It is that time of the year again when tedious tasks are taking forever, deadlines are on the horizon and popping out for an ice cream or brunch with friends seems more attractive than creating a new blog post or replying to the fifty or so e mails that have piled up in your inbox.  If you follow these tips I guarantee that you will return to your blog with more ideas and inspiration than before.  Working from home can be one of the hardest things to do as there are so many distractions around but if you plan out your week and schedule  posts life will feel that much easier and more enjoyable.

How do you take the stress out of your life so you can focus on what you enjoy?  Efficient  time management skills enable you to devote a balanced amount of time to your blog and  what you enjoy in real life.   That is what life as a fashion blogger is all about isn’t it, actually WEARING the clothes?

Lists

Lists are a great way of keeping track of what you are doing to day to day whilst keeping you focussed on your long term goals.  Plus, at the end of the day when you have achieved your goals you get that extra smug sense of achievement.  Don’t forget to keep your daily lists realistic as impossible targets can only lead to one thing…stress!

Prioritise 

We all like to think we can do everything and as individuals we have a lot of pressure from modern society to do everything and be perfect.    It is not possible to be healthy and overwork yourself so make sure you do what makes you happy and if that means waiting a few days to update your blog why not? You only live once!

Visual Cues

Indulge your Post it Note fetish and colour code your desk.  Not only are there amazing varieties available (ahum…heart shapes,  arrows) there is also the satisfaction of removing them as the day progresses which leads to that amazing feeling called achievement.

Take a Break

Everyone needs some “me time” and attending a  press event, updating your blog as well as a full time job or lectures at the same time is impossible .  Eat chocolate, dance with your cat and go and see a film…we all need to recharge sometimes and life is too short to miss out on what makes you truly happy.

Shao Yen AW12, London Fashion Week (Photo: Rachel Michaella Finn)

Hi guys!

This is Community Manager Rachel Michaella here, and I’m posting today to tell you guys about a new project British Style Bloggers are launching which I’m pretty excited about!

We want YOU to send us your questions, queries for advice or general ponderings about fashion in general, the industry, journalism/blogging, what we do at BSB or any other questions you can think of to be answered by our editors in an upcoming video series!

So, have you ever wondered how you could get yourself into fashion week, even if you haven’t managed to get yourself a press pass? What happens at the after-parties? What our top tips for getting into fashion blogging are? How we started in this business? Our top writing tips? What it’s like to be shot by the fashion paparazzi at Somerset House? How you can get chances to write for us?

Whatever it is, we want to hear it!

To submit your question for a chance to be answered in the next few weeks, there are a few things you can do. You can leave your question in the comment box below, tweet me @rachelmichaella or the team @British_Style, e-mail me at rachel.finn@britishstylebloggers.org.uk or leave your question on our Facebook page, whichever takes your fancy.

Thanks guys, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Rachel xx :)

In terms of style the nineties can be a difficult decade to pin down. Perhaps it is still to fresh in the memory to really start defining but the last couple of seasons nineties style has enjoyed something of a renaissance on the catwalk and on the high street. For the most part the nineties was an amalgamation of style, music, fashion and culture were all influenced by a number of previous movements and aesthetics. The most notable style was in fact a lack of style or a rejection of fashion. An indifference towards catwalk styles and instead the embracing of a simple, casual way of dressing consisting of jeans, t-shirt and trainers.

An important moment in fashion history occurred in the mid nineties with the introduction of heroin chic. This style began in 1993 with an ad campaign by Calvin Klein featuring a young Kate Moss. The style focused on pale skin, dark circles under the eyes, sharp bone structure, and an androgynous emaciated look. It ran contrary to the healthy look of early nineties supermodels such as Cindy Crawford and Heidi Klum and was accused of glorifying and glamourising drug use. The look ran alongside film releases of Trainspotting and Pulp Fiction which both depict drug use. The heroin chic look was brought to an end in 1997 following the death of fashion photographer David Sorrenti as a result of drug abuse. Although the look was much criticised it did spark the fixation fashion has with the waif like, boyish figure that is still very much circulated today both in fashion circles and popular media.

