Wearing a Pink Scarf to a Press Conference

June 25, 2014 9:45 AM

Ladypockets! "true story: I met Kirsten Gillibrand in 2006, when she was running for office against John Sweeney. I was getting a haircut in a salon in Saratoga Springs, New York and it was just me and the stylist in there, after the store had already closed for the day, just hanging out waiting for the foil in my hair to do its thing. This panicked-looking woman with a bluetooth and a clipboard knocked on the window and asked to be let in. She explained that she was the assistant of a woman who was running for office, they’d been asked to do a last-minute live TV appearance, and she’d left the house without wearing makeup that day; could we help? "
posted by the young rope-rider (30 comments total)

She'll write a sonnet about this Easter bonnet: It's not easy to blend sun protection and high-end fashion, but Maya manages seamlessly with this pastel pink chapeau.

OK, this is funny.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:03 AM on June 25, 2014

It may be a joke but it's also awesome.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:07 AM on June 25, 2014 [5 favorites]

The "who wore it best" posts are hilarious.

"Bonus! Jane's bold statement jewelry: We can hardly blame [Goodall] for wanting to pile on the glam when she can sneak away from the habitat."

Our physical appearance matters so much as women. And yet I think that many people do want to "pile on the glam" when they want to - not because they have to (which, let's face it, is nearly all of the time, which is what ladypockets aims to illustrate, I think) but I think that many people simply like putting on a bold color or a cool piece of jewelry and feeling nice about the way they look.

It's just a crying shame that the way we look matters much more than the way we think, especially, especially for women. I am constantly worrying about my appearance, especially at work. Wearing clothes that are professional, comfortable, and not too revealing is a constant struggle. I actually think that we could use a lot more of this ladypockets fashion in magazines. I am just now at 31 realizing the great value of a nice blazer.

And the writing is really, really spot-on and witty. Nice find; thanks for sharing.
posted by sockermom at 10:17 AM on June 25, 2014 [8 favorites]

Chancellors: they're just like us!
posted by Lyn Never at 10:19 AM on June 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Do they have the Merkel Rainbow covered yet?

(and yes, nice blog, thanks tyrr)
posted by infini at 10:26 AM on June 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh, golly. It's been a long time since I actually laughed out loud at ANYTHING online. This is making me cry, it's so funny.
posted by Peach at 10:26 AM on June 25, 2014

I like this. I would also like to see the same thing - vapid magazine prose, splashy layouts covered with where-to-buy and pricing info, all of it - for prominent men. A less subtle way of making the point, maybe, but I'd still like to see it.
posted by aka burlap at 10:33 AM on June 25, 2014 [5 favorites]

This is so awesome. SOVERYAWESOME
posted by crush-onastick at 10:36 AM on June 25, 2014

I like this. I would also like to see the same thing - vapid magazine prose, splashy layouts covered with where-to-buy and pricing info, all of it - for prominent men. A less subtle way of making the point, maybe, but I'd still like to see it.

And then I'd like a "Do's and Don'ts" feature where they show prominent men with a black bar over their eyes acting as cautionary tales about whatever the male equivalent of visible cellulite is.
posted by padraigin at 10:41 AM on June 25, 2014 [4 favorites]

What I like is the stream of accomplished/powerful women in the blog. Why are we talking about men again?
posted by infini at 10:45 AM on June 25, 2014 [9 favorites]

You had me at "modesty: so hot right now!"
posted by muddgirl at 11:01 AM on June 25, 2014 [3 favorites]

This is really not relevant to the post, but I was in upstate NY during Gillibrand's run against Sweeney, and somebody should make a movie about that campaign.

You could not invent a more detestable person than John Sweeney, but in red state upstate NY he had the election locked down. 24 points ahead in June, still 12-14 points ahead by the end of September.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/writeup/new_york_20-16.html

This is a guy who shows up at Union College frat parties drunk out of his mind, gets DUI's, was involved in the 2000 recount, etc:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Sweeney#Controversies

Then, the Albany Times Union runs a story on a year-old police report that John Sweeney was involved in a domestic violence dispute with his wife.

http://web.archive.org/web/20061213205513/http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=530664

They choose to run this one week before the election and Kirstin wins with 53%, and from that small-town news story, the rest is history!
posted by The Ted at 11:02 AM on June 25, 2014 [6 favorites]

It's probably irredeemably frivolous that while looking at a fashion mag satire about powerful women like this, I actually am making mental notes about branching out into silk scarves instead of sticking with my usual cotton, and earnestly comparing the Who Wore It Better. But honestly I can't not because these women look great and I actually would like to be more like them (at least in terms of their work ethics and sophistication, if not in terms of their politics, for some of them), and if I can't be more like them I can at least LOOK more like them, right?.

