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When Kevin Cotter’s wife of 12 years left him, she told him he could do whatever he liked with her wedding dress. So with the help of his ­family, the dad of two came up with ­a series of zany uses for it, ­including a ­hammock, a boat sail and a superhero cape. -snip- But when the couple divided their things, she didn’t take her wedding dress telling him ‘Do whatever you want with it’. Instead the boxed-up garment ­languished in Kevin’s walk-in closet, ­adding to his pain every day. So one night, a few months after his divorce, he...

Strippers with sob stories or hookers with hearts of gold are often the way that Hollywood glamorizes the career paths of exotic dancers. One combination that you don't hear about often is the stripper turned Wall Street trader. Niki Marx, 27, is that case.

Imagine seeing your parish priest approach the altar to say Mass wearing a T-shirt displaying a beer logo, while sporting a pair of shorts and a set of flip-flops. Or, listening to the sister in charge of your parish make an announcement at Mass dressed in a miniskirt and spaghetti straps. We’d be shocked, because priests and nuns represent the Catholic church, are intermediaries between God and us, and they’re not supposed to dress like that. What about some Catholics who attend Mass wearing tight-fitting shorts, sleeveless blouses, and even less than that? What gives them the right to enter...

Churches across France have become overrun by tourists in skimpy beachwear, showing off bare stomachs and wearing baseball caps, according to priests who have spoken out about the drop in standards. A report in regional newspaper Midi Libre claims that religious leaders have tired of the increasingly disrespectful dress codes of some visitors. “Our church is right by the beach,” said Father Martin Gabet of the Notre Dame des Anges de Collioure church, close to the Spanish border. “As a result, lots of people come in wearing their swimwear. There have even been people who come in just to change...

As newly minted princess Kate Middleton greeted Michelle Obama in the ornate surroundings of Buckingham Palace Tuesday, it was hard to believe she was wearing a $340 dress from British retailer Reiss — a frock any commoner could buy.

As newly minted princess Kate Middleton greeted Michelle Obama in the ornate surroundings of Buckingham Palace Tuesday, it was hard to believe she was wearing a $340 dress from British retailer Reiss — a frock any commoner could buy. Middleton’s appearance in the nude-hued “Shola” dress sparked a shopping frenzy, causing the retailer’s Web site to crash and the dress to immediately sell out. And now style watchers are hailing the Duchess of Cambridge as “the pauper’s princess” — the first stylish royal to embrace affordable trends, and the perfect recession-era symbol.

MYFOXNY.COM - Sophomore Jackie Genovese, 16, of New Jersey, had the perfect prom dress and date. But tragedy struck last week when her boyfriend of two years was killed in a car accident. Jackie's boyfriend, James, died on the way home from a baseball team dinner. He was a popular Jackson High School senior only weeks from graduation. She bought her $1,200 dress at Freehold's Diane and Co., also known for their popular Oxygen show "Dress Coutoure." She wanted a refund for her dress so she could help pay for her boyfriend's funeral. Jackie's mom asked the owners of the...

Women of a liberated generation wrestle with their eager-to-grow-up daughters—and their own pasts ...In a few years, their attention will turn to the annual ritual of shopping for a prom dress, and by then their fashion tastes will have advanced still more. Having done this now for two years with my own daughter, I continue to be amazed by the plunging necklines, built-in push-up bras, spangles, feathers, slits and peek-a-boos. And try finding a pair of sufficiently "prommish" shoes designed with less than a 2-inch heel... A woman I know, with two mature daughters, said, "If I could do it...

The North Rhine-Westphalia state labour court in Germany has directed women employees of an airport security firm to wear the bra, trim finger nails to not more than half a centimeter and ensure that the dignity of the woman is not lost at the work place. The employees must adhere to the laid down dress code. And – the applicability is extended to include the men also – they could sport well groomed and maintained beards or be clean shaven.

The Soutane which is required as clerical attire in the Church law books, shows itself to be ever a career killer. (kreuz.net)"I have decided for several years now to almost exclusively wear the Soutane." Father Hendrick Jolie said this for the most recent interview of the Catholic monthly magazine 'Kirchliche Umschau'. The Soutane is is in the eyes of the clergyman an acceptable and practical possibility, it makes the clergyman stand out in public: "The Priest is not >>better<<. but most probably he's, >>other<<' -- he explains.

