The Fashion Industrial Complex

 People like to talk about military industrial complex and medical/pharmaceutical industrial complex, but what about fashion industry? 

They appear to have a lot to answer for...

Here are a couple of links just to get you started. 

Modern fabrics guide

Part 1 Natural Fabrics

Part 2 Wood-based Fabrics 

Part 3 Synthetic Fabrics 

Reasonable Clothes For Women

 Though much of what I'm going to say applies to men as well:)

I get a lot of topics to write about from YouTube videos and discussions. Recently YouTube by some reason pushed some episodes of a Nigerien (that is made in Niger) soap opera about life in a village. It is in some French dialect so I couldn't understand much at all, but I was impressed by the clothes the ladies wore. Now you should keep in mind that in Niger the majority of population are Moslem. However, women don't wear the traditional black stile garment we often associate with that faith, but rather something which I would describe as very reasonable, especially considering the climate.

They wore long colourful skirts with long leggins underneath and long sleeved denim/dark coloured blouses, turbans on their heads and lots of gold/jewellery. They looked feminine and dignified, and their clothes while cool offered protection against the sun.  

When we visit an archeological museum we see women wearing European medieval costumes. They consist of long colourful robes, head-coverings and sometimes hats worn on top of it (depending on the period they are portraying). And while Roman soldiers were known for their short tunics, female clothes were still long and covered the entire body + hair unless she was a slave. Slave girls were more undressed because their modesty and chastity were not protected by the law. 

Traditional clothes women wore in the West until recently were of the same type, though obviously of different styles. Hats and headcoverings by women were still worn till 1960s at the least, though dresses became much shorter. Men still wore long trousers and often hats. Then everything changed. Hats and wearing clothes in general was declared the tool of oppression/patriarchy and to emancipate oneself you have to prance around as undressed as the weather allows.

The funny thing is that while "they" definitely promote it, "they" in this case aren't the government officials but rather the MSM, the fashion world and (female) popstars whose skimpy clothes are eagerly copied by the young girls hoping to become just as popular by being "cool and s8xy".

Various Western governments, on the other hand, keep warning people about the dangers of the sun exposure and urge them to put on what could only be described as "modest clothing", like in this article.

 While they don't mention skirts/dresses (that would be too patriarchal, I guess) their educational video shows a girl wearing a dark knee-length dress. The stores are full of long summer skirts, btw, which offer even better protection since they cover more of your legs. And don't forget your feet. Open sandals are more risky than more traditional foot wear, or sport shoes which one usually wears with socks. 

Isn't it rather funny that all traditional cultures and religions expected folks to cover their nakedness, especially women and that it perfectly coincides with modern medical/scientific advice??? By the way, keep in mind that even when the UV index is low there are still UVA type rays present which normally don't cause sunburn, but they contribute to premature skin aging and are thought to suppress immunity. In fact, this article claims that just using a sunscreen regularly is comparable to botox in making you look younger. 

Well, I guess sticking it to the oppressive patriarchy is worth getting skin cancer and may be even dying. Or is it???

Should Older Women Cut Their Hair Short?

 I'm not going to tell anyone what to do with their hair. I just wanted to share an old joke.

The husband comes home and first thing he sees, his wife had her long hair cut off. 

"How do you like my new haircut?" She asks. "This greyish long hair made me look so old. But I don't look like an old woman any more, do I?"

"No", the husband answers. "Now you look like an old man."

Please don't throw stones at me:) BTW, I think it's perfectly fine to dye the greying hair some nice colour. Preferably using natural dyes like henna. 

The Real Toxic Femininity

 While your smartphone is spying on you, your lipstick is killing you, slowly:

More than half of popular cosmetics being sold in the US and Canada are likely to contain high levels of toxic chemicals called polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a new study has warned.

Researchers from Notre Dame University tested more than 200 products including concealers, foundations, eye and eyebrow products and lip products, and found evidence of PFAS in around half (52 per cent) of them.

Guys, beware:

 Worryingly, previous research has linked certain PFAS to a range of health issues, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, hypertension, thyroid disease, low birth weight and immunotoxicity in children.

Professor Graham Peaslee, who led the study, said: 'PFAS is a persistent chemical - when it gets into the bloodstream, it stays there and accumulates.

