village artist vicariously through the nail polish.

Toronto Color (abbreviated as TC) just doesn't cut it. Not least because TC doesn't mean anything. During tourist season, T.O. - as in Toronto, Ontario - crops up more as a gimmick than a custom. And even if there were a huge campaign to recognize TO (and a catchy TOC for a make-up line?), what Toronto locations would have the same effect as Prospect Street or simply Uptown?

These are the NYC colors and names that caught my attention:

- Mulberry Street - beige
- Central Park - pale orange/pink
- Wall Street - pale translucent pink
- Prospect Park - glittery pink
- Spring Street - orange
- Times Square - red
- Park Avenue - gray
- Fashion Avenue - fuchsia
- Lincoln Square - lavender
- Uptown - dusty pink

The only problem I have is with the “Wall Street” very pale pink. I would have thought that female Wall Street workers would be more bold.

The NYC make-up line is very cheap. The product labels say: "Designed in New York. Made in the U.S.A. Dist. Coty US LLC: New York, NY 10016." I would think that "Made in the USA" has a lot to do with the low prices.

So much for cheap Chinese products. I would support Donald Trump's presidency purely for his stand against them, and his promise to reduce the Chinese hegemony on our daily products while building up Made in the USA.

Here is Trump talking about China and cheap Chinese products on CNN:

They're making stuff that you see being sold all the time on Fifth Avenue, copying various, you know, whether it's Chanel or whatever it may be, the brands, and just selling it ad - ad nauseum. I mean this is a country that is ripping off the United States like nobody other than OPEC has ever done before.

These are not our friends. These are our enemies. These are not people that understand niceness. And the only thing you can do, Wolf [Blizter], to get their attention is to say either we're not going to trade with you any further or, in the alternative, we're going to tax your products as they come into the United States...

We would - I would lower the taxes for people in this country and corporations in this country and let China and some of the other countries that are ripping us off and making hundreds of billions of dollars a year, let them pay...

They're going to make General Motors build the cars in China. They're not going to let China - they're not going to let General Motors take their cars from this country and sell them in China. They want General Motors to give up all of its intellectual rights and at the same time have Chinese workers build the cars, something which we are not doing, to that extent. If you look at what's happening with China and what they're selling to this country - or take South Korea, with the television sets and everything else, they're making it over there. China wants General Motors to build the cars in China.

At the end, Wolf Blitzer asks Trump if he's going to run for the US presidency. Trump answers that he's "giving it serious thought." Since then, Trump has said that he will officially announce his bid for the presidency on the finale of his show "Celebrity Apprentice," a show which I'm sure taught him some hard lessons about race reality in America, and in the West in general. Trump may seem to have brushed off all those ugly "celebrity" incidents, but as a hardened businessman, I don't for a (New York) minute think he will take any of them lightly.

"Be Bold and Shine With Melted Metals"

Below are the promotional posters (giant ones) posted right outside the Holt Renfrew store at the main entrance of the Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga.

From a distance they look benign enough. In fact, since the photographs are relatively dark, it is hard to distinguish what the images are. But as you walk closer, what you see are these detached faces with unfocused expressions, either looking "internally" or out onto some distant horizon.

Since the glass that covers these posters reflects light and the surrounding objects, I got some interesting juxtapositions. For example: the top photo elongates the face and upward focus through the reflection of the highrise building. The middle photo which looks like the face is marked with tribal stripes (part of the actual photo) has the Canadian flags fluttering beneath the giant face. And the third appears to be looking sleepily (and creepily) into the superimposed buildings.

Each is advertising an eyeshadow color by Tom Ford for a new line called "Extreme" with the tag: "Be Bold and Shine With Melted Metals."

Top: Silver
Middle: Sapphire Blue
Bottom: Gold

Extreme for what? Towards what?

