Looking back, moving forward?

Edited by: Florrie Clarke of Intrinsically Florrie.

Links à la Mode: July 29th

This is a collection of brilliant posts collected by The Demoiselles over the week. Some may have been featured on our Twitter, some may have been sent to use through email, or by our friends on Facebook. Please check out, and send love to the blogs featured here – they’re all worth a look!

Jezebel has been covering Crystal Renn’s alleged weight loss… Which would sound pretty superficial and counterproductive, if she’d actually lost any weight, which she didn’t. The photographer just “shaped her”, because it’s “his job to make women look beautiful.” Nice.

This is a really interesting chart that shows various people at their heights and weights. And by all, we mean all – nearly every height/weight combination is represented with a photo! A great reminder that everyone holds their weight in different ways. (Shown to us on Facebook by Antishay.)

“As long as society resists female power, fashion will call healthy women physically flawed. As long as society accepts the physical, sexual and economic abuse of women, popular culture will prefer women who resemble little girls. Sitting in the hospital the summer after my college graduation, I grasped the absurdity of a nation of adult women dying to grow small.”

- Abra Fortune-Chernik, “The Body Politic”

New tech girl-crush, Jolie O’Dell, talks about her own weight loss journey, and how the blogging lifestyle and all its sedentary goodness can be really detrimental.

One of our favorite blogs, Eat The Damn Cake, wrote a great piece titled “I Used To Be A Skinny Person.” Definitely worth a read.

Boston.com published an article for Moms with tips on how to approach young girls and daughters about the idea of body image and “role models.”

The Wholestyle Network linked to an interesting article about exercising while recovering from an eating disorder.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads: Shelby Knox wrote about her experience participating in a photoshoot… The title should be enough to rouse your interest. Take a look at My Day as an Anti-Feminist (Role) Model.

Lilian Behrendt talks about how we’ve (d)evolved into a culture of bullying.

More Eat The Damn Cake for your enjoyment: All Men Are Pigs, And Other Popular Misconceptions.

We’ve decided that when Lindsay moves to Seattle, we’re going to start a gigantic library full of books on body image and media theory… Luckily, Cynosure has provided us with a list of 8 books (“that will transform your eating & body image”) that we’ll definitely be picking up!

Don’t forget to send us anything you find relating to health, body image, or media standards! We love mail!

Images from The Natural Female Form

There have been some really interesting stories this week! Here are our favorites:

Lillian Behrendt muses on American Apparel’s (and other “youth-centric” brands’) stifled sizing accommodations.

I am in my early 20’s. I will wear stupid pants. So will just about everyone else who is my age. Stupid pants are an important part of human development. By not catering to the enormous market of plus-sized/fat/whatever young people, American Apparel, the INDUSTRY LEADER in stupid pants (not to mention stupid shirts, stupid shorts and stupid nipple-baring leotard things) is missing out on a lot of money. – Lillian Behrendt

American Apparel also denied the valuable dollars of plus-sized, body-embracing erotic artist, April Flores (who is quoted in the above article). When asked for a size larger than 2X (which is likely the equivalent of an XL), Flores was told, “That’s not our demographic” and was referred to the men’s section. Lovely.

Definatalie talks tights, and gives a lengthy list of DIYs, as well as resources for plus-sized indie tights/leggings creators.

Over at Eat The Damn Cake, Kate points out how we’ve all learned (thoroughly) how to recognize the things we hate about our body… But what about the positive?

But what about when you look down at your thighs and just like them? Without having to think. Without having to convince yourself that they’re actually OK. That maybe they’re not quite as hopeless as they’ve always seemed. What about when you look at them and think they’re a pleasing shape? What if you like the way they squish out when you sit down? Maybe that feels womanly or voluptuous or sexy or just indescribably cool. - Eat The Damn Cake

Rant Time: What the hell is up with the influx of eating-disorder-promoting t-shirts? Aren’t we in 2010? Wasn’t this fad over in the late ’90s? I mean, honestly… With Perez Hilton coming out with his god-forsaken “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” shirt, and then Urban Outfitters (who we already hate, thank you very much) started hawking this adorable “Eat Less” tee. Both parties have since pulled the shirts because of major public outcry, but good lord – what did you expect, idiots?

William Leith, in a piece for the Telegraph, gives his perspective on female body image issues from a man’s perspective – and it’s not what you think:

For men the holy grail is within reach – you just need to get fit, and then you’ll be fine; then you can think about something else. But the messages aimed at women are much more complex and confusing. As the American social commentator Warren Farrell has pointed out, women’s magazines often contain articles about being Superwoman, which are next to adverts about being Cinderella.