Source

Nineties style took its influences from a variety of places and the style evolved significantly over the course of the decade. From a revival of hippy style for woman in the mid nineties and Mod styles for men during the Britpop era. Fleeces, bomber jackets, double denim, tracksuits and baseball caps are all indicative of the nineties with an emphasis on sports and casual wear. Hair became long, smooth and straight, often with a fringe. This was in sharp contrast to the big curls of the eighties. Highlights and streaks became popular with both men and women, men dyed the ends of spiked hair a lighter colour.

Many of you reading this probably grew up in the nineties and if you are anything like me you probably have some pretty questionable fashion memories. Who among us remembers wearing; black leggings with white socks, gypsy tops, babydoll dress, crop tops, capri pants and chunky wedges, to name but a few. I know I certainly sported a few of these items back in the day.

While it can be difficult to pin down a certain look there are many elements of nineties fashion that are being revived in current styles; denim shirts, neon, sportswear for example and many items made popular in the nineties that are still part of everyday wear; leggings, plaid shirts, low waisted jeans.

What are your nineties fashion memories?

Music has always had a close relationship with fashion. For every subculture, youth group and style there is an associated soundtrack. Since the 1950s and the birth of rock and roll young people interested in fashion and style with a social conscience have been influenced by music in some way. However it is always a question as to whether people are influenced by music or is music influenced by them. This is never so true as during the seventies and eighties punk era, considered the dawning of a new era both in terms of music and style.

Punk’s conception began in the second half of the seventies, the style was cooked up between Vivienne Westwood and her partner at the time, Malcolm McLaren. They sold their punk designs in their shop SEX. The style and ideologies behind the punk movement were a reaction to the economic situation of the time. The style was influenced by an amalgamation of previous subcultural movements including Glam rock. Glam rock, around in the early seventies is categorised by a flamboyant way of dress and the bending of gender stereotypes. Glam rock spawned bands such as T-Rex, Roxy Music and David Bowie who all championed the style.

Punk had its own unique style and soundtrack. Punk was all about dressing to make a statement. Clothes where handmade or customised, sometimes destroyed purposefully to achieve this statement. T-shirts where ripped and then pinned together with safety pins or had offensive statements drawn on with marker pen. Studded and spiked jewelry, fishnet tights, military boots and tutus were all icon items of the punk era. Female singers became strong influences of style and the female punk of the time, Siouxie Sioux, Poly Styrene and The Slit’s Ari Up all adopted the punk style and mentality in their music and clothing choices.

Source

Around the same era there was a group which served as a reaction to the Punk movement with its own bands and way of dressing, the New Romantics. Their flamboyant way of dressing served as a revival of the Glam rock style earlier in the decade. Their music was far move new wave and used more synthesised effects, New Romantic bands include, Ultravox, Duran Duran, ABC, and to some extent, Adam and the Ants. The wardrobe of the New Romantic harked back to a much earlier era with frilly shirts and rich fabrics such as brocade and velvet, attempting to recreate the romantic glamour associated with Hollywood in the early half of the 20th Century.

The two subcultures were not mutually exclusive however as Vivienne Westwood designed the ‘pirate collection’ that sparked the New Romantic movement. Malcolm McLaren as well as managing the Sex Pistols, was asked to manage Adam and the Ants, however a number of members subsequently left the band and formed Bow Wow Wow, whom he later managed. They were used to showcase Westwood’s New Romantic style designs.

Photo by Rachel Phippss, www.rachelphipps.com, 2011

When  I started British Style Bloggers two and a bit years ago, I really should have thought more carefully about what I named it. It was literally the fact that I thought “style bloggers” sounded cooler than “fashion bloggers” which decided its name. But, really, the choice of those two little words is such a big deal in this industry. In my opinion, whether you call yourself a style blogger or a fashion blogger is all-defining.

