Glamor gals, unite!

[gwyn]

One of the things that drove me slightly bonkers when I first got into media fandom back during the Middle Ages was that almost universally, fans --especially slash fans -- hated anything to do with fashion and makeup. I'd go to cons and be surrounded by people dressed in horrid, baggy things that were totally inappropriate for them, with lanky, dirty hair, you name it. Even if people asked me for clothing help, they'd always counter every suggestion with "well, I'm fan-shaped, so I can't find clothes that fit" or "I'm only concerned with comfort," as if there were no plus-sized clothes around in the entire universe, or you couldn't look like you hadn't just rolled out of bed and be comfortable at the same time. And forget makeup and hairdos! Over the years I met a few folks who cared about that stuff, but then I'd read X-Files stories where Armani suit was synonymous with, simply, suit, or Crockett and Tubbs would inevitably be described as wearing Armani (Hugo Boss, people, Hugo Boss!), and I'd realize that it would never get better. Le sigh.

But lately, with the explosion of fandom on the net, I'm finding more and more of my people! Hurrah! minim_calibre has in fact started a community for those of us fan types who adore the cosmetics end of things (and of course, fashion is inseparable from cosmetics for me), called, appropriately enough, fanglamouristas.

And now I have to check to see if my Laura Mercier foundation is still okay, since I haven't used it in ages after I lost my job. ::pets makeup bottles::

Comments

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

pulling up fandom, one make-over at a time? :-) I loved it at Club Vivid when people pulled out their clubbing outfits and dress gowns and danced.

Now if I could just get over my insecurities of pairing my orthotics with dress clothes....

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I liked it at Club Vivid, too -- it was nice to see fans not being afraid to get dolled up.

Hey, I've seen some pretty snazzy workarounds to the orthotics issues! Don't be too afraid!

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

You could always glue sequins all over them and show them off! Or if you don't want to dedicate one pair to glam outings, make yourselve a set of spats to put on over them, and then put sequins all over the spats.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

LOL. If I could afford to sequin a pair of $300 shoes, it would work.

Actually the price has gone up -- when my mom got her pair last month, it set her back $500. And our insurance won't cover it.

OTOH, I could just sequin them and wear them all day anyway....

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

Spats. Spats rock. You can make a little set to just go across the top of the foot, or you can make a set that goes any height up the calf, looking almost like boots.

If you're going to be at VividCon and want a set, I'm pretty sure I can work up something to match whatever you'll be wearing for the rest of your outfit. We'd need to email about designs and measurements. :-)

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

Don't know what happened when I tried to post this comment; if you get it twice, my apologies...

You could either glue sequins all over them, or make yourself a set of spats to wear over them. Sequined or velvet spats would be way cool.

[rainkatt.livejournal.com]

Sooo... would this be a good place for the fairly clueless to hang out to get tips? Or will I just get intimidated and slink away in confusion?

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's brand new! So it could probably be wheatever it needs to be -- I bet people would love to offer tips and ideas. That's the point of a community, or at least, I think so -- I know I love offering tips!

[juliaabra.livejournal.com]

has anyone told you today how cute you are? 'cause it's true.

maybe having a fandom located in a fashion-conscious 'verse where girls are often the focus, instead of fbi agents or florida policemen, such as the whedonverse is helping? i don't know, never having been to a con before. but the image of an unwashed, poorly-dressed fan waiting in line for a marsters autograph is one that keeps me quiet on the subject of my fandom in my real life.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Yeah, imagine about 100 of those! I mean, not that there aren't decently dressed folks, etc., but a lot of it used to come down to an anti-fashion statement, and I never quite got the point. I was like: Okay, so you're not tied into the myth of women being only concerned with their appearance -- now could you just bathe and maybe wash your clothes once in a while?

[unovis.livejournal.com]

Great!
I was thinking of wearing a hat with a veil (cocktail, not beekeeping) to the next con -- and spike heels. Still working on what goes in between. Just lost enough weight to fit into the fun stuff, again.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Hey! Are you implying my beekeeper's helmet isn't stylish? Harumph.

I've spent most of my adult life dealing with weight that went so far up and down that I could only buy the most classic, stick-with-you-forever type clothes because they had to be altered all the time. i'm more stable now than I've been in a long time (weightier than I want to, but not as bad as I've been), so for a while it was fun to buy sillier stuff. Of course, dressing my age would probably be a good idea... ;-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/beingboring_/]

Ooh, thank you for the link. I think you've just saved me from dropping $60+ on a foundation that's going to settle in for life to my big, gaping pores.
We so needed this. What we need now is a fandom handbag community [so I never have to read "OMG!!! louie vuitten is sooo coool!" ever again] and purely clothes community. I love it when people post about clothes. And it's ok to be a geeky fan girl who also knows her bias from her pencil.