The broadest of brush strokes:  Men of the masculism movement make my ass ache.  Seriously, they make me cringe.  From the most radical ones like Jimi Izreal and Blacktown.net, to middle of the anti-feminist road folks like Very Smart Brothas, men's rights advocates and their ilk, to quote-unquote those who "empathize with women" like Michael Baisden, Steve Harvey - they all make my ass twinkle. Even your everyday average "regular" guy, whose reaction to the feminist movement is to "empower women" to pay for dates, not collect child support, cater to their every whim, lower their expectations of men and feel guilty for making equal (or more money) because they have no ambition - they all scream Masculist to me.

Image via Wikipedia

Why did I paint the black men I mentioned above with the broad masculist stroke?  Let's see (all IMHO of course)...

•  The radical masculists position:  the women's rights movement is the cause for the destruction of the black family, the subjugation of the black man, and the creation of a race of ultimate Sapphires that dominate African American culture.  They assert that the feminist movement now seeks higher status for women than for men, and as such - men are essentially deserved of free head/pussy as reparations for the gender war.  Clearly, iCant.
• The midde of the road masculists:  see all of the above, but with less fervor.  The difference is in the delivery  Instead of beating women over the head with a club, they lull them into submission with a "just keeping it real - just telling you what men really think/feel" lullaby...and still demand the aforementioned reparations. iRefuse.
• The women-empathizing masculists:  the most insidious of the 3.  They also believe most of the above, but fool women into thinking they actually like women, by suggesting that men are just "boys", their flaws are just "men being men", that men have no free will and as such...men must be treated like simple children.  No expectations = no disappointment.  Just coddle men, accept their trifling ways, and act like a woman from 1953, and you too will be graced and fortunate enough to land one of these manboys.  iGuess.
  

Let me ask this question, and yes - it is a bit rhetorical:  how do you empower men by victimizing them? 

Image by DayTripper15 via Flickr

I love men. Men whose masculinity isn't threatened by a color, a new position, sexual experimentation, my aggressiveness, their immediacy, or.... anything. I love men whose bones, sinew, muscle, veins, brain knows they are men. I love men whose position as a man or gender role is not determined relative to my position as a woman.  I love black men, in particular. 

Image by Yoke Mc via Flickr

author's note:  I would never, ever hyperlink Blacktown or Jimi Izreal and give them free publicity.  You want to find them, Google them.  Both are known keyboard gangsters and I have a life - I refuse to kill braincells debating whether/not they're masculists or even the meaning of the term.  I'm pretty sure they use Google alerts.  Boys, if you do show up here, feel free to comment and if your comments are respectful...I may approve them ;-)

So, my friends decided that they were coming to visit Atlanta for the holidays, and wanted to go on New Year's eve. Now, I haven't been out on NYE since the early 90's, so I wanted to look fabu and have a fabu time - cause it may be the last NYE that I'll be going out on the town.

So the question of the day for me was - what to wear? And the first answer that popped in my mind was that YSL Lurex jumpsuit that I talked about in the plus sized trend shopping post in November.

However, not only did I not have $1,690 laying around for an outfit, but to my knowledge, YSL doesn't make clothes for women my size. So what's a fashionista on a budget to do? Bust out that Singer (or in my case, Baby Lock), hit up the fabric store - and Tim Gunn it.

And just in case you all have a desire to DIY it, I'm providing details ;)

Patterns:: First, let's talk about finding the pattern. I stalk Butterick & Vogue Patterns' websites regularly, and I sorta doubted I'd find the exact jumpsuit I wanted, which was true. What I did end up finding (via Google) is a host of Vintage pattern and craft sites like Lanetzliving, along with Ebay and Ecrater. So, I ordered 2 jumpsuit patterns initially, both with sleeveless looks, but back variations. However, I really wanted a halter-back jumpsuit, so after hitting up all my previous sites, I found a vintage pattern on eBay, Butterick 3934:

Note that the pattern was NOT my size - it was actually a few sizes too small. So, although I really liked the style, I knew alterations were in my future. But I love a challenge!

Fabrics:: This actually took a LOT more effort than the pattern. As any seamstress, designer, or reality tv show will tell you - fabric selection is e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. I could list all the websites and brick & mortar fabric stores I visited, and it would take up most of this post. So, the main point is, there are a ton of online fabric shops that have good selections in typical fabrics, like Denver Fabrics, Vogue Fabric Stores, and even exceptional, one-of-a-kind fabrics such as Emma One Sock. But they only came close, and I needed the fabric to be dead on.

So, we finally hit up local brick & mortar stores. My good friend Chelle pointed me to Peachtree Fabrics, but unfortunately although the selection is amazing, the only carry decorator fabrics. After hitting up a couple of other stores and asking tons of questions, the lovely ladies at Forsyth Fabrics (down to earth Jersey girls like Chelle) sent me to Gail K.

Cue the aww-AWW music, and let a gold halo shine on this store, m'kay?! The selection was amazing, I mean the store was overrun with stuff: sequins, prints, jacquards, lurex, organza, wools, heavyweight tweeds, etc. In other stores, when I said Lurex, the staff gave me that Scooby-doo "hunh" look. In Gail K, when I said Lurex, the staff pointed to a whole rack of bolts of fabric. Sweet!

Alterations:: As I said, the pattern was several sizes too small. So, I had to consult several sources to figure out how to resize it. I came across several techniques, including the splitter techique and the pivot & slide technique. However, I found a book that details the pivot & slide technique:

...except I made the pattern about 4 sizes too big. What to do?!

Tim Gunn-ing in this piece:: the interesting thing about committing to something is that, under the gun, when the resources are depleted (read: you're broke) and time is short...you will MAKE IT WORK. Which is what I did. I mean, I was clipping, resewing, trimming, reclipping, trying on, starting over....I think a person with less patience would have given up. But this chick was c.o.m.m.i.t.t.e.d. I kept at it, until it started looking like the picture in my head, and like a sculpture, it eventually, with more whittling and slicing, started looking like I wanted it to....and eventually:

Not bad, hm? I'm rather proud of myself....it might not be an exact replica, but I think it's pretty good for a first (after a long non-sewing hiatus) attempt.

Aight, gotta go...I have a ton of back-in-the-day fabrics/projects to now tackle. Project Saga continues....lol