[brett]

...which is why i am grateful that my came-with-the-apartment bathroom mirror is actually next to the bathroom, and is HUGE. it has saved me many a time.

[note to all in the philly burbs area: if you see a redhead that is a total COF today, it's probably me. i'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, and all the cute stuff is packed!]

[walkingbitch]

Deep breath.
I am not being judgemental, rather I am acknowledging the following woman's horrendous case of BCMS... (bathroom cabinet mirror syndrome)

Why oh why am I the one bearing witness to the horrors of white denim, improperly worn? Ripped white denim with mc boots? I think cool, missladyj. I would wear em ripped, but that's me. Now today, on my way to work, I bore witness to a woman who was wearing a beautiful coral embroidered halter top, fit beautifully, and I wanted to ask her what bra she was wearing underneath because it was holding her up great and without awkward straps or anything. Her hair was very nicely pulled up, nary a spangly scrunchie in sight. Makeup? Nice, not overdone, and not oompah loompah bronzed orange either.

Then I looked down. This is why I say she suffers a MALADY PEOPLE! BCMS blinds you! She was wearing a pair of longer length white denim shorts, that were easily 2 sizes too small. and she was wearing a thong, so all of her pockets for change on her cheeks was clear for all to see. Platform flipflops, that were clear on the bottom, LIGHT UPS.
swear to be-jesus. WHY?
WHY?

Just in case it hasn't been made clear, bathroom cabinet mirror syndrome is when everything in the 1' wide, 2'long square of the bathroom mirror looks fabulous, and since you can't see the rest, it typically goes to pot.

[girlbomb_redux]

My current greatest CoF:

My NorthFace fannypack. Love it more than life itself. I overloaded it so much that the belt frayed, and now it is clipped together with a pin from the Behind the Magic tour of the Magic Kingdom I took last year with Bill.

A fannypack. With a Disney pin.

I'd bow for you, if I could bend at the waist without my FANNYPACK riding up and smacking me in the back.

[pepper]

doodle, a family from india opened an import store here. many vintage saris and new cheepo versions that are really gorgeous. all my windows already have curtains but i'm searching for a place to hang up even More fabric!

[missladyj]

I have a confession to make.

i own a pair of white levis, but haven't been able to wear them because they ripped. I am waiting to get them to my friend who can sew. would wear them with a white tank, black leather belt and my black frye motorcycle boots.

I also go to the pool in a florescent orange terry cloth one piece jumper with a white zipper and a collar that I purchased for a nickle at a garage sale and black flip flops. total COF.

[doodlebug]

I am 37 and I won't even walk to the 7-Eleven without a bra on.

Odd...I don't find silk to be a heavy or unbreathable fabric. I find it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Of course, I am not rolled up in eleventy bazillion metres when I wear silk, either...it's usually just one layer! I do know how to wrap a sari, though, and I am on the hunt for the "perfect" one. I am also a freckled pale face, but because of my job, wearing one on occasion would be probably be viewed as a (naive but cute) gesture of respect, rather than an act of appropriation.

[tatina]

Yeah, thats what I do too. I deconstruct saris and turn them into cute little tops and pants and then I love the exotic look and the great embroidery. You have to tune the whole thing down, give it an edge and then it works.

[pepper]

i made a few saris into pants and skirts. so nice. a yoga instructer bought the first pair of sari pants (purple with gold embroidery) i ever made right offa my ass for $50. too cheap yes, but worth it to have to wear my girlfriends spare skirt home and have a story to tell, definately.

[tatina]

Maimy, the fundamental fabric for saris nowadays is polyester, but the nice ones are crepe de chine or georgette. Bklhermit, of course you can go into any Indian store and tell them you like Indian clothes and buy them, no problem! What makes it hard to get away with a sari though is the total ethno-look. While you can combine a short Kimono jacket with Jeans and a Chuba or a Salwaar with a Jeans jacket and boots and it will look great, a sari is a totally ethnic outfit, bindi and all, and I always giggle when I see white girls in it.

[possum]

I went to an amusement/water park this weekend on a vacation with my family... the crimes were too numerous to report. My mother grumbled repeatedly about the "nasty, trashy" tattoos that were everywhere. I did not tell her about the little cat paws I have inked on my hip.

But the worst CoF was not at the park, but in our hotel. It was a fairly nice hotel, and I was sitting out in the lounge with the familia, nibbling snacky foods and sipping cool beverages. Behold!

