We have made a big change to the site, in case you haven’t noticed already!
We didn’t come to the decision to change the name lightly, but because it was so long, Benji is being raised pretty well so far and we wanted to change our focus a bit, we decided to make the leap. We really wanted to focus on everyday living as a nerd.
How to integrate your fandoms into your everyday life. Not with just everyday cosplay, which is fun to wear for sure, but also more subtle ways, bounding, dapper looks, pin-up style and the like.
We hope you like the update! Please share your thoughts with us. We love to hear from you!
As you can see by the video, this device is perfect for all beauty bloggers, fashion bloggers and Instagrammers.
Once you set up the device and use your phone’s camera to frame the photos, all you have to do is say, “Alexa, take a picture.” The device will light your photo and take the picture. It automatically goes to your app. From the app, you can save the photo, compare it with other looks and share with any of your socials. The device also has a camera and mic off button so you can mute the device for privacy.
The free app to accompany the device allows you to keep your looks and organize them by color and style.
The last feature is Style Check. You put in two of your looks and style experts weigh in on which outfit looks better on you.
So far, I really love it. Next up will be the first looks taken by Echo Look from my new closet room, a project I will outline when it is finally finished.
Recently, the kid and I watched a great documentary on Epix called, “Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image” by Jenny McQuaile. We highly recommend that you give it a watch.
Watch the trailer below:
The documentary deals with the complicated issues of body image in today’s society and the pressure put on all women to conform to a certain body type. There are interviews with teen girls that are honest about their struggles with body image. The documentary also addresses that these body image issues continue long into adulthood.
What I liked about the documentary is that it wasn’t an exercise in finger pointing at the fashion industry and media. The film does address these industries as contributing to the problem, but it moves on from that quickly, since we already know this, and gets to the growing number of designers and content creators that are taking this on and putting out a variety of races, ages and body types in their clothes and photos of their clothes.
The film then focuses on an photography art exhibit by Anastasia Garcia featuring 12 models from different ethinicities, ages and body types to create a one-of-a-kind exhibit to be shown during NYC Fashion Week. The film follows the models on shoot day.
Some highlights of the film:
The kiddo really loved seeing the models show up without make-up. She exclaimed, “Wait, their skin isn’t perfect! They look like us!”
The models talk about how much they hate the photoshopping of their bodies. They know that the pictures don’t look like them and that it is impossible to look like the photos. It is truly unachievable. Even for them.
The models talk about how their bodies are scutinized at work. These were models that were a size 2, and were referred to as “fat” by photographers and agents.
The models also talk about how unhealthy they were when they were super thin, and now that they are not worried about fitting into a size 00, they are happier and much healthier.
In addition to body size and image, skin color is addressed as well. One of my favorite models, Philomena Kwao, is a plus size model and a very dark skinned woman. She talks about getting excluded from covers, not because of her size, but because of her color. Because she looks differently from what we are used to.
“I’m not a plus size woman. I’m a plus size model.”
Seeing that all these amazing beautiful women also struggle with body positivity, whether they are a size 0 or a size 20. That resonated with the kiddo and with me.
“The top of my modeling career, I was the bottom of my self-esteem.”
“My worth was in not eating.”
“We cannot allow girls to live like that anymore.” Amen.
If you have the time, I highly recommend this documentary. It is streaming on Epix now.
The film’s website is here to get more information.
After years of not being able to make it to the Ren Faire, we finally got to go back this year.
We had a most excellent time. The Faire was celebrating “pirate weekend”. The cosplay, as always, was fantastic!
We attended the Queen’s Joust. Our Knight won!
Here are some more pictures from our day:
Scout’s cosplay and sword are from Spirit Halloween. My Once Upon a Time vest and necklace are from Hot Topic. Our pouches are from Amazon. My parasol is from Chinatown for five bucks. I had never used a parasol before, and believe me, I will never do outside things without one again! What a lifesaver!
We enjoyed our day and Scout finished it with a trip in the giant “hamster” ball. Enjoy this video.
If you want to attend the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, then click here for tickets! Have a great time!
Geeky menswear company, Hero Within, has a new Summer collection that is available for pre-order. *Full disclosure: I am the Operations Manager for Hero Within.
The new collection features short-sleeved button-down shirts and a new unisex denim jacket.
SONY DSC
SONY DSC
As with previous Justice League pieces, theses pieces are meant to be worn anytime, work or play. The designs are subtle and just like the jacket collection, although the collection is a “men’s” collection, women can and are ordering the pieces and making them their own. We will feature some pictures of this collection when they are available.
SONY DSC
SONY DSC
The Wonder Woman denim jacket was met with some controversy since a male model was modeling it on the site. CEO, Tony B. Kim, addresses the controversy here. The rest of the internet came to Hero’s defense as well.
My thoughts on the subject are this. Hero Within is a men’s wear company, so using a male model for the jacket made total sense. Second point is that Hero never considered NOT including Wonder Woman in their collection. Quite to the contrary. We couldn’t wait to include her in the collection! We only took this long so we could coordinate the release of the pieces with the release of the film. Lastly, we had several patterns for the button-down shirts, including a Wonder Woman print. We gave our customers the opportunity to vote on the top four designs they liked. Wonder Woman easily landed in the top four.