Why?

Well, fashion is an industry. Fashion is about trends and about following the crowd. Fashion is about wearing what people tell you that you should wear, and, the way I see it, being a fashion blogger is about blogging about trends, too. Fashion is decreed from on high, by the likes of Anna Wintour. What we can buy in the shops is fashion – high fashion, fast fashion, high-street fashion… call it what you like. You’re still buying what’s “in” this season, and writing about what’s “in” this season, too.

Style, on the other hand, is something more – in my humble opinion at least. Back when I still called myself a style blogger (I’m a lifestyle blogger these days, dontcha know?), I used the tagline Being true to yourself never goes out of style, which may well be a quote from ‘Legally Blonde, the Musical’, but is also so very, very true, in my opinion.

Photo by Susie Eldred - www.takeoutincouture.com

Style, unlike fashion, is about wearing what you want to wear, because you want to wear it. Style is about finding things that look good on you and make you feel like you. Style is about presenting your personality through your clothing and accessories. Style is about so much more than clothing: it is a way of life.

So, am I glad that I stumbled upon the choice to call this website British Style Bloggers? Yes. I am. More than I can explain.

Because this website, to me, is not about fashion blogging. It is a site for bloggers of all kinds who have an interest in the way that they present themselves to the world. Fashion, in my opinion, is a passing interest in the way that this website works.

Fashion is for a moment. Style is eternal.

Personally, I am really not a pattern person. Maybe I am afraid of standing out too much but in my opinion prints can look trashy if worn wrong.  So if you are going to adopt this colourful trend make sure you don’t over do it.  Firstly, it is very much a matter of opinion as to which prints you like but if you’re a bit unsure about the trend itself, keep it simple. Victoria Beckham’s new collection fot Victoria is an excellent example of bold yet simplistic designs.

Victoria By Victoria Beckham S/S 2012

On the high street I would argue that Topshop’s print collections and current colour schemes are starting to look a little cheap with so much going on. In my opinion it is Warehouse who are getting it right with their beautiful summer designs and cute t-shirts covered in flamingos. Team a printed t-shirt with a pair of plain skinny jeans or alternatively some patterned leggings or trousers with a simple top. The whole ‘don’t have both your boobs and bum out’ rule applies here but in print form!

The print trend is also one which could go in and out of fashion very quickly so don’t feel like you have to spend lots of money to wear this craze. There is plenty to choose from on the high streets.

One thing I am very excited about this summer is Aztec print. I have always been a massive fan and it is perfect for the festival season. So far this year it is Aztec nail wraps that have really caught my eye. I cannot think of a cooler print to adorn your nails with! Topshop is selling them and WAH nails in London will give you a set for around £40.

So enjoy fooling around with print this summer, as it is arguably one of the most fun trends we have had for a while! Maybe we should just embrace it and stop taking fashion so seriously… Or alternatively, by embracing are we taking fashion too seriously? Who knows…

Bek xo

Ashley Isham AW12

Last year, I had the unfortunate circumstance of standing in the queue for an off-schedule London Fashion Week show in front of a rather, well, let’s just say plump woman wearing an atrocious camel-coloured jumpsuit by Stella McCartney. It wasn’t a BAD outfit; it probably would have looked trés chic on a younger woman of smaller proportions, but – not to sound like a bitchy fashion girl – simply did not flatter the woman at all. “Camel-coloured?” – a more appropriate phrase would be camel-toe (sorry, it had to be said)…and this was only made worse once I realised who this woman was.

From what I could gather from her deliberately loud phone call to her assistant, she was some important Editor from a New York newspaper or magazine. Firstly, she told her assistant that she was angry at being sent to such a ‘tiny’ show (“I got told I had to QUEUE with everyone…”), followed by saying she didn’t want to make an appearance at a famous designer’s after-party that night because she absolutely hated fashion bloggers (as a blogger myself, as were many people in the queue, I’m surprised no one punched her) and then demanded her dress (by Prada, don’t you know?) was cleaned and flown to Milan for next Friday whilst her car was cleaned and sent to her hotel. At exactly 7.15am.

