Let’s Get Real About Beauty
I may be pilloried for it, but I really resent the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. I am suspicious of it. If cute little films on YouTube make some little girls feel better, I don’t begrudge them. Any intelligent person would take issue with the message that mothers should talk to their daughter before the beauty industry does. Or before pimps or drug pushers.
I object to all the false notions and propaganda spread by a cosmetic company that many women accept without question. The Dove campaign talks about the danger of young girls wanting to fix their flaws. Where I grew up, most people had their “flaws” fixed. I think it was a good thing. I think it helps avoid complexes and helps self-esteem in the real world - the one we are all forced to live in.
I had acne as I was growing up. I am glad it did not make me a self-conscious mess . It could have; it does many people. Acne hurts too - sometimes a lot. You could call that a flaw. I am so glad my mother and grandmother were terrific about fixing it. I have spent much of my life “fixing’ it. I bless every doctor who has helped me clear my skin.
Most people also fixed their children’s "flawed teeth” with braces. And yes, some even fixed their “flawed noses” at 16, if the child was very unhappy and wanted it done. I remember a classmate with quite a big nose. Plastic surgery helped her to reach her dreams as a performer. Yet I have another friend who is a legendary, local beauty with strong nose. She would no more think of changing her face than she would have a brain transplant.
And there lies my argument with Dove’s campaign why get all judgy about what people do to be happy and fulfilled? Why set assumptions that are not realistic.
Happiness comes from within. We all know that my darlings. It starts young. We weigh and measure ourselves first against what we see in our parent’s eyes, not on a magazine page. Then, adolescent peer pressure begins its reign of terror. There is no escaping that harsh reality. It is stronger than the media or any other influence. Read the research if you have doubts. Start with Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point.
Ugly Betty, A Real Beauty
Blaming the media for everything is too easy. The media is a mixed bag. Pictures of Tyra Banks, Kimora Lee Simmons, Alex Wek, and Iman that recently ran in Ebony magazine can inspire countless young girls to see their own potential. The hit show Ugly Betty starring the really beautiful America Fererra counts on the young to see the fabulous fashion industry for what it is. The audience enjoys a bit of glam and has a laugh.
Fixing a few flaws can often make the young more confident and able to withstand peer pressure. It can legimately make someone feel better about themselves. Clear skin, straight teeth, and sound health habits are good things to give any young person. Kids aren’t stupid. You will never convince them otherwise, if they think they look bad for a good reason. So, if it is a normal problem why not fix it?
The key thing is respecting individuality. If child is unhappy and wants to fix something within reason, why not?
This campaign upsets me, I find it disingenuous for a cosmetic company to try to brand with “real beauty”. It is emotionally exploitative. No one wants to think of unhappy little girls. They should not be even thinking of these things at such an early age. Well, I did and my mother never had a magazine in the house, I had to beg for them at age 12. Believe me, kids have their own ideas. Most of them want to fit in somewhere.
What you see the mirror may not be classical, can be it will be beautiful
Life is not simple, the goal should be to feel good about yourself as you do good. Life is short, much of it is hard. We need to value the sweet. I want you all to know you are beautiful and share that gift with your daughters and friends. Beauty is part of a woman’s wealth, we just have to claim it. We don’t need a cosmetic company or anyone else to define it. But as always darling, make up your own minds.
 

Mother-Daughter Designer Duo
This week’s interview is with Terri and Cassandra Rosenthal, a mother-and-daughter design team who together are Carasan, a design house in New York City. They make one-of-a-kind outfits for celebrities, socialites, and women who like to ‘wear art”. Recently, Carasan’s limited edition “Leah” ring was part of Entertainment Weekly’s 2007 Emmy gift basket. Heidi Klum, America Ferrera, and Eva Longoria were among the lucky recipients. This generational duo of designers talks to DolceDolce readers about working together and their design inspirations in this exclusive interview.
DD: Cassandra and Terri as mother and daughter - was it difficult to decide to work together?
T: No, not at all. We are a very close family and the thought of working with each other was an easy decision to make. At times we do get on each other's nerves, but that is normal. Do you know any mother and daughter who agree on everything? No, of course not! We love each other and love working together, but we are not saints.
We do have a great time working together and we think that the end result proves it; beautiful garments
C: I love working with my mom, I can't imagine working with anyone else. I think we make a great team.
DD: Who takes the lead in your creative partnership?
T: As it is a partnership, we try to share everything thing we do; which includes the design work as well. We each contribute to the overall concept for each season. Sometimes Cassandra takes the lead, sometimes I do.
C: I do most of the concept work, the themes for each season. Mom sends me ideas that she finds all year long. It could be a piece of artwork, a sunset, or a simple garden flower, and I am always sending her ideas as well. At the end, we post them on a wall and then the ideas just seem to flow to us. But at the end of the day, I do most of the paper work, the PR and I handle the castings and the shoots. My mom does all of the real design work, all of it. The patterns, the samples and most of the production. I am not as fast as she is, but I am getting there.


