The International Women’s Day in Burkina Faso

Spending the 8th of March in Burkina Faso has been a joyful experience. We failed to find any particular event or celebration, but merely walking in the streets of Bobo Diulasso sufficed. Men, women and children have gotten special outfits tailored for this day. There is one particular fabric designed that everyone uses for their dresses and shirts that are sown in a range of variations. The fabric has a colorful pattern and printed logos reading:

«Journee Internationale de la Femme 08 Mars 2012 BURKINAFASO – Donner la vie sans perir» International Women’s Day March 8, 2012 Burkina Faso – Giving birth without dying

The logo implying that birth mortality is this years focus

After not finding any official event going on, we spent the day trying to take sneak photos of people wearing this costume. It wasn‘t an easy task as you don’t want to be too obvious, but we finally caught this favorite

8th of March dress, high heels and hijab

Happy Women’s day to all!

Dow Plunges 600 Points as Recession is Declared, or, My Contribution to the American Economy

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's official. We are in a recession.

Since we all know that the best way to improve the economy and contribute to the national well-being is to go out and SHOP, I thought I'd do my patriotic duty and share with you three different brands that I am quite a big fan of.

Exhibit A: Moleskine
Oh, Moleskine. The famous notebook of Picasso, Dali, and everyone else. So pretty. This semester, all of my notebooks were Moleskine; I spent about ten to fifteen dollars more than I would have otherwise, and it was WORTH EVERY PENNY. I also have the calendar, which comes with stickers. Stickers! And I have to admit, I coveted the calendar so violently that I bought the 2009 one in July, and have just written the dates in the notebook section in the back.

(That's right. To buy.)

Exhibit B: American Apparel
Now, although I have always labeled American Apparel as an overpriced hipster store(1), I have secretly always wanted to go shopping there. I finally got my opportunity this past Halloween when I decided to dress up as a grape, and needed a purple hoodie to complete my costume. It was a little hard to part with $40 just for a sweatshirt, but it was not at all hard to put that sweatshirt on. And now I wear it every day. Every. Single. Day.


Exhibit C: Le Creuset
Well, this is a brand that I actually do not own anything of, due to its extremely expensive nature, but one of these days, when the economy recovers, maybe...


(1) HA HA HA. I hope everyone grasps the irony of proclaiming that all of my notebooks are Moleskine and then claiming to avoid Overpriced Hipster goods.

Ps, check out Knits'N'Bobs!

My new blog with Naomi!
(There is too much blood in my alcohol stream, remember?)

Click here to check it out. It's only up since yesterday, so no harsh critiques please, hehe.

For the Number Hungry

One of those posts that won't get any comments, because it's not about fashion. Except, wait, no, OMG! Sofie! Today I found the exact same H&M skirt that you got on Colaba Causeway on the way back from project week, that Barbara also had, the peachy colored one, at a thrift store in my neighborhood! It was amazing!

We could also discuss Sarah Palin's outfit at the debate last night, because what I really wanted to talk about was politics.












Check out the garish American flag pin. Ew.

Anyway, the debate last night, my mom and I agreed, was HILARIOUS, especially the part where Palin was like, "OMG, you love Israel? I love Israel too!" No, seriously. The exact quote was, "I'm so encouraged to hear that you love Israel too." Kumbayah, my lord, kumbayah. Unfortunately, she didn't sound quite as dumb as I had hoped, and her blatant untruths make good sound bytes, especially for those not poised at the lap top, madly Googling every exaggeration or outright lie.

This has to be short, but I'll leave you with this chart that my dad put together. Maybe these numbers are more eloquent than any argument I could ever make:

Insane-o Crazy Fashion Discovery, or Foot Fetish v2.0

As you may already know, over here at Perspective Heaven, we have a passion for fashion (as well, incidentally, as silly rhymes). I have recently acquired a pair of stirrup leggings, and have been wearing them with pride and joy.
Now until very recently, I was under the impression that my fabulous new stirrup leggings were rather unique, more 80's jazzercise (which is awesome) than NYC hipster (which I guess is awesome too, in a different way). However, I seem to have been mistaken, because the other day down at NYU I saw three separate people wearing stirrup leggings! All, incidentally, were wearing them without socks, which supports my earlier hypothesis re: attractiveness of the exposed plane of flesh on the top of the foot. Anyway, I decided to do a little research, and look what I found:
Mary Kate and Ashley designed them! Neiman Marcus is selling them! OMG! So, SHOCKING FASHION DISCOVERY OF THE SEASON: stirrup leggings are in! Fashionistas of the world (and other issues), take note.


(Post on Greek Mythology to come soon.)

Shane Crochets

maroon&green peek-a-boo, originally uploaded by shanecrochets.

