Well, I haven't posted in ages.  It hasn't been because my life is dull, but I haven't felt an intense need to report anything until now.

Do you know the comic book Spider-Girl?  Well, as sad as it is, I would be a bit surprised if you had.  In as quick a summary as I can manage, it started back in 1998 not long after the Clone Saga, which you may recall included a storyline about Mary Jane becoming pregnant and the resulting daughter, May, being kidnapped never to be seen again.  A What If comic was published that speculated what would have happened is the Parkers had been allowed to raise their child.  Due to good feedback, Marvel decided to launch a series for her and a few others to create what they called the MC2 universe (official designation Earth-982).  Spider-Girl then went on, always at the brink of cancellation, for 100 issues, making it the longest running title in Marvel history featuring a solo female hero.  It was then re-launched as Amazing Spider-Girl, which for 30 issues when continuing low sales but a vocal fan community led Marvel to make the now Spectacular Spider-Girl their first exclusively digital comic.

 

Why do people like this comic?  A quick answer would be that it’s fun, an all-too-rare trait in comics nowadays.    While there is drama, it rarely descends into angst.  The writer once summed up the main difference between Peter and May by saying that Uncle Ben’s murder thought Peter that when he doesn’t act, people die, while saving Peter from Normie Osborn taught her that when she acts, people live.  This pretty well defines May’s more proactive approach.  Another thing that people like is that May actually looks like a 16-year-old female athlete.  It is incredibly refreshing to see a female superhero that is not built like a Barbie doll and wears a costume that does not make you wonder what club she works at.

 

Now, I’m sure through all this you’ve been wondering what this is leading to.  Well, this Halloween, Marvel is selling a Spider-Girl costume through its official store.  Spider-Girl fans should be happy that this character is getting some main-stream attention, but well you see Spider-Girl looks like this:

 

 

Here is the costume:

 

 

As May once said when looking at displays of alternative Spider-Girl costumes for sell, “I could never fight in this.  Plus, my dad would freak!” (Paraphrased)

 

Out of about 60 costumes Marvel is selling through its store this is one of only two costumes for women.  The other is a “Captain America” featuring considerable cleavage.

 

Marvel offers a chance to post reviews in its store, but these are looked at before being viewable on the site.  They say it is to prevent profanity and advertising showing up in the comments, but I’m pretty sure what I submitted won’t make it up, so I’m posting it here:

 

Oh no!  Someone stole half of May Parker’s costume!  No wait, the spider emblem is all wrong plus saying that is half of what Spider-Girl wears in the comics is a bit of an over-estimation, so it’s not her costume at all.  Marvel had a chance here to play-up one of their best-written titles that needs more consumer love and they chose to make a ‘sassy’ costume that looks a whole lot like all the other ‘sassy’ costumes made for women.  Any chance of women ever getting a chance to dress as a superhero for Halloween instead of a superhero-themed … oh wait, they don’t want us putting anything profane in these comments.

 

At least someone who works for Marvel will have to see it in order to reject it.

For anyone who may be coming to look at this journal now that I'm posting on a few communities, the project I said I was starting in my earlier posts never got off the ground.  This is mainly because I forgot about how terribly lazy I get with projects when I'm at my parents' house.  Also, most of the clothing to be found in stores for the past year or so has been downright ugly with unflattering lines and colors that hurt my eyes.  Making matters worse, fabrics and patterns available in fabric stores reflect popular fashion so even if I felt up to making most of what I wanted (and I could wrest space and the sewing machine from my mother) I would have a terrible time finding anything to make them with.  *sigh*  Now, I am in the midst of another glorious semester working towards my BA in English (just don't ask me what I'll do with it) and my time is filled with papers, being Vice-President of my university's anime club, and making my Halloween costume (I'm cosplaying Kuramae Mine from Fruits Basket).  November will be filled with more papers, more anime and and working the ticket booth at the Louisiana Ren Fest.  All this time flies and I could hardly be happier.

PS- Would you believe Live Journal spellcheck doesn't believe "anime" is a word?

The key to the success of a project like this is research. Of course, even if it was not I would make it involve a great deal of research because I research everything. Attempting research for this working with a university library met with mixed success since most of the books are older than I am. The exercise did teach me something of the oddities of the Library of Congress system, but that is another story to be chronicled at a latter date. 

