day thirty-one!

Holy cow I'm done.  What is this.  Time has a really weird way of inching by at a snail's pace while simultaneously rushing past like yet another commonly used simile for the passage of time.

So here we are.  I guess I'm a veteran of sorts, of the October Dress Project, this being my third year participating in it.  Each year I've done the Project, it's forced me to reassess what I wear and how I present myself to my peers.  It makes me think critically about the subliminal message my clothing conveys, and yes, even though that sounds silly, this is a thing I do indeed take into consideration.  It actually helps a lot when I'm doing costumes for shows.

This year the October Dress Project has been about raising awareness for women who only have one dress to wear.  In particular, those women who have to wear that one dress while being forced to sell their bodies for commercial sex.  Learning more about sex trafficking is absolutely sickening, yet at the same time it's a galvanizing force that makes me want to do everything in my power to stop it.  The first step, after diagnosing the problem, is making more and more people aware of that problem, and then bringing them together to end that problem.  So in my own small way, I hope to be a part of that solution.  Because no one, man, woman, or child, should have to endure something like that with no light at the end of the tunnel.

So I raise my mug of tea in a toast to endings: bittersweet ones, because yes, however much the dress causes me issues, I still look on it with a kind of nostalgia.  And I toast to victorious endings as well-- maybe it's the end of one woman's experiences in a brothel.  Maybe it's the end of a brothel itself, and maybe it's the eradication of sex slavery.  Here's to happy endings and promising beginnings!

Today I wore the dress as a dress with a scarf, a dark brown belt, navy leggings, tall brown boots, and legwarmers:

When people asked me what I was for Halloween I told them I was an IB zombie.  Which I guess doesn't really count, seeing as I'm actually an IB zombie all the time.  IB zombies shuffle around, coffee in hand, rubbing the sleep from their eyes and muttering about CAS documentation and Extended Essay deadlines.  Oh well.  

Happy Halloween! 

day thirty!

Valjean:
One day more.... another day, another destiny... this never-ending road to Calvary.... this dress with static clings to me, and surely bunches at the knee, one day more....

Marius:
I did not live until this month.... how can I live when I've got pants on?

Valjean:
One day more...

Marius and Cosette:
Tomorrow will be Halloween... and yet, I cannot wear a costume!

Eponine:
One more day wearing this dress...

Marius and Cosette:
Will I wear it e're again?

Eponine:
One more day with much less laundry....

Marius and Cosette:
I was tired and so were you!

Eponine:
What a life I might have known....

Marius and Cosette:
And I swear I'll see it through!

Eponine:
But my pants are just right there....

Enjolras:
One more day before sweatpants!

Marius:
Do I wear that scarf today?

Enjolras:
And the sweatshirts (which are freedom)!

Marius:
Shall I wear a sweater too?

Enjolras:
Where the jeans are often worn--

Marius:
Do I change, and do I dare?

Enjolras:
Will the shirts begin with t-               (get it, get it.... t-shirts.... nope okay)

All:
The time, is now, the place, is here

Valjean:
ONE DAY MORE

Okay I need to work on college apps and stop procrastinating.  This is my "colleges please love me please" face.

Pink tights (think pink! Go away, breast cancer, and stuff!), lace shirt with grey tank top, brown belt, brown cardigan, grey flats.

day twenty-nine!

My eyelids flickered open and I rolled over to stare at the clock.  7:34, it said innocently.  I stared at it for a moment, uncomprehending, and then it clicked.  I sprang out of bed (yes, that is a think you can do), and was actually thankful for the fact that I already knew what I was going to wear today.  Yes, I did miss the bus (thanks for the ride, dad) but hey, I've got a uniform of sorts, so all's well.

I wore the dress as a skirt today with white tights, brown boots, a brown belt, a green scarf, a grey cardigan, a brown pullover.  I did in fact look up the differences between a sweater, a pullover, jumper, and cardigan, and what I'm wearing seems to be a pullover.  If you're interested in semantics like that.  