This is the now frequent, ambiguously worded language that is used to present nefarious elements into ordinary, everyday life. We have it in films like A Wrinkle in Time (which passes itself off as a children's fantasy tale), television series such as Lucifer, and dark and macabre streetwear highlighted with tattoos and metallic eyeshadow from cheap knock-offs of Tom Ford's metalica makeup.

And Ford is not to be outdone in the film department either, where he has directed two "luciferan" films: Nocturnal Animals and A Single Man.

And where else but in film does he have carte blanche to project transitions of man to beast to Lucifer into a Hadean world and onto the giant silver screens, using his transferable skills as fashion's extreme creative director?








Promotional Posters Outside Holt Renfrew, at Square One Mississauga
For: Tom Ford's Spring/Summer 2018 collection "Extreme"

[Photos By: KPA]

And this s not Ford's foray into the netherworld, as I wrote here.

Paris à Tout Prix

Paris à Tout Prix (Paris At All Costs or the official translation Paris or Perish) started off as a charming film about an up and coming Parisian fashion designer. But appearances can be deceiving.

Reem Kherici has the dark hair/dark eyes looks of a French woman possibly with that Mediterranean heritage. But I soon learn that she is Arab.

Fine. There are many Arabs in France now who have appeared to have assimilated and become French.

But Reem's papers are not in order. In fact she is in France illegally. The deportation police come to her workplace and chaperone her out and eventually to Orly airport. She lands in Morocco, a country she barely knows.

As it happens, her father was very ill, which she didn't know, and she managed to be with him during his last days. At this point, I switched off the t.v. and resumed a book I was reading. But curiosity got the better of me, and I turned on the show near the very end with about a half hour to go.

Reem was still in Morocco enjoying the company of her family and old friends. We had a brief tour of Marrakech with happy and content Arabs interacting with each other. There is no multiculturalism (or whites) in Marrakech. People are amongst their own and there is an air of freedom around despite the obvious economic difficulties.

Reem decides she should return to Paris and to her job. She had put together a leather and lace "gown" to show her design team during her time in Morocco with local items (especially the leather). Her stay has not been in vain after all! Here she is, an Arab girl promoting her land.

But she has no passport and she has been banned from entering France.



So she does what any Arab girl would do. She borrows her cousin's passport and goes to the airport anyway.

The cousin looks nothing like her. Reem has a longer face with prominent cheekbones and large eyes. The cousin has a rounder smaller face, is lighter skinned and has slightly oriental eyes. The agent at the airport customs, who looks Arab and should have known better, spends a good deal of time cross checking the passport photo against the real-life traveler before him. Finally he lets her through.

Reem enters Paris illegally. She arrives just in time to present her dress to her fashion house as a runway was in progress. Her leather gown with lace trimmings is chosen as the "final" dress, a big honor in the runway world. It is a success.

Reem has made a contribution to French art and culture. Who cares about the slight aberration that she is neither French nor a legal resident. She is PARISIAN!



Above is the runway dress. I couldn't find a full length picture of it. Perhaps it has to do with some copyright issue that it cannot be posted publicly. The costume designer for the film is Aurore Pierre.

The gothic dark S&M alluding leather strap of a dress is further indication of the decline of the classic French culture. Reem may be "Parisian" but she adds no grandeur to Paris, and in fact degrades it.

Exotic and Ferocious: from China

Etro, silk poodle-print scarf for sale at Holt Renfrew in Mississauga
with a special Year of the Dog tag (price CAN$450)

(Full image of scarf here)


[Photos By: KPA]

We just had a week of hyperactivity around the Chinese New Year at Mississauga's self-proclaimed city centre: The Square One Mall. But what exactly are the Chineses contributing to Canadian (and Mississaugan) culture except for fast (and often NOT hard) cash? What are the new cultural insights of excellence that we are receiving?

For example: Where are the Chinese (bona fide, like French, English or even Brazilian designers, and not some Chinese-Canadian/Chinese-American) who had their work exhibited at the SQ1-Chinese-New-Year-at-Holt's event?

