Sober Is Sexy

“You don’t need drugs to have fun but you do need Sober Is Sexy to look good...”

Sober Is Sexy is a Los Angeles based clothing line - but it’s not only that. Oh no. Founders Hanna Beth (@HannaBeth) Bori Mischief (@BoriMischief) and Hayley Moriston (@GoAskHayley) believe that Sober Is Sexy is not only a clothing line, but also a motto and a movement. The pressure for teens, American, English or anywhere else in the world , to engage in taking various substances is massive and it’s only growing.

Sober Is Sexy (@SoberIsSexy) has sky rocketed since the launch in October of 2010 and that can only reflect on teenagers believing in themselves to say no their friends and to make their own decisions.

T-Shirts emblazoned with “Heroin Killed The Radio Star...” and “The Only Coke I Do Is Diet...” are being sported by some of the hottest young talent in LA as well as the regular American teenagers. For example Demi Lovato (@DDLovato) , the young Hollywood starlet known best for her roles in Disney’s Camp Rock 1 and 2 as well as her hit TV-show Sonny With A Chance, has been through a number of trials and tribulations in the last few years, involving alcohol and issues with self medication,  which resulted in a three-month long stay at Timberline Knolls.
Timberline Knolls is a leading residential treatment centre in the US (near Chicago) which helps women struggling with eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction, mood disorders, trauma and PTSD. Lovato entered the treatment centre only to be released a few incredibly tough months later with a life saving plan and the inspiration to get back on track – since then, she has also been a firm supporter of the Sober Is Sexy brand, being photographed sporting their goods around the US and most importantly drumming the motto that sobriety is attractive in young women into her fans across the globe.

When Twitter explodes with hashtags including; #SoberIsSexy  and #SoberIsTheNewBlack it gives me hope for our generation. We don’t have to be the way people label us. I know, just as anyone who doesn’t drink whilst at University, that it can be difficult in certain situations but I would rather stand up for myself and what I have come to believe in than ruin my night out because of social acceptability.

Sober Is Sexy ship worldwide, so check them out.
http://soberisexy.bigcartel.com/products
(5% of all the sales from the Sober Is Sexy website goes to a new substance addiction and abuse organisation which changes every six months. Currently it’s Friendly House LA (@FriendlyHouseLA.)

My Converse; My Safety Blanket

It is very, very rare that you will see me out and about not wearing my Converse High Tops. Let me just put that out there. Colour of choice; black, obviously (If in doubt, wear black)
My Converse are my comfort blanket, my safety shoes, my go-to footwear. In fact, I’m pretty sure I wear them every day. Every day, bar the occasional night out when I don my bad-girl boots AKA my Jeffery Campbell Lita’s in Black with Silver Studs. (I wanted the ones with gunmetal grey studs, but Selfridges & Co didn’t have them in stock. Still, I guess the silver studs are more dramatic.)

Anyway...yes. Converse. If I could, if I was allowed, I would probably get married in my Converse. I don’t see why not? The dress would probably cover my feet anyway so my Grandmother couldn’t be offended.  I’m sure Chuck Taylor makes all-white Converse? Totally wedding attire.  I think I would willingly wear Converse with any outfit; getting coffee with my friends –  a beanie, jeans and Converse, bar tending at work – black skirt, tights and Converse, on a date – blouse, blazer, jeans, Converse.
Follow Converse on Twitter - they "make rad sneakers and apparel" 

Follow J Campbell on Twitter for more bad-girl boots!

With my Converse on foot, there ain’t nothin’ I can’t do. J

What Fresh Hell Is This? A Brief Look at Dorothy Parker.

Razors pain you,
Rivers are damp,
Acids stain you,
and drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful,
Nooses give.
Gas smells awful,
You may as well live.
                                   Dorothy Parker – Resume (Enough Rope, 1926)

I first heard Resume when watching one of my favourite movies; Girl Interrupted (Angelina Jolie, 1999) and only recently have I learned it was a Dorothy Parker poem. Parker attempted four times to kill herself,  by means including slitting her wrists and an overdose, however death waited until all her friends were dead and blessed her with a fatal coronary on June 7, 1967.

Still, before her death in ’67, Parker was one of the most accomplished female writers of her time known for her dependency on alcohol (a result of failed marriages, miscarriages and affairs) as well as her sharp tongue and personal quotes still used today in modern culture.  Surely you have heard the phrase “What fresh hell is this?” or one of my personal favourites “You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.”

In my research for this piece, it would seem Dorothy Parker first said “What fresh hell is this?” to a caller who had interrupted her creative flow one day.  I’m sure we’ve all had moments like that. Having liked it so much, Parker took to answering the phone like this always; another trait to add to her character of sardonic wit and quick thinking.

Her horticulture line came to her in seconds. After her career took off at Vanity Fair, where she wrote theatre criticism temporarily as a stand-in for PG Woodhouse; Parker, her close friend Robert Benchley and Robert E. Sherwood began lunching at The Algonquin Hotel on a daily basis. This spawned the birth of the Algonquin Round Table. A group of witty writers would gather, muse on life, and toss ideas to one another, competing in writing exercises. Reminiscent of many creative writing classes, one idea was that they must use a certain word in a short poem. The chosen word; horticulture. Dorothy Parker’s attempt; “You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.”

I’ve chosen to look more into Dorothy Parker’s life more than her works because I supposed there must surely be some emotionally crippled, sarcastic, flippant woman of the 20’s behind her works.  Turns out I was right. Unbeknownst to her suicide attempts when I started this piece, it only intrigued me further. Why I didn’t catch on sooner, I’ll never know; with a book entitled Enough Rope (1926) you’d think that would have struck a chord? Although the chosen title of her book does pose questions, keeping her penchant for suicide in mind – is she searching for enough rope? Does she finally have enough rope? Will there ever be enough rope?