Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Wardrobe Wednesday: Symmetry vs. Beauty in the Whole

The Power of Kindness: Choose to compliment the girls and women in your life for character traits, actions or talents you admire about them. The compliments that stick with you for a lifetime are often those that acknowledge your valuable qualities, like a good attitude, selflessness, talents, honesty and so much more than beautiful hair or a cute outfit. –Beauty REDEFINED, Sex Appeal and Thin Ideals, February 6, 2012

Many years ago, I read an article that stated that the people we consider to be the most beautiful have the most symmetrical faces; their eyes, eyebrows, ears and cheekbones are close to the same height and their features are close to mirror images of each other. They named a few celebrities, Denzel Washington among them, who were symmetrical. I'm not sure where I read the article, but I'm thinking Reader's Digest. Since that time, I've wondered how symmetrical I am and if perhaps I would be beautiful if I were more symmetrical. I used a photo of myself that I've always liked and did a little digital photo editing {technology is awesome!}. Here is the result.


This image makes laugh a little. The face on the left is my right side mirror imaged. I kind of look like a cartoon character. Obviously, that is my more angular side, and while there is a resemblance there, it is very slight. The face on the right is my left side, which is a bit softer, a bit rounder and perhaps a pretty face. It looks more like me, but I don't find that the resemblance is particularly great there either. What I find interesting is that I prefer the woman in the middle. In this case, the sum of the parts is not greater than the whole. The two sides of my face compliment each other.

To be fair, I did Denzel Washington too. The real Denzel is in the middle, his right side is on the left and his left side is on the right. I know, it's confusing.

Although she wasn't mentioned specifically in the article {that I can remember} I did Angelina Jolie as well. Again, the real Angelina is in the middle, her right side is on the left and her left side is on the right.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions about my mirror image experiment.

The media bombard us with the idea that appearance is the single defining characteristic of beauty. They are trying to make square pegs fit in to round holes. And rectangular pegs fit into round holes. And triangular pegs fit into round holes. They're even trying to make oval pegs fit into round holes. Why not let each peg, or person be her own kind of beautiful? Why not let each person's uniqueness characteristics define her beauty?

If appearance isn't everything, then why post about what's on my outside? Where does my What-Not-To-Wear-on-a-shoestring-budget experiment fit into all of this? Looking good on the outside goes a long way to making you feel good about yourself on the inside. Part of what Stacy and Clinton, the hosts of What Not to Wear encourage the contributors to do is to express who they are in the way they dress. If you're a beautiful person on the inside, why not show it on the outside? It is about finding the right balance.


Silver ¾-Sleeve Top
I'm not sure who the maker is because I cut the tag out. It was bugging me. But it came from Shopko.
Retail: $39.99
Out-the-door: $11.99

Levi's 512 Dark Wash Bootcut Jeans, Macy's
Retail: $54.00
Out-the-door: $36.32

Royal Blue Suede Platform Heels, Payless Shoes
Retail: $27.99
Out-the-door: $17.99

Red ¾-Sleeve Cardigan
I love this red sweater. I wear it a lot. I could use more ¾-sleeve cardigans in my life. I got this one second-hand for free. It started out as a mock twin-set and I re-purposed it because I liked the shape of the shell. The front panel, had a really high neck, so I cut it away, took off the buttons, dyed it from a sort of coral pink {because I already had a cardigan that color} to red, added some pretty pearl buttons with silver trim and voilá. A cardigan to dress up any outfit. Total cost in dye and buttons: $8.00.

8 comments:

barbara woods said...

that was fun but angilina looked like her self on all three

Cherie said...

Looks like a fun experiment! It's interesting to see how the media expects people to look. I think imperfect is the best look there is!
Love the outfit! =D

regan said...

I love everything about your outfit! And it looks great on you! Yay!

The photo experiment was really fun! I think neither of your fixed-pics look like you. Especially with the centered part in the hair. I find when I part in the middle, I look totally different.....weird, huh?

Denzel looks like he went on a diet on the left, and the pic on the right is of his older/goofier brother! ha!

Of course, Ms. Jolie would freak out if she saw the face on the left that is extra wide looking! Poor dear, would be on an instant purge! And the cartoon skinny pic on the right reminds me of Cruella Deville! Her lips are perfectly symmetrical, though! Freak! lol

Paulette said...

Interesting subject. I had heard that people find symmetry in facial features more attractive, but it appears you have illustrated how it isn't always so. I like your natural face. And wow, Denzel is really symmetrical. I have an asymmetrical face, most notably one eye slightly higher than the other and the jawline more pronounced.

You have Shopko there? That's a Wisconsin based store! Nice outfit yet again. Love those shoes!

whimsyfox said...

super cute outfit! you have the best shoes!!!

Angie said...

Have you ever read 'the pretties' books? If you haven't, I will sum up...in the future society is all baised on beauty. When you turn 16 they use surgury to make you into your pretty self. They do that by choosing your 'best side' and fixing your face, then your whole body to match your face. They unfixed people are the uglies (that is the name of the 2nd book). It was interesting to think how a person would handle that.

Jennifer Lovell said...

I loved studying the differences between all of those pictures. Fun! Do you think you could do that with a picture of me? Or, tell me how you did it?

I'm glad you have so much fun with fashion. Feeling attractive on the outside definitely helps you shine from the inside.

Jill said...

I definitly like the real you best!

And my favorite jeans are dark wash, too!