Tag Archives: photoshop

Why We Have To Get Rid Of The Notion of a Bikini Body Forever

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Catherine Balavage, feminism, bikini body, the myth of a bikini body sexism, love your body, Women Either Have To Exercise, Diet and be Subjected to Photoshop, Or Be Told How “Brave” They Are For Having “Real” Bodies. And that has got to stop.

It’s summer and with that comes dieting, exercising, fake tanning, dry body brushing, exfoliating, waxing and moisturising. It includes hundreds of products and doing our hair and make up just perfect. Oh, and shopping for bikinis and sandals. Except THANK GOD it doesn’t. There is only one way to get a bikini body: put on a bikini. There you go. You already had the body.

In the run up to summer, magazines are full of articles on how to detox and lose weight for summer. I have read so many articles on fake tanning on auto-pilot that it actually made me angry that I did not stop reading these “how-to’s” years ago. I don’t even use fake tan. I love my pale skin and I will not let society and the media tell me how to ‘fix’ it to conform to their ideal of beauty. Ditto the dieting, waxing and detoxing articles. In fact, one of my biggest girl crushes, Mindy Kaling, has said the following: “Most people want to ask about my size and how brave I am. I’m like, ‘I’m not brave, I’m just not really skinny”. Because being a successful and beautiful woman is not enough, right? You also have to be skinny and conform to a certain ideal of beauty. Usually a tall, thin white woman.

The truth is, a women’s body is always politicised and objectified. We either have to work out, eat healthily and be photo-shopped into oblivion, or  flaunt our ‘real women’ bodies (how I hate that phrase!) and get told how “brave” we are. We get bullied into insecurity because that is how the beauty industry, how capitalism, makes billions from us.

Making women feel bad about themselves is an industry in itself.

I am not attacking women’s magazines, but I am saying that those ‘bikini body’ articles have to go. Sure, tell us how to be fit and healthy. Tell us about the latest beauty products and give us great articles on health and recipes for good, nourishing food, but stop with the bikini body myth. It is damaging all of us. There is no such thing as perfection. It seems like it is a secret that women’s bodies are not perfect. That they don’t have marks on them. Well they do. Women have cellulite and stretch-marks. But here is the thing: men do too! They just can’t make money out of making men feel bad about it so they don’t bother. Hell, even babies have cellulite! Frankly, can you think of anything more dire than the pursuit of physical perfection? For one, it doesn’t exist. Even for the most narrow of beauty ideals, and because we all have better things to do. Can you imagine what women could achieve if they spent the same amount of time getting ready as the average man? We could take a course, work, even just relax for a while. I would rather carry some extra pounds and enjoy my life than have a ‘perfect’ body (and let’s be honest, those don’t exist).

In my life I have been everything from a UK size 4 to a UK size 12/14. And here is the thing: I always felt fat. I hated it if my stomach was bloated, if my skirts were tight around my hips. Then I freed myself. Because, to borrow a phrase from another wise woman, fat is a feminist issue. My body has made another human being. It has been good to me and I love it. And I love it even though I have been taught not to. Despite the lack of fake tan, waxing and expensive ‘firming’ creams. I love it because loving your body as a woman is a revolutionary act. And I have always been a bit of a rebel.

 

Will it Take the K.ing of Jewels to Capture the Queen of Your Heart?

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Valentine’s Day is almost upon us; the time where it’s customary to celebrate the love of our lives in ways that truly matter. If there was ever something invented to capture a woman’s heart, then its jewellery and its things that sparkle. In the 21st Century, flowers and chocolate can only ever be the ‘bubble wrap’ to something with bigger, deeper meaning. For the 21st Century woman size doesn’t necessarily matter but quality does. Some of the sharp readers amongst you may have seen the title and thought the spelling of King was some kind of typo, but it is in fact the name of a new and upcoming artist K.ing with her latest jewellery Collection “Diamond K.ing”. A brand with an outspoken mandate in that it promises to treat each and every wearer as a Queen.

Model: Frances Lane Jewellery: K.ing Photography: Active 8 Images

Diamond K.ing is the gemstone of Inga Klabyte, who chose to employ everything that life threw at her to polish and reveal her inner diamond. Now under the artistic name of K.ing she makes a living by helping others to do the same. I find it astonishing to think that out of all the different types of companies one could create, the one she chose was jewellery making. However upon meeting her it is easy to see why; just like a diamond, the brand K.ing embodies and accentuates all her key strengths. For example, the number of hours that Inga puts into each design, the immaculate attention to detail which goes into each and every piece and the importance that she places on having each piece unique to the wearer.

The value of not taking things for granted is reflected in the “Diamond K.ing” logo. What appears to be a playing card of the ‘King of Diamonds’. Possession of this card can mean the difference between winning and losing and is essential in a hand of ‘Royal Flush’. In the same way K.ing jewellery is designed to be truly exclusive to the wearer and that absolute possession of the wearer is essential.

Model: Meriely Araujo Jewellery: K.ing Photography: Active 8 Images

Model: Meriely Araujo
Jewellery: K.ing
Photography: Active 8 Images

I find myself pondering on why since time began jewellery has held such an elevated position with the sole purpose of making someone feel special. Why, Inga sparkles even talking about it, she truly believes that every woman is a Queen of someone’s heart and should be treated as such. Listening to her I find myself drawn off into a different world that as a man I had never truly appreciated: “Jewellery is the Queen of every woman’s wardrobe, it’s the jewel of Queen’s crown. There is no Queen with no jewels, simple as that. The truth is women love a good fairy tale crowned with dream come true relationships promising a sparkling future. If you manage to wake up the Sleeping Beauty inside her, you are and will always be her Prince Charming. So is she “Her Grace of Lace” like Queen Victoria or irresistible Scheherazade of “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights”? Is she romantic “Queen by Nature” or your personal Muse of “Eternal Inspiration”? Is she “The Conqueror of Your Heart” like Cleopatra or simply “The Fairest of Them All”?