In other words, the words tell women how to be independent and in control. But the adverts, where the money is, tell them they have to be beautiful. - William Leith

DING DING DING!

All images from The Natural Female Form.

Link Love is back! Here’s what we’ve been loving for, uh, the last month or so…

• We are loving this ultra-empowering story of The Curvy Fashionista – we especially like the part where she creates the acronym, FATS: Forget All Those Stereotypes.
• According to NYMag, Marie Claire is hopping on the “no retouching” bandwagon with their entire magazine. Not bad, MC, not bad.
• Here are two videos:

  Which do you think was banned from ABC? If you guessed Lane Bryant, you’d be right, sadly.

  You’d think that ABC’s female president would consider using her position to help empower other women instead of allowing atrocities like the clearly-for-men-action-movie-sequence Victoria’s Secret commercial to air during prime time. Insert massive eye roll here. You can read Lane Bryant’s comments on the debacle here. (via our girl, Meagan)

• We are going insane over our new favorite Tumblr, The Natural Female Form. So many hotties! So many bodies! So good!

  

• Another new blog we love, Cynosure, says words we love to hear other women preach: you are not your weight.

Sorry we’re so behind, ladies and gentlemen! (Are there any gentlemen? If so, speak up!) We’ll be back on track in no time.

Pretty, Pretty

Edited by Jennine Jacob

It’s official, Spring is in full swing… we’ve all shed our winter fluff and there’s a certain buzz in the air… well, other than the pollen count. Like every week, we have a wonderful selection of links, but the recurring theme here was making ourselves pretty, whether it be donning floral prints, DIY embellishments, watercoloring, even bunny ears or refreshing the ol’ makeup pallette with the new season’s colors.

Oh, and if you’re looking for something to do this summer… IFB is looking for interns!

Links à la Mode : April 8

• Bachman’s Sparrow – Wing-Stop! DIY wing-sleeved shirt!
• Denimaniac – Denim Culture for the Modern Man
• dramatis personae – Fashion Consultation Giveaway at Style Therapy
• évoluer – spring flowers
• Fashion Pulse Daily – Avon Does Fabulous Jewelry?!? Who Knew!
• Fete a Fete – Guerlain 2010 Terracotta Collection
• hello beauty! – Bobbi Brown Spring 2010: Color Strips and Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation (with makeup lesson video)
• Idiosyncratic Style – I (HEART) Toronto Fashion Week!
• Intrinsically Florrie – DIY bunny ears
• Nicky’s Rag Tales – Do you need to be a bitch in the Fashion Industry to succeed?
• Oranges and Apples – Dig for Victory – amazing vintage inspired dresses
• poetic & chic – Bang Envy Influences : Anna Karina
• Pretty Shiny Sparkly – A Touch of Vintage & Glamour
• Retro Chick – Video Tutorial: Mineral Foundation
• sfindiefashion.com – Punk Jock: Chatting with RosenMunns
• style, substance & sutton – DIY Embellished Tank
• Sugar and spice and all things nice – How to… give thoughtful presents for your girlfriends
• The Coveted – Poll: What do you do when your clothes don’t fit?
• The Demoiselles – A Glossy View: Ad Campaign Curiousity
• The Mod One – Fashion’s Future in 3D

Thinking Fashion

Edited by Retro Chick

It never ceases to amaze me the quality and variety of links that get submitted to IFB each week and how hard it is to pick just 20. Fashion & Style Bloggers are intelligent, thoughtful and insightful people who really understand their subject. Whether it’s Second Hand Shopper questioning the distinction between fashion and style, Shrimp Salad Circus discussing how much of ourselves we should put into our blogs or a whole plethora of posts on the subject of body image.

Of course, we also love a bargain and this week we have a DIY Pillbox Hat, tips on thrift shopping the Spring trends and a gorgeous giveaway.

I really would urge you to take the time to check out the links that didn’t make it in the forums. I don’t think there’s a bad post among them….

