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Fashion Book Review of SmartyCouple David & Yena’s Menswear Dog The New Classics

July 9, 2015 by Renee Marchol Leave a Comment

What if your best friend was in charge of your wardrobe for one month? Let’s say that you were given a stipend to buy 5 new investment pieces but the rest of the makeover depended on your usual budget? The difference? New criteria for fit, rise and pattern mixing.

Smart dressing doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank. Fashion is an expression of personal style and our educational report is made to help readers look and feel their best.

Artisan Books Senior Publicist Patrick Leonard of New York sent our editors a  review copy of creative couple David Fung & Yena Kim’s guidebook on blending classic and modern menswear on a budget. The timing? Perfect.  Our editors reported on Oakland’s Queer Fashion Week that showcased modern menswear for all bodies this Spring. Previously our editors reported as guest contributors for Black Girl Nerds for fashion and technology in Vegas that included an analysis of musician Janelle Monae’s choice of menswear.

Our readership, male and female, expects our practical guides to include humor. SmartyPet Bodhi, the model Shiba Inu dog, brings a light-heartedness from his Tumblr-fame and demystifies: dressing for the gym, date-wear, and unflattering rise and fit to avoid. Fashion principles shared by David Fung and Yena Kim and modeled by Bodhi can be borrowed by all readers. Think of the androgynous fashion example of Comic Tig Notaro.

Menswear Dog

Photo Credit: David Fung & Yena Kim Menswear Dog

 

Fit

Armholes! Paying attention to armholes can make a world of difference how the wearer is perceived in a t-shirt, polo, or long-sleeve dress shirt. Wear a size that is snug but does not display your nipples. For example, ribbed trim on polo sleeves flatter your arms by highlighting your biceps. Think of sleeves as arm hugs! Smaller armholes = slimmer sleeves for a tailored look says Bodhi.

Rise

Crotch! To avoid an unintentionally old timey look, select mid-rise for suit pants and for jeans. Bodhi explains that the rise measurement is from the middle of the crotch to the waistband. Dad-jeans have higher waistbands, at 12″ for instance. A modern rise is closer to 7″.

 

Pattern-mixing

A pop of pattern! Late Comic Rodney Dangerfield was known for wearing loud madras plaid sport coats to match his loud comedy. Bodhi gives the reader the option of more subtle ways to introduce fresh patterns such as gingham, floral and plaid by using small accents. Our editors think it’d be fun to add a surprising floral pattern on the shoes. But readers may be more comfortable with a starter gingham pocket square before diving into a collared floral shirt.

 

floral dr. martens menswear

Photo Credit: Hawaiian Floral Dr. Martens Shoes via Asos.do

Check out the New York Times article on Menswear Dog and summer destination weddings smarts also from Bodhi.

As Seattle bike commuters and fog-dwelling San Francisco readers prepare for autumn they might consider Bodhi’s idea to layer a quilted vest under a modern suit jacket when cooler temperatures hit. Central Time Zone and Eastern Time Zone readers might already be adopting Bodhi’s advice for layering fisherman’s sweaters over oxford shirts and henleys under tweed blazers. What’s new as a contemporary fashion tip for cold weather dressing? Seek a shorter crop such as windbreaker jackets that end at the hip and slim-fit hooded sweatshirts that are shorter than mid-thigh.

Bodhi’s fashion wisdom summarized by our editors? Choose clothing that hugs you back and don’t hike up your pants too high!

 

NSFW Sexual Self Care: An Interview with SmartyGirl Rachel Dwight

May 1, 2015 by Renee Marchol Leave a Comment

At SmartyGirlLeadership, our editors bring expert guides from a diversity of perspectives about health in particular. Caution: Because of the explicit sexual nature of this educational health report, we are labeling this sex ed article Not Safe for Work (NSFW).

Earlier this month, our reporters were invited to Oakland California’s first Queer Fashion Week.