Well, I guess you already knew that; as Else and I recalled, I typed that very phrase into her cell phone the infamous night of "There's too much blood in my alcohol stream!" Anyway, all the delightful crocheting I did in the UK with you guys, as well as my current unemployment, has prompted me to take my hobby to the internet, and now I have started a new crochet blog for myself. I have also started a shop on Etsy, but so far, so bad. We'll see though. I guess it just takes some time, and in any case, it doesn't hurt to put things up there!
So I just wanted to share that. It most definitely does not mean that Perspective Heaven isn't my first love, though, just to clarify. And you should let me know what you think about the crochet blog and shop!
Love love.

Fashion?: The Sequel

Dear friends and other readers (who are of course also friends).
I have been surfing around the blog world for a while now, and i am always surprised by how many good blogs are out there. It seems though, that the ones i like the most are always picture blogs, and most often fashion picture blogs. so, considering I cannot contribute anything of my own wardrobe to that cause of looking good and being well dressed, I will contribute to the world of fashion blogging with some pictures i took of my personal fashion guru, David (well known for uttering frases such as "I love animals, but I love fur more' and 'isn't this just sooo equestrian chic?' in a ringing Northern Irish accent):

fashion?

today i read an article on dagbladet.no about the young, up and coming fashion bloggers of norway, and i must admit i was a little tempted by the idea of starting a fashion blog. maybe a nicely sarcastic one like www.gofugyourself.com, or just a nice little thing of inspirations. so i looked through my photos to see if this was feasible.

clearly not:

On a lighter note...

One thing I have been struggling with recently is the concept of perfume. My roommate feels the need to spray it all over herself, and it is a very sweet and jarring smell to wake up to. I don't quite understand why she wishes to change the way she smells, because she bathes regularly and has pretty good hygiene habits, but I guess that's her business and none of mine.

I had attributed it earlier to the fact that my roommate is kind of a "fashion diva," by which I mean she has about twenty pairs of shoes in a nice straight line under her bed, and a cacophony of shiny, flimsy material in her closet. It's pretty admirable the way she puts herself together; it kind of makes me feel like a hobo.

But it turns out that this smell-changing phenomenon of changing one's natural smell doesn't stop at my roommate, and that's why I've decided to write about it. The other day I was cramming myself into a crowded elevator (as usual, for that is the way of NYU) on my way to class when a wall of musky cologne seemed to wash over me. This was a boy! And he did not seem like a "fashion diva" at all. Intriguing...

So, let us delve into the concept of changing one's scent! As I was saying, it's something I don't quite understand. I mean, I use deodorant, but other than that I don't really smell like anything, at least not anything I can detect. I've tended to quite like the unadulterated smell of the boys I've dated (maybe it has something to do with why we dated?), and been off-put by boys wearing perfume. We're animals, after all, and we learn a lot about each other and our potential compatibility from the way we smell.

That's my side of the story, anyway. I think I need to interview my roommate to get the other side of the story, because if I remember correctly, neither of you guys alters your smell, either. Readers? Scientists?

Foot Fetish Anyone?

This is a hectic time of the year, and laundry has not been very high on my priority list. The situation has not become so very dire that the dirty laundry has become a teeming mass of mold as it did one monsoon in the Mulshi Valley, but it has reached the point where socks, especially tasteful ones, have become a rare luxury. This has led to some interesting anthropological discoveries.

Now, I assume you all know about the (hipster) trend of wearing cute little flat shoes with no socks and skinny jeans. It has been a sort of fall uniform at my (hipster infiltrated) school; I myself have partaken in it. To an extent: I always wear socks.

Well, almost always. Due to the current sock shortage, for a couple of days last week, I wore my cute little flat shoes with no socks (and leggings under a pencil skirt -- see, I can play the hipster game too). I was bewildered by the effects of this minute change: I got so much more attention from the opposite sex than I did with my socks on! There were boys opening doors for me, talking to me, smiling at me; I am not saying that there were so many of them, but certainly there were far more than usual. A couple of days later, my toes were cold and the socks went back on (under black wide-leg pants -- I know, I know, not quite keeping up with the hipsters). I had to open every door I walked through myself: it seems that bare feet are way sexier than socked ones.

So here are my questions:
(a) Am I imagining this phenomenon? I would like to propose a scientific experiment in which we each wear cute little flat shoes without socks for a week and then with socks for the next week, all the while systematically measuring the attention we get from stranger-boys. However, the snow has come (yesterday!) to New York, and I imagine to Glasgow and Tromso as well, so the cute little flat shoes will have to hibernate for the winter and going without socks is ludicrous. Perhaps next spring -- but then the little flat shoes won't be fashionable anymore, omg.
(b) Assuming that I am not imagining this, what is it all about? I have heard about foot fetishes, but I always thought they had to do with the overall shape of the foot. The plane of flesh left exposed by a sock-less flat is just mildly sloping, bony, and in my case, pale. I do not see how this can increase one's desirability. Then again, I also do not see how the numbers and letters my teacher is scratching on the blackboard imply a non-standard shifted ellipse. But apparently, they do.