Saturday, October 25, 2008

Truth in Advertising??




Well this is one of those cases where if there really is any truth in advertising...I know which home I'd rather live in.

Each week, while leaving my White Rock store, I pass an area that is full of new townhouse developments. Of course, as they are only in the building stages, they have to depend on their billboards to convey to you the good life you'll be living if you choose their development.
We've all seen these signs before, usually comprised of images like: a lady walking in a field of wild flowers, or a couple on their patio having a cup of full froth coffee...one person usually has their head tilted back in laughter, obviously amused at the hilarious joke that their partner has just told them and let's not forget the shot of families, all holding hands, kids wearing matching sweaters that of course colour compliment those of their parents (not that I take issue with that) and of course everyone is smiling and not a tantrum in sight. Good times, good times indeed.

That is the vision that the developers are selling to you....the good life. Oh what fun you'll have once you move in here.
Don't get me wrong, I love advertising and I can fully appreciate the selling of a lifestyle....even though we all know these moments are few and far between.

So if that's all that I have to go on, to chose which one of the two complexes that I would choose to live in, then I know exactly which one I'd pick.
As you can see from the photos, we have one place that will house pet owners with nice calm "lassie like" dogs, taking a break at the beach (probably just had a nice game of fetch)....or we can share a place where our new neighbours clearly like to take their rabid dogs out for walks on the beach.
Hmmm....lassie or mad dog lunging at me...what to do??!!!

Mind you looking at the photos again, I can see in the rabid dog one another picture of a person who appears to be attempting to take a dive off the end of a boat that is on land....ok, it's crystal clear now...one place is for nut jobs...of human and animal variety, while the other is for the sane.

Now, how am I going to choose!!! ;-)

Friday, October 17, 2008

Stop the Insanity!!

Okay, it's well documented that I am indeed fussy, my mum has called me a fuss-ass for as long as I can remember. I don't have a problem with the title though, nope not at all, because if I didn't hold this title...which unfortunately doesn't come with a sash or crown...well then there'd be the chance that I would become one of those 'other' people.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure some of those other people are lovely, even if they have been driving me to the brink of insanity lately!
I'm talking about those people, who for some reason have no problem leaving their homes to be viewed by the public at large, in clothes that I would have thought best belonged in the 'to be used as rags' pile....MEOW!!

I do my best to block them out, but like a moth to a flame, I can't help myself. I have a hard time taking my eyes off of them....even though I tell myself...look away from the horror lest you'll be scarred for life!
Now I know that people aren't going to don their finest when they are just picking up their kids from school, but would it be too much to expect that maybe we could do a little better than sweat pants.
Lately it seems that the vast majority of people waiting for their kids have come straight from an audition of What Not To Wear....I know, MEOW again!!

In the past few weeks I have witnessed, ill fitted pants o'plenty, including many that are way too short, and no they weren't Capri's.
The bold mixing of patterns that has resulted in the same effect, that being spun in a dryer after a large meal would have...not good!
People wearing more colours than any rainbow I've ever seen.
Clothes that have had food stains on, clearly a lot of misjudging of where the mouth is has been going on.
Note to all, it's the opening below the nose.
And as I've mentioned enough sweat pants to, when tied leg to leg, would stretch from here to St. Johns. RAAAHHH!!
I'm not talking even 'nice' sweatpants...I'm talking the kind that have obviously been lived in for a very long time, air conditioned at the knee, elastic at the ankles...need I say more?

It just seems that so many Canadians have decided that sloppy is ok...well, my fellow citizens I'm hear to scream...IT'S NOT!!
We are better than that people, let's not turn into our neighbours to the south where for some people, sweat pants paired with a matching sweat shirt is considered 'formal wear'!

It's not about having money, it's about style and more importantly pride.
In fact, having a lot of money to spend on clothes often has it's downside, as people are lured into the false sense of security that if they paid a lot of money for a piece of clothing than it must be good and they must be lookin' fine in it.
This can be a deadly assumption...why do you think that airports the world over are filled with rich ladies sporting white suits with gold lame' accents, tops covered with gold appliqued animals on and hideous bejewelled sandals that they jam their fat feet in!! Think about it...you've seen them too.
Head held high due to the fact that they assume they look good owing to the $1500.00 they plunked down to look that way.

So I beg of you, please treat yourself better.
Learn what looks good on your body type, know your size (your real size, if you're a large...don't buy a medium - nobody is going to look at your tag when you're out), don't wear more colours at one time than are in Joseph's technicolour dream coat, and less pattern than grandmas quilt is always a good rule to follow.
Well fitted basics in good quality fabrics is virtually fool proof.

And if you have to wear sweat pants, please do me a favour...for public viewing, let's shoot for no elastic at the ankles, no holes, a colour other than grey and let's really push the boat out and look for something with maybe a little embroidery.
All the above were suggestions of the 'if you have to' scenario...let it be known that the wearing of sweat pants has not been endorsed by me.

Changing sloppy people into fuss-asses one person at a time.