Generally I devote my blog posts to events that are going on in my life and using the emotion (or in some desperate cases the actual calendar date) to inspire my fashion selections for the week.  This week’s inspiration is a little different.  My latest obsession has less to do with my life and more to do with weddings, specifically gypsy weddings.  The fine folks over at TLC secretly knew that the weddings of 16 year-old brides from rural UK would be pure primetime gold, so they created a show (or stole a show from England, I’m not too sure) entitled, “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.”  MBFGW is a slice of life tv series that focuses on girls (and occasionally boys) of Irish/English travellers, men and women who live a gypsy lifestyle and have customs that fall outside the margins of “proper” British society.  Many of these girls are expected to be young brides, the typical marrying age being 16.  But I’m not here to judge their lifestyle or culture, I’m here to talk about their clothes.  Judging from the many comments left on message boards, a lot of people find their wedding and party apparel to be tacky and really really really slutty, but quite honestly I love their clothes.  No matter what the body shape and size, young traveller girls and grown women alike dress to the nines with outfits that appear to have been designed by a bellydancer who go-go dances on the side.  After having watched a handful of episodes, it’s clear that these women choose their wardrobes knowing that their lives are less than stellar (they may be uneducated but they aren’t stupid – the girls know that they can never be more than a housewife), and wearing outrageous outfits is what brings them a little excitement.  What’s so wrong with that?  My answer: absolutely nothing.  These girls know they aren’t sluts so they are comfortable wearing whatever they want.  Thus, I have taken a cue from this show and I’ve decided to start wearing body jewelry.  I’m not talking belly button piercings and such (even if I wanted to I couldn’t get body piercings – stupid sensitive skin).  No, I’m talking about the body jewelry that looks a little S&M-ish because it probably is S&M-ish.  I’ve never had the gall to wear body jewelry because I didn’t want people to think I’m the type of person who has a relationship with a dungeon master on my weekends.  The lesson I’ve learned from the MBFGW critics is that I’m going to be judged for something, no matter what I wear, say, or do, so I might as well wear whatever I want.  I can hear my friends nervously laughing now.

 

 

 

 

From top to bottom: Navajo Mini by Dolorous, www.dolorous.etsy.com;  Goddess of Victory Body Harness by Peoples Couture, www.indiecollective.com and www.etsy.com/shop/peoplescouture.com;  Haute Couture Breast Plate Lace and Chain Harness by thisilk, www.etsy.com/shop/thisilk;  Haute Couture Nefertiti Lace Fringe by thisilk, www.etsy.com/shop/thisilk;  Black Lace Vine Silver Shoulder Necklace by My October Country, www.etsy.com/shop/MyOctoberCountry;  White French Lace Gold Shoulder Necklace by My October Country, www.etsy.com/shop/MyOctoberCountry