Pop Art Prints clothing from the 1960s

I like 1960s Pop Art and Andy Warhol as much as the next person, but there are certain limits to taste and decency that even I won't stoop to.

A full bodysuit of Andy Warhol's classic faces of Marilyn Monroe may seem like a great idea when you're high on caffeine (and whatever you've been smoking), but chances are likely in 3 months you will regret that decision and never wear it again.

And worse when you're older your teenagers might find it in your closet and wear it, making a complete mockery of you...

Yes the quality of some prints are exceptional, but on a full bodysuit its overdoing it. Get a shirt instead. Maybe a jacket. Don't go for the fully monty.

And while you're at it ask yourself what Marilyn Monroe, remembered for her beauty, elegance, sensuality and unfortunately also for her tragic death... ask yourself what would Marilyn Monroe wear?

Certainly not something like that god-awful thing.

Top 10 Common Fashion Mistakes

Your sense of fashion and taste includes everything that is in your appearance, not just how well you put your makeup on and style your hair, and not just how expensive is your bag, but also how well you put all these things together... and it will include things you may not have thought of: Like your glasses shape and colour, whether your 1950s hair style matches your 1980s clothes, and all sorts of little mistakes.

Sometimes a tiny flaw can ruin the carefully concocted look you were trying to create. Here is a handy list of common mistakes you can avoid so you won’t let that happen to you again.

When in doubt just avoid wearing anything Courtney Love would wear.

Fashion Mistake #1. Skirt too skimpy.

The skirt should not rise up to mid-thigh when you sit down (unless you like looking slutty or play tennis). If you have to pull it down constantly then maybe it is too short or too tight. Make it a rule of thumb to keep the skirt for daytime attires maximum 1 inch above the knee.

Fashion Mistake #2. Silly, not cute.

Avoid frilly blouses unless you're going to an art gallery or ballet recital. It’s a popular belief that a frilly blouse will make you look feminine and romantic; instead it makes you look unprofessional and frivolous. Choose a blouse in ivory or white – it goes well with everything.

Fashion Mistake #3. Bare legs in winter.

Leave it to chic New Yorkers in "Sex and The City" to show off bare legs when it’s about to snow. Sheer tights will look stylish and keep your assets warm and healthy. Splurge on Wolford tights for a special occasion.

Fashion Mistake #4. Too many accessories.

Keep accessories to a minimum and avoid anything too clunky.

Button or hoop earrings are acceptable for a daytime look. For an evening, make one piece, e.g. chandelier earrings or embellished purse, a key element and keep the rest of accessories neutral. Hang on to simplicity with your watch: no cartoon characters or day-glo details are appropriate, unless it’s a Swatch.

Fashion Mistake #5. Neon, not neutral makeup.

Be clean and look polished. Make-up is a must in professional world, even if you never wear it. Blusher, mascara and clear powder are minimum. Use the foundation to conceal blemishes. The no-makeup look is fine for college, not for grown-up life. Avoid bright shimmery glosses or eye shadows unless you go out.

Fashion Mistake #6. Showing too much skin.

Especially between the low-rise jeans and top. If you absolutely need to show a bit of your belly make sure it’s tan, slender and has a cute little six-pack of muscle showing. No love handles please!

Fashion Mistake #7. Showing dark roots.

Be honest to yourself: you are no Carrie Bradshaw (who looks like a skinny horse) to look chic with black roots and blonde tips; besides, there was a team of hi-end stylists working on the set of "Sex and The City" for hours to make those outgrown roots look appropriate. In real life, dark roots send a clear signal that you are either out of money or out of style.

Fashion Mistake #8. Revealing plain white (or black) bra straps and thongs

Some underwear just looks better inside. No matter how expensive your plain white sports bra is, keep it concealed. Unless, of course, it’s $150 pink Lejaby bra with straps of Belgian lace or bejeweled triangle at the crossing of the thong. Same applies to transparency level of your clothes: wear white or nude bra with white shirts and black/colored bras with black ones, and not vice versa.

Fashion Mistake #9. Wearing trousers or shorts that are too short.

Same problem with too short skirts.

It makes sense to have several pairs of jeans and pants of different length, ones for low heels and ones for higher heels. Wearing too long jeans with casual flat shoes or Uggs result in stained and worn-out hems, and that’s another huge no-no!

Fashion Mistake #10. Looking too casual.

The inventors of Ugg boots could never imagine that the comfiness and anti-stylishness of these lovely creations will inspire millions of girls to wear them with out-of-shape stained track pants, over-sized sweatshirts and messy ponytails. Uggs and ugg-alikes stand out much better if worn with pristine designer jeans, and track pants are just meant to be worn with equally chic running shoes. If you slouch up your fashion style too much then you’ll look plain ridiculous.

