- Debbie
- I'm a Jewish fashionista living in New York and I write this blog to try to deliver modest fashion to all women, everywhere. This blog is all about Less Is More. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @vinniecocoa and on instagram @the.oak! CONTACT & INQUIRIES: the.oak.blog@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Give Back. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Give Back. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, June 13, 2011
You Go Girls!
You may not know this about me, but I happen to be a ridiculous sports fan. Growing up in Brooklyn with four brothers (and two sisters), I have been exposed not only to the fascinating world of fashion, but the wide world of sports too.
Very rarely do these two merge; in fact, more often than not, the basketball court, the baseball and football fields, the hockey rink and the soccer pitch are the only places where fashion statements don't make a play (pun intended). Aside from the tennis pros (ie: Venus and Serena Williams), the sports arena is where the clothes on your back literally define who you are. You just can't be a Red Sock and wear a Yankee uniform in the game (pssshhh, like they could! But I digress).
It is largely accepted, however, to wear certain other garments that define the life you lead off the court/field/rink/pitch/etc.; (Serena and Venus know that all too well).
Yea...try telling that to Naama Shafir or the Iranian Women's Soccer team.
In the past few weeks, these women have been subjected to eliminations and forfeits in their respective sports on account of, believe it or not, MODESTY.
Shafir, an Israeli, orthodox girl who won an NCAA basketball scholarship to the University of Ohio was eliminated by FIBA Europe (Europe's basketball governing body) from playing in a match in Poland. Why, you ask? Because she wears a t-shirt underneath her uniform for modesty reasons (see below), and their rules state that all players must be wearing the exact same uniform. Shafir refused to go bare-shouldered, and so she was not allowed to play. Dislike!
In a country where women scarcely have rights, let alone the luxury to play sports, the Iranian women's soccer team and Olympic hopefuls were disqualified from their pre-Olympic qualifying match because they refused to take off their head-scarfs for their match. FIFA, the governing body of soccer cited safety concerns and chocking hazards for their justification, but I call that bull-doody. It's just ridiculous.
I have no intentions of making political or religious statements on whether these women should forgo their beliefs and traditions for the sake of a game, but then again, I shouldn't have to. Women should have every opportunity to play, and just like in the real world or in the workplace, there should be appropriate allowances and room for personal beliefs. Whether they are religious in form or not, I would never tell a player not wear their lucky underwear that they haven't washed since they were 12 years-old, or whether they should cheer or pray or point to God after a game-winning shot.
If no one else will, I applaud these women. In a mostly boys club, they stay true to their beliefs and are every bit the fierce women they are in their game.
After all, it's not whether you win or lose, but HOW you play the game, right? Clearly FIBA and FIFA did not get that message. Despite that, at the end of the day, these women are the real winners.
D
Very rarely do these two merge; in fact, more often than not, the basketball court, the baseball and football fields, the hockey rink and the soccer pitch are the only places where fashion statements don't make a play (pun intended). Aside from the tennis pros (ie: Venus and Serena Williams), the sports arena is where the clothes on your back literally define who you are. You just can't be a Red Sock and wear a Yankee uniform in the game (pssshhh, like they could! But I digress).
It is largely accepted, however, to wear certain other garments that define the life you lead off the court/field/rink/pitch/etc.; (Serena and Venus know that all too well).
Yea...try telling that to Naama Shafir or the Iranian Women's Soccer team.
In the past few weeks, these women have been subjected to eliminations and forfeits in their respective sports on account of, believe it or not, MODESTY.
Shafir, an Israeli, orthodox girl who won an NCAA basketball scholarship to the University of Ohio was eliminated by FIBA Europe (Europe's basketball governing body) from playing in a match in Poland. Why, you ask? Because she wears a t-shirt underneath her uniform for modesty reasons (see below), and their rules state that all players must be wearing the exact same uniform. Shafir refused to go bare-shouldered, and so she was not allowed to play. Dislike!
In a country where women scarcely have rights, let alone the luxury to play sports, the Iranian women's soccer team and Olympic hopefuls were disqualified from their pre-Olympic qualifying match because they refused to take off their head-scarfs for their match. FIFA, the governing body of soccer cited safety concerns and chocking hazards for their justification, but I call that bull-doody. It's just ridiculous.
I have no intentions of making political or religious statements on whether these women should forgo their beliefs and traditions for the sake of a game, but then again, I shouldn't have to. Women should have every opportunity to play, and just like in the real world or in the workplace, there should be appropriate allowances and room for personal beliefs. Whether they are religious in form or not, I would never tell a player not wear their lucky underwear that they haven't washed since they were 12 years-old, or whether they should cheer or pray or point to God after a game-winning shot.
If no one else will, I applaud these women. In a mostly boys club, they stay true to their beliefs and are every bit the fierce women they are in their game.
After all, it's not whether you win or lose, but HOW you play the game, right? Clearly FIBA and FIFA did not get that message. Despite that, at the end of the day, these women are the real winners.
D
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Time To Give Back...and Shop!
Enjoy 30% off from March 17-20 at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy and 5% of the proceeds are donated to a non-profit.
