Monday, January 24, 2011

a word on fashion, Katharine Hepburn and other rantings of a loony

from this cool site

 I have long adored Yves Saint Laurent's Le Smoking, and indeed the concept of women in men's suits in general. Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn were great icons for this... the embodiment of something so strong and sexual; yet subtle - its sexuality lies not in what it exposes (buckets of flesh spilling out over and under teeny-tiny clothing) but for what it doesn't expose...and reveals so much of its wearer at the same time.

The sophisticated, self-confident woman cuts a sleek figure amongst the flounces and frills of other women's formal attire, a hint at a sense of the wearer's practicality as well as individuality, perhaps. And indeed, I feel the woman's suit is both daring and conformist; and represents how I feel about Katharine Hepburn (for example) and women who step beyond the boundaries of what and how women should behave, to what she felt was appropriate - at times much more like a man and less like a 'lady' (and all of the rigidly controlled and monitored appropriate behaviours that accompanied this onerous title). Indeed, Katharine seemed to never limit herself by the boundaries ascribed to her gender; stating
"I never realized until lately that women were supposed to be the inferior sex"

The simplicity...my friend pointed out to me that the suit, and particularly, in this wonderful Helmut Newton photograph, is very asexual - I would venture to add that it appears at once erotic and a-sexual, or, 'I am as sexual as I choose to be' and further, 'I define the terms of my own sexuality'. A hint of bi-sexualism, loaded with a cautiousness that one should never presume. As Suzanne Vega sang,
"don't give away the goods too soon is what she might have told me"
And Katharine Hepburn. Oh. Katharine Hepburn. She wore men's suits because they were 'comfortable' -inadvertently, (perhaps?) creating a trend of women wearing pants when it was otherwise inappropriate to do so. I don't think she did it to be cutting edge, trend-setting and unique, I think it had more to do with her abject practicality; and I suppose this is part of the beauty of Le Smoking, a suit  - so commonplace and practical, yet so taboo and therefore so sexual.

"Being a housewife and a mother is the biggest job in the world, but if it doesn't interest you, don't do it - I would have made a terrible mother"                             
Katharine Hepburn

Sunday, January 23, 2011

shhhh....!

pssst!

Don't say a freaking word... my neighbour is currently out the front of my house trimming back the bits of the wattle that hang in front of the driveway.

shhhhh..

While clearly this is an indication that the poor dude has FAR too much time and energy on his hands (and I would argue, energy best used for crochet) I dare not go out there in case he gets embarrassed and stops. Boo Radley style. Particularly if Boo Radley has a penchant for pruning other people's bushes. Erm. And not in the way that your mind jumped to (though it occurs to me that it was this false-assumption that formed part of the premise for the novel... but nevermind).

Anyway.

I am busy making baby blankets for the new baby-additions to my group of friends. Unfortunately (somewhat) this requires commitment, and in some capacity, planning, as I am to get these finished prior to the kid's 18th birthday.

So one of the blankets I am making in a disgusting, fuzzy soft baby yarn. I don't mean disgusting as in it is vomit coloured, or some such, just that I am a great devotee of the good ol' 8ply, and fuzzy, boucle, bubbly, furry, feathery and otherwise fancy yarns irritate me a little.
So while this blanket looks very sweet and soft, and feels lovely to crochet with, I am not entirely satisfied with it, in as much that I feel like it is not something I would actually make, had the yarn not been $1 a ball at kmart. Which, as it happens, also makes me sound like a complete tight arse.

Meh.

He just raked the dead leaves up. Not just from the front, but the side as well.

Subsequently, this is the most relevant picture I could find:


from epic wtfs...which is how I'm feeling
Thanks, neighbour!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

cuuuute

Kip and Lil after a walk
 Posted by Picasa 

Kip decided to take herself for a walk this morning. In to a neighbouring yard, and then shed. Fortunately, we were walking on a nearby oval at the time, so it wasn't the immediate neighbours (though she has walked herself over there previously).
Still. She's a funny dog.
Hence the need for a cute photo.


And another. As a matter of fact, Kip is modelling a Norwegian Forest Hat, as crocheted for a friend's Norwegian Forest Cat. Needless to say, Kip is such an awesome, hardcore dog that she immediately made the hat look like a pimp hat. But that's probably got a lot to do with the fact that she is a pimp dawg.

The pattern is from a hilarious blog called Spindles and Spices where the blogger heartily endorses knitted furmiliation of her pets. Which I think is only  reasonable, considering the amount of piss, shit and barking I have to deal with.