“When I was a child, I saw people treating my mum as someone ordinary, when to me she was Special, a one off, someone who could never be replaced. From that moment K.ing was almost born to say: “You are the Queen of my Heart”.

Hence K.ing started out by making her mum feel special by creating unique pieces hand-made especially for her. Her mum must have been deeply touched as she took K.ing straight to Arts college entrance exams. This was followed by a Degree in Visual Arts and a Masters in Arts and Cultural studies as well as work placements all over the world. While specialists may have thought she was ‘Ace’ Inga knew she was actually a ‘K.ing’ by proving that everyone can be special and should be treated as such. There’s something in that message for everyone out there who questions their own uniqueness.

Today, Diamond K.ing is limited edition, unique wear. It is bespoke in that it is created directly for the wearer with your choice of metals, certified diamond cut Swarovski Element Crystals in all colours. There is also a ready-hand-made collection ready for you to take home or order to be posted to you straight away. The whole Collection is also there for you to rent for specific events so that you too can be feel like a celebrity on night out or even in your own home.

I have to admit I am smitten by the collection, seeing Swarovski Crystals Elements which have a unique sparkle and brilliance magnified by a choice of gold and silver. Looking at the various sets there is almost an endless variation of colours, shapes and sizes that range from earrings, to bracelets and necklaces to headpieces that can only be found at Diamond K.ing.

At a moment like this being a typical man, one’s thoughts turn to cost. I ask the question; expecting to hear rhetoric along the lines of ‘if you have to ask then you can’t afford it’. Instead, her response is much less faint inducing. For individual unique wear her prices are incredible, the smallest pieces start at just £20 and can go up to ten or hundred times more depending on the project in mind.

Why diamond-cut and not diamonds? “Genuine Crystal Jewellery has got more advantages to me as an artist and a woman than the offcuts of diamonds found on the high street. If a man brought me a diamond big enough to being able truly appreciate it though I would feel obliged to call the authorities, the price people paid for diamonds, and not only monetary, is far too high, I am a Queen with a heart and I chose not to work with diamonds who are associated with pain not love. That’s why I love what authentic diamond cut Swarovski Crystal Elements stands for.”

So what was the reaction to Diamond K.ing’s wares? Well, Jewellery was invented to conquer woman’s heart and that is exactly what K.ing does. The reaction of her other customers was evident; each woman’s eyes lighting up, instinctively reacting to the sparkle and wanting to touch and try on the items.

Inga smiles at her customers with real genuine sincerity “I’ve never seen a woman who is not a “jewellery person”, even if some said so at first. She breaths in, her chest and chin rises and her eyes start sparkling more than any man-made jewel; especially when time is taken to match the jewels to her inner character, her dreams and her aspirations for the future.”

When you put it like that I have to agree, even if just for one day where all the other distractions and mandatories of life are put aside, Valentine’s should be like the fairy tale your loved ones deserve. If there is a dream worth chasing then it should be the one where we all live ‘Happy Ever After’ the closer we can get to making that fantasy a reality the brighter the future can only be for us all.

So, have you got a Queen of your Heart?

Are you looking for the ways to keep the sparkle in her eyes?

Contact:

www.K-ing-Of-Order.com

Email

Get-piece@K-ing-Of-Order.com

Tel: 07730006364

Facebook: Diamond K.ing

Why We Should All Calm Down About Vogue Photoshopping Lena Dunham

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Some controversy I just don’t get. Like photoshopping. When I watch a film I know it is not reality, and when I read magazines and see posters I don’t expect that to be reality either. Which is why those making a huge deal about Lena Dunham being photoshopped in Vogue (of all places, Vogue is all about fantasy) are making a fuss over nothing. And the gleefulness of some people about the ‘before’ pictures is just bitchiness on a high-school level- she doesn’t look like a supermodel, but that doesn’t mean she is not beautiful. Beauty is debatable.

Dunham has said she is ‘confused’ about the uproar. Frankly, so am I. Jezebel even paid $10,000 for the unretouched pictures and featured them. Why? Models are also retouched in Vogue. Why is Dunham singled out? If anything her differences should be applauded. Dunham did a great Tweet on it.

In fact pretty much everything in the media is photoshopped. The sky, food…the list is endless. Of course men and women are photoshopped, yet it is only when women are photoshopped that the media have a huge hissy-fit about it. The same media that encourages the practice. You may noticed I said women. I meant it. Have you ever seen a media-storm about a man having his pot-belly removed or been made to look younger? I haven’t. Men don’t care either.

Jezebel article on Lena Dunham being photoshopped. Credit: Jezebel.

Jezebel article on Lena Dunham being photoshopped. Credit: Jezebel.

In my opinion it is just another form of sexism. Women are made to feel bad about their bodies so they can be exploited out of their hard-earned money with an endless parade of celebrities whipping themselves into shape weeks after birth, or starving themselves for two days a week. Then they are made to feel bad about not feeling good about their bodies. We can’t win.

Here is my opinion on photoshopping: I love it. I really love it. In fact my idea of hell is being in the media, especially in print, and not being photoshopped. Every flaw is highlighted when photographed. I don’t even care if they photoshop out an arm, as long as they make me taller, thinner and better looking. After all, it’s not reality and it’s not supposed to be.