The Looking Spoon is a conservative humor/satire/art/commentary blog, visit www.thelookingspoon.com to see more posts and art

LONDON – A rare and dangerous reaction to a range of common medicines including antibiotics and anticonvulsants may be caused by a severe immune response to reactivated herpes virus, scientists said on Wednesday. Researchers said their findings suggest that if doctors were to test for the herpes virus in patients suffering the drug reaction, they might be able to find ways to treat it and possibly stop it becoming more severe, or even fatal. The results should also help scientists find out what makes some people susceptible to the reaction, which is known as Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic...

I told the kid about to take exam that if he could write an essay successfully justifying why he chose to wear his unusual hat and kept it on indoors, I would give him five extra credit points. It was a black, bumpy, skull-grabbing thing that appeared to have been extruded out the backside of some angry fowl. He did not write the essay. I told one student that I wanted to ask him a question but that I couldn’t look directly at him because his vivid florescent green sweater hurt my eyes. The sweater had a zipper in the...

JOHANNESBURG — More than 30 women showed up at the Netherlands-Denmark match wearing orange mini-dresses emblazoned with the name of a Dutch brewery — earning them a red card from World Cup officials who acted to quash what they called an ambush marketing scam. The stunt may have irked FIFA, soccer's governing body. But it got Dutch brewer Bavaria NV exactly what it wanted. "That's the free publicity they were looking for," said John Sweeney, head of advertising at the University of North Carolina's school of journalism and mass communications. "But (for FIFA), there's paranoia about ambush marketing. Sponsors pay...

WHEN JANINE Giandomenico's son explained his school project to her, she dismissed his worries and figured she'd have to fork out a few bucks for poster board, magazines and a glue stick or two. Then she read the letter that accompanied the project, over and over again, and believes that her son's third-grade teacher at the Maude Wilkins Elementary School in Maple Shade, Burlington County, was asking the class, including the boys, to dress as women during a fashion show for a Women's History Month pro-ject.

WHEN JANINE Giandomenico's son explained his school project to her, she dismissed his worries and figured she'd have to fork out a few bucks for poster board, magazines and a glue stick or two. Then she read the letter that accompanied the project, over and over again, and believes that her son's third-grade teacher at the Maude Wilkins Elementary School in Maple Shade, Burlington County, was asking the class, including the boys, to dress as women during a fashion show for a Women's History Month pro-ject.

Dress Deemed Too Short, Revealing On Top: OXFORD, Ala. -- A high school senior in Alabama was suspended for wearing a prom dress that school officials said was too short at the hem and too revealing on top. "I was so excited because it was my senior prom and I'd never been to a senior prom, so I was excited," Oxford High School student Erica DeRamus said. DeRamus said she knew her school had dress code policies, but didn't think her dress would violate them. But when she got to prom Saturday, officials told her it was too short and...

“I love vulgarity. Good taste is death, vulgarity is life." These words by English fashion designer Mary Quant, who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants, reveal one of the most important...aspects of the “fashion revolution” that started in the sixties: vulgarity. ...It is a vulgarity that tramples upon not only good taste and decorum but which reflects a mentality opposed to all order and discipline and to every kind of restraint, be it esthetic, moral or social, and which ultimately suggests a completely “liberated” standard of behavior.... The premise that comfort and practicality must preside over the...

  I have a suggestion for those in academia who are concerned that women be treated as intellectual equals: Try sexual modesty. Before the lynching party arrives, I hope I will have time to explain.   I have taught at several colleges, one of which has a dress code. To many, a dress code seems old-fashioned at best, a puri-tyrannical breach of our right to freedom of speech at worst. (It should worry us that clothing is considered speech.) But allow me to present two examples -- male and female -- that illustrate how sexual modesty is related to the...

My Take on Michelle Obama's Dress

America’s new First Lady Michelle Obama wowed the crowd election night with her red-and-black Narciso Rodriguez dress from the designer’s spring 2009 collection. She accessorized with a black cardigan, kitten heels, diamond bangles and earrings.

"Dog owners should be aware that under the Animal Welfare Act that came into force in April 2007 they have a duty of care to ensure that all of their pets' needs are met. "One of those needs is to express normal behaviour and it could mean that with restrictive clothing they are not able to do that properly.