How to Dress like a Pitbull, er, I mean Sarah Palin

What is the difference between Sarah Palin and a pitbull?

Pitbulls are loyal pets and look good in fur. Sarah Palin doesn't look good in anything.

Sorry, my attempt at humour.

Since this is an election year I thought we might take a 2nd look at Sarah Palin, the wannabe who wants to be Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 election (she fudged it up for John McCain in 2008 and practically handed Barack Obama the White House on a silver platter... although in all seriousness Obama probably would have won anyway regardless of Sarah Palin's mistakes)...

Sarah Palin has been harassing Mitt Romney to pick her to be his new vice presidential running mate. But its a bit like being picked last for a game of softball... Sarah Palin is largely blamed for the Republican defeat in 2008. Getting picked a 2nd time when she was a huge liability last time is extremely unlikely.

But that doesn't mean we can't make fun of her fashion crimes (for which she should be indicted and shipped back to Alaska to spend a few years in a frozen prison with other women with the personalities of pitbulls.

In 2008 Sarah Palin spent over $150,000 (of Republican Party funds) on fashion, shoes and hats for her vice presidential election bid. But she still looked horrible.

For the past 4 years however Sarah Palin has been hosting TV and radio shows (thank god you can't see her on the radio and only have to listen to her annoying voice) and her fashion tastes have changed ever so slightly.

I have tried to focus on finding images here which are more recent (from the 2009 to 2012 period).

SARAH PALIN FASHION DON'TS

#1. Don't rub your face with cooking oil.

#2. Don't wear a haircut from the 1980s, especially when appearing on Canadian television.

#3. Don't get highlights in your hair to make yourself look younger (because in politics looking too young is a bad thing).

#4. When you go fishing don't wear a bandanna AND a hat at the same time.

#5. When pretending to walk remember to swing your arms a bit and look at the camera. Seriously, Catwalk Models 101. Don't just hold your arms at your sides and pretend to be in motion.

#6. When hanging out with cowboys don't let people take your photo when you're next to a cowboy who can't shave properly and has a camouflage on the bottom of their cowboy hat (whatever moron thought that was a good idea should be shot).

#7. Avoid wearing too many buttons on the same suit jacket. It looks like lopsided nipples.

The Horror of Fashion Sweatshops

By Imogen Reed - April 2012.

The National Labor Committee (NLC) and the The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights have just produced a shocking report into the fashion empire headed by Peter Nygård, the purported ‘number one sportswear manufacturer in Canada’, and 70th richest Canadian with a net worth of $817 million. Quite a success story for the Finnish son of immigrant bakers, who will have known their share of struggle. Strange then that a man from such humble beginnings should be shown to be so indifferent to the working conditions of other poor workers, highlighted in the report, Dirty Clothes (April, 2010).

The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights is a non-profit human rights organization ‘dedicated to the promotion and defense of internationally recognized worker rights in the global economy.’ Their investigative work in Jordan has brought the most appalling human rights abuses to light, abuses that should concern anyone with an interest in the fashion industry or clothing manufacture. We cannot divorce ourselves from the responsibility to speak out on these issues, or enjoy a passion for fashion in good conscience while these practices are still widespread.

Peter Nygård’s Business Empire

Peter Nygård has built his brand successfully, using 1,200 mainly young female workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India to sew his garments in the IBG factory in Jordan. However, the workers have been brought to Jordan only to find a world of pain and suffering at the hands of Peter Nygård’s organisation, and he himself has done nothing to stop the human rights abuses happening in the factories he owns. The list of suffering is almost unbelievable and it is to the credit of the NLC that they took on a private investigation, which brought matters to the world’s attention. Please read the Dirty Clothes report and circulate it as widely as possible, to raise awareness of the young women who are being exploited and enslaved by Peter Nygård, and other large manufacturing groups. You will never see mass produced fashion in the same way again. So what is the heart of the story? Let’s look at it in a little more detail.

Human Rights Violations in Peter Nygård’s Factories

So what did the NCL report uncover? The women arriving to work in IBG factories, who produce clothing for Nygård, were stripped of their passports on arrival and kept in conditions of indentured servitude according to the report. They were forced to work sixteen-hour shifts from 7 a.m to 11 p.m, every night of the week. On top of this there are compulsory, night long 23-hour shifts required of the workers, at least once a week, which run from 7 a.m to 6 a.m. 

This is nothing short of human slavery. 