Links à la Mode : April 1

• Alyson Is Neat – Revealing secrets on how to go into a store and not purchase clothing.
• Awakened Aesthetic – How to live green, without giving up the “unethical” stuff you already have.
• blackdog finds – How to Thrift Shop for Spring 2010 Fashion Trends:
• British Style Bloggers – A preview of the finalé of British Style Bloggers’ Body Image Season, including a random and rambling tour of BSB’s head office (aka my house).
• DailyDivaDish – Spanx for Men: Is shapewear for men really going mainstream? Why I think it’s a bad idea.
• Despising Life is So Passe – Pillbox Hat DIY
• Eternal Masquerade – Monroe Monday: A Look At What the Wardrobe Should Mean to Every Woman
• Grit and Glamour – A signature fragrance is your invisible identity—it becomes part of your brand
• High Fashion Girl – I write about Lady Gaga like you’ve NEVER read about her before.
• Idiosyncratic Style – A Peek at the life and style of illustrator Rachelle Scarfo
• Independent Fashion Bloggers – How to make your blog mobile friendly
• Oh, the Places You’ll Go! – Fatsionable Art and Inspiration from Eva Hannah.
• Retro Chick – How every girl can be a Princess
• Second Hand Shopper – Second hand shopper pits the escapism of fashion against the expressionism of style
• Shoulderache & The Closet – The most expensive wool in the world!
• Shrimp Salad Circus – How much of yourself should you put ‘out there?’
• The Demoiselles – Graceful Empowerment Comes in All Forms (including that of eating the other guy’s tacos).
• The Greyest Ghost – Behind the scenes of the Chanel f/w 2010 ad campaign in NYC with Abbey Lee Kershaw, Freja Beha Erichsen, and Karl Lagerfeld.
• The New Wave – Going once, going twice, SOLD! A visit to the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection auction.
• The Well-Appointed Catwalk – Highlights and my impressions of “Health Matters: Weight and Wellness in the World of Fashion,” a panel discussion I attended featuring Anna Wintour, Michael Kors and Natalia Vodianova.
• True Queen – Examining the use of fur by designers on the runways of the Fall 2010 fashion shows.
• Unfunded – Unfunded teams up with the U.K. retailer NEXT for an awesome giveaway!

Jaka Merriman, a friend and valued commenter, takes us through the “saga” of her hair color, and ends up with a new perspective on self-love.

Chelsea Rae of Pink Rock Candy also saw the Crystal Renn/Jaquelyn Jablonski photoshoot – but she saw it surrounded by hate-mongering comments towards women’s bodies. Here’s her take on the whole shebang.

Have you heard of Medicinal Marzipan? No? Well, go get yourself some fresh coffee or tea, grab a muffin or some string cheese, and get settled – this blog is a wealth of positivity. Some gems?

• Learning to Love Yourself, Even When You Feel Awful
• Learning To Love Your Body, Regardless of Your Size
• A Body Recovered

We only wish she didn’t have partial feeds! But we love her anyway.

Have a great weekend!

The Happy Holidays Edition

Edited by Retrochick

Well, I suppose I shall start this weeks Links à la Mode with this:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

It’s Christmas Eve and I’m sure visions of sugar plums are dancing in everyone’s heads as they trim the tree and sup mulled wine in preparation for tomorrows frivolities. All too soon it’ll all be over and brain power sapped from too many TV Christmas Specials you’ll be wanting some mental sustenance, and that’s where we come in.

Essentially that’s a long winded way of me saying that what follows are some lovely links to keep you busy over the Christmas period.

M.I.S.S and JeweleryWhore have D.IY ideas to keep your mind and body occupied, ID Style and Little Miss Make Up show you how to ramp up the glamour in your make up bag, whilst Daily Diva Dish and The Working Wardrobe will help you plan what to wear for New Years Eve and that dreaded day you return to work.

If you run out of entertainment here then you should always check out the full Links à la Mode thread for more yummy fashion goodness.

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday and that Santa brings you everything you asked for!

Links à la Mode : December 24th

• Alice in Stilettos – Don’t Be Victimized By Fashion
• DailyDivaDish – New Year’s Eve Fashion: Make an entrance without breaking the bank. Includes 2 looks + DIY ideas.
• Fashion X K8 – Bringing attention to an essay of literary criticism that provides the proper vocabulary with which we can converse about a new fashion paradigm.
• Fasshonaburu – An interview with Liu Wen, the first Asian model to strut her stuff on the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show catwalk.
• Idiosyncratic Style – Wham GLAM Thank You Ma’am – Indulge in a little glamour for the holidays.
• Jewelry Whore – HUGE Roundup of DIY Christmas Present Ideas! It’s not too late to make some fabulous jewelry for Christmas presents!
• kaKofonie Of si(gh)lenS – You’re only a couple clicks and a few stitches away from owning your own one-of-a-kind designer piece with free patterns from SHOWstudio
• La Société de Mode – A scream of an interview with stylist Brett Bailey
• Little Miss Makeup – Bold lips: This season’s hottest makeup trend.
• M.I.S.S. – Another simple yet attractive necklace by Pandora from Acessory Source in this week’s She’s Crafty.
• Previously Owned – To celebrate the [almost there] opening of the ONLINE store Previously Owned BLOG is giving away a Royal Blue hobo!
• Retro Chick – Vintage Hair Styling with Flamingo Amy
• Style on a String – Harem Pants: Yay or Nay? And some quick tips on how to buy and wear them.
• Sugar and spice and all things nice – 10 things I like…. no, LOVE… about FANTASY SHOPPING!!
• sweetarchivia – Review of the much anticipated launch of the Rodarte for Target line by the Mulleavy sisters.
• THE COVETED – Versace Pre-Fall returns to color
• The Demoiselles – Wing Tips: Your First Time…at the Tailor
• The Fashion Planner – The Fashion Planner is excited to announce the publication of The Fashion Planner’s Guide!
• The Style PA – I review the comfy, Cable Cosy by Isabella Oliver
• The Working Wardrobe – Learning the art of layering that is both fashion-forward and office-appropriate

