Wednesday, April 1, 2015

"Scandal"ous Style

Cape (Ginger 'n Spice); Pants (212 Collection, Kohls); Boots (Karen Scott, eBay); Bag (Kate Spade, Nordstrom Rack); Watch (Embassy, Steinmart)
Last week I spent some time in our Nation's Capital meeting with a Federal Government agency. Getting away from Indiana, however briefly, was a welcome respite given the political hot mess in the Hoosier State at the moment. Who would ever have thought the scandal and uproar in my own hometown would eclipse that in Washington D.C.?! Yet, even on Capital Hill, the fact I was from Indiana was met with questions about the recent passing of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the subsequent public outcry over the perceived license to discriminate. It's no surprise, really. When your state passes a law with such suspect motivational underpinnings that it's lampooned on Saturday Night Live and in the pages of The New Yorker, "Indiana, we have a problem."

I have never intended this blog to be a political platform, nor an outlet for critical evaluation of complex and storied legislation. This is a style blog, for Pete's sake, and I'll leave the critical legal analysis to my day job. That said, from a personal perspective I will state unequivocally that I do not discriminate and I do not believe discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs is appropriate in any context. We are all in this together, People, and we all have so much to offer the World and each other!
 I love my modified cat-eye tortoise glasses with ivory accents from Revolution Eyes.
Blessedly, I believe that most of the people in the (still) great state of Indiana feel the same. Hoosier Hospitality is alive and well, despite the big black eye it currently sports. Unfortunately, Indiana's reputation has been seriously maligned in the past few weeks, and in a manner that threatens to have a considerable economic impact. The suspect motives behind passage of the law are disturbing; the language of the law itself is overbroad (oops, sorry, a tiny bit of legal analysis seeped in); and regardless of how the new legislation might actually be applied and interpreted by a court (perhaps not in the egregious way we are afraid of), a lot of damage has been done. Indiana needs help with its image. Indiana needs its own Olivia Pope.

Olivia Pope - ah yes - that's how I'll bring this blog back to style. Kerry Washington's character on Scandal has sensational personal style. Her wardrobe is an integral part of her character, reinforcing her status as both power player and hero (hence the prevalence of light colors that allude to the classic hero's "white hat"). It makes me so happy to see a professional woman on television portrayed as stylish and feminine without cleavage to the navel and thigh high skirts (In my law school days, I used to cringe at the "professional clothes" in Ally McBeal).  
72 inch continuous pearl strand (gift); Rhinestone Brooch (JoAnn Fabric)
I think of this ensemble as my very own Olivia Pope outfit, though I'm fairly certain she'd forego the inexpensive color-coordinated watch band, glasses, and blue topaz ring. But, hey, I gotta be me, and you know how I like to match. Coincidentally enough, last week a colleague with the last name Fitzgerald (nickname Fitz) thanked me for my critical analysis of some legislation in a different state with the following compliment: "Thank you Jody, You are a great American." I laughed out loud when another colleague chimed in and said, "Only here and on Scandal can you be called a great American by someone named Fitz!"

Though I may like to channel her fashion sense on occasion, I can't work any Olivia Pope-style magic on Indiana's damaged reputation (and I wouldn't want her job in a million years). So, I'll settle for making sure that, in my own life, I treat people with respect and as the equals we are. If each of us can manage to do that, we'll be on the right path.
I also have glasses with turquoise accents, also from Revolution Eyes - hard to choose for this particular outfit!
Fashion is what you buy; Style is what you do with it!

2 comments:

  1. This was such a good post! I'm very political as well and somewhat struggle with my identity in regards to keeping aspects of that off my blog, despite that it's such a huge part of my life. But yes, sometimes having a blog-even if it's a style blog-means using it as a platform for good, so bravo! Also...that coat is everything and your whole ensemble is simply amazing. XO
    -Lauren Blair
    www.prefertobedemure.com

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    1. Lauren - Thank you so much for this feedback! I really thought hard about it before deciding to put the political aspect out there. I'm glad to know others face the same dilemma...and thank you for the compliment!

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