Friday, June 10, 2022

Fancy Friday: Rainbow Pride, and Poses

Happy Friday, my friends! Today, I'm sharing my rainbow skirt, and I'm also feeling chatty about poses. I'm the only blogger I know who does the stair pose.
It's harder to do than it looks! But I know your jaw's just dropping over my rainbow skirt - isn't it gorgeous? 

  • Top - Grey by Jason Wu, thrifted; purchased here for $19.95
  • Skirt - J. Crew, consignment; last seen here in March with grey bookends
  • Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog; last worn here in February with a wooly outfit
  • Jacket (below) - Gap, consignment, Vancouver; last seen here (2nd outfit) in April for a chilly garden party

I'm an ally for LGBTQ1A2S+ folks in my office (and in general) and as we celebrate Pride Month in June, I can show my support through my outfits.  
We had a dozen-person team meeting today, and many of them were new hires in the last two years who'd never been to the office. I scheduled a tour with them to basically break them in. Key point: Who do you ask/tell? Sheila!

I had so much love for this skirt today, and my colours in general - it feels so good to be bright. 
The skirt is fast becoming a favourite. I twirled for everyone! 

But let's talk about the top, as this is its first wearing. It's swanky designer Jason Wu, thrifted for a bargainous price.
I like how the back hemline dips down - it lies really well, although this picture does not show that at all. I tried a pose to demonstrate how the top sits and...well, it's not a pose I'll be doing again! 

As most of you will have realized by now, I do the same poses over and over and over again: the stair pose, leg one way, then the other, hand posed here, elbow out there. 
I've perfected my poses over the years to ensure they all help me and the close look optimal. As I use a timer on my digital camera, I only have 10 seconds to push start and then get into place - I HAVE to do the same pose over and over just to ensure I get them all finished in the morning. I often only take the pictures you see here in the 5 minutes I allot - no time for retakes! 

I will not repeat this pose; if I decide to add a sideways pose to my repertoire I'll experiment in a mirror first. 
Why this is an unsuccessful pose:  I'm standing straight up and down in a direct side view. My feet  are planted parallel and my arm is lifted across my chest to show the hem of the blouse (cool, right?). It throws off the proportions of my body (boobs, meet waist). Even my feet look huge(r) - because they are! I'm a size 9.5/40.

Compare this pose, and any of my other usual poses above - the key is diagonals. The human eye loves diagonals. See how the leaning back of my upper body and the leg pointed across the other leg creates a diagonal? My stair pose is a big diagonal.
My hands/arms are doing the opposite diagonal. My torso is also angled away from the camera and my head is tilted to bring out my jawline. My poses are weird to look at in person (the stair pose in particular), but when you see them in a flat picture, they look good. Art! Science! 

Anyway, I ramble. I hope you enjoyed a peek into my process. What's your best go-to pose? 

Accoutrements:
More colour is needed, obviously. 

  • Scarf - Alexander McQueen, consignment
  • Mask - Lazy Susan's

The stuff: 
Even my stuff and bling pictures are posed to show everything clearly and to show the shape of the shoes. See the diagonal?

Multi-coloured bling: 
Happy colours! Hooray! 

  • Cuff - thrifted
  • Orange cuff - Italian, vintage 60s, vintage mall
  • Earrings - consignment, Vancouver
  • Aventurine/silver ring - consignment
  • Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Wishing you all a weekend full of sunshine (real and metaphorical)! I'll be back on Sunday with tales of adventure. Thank you so much for stopping by.

12 comments:

  1. You have the stair pose perfected. I didn't know you're doing a timer- skills!

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  2. You've got your famous staircase pose down to a T! I'd be completely rubbish working with a timer, so I'm glad I've got my own personal photographer ... I did love a peek into your posing and photographing process, though. I got a couple of things to learn from you it seems.
    And yes, my jaw did drop over that magnificent rainbow skirt. Your Jason Wu top is its perfect companion, as is the pink jacket. Or is it PANK?
    I hope you're having a great and perhaps even sunny weekend, Sheila! xxx

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  3. I really love this skirt and all your things you put with it are just so stylish. Good job!

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  4. The pleated multi-colourful vertical stripes of your swingy rainbow skirt are beautiful!
    It looks fabulous styled with the black top and blue shoes.
    Your timed photos came out beautifully, and you use a nice variety of poses.
    I used the (very short) timer on my 'point-and-shoot' camera, lurching into the frame at the last second attempting the same pose over and over again (both right facing and left facing) - a kneeling back-view trying to look back at the camera
    It always seemed to take 40 or 50 tries to get 2 halfway usable photos.
    Your outfit photos are all fabulous! Well done you!

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  5. I do a similar thing with my poses using my phone's camera on a timer. No fancy setup-just prop it up against a sturdy mug.
    I love your rainbow skirt.

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  6. Love your stair pose....and that is a gorgeous rainbow skirt.

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  7. I love the pink jacket and scarf with this! And that is such a fun skirt! it's great you are brining more people back into the office and welcoming them all too - this was the perfect colourful Sheila outfit for that! I definitely need to work on my poses - I just kinda stand there and take the pics, haha!

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  8. Great skirt! And yes, the stairway pose is pure Sheila.

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  9. I like your post analysis - you are right, diagonals are much better that straight on front or side poses. Lately I always seem to be looking up and off to the side in any of my photos - it gives a much more flattering view of my neck. That skirt is one of my favourites in your closet.

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  10. Your skirt is gorgeous and I love your stair case pose!
    xoxo
    Lovely
    wwww.mynameislovely.com

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Sheila