Also, this is what my hair looks like when I actually use a hairdryer?  

 

day twenty-eight!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are in the home stretch! Coming around the corner is Claire Seaton, wearing a brown cardigan, purple tights, brown belt, white infinity scarf, and grey flats!  She's doing the Project not to reach the finish line on October 31, but for the sake of running the race itself.  She's not doing the Project just to check off another box, or to put on college applications, but for a much greater purpose than that.  

She needs to remind everyone of that.  And she needs to remind herself of that.  

While wearing sweatpants to school on November 1 is going to be great, it's not the goal.  

There's a phrase I always misquote, something about the journey being half of the destination.  And yeah, it's true.  I don't get a medal for this.  I don't get a congratulations pen from the principal.  Rather, I get another pair of glasses through which I am able to see the world.  

Happy Monday, everyone.

day twenty-seven!

But whatever happened to day twenty-six, you ask?  See, yesterday I went down to Charlottesville with my family and I had been convinced that it was going to be really cold, so I gave myself an excused absence from the Project for the day.  I probably could have still worn the dress but you know what?  What's done cannot be undone.  To bed, to bed, to bed.

Anyways, today I'm wearing the yellow skirt again with black tights, dark grey flats, a brown belt, and a grey sweater.  I am also safeguarding the Nutella.

Radical Face's new album, The Family Tree: The Branches came out on October 22nd, and it's beautiful and The Gilded Hand speaks to me on an emotional level and you should go and listen to it now.  

day twenty-five!

So, not gonna lie, this is a rather awkward picture, but I was in a bit of a rush to take it, so who cares, really?

Today I sported my super great W-L Madrigals shirt with a purple sweater, the dress as a skirt, belt, grey leggings, blue socks, and brown boots.

One week left! Not gonna lie, I am very much looking forward to pants. 

day twenty-four!

I've wanted to wear this skirt with the October dress for quite some time now, but it makes for a slightly awkward waistline because the skirt sits on my hips and the dress's waistline is higher up.  So I covered up the awkward with a sheer top, threw on some black tights and my ribbon flats, and called it a day.  By the by, the skirt is black leather with lace details that are rather hard to see in the picture, but trust me, it's pretty great.

Disclaimer: yes!  I know it's cold!  But it's cold outside!  When I was outside I wore the green hoodie.  Inside, it was nice and warm, thanks to this super great thing called heating that I have in my school.  It's been around for a couple of years now.

Also, I am not mad or ticked off in the slightest, though the tone of this blog post and the picture may suggest it.  Fear not!  All is well!

day twenty-three! and what is sex trafficking, anyway?

We had another S.T.A.H.P. meeting today!  After figuring out some poster ideas and drawing up a Generals' Period pass that we can laminate and let people reuse for every meeting, I talked about some of the issues revolving around sex trafficking in America.  I'll reiterate them here:

• What exactly constitutes sex trafficking, anyway? According to The Polaris Project, "sex trafficking occurs when people are forced or coerced into the commercial sex trade against their will." The pimp or agency controlling the victim will usually claim that the victim owes them a debt, forces the victim to work off this debt by selling the victim's body for commercial sex, and then takes the victim's earnings as payment for the "debt."
• Under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, victims are defined as follows:
• Any minor (under the age of eighteen) who is induced to perform a commercial sex act
• Any adult forced/coerced/deceived into providing commercial sex acts 
• Children and adults who are forced to perform labor and/or services in conditions of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery through force, fraud, or coercion
• Victims can be male or female, and typically consist of undocumented immigrants, runaway/homeless youth, trauma and abuse victims, refugees and individuals fleeing conflict, and generally oppressed or marginalized individuals.  There is no specific profile of the "typical victim" as this practice is so widespread.
• Where does it happen in America?  Sex trafficking occurs everywhere.  Yes, that's right.  Incidents have been reported in cities, suburbs, and rural areas in every state and Washington, D.C.  
• How? 
• Fake massage businesses (operate in strip malls, office buildings, residential homes)
• Internet sourced (Craigslist, backpage.com)
• Residential/transient brothels 
• Street prostitution (prostitutes must meet a nightly quota, often upwards of $500-$1000/night)
• Hostess/strip clubs (stripping and erotic dancing become sex trafficking when the employer uses force, fraud, or coercion to compel the adult worker to have commercial sex with clientele)
• Escort services (agency/pimp arranges in-call or out-call services, typically advertised through the internet)
• Truck stops (transient nature of truckers and remote location of many truck stops ensures truck stop trafficking remains under the radar)