Apparently, it's killing the environment, too:

'There's also the additional risk of environmental contamination associated with the manufacture and disposal of these products, which could affect many more people.'

 I'm glad I hardly ever use it, last time I bought a lipstick and a tube of skin cream it was from an organic store, but now I'm not sure whether they could be trusted, either...

 

Gold Is The Girl's Best Friend

 Well, I don't know about the diamonds, but gold appears to be good for your health:

 From the ancient times, benefits of gold like healing and curing properties are used, and you’d be surprised to know how gold can actually improve your overall well-being. Moreover, one of the researches confirmed that wearing gold on skin can improve and alleviate rheumatoid arthritis symptoms in a significant proportion of sufferers...

So if you have some gold jewellery which you don't regularly wear, it's time to take it out of the drawer and put it on! It'll make you feel more feminine, too. It's not wrong to feel pampered.

 Gold is in itself something that makes most happy. However, its influence on the wearers health and life is more important than a fashion statement that if portrays while wearing them. Moreover, if it would help you to feel better by buying, receiving, or wearing an expensive piece of gold jewelry then it is worth a buy and anytime you feel slightly stressed or depressed, you can always look at it, and let it help you to become more positive and motivated in life.

 

Living Like A Caveman Or How To Have An Active S*x Life at 95

Well, not really a caveman, more like a prehistoric person:)

You see, while being on vacation, I didn't lose my time in vain but did a research about the life of neolithic/bronze age indigenous European folks, by visiting their village:

Or, should I say, an authentic reconstruction:

There were about 13 early Celtic villages all around the lake (try to guess which one) and they were actively trading abroad and even fighting in wars.

By the way, you have probably heard that until recently, most people were short. Yet, the archeologists discovered the remains of a man (presumably a warrior, whose cause of death was decapitation) who was 192 cm tall. There is a speculation that he probably had (or had survived) a malicious metastatic tumor, which made me wonder about ancient cancer rates, and I found some interesting info ( if you like debate, read it over here) on the subject. (In short, they did have it but it was rare until the 17th century or so).

Their diet was mixed and consisted of some agricultural produce, dairy and meat, but since they lived on the lake, many were fishermen. In summer, they ate lots of berries and apples. There has been a lot of speculation going on recently about the ancient diets, with people switching from paleo to carnivore diet, but is it really healthy? Our ancestors appeared to enjoy a variety of foods. (Granted, those were not Neanderthals).

They lived like a community as it was typical for later Celts, too, and had a communal gatherings house, and their cows were of the same breed that you can see nowadays roaming the parks around here, a small reddish variety, indigenous for Europe.  And while we are speaking of cavemen prehistoric people, someone told me about the so-called "cavemen regimen" which basically means no skin care products of any kind and not washing your face too often. Apparently, some young people use it to get rid of acne. Well, I've been following it for about 2 months now. At first, the results were mixed as I had some dry skin patches on my face but now it's slowly getting better and my sun allergy is non-existent.

BTW, as we are talking about health and diet (yet again), here is an interesting story about a Turkish yoga practitioner who restored his health by it. I've heard all sorts of things about yoga. Most Christians distrust it because of (pagan) origins, yet I also heard that most of the exercises we call yoga nowadays were actually invented by the 19th century missionaries so they are OK for Christians to do.

Anyway, the funny thing is that the guy in question (who was 95 when the article was written and so far I couldn't find any info on whether he is still alive) isn't a big meat eater, but boasts of quite a robust... well s*x life (contributing to the debate whether meat or plant based diet is the healthiest) but also that he eats lots of honey every day and most health experts including alternative ones will tell you how dangerous all sugary foods are:) Granted, he makes his honey himself, so...

Ladies and gentlemen, that was all for today, see you next time!

Natural Hair Care Update

Some time ago we had a great discussion about natural hair care tips. Soon after this I switched to totally no shampoo method and have tried several things like honey (h/t to Finnish Housewife), chamomile tea and henna.

While I still use henna now and then, to boost the colour a little bit, I have finally decided to just use plain water and nothing else. Well, in my previous post on the topic I recalled how I had done it once before long ago and my hair looked terrible. This time, on the other hand, it worked, probably because I have gone without shampoo for a long time already.

In fact, my hair looks better than with any other methods I have tried so far, I save on the products (honey, e.g., is quite expensive) and cheat woke corporations out of their income:) What's not to like???