My year of more and less: month six

So June was busy, and included among its highlights a very sunny car boot sale, a reception at the Japanese embassy, and plenty of time spent in parks. I resisted the urge to buy any clothes of shoes so I think I can consider month six of my project/experiment/exploration a success.

I am actually horrified by the size of my summer wardrobe. I really only need a third of the clothes I have. That said I do wear most of them, just over a few years rather than a few days or weeks. So maybe I should be continuing with my ‘no purchases’ experiment into 2016.

My June goals were:

• Keep a sugar diary
  
• Upcycle my raincoat
  
• Do a Real Wild biography

Progress in June

Keep a sugar diary – I keep reading things online and getting in flap about my sugar intake. I’m fairly certain that it’s ok; my diet is pretty clean. However there seemed to be all kinds of things to take into account, and I wasn’t sure about fructose, glucose, and sucrose. So I did some reading up around the subject, noted down what I ate every day, and then analysed the sugar content. As it turned out my diet is largely clean, and when I do reach for sugar it’s with open eyes.

Upcycle my raincoat – take one stained and torn raincoat that I can’t bear to part with. I decided to dye, purchased and applied dye, and came up with a design to cover the rips. I just need to do a few minutes of sewing and it’ll be done.

Do a real wild bio – I enjoyed Do What You Love’s New Year Revolution pack so much that I thought I’d give their Real Wild Bio a go. Despite breaking it down by section I found it quite difficult to get cracking on it. However when I did it took much less time than I expected, and I was quite pleased to be able to see some themes that run across my life.

July goals

I’m taking a slightly different approach to my goals this month. I’m working through each of them on a three day rotation. That means if circumstances mean I miss doing a task I can pick it up on the next day assigned to this goal. I’m hoping this will make me feel less stressed, and give me more flexibility.

• Plan and write a draft of an ebook on letter writing
  
• Give blood – I’m terrified of needles so this should help me get over that, and behave in a socially responsible manner.
  
• Work on 5 forty for 40 goals- I’m starting this by picking 5 things to work on.

I’m anticipating July will be another busy month with burlesque, allotmenting, vegan meetups, BBQs, and books.

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Seven for 7

Cooking - home made soy milk. Obviously it was a brilliant idea to start with a recipe that makes bucket loads, although I have now consumed it all (its been a week of hot chocolate, porridge and pancakes).

 

Reading - Free Range Humans by Marianne Cantwell, How to be a woman by Cailtin Moran, The affair by Lee Child, The good soldier by Ford Maddox Ford, Lace by Shirley Conran. The best weeks are the ones full of books.

Working on - something top secret!

Planning - what to plant on my allotment and where - let's hope this growing season is better than the last

Enjoying - live music in the form of The Downside in a local pub - nothing like a dancing to amazing music on a Sunday night (especially when you don't have to go to work the next day).

Buying - a green skirt with polka dots

Enjoying - the company of friends, especially Naomi, Carla, and the other burlesque girls

 

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Say hello to Betty Blue eyes

Once again  I will be spending Friday night ironing and labelling. Then I'll rise early on Saturday to go and sell some stuff. There are 55 stalls so it should be an excellent. I've finished my Christmas shopping so I can focus on selling my handmade items (and a few vintage bits and pieces) and looking for presents for me. Do drop in and say hello if you are in the area.

The mystery of the showgirl

I was always taught that performers should keep an element of mystery about them. So just like a magician doesn't give away the secret to their tricks, a dancer shouldn't appear in full costume except on stage.

This is probably fine if the performance takes place on an actual stage with the niceties of dressing rooms. However I suspect that for the majority of dancers such things tend to be a novelty.

While dancing in public as a adult I've performed outdoors more often than in. It's definitely performance area rather than stage. Dressing room is usually the ladies loos. British summers being what they are it's more a case of keeping the rain off your sequins than worrying about sunburn.

There also tends to be a fair bit of hanging around waiting for the local majorette troupe, dog handlers or terrifying professional school of dance to finish.

And burlesque gear doesn't particularly lend itself to much movement. So although the idea of throwing on some jeans to go with a corset is appealing, the reality is less so. To get straight to the point you can't bend over in a corset very easily. And let's face it an elastic waistband doesn't really go with the image.

Consequently I've been giving some thought to how I dress appropriately before and after burlesque performances ensuring that I am glamorous, mysterious and above all warm.

I recently found myself wearing fishnet tights, green pumps, a frilly burlesque skirt, and a fleece top in a effort to stay warm pre-performance. My short dressing robe just wasn't covering enough flesh to prevent it turning blue so I opted for the Tank girl look.

So looking at what's actually my wardrobe I'm considering options around a long skirt, wrap dress, cropped tux jacket and a very fluffy scarf. Oh, and green sequin shoes.

Or maybe I should just go for one of those towel arrangements where a drawstring at the top of the towel forms a kind of tent. It won't be glam but it will be warm and whipping it off will signal the start of the show!

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