STUPID STYLE STUFF

Aiiiiiii

I stared at this picture.

Wham bam. I  SLAMMED down New York Magazine.

Page after page -- photos -- tiny ones, full-page pictures, thumbnails, -- dresses, hats, shirts, underwear, coats, jewelry and shoes, plus homes, cars, toys, kiddie outfits -- sketches, full color, artistic drawings, wildly unusual, inventive -- vintage, rococo, ultra modern styles juxtaposed -- page after page with everything excessive, overdone, too fancy. It made me ill, sick in my head, it told me how abysmally ignorant I was.

I subscribed to the magazine trying to keep up with trends, planning to subscribe to Sports Illustrated, Esquire, the New Yorker -- not Vogue that's always overloaded with the VERY  latest chic stuff -- I want to write about trends that affect, infect, and inspire us -- blammo -- I'm defeated by the massive potpourri of N O W.

Whose concept created this fat issue of New York Magazine? Someone I should avoid? Or was it a combo of who's-who-ers in London, New York, Paris, and Rome?  The too-muchness of clashing styles, the deliberate outlandishness -- is THAT the TREND?

Oh my God, it is -- yes it is -- everybody wants to feel unique, special, different, and be one of a kind, because it's memorable -- because we're lost in a forest of too many people trying to be unique, because there's too many people!

What about simplicity -- things that are plain, monotone, bland? Is simplicity gone?

What should we wear, when crappy smorgasbord too much-ness is IN?

Aiiii  -- just our birthday suits?

LOOKING GOOD IN A SELFIE

Of course, when you are taking a picture of yourself, wear makeup and a flattering outfit. You can get practical advice about light and camera angles if you click this link:
               How to Look Good in Pictures, 11 steps.

Hey guys, you don't need to bother with the 11 steps, if you read what Em has to say, based on experience.

First of all, you need to have something on your mind, not your camera.

Banish the vanity thoughts like should I have put on more lipstick? should I have worn a simpler outfit?

Ignore the discomfort, like my eye itches, or it's tricky to smile when the sun is in my eyes.

Stop thinking about the fact that you are posing for a picture. On and on goes the train of your thoughts about you, your work, the things you have to do, and what to do if the picture turns out poorly.  Stop all those thoughts.

If you want a smiling picture, remind yourself about something that happened recently that was fun, or something that made you laugh. If you want a serious face, recall a death that touched you -- you can even produce glistening tearful eyes it you dig in to one of your real sorrows. If a sad, serious face is wrong -- you want a thoughtful or hopeful or confident look -- find a specific memory within yourself.  Concentrate on it, and you'll probably have that face in your picture.

For some people this is acting -- finding within yourself a reality -- the reality becomes the play and the play script. The fact is, right now, as I am telling you how to look good in a photo, I am giving you a crash course in acting.

The stage is where you are. You are the stage manager and the director. The script is what you, the playwright, perceive as your "best" face.

Keep the thought hot, fresh, vivid, and you'll have a wonderful SELFIE -- yes -- a photo of the real you -- the handsomest you -- the you that you're proud of being.