Shao Yen AW12

Of course, I know fashion is mostly split into two groups of people: 1) those who share my view that fashion is incredible, but you need to poke fun at it once in a while to keep yourself sane, and 2) those people who are so far stuck up their own derrière (excuse my French) that they wouldn’t be able to realise you were secretly laughing at their shallowness if you came up and slapped them in the face whilst having a fit of uncontrollable giggles. This woman was the second kind. And I found myself asking if she’d ever realised that, once upon a time, she too was like me, standing in line at their first Fashion Week – most probably at a small designer’s show – and fretting over whether you’d got your outfit right and wondering why you felt so completely out of place.

Here’s the thing – everyone starts somewhere. No one is born a success and no brand is created with a huge influence. It takes time to build up credibility and connections, and you aren’t helping yourself by sticking your head in the clouds and forgetting that you’re not royalty.

The blunt and slightly saddening truth is this: the reports you get in fashion magazines post fashion-week come to you in a filter of how important, how famous or how doting with their goodie bags on their guests a designer is. When we think of fashion week, the first things to spring to mind are the greats -  the elaborate staging of the Chanel shows, Burberry’s trademark British style, the feminine elegance of Valentino, the spell-bounding spectacle of Alexander McQueen and so on.

What you don’t often see however is the money that can be afforded to be spent on these shows – enough to ship a 265 tonne iceberg from Sweden to make the set for Chanel AW10 or enough to give everyone in the front row at Burberry AW12 an extortionately priced handbag for free, for example. I’m not saying this is a bad thing – many designers have worked for years for their fame, money and credibility and with that, rightly so, they should re-invest that money into putting on a fantastic show instead of putting that money in their back pockets. On-Schedule shows feature designers whose names are known worldwide and, as far as fashion is concerned, can change the way we dress in a matter of a few short months.

Maria Rehamali AW12

But on the fringes of fashion – on the off-schedule timetable – exists a world of underground designers, making every penny count and doing their best to bring in people to their catwalks. It’s far easier to get on the guest list for an off-schedule show than an on-schedule one – many designers are happy of the attention, whether you’re an influential fashion voice or simply riding on the waves of the fashion blogging boom.

For example, designers David Koma, Peter Pilotto and Felder Felder – now On-Schedule shows – were relative newbies on the fashion circuit just a few short years ago, showcasing their work at the independent Vauxhall Fashion Scout venue in Covent Garden, which is famous for discovering underground talent. These brands didn’t appear out of nowhere; they started where most do, on the fringes, on a low budget, waiting for their break. This season, I saw the famous blogger Susie Bubble at the same off-schedule show as me. She could have signed autographs and posed for photos and she could have had loud conversations with those around her about how she’d just flown in from New York or been given a free pair of designer shoes, but all she did was keep herself to herself and do her job. I really admired that and I’m convinced the key to her success is her modesty.

We shouldn’t dismiss these designers just because their venues aren’t very big, or because you don’t get a gift bag, or because you’re unlikely to be photographed when in attendance. The amount of expression in the fashion fringes is far more diverse – as are the people – and you are let into a world where designers aren’t somewhat constricted by how wearable their work is or whether the pages of Vogue will look upon them favourably.  Fashion is art, and that art is often more meaningful – at least to me – when not created under the pressure to meet certain targets or sales from big brand executives.

