Off Topic » fashion http://www.sandyofftopic.com Middle-aged feminist engineer talks about everything not about BPM Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:37:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Beautie Blundstones http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/12/beautie-blundstones/ http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/12/beautie-blundstones/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:33:53 +0000 sandy http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/12/beautie-blundstones/ Just bought a pair of these for Damir for Christmas (I’m not ruining the surprise, he was there to try them on):

After finally getting him into a decent leather winter coat last year, I think that he’s now almost ready for Toronto winters.

]]> http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/12/beautie-blundstones/feed/ 0 My favourite t-shirt of the week http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/my-favourite-t-shirt-of-the-week/ http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/my-favourite-t-shirt-of-the-week/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:13:43 +0000 sandy http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/my-favourite-t-shirt-of-the-week/ iPoo'd

Available in baby sizes, if that’s not already obvious, at Outer Layer on Queen West.

]]> http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/my-favourite-t-shirt-of-the-week/feed/ 0 If I were 20 years younger… http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/if-i-were-20-years-younger/ http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/if-i-were-20-years-younger/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:39:25 +0000 sandy http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/if-i-were-20-years-younger/ …I’d be wearing this:

Great fashions, designed and made in Canada by Kim Nelson of Discollection, whose boyfriend Kris I know (virtually) through the TorCamp Skype chat swarm. Kim made the design above specifically as a limited edition for Suicide Girls — click through on the picture to the SG shop.

I suggested that she start a parallel design line in SecondLife – I know that Katicus Sparrow would be buying.

It’s also cool that Kim is using a WordPress blog as her main website interface, even allowing comments for full interactivity.

]]> http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2007/04/if-i-were-20-years-younger/feed/ 0 A tempting reason to stay in bed http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2006/11/a-tempting-reason-to-stay-in-bed/ http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2006/11/a-tempting-reason-to-stay-in-bed/#comments Tue, 21 Nov 2006 15:51:49 +0000 sandy http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2006/11/a-tempting-reason-to-stay-in-bed/ I was browsing through the most recent Victoria’s Secret catalogue this morning over tea, and amidst the wundergirls in lingerie, there was a spread for “glamourous bedding” showing some really awful purple and lavender velvet and satin bedding, with the subhead “give her a tempting reason to stay in bed”.

This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, by addressing the subhead to a male reader (assuming that they’re not primarily targetting the lesbian market with this ad), it’s a slap-in-the-face reminder that many, many men read this catalogue, and likely don’t do it to compare lingerie prices, if you know what I mean. Eeeew. Even though I’m the only one reading my particular copy, it makes it feel somewhat sleazy. You might think that VS is sleazy anyway, but for the most part, that’s not true: I buy all my bras from them, since I find Body By Victoria to be the most comfortable bra in the world and have worn nothing but that for the past 10+ years, and the catalogue (unlike the stores) carries a nice line of clothes including some great sweaters and sleepwear that I purchase regularly.

Secondly, it’s wrong because the bedding, or maybe just that particular layout shot, is just so damned ugly. In ivory or white (colours also offered), it might have looked a bit less tacky, although I’m not a big fan of either velvet or satin on my bed: give me high-quality cotton any time. The moment that I opened my eyes in that bed, I’d be getting out, exiting the room, and firmly shutting the door.

Third, bedding is not the primary reason that any man should be giving a woman to stay in bed. Hey, guys, give us great sex and breakfast in bed, and we’ll stay there all day!

]]> http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2006/11/a-tempting-reason-to-stay-in-bed/feed/ 0 The Accidental Redhead http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2006/08/the-accidental-redhead/ http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2006/08/the-accidental-redhead/#comments Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:03:24 +0000 sandy http://www.sandyofftopic.com/2006/08/the-accidental-redhead/ I colour my hair. There, I said it, I’m 45 years old (very soon to be 46) and I don’t like the grey streaks, and about once a month I use a colour rinse to cover up the grey. I’ve been using Clairol’s Natural Instincts line because it seems to be pretty easy on my hair, and washes out in a month if I really don’t like the colour, but they’ve been playing around with their colours lately, or maybe my local drugstore has, because I can never seem to find #18 (Pecan), which is a “Medium Golden Brown”. I was blonde as a kid and get some blonde lights in my (now brown) hair in the summer if I’m out in the sun a lot, so this was always a good choice. #12 (Toasted Almond) is just a bit too light, although I use it in the summer sometimes.

The last couple of days I’ve been fretting over the increasingly-visible Bride of Frankenstein wave of grey going up from my hairline, and decided to cover it up, but no #18. Next to where #18 would have been was #20B, “Cinnamon Stick”, which is described as “Medium Warm Brown”. In fact, if you look at the Clairol charts online, it is listed under the “neutral” shades which are supposed to add soft beige tones, as opposed to Ash, Gold/Caramel/Bronze or Red Brown/Red. I glopped it on as usual, rinsed it out, and when I took the towel off my head and looked in the mirror… I was a redhead. Medium warm brown, my ass.

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