Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Carson Kressley - stylist, fabulously flamboyant gay man, inspiration

So here's the thing - i desperately want for Carson Kressley to be my cliche gay friend. So does my sister. Maybe we could share him, and we'd be this cool, well-dressed little trio. I'm obsessed by fashion makeover shows and, if i had cable or pay tv, i'd probably only ever watch the fashion channel. Point is, Carson is my favourite of all the celebrity style gurus. I'm loving his new show here on Channel 10 - " How To Look Good Naked ". Ironically, apparently the key to looking good naked is knowing how to dress yourself, or so the theory goes. See, the basis of the show is that Carson takes a woman who has body issues and teaches her to love her figure by showing her how to dress for her best assets. Its actually kind of a theory i wrote about in a post a few months back - only i didnt exactly advocate the getting naked part.

Anyhoo, this brings me to the crux of my post. After this weeks episode, my sister and i discussed the parts of our bodies we like - and, i'm glad to note, we both had positive things to say. I dont know if i've mentioned it before, but although my sister and i both wear the same clothing size, we have vastly different body shapes , plus she is 7 years younger than me, so it was nice to be able to share and compare with someone who was going to have something different to say. My sister, in my perspective, is tall and thin, with long-ish legs and a small upper body. She's the kind of girl that can pull of a micro-mini, where as i am not - but thats all good. I totally rock a pencil skirt because of my curves, where as my coltish sister probably wouldnt be able to get away with it.

And so, this brings me to the shortlist of things i like about my body. Yep, even though i do blog about going to the gym, and trying not to eat crap, it doesnt mean i'm suffering on a diet or having overwhelming body-hate issues. Here it is, a post where i, a young, modern, woman, lists the things she LIKES about her body:
1. My waist - so alright, i like my waist. Its a small, defined, waist. I'm not going to give a measurement ( even though i know it ) but suffice to say i go (slightly) out at the chest, in in the middle, and out at the hips. Having a well defined waist means that when i wear my favourite pencil skirt with a fitted top, or a cute fitted dress, i get that awesome, old school, hourglass shape. I like that, too.
2. My upper arms/shoulders/decollatege - so technically thats three things in one, but they're all kind of inter-related. What i like about the aforementioned area is that its toned and tight, a legacy of yoga and light weights training. I dont have that flabby, old lady upper arm thing - which is not to say i would hate myself if i did, or anyone else for that matter - but i've worked hard and it shows. I'm proud of that. It means i can pull off strapless dresses or cute little camis and still look trim and toned.
3. My eyes - i know most women would list their eyes as one of their favourite features - because its really hard to find fault with them - but i really do like mine. Their big and their brown, and i have naturally long eyelashes that only look better when coated with lashings of black mascara. They get played up by purple shadow or liner, and are the first thing i choose to highlight for special occasions make up. Its kind of hard to go wrong with my eyes ( unless i let my 2 and half year old neice do my make-up - it was a fun game but she's not coming at me with an eyeshadow brush next time i hit the pub ).

So there you be. Any ladies readers feel free to take this as a challenge to list your own body loves, and male readers should feel free to take it upon themselves to list what they really love about the female species. Share the love, y'all, share the love!

5 comments:

  1. What a refreshing change to read about a woman being positive about her body! If you appreciate yourself other people will notice your assetts too. Nice post Amy, this made me think what I like about me. Thanks for spreading the happy vibes this evening. Love it! ;-)

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  2. The clavicle! pretty sure my spelling is incoresct, but you know what I mean.. anywho, the clavicle..and legs....and back....and hell, just the fact that they are female!!!! Hell I dont know but deffinatly clavicle!

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  3. Coffeecup is so right. It's all about attitude. Feel sassy and sexy and you'll project it to everyone around you. Great post!

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  4. I'm with you on 2) and 3) but sadly I have no waist to speak of. Boo. :(

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  5. I'm so glad you're writing about what you LIKE about your body! Too many women obsess about what they hate! I might have to take your idea and blog about what I like about my body, too.

    But Carson Kressly wouldn't be my gay friend. I'd much rather have Stanford Thom Felicia (one of the others from Queer Eye), the interior designer!

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