BARACK Obama's victory speech electrified the nation, but the dress his wife, Michelle, wore has been widely criticised. Michelle Obama appeared onstage at a huge Chicago rally late on Tuesday wearing a black cardigan over a scoop-neck black sheath with splashes of red in the upper and lower half separated by a band of black at the hips. The outfit was a slightly modified version of a dress presented by designer Narciso Rodriguez in September for the 2009 Spring season. "I voted for Obama, but I didn't vote for that dress,'' homemaker and mother of three Jessica Bettencourt from Wisconsin...

Tall, slim and elegant, Michelle Obama gracefully acknowledges the deafening, foot-stamping ovation with which 1,000 North Carolinian baptists greet her at their annual convention in this military town, then launches into a stump speech unlike any other in this presidential election year. She speaks of her parents – the “warmest hardest-working people I have ever known”. She talks of her two daughters – Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7 – who are “God’s greatest gift to me”. And, of course, about her husband – how his life has equipped him to address the problems of struggling Americans, and why he would...

Vanity Fair editors estimated that McCain's fierce saffron shirt dress with the popped collar, diamond earrings, four-strand pearl necklace, white Chanel watch and strappy shoes totaled up to $313,100. _______________________________________________________ I say do not watse your time reading the lie at the link just provided for verification of the original lie.

A Kentucky college student has hired a lawyer after she was escorted out of a mall by security on Sunday because her dress was deemed too short, MyFOXBoston reports. Kymberly Clem, a 20-year-old student at Eastern Kentucky University, wore the dress Sunday after purchasing it from the mall in Richmond the previous day, the Richmond Register reported Tuesday. After just a few minutes inside of the mall, a security guard approached her and expressed concerns over the length of the garment. According to MyFOXBoston, the guard informed her that several female patrons had complained that she was disrupting their shopping...

Kymberly Clem, 20, says she walked into the Richmond Mall Saturday but was soon escorted out all because of her dress. "I was walking through and 10 minutes after I was there, the security guard approached me, asked me to step aside, made me completely do a turn around while he stared me up and down and then asked me to leave because my outfit was too provocative and people's husbands was (sic) looking at me," says Clem. Clem says she bought the dress at the mall just the day before. She says she's worn more revealing clothing before to...

Vikings did not dress the way we thought Swedish viking men's fashions were modeled on styles in Russia to the east. Archeological finds from the 900s uncovered in Lake Malaren Valley accord with contemporary depictions of clothing the Vikings wore on their travels along eastern trade routes to the Silk Road. The outfit in the picture is on display at Museum Gustavianum, Uppsala University. Photo: Annika Larsson Vivid colors, flowing silk ribbons, and glittering bits of mirrors - the Vikings dressed with considerably more panache than we previously thought. The men were especially vain, and the women dressed provocatively, but...

FORT LAUDERDALE - The shooting death of a gay teenage boy who was dressed in women's clothing is being investigated as a possible hate crime, while detectives try to determine whether he was targeted because of his sexual orientation. Simmie Williams Jr., 17, was attacked on the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard by two young men who wore dark clothing and might live in the neighborhood, police said. Williams, who was wearing a dress and was known in the area by his first name or as "Chris" or "Beyonce," was shot about 12:45 a.m. Friday and soon afterward died at...

I've never seen this photo. Not sure when it was taken. Ripe for comment. ...have fun.

NEW YORK - Here comes the bride, all dressed in white ... two-ply, extra soft toilet paper. Lovebirds Jennifer Cannon and Doy Nichols of Lexington, Ky., plan to get hitched Wednesday in a public restroom. She'll be wearing a gown fashioned from glue, tape and Charmin Ultra Soft and Ultra Strong toilet tissue. The intricately detailed dress was designed by Hanah Kim, winner of the 2007 Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest, sponsored by Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com. The wedding ceremony, to be attended by family and friends, will take place in Times Square at the Charmin Restrooms — temporary, free public restrooms, a...

