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caleb-p-lo · 7 years ago

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Character Development

So I decided to do a thing. (This was meant to be done a while ago. But school, work, and doctors appointments have been making my life a relay race.)

BASICS AND APPEARANCE:

Age? 23 Date of Birth? May 8th 1994 Hair color? Blonde Eye color? Blue Skin color/ethnicity/nationality? White; Hispanic & Dutch; American (3rd generation on both sides) Accent (if any)? He grew up in Ohio, so he has a pretty neutral American accent for the most part. But living in New York, he’s picked up a few little things here and there. Height? 6′1″ Weight? 175 lbs last he checked Tattoos? None (Yet) Piercings? None Birthmarks? A heart shaped birthmark on his right hip. Disfigurements? None Scars? He has a line about 3 inches long on the outside of his left leg, on the shin. Do they have any nicknames? Where did they come from?

Cal - shortened version of his name.

C - super shortened version of his name.

Brother Bear - his sisters call him this when he gets overprotective

Babe, Baby, Handsome, etc. (There are literally so many it’s ridiculous) - pet names given to him by Izzy.

Mijo, Baby Boy, Ducky - nicknames given to him by his moms Brittany and Santana.

P-Lo Shortened version of his last name.

How do they usually dress? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear jewelry? - How he dresses will change depending on where he is and what he’s doing.

Just hanging around? He’s probably in jeans and a tshirt.

Going out somewhere nice? He’s a master at the semi-formal look.

Sleeping? Sweatpants and a t-shirt when it’s cold; Shorts and a tank or shirtless when it’s hot.

He doesn’t own a whole lot of jewelry. He has a couple of watches that he rotates in and out. And a few necklaces and bracelets.

Is there anything about their appearance they wish they could change? - Cal’s body has gone through a lot of changes over the years. Going from constantly playing sports and training even on the off-season, to not playing any sports at all, changes a person’s body. And at first those changes were a little strange. But after 5 years, Cal’s settled in and he feels good in his own skin. So he wouldn’t change anything about himself right now. He’s healthy and happy, and he still likes how he looks with his shirt off, so he’s good.

How would they look as the opposite sex? - As the opposite sex Caleb would probably look something like Blake Lively or Eliza Taylor.

What do they smell like? Why (do they wear the scent or does it occur naturally)? - Caleb doesn’t wear cologne usually, so most of the time he smells like the laundry detergent from his clothes and his shampoo & conditioner. He only wears cologne on certain occasions and it will be something like Davidoff’s Cool Water or The Art of Shaving’s Vetiver Citron.

Do they have an accurate mental picture of their appearance (how they see themselves versus how the world sees them)? - Cal knows he’s good looking. But he’ll never understand the attention it brings him.

LOCATION: Where does your character live? Why did they choose it, and how did they acquire it? How do they handle intruders (graciously? violently?)? Describe the space. - Cal lives in a 2 bedroom spacious loft in Manhattan, NY. It used to be a loft shared by Kurt and Santana in their younger days when they were both kicking off their performing careers. The property still belongs to their parents but when Calebella decided to move to NY, Kurt insisted they live in the loft so he knew his daughter and granddaughter would be well taken care of. The only stipulation was, so they didn’t feel completely dependent on their parents, they would pay rent and all of their own bills. Thankfully they’ve yet to have any intruders pay them a visit. But if they were to, Caleb would definitely have a more violent reaction. His home is meant to be a safe space for his family and anyone who violates that will answer to him.

PREFERENCES: Favorite color? - Blue

Favorite music artists? Movies or TV shows? Books or authors? Actors? -

Music Artists: Too many to pick one.

Tv Shows: Law & Order SVU, Orphan Black, and currently, Sense 8.

Movies: Hercules and Aladdin (The Disney versions), the Dark Knight, and Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2.

Books: Peter Pan

Authors: Rick Riordan and Robert Ludlum.

Actors: Angelina Jolie, Rosario Dawson, Tatiana Maslany, Will Smith, and Harrison Ford.

Favorite animal? – Tigers & Dogs

What is their favorite time of day? Favorite weather? Season? -

Time of day: Evening. He enjoys having nights that are just down-time. Nights spent lounging around the house with his family are the best.

Weather: Sunny but with a small breeze so it’s not too hot.

Season: Autumn

Favorite food? Favorite drink? Hot drinks, soft drinks, or alcohol? -

Food: Mofongo Relleno de Churrasco (Fried Plantain stuffed with shredded beef)

Drink: Lemonade (Cold); Hot Chocolate (Hot); Whiskey Sour or Daiquiri (Alcoholic)

Political stance? Are they active in politics or do they not care? – For so many obvious reasons, Caleb is very very liberal. And given the recent political climate, he’s more active in social-justice and political movements than he’s ever been.

What are some of their pet peeves? – Coughing/Sneezing without covering your mouth; Blowing your nose at the dinner table; People having loud phone conversations in enclosed public spaces; People who try to judge him and his family.