I'll be posting later about recognizing the signs of sex trafficking, and throughout the year we'll be working on ways to end it.  

Switching gears, today I wore the dress as a skirt with a purple velvety shirt, grey sweater, green tights, brown belt, tan scarf, and brown boots.  Also, forgetting to wear my glasses proved to be quite annoying because it is quite difficult to read the board when I'm sitting at the back of the classroom.

day twenty-two!

HEY GUYS HEY, I HAVEN'T BEEN ADVERTISING IT BUT THERE'S A STAHP MEETING TOMORROW AND YOU SHOULD COME!  ROOM 3208.  GENERAL'S PERIOD.  BE THERE.

So confession: this is not in fact my sweater, it's my sister's.  As is the headband I'm wearing.  The boots, black tights, and socks I'm wearing, however, are indeed mine.  Though this particular outfit was not super great for messing with lights in the catwalk during rehearsal today, because hot air rises, the lights themselves are very hot, and sweaters are not conducive to these particular situations.

Psh, that's not a sock on the ground for camera focusing purposes.  I don't know what you're talking about in the slightest. 

Also go check out The Middle East because they're super great. 

And now off to finish my homework. Wooooooooooot

day twenty-one!

So typically I've taken pictures when I get home from school, but I had to take this picture quite early in the morning before school, due to the fact that I had swim team conditioning afterwards and would not be lookin' so great.

Anyways! Orange shirt, grey scarf, brown belt, white tights, blueishgreyish flats.

day twenty!

Eleven days left! Holy Batman that's less than two weeks.  What is this nonsense.  The month has seriously flown by!

So I'm being sneaky and this outfit is actually composed of two dresses: the pink (salmon? coral?) one is functioning as a shirt, while the October dress is a skirt.  Grey flats make an appearance, as does the brown belt (which, funnily enough, actually came with the pink/salmon/coral/whatever dress) and a brown leather jacket.

Also, loving the fall weather.  Fall weather means sweater weather.  WOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Also this is the first picture with all my paper plate awards visible in it?

day nineteen!

Thank goodness for sweaters.  Even sweaters that don't really have sleeves.  They're still great.

Grey sweater, black tights, brown shoes, tan socks, black t-shirt underneath the dress for added layers, purple scarf.

day eighteen!

Another short post because I need to sleep:

Teal tank top underneath a lace shirt, the dress is a skirt, brown belt, black tights, grey flats.  Not pictured: brown leather jacket.

I had to sing the National Anthem at the football game with the chorus department so for a while I was wearing my Madrigals shirt tucked in to the skirt as well!

day seventeen!

See now, the great thing about doing this project is that I know exactly what day of the month it is.  So yay for that.

Anyways, I kinda need to get a lot of homework done so this post will be quite brief.

Purple chunky sweater, white tights, blue socks, brown boots folded over, daisy headband.

Speed-bloggin' for the win!

day sixteen!

What day is it?

HUMP DAY

BECAUSE I AM HALFWAY DONE WITH THE PROJECT WOOOOO

Not that I'm not loving it!  I really am enjoying the Project this year, it's definitely given me thought about image and presentation and how much I should (or shouldn't) care about that.  It's made me think creatively about what I wear and why I wear it.

It's freeing, but also limiting.  I can't wear pants with this dress because it doesn't look good tucked in (which sucks because jeans are great), and I have to think pretty critically sometimes (which is hard most mornings) to figure out what I'm going to wear.

