There are blogs that I follow strictly for the beautiful photography (Statement Shoes & The Pootsville Times to name a few) and others for the ingenious writing. Garance Dore falls into the latter category.
Hi! Here are three deep thoughts for your morning.
They’re all about body image and no, I’m not writing this because I’m writing you from the poolside of Hotel Pellicano and I am trying to pep talk myself into taking my first dip of the year. Nope, that’s not at all the reason.
Deep thought #1 : a fit body has become the ultimate fashion accessory.
Or maybe I just have a somewhat distorted view on this as I live right in the middle of fitness and weight hysteria?
The fact is, totally subjectively speaking -and honestly – if you asked me what I wanted to wear this summer, the only thing I ever think to answer is a t-shirt and jean shorts (white) AND the dream body.
Deep thought #2: Having the dream body after 15 years old (ok, maybe 25)(ok, we’ll say 30), is a lot of work. It requires real discipline, like Gisele Bündchen revealed in July’s ParisVogue. No meat, no alcohol, no nothin’… And two hours of exercise every day. Exercise, diet, transcendental meditation, crap, no room for fun! It’s kinda like to be the girl with the dream body, you have to be no-fun Nancy, which is the opposite of cool, right?
Yep, and that’s the reason a lot of women with the “perfect body” try to make us think they do nothing to have their perfect bodies (I scarf down burgers! I hate going to the gym!), because it’s supposed to be cool to have the perfect body without working super hard for it.
Deep thought #2b, just to add… Thank you Gisele for giving us a glimpse of truth.
Okay.
Deep thought #3: so then, a real cool girl’s body is not “perfect.” It’s a little soft around the edges, less rigid. There are maybe a few extra pounds (“No biggie”) or biceps a little less than ripped (“I’d rather go to a coffee shop than to the gym!”), so yeah, not the “dream” body. Well, it IS actually a dream body, maybe just not of fashion designers, but the dream body of the cool girl’s boyfriends.
And if a girl can be less strict about her body, she captures the imagination of all the people around her because what emerges from her less-than-perfectitude is a certain coolitude and self-acceptance : well, you got it! The holy grail.
There you go. Maybe I was a little too profound here, but I keep reassuring myself that I’m just a cool girl...
Though we share the same perspectives on life (I scarf down burgers and I hate going to the gym too!), I definitely wouldn't mind having Gisele's body for a while...without 2 hrs of daily gym, no food, no wine, no life of course!
Until then, I'll just be a cool girl!