It’s been a while since we posted some love for our fellow writers, but we have been watching!  Some of these links are older than our usual one to two weeks, but they’re no less badass for it.  Enjoy!

Image via TheRoot.com

The Root congratulates Gabourey Sidibe on her starring role in Precious, and praises her impressive acting skills.  What they’re not praising is her weight, which is over 300 pounds.  They divert from the media’s cries of “acceptance” and lament that too few people are calling Sidibe out on the inevitable health problems that come with being obese.  The comments, of course, offer some lively discussion.  What do you think?

Stiletto Revolt has accumulated the Hall of Fame of Anti-Aging ads…and her interpretations are on the nose (and hilarious).

What does the mirror show you?  Sally at Already Pretty tells us about her hatred of mirrors – especially those ones at the gym – and how she wishes she could see herself through the eyes of her loved ones, instead.

It ain’t just women, and it ain’t just the US: A parenting magazine in the UK is airbrushing babies.  Those cute little fat roles are, apparently, not so cute when you’re in a glossy.  NYDailyNews has the story.

If you’d like to submit an article for Link Love – or trade a mention of your article on our site for one of our articles on yours – please contact us at info@thedemoiselles.com.

Beyond Fashion

Edited by Retro Chick

This weeks Links à la Mode blows away any preconceived ideas of the narcissistic fashion blogger posting endless outfit photos and magazine shoots by covering a huge array of topics. Ranging from Dream Sequins whimsical birthday tea party to High Fashion Girls detailed examination of racism in fashion magazines, these posts demonstrate what we’re capable of and the communities we can build.

Of course, being fashion bloggers there are also some great outfits to be found and our bloggers this week have looked at: movies, from Bollywood to Sci fi; their pyjama drawers; and even their cleaning cupboard in their ceaseless search to bring you fashion inspiration.

As ever there’s many more exciting links on the original forum thread

Enjoy!

Links à la Mode : November 26th

• British Style Bloggers – Intrinsically Florrie on British Style Bloggers on how you can support the lovely Luella brand in it’s time of need
• Dream Sequins – The stylish guests at a virtual birthday tea party (Part 2)!!
• Fashion X K8 – The Fashion Blogging community being analoguous to “The Girls” in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof
• FashionHippo – Best Organic Lip Balms: 6 Natural Picks to Nourish Your Pout
• Fete a fete – Guerlain’s Imperial Holiday makeup collection review
• High Fashion Girl – Racism & Fashion
• Idiosyncratic Style – Idiosyncratic Style dares you to re-think the possibilities of Pajamas outside the house
• In Life and In Fashion – How to dress with Bollywood Flair
• Lillys Roses – The new charity tshirts by TV-Star C.F. for the eco label armeangels
• M.I.S.S. – She’s Crafty: DIY First Place Ribbon Accessories
• Mariels Castle – Are we trully free when it comes to our fashion choices?
• Oranges and Apples – What are charity shops for? Thoughts sparked by Mary Portas’ new Save the Children shop
• Prom Mafia – Happy Accident: How to bleach fun designs on your clothes
• Quirky Fashion – Movies that Inspired Fashion
• Retro Chick – Buy Audrey Hepburns Wardrobe
• Shoe Daydreams – Why Knock-offs are Bad for the Soul
• Style on a String – Confessions of an UGG Lover and Wearer (but only indoors!)
• THE COVETED – Coach Holiday : Review & Giveaway!
• The Demoiselles – Wing Tips: Finding a Tailor
• Work Chic – Win a Sondra Roberts SR squared Shopper tote!