But this is nothing compared with the problems that so many other women face throughout the world.  What right do I have to complain about my issues when so many women are forced into things like prostitution, and they have to wear a dress that turns them into an object.  I'm lucky to have the ability to choose what I wear and wear it as a form of self-expression, not a selling tool.

I'm lucky to live the life I live.  I'm incredibly lucky to have access to the resources for education and empowerment and to spend my time doing things I want to do.  I can complain all I want, I can mourn and mope, I can begin every sentence with the word I, but I will always be incredibly blessed.

And I need to remember that more often.

Today's outfit is an off-white shirt with green birds on it, green tights, the dress as a skirt, and brown boots!  And spicy hot chocolate makes everything better when you've had a rough day.

day fifteen!

Seeing as October has 31 days, I can't properly say that today marks the halfway point, seeing as it would kind of be October 15.5th if I wanted to be pedantic.  So I guess it's both today and tomorrow... yeah.

Today's outfit is characterized by a lovely scarf, some purple tights, blue Keds, a brown belt and a leather jacket!

Next time I do this I'm choosing a photo-based blog because the quality of these pictures I upload are far better than what they look like on the blog.  It bugs me.

day fourteen!

Huzzah for no-makeup Mondays, made possible by the fact that I did not have to go to school today.

I would also like to point out that bike rides do not necessarily make you feel better, particularly if you haven't biked in a while and you're really grumpy.  Then it makes you feel somewhat worse.

I finished my Extended Essay rough draft and it looks pretty swell, all printed out and ready to go.  It definitely needs work but that's not something I need to worry about right at this moment because I am DONE with it for now.  Sigur Ros helped me out though, I definitely got some strange looks from my family (they're Icelandic, it's cool) but it's really good study music.

Today's outfit features no shoes, a green zip-up hoodie, and a purple scarf!

I'm just going to quit complaining about the (lack of) quality photos I post to this blog.  It's not technically a photo blog template, though, so I guess that's partially my fault.  Whatever.

day thirteen!

Oh yeah, so I actually wear glasses all the time, I just haven't been taking pictures wearing them for some reason?  I don't have terrible vision but it's just blurry enough that it actually does make a difference when I wear my glasses.

I don't know if you guys have heard of the Polaris Project but it's an organization that I think we're going to be doing some cool things with, and I'm super pumped to work with them!  More details to come!

Today the dress is accompanied by blue leggings, brown boots, grey sweater, blue scarf, and a brown bag that looks like it's crocheted from some sort of material resembling twine kind of?  It's pretty great.  Huzzah for thrift stores!

I really should wear shoes other than these brown boots but it's been rainy and stuff and my other shoes aren't so great for rain and I feel like taller boots look silly given the length of the dress.  

Day twelve!

Okay, not gonna lie, a good portion of this day was spent in pajamas as opposed to in the dress itself.  Hush now.  Pajamas are so comfy.

I don't have all that many long sleeved shirts, apparently, so the turquoise shirt I'm wearing underneath the dress is actually my sister's.  Paired it with black tights, a brown belt, blueish-grey flats, and a somewhat contemplative, dramatic expression.  This is what writing about dramatic theory does to me.

IT DID IT AGAIN!  THE GREENISH TINT!  GAAAAHHHHHH!  

 

Day eleven!

Yet another rainy day.  Since the green skirt I'm wearing on top of the dress was shorter in length than the dress itself, I had to make use of some safety pins and pin the dress's hem up a bit.  So yep!  Green skirt, white tights, brown leather jacket, and navy blue Keds.

Okay this has been bugging me so much.  Every time I take a picture, I upload it to Lightroom and make some minor adjustments to color cast and such, and every time I save the photos and post them to the blog they have a slightly greenish tint.  For this picture I even gave it a slightly reddish tint but it didn't really make a difference.  AUGH.

Hope your three-day weekend is absolutely lovely!  I get to spend it writing a 4000-word essay on dramatic theory, so hip hip hooray.  

Day ten!

