Tag wardrobe

The Bikini Box

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It may be considered strange by some people, but I perform scheduled purges of my belongings on a regular basis. Why? Because they enable me to stay organized, and they also force me to get rid of items I don’t need. Recently, I decided that as part of a household purge, I would go through every single bikini in my bikini box.

The bikini box I am referring to is an underbed storage box which holds all of my bikinis. I established this system several years ago when I began to accumulate bikinis and would use them in photo shoots. After struggling to sort through my collection when I packed for a slew of photo shoots over the summer, I realized that there were suits I had never worn, suits which had been shot too many times, suits which no longer fit, and suits which had never fit.

I tried on every single suit, assessed fit, and determined whether to keep it or give it away. If I decided to keep a suit, I then made sure the top was tied securely at the neck, and also secured the side ties on bottoms, to make it easier to put it on when at a shoot. I also cut off tags so that they wouldn’t poke at me or stick out and create extra editing work for photographers. I also labeled the bags I stored the bikinis in so that the styles could be easily identified without me having to remove the suit from the bag.

It took me five hours to go through that bikini box, which means I averaged about 20 suits per hour. I gave away close to 20 suits and kept the rest, making sure that each suit was in a slide lock sandwich size storage bag. The suits are organized by color, making it easier for me to select suits for a shoot.

Now I am ready to shoot!

Wardrobe Issues

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“Darling-I-Have-Nothing-to-Wear”-Said-No-Woman-Ever-Thanks-to-These-Five-Tricks

Have you ever had a moment when you looked at all of your clothing and thought, “I don’t feel like wearing any of these things!”, and wished that a wardrobe fairy would alight upon your shoulder and grant your wish for a whole new wardrobe? Well, I have had that feeling repeatedly over the last few months, and I cannot figure out why I am experiencing such a feeling. As a result, I have been itching to switch things up, and add some color and flair.

The main challenge I face when it comes to adding wardrobe items is the fact that I can’t stand shopping. My eyes glaze over within about 15 minutes of being in a mall or shopping area. I will NEVER understand the rush that many women get from bouncing into a store, trying on mountains of clothing, spending their hard-earned money (or their husband’s or boyfriend’s, as the case may be), then moving on to the next store to repeat the process. No thank you!

Online shopping has been a welcome alternative to walking into brick and mortar stores for me. It is quick, relatively painless, and many companies make returns and exchanges easy. Even so, I still have a problem spending money on clothing, because clothing never holds much value. I know that the markup on clothing is astronomical, and I also know that reselling items yields almost no return on the initial investment.

However, I also know that flattering, comfortable, and stylish clothing can boost a person’s spirits and confidence. Though I go through all of my belongings several times a year and get rid of things which are threadbare or damaged, or which don’t fit me correctly, I still have this feeling that I need a change. Perhaps a few new tops would do the trick, since some of the tops in my closet have been a part of my life for close to two decades. I look at them now and think, what the hell am I doing, keeping these things?

It doesn’t help that my body has been shifting ever so slightly, but enough that my clothing fits differently. I am essentially the same size, but I know that age-related muscle loss is occurring, which makes me very upset. Another curious thing which happened recently is that I am suddenly cold in cold weather. I had spent a good year in the grip of night sweats and hot flashes, and grew accustomed to always running hot. I could go out in 35 degrees Fahrenheit weather without a coat and be fine. That has all come to a screeching halt, which I welcome, but the problem is that I got rid of most of the sweaters I had!

Is this a mid-life crisis? Maybe. Whatever it is that I am going through, I had to figure something out to keep me from tearing my hair out in frustration.

My solution: I purchased some new, inexpensive dresses, tops, sweaters and leggings, and said goodbye to some clothing items that just HAD to go in the give-away pile. I have been trying to assemble new outfits so that I present different looks which still reflect my personality. It has been fun looking at the new styles!

Living Doll

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Doll faceI love modeling, especially when the project or gig embraces an outside-the-box concept like a superhero, vintage look, dark warrior, or abstract body art. Though there is artistry behind a standard bikini photo shoot, I become very excited when get to serve as a canvas for avant garde makeup and hair, body paint, unusual wardrobe or costume items. In that sense I get to serve as a living doll playing dress-up. On more than one occasion I have been told that I am someone’s muse, which I regard as one of the most flattering compliments a human being can bestow on someone else. It is an immense honor to be the inspiration for a creative person’s endeavors.

Modeling isn’t easy at all. It requires the prep time of sitting in the makeup chair and allowing makeup and hair artistry to take place. If you’re extremely fidgety, or you don’t like people in close proximity to you, applying makeup, directing you to open or close your eyes, turn your head, etc., then you won’t even make it through the first important step of modeling. Sometimes all the tugging and teasing of hair which needs to take place during vintage shoots, or shoots which demand a more elaborate hairstyle, can be downright painful. The image below was taken after sitting in the chair for almost six hours, and the hairstyling alone took two hours. It can make you downright cranky, especially since you can’t drink much water as you are being prepped.

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Then there is wardrobe, which can often be problematic for so many reasons. The most basic wardrobe issue for a model is usually wearing something very thick and heavy on a very hot day, or wearing next to nothing on a cold day. Other issues which may arise include wardrobe or costume items which don’t fit, pieces which are torn or otherwise broken and must be held in place with clamps, pins or tape, heavy props which the model is expected to hold for lengthy periods of time while posed in the desired position, and the list goes on and on. A model may be expected to stand on an unstable surface and strike a pose while trying to balance. Other times a pretzel pose is requested, and not only must the model strike it, she muse hold it until the photographer gets the shot. And the model had better deliver the moods, facial expressions and energy required of her if she wants a flourishing career. Again, it is NOT easy being a model.

I have been out of breath, freezing cold, blazing hot, sticky from paint, dealing with sand in crevices, suffering from muscle cramps, exhausted, hungry, and dehydrated during shoots, but I can without hesitation say that I truly, deeply, love modeling in all its forms. It’s fun for me, and I get to be part of the creative process and bring ideas to fruition, often lovely, at times dark and eerie, but always interesting.