For this 110-hour week they are paid less than half of the legal wage, just 35 cents an hour. When they objected they were hit and threatened with deportation. This is in clear breach of Jordanian labor laws. According to Jordanian law, overtime must be voluntary and must not exceed 14 hours a week, or 60 hours per month. Yet IBG workers are routinely forced to work 102 ½ hours a week, including 54 ½ hours of overtime, exceeding Jordan's legal limit by 289 per cent. Hardly a minor lapse.

The exhaustion suffered by one worker from Sri Lanka, on February 9^th 2010, was so extreme that she stumbled into the path of a truck as she walked to her accommodation after a 39 hour shift. She was died of her injuries.

Furthermore, the report uncovered serious allegations of sexual harassment, rape and even the death of some workers who could not sustain the level of work required of them. With young children at home dependent on the wages the women earned many will endure these conditions to ensure the survival of their families. But exploiting women’s human wish to feed their children should not be part of any modern day manufacturing process. It’s a return to the worst conditions of the early Industrial Revolution. 

 

Who Is To Blame?

Who is in charge of this operation in Jordan and responsible for the conditions? Mr. Anup Sharma, is the head manager for both IBG factories.  Mr. Ahamed Khan is the logistics manager for IBG, and Mr. Arlok is another manager. The women suffering under their regime are mainly between the ages of 18 and 30. NCL produced evidence that the major producer in IBG factory 1 is Nygard, with its Alia, TanJay and Investments (Slim Fx) clothing lines being produced there.

Under the management regime of these men, young women are docked two days wages if they miss a shift for whatever reason. The wages themselves are pitiful, falling far below the legal rates demanded by Jordanian labor laws. How can a company whose owner is worth $817 million not afford to pay its workers a legal wage? Managers at these companies manage to evade responsibility for the workers in their care, some of them little more than children themselves. NCL believes it is time to name and shame those whose actions have led to human right violations.

Filthy Living Conditions

When the workers have finished these exhausting shifts they must walk for half and hour to reach their dormitories for their permitted 5½ sleep. It is a dangerous journey down a busy unmade road, and transport for them has been refused by management. Their accommodation can only be described as ‘unfit for human habitation’. Filthy, infested with insects, vermin and bed-bugs, with no heating and only sporadic access to water for a few hours a day, the women somehow attempt to survive in these conditions.

Peter Nygård’s IBG sweatshops are owned by G4S, the world's largest security service company. At no time have any employees stepped in to try and protect these vulnerable women, who can be paid as little as 9 cents for making a pair of pants which will sell in stores for $38. The mark ups are astonishing and it is not hard to see how Nygård has made his millions. But what price a clear conscience? How is it possible for a decent man to sleep at night – probably on the world’s best memory foam mattress with silk sheets - knowing that vulnerable women, far from home, are being abused and enslaved like this, in order to drive his profits? The answer is clearly that Nygård simply doesn’t care. If it were not for the work of determined humanitarian campaigners the world would be unaware of these shocking practices.

Indentured Slavery

Not only do workers have to endure these conditions, they have to pay for the privilege too. The report is worth quoting here, on the issue of indentured slavery:

In their home countries, the workers had to pay large amounts of money to local broker agencies to purchase their three-year contracts to work in Jordan.  In the case of Bangladesh, the workers had to pay 120,000 to 160,000 taka --$1,735 to $2,313-to purchase their work contracts.  It may not seem like a lot of money to people in Canada or the U.S., but the average cost of work contracts, $2,024, is more than a year's regular wages in Jordan, which is $1,860.46.  It is common that whole extended families have to go into debt to send a daughter to Jordan.  Interest rates in the informal sector are also extraordinarily high, so there is tremendous pressure on the young workers to toil long hours to pay back these loans.

The IBG guest workers' contracts guaranteed that they would receive free and decent accommodation, food and health care in Jordan.  This turned out to be a lie.

NCL Report, Dirty Clothes, April 2010

Call For Action – Fashion Lovers Unite

Canadians are known for their fairness, gentleness and mild manner. It is no surprise then that campaigners are calling for an end to these practices and are turning the heat up on Nygård personally. With Wal-Mart proposing to expand their production work to the Jordanian factories it is long past time for reform. For Nygård’s operation to pull out now would mean financial ruin for the women workers, who have already suffered enough. Demands are now being made for Nygård to simply do the decent thing – pay a fair (and legal) wage, house his workers in decent conditions, stop the abuse and shorten the hours these modern day slaves are being forced to endure. Action is needed, and we are hopeful that fair-minded Canadians will boycott Nygård’s clothing lines until things improve.

People have attempted to create Facebook groups promoting the boycott of Nygård's products but his lawyers always pull some strings and have the groups deleted.


Why is he covering things up so much unless he has a lot to hide?