Mixer Queer Fashion Week Oakland

Photo Credit: Nye’ Lin Tho Queer Fashion Week Mixer

Gender performance, gender-bending and the queer community are not are areas of expertise. So what do we do? Just as our editors usually do, we call in a SmartyGirl or SmartyFella subject matter expert for our educational report. The season’s theme of self-care continues. Today’s topic? Sexual wellness.

Many of our readership share overlapping beliefs about human sexual rights such as the right not to be exposed to sexual content and the right to refuse sexual contact. However, there is little public information about accommodations, health insurance coverage and hands on assistance for sex in practice with a disability. What to do with this knowledge gap about sex, intimacy, touch and human connection? This Monday, we invited SmartyGirl Rachel Dwight, M.Ed., a Sexologist and owner of the first body-inclusive sex store – Validity (age 18+), to answer questions our readers and viewers have about sexuality and disability. Rachel Dwight loves her body. She makes no apology. She describes herself as fat, disabled and queer.

Rachel Dwight’s stance is that human connection through sex is a basic need. She relates this to how prisoners who are put in solitary confinement show extreme emotional and physical distress when they are kept from other humans, “Humans are social creatures. We need human connection to both survive and thrive.”

She answers our readers’ first question: what is the stigma about disability and sex?

SmartyGirl Rachel explains that the stigma by society about disabled individuals and an active sex life are as follows: “othering”, squeamishness and pity.

Lesser known fact? Because of disability barriers to an active sex life might require equipment as a sexual accommodation.

Health insurance, currently, does not typically cover sexual aids or sexual counseling as a medical necessity. Some disabled individuals have difficulty with mobility because they are in a wheelchair, missing limbs, and/or have lost motor function over time. Modified sexual aids accommodate those who need assistance with grip with devices such as a strapless strap-on. Vice News, known for its controversial documentaries, also reports on sex devices and sex assistance in its Hand Angels report.

Rachel describes marginalizing disabled individuals and their sex needs as “othering” when a fully abled body individual does not show empathy, assuming someone disabled could not have the sexual wants that he/she also has. Rachel continues by giving an illustration of squeamishness that readers are likely to relate to: the idea that one’s parents have an active sex life.

Yes, Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10th!

Rachel knows that lots of people have an issue acknowledging that their parents are/were sexually active. She finds this to be rather problematic, “This idea that someone who isn’t the the category of ‘I might have sex with this person’ is relegated automatically to ‘That person has sex!? Ew, Gross!’ is a huge problem. All people have a right to sexual pleasure and if we don’t actively acknowledge that right, then it serves to push those with non-‘mainstream’ bodies – like those that are disabled, fat, trans and aging – further from having that respect.”

The same squeamishness might apply as a cultural attitude to those who do not fit the traditional parameters of attractiveness. SmartyGirl Rachel gives personal analogies when working with her clients and when presenting to groups at advocacy events. For instance, she loves herself and her body size while others may regard her with pity. Rachel chooses to express herself and states, “I don’t edit myself just so others can be comfortable.” However, she describes that the struggle with self-acceptance is daily. Instead of an adversity that is overcome once and the battle is over, her internal critic emerges time and again. This is normal to work at positive self thoughts. As if it wasn’t hard enough with attitudes of oppression from the external?

How is Rachel Dwight these days? She reports that she is happy. Rachel says that she loves her life and she is fine with the struggle. Is her life  much better on this side of the learning to self-love gauntlet? SmartyGirl Rachel says yep.

Her writing can also be found as a guest post on The Militant Baker. She looks forward to attending more in-person events such as the past Queer Fashion Week mixer and hosting private sex ed & gear parties to promote her message of self-acceptance for a variety of people, including  an active sex life of different body types.

Sex Education Rachel Dwight

Photo Credit: Rachel Dwight The Validity Initiative logo

 

sex education Rachel Dwight

Photo Credit: Rachel Dwight The Validity Initiative Founder

Rachel Dwight is a lover of music, animals and radical self-love. If you like her store’s Facebook page, Validity Initiative, from there you can sign-up for the newsletter to keep up with all the amazing things she is doing in the realm of sex and body positivity.

 

 

 

 

 

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