feexnews: September 2016

Dressing Kids Like Adults: Is this Trend in or should it be on the Way Out?

I am sure you have noticed how hard it is to find clothing that you deem appropriate for your kids, especially your girls, as the trend for dressing children like adults has settled in. As a mother, I definitely feel your pain as clothing is quickly becoming too short and too revealing for girls, while on the other hand boys have a wide selection of ’grown up’ clothing that actually look great on them.

I am someone who both agrees and disagrees with this emerging trend. I have to admit, I enjoy shopping for my boys. As a fashion writer, of course I am a stylish mom, and having stylish kids in tow is an amazing feeling. I think it is a breath of fresh air to see boys dressed up like men. It is awesome that it is quickly becoming ’cool‘ for boys to have their pants around their waist, instead of hanging off their behind. My sons like to dress in nice khaki pants or shorts, button-up shirts, and graphic t-shirts all the time. Yes, they look like little college men; however they do not look completely ridiculous.

On the flip side of the coin, I hate shopping for my girls. It seems like everything is always too tight, too short, too revealing, and just overall too grown up. When we go shopping for clothes we end up spending hours searching for something I am comfortable with them wearing. When I entered Jr. High in the 90’s, if I even thought about showing up to school in the majority of the clothing you can find in the junior clothing department today, I would have been sent home. What I hate the most, is that ’grown up clothing for girls‘seems to overwhelmingly have a negative overtone, while dressing like a ’grown up‘ for boys, often ends in approval. I would have no problem with my girls dressing like adults if modest clothing were actually freely available. After Rihanna showed up at the CFDA Awards, basically naked, and was hailed a “fashion goddess”, I believe that was a major setback for women. I believe dressing up like a grown woman should be something that every little girl should aspire to, not something that parents should be terrified of. Chime in on this conversation and let me know what your thoughts are.

Two Baby Pandas Refuse to Take Their Medicine

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What can you say about this hilarious video taken from CCTV footage at a zoo in China? The task? Well on the face of it one wouldn’t have imagined that giving some medicine to two young panda cubs would be such an ordeal. Of course that perhaps depends on how old the cubs actually are. From what we can see, in panda years, these cubs definitely give you the impression they are going through their troublesome ‘teenage’ years and whatever you want them to do, they are going to do the opposite. Of course there is always the option of discipline, but how on earth do you begin to adopt a firm hand with such cute, cuddly and adorable creatures? Though supposedly superior to all other animals, we human beings do tend to have an Achilles heel when it comes to young animals and we seem to find it so much easier to let them get away with anything without so much as a cross word.

So does our harassed zookeeper succeed? Well on the face of it, and also on the face of the pandas, we would suggest that eventually he managed to deliver the doses of medicine to these two unruly creatures. Right at the end perhaps the clue as to why these animals made it as difficult as possible for him was revealed by the panda on the left sat licking his chops in the way we do after we have eaten something we really didn’t like the taste of. The panda on the right seemed to have a different plan of action to thwart the keeper, and that was to actually eat the syringe rather than just taking the medicine! Either way, one gets the feeling that tomorrow, unless the keeper arrives with reinforcements, more chaos is going to reign!

7 Disney Characters Who Really Exist In Real Life

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Working as a character artist and photographer for the Walt Disney company for 18 years,Ryan Astamendi grew up being totally inspired by Disney animations, and in his youth he was tutored by some of Disney’s animators. Learning about him you discover that from a very early age he always knew he wanted to become involved in art and that he would pursue it as a career. After majoring in Character Animation at CalArts, Astamendi joined Disney where he honed his artistic skills. However it was while at Disney he also became involved in photography, an artistic medium he took to with ease. Ryan’s website says “Using his formal art training, he incorporates the same principles of color, lighting and composition into his photography.” Once you start to look at some of his photographic recreations you will begin to understand exactly what he means.

We have chosen 7 of Astamendi’s ‘portraits’ and while we think we know most of the characters, we may need your help. For sure Snow White is easily detectable, and how remarkable the likeness between the character and real life model are is uncanny. We also love Pocohontas and wonder if Astamendi knew the moment he set eyes on the real-life character that she was ‘the one’. We think Skyler Vallo looks stunning as Rapunzel, and there is even a bit of a fairy tale behind the photo. As told in Maxim: “When photographer Ryan Astamendi saw Skyler Vallo’s ModelMayhem profile, he knew he had found the perfect Rapunzel for his “Real-life Disney princesses” series. Only after inviting the Roanoke native to pose did he learn she was already playing the long-haired heroine at Disneyworld.” Sleeping Beauty looks wide awake to us, but once again there is definitely a very strong similarity between cartoon and real-life versions. Princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast all in yellow looks stunning in both forms, and if you want to know how she got her name, the original story comes from France and was called la Belle et la Bête. Princes Jasmine from Aladdin in the jade-blue two-piece looks beautifully calm and serene, almost the antithesis of one of Disney’s more voluptuous characters, Jessica Rabbit, from the mixed real life/animated film Who framed Roger Rabbit. In fact Jessica Rabbit was named in a 2009 survey as the sexiest cartoon character ever created. Looking at both pictures, it is hard to disagree.

Ralph Lauren Spring 2015 Ready-to-Wear Collection Runway Show

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The Ralph Lauren Spring 2015 collection is just the breath of fresh air we have been waiting for! The theme of this collection could easily be called “fashion you can actually wear,” because these were all pieces we could see ourselves wearing on the street or to the office. Bright, saturated colors are paired with beige neutrals to create a very wearable line of practical outfits with fashionable pops of color. Of course, elegance with a focus on wearability is exactly what we have come to expect from Ralph Lauren, with his Polo line that has set the standard for stylish, practical, everyday clothes for decades now. The high/low combination of shimmery, gauzy fabrics with sporty jodhpurs and cargo pants gave us inspirations for ways to dress up an everyday wardrobe and turn heads without being overdressed or impractical.

The collection starts out with a gorgeous silky royal purple one-shoulder top paired with beige cropped slacks. The swath of fabric across the front and the train hanging down the side and back make this a definite fashion statement, bringing the ballroom to the sidewalk in a completely natural way. We could see ourselves wearing the lemon yellow overcoat just about every day in the rainy spring, because the gray weather is no reason for us not to enjoy the bright colors of spring. A bright orange, sheer button down jacket doubles as a shirt in warmer weather, proving that organza fabrics are just as beautiful in military-style designs as they are in fancy dresses. We were absolutely swept away by the Mad Men-inspired power suits, with the cinched-in waists and peplum (but not too much peplum) jackets. Finished off with feminine fedoras, these outfits brought modern sophistication to a retro elegance that we frankly think never should have gone away. We can’t wait to get our hands on some of these pieces ourselves and add them to our own spring wardrobes!