From the long list of designers available at Holt's website, I found one Chinese (who works in China), who is a jewelry designer and who had a dog pendant for sale during the dog-year festivities.


Qeelin
Wang Wang Small Bulldog Mario Pendant
Diamond, 18K White & Rose Gold
$4,500

But alongside the benign face of Wang Wang, Qeelin also displays more exotic, and ferocious, figures such as:


Jewelry Designer Qeelin's Male and Female Spirits

The King & Queen collection captures the majesty of the powerful dragon and the enchanting phoenix in a range of pieces fit for royalty. These two mythical animals are often paired in a potent balance of male and female energy, of yin and yang. [Qeelin.com]

But what do these "two mythical animals" symbolize?

Dragon (long龙)
The Chinese dragon is the ultimate symbol of the cosmic energy qi气and the most powerful symbol of good fortune. Ranked first among mythical beasts, it can bring rain to parched lands,which in turn represents abundance and relief. A dragon and phoenix (king of all winged creatures) symbolise the emperor and empress as well as marital bliss. The dragon is often used as an emblem of high rank and power on the robes of emperors and princesas well as on imperial art objects.

Phoenix (feng凤)
The phoenix is the ‘king of birds’ and symbolises good fortune and opportunity as it appears only in times of peace and prosperity. In Chinese mythology, the phoenix is a benevolent bird since it does not harm insects, and each of its body parts represents one of the virtues of benevolence (ren仁), righteousness (yi義), propriety (li礼), knowledge (zhi智) and sincerity (xin信).

The phoenix is also the symbol for the empress and, shown with the dragon, it stands for a perfect marriage. [Source: The British Museum]

Mississauga is busy courting Chinese, but what happens when the Chinese money runs out? What will happen to the over-priced Holt's "the luxury store" when people stop going? Another addition to the ghost town that will be Mississauga.


Qeelin for sale at Holt Renfrew

And all that will remain are plastic Made in China renditions of phoenixes and dragons decorating the lower level Food Central's
Shanghai 360 or Szechuan Express.

Welcome to the Multi-Culti Kool Aid.

Below is an excerpt from an article asking questions similar to mine about China, especially the last sentence of the excerpt, "If China consumes, produces and exports such a vast amount of clothing, why are we still wearing clothes designed in America, Europe and Japan? Why aren’t we seeing Chinese fashion brands in shops all over the world?":

It’s a strange paradox China finds itself in at the minute. Nearly half of all the world’s luxury goods — 46 percent to be precise — are bought by Chinese shoppers. Luxury stores across the world employ Chinese-speaking staff to cater for the countless retail tourists walking through their doors. Every high-ticket shop on the planet relies on China’s globetrotting nouveau riche to pay their bills, and luxury brands have invested so heavily in the country that the thought of another economic slowdown there makes executives shudder. When Chinese shoppers reined in their spending back in 2015, Burberry CEO and Creative Director Christopher Bailey had to take a 75 percent pay cut to offset the brand’s plummeting sales.

It’s not just buying power that makes China the mightiest fashion consumer on the planet. It’s the workshop of the world, the country that makes the phone in your pocket and the clothes on your back. President Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ shtick promised to take back many of the countless jobs that have been outsourced to China in recent years. That won’t change the fact that pretty much every manufacturer on the planet has China incorporated into its supply chain in some way or another—and fashion brands are no exception.

China’s manufacturing might have created a stupendous amount of wealth in the country, and like emerging middle classes all over the developing world, being seen spending your money is a vital sign of success—hence all the luxury shopping. The world’s most populous nation is now flexing its muscles abroad—China is investing in vast infrastructure projects in over 60 countries, from a nuclear power plant in the UK to Africa’s first transnational electric railway. Oh, and its navy is currently building islands in the middle of the South China Sea to claim ownership of the seaways that carry a third of the world’s shipping.

Van Cleef and Arpels Delivary

[Photo By: KPA]