On Monday night, the annual Met gala brought designers, models, and actors from all around the world to the Metropolitan Museum to celebrate the opening of the Costume Institute's new fashion exhibit. This year's exhibit is called "Punk: Chaos to Couture", and it showcases how punk music and punk culture has influenced the fashion world. There was a live stream of the red carpet arrivals on the Met's website so I got a chance to see what everyone wore. There's really only one reason that I watch red carpet arrival interviews: just to hear which designer made a particular dress. The rest of the interview is always so awkward/repetitive/fake. The same questions are always asked and the interviewers are so busy trying to keep to their schedules that they end up cutting people off. But it was fun watching the Met arrivals anyway. A lot of the people were creative and dressed to match the punk theme. Sarah Jessica Parker had a great outfit. I loved the headgear and the Louboutin boots. Anne Hathaway also addressed the punk theme well. Some people just decided to wear a pretty dress (like Anna Wintour's daughter, Bee Schaffer), and I was just like: This is an exhibit that celebrates punk fashion. Punk is all about rebellion. You can wear a pretty dress any day of the week.
I'm definitely plan on seeing the exhibition. I bet it's amazing. Nothing the Met does can ever be bad.
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| SJP |
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| Anne Hathaway |
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| Bee Schaffer |
After seeing all of that awesome fashion on Monday night, I was inspired to wear something interesting on Tuesday. It's funny how different a girl feels when she knows she's rocking a cool outfit. It really makes a difference. Apparently, somebody else noticed my cool girl vibes. I was walking down a hallway, and this guy just randomly complimented my shirt. And then as I'm walking away, I hear him say to his friend, "She has swag." "Swag" is probably not the word I would best describe myself with. haha. But it was nice to hear it anyway. Especially at a school like Hunter where people often seem separated into groups, and there sometimes seems to be a lack of social interaction. I call for more random compliments in all our lives. They can really make someone feel awesome.
There's "Happy Hour" at Starbucks this whole week. This means you can get a frappuccino for half its regular price. I treated myself to a mocha frap yesterday. Surprisingly, the line wasn't too long so that was good. This was actually the second time in my life that I've bought anything at Starbucks. I don't hate coffee or anything. I just grew up drinking tea. I know they sell tea at Starbucks, but it's just not the same as the stuff at home. But the frap was pretty good even if it was too sugary and was probably a million calories. By the way, "Happy Hour" is happening from May 9 to May 12. But I think most of you probably already know that. The Starbucks by Hunter was filled with students.
So far I've addressed only one of the words/phrased in this post's title. The other two have to do with this book I just finished called North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. I saw it by accident while browsing the shelves at the Mid-Manhattan Library. The title immediately grabbed my attention. I picked it up and decided to give it a chance. I'm really glad I did. It's about a girl named Terra who has a port-wine stain on the right side of her face. She wears a ton of make-up to cover it up and has many treatments done to try to get rid of it. She never feels beautiful. The story follows her as she tries to accept the way she looks. She meets this amazing Asian goth guy named Jacob who helps her see what real beauty is. He's officially been added to my list of awesome book characters.
"Jolie laide" is a French term that comes up several times in the book. It literally means "pretty ugly". But as Terra learns, it actually describes someone who is beautiful in an unconventional way. Terra comes to accept that she would rather be jolie laide than try to fit into society's ideas of what is beautiful.
I mentioned Mona Lisa last week. She is also someone who is jolie laide. She has a high forehead, her eyebrows are barely visible, and her lips are thin, but everyone is so captivated by her. She wouldn't be half as interesting if she was "classically" beautiful: perfect nose, enchanting eyes, etc. She is beautiful because she is different. Everyone is captivated by that smile. It's not even a "beautiful" smile! But again, there is something that grabs you. That makes you think a little deeper. That makes you not want to look away from her.
Someone who has some kind of a scar, a birthmark, frizzy hair, a big nose, etc gets stared at and maybe even made fun of it. But at the end of the day, aren't these people still beautiful? A pretty girl is just a pretty girl. There is no story in the perfect symmetry of her face. Nothing that makes you want to look back at her in wonder. Nothing that will distinguish her from the hundreds of other pretty girls you've seen. So that girl or guy who has something that makes them different shouldn't be ashamed. There's a point in the book where Jacob tells Terra to let people stare at her face. To not let it get to her.
If you think about it, Mona Lisa has been stared at a gazillion times, but she doesn't mind. She just stares back with that small smile and dares them to look closer.
S.
Song of the Week
There was a time, I met a girl of a different kind.
We ruled the world, I thought I'll never lose her out of sight.
We were so young, I think of her now and then
I still hear a song reminding me of a friend
Up on the hill across the blue lake,
That's where I had my first heartbreak
I still remember how it all changed
My father said,
"Don't you worry, don't you worry, child
See heaven's got a plan for you
Don't you worry, don't you worry now"
Yeah!
- "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin
Loved "north of beautiful" too! Jacob was pretty cool lol
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