And from a writer’s point of view, I’ll be brutal. You are not going to arrive at Somerset House on your first Fashion Week and cause a storm. You most probably will not be invited to an on-schedule show first time around. So swallow your pride and be grateful of any press tickets you can get, don’t act like you’re more important than you are and remember, at the end of the day, hard work and perseverance is far more impressive than how loud you can shout about how great you are. Trust me, bloggers that go out of their way to convince the world that their life is far more fabulous than yours will meet their downfall when everyone begins to find them endlessly annoying – I’ve seen it happen. A designer – big or small – will favour your politeness, sincerity and well-written review after the show far more than they will value your egotistic attitude. Vanity isn’t, and never will be, next season’s statement piece.

Text and Photos: Rachel Michaella Finn

The sixties was a time of change. For many minority groups there was revolution and an increased awareness of their rights. This included women who were starting to gain a voice which had been previously unheard. Known for the sexual revolution the sixties saw a loosening of boundaries and for the first time sex was openly discussed. From the introduction of the contraceptive pill to the free love movement to gay rights there were great social changes taking place.

The burgeoning youth market became a driving force in terms of questioning social politics and instigating change as well as becoming an increasing consumer force. It was in the sixties that the high street was born, shops opened along the high street selling affordable and fashionable clothing. For the first time it was possible for people to afford high fashion designs at a high street price. Shops like Topshop, Biba and Mary Quant’s boutique Bazaar all sold cutting edge clothing for a price that appealed to the youth market.

Mary Quant was a London based fashion designer born in 1934. She designed for Topshop when it first opened in 1964 as well as her own shop. Inspired by shorter hemlines, Quant took a design by Courreges and shortened the hemlines to sell in her own boutique. Biba, owned by Barbara Hulanicki, also took on the design and sold them to the masses. Quant was very inspired by women’s liberation and expression and she expressed this through her daring designs and the bold colour palette of her clothes.

Source

The Teddy Boy style discussed in the last post, mixed with a heavy dose of beatnik morphed into what is commonly know as Mod style during the sixties. Much of the mentality and the youth orientated aspects of the Teddy Boy translated to the Mod aesthetic but the look was much more streamlined, minimalist and modern. Mods were heavily influenced by black culture and the Jamaican Rude Boy and as such they enjoyed listening to African American soul, R&B and ska music.

The Teddy Boys paved the way for the social acceptability of a male interest in fashion. Some of the key features of the Mod look include, chelsea boots, winklepickers, suits with narrow lapels, thin ties, cashmere jumpers and button-down collar shirts. Female Mods worn masculine style clothing and short haircuts and pushed moral boundaries with their mini skirts. Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton were icons of the Mod era.

These subcultures started to decline in the last sixties as the clothing styles were being adopted by big design houses and high fashion brands instead of coming from the street. The filtering down of these styles damaged somewhat the mentality and the values of the Mod crowd so among the hardcore Mods at least, the style started to wain.

The Fashion Industry is something that I often feel like I have to defend: I have been working in fashion (and when I say “in fashion”, I really mean it) since I was fourteen years old and got my first writing gig, and so I have a strong affinity for it and everything it stands for. It is, after all, the reason that I am where I am today. But, then, I’m a feminist. I believe in equality and that women should be treated properly and not subjected to the absurd criteria of perfection that many people seem to see.

So, my two worlds collide. My two beliefs do not agree. I look at the fashion industry, and at what it tries to make women be and do, and it repels me… because this is not how the world should be. This is not, in any way, right.

Really, then, the question is where fashion went so wrong. It’s an industry which is largely run by women, and is almost entirely orientated around the needs and desires of women. The major players – from the designers to the editors to the bloggers, even – are far more likely to be women than the major players in any other industry.

Are we self-destructing?

Because, to me, it seems insane that an industry which welcomes with open arms the likes of fifteen-year-old me, covering my first fashion event, nervous and excited in equal measure can also be an industry which dictates the kind of body shapes which we all really know are unattainable.

It’s a contradiction – and it’s one which has bothered me for a while. I’ve tried to fight it, and I’ve tried to question it… but nothing has worked. No one understands. No one knows. Someone, really, needs to take a stand.

But, that someone has to be someone who is bigger, more important and far more influential than me.