T: Cassandra does a lot more then she admits to. We work seven days a week and on a normal day, 10- to 15-hour days. And we still have to fit in time to take care of our "real" lives. You know, family, friends, and everything that normal women do.
DD: How do you divide the work?
T: I do most of the actual, hands-on design work. You know: the cutting, sewing, the hand knits. I am just faster then Cassandra. We both do all of the hand dyeing, and Cassandra is a great beader. She also takes care of the daily company work. It is really just the two of us, so we do what we have to.
DD: How do you work with clients to decide on a final look?
C: We aren't going to tell you that you look great, when you don't. We would rather not make you a garment, than have you look like a disaster.
DD: You get such great results. But, it can be challenging for many women to explain even simple alterations to their local dressmakers. Can you give us a few pointers?
C: Everyone wants to look great in what they wear; don't get hung up on a size. It is how the garment looks on you. I think all size labels should be 1, 2, 3 and 4. That way you wear what fits you, not the size you think you should be wearing.
DD: Is it really possible to have a timeless design?
T: Yes it is. If you design garments that are classic in form and function, they will last in your wardrobe forever. I have beautiful cashmere cardigans that were my grandmother's from the 40s, that Cassandra and I still wear. They are as stylish today as they were then. We strive to create that same kind of collection. A Coco Chanel or St. John hand-knit suit is just as important in a women's closet as the day they were designed. Why else would so many designers copy them today? Cassandra and I design a collection each season that a women can build on - pieces that will have classic designs and work with other pieces from different years. We don't make fast fashion. We are trendy, but not trashy. These are garments you will want to wear season after season and then cry when you have worn them out.
DD: You design for celebrities. Are they really different from others?
C and T: (laughing out loud), No, they are not. Every woman wants to look her best. They are just the same as anyone else. They just have jobs that push them out into the public eye that is the only thing that makes them different.
Leah Ring from Entertainment Weekly’s 2007 Emmy Basket
or more information on Carasan www.carasan.com
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Do Your Clothes Bug You?
Do your bra straps ever slip? Do your panties creep up your derriere? Or, do your blouses always seem to gape open? Rebecca Whittaker was bugged by all of these problems and she thought other women might be, too. So, she invented a line of little fixes she calls Bug Catcherz.

These cleaver little sticky strips and dots keep things in place. They don’t ruin your clothes or hurt your skin, as they stop what is bugging you! This is a solution that works! She has a clever website with demos and info. So, if something is bugging you, check out www.bugcatcherz.com. And yes, she catches bugs in Canada too!

The New way to “slow cook”for women in the fast lane
Today’s crock pot is not your mother’s crock pot. The pot is back and revamped to make meals simple for the woman who does it all and still wants the taste and aroma of good home cooking to greet her and her family. Crock pots are great for slow cooked classics perfect for cooler weather. Many recipes can be prepared the night before and simply set to go the next morning. The new models come apart to let meat be browned on the stove. No more grey stews that turned so many cooks off the early models. Women who have them love them. So, if time is short because life is fast and you like a nice, slow-cooked dinner, the new crock pot may be for you.
Here is a recipe designed for the new crock pots. Needless to say, you can stick it in a slow oven too. Imagine coming home to scent of Apple Brown Betty! How fabulous would that be?


Homestyle Apple Brown Betty
Makes 8 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: LOW 3 to 4 hours or HIGH 2 hours
6 cups of your favorite cooking apples; peeled, cored and cut into eighths
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1. Lightly coat a Crock-Pot slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place apples in bottom.
2. Combine bread crumbs, brown sugar, butter, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in mixing bowl. Spread mixture over apples.
3. Cover and cook on LOW 3 to 4 hours or on HIGH 2 hours or until done.
Alternatively, bake this covered with foil in a buttered cake pan for about 2-and-a-half hours at 325 degrees. Test for doneness. All ovens are different, so timing will vary. Brown the top quickly under the broiler before serving.
I hope you enjoyed this week's interview with Terri and Cassandra. I met them at Atlanta’s Fashion Week. I was captivated by their exquisite and increasingly rare handwork. They are truly artists as well as fashion designers. I also love the idea of mother-daughter businesses. We see more and more of them, Martha Stewart and her daughter Alexis come to mind. Fashion maven Carolina Hererra is working on a dynasty with her daughters. I love it!
It would be great to share some opinions on “real beauty” from all of you, after all you are the experts. I’ll leave you with a final thought. Nothing about beauty is simple, even for the greatest minds. Aristotle called beauty “the greatest gift of God.”
Socrates called it, “a short-lived tyranny” and John Keats said “a thing of beauty is a joy forever”.
On that note, I wish you - as always - a very sweet week. Please sign-up  if you haven’t already; DolceDolce, as always, is free. And please help is grow; forward us to your friends.
 
 
Gracey Hitchcock
Editor
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