You know I'm a huge fan of altruism, as am I a huge fan of shopping. Combing the two gives me a deep sense of satisfaction, and so I encourage you to print this coupon and take it your nearest Gap, Old Navy or Banana republic and buy that Spring dress you have been wanting so badly.
As I always have, I selected the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as my charity; animals are as important to me as fashion and anything I can do to help makes a difference (fyi--I don't wear fur).
So print out this coupon from the link above or here, and save a tiger. Or an emu. Or an armadillo. Whatever floats your boat--just do it in style.
D
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
An Open Letter To John Galliano
Dear John Galliano,
I am sad.
It's not because your Dior Spring 2011 line was a fashionable bomb; it is not because your fashionable clothes are severely overpriced; it is not because you are fashionably rich and famous. I am sad because you are the opposite of everything a fashionable person should be.
If there is one thing I preach on this blog, it's to embrace who you are--just do it in style.
And yet, you, Mr. Galliano, the leader of an empire in it's own respect and a massively public figure, have the audacity to preach hatred. You, who comes from an industry that has to fight for respect and equality for all its members from the top designers, down to the last seamstress. How many of your employees are minorities? How many of your clients are minorities? And yet anyone who YOU deem "ugly" is not worth existence. Gas us Jews, you said? Gosh, If anything is "ugly" here, it's you and your words; by your standards, that would deem you worthy of those gas chambers that murdered my family.
Hitler was a public figure, too, you know? He was the leader of his own powerhouse, and so I guess that's why you must love him. You must feel kindred to his bigoted ways solely for one reason--you are in a position of power....well, you were. Now that your title has been stripped, and you have been dethroned from the mantle of the Dior fashion house, how does it feel to know that your power meant absolutely nothing without the compassion of humanity? Yes, you may know all the proportions of the human body, and you may know how to dress the human body, but you certainly lack the knowledge of a human soul.
Evil crumbles eventually. Styles and trends come and go in fashion--that's just how this business works. Bigotry, racism, hatred and intolerance are sooo 1945, which means you are severely out of style. Talk about a [fashion] crime.
Dior is a brand name, a label--wear it, and you instantly give yourself a status.
Jew is also a label, and apparently that invokes a certain status as well, one in which you have found unworthy of even existing.
I can wear my label of Jew proudly , but can you, Mr. John Galliano, be proud of the labels you've just been branded--'bigot' and 'racist'. At the end of the day, the labels we wear define us--call me a cheap Jew, but I would rather be a Jew in poor man's clothes than a bigot draped in Dior.
D
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
I Like It In The Passenger Seat
You may be curious as to what that means, and you'll be shocked to find out that it's my facebook status. No, it has no sexual connotations whatsoever, but the double entendre is too hard to ignore.
Over the past few days, you may have noticed a myriad of facebook statuses connoting various places and positions that girls "like it". What does it mean, then? It's where you like to put your purse, silly! (Remember how this is a kosher blog! Dirty minds...)
In an effort to raise awareness for Breast Cancer (it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month), the second annual facebook status thingy (very professional sounding, no?) has come to fruition. Last year girls were told to post their bra color as their status in an effort to tease boys by leaving them out of the facebook universe joke (Pink satin, FYI), but even more so, it got people to ask "What is going on with all the color stauses?", and that led to "Oh, it's for Breast Cancer--now go donate." This year, women were told that the secret question was to indicate in your status where you like to put your purse by saying "I like it (enter specific place here)".
The idea is definitely cute, and the ability to tease boys and mislead them is ALWAYS a fav past-time, but let's turn this purse thing into a real awareness for Breast Cancer. Here are a bunch of (fashionable!) totes bags and purses that you can purchase, and all donations will go to help find a cure for the disease. Use these purses to carry groceries, extra pairs of shoes with you to work, or gym clothes. Also, don't forget to go to websites like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website, to keep updated on advances in science, events and much more. Either way, make difference, so you can say "I like it in a world free of Breast Cancer".
P.S. I really do like it in the passenger seat. My purse, that is.
D
Over the past few days, you may have noticed a myriad of facebook statuses connoting various places and positions that girls "like it". What does it mean, then? It's where you like to put your purse, silly! (Remember how this is a kosher blog! Dirty minds...)
In an effort to raise awareness for Breast Cancer (it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month), the second annual facebook status thingy (very professional sounding, no?) has come to fruition. Last year girls were told to post their bra color as their status in an effort to tease boys by leaving them out of the facebook universe joke (Pink satin, FYI), but even more so, it got people to ask "What is going on with all the color stauses?", and that led to "Oh, it's for Breast Cancer--now go donate." This year, women were told that the secret question was to indicate in your status where you like to put your purse by saying "I like it (enter specific place here)".
The idea is definitely cute, and the ability to tease boys and mislead them is ALWAYS a fav past-time, but let's turn this purse thing into a real awareness for Breast Cancer. Here are a bunch of (fashionable!) totes bags and purses that you can purchase, and all donations will go to help find a cure for the disease. Use these purses to carry groceries, extra pairs of shoes with you to work, or gym clothes. Also, don't forget to go to websites like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website, to keep updated on advances in science, events and much more. Either way, make difference, so you can say "I like it in a world free of Breast Cancer".
Click here to find more great bags, clothes, hats, and more for breast cancer. Go donate now!
D
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