Whoever they are, though, and however long it takes them to raise their voice, they simply cannot come soon enough.

Re-wind: Sometime in January our founder and Chief Executive Amy “The Road” Thompson was invited to a screening in the Houses of Parliamet. Of course, being The Road as she is, Amy was unable to attend; she was suffering from an unavoidable bout of “being in Australia”. Of course being a good Chief, she passed the opportuity along to someone who’d jump at the chance: me.

Have you heard of Miss Representation? Have you seen the hashtags #Missrepresentation, #missrep, #notbuyingit? Miss Representation is an American film by an American actress and filmmaker about how women are represented – in film, in politics, in advertising – in motion picture culture. It explores how professional women have been treated by their industries and their audiences. It asks American youths about the messages they’ve understood regarding “what women can be”, what they can do, and how this impacts upon girls, boys, men and women.

I should have taken a packed snack; always take a packed snack

Re-wind redux: I spent the train journey down to London from Warwickshire reading; consequently I spent most of the train journey down sending my boyfriend text messages about the increasingly annoying descriptions of the hero’s wife and ex-girlfriend. A hot woman who eats eagerly with big mouthfuls? How perfectly imperfect-feminine can you get?

So you can see, I am a person already receptive to a documentary about the representation of The Female. Perhaps you’re unconvinced – here is a trailer.

Public transport made a mockery of me and I arrived half an hour late. Sitting on a underground train that was both above ground and stationary I wondered (worried) if they let you into Parliament buildings if you haven’t polished your shoes. As it turns out they do; but you have to leave your hipflask with Security. There had been wine, pre-screening, but I arrived to empty glasses. This is fair enough.

It was engrossing.

With an absence of greeters and its twin of free chairs I settled myself on what may have been an umbrella stand if it wasn’t a bin – and I watched and listened with a hungry head.

It didn't matter where you sat because the thing was the WATCHING.

What I keep thinking about is how.. nice? Condoleezza Rice seemed. What it took me a double-take to realise was that the lady behind the film was the blonde in the white flared trouser suit.

Miss Representation borrows the phrase “you can’t be what you can’t see” – it also refutes it, because exceptional people will always exist and one single-minded woman will always find her way into a man’s world. The documentary (and the panel afterwards – more later) address this and how it doesn’t make the state of things acceptable – it doesn’t hold the words as black and white objectivity. It’s the spirit, not the letter. But what surprised me a little was that the film reminded me that it’s not only about seeing yourself or the you that you want to be: diversity and wide reflection (“representation”) are needed because seeing other people is important.

If I look at a woman and not even consciously think “Republican Beauty Queen, probably pro-business and anti-abortion” when I have never met a Republican or a Beauty Queen – and I can be surprised that this image is the surface of a woman bold and “liberal” enough to produce an egalitarian feminist documentary that assigns responsibility to both beauty and political industries – there needs to be greater depth of representation. I appreciate that this is anecdata and this is my own failing, but it’s a failing that’s taken from the world of “American blondes” that I’ve been offered.

Have you seen "A League of their Own"?

I have seen Rice stand next to George Bush and behind microphones, and I have seen her represent various political agendas. I am aware that she bears some responsibility for war. I have heard people talk about her and call her Condi, and talk about her race and her gender and her politics. I had never seen her represent herself.

I felt strange and guilty as I sketched the room. I was reducing this crowd of aware, clever mostly-women to pictures of the backs of their heads – just images of hairstyles. But then, this is a film about representation and images of women only harm if they’re reductivist. When so many drawn girls are made to offer you their drawn bodies, perhaps making lines form their sisters taking notes and demonstrably thinking.. is perfectly in line with the evening.

And I mean, there was some good hair about

I was not the only one documenting.

