This blog includes my daily outfit posts as well as all things Rockabilly, Tattooed and Vintage. There are also mentions of the journey of Rockalily and of Wonderful and Inspirational Women.
Eeek. This has been a personal fear of mine - doing a talking video. As one who believes in doing what scares you most, I have finally done one!
Wonder what I'll find to talk about next!?
Today was another casual work day, it is so cold that it is hard to wear some of my 'prettier' clothes!
Both of the jumper and jeans are years old now, both from Primark, a long time ago!
The cherry print shoes are from a supermarket in France.
The green leopard prin bandana is a Rockalily one, and I'm wearing ZOMG! for a change.
Blue, Red and White ae such easy colours to base a wardrobe around! In theory this outfit shouldn't really work, but I think for a casual work day it does ok.
I am in a Rockalily cherry print bandana, a blue cardigan with a swallow patch, leopard print t-shirt, red satin pencil skirt and my pop art converse trainers.
I am blogging this as I had a lot of women on twitter keen to hear my experience. I just booked six sessions of IPL laser hair removal, after lots of friends telling me their great experiences. Today I went for my patch test.
So, the patch test was done on my wrist, and after putting on some dark glasses, she zapped the area. I felt nothing. She did it three more times, increasing the intensity each time, until I could feel it. She explained that they want to increase the intensity each visit if possible. On the third zap, the one I felt, it just felt like a quick sting. Definitely not as bad as getting tattooed.
She shaved the area on my wrist, to the side of my wrist tattoo, but once I left I noticed that as she moved the zapper (after the three attempts) the red bit of skin seemed to be on my tattoo. Which got me thinking....
This article seems to say that the IPL laser is attracted to the black ink in tattoos, and it will release an excessive amount of heat energy if it hits it. This, apparently, can lead to the tattoo blistering or turning the tatttoo black (where there once was colour). Or scarring. Ick.
The article says that the laser treatment shouldn't be done near a tattoo - one inch away. It also says that if it just lasers the tattoo a little it may just cause it to fade.
Which is all a little scary! Twitter tells me that IPL laser treatment definitely does fade a tattoo, but luckily no one on my timelime has encountered the blistering and scarring that seems possible.
I am getting my underarms and bikini line so it luckily will only be near one tattoo (near my bikini line), but is something definitely to be aware of.
As I waxed recently, I have to wait another 3 weeks before I start treatment, as it needs the hair roots to be fully grown in. I am not allowed to pluck or wax for the full 6 treatments (all 4 weeks apart from each other), but you are allowed to shave (as its the root it needs to kill, not the actual hair).
I will keep you updated!
This morning I watched the new Gok Wan show, focusing on teens and their bodies. In particular one girl's story struck me with sadness, a slim and very pretty girl who was obsessed with looking at online images of girls she wanted to look like. Her main focus was that she wanted (or felt she needed) her thighs not to touch when she stood up. She looked at normal fashion sites, as well as pro-ana sites (which included mentions of 'that' gap). 
The idea that thighs should not touch in the middle is an odd one, and surely quite a modern one? I am very aware that some naturally slim women have 'the gap' which is absolutely just as valid as not, but it seems a weird obsession many women (and teens) to have (if they do not have it naturally).
What exactly will happen to their lives if their thighs no longer touch? Do the become happier? Richer? Sexier?
In my experience, most female thighs are soft, sometimes squishy and wobbly, and yet many of us are taught quite early that it is somehow 'disgusting' that they squash down when we sit, or if there is no gap between them when we stand. When did it become normal for the thighs we see that are deemed beautiful not to meet in the middle?
These pictures are what happened when I asked twitter to send me pictures of their real thighs today. Aren't they all awesome?
Some are firm, some soft, some have dimples, and some touch in the middle. Some hold children, some enjoy showing off with tattoos or stockings while some are more shy than others.
Yet aren't they all awesome? Aren't they all sexy and fabulous and do their job pretty well (to hold us up and let us sit down?).
On the Rockalily facebook group a discussion of thighs ensued.
Sadly many women there saying they hated their thighs, too fat, too big, too wobbly. I certainly used to hate mine too, and it probably took the rather extreme action of getting a tattoo for me to start seeing them differently. I now work hard to remember that my thighs are just fine the way they are. They are meant to look different when I sit down, and they are allowed to have a few stretch marks and dimples.
When will we start seeing more 'real' bodies - thinner, fatter, rounder, firmer, all real and valid body shapes, so that we can realise that our own bodies are ok too?
If we are concerned about what the other sex think of our thighs, I like to consider what I enjoy about men's bodies. I like the elements that make theirs different to mine. They have firmer thighs, I have yummy squishy ones. They may have a firmer stomach than my soft one, but they can both be pretty sexy in different ways. I would like to imagine that many men also enjoy our differences in bodies too.
How do you feel about your thighs? Are we subjected to too much pressure to look a certain way? To be a certain size and shape? What can we do to help our teen girls to accept their bodies as pretty awesome?
A massive thank you to all the ladies who sent me their thighs today ;-)
Can you spot mine?
If you sent me your thighs and they are not published here, they may have been swallowed into my computer. Please nudge me, as I will be adding anymore that get sent to me. All thighs welcome and accepted!
Self Esteem, Women 
