Thanks, COVID-19

Back in the mid 00s K and I used to very much enjoy a blog called Go Fug Yourself. I dare say it was one of the inspirations for this very blog here. It was just a couple of gals talking about the clothes that celebrities wore. It was a magnificent time, Lady Gaga was reaching her height and so were her outfits. The internet wasn't saturated by, well, everything and Instagram didn't even exist!  It was a really funny blog and a great opportunity to look at all kinds of outfits, good and bad. It still exists in a much fancier form now and I haven't looked at it in years (except earlier today to verify this claim about its existence). When it started getting big and the original authors weren't the only writers anymore (and I'm not just talking about delegating to Intern George)* I think I can safely say that K and I both stopped reading it. It just lost that certain je ne sais quoi. But in its hey day it really was very good. There were a couple of particular things that the writers really did not like, fashionwise, and mostly I was in tune with them. If someone wore shorts or a skirt that was too short, the post would carry the tag 'look into pants', a person wearing leggings would get 'leggings aren't pants' (or something similar - sheesh it was more than a decade ago, I can't remember all the details) and these were all sentiments I could get behind. But as one working from home day rolls into the next I think it's safe to say my position on leggings has changed. Drastically.

I do have several pairs of leggings because I like to run in them (I mean I used to run in them, but for years now I have only fanticised about running in them) and I like to do yoga in them but other than that I rarely wear them. Oh occasionally I'll wear them around the house but they're not really a default. I am just pretty comfortable in jeans most of the time but working from home calls for something else. I do not like to work in too-comfortable clothes, I need something more constricting than pyjamas or tracksuit pants to get my mind in the right framework, but jeans can be uncomfortable for hours of sitting. Moreover, I may be stuck at home but I still want to mix it up a bit. Sheesh, girlfriend still likes to think about and wear sweet outfits. And I gotta tell ya, leggings really are the perfect pal for this scenario. The slight constriction of a good pair of leggings is just the right level of discomfort for WFH, while the flexibility gives just the right amount of comfort. And when you bother to put the outfit together, I feel like you can come up with something pretty sweet. This is what I'm wearing today - a red jumper with a nice shape, red socks to pull it all together - I'm enjoying it on a comfort and aesthetic level.

**

From where I sit now I could actually imagine wearing this in the real world. So I'd like to thank COVID-19 and the forced isolation for opening my eyes to this new possibility of leggings as pants. Although when the doors to the outside world open I may well find this is just like when you're holidaying in a country where the fashion sense is just slightly different and your removal from your life makes you think that you love and could wear the clothes people wear in that country. And then you buy clothes, bring them home to your natural habitat and realise there is no fucking way you'd wear those things. Oh well, only time will tell I guess.   

*You feel me GFY fans.
**Looking at this I realise I'm just wearing a really normal selection of items people would wear in their own house and maybe this doesn't warrant a photo, let alone a blog post. Oh well - too late now! 

WFH Wednesday

Mate, I can see why you and your brother and your dad are worried in varying degrees about your mum.* But I think the fact that she had a stroke and now, due to extenuating circumstances, she can not leave the house (except for exercise, grocery shopping or medical care) gives her a pretty goddamned good excuse not to get out of bed before 11:30 or get out of her pyjamas after that. I haven't even had a stroke and look at what I'm wearing:

New world order, mate, we write out own rules now.

Although I'm now also a bit worried about K's mum, isn't it nice to talk about something other than You Know Who? I mean You Know What? On this point I've actually got a few concerns about myself, and I'm not just talking about my outfit. Last night Chickpea told me she had just had a non-You-Know-What-related conversation with her friend about some relationship troubles (the friend's not Chickpea's) and I remembered that I had met this person's partner just a year ago but can't remember that person at all. I remember a general impression that they seemed nice. But not their name or their face or anything else. I mean, isn't that kind of fucked? Also I'm pretty sure isolation is turning me into a total bitch. I mean, I don't feel changed. Maybe I've always been a total bitch, but I've noticed things. Like this morning when two friends said they didn't like feijoas, I implied there was something wrong with them. And I'm getting very annoyed by people at work. I was infuriated by an academic writing an open letter to the faculty about how hard working at home is for an academic if they have kids. As if it's not also hard for non-academic staff. But why I gotta be so angry about her exclusiveness. I mean, she's an academic, if she only wants to write about her people that's her business. Still, no harm being a bit more inclusive - am I right? Who knows. I have no idea about anything anymore. Maybe I'm just hungry. Again.

*Also thanks for that picture of the baby Strokes mate. I really enjoyed that step back into simpler times.