Do wedding dresses have to be white?

They say black, white, beige are sophisticated and red, yellow, orange are garish…vulgar.

Do you agree?

Would you wear a red wedding dress? Pink? Green?  

I’ve read somewhere that wedding dresses were once not white, then, according to vogue.com, Queen Victoria basically started another trend: 

“royal brides wore wedding dresses in a variety of hues, with red being one of the most popular, while white dresses were reserved for women who were being presented at court.”

If I were a seamstress, I’d break the trend for wearing white and I’d sew the most exquisite wedding dresses in different colours!

The Colours Of Our Lives.

I’ve seen a trend where the entire house is beige. Even the books are beige because the book-owner has turned the books on the shelves around so that the edges of the pages face the room. I’ve also seen homes where practically everything is white.

This is not for me. I want colour, but I do understand why someone would seek to create a monochromatic look for their home. It could be their way of finding calm in a chaotic world, of seeking to soothe themselves, to stave off anxiety.

Colours excite me; they take me outdoors, into the wild, into solitary places, into cityscapes of living art.

Quilt-A-Bit Fabric Store in WPB, Florida.

We use colours to identify ourselves with political, religious and social groups; to define ourselves as individuals. Colours can be important in many ceremonies. Unfortunately, power-mad people can try control what colours we should wear. (Read more here: The Proper Colour of Love.)

Sad to say too, the use of certain colours can be the cause for snobbery - I’ve known people who look down on those who prefer bright tones, seeing them as belonging to an inferior culture. White, beige and black are deemed sophisticated. Red, green, orange are seen as garish, loud, vulgar.

Despite the silly slots into which we fit colours, or perhaps because of these categories, there are entire industries built on the use of colours. Paint. Fabric. Interior decor. Event decor. Comfort. Style. Travel. Food. Sleep. You name it, colour plays a huge role in every aspect of our lives.

Are you interested? If you love playing with colours, what business would you create right there in your living room?

Made By Hands.

I’ve been thinking, writing about hands recently and the wonderful things we can create with them.

This week, I want to share the work of two women we’d normally not pay attention to.

Lisi-Tana is from Guyana, a fairly unknown country, ignored by most of the world because we once were deemed very poor. She now lives in the US where a vast number of people from Guyana migrated to in search of a better life.

Lisi is trying to create a place, through some of her art, where we can relax, find calm. In a world filled with noise, competition, where everyone is jostling to be heard, Lisi’s work feels like an oasis.

You can find some of her work at lisi-tana.com. These are cards, a calendar, stickers, digitally drawn, printed on the best paper. This enhances her work, giving it a bit of a snob-appeal. If you want to impress someone, try her art!

If you have steady hands, doing art, creating anything, is basically a breeze. Know why I say this? Try creating art, playing music, cooking and doing practically any daily chore, with hands that shake out of control! Emma Stubbs, writer, artist in Scotland, has managed to do all the things we do, despite her having to deal with Parkinson’s. 

Look at this!! Look at all that she has achieved! 

https://handshake.substack.com/

https://www.whostolemydopamine.com/

There’s also this ebook, a no-nonsense guide to Parkinson’s, which was created by her.

Get it here: Who Shook My Hand - Your No-Nonsense Guide To Parkinson’s.

The gift of hands...

There once was a young man who lived in his bed, paralysed. (I think he was from Indonesia). Despite his trials, he managed to write two books. He could move one finger. One letter at a time, lying down on his stomach, he completed his books.

Do you ever think about it that, only with your hands, you can fill the world with hope and dreams, you can heal others, play music, feed a crowd? Whatever your mind conceives, your hands can do.

If, therefore, you lost your job, had no other means of income, would you be able to use your hands to earn?

Would you do art?

Cook roti and chicken curry?

Raise chickens and sell eggs?

Make posters?

Beat drum?

Take photos?

Design a home?

A garden?

Build garden homes for pets?

 (Check the money tab for scores of ideas.)

I used to sew fabric handbags and sell them. I tutored English, made grammar games for my students.

One of my brothers' friends heals by using his hands. He's a massage therapist, and has helped many with bone and muscle injuries that doctors couldn't heal.

I often think, what if we could join hands, help each other, promote each others work, with just a tap of our fingertips online... how much would we achieve as a movement?

Hands up, all who agree to this kind of revolution!

Read more on neenamaiya.substack.com