This morning I tried to see if wearing the dress as a shirt by tucking it into pants could work.  It did not work in the slightest, which was quite disappointing seeing as it was raining pretty crazy outside.  So instead I wore the dress with leggings, brown boots, and a scarf so thick it felt like wearing a sweater on my neck.  To and from school I wore a brown trench coat that's slightly too big for me.  On the turquoise belt: that was used in a production of a one-act play I wrote and directed with my best friend (who also is doing the October Dress Project with me!), and I may or may not have accidentally ended up keeping it.  The gold necklace I made into a headband thing on Day Two also happened to be worn in that production as well *cough*

So here is the outfit!

Song of the day: Be Prepared from The Lion King.  Yes.  One is never, ever too old for Disney.

Day nine!

Today was STAHP's first real meeting!  I'm super excited about what we're going to be doing these next few months.  We came up with the idea of having a different focus every two months or so, in which we hone in on raising awareness for sex trafficking in DC (for example), and the money we raise and the issues we talk about go to an organization that works on solving that particular problem.  Then we'd focus on India, the Philippines, et cetera.

Also we're going to sell ribbons (which can be worn in a bow, or a bracelet if that's not quite your thing) that say STAHP, which serves the double purpose of getting the word out as well as being a fundraising opportunity.

So yay!

On to today's outfit accompanied by a silly pose.

Black short-sleeved shirt underneath the dress, scarf, white tights, green jacket, and the brown boots.  Which I did put on after I took the picture.  They just happened to be conveniently in the same place as they were for yesterday's picture.  Ahem.

Also, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has expressed interest and enthusiasm not only for the October Dress Project, but for the club and the cause for which I'm doing the Project.  It seriously means so much that you think this is a cool thing to do, and I appreciate it a ton <3

Day eight!

So I did my best to correct the color cast in the picture, but the lighting was quite wonky.  The shirt I'm wearing is not in fact black, it's just really dark purple, and is all velvety and soft and lovely.  Dress is worn as a skirt with the brown belt, with black tights underneath!  I did wear the brown boots but they take the lifespan of a Galapagos turtle to put on, so yeah.

They don't actually take that long.  That is an example of hyperbole, boys and girls.

Also, I got my senior portraits taken today.  I think being a senior has finally set in, but it's taken a little while.  At the beginning of the school year I was having the hardest time wrapping my head around it, and I'm not entirely sure I want to accept it because that means growing up.  It means looking ahead, trying to blaze a trail through the metaphorical woods of words, all of which take the future tense.

Anyways.

Hey also come to STAHP tomorrow in room 3208 during General's Period for the club's kickoff meeting!  There will be tea!

Day seven!

Rainy days that are cold and gross are not my most favorite thing ever.  Just putting that out there.  Thank goodness we have tea to combat the horrid weather!

Now that spirit week is over and I have some more freedom in determining what I get to wear, there will hopefully be more interesting outfits posted here.  So yay for that.

On to today's outfit!

I wore the dress underneath a yellow skirt and a rather old brown jacket, so several people asked me where the dress was before realizing it was functioning as a shirt!  Gladiator sandals and the ubiquitous brown belt as well.  I could have sworn I had more brown belts than this one.  Gahh.  I may or may not be raiding some closets some time soon *cough*

Side note: Kishi Bashi is an incredible artist.  What he does with loop pedals gives me chills.  Go check him out.  

Day six!

Today's post features Mittens the cat, in all his adorableness and majesty.  No, really.

The outfit, however, features brown boots (referenced on day four but not worn in the picture), a brown belt, and a loose-fitting cardigan.

This dress is so comfortable and so much more interesting than last year's and so far the ODP has been a super fantastic thing!  Huzzah!

Yay for slightly awkward camera angles and color casts.  Wooooooooooo

Day five!

I took the SAT today so I was feeling decidedly non-creative at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning.  As a result all I am wearing in addition to the dress is a somewhat sardonic expression and no shoes.  This is what standardized testing does to the American teenager.

Spirit Week makes the October Dress Project difficult and vice versa.  But that's over now so we shall return to our regularly scheduled creativity and stuff.