The film ended and I got my not-tearful stoic face back on. I sat there on my bin for a bit, unsure if things were over or if there might be more refreshments (it is expensive to buy water on the move). What luck! There was about to be a short panel discussion – with drinks to follow! I moved to sit on a table now that people were moving around and looking at me. A snap decision that led to a decent view of the panel; lucky because excuse my capslock MALORIE BLACKMAN WAS ON IT.

You guys. Quality panel.

Now it’s clear that the other panel members (Susie Orbach, Colleen Harris, Lynne Featherstone, Jo Swinson (of whom this is a poor likeness, but I could not have been further away from her and she kept moving!)),  have done work and formed sentences that make me want to shake their hands for repeated hours – as an adult. But Malorie Blackman taught wee-me about racism and organ transplants and girls being good at maths, as well as how to set a decent password. Once I formed a romantic attachment to a boy because he had a superficial identifier that was the same as one of her characters’. I sort of wanted to go and tell her about that.

All four panel members had good, intelligent, encouraging and thoughtful things to say. They went into intersectionality and race, which the film didn’t take too much time on; a criticism I’d heard from Meggan and Maddy, two women who work to increase the visibility of ladies and further minorities in the comic book fandom that I share with them.

Susie Orbach’s words impressed me the most when she said that the definition of success isn’t something we should take for granted. Being kept out of apparent power or away from the spotlight doesn’t mean that women aren’t living influential lives. I don’t remember her exact words – no dictaphone – but the impression left was a reminder that being subject to sexism or any other form of institutionalised oppression doesn’t take your dimension from you. Don’t believe that you are, less of a person, less rounded, with less ability or sentience or emotion. Don’t believe that others are, just because you don’t see them represented as field leaders or protagonists.

Of course, this cuts both ways – don’t believe that a well-written woman character can’t be subject to a sexist plot, for example. Who? Elementary.

I’d like to have spoken more with Orbach about that point – I think that there’s something enormous in what she’s saying like it was the key to all empathy and justice amongst humans. But after the panel had finished everyone was talking in twos and threes, and I was thinking about ridig the underground alone at night, and no drinks were happening to me after all. I gave in to my human weakness. I left. I ticked the “yes I would attend an annual conference on female representation” option on a paper I foud on someone else’s chair, but I left.

On the way home, I thought about who everyone else might have been, and what they were wearing.

Mystery women

Fashion wasn’t approached by the documentary narrative at all. Which is funny, or maybe not – within the world of style blogging, there is representation of Miss/Ms/Mrs galore. I’m a lady, Amy’s a lady, the majority of our readership (that means you) are ladies or girls or not-yet-a-woman-s.. There are a lot of us, in general. But even within our own virtual Themiscyra there are struggles and imbalances – there’s not a fat acceptance movement for nothig, racism isn’t over and it’s easier to become “successful” if you adhere (or don’t obviously divert from) a handful of basic modes of femininity. We struggle to give everyone a fair chance on our own turf – is that because of how we’re trained to think by outside influences, or do we put up with those because we want to be able to police be-a-girl amongst ourselves? Is it possible to change our scene without attempting to change the mainstream, or do we have to look to the bigger picture before we can dare to hope for a fashiony idyll?

With arguments about who “requires” models to have thirty-five inch hips being passed back and forth before court and with the waning thinner of the blogger/magazine divide, I think #missrep’s on the money with it’s final advice –

Demand help. And as far as you are able, be the change.

Extra links:

Jo Swinson interview: http://www.parliamentaryradio.co.uk/newsrelease.html

One critique on lack of intersectionality within the film: http://acidforblood.net/2011/12/miss-representation-thoughts/

Further ciriticism and discussion: http://www.feminisms.org/3922/miss-representation-a-critical-review/

A review from Indiewire: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/review_miss_representation_exposes_an_ugly_truth_that_needs_to_be_seen

Screening details in Edinburgh: http://www.missrepresentation.org/screenings/filmhouse-edinburgh/

Find out about hosting a screening: http://www.missrepresentation.org/screenings/#host

Miss Representation at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1784538/