2 posts tagged “pilates”

Recently, I was teaching pilates in San Luis Obispo and crashing at a friend's place.  Here's the weird room she had me staying in.  My first thought was, did I wander into a hotel?

To make things feel more homey, I started working on projects I'd brought.  Foolish me.  She's VERY allergic to animal hair and what did I leave ALL OVER the room but my red mohair afghan I was finishing.

Here it is crumpled up on the part of the bed I was using.

And last, but not in the least, the view from my window there.

I lost so much weight while I was there.  Then I got home at 2 in the morning, started work the next day early, and have been busy, busy, busy since then.  So go figure, I've gained the weight back and then some.  Sucks.  Still, a dancer I know suffered last year from herniated discs in her back and she couldn't dance for about 7 months.  Now she's back, thinner than ever, her silhouette the perfect triangle (inverted) that I always wished I could be.  There but for the grace of the gods of the genetics go I....  Nevertheless, she's dancing better than before and inspires me to keep trying.

Nah.  I'm a big fan of dressing comfortably so that I can move in any I want to -- big, fast, vigorous, rambunctious, sleepy -- without being hampered by my clothing.  At the same time, I LOVE beautifully constructed clothes and I LOVE fabric.

So with this flamenco-inspired ensemble of jade green rayon/polyester twill skirt, black rayon velvet jersey fringed sleeveless surplice, and acrylic lasagna scarf, the skirt is deliberately made a size and a half larger than the intended model's size, the top stretches, and the scarf adds a little vibrance so that wherever the wearer keeps the scarf, your eye goes to it.  When the model hasn't eaten for a few hours, the skirt hangs down by her hips, but after a full meal, it rides up to the waistline.  It's a zippered skirt and even if your silhouette is "rectangular" rather than "pear-shaped," it still works!  Believe me.  I'm a rectangle.  I added fringe to the top so that it lengthens the torso line and adds extra movement which detracts from how flat or tiny one's waistline is, too.  And the top is incredibly comfortable.  You can workout in it, go to the office in it, go on a date....  I hate having to change all the time into new outfits.  That just isn't practical.  Because I love fabric so very, very much, I also added more fabric than necessary by putting a long ruffle on the base of a basic straight skirt.  When you walk in the ruffled jade skirt, it walks with you and makes you more conscious of your femininity, how you move, and the weight of nice fabric against your legs and hips.

I write these things so that you can get an idea of how I envision attractive clothing for the average-sized woman.  I'm actually not in the fashion industry.  I've been in the dance performance side of things for a long time and the fitness industry, too.  I'm used to being around dancers that DO eat burritos, but its just a couple nibbles in between an arduous technique class and vigorous rehearsal.  I've quizzed a dancer/pilates instructor/model who confessed that she stopped runway modeling because she had to force herself to be so much below healthy weight that she was always crabby from being hungry.  And I've worked with pilates instructors with the "perfect body" that only eat energy bars or at our annual holiday party at a great restaurant, ate four bites of their entree, no bread, no wine and then said thank you I'm done to the waitress.  Hmm....  I actually ate my whole entree and a lot of bread.  I do exercise but more to feel calm and happy in my body, to have the great neuromuscular habits that allow me to enjoy ballet rather than feel tortured in class, and to feel confident inhabiting my body.  But I don't try to look perfect in a size 2 dress.  Nah.  I enjoy eating too much to do that.  (See previous entry.)

And that's the vision behind LotusMonkey Boho Fashion.