For some ideas on what my wardrobe should contain I paid a visit to Wikihow and found the following lists:
Basic Wardrobe
o 2 winter jackets, one nice and one sporty
o 4 solid color long-sleeve tees
o 1 good white blouse
o 2 shirts that can be used in nice occasions
o 4-10 summery shirts which might include, tanks, tees and halter tops
o 4 solid color short sleeve tees
o 2-4 sweaters/sweatshirts
o 2-4 polos
o 3 camis or tanktops that can be doubled as undershirts
o 3-4 pairs of cute jeans
o 1-2 pairs of yoga pants or stretchy pants you can relax in
o 2 bottoms that can be used for nice, skirts or pants
o 2 skirts, possibly short and long
o 2-4 pairs or shorts or capris for summer
o 1 sun dress
o 1 nice dress that you can wear to a formal dance such as the prom
o Lots of underwear and socks
o 2 pairs of pajamas, one winter, one summer
o 1 sports outfit/ Tracksuit
o 1-2 swim outfits including bikinis, one pieces and tankinis
o 1 pair of tennis shoes
o 1 pair of black dress shoes
o 1 pair of flats
o 1 pair of flip-flops or sandals that can get wet
o 1 pair of nicer summer shoes such as sparkly flip-flops
o 1 tote bag or big bag
o 1 clutch/ nice bag
o 1 backpack or messenger bag
o 1 bag to use everyday

Gothic Aristocrat
o Long sleeve blouse or dress shirt preferably black or white
o Dress pants
o Lace
o Black dress shoes
o High black or white dressy stockings or socks
o Top hats
o Natural hair color is prefered
o Ruffled blouses
o Neck ties if desired or scarfs (black,dark green or dark purple)
o White gloves or black fingerless gloves
o Handkerchief (optional)
o Black nail polish (optional)
o Pocket watch (optional)
o Cane (optional)

Classic
o formal dress
o blazer, single or doublebreasted
o cable knit sweater
o knee length skirt
o summer dress
o jeans (dark hued, so as to match everything, the cut which suits you best)
o button down shirt (off-white, cream or white)
o button down cardigan
o three piece suit(skirt, pants, jacket)
o a camisole
o dress pants
o khakis
o cocktail dress
o long skirt
o shirts ( try on scoopnecks, boatnecks, cowls, sweetheart, see what looks best on you)
o a trench, or a peacoat
Of course none of these are the final authority on anything, but they provide a nice starting point. 

Upon return home a visit to my local public library allowed me access to more recent books I had found good reviews for. The Lucky Shopping Manual I found to be more modern and more work-oriented than I was looking for. The Science of Sexy, which focuses on analyzing and dressing one’s body shape, is much more helpful. However, my measurements were somewhat liminal, so I must drew ideas from three different body shapes. The gist is I should define my waist and wearing somewhat full skirts will not harm my figure, so it more focuses my plans rather than changing them. 

I have a list of sewing patterns to obtain and use, many of which will be on sale tomorrow at Hancock’s for 88 cents each.
An analysis of my current wardrobe is forthcoming.

Well, I created this journal. Then, I forgot about it for about two years. Now, I have something to write about. Summer break for my University started Friday so I have some three months ahead of me to pursue my own interests. I want to spend that time doing some serious rebuilding of my wardrobe.
I’m twenty years old, and most of my clothes are my sister’s castoffs. They are neither very flattering to my body shape nor indicative of my personal style.
During my teenage years, I didn’t even realize I had much of a body shape since I never grew past an A cup. Then a few months ago, I was changing and caught myself in a mirror. I was shocked to see I had hips and a waist. I came to the decision that I had to do something about how I dressed.
Now that I’m back at my parents place, I have resources to really do something about it, like my mother’s sewing machine and access to the ever-growing shopping district of Houma.
Of course, I will need to find a job and not all of my resources can go towards clothing. I will be taking guitar lesions next semester so I will need to buy one, and come late July I’m going to visit my brother in San Diego to crash on his couch and go to ComicCon. And then there is my book habit, but that is what the library is for.
For clothing inspiration, I will be drawing from Classic Lolita, RomantiGoth and Steampunk with a little bit of Rockabilly for summer casual wear.
Stay tuned.