And also in the spirit of distractingly interesting/beautiful aesthetics, does anyone know what's in the beautiful bell jar behind Mary Beard? It's gorgeous, but I can't figure out what it IS.
posted by rue72 at 11:05 AM on June 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

My favorite is the Who Wore It Better with Joan Didion and Harper Lee

Small quibble: With all the great writing Didion is known for, her novels are definitely not what make her legendary.
posted by psoas at 11:39 AM on June 25, 2014

...does anyone know what's in the beautiful bell jar behind Mary Beard?

Stuffed birds, and given that Beard is a classicist, probably Victorian era (it was kind of a thing in that period). See here: "which has stuffed birds as well as a shiny green dinosaur on the mantelpiece."
posted by RichardP at 11:59 AM on June 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm comfortable with the idea that I can love fashion and admire real and awesome women in the world. If this were a real magazine, I would buy it.
posted by Foam Pants at 12:37 PM on June 25, 2014 [8 favorites]

I ran across Ladypockets for the first time recently and failed to bookmark it. Then my hard drive died and I couldn't get to my browser history, so I lost track of it completely. Thanks for saving me from my failure to immediately add it to my RSS feeds.
posted by immlass at 1:37 PM on June 25, 2014

Note to self: need more scarves
posted by infini at 1:53 PM on June 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, what both delights and bewilders me about Ladypockets is that while it's a spot-on satire about how we scrutinize prominent women's choices about their appearance and often don't take them seriously as influencers, thinkers, and world leaders, it is simultaneously a dispatch from a beautiful alternate universe where we give the same celebrity idol treatment to leaders and thinkers as we do entertainers.

And a decent fashion guide.
posted by capricorn at 2:30 PM on June 25, 2014 [19 favorites]

This might be the best thing I've seen in a long while. I want to invite the creator of this blog out for cocktails with my bad ass bosslady friends that are changing the world and look fabulous and get angry at #everdaysexism. I just shared this with everyone I love.
posted by Grandysaur at 4:11 PM on June 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

"Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses, but who cares when you're up all night reading bench memorandums." YES.

I got to the end of the posts and my heart broke a little. This is fantastic and I want it to go on forever!
posted by divined by radio at 4:40 PM on June 25, 2014 [3 favorites]

This is glorious: at once funny and respectful.

Infini -- Note to self: I need to WEAR more scarves.

I've been collecting them for years, and probably have several hundred, but I never wear them for some inexplicable reason.
posted by jrochest at 5:09 PM on June 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

More scarves! I would subscribe to this without irony because I think clothes and fashion are delightfully interesting and at that tricky intersection of pleasure and performance, where you want to wear flowers in your hair and be taken seriously.
posted by viggorlijah at 7:49 PM on June 25, 2014

Added to my RSS feed. Thank you!
posted by jaguar at 8:02 PM on June 25, 2014

jrochest - on reflection, I confess I do have sufficient scarfage but its been the 'wrap miles of cloth around your neck region in icy winter' variety rather than the 'chic print delicate knot enhancing neck' style I'm seeing here
posted by infini at 4:51 AM on June 26, 2014

OK, it may be satire, but it works as straight for me, too. Smart, accomplished people express themselves through their clothing choices as much as anyone else, and I think how they do it is much more interesting than how the real-life Patsy Stones think we ought to.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:20 AM on June 26, 2014

In honor of Ladypockets, today, I am wearing a hand-me-down Burberry silk scarf from my mother's first trip to London in the late 1960s.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:18 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

And I mean, my budget is more Marshalls than Burberry but I would so rock Mary Beard's outfit.
posted by capricorn at 7:21 AM on June 26, 2014

Soo clever......and I was always amazed that when I put on a black robe people still were commenting about how my hair looked.....why is the visual so powerful over the substance for women?
posted by OhSusannah at 7:51 AM on June 26, 2014

By telling women that a perfectly applied face of makeup is a prerequisite for career success, we are telling them that how they look is more important than what they know or what they have achieved. We are telling them that their natural faces will distract people, that being pretty is necessary regardless of circumstance, that performing femininity in exactly the right way isn’t just helpful, it’s essential. Insisting that makeup become integral to a professional woman’s daily life subtly tells her that if she doesn’t look right it won’t matter how smart or creative or innovative or capable she is. And that is patently untrue.

Since I’ve admitted to being a makeup novice myself, I realize I may sound defensive. And maybe I am. When I read this spate of makeup-career articles, the underlying message I got was, “If you don’t wear makeup, you don’t look like a grownup to other grownups.” And that sentiment makes me want to break things. Some adult women wear makeup and others don’t. Learning to apply makeup is a rite of passage for many, but it is not a skill set required for acceptance into the Grown-Ass Woman Club. Any more than having children or going to college or losing your virginity or working outside the home or any of the other arbitrary markers of so-called “real” womanhood are. Being a woman can be done in infinite ways, and forging a successful career path can play out in infinite ways. Accomplished, professional, grown women can take on the world at any age, at any stage, and in any way they see fit.

And they can do it with or without lipstick and foundation.
posted by infini at 10:02 AM on June 28, 2014