Wear, Watch, Want #36: The High Seas Canadian Tuxedo Edition
Wear: Lou & Grey Chambray Easy Shirt
This shirt is the best. Sometimes I find myself standing in front of my closet staring at my clothes and I have no idea what to pull off a hanger and put on my body, and I end up standing there, staring blankly at different options for far too long. Now that I have this wonderful Lou & Grey shirt in my arsenal, it's become my go-to for when I want something super easy that also looks pulled together. I throw this on with a pair of black jeans and boom, I'm done. It's so perfect that lately I've relied on it to help me look human when I feel like a garbage can about 2-3 times a week.
Watch: Black Sails
I originally started watching Black Sails as a show to have on while I was cross stitching. I tend to pick a series and work my way through it while I'm stitching - I can watch, but I'm sort of half-watching, mostly listening. During season 1, I was interested in the show, but it was still just a cross stitching show. Albeit a cross stitching show that I thought very highly of. Then I moved on to season 2, and at this point, I was watching episodes without having any stitching at hand - I was that into the show. It was just getting better and better and I didn't want to miss anything. By the time I finished season 2, Black Sails was just a few episodes into season 3, so I devoured those immediately, then had to impatiently wait through each week for my next fix (agony!). I was now at the level of viewership were I couldn't even have noise during Black Sails, let alone be working on craft projects.
The number one best thing about Black Sails is the fact that it's a pirate show that isn't centered around straight white men. Because if there's one thing I'm sick of it's the stories of straight white men. (Aaaand as I wrote that I realized that while that's completely true, it's also true that last week's Watch was Grantchester, which has two straight white men as its main protagonists.) I think the lowest anyone on this show gets on the Kinsey Scale is a 3. It's glorious. Normally, that's just true in my head, because it makes things more interesting. Like how when two men fight it always seems like they're about to kiss? So in my head I'm just like, ".... And then they kissed!" (Is that just me? Because I think there are few things more homoerotic than two men physically fighting each other.) On Black Sails, you'll think, "Hmmm, seems like these two bros are about to smooch." AND THEN THEY DO!
And it's not just the guys, the ladies get some lady action too, but it's not in a gross Game of Thrones way, where two women are having sex solely for the benefit of the male gaze. Nope! On Black Sails female relationships further the story AND benefit the women that are involved in the relationships. Plus, as you and I both know, lesbian drama is the best drama. The greatest scenes in Black Sails are, for me, between the women. The three main female characters are so different but they all intersect and it's done so deftly and fascinatingly and WAIT! I haven't mentioned yet that this show is produced by Michael Bay. Isn't that nuts? Because Michael Bay famously doesn't think of women as human beings! I have looked into this, and it appears that he owns one of the production companies that is associated with the show, so yes, his name is loosely tied to Black Sails, but it is by no means a Michael Bay project. In case that was something deterring you from watching (it was for me!) don't worry - there's no stink of Michael Bay anywhere on Black Sails.
I think part of why there's the Michael Bay connection (and I'm guessing that was played up in the promotion of the first season) is that there's some pretty great action in the show. When you're not treated to fantastic characters and well written women in thoughtful scenes together, you get some really, really great action sequences. Because the show is on Starz you get some really grisly depictions of high seas warfare. It's thrilling and tense and it always feels so real.
One last note: If you're a fan of costumes, this show is for YOU. The costumes are fantastic. There's a Tumblr I love called Fuck Yeah Costume Dramas and they have a Black Sails tag that highlights some of the women's costumes throughout all three seasons (it's spoiler-free, unless you want the costumes to be a surprise), but the men's costumes are just as fabulous as the ladies'. Max wears this dress in season 1 and I still think about it regularly (Max wears the best prints. So often I'm watching and I yell, "WHERE DO I BUY THAT FABRIC?!?!")
Want: Denim Shorts
I often see women in denim shorts and I think, "Look how carefree and cool looking she is! I want to be like that!" And I add "Buy denim shorts" to my t0-do list. But I'm that kind of cool denim shorts lady. My summer staples are dresses, and I have some really cute ones. But the idea of throwing on a pair of shorts and a tee is so appealing to me. I'm sure it would take trying on 100 pairs of shorts to find one pair that fit the way I want, and by then I might be over this need for denim shorts, but that's not deterring me. We had a crazy heat wave recently and it made me think about how I'm going to handle the heat during actual summer, and I got a little panicked. Maybe denim shorts will help me stay cool in the oppressive heat, or maybe they'll just lead me to feel like I'm pretending to be someone I'm not. Or maybe I'll just have to rely on my closet full of cute sundresses, which isn't a half bad plan B.