Woman, in her 40s or 50s? Wearing a white sleeveless dress. Dress was not too tight or too short or anything. No. But the woman had to have at least DD-size boobs. And NO BRA. NONE. Her boobs were at her waist, and her nips gave what I can describe as a cockeyed appearance. My whole family stopped and gawked, no one saying a word. Woman did not appear sunburned or any other issue that would maybe prevent or inhibit a bra. It looked like she was gonna trip over her boobs any second... it was a living rendition of Mrs. Chokesondick of South Park fame.

Family bonding indeed!

[bklynhermit]

i think it would be OK for me to wear a sari or salwar kameez if i had been to india and bought one. or if a good friend brought me one back or something. but i would feel so extremely weird going into a sari shop in Jackson Heights and trying to buy something. i mean, what would i say to the shop ladies? "oh, i just like indian clothes so much, you people really know how to dress?' it would be weird.

i do think that if i do any extensive traveling in the subcontinent, though, i'll definitely pick up the habit of wearing salwar kameez.

[pixiedust]

I have a Sari that my ex MIL brought back from Saudi...Roseviolet had one too. We always used to joke about wearing them to the airport so that we could drink and eat pork in front of passers by...(this was pre 911 when you could actually hang at the airport)
COF-just about anything you see in a teen fashion mag these days. I looked through Cosmo girl yesterday and was AMAZED at what people call fashion these day...I guess I'm getting old. And when I'm 80, I will walk around with a purple midriff baring top no matter what kind of belly flab I have going on!

[raisingirl]

I know, I feel slightly bad about the cultural appropriation of wearing a sari and not being Indian. I don't think it would stop me, though!

[maimy]

WB, I don't think anyone can argue that. And, knowing what I happen to know about you, I'm hardly going to be the volunteer to try!

Saris are beautiful, but right now, with heat reaching for 100 and humidity being high, that much fabric sounds terribly warm to me. Especially silk, which I think of in my mind as the fundamental textile for saris. No breathability! Maybe in September it'd be a lovely garment to wear, but right now I'm all about minimalizing.

That and "cultural appropriation much?" - Bklyn, EXACTLY. I'm a freckle-faced WASP from VA, nobody's buyin' me in a sari any time soon!

[raisingirl]

::laughing at this whole thing::

Oh, and you know what? I totally have been wanting to go to the Indian store in my neighborhood and learn some basic ways on how to wear a sari. I totally think they're gorgeous.

[walkingbitch]

I'm judgemental, and not apologetic for it. And Vagina lip flap waving is a crime. period.

[bklynhermit]

yeah, i've seen zippers already.

took a walk through SoHo yesterday, surprised i didn't see too many egregious CoFs. i think i'm just so over the tourists that the hipsters aren't pissing me off as much. and the tourists are so much less fun to criticize, because they're so uniformly boring: outfit that could perhaps have passed for stylish 5 years ago + too much makeup and overstyled hair + white socks + annoyingly over-secure fanny pak or money belt = tourist.

seriously, when i see out of towners white knuckling their money belts in SoHo, i just want to go up to them and say, "THIS IS THE RITZIEST NEIGHBORHOOD EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. NOBODY IS GOING TO MUG YOU."

[falljackets]

*returns the discussion to simple unadulterated CoFs*

just now, a co-worker walked by my office door. now, this is not a co-worker that is particularly known for her *style* but this one is much worse than i've seen in a while:

apple green tank/halter tunic? i'm not sure because it's got straps that go around her neck, but also around her shoulders. low cut, and the straps sort of form a knot in the middle of her chest and proceed around the neck. paired with a long knit black skirt, slit all the way to her way upper thighs. on. both. sides. and she finished it off with none other than fancy glittery sequined sandal-flops. add it to the kentucky waterfall with grown out highlights and we've got ourselves a criminal, ya'll.

yeah, i saw the white denim too. it's already back. as are zippers. at. the. ankles. (yes, i wore them. back in 7th grade...)

*hangs head in shame for considering a purchase of an oxford-style bodysuit from the VS catalog*

[maddy29]

i think it's weird when women with dark skin wear white pants in the summer with no undies. you can see their butts, like completely. someone else mentioned this, i keep seeing it and find it odd. of course all the men around here love it and stare...

fake tanner-i am SO guilty of that crime. i am soooo pale white and i tried fake tanner and i loved it but when i look at the pictures it's so humiliating to think that i actually went out in public all orange-like! eeek! thank god i accept my extreme whiteness now.

[mornington]

Tatina, I think the point is is that we keep this thread for the frivolity. There are a couple of threads ("deconstructing the pretty girl" & "the other bush") where there is more serious discussion. It's just the way it is, and it keeps arguments from happening.

bklyn, white denim is back already. I saw it in h&m. the fear the fear the fear....

And you totally wrote why I love saris. the whole pan-age thing. There is no mutton-dressed-as-lamb.