Day four!

It's still October 4th.  Shhhhhhh.  I haven't gone to sleep yet so it doesn't count as tomorrow yet.  Hush now.  This is the logic I use every night I'm up too late doing homework and whatnot.... which is a lot...

Anyways!

Yay spirit week Homecoming football yay!

Dress worn as a dress, brown belt, blue scarf, blue shoes, blue bow in hair, facepaint because Seniors and Homecoming hooray hooray.  I sang the National Anthem at the Homecoming game with the Madrigals, so I felt I had to be a little more school-spirit-y, so I changed into a lighter blue scarf, navy blue belt, blue socks, and brown boots.  

Okay good night everyone.

What is STAHP anyway?

So I feel like I should talk about STAHP.

STAHP (while not only being an excellent imperative statement) is the name of the club I've started at my school.  It stands for Stopping Trafficking and Helping the Powerless, and we do awesome things!  A lot of people have apparently been really interested in doing it but weren't able to make it to the interest meeting, so I really hope there will be a good turnout when we have the kickoff meeting this upcoming Wednesday!  

What are these previously mentioned 'awesome things,' you ask?

We're going to be doing a variety of fundraisers throughout the year like bake sales and whatnot, holding a clothing + shoe drive, selling Freeset bags and shirts at the Holiday Bazaar, and maybe trying to host a speaker from IJM at some point!  All the money we raise and the clothes we collect will go to organizations like IJM, Freeset, or other organizations committed to ending human trafficking.  And I am open to further ideas!

I know that I can't end human trafficking by myself.  Starting a club won't stop it for good, and on a larger scale, neither will the many organizations dedicated to doing just that.  But collectively?  What if we lived in a world where people were aware of this horrific business?  What if we lived in a world that wanted to end the injustice, to take the men, women, and children who have been bought and sold and forced into these terrible conditions and welcome them back with open arms?  

I hate that trafficking exists.  I hate that it's simply not on enough peoples' radars.  I hate that people can get away with enslaving people, with kidnapping girls and selling their bodies for sex, and countless other ways of trafficking people.  And I want to do all I can to stop it, because even a little bit is more than nothing.  

As the month goes on I'll be doing spotlights on organizations that fight trafficking, and other such things in addition to posting about my outfit each day.  Hopefully you find it enlightening and inspiring!

xx Claire

Day three!

I would just like to say that everyone needs to stop, drop, and listen to This Year by The Mountain Goats.  That is my theme song for this year.  I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me.  

There is never-ending confusion as to what we do for the Thursdays and Fridays of Spirit Week.  All I know for sure is that my class color is blue and I will be wearing quite a bit of it for these next two days.  

So without further ado, I give you Day Three:

I folded the top half of the dress under and made it into a skirt!  Accompanying it is a blue tank top and a blue infinity scarf made by a lovely friend of mine.  Brown belt, sandals, woooooo yay.  

Day two!

So apparently, in addition to being the second day of the October Dress Project, it is National Kale day, as well as Blast from the Past day for Spirit Week at my school.  Seniors wear togas.  It's pretty great.

Therefore, I am wearing gladiator sandals, a belt, and a gold chain necklace I made into a headband.  Apparently when I've done my hair up in a mess of curls it looks Grecian?  Or something?  Anyways that's whats going on with my hair and stuff.  

So then I put a toga on and yes, the dress is there underneath!

Faux-Marilyn Monroe moments for the win.

Day one!

It's October.  What is this nonsense.

For some, October is synonymous with Pumpkin Spice Lattes and piles of leaves in which to jump.  For me, October has come to mean this project.  October means one dress each and every day.

So here we go!

It's Spirit Week at my school, so today was America day!  Red tights, blue scarf, blueish grey shoes (now they're more grey than blue.... I've had them for a while), and a red ribbon!  Also worn but not in the picture: brown leather jacket.

Also, shoutout to the lovely ladies doing this Project with me-- I can't wait to see what we do with this!