Hey guys. It's been a minute. You'll have to forgive the long silence followed by this rather blurry, haphazard attempt at an outfit of the day, but this is the first time I've been able to bring myself to write about style since the disastrous US elections back in November. Plus, I was running out the door to go to a thing.
Like it did for many of you, that absolute s**tshow of an election hit me hard. Just the idea that we were faced with a definitive off ramp—a way to finally turn the page on a really gross, ugly movement in our collective American history and didn't take it—that floored me. And not only did we not take the opportunity, many appear to have fully-embraced the ugly, declaring their love for it with their whole chests, topping it off with cheap, culty merch. And when I say "we", I suppose strictly by the numbers what I really mean is men, and of course in close second the (mostly white) women who support their patriarchal ideology, upholding a dying, outdated social structure that ultimately will only serve to harm them and their daughters. I will never get it, how people can look at such a damaged man leading such a damaged movement—a literal rapist, and say to themselves "Yes. This is who I want us to be. This is it."
And no, it is not just a "difference of opinion" about politics. The MAGA movement has grown beyond that. Author Becky Selengut said it best on Threads back in November, when she said (I'm paraphrasing) that it's a big deal because if you support this movement, we can't trust you. We cannot trust you to see the humanity in us or those that we love if they somehow don't conform to whatever the current arbitrary standard should be. We cannot trust you not to look the other way when they come for us or those we love.
For me, this was only made worse by the fact that deep down, it wasn't a surprise. Eternally hurtful, but not at all surprising, that so many who walk among us would rather allow a legion of under qualified bottom feeders to undermine our institutions, giving free rein to embarrassing AF bazillionaires who wouldn't stop to pee on them if they were on fire, who will literally take away the few social programs we actually have, those same programs on which they themselves depend, all because they think that eggs and gas are suddenly gonna be cheap again. They'd rather stick a knife in the ribs of our democracy than choose a qualified woman of color and her aw-shucks Midwestern Dad sidekick who they may or may not always see eye to eye with, but have probably never raped or committed large scale financial fraud or drafted an entire government blueprint firmly anchored in some 1930s fascism.
If I sound angry, it's because I am. Anger is a justifiable reaction to injustice. I will never not be angry about the hijacking of the country that I once enlisted to serve. People are always telling us regular folk, especially the women, that if only we could just be a little bit nicer to our oppressors, a little less angry, that things might work out better for us.
Sure, I'll get right on that. As long as we can all remember that master's favorite lap dog is still a lap dog.
Of course the upside to all of this is that I have turned off the mainstream media news for good, and that has afforded me time to finish a novel (you'll get all that info in the next month or so when it's ready for promo, just completeing the draft and editing). Watching the mainstream media all bend the knee and sanewash all of this fascist-adjacent behavior in the biggest campaign of anticipatory obedience I've ever witnessed in my life was just a bridge too far for me. I tapped out. It's just all too stupid - all this making Canada a state and buying Greenland.....I just can't with any of it.
Jersey dresses are easy in times of a trainwreck
So how does one so thoroughly disgusted with the state of everything find joy in creating outfits again? For me, I have made it work mostly by cleaning my closet and rediscovering things that are already there. Like the dress in the above photo. That was actually featured on the blog way back at the beginning ( Maybe 2012? On one of the older platforms—sadly lost to the sands of time now). It's a jersey dress by now defunct brand Label Lab (UK). It fits beautifully, and has ruching and stretch in all the right places. It's comfy, packs well in a suitcase, and is one of my go-to dresses when I want to look nice but not overdone.
So let's make that today's lesson in survival—get yourself a decent, well-made jersey dress that you can pull on in a pinch and take anywhere. It's the perfect thing to reach for when you're filled with rage but still need to look decent at whatever function you're attending. I've included a few options, both secondhand and new if you're in the market for something similar.
In the meantime, stay fabulous everyone, and f**k the patriarchy.
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