The Daily Telegraph Letters 25 May 2007 Richard Molineux, Balls Green, Essex Back to top Nothing to wear Sir - I have been invited by Austrian family friends to a wedding in Salzburg. Proud of their traditions, they suggested that "guests might like to wear national costume". In view of the recent nationalism shown by our kilted close neighbours, I have thought long and hard of what my English wife and I might wear to augment this colourful event, but without any success. I am open to any suggestion from your readers. Andrew C. Lowings, Peterborough

In 2005, Toni Kay Scott, a student at Redwood Middle School in California, arrived at school wearing socks with a picture of the Winnie-the-Pooh character, Tigger. She was escorted by a police officer to the principal’s office and placed in in-school suspension because the socks violated her school’s dress code, which restricts students to solid-color clothing, free of logos, in only cotton, chino or corduroy fabrics. After efforts to resolve the dispute proved unsuccessful, Scott, along with five fellow students and the ACLU, is fighting back against the school and challenging the dress code. Sharon O’Grady, a litigator in the...

Caption: Design student Olivia Ong '07 hugs two garments, treated with metallic nanoparticles through a collaboration with fiber scientists Juan Hinestroza and Hong Dong, that she designed as part of her fashion line, "Glitterati." Fashion designers and fiber scientists at Cornell have taken "functional clothing" to a whole new level. They have designed a garment that can prevent colds and flu and never needs washing, and another that destroys harmful gases and protects the wearer from smog and air pollution. The two-toned gold dress and metallic denim jacket, featured at the April 21 Cornell Design League fashion show, contain...

Thousands of Iranian women have been cautioned over their poor Islamic dress this week and several hundred arrested in the capital Tehran in the most fierce crackdown on what's known as "bad hijab" for more than a decade. It is the talk of the town. The latest police crackdown on Islamic dress has angered many Iranians - male, female, young and old. Hundreds of women have been arrested for "bad hijab"

The theme of "Bittersweet Memories" given to a prom for Higgins High School seniors turned out oddly appropriate, thanks to a flap about whether dresses were too revealing. Many West Bank families were fuming Saturday after a teacher refused to allow dozens of girls into the prom Friday night because of alleged violations of the Jefferson Parish Schools dress code, most of them related to excessive display of cleavage. "I was embarrassed," said Miranda Melerine (right), 17, a senior at the Marrero high school, who was among those barred by teacher Judy Gardner, an advisor to senior activities. "We can't...

This video has been viewed over 16 million times on YouTube. This is incredible! See if you agree?video The audience and even the judges were wild with applause.

An Australian woman was sentenced Friday to nine months of community service work for smuggling protected fish from Asia in her dress. Sharon Naismith, 45, was caught in June 2005 at the airport in the southern city of Melbourne after customs officers heard "flipping" noises coming from her clothes and conducted a search, Australian Customs said. In a specially made apron under her dress, they found 15 plastic bags filled with water and fish: one rare Asian arowana that customs said was worth tens of thousands of dollars, and 14 catfish. Naismith, who had arrived from Singapore, pleaded guilty to...

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Defying the Islamic clamor in some European countries, Tunisia has served notice that it will continue to oppose any "sectarian dress" incompatible with its tradition. This includes head scarves for women, who have been reminded that, according to a 25-year-old government directive, they are not to wear the "Islamic scarf" in schools and public buildings. In contrast to neighboring Algeria, the veil has rarely been worn in Tunisia. Such a form of dress, a senior Tunisian official said, "reminds us of the time when extremists threw acid in the faces of unveiled women. Fundamentalists have totally failed...

Friday will be a week since former President Bill Clinton's angry, finger-pointing reaction to Chris Wallace's questions about his record on fighting terrorism. It's a story that continues to have legs — which Wallace considers a compliment. We talked briefly with the host of Fox News Sunday to find out more about what went on behind the scenes during the interview, which was taped Friday and telecast Sunday. Q: Chris, are you tired of talking about this? A: Yeah, I'm getting tired of me. Q: There seems to be a consensus that the interview did Clinton some good. What's your...

Air Marshal Dress Code Changed Friday August 25, 2006 12:16 AM By LESLIE MILLER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Air marshals were told Thursday they will be allowed to dress the way they want and choose their own hotels in order to protect their anonymity while on missions. Federal Air Marshal Service chief Dana Brown, who has been in the job for five months, said he was changing the rules, starting Sept. 1, after listening to air marshals' concerns. In a memo to the air marshals, Brown said the dress code was changed to ``allow you to blend in...

