You can find five things here if you squint.

[mrissa]

It's autumn here in Baja Canada, which you can tell because I'm wearing socks again, the tomatillos are going berserk, and my tisane consumption has gone from appallingly high to truly unbalanced. That latter, of course, may be due to the fact that the first chest cold of the season has arrived right on schedule, so I am occasionally alternating in what Midori's Floating World labels a honey-ginger latte, despite the fact that it contains no coffee whatever, which I thought was a requirement for a latte. It's just hot milk with honey and ginger. Really intense, but good on the throat. timprov figured out how to make them at home. He, too, is trying to rid himself of bits of lung. (markgritter too, but he is doing it in California at the moment, and also he refuses the goodness that is honey-ginger latte. timprov refuses the goodness that is tea. Only I know what's good, apparently.)

Yesterday's city, the capital of Britain's dearest ally in 1955? Oslo, Norway. Surprising Brits and Norsk alike, I expect. Well done, mastadge, although guessing all across Scandinavia at once does seem a bit...anyway, well done.

We have candidates for the dress for my godfather's wedding. We also have yet another reject. You know what I hate about those shows where they make people over, other than everything so I don't watch them? They are apparently constantly telling people to try things on in styles they don't usually wear. I do this. You know what happens? They don't fit. You know why I don't wear those styles? They don't fit! (Or else they look terrible on me.) Who are these people, who have styles that fit them perfectly well and are perfectly flattering, and they go around not-wearing them on a whim? Oh, tra la, I think I shall just not-wear perfectly good clothes that will look lovely on me, because there are just far too many perfectly good clothes looking lovely on me in this world, tra la! Also, they are far too readily available at reasonable prices, manufactured by people who are treated humanely and with reasonable environmental practices, tra la! Shut up, those people!

(Tried on a sheath dress in a perfectly beautiful shade of blue, which my mom purchased and brought over and will now have to return to the store with sad and dragging feet. It had a wide belt that would have accentuated my not-wide waist. Guess what? Did not fit. Surprise! Yet another Neal Stephenson dress. What, ask the newcomers, is a Neal Stephenson dress? It is a garment in which I could fit the complete works of Neal Stephenson in the waist of the thing with me. Gigantic cul-de-sacs of fabric, people. Why do I not wear sheath dresses in non-stretchy fabric? Because I am not shaped like a sword aaaaaaaagh the end.)

Comments

[timprov.livejournal.com]

Stir one teaspoon powdered ginger and two teaspoons honey into a mug of warm milk. Taste; decide it needs more honey and add some. You will not decide it needs more ginger.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Oh, tra la, I think I shall just not-wear perfectly good clothes that will look lovely on me, because there are just far too many perfectly good clothes looking lovely on me in this world, tra la!

If all one ever voluntarily wears is jeans and t-shirts, it's possible to go decades at a time unaware of many things that turn out to look good on one.

[alecaustin.livejournal.com]

I'm rather surprised at the "Britain's dearest ally" thing, but I guess it's not that surprising that Oslo didn't have an English-language history until 1955.

They are apparently constantly telling people to try things on in styles they don't usually wear. I do this. You know what happens? They don't fit. You know why I don't wear those styles? They don't fit! (Or else they look terrible on me.)

But... but... how can you support the fashion industry properly if you are not buying clothes in dozens of different styles? Preferably expensive ones?

(I don't generally do a good job at supporting the fashion industry myself. Or any industries other than the publishing, gaming, and restaurant industries, really.)

[jenett]

I was deeply amused, when Elise and I went looking for the amazing interview dress, by that.

She (and the excellent assistant) would bring me things to try on. And because I like the process of clothing experimentation (in small controlled doses, and this was one of those times), I would do so.

And a fair number of times, Elise got that look on her face, and said "Oh, yes, I see why you don't choose that." To which I would grin, and then go onto the next thing. (The other category were things that did, in fact, look good on me, but that I would feel entirely uncomfortable wearing for any lengthy of time for varying reasons. I'd much rather go for the 'looks great on me, appropriate to the setting *and* comfy')

[papersky.livejournal.com]

There's also the thing that some people do clothes as a hobby and other people just wear clothes because they don't want to get arrested for indecent exposure. There could be hundreds of styles out there that suit me and I have no idea about, and I'm going to continue to have no idea about because finding out about them would require going into clothes shops.

(Actually, in Canada, assistants in clothes shops do not laugh at you, because there is this culture of being nice. Shoe shops too. It's much better. But still, clothes shops are a bit claustrophobic.)

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

I'm carefully avoiding recommending specific shops, because I don't know what you've tried and what you haven't, so that feels like it would condescending.

But I also frequently have the same problem with waists you do, and I have found a few places in the Cities that accomodate such figures. If, you know, you want a recommendation. Just saying.

[aedifica]

I wonder if this might be an extension of your superpower of knowing what fads look ridiculous even before they go out of style?

[columbina.livejournal.com]

Pardon my digression, but "latte" is "milk." If you tried to order a latte in Italy and they didn't just laugh at you, you'd get a cup of hot milk. It is the hot milk that is the defining characteristic of any kind of latte, not coffee, so your honey-ginger latte is linguistically kosher. (Might even be dietarily kosher as well.)