From the Catechism“There are differences between male and female: physical, emotional, and spiritual differences. These differences result, by God’s plan, in a beautiful complementarity oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life” (CCC 2333).“Men and women are equal but not the same obiously. There is equal personal dignity. Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God” (CCC 2334-5).“The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance, which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses with reason” (CCC 2341).“Christ is the model of chastity. Every...

Tank tops, flip-flops, bare flesh and cleavage. It's the unofficial uniform of the summer interns, gaggles of college-age women and recent graduates who invade buttoned-down conservative Washington every summer, bringing a large dose of hotitude to offices from Capitol Hill to K Street. They're known as "skinterns." Those who think "belly shirts" are career wear. If the devil wears Prada, the skinterns wear nada. As if Washington wasn't sweltering enough. "All the guys I worked with here, they would love it when the weather got warm for that very reason. 'Ooohhh, the interns are coming,' " said Elizabeth Conatser, a...

SAN DIEGO (UPI) -- A California psychologist says young people have become increasingly indifferent to the impression they make on others. Jean Twenge, the author of "Generation Me," teaches at San Diego State University. She gathered data from surveys taken between 1958 and 2001 by more than 40,000 youngsters. They featured questions aimed at whether the respondents always said "please" and "thank you" or were careful to dress appropriately. Twenge says that 76 percent of children aged 8 to 12 in 1999 were indifferent to social approval, up from 57 percent in 1970. Among those who were already in college...

Sikh bracelets, but no Christian rings at school bans pupils from wearing 'purity rings' A group of teenage Christians have been banned by a secondary school from wearing "purity rings" as a symbol of their religious belief in chastity until marriage. At least one of the dozen pupils, who all attend the same girls' comprehensive in Horsham, West Sussex, is considering legal action against the Millais School for "a breach of human rights". Although the school allows Muslim and Sikh pupils to wear headscarves or kara bracelets as a means of religious expression, the purity ring - a small band...

Five Centuries of Shrinking Korean Fashions A fashion show will provide the first comprehensive overview of Korean fashions from the last 500 years, using original pieces and clothes reconstructed based on painstaking research. The Suk Joo-sun Memorial Museum of Dankook University picked some 40 items of menswear and 60 of women's clothing from its 10,000-piece collection of Chosun-era clothes excavated from burial sites since the 1960s. After thorough analysis of each specimen and review of the historical record, they recreated the garments that will be shown at the Hyatt Hotel on June 2 under the title "The Beauty and...

5/17/2006 - WASHINGTON -- Based on feedback received during visits with Airmen across the Air Force, the Air Force Uniform Board is reviewing several notional concepts that Airmen have suggested regarding the appearance of the service dress uniform. Some of the informal feedback about the current service dress includes Airmen wanting to revamp the service dress to look more military, like the other services. One senior airman said, “the current uniform resembles a cheesy business suit.” Another staff sergeant said, “think world’s most dominating air power, not CEO,” and another described it as a “cheap leisure suit.” Other comments have...

Police in Tehran ordered to arrest women in 'un-Islamic' dress · Taxi drivers responsible for clothes of passengers· Purge allied with effort to cut viewing of western TV Robert Tait in Tehran Thursday April 20, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Iran's Islamic authorities are preparing a crackdown on women flouting the stringent dress code in the clearest sign yet of social and political repression under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. From today police in Tehran will be under orders to arrest women failing to conform to the regime's definition of Islamic morals by wearing loose-fitting hijab, or headscarves, tight jackets and shortened trousers...

Today's celebrities are well aware of their responsibilities as role models but can well do without public interference in their private lives. As tennis star Sania Mirza says, “As long as I'm winning, people shouldn't care whether my skirt is six inches long or six feet long.” Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Wednesday, Sania said, “How I dress is a very personal thing.” Wearing a long-sleeved black-and-white shirt with conservative black pants, she was speaking out in public for the first time since a cleric issued a fatwa against the way she dressed on court. Sania, who...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana guard Stephen Jackson believes the NBA's new ban on bling-bling is racially motivated, but says he will abide by the rules. The NBA has announced that a dress code will go into effect at the start of the season. Players will be required to wear business-casual attire when involved in team or league business. They can't wear visible chains, pendants or medallions over their clothes. Jackson, who is black, said the NBA's new rule about jewelry targets young black males because chains are associated with hip-hop culture, and he said the league is afraid of becoming...