What sort of gifts do they like? – He prefers sentimental gifts. They don’t have to be big or cost a lot, but things that someone put a lot of thought into mean the most.

Where do they like to spend their time? – Caleb spends most of his time back and forth between work (whether that be the show or the dance classes he teaches) and home. But on his down time you can find him training at the Dojo, or browsing the aisles in Barnes and Noble.

Do they have any pets? Do they want any? – No he doesn’t have any pets right now. But he’s definitely a dog person so he’d like one someday.

What relaxes them? – Music, Family (usually), Reading.

Do they have any bad habits? – Not really a bad habit but probably annoying, he taps on things when his mind is unoccupied. His main bad habit is holding in things when they bother him instead of talking about them.

HOBBIES: What are some of your character’s hobbies? What do they do with their time? - Not one to be idle, he’s always up to something. He teaches some hip-hop and Latin ballroom classes at a dance school not too far from their home maybe once or twice a month. His Martial Arts instructors from Lima helped him find Dojos where he could continue training. He can also be found fiddling with one of his instruments. And on a slow or rainy day, he’s probably reading in a corner somewhere.

ABILITIES: Where did they learn their abilities? –

Dance: Cal’s been mimicking his Momma’s dance moves since he could stand on his own two feet. But soon as she thought he could handle it, she enrolled him for classes at her dance school.

Singing: Santana was always singing around the house, so it was only a matter of time before their home became a live in sing-a-long. And as he grew, Caleb never grew out of it. Stage fright and Insecurity about his voice were grown out of with coaching and lots of practice.

Instruments: Self-Taught via YouTube University (with the exception of Guitar, which he actually learned from his Abuelo.)

MMA: He’s been taking Martial Arts since age eight starting with Muay Thai.

Sports: Aside from MMA, Caleb played Baseball in middle school and Football in high school. Football was his favorite between the two and under the tutelage of Coach Puckerman (Or Uncle Puck, as he knew him off the field), he got to be pretty good.

OTHER CAPABILITIES: How are they with technology? - Caleb is pretty handy with technology. He knows his way around most of the electronic devices he uses. He’s probably the one in a million who actually reads the instruction manual that comes with things.

Are they specially qualified in any particular field? Would they be considered at the top of the field? - Especially qualified? Probably not. He’s good at a lot of things but he wouldn’t say he’s at the top of those fields.

Have they ever been publicly acknowledged for anything? (Ex. Nobel Prize) - Not outside of high school.

Is there anything they’ve deliberately sought to improve at? - Caleb is always trying to hone his skills. And right now he’s focused on improving his acting abilities. He sometimes feels like he cheated his way into his profession somehow, having not been classically trained, but he’s working on it.

Do they speak more than one language? - Yes, Caleb is fluent in 3 languages. English, Spanish (he learned these both at the same time growing up), and French. He’s also got a decent conversational grasp of Italian but he wouldn’t call himself fluent.

RESOURCES: Why do they have their resources? How long have they had them, and how have they served the character over time? (Ex. Contacts, money, political power, fame, etc.) – Caleb was born into a fairly wealthy family, and his last name became something of a power in itself in the right environment. While that could be a good thing, it also made him very careful not to lean too hard on those things. Things like contacts and money were almost always in Caleb’s back pocket, but he more often than not chose not to use them. He preferred to get by on what he brought to the table rather than what was already given to him.

If they have an income, where does it come from? – Currently his income comes from performing as Gabe in the soon-to-Broadway production of Next to Normal.

Do they have a job? Do they like it? How do they feel about their co-workers? - Yes. (See above.) He loves it. It’s everything he wanted to be doing. It’s an original show and everything about it is amazing. His co-stars are fantastic people. He’s the baby of the cast and he’s found great mentors in his co-stars. They all have far more experience on stage than he does, but they don’t look down on him for it. They are very encouraging and recognize his work ethic and ability over his last name and associations (Kurt is included in associations of course) which he appreciates.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: What are some of your character’s more notable merits and flaws (including physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc.)? How did they develop? How has this helped or hindered them in the past?

Merits - Caleb puts the needs of his loved ones before his own needs in most situations. He’s the type of guy that will make sure you’re taken care of before worrying about himself. And when you’re struggling, he’s doing everything and anything he can to try and help. He wants to be the person you know you can call in a hard time. This comes from watching how his moms and grandparents are with their family. They’re always making sure everybody they care about is okay and Cal always found it comforting. He wanted to be that for his loved ones too. This can be seen as a flaw by some people. He’s been called a martyr before. But it doesn’t matter to him because he knows that no matter what, the people he loves most in this world know that he’s always there for them. No matter what. Caleb also tries very hard to not come across as judgemental, and he thinks he succeeds pretty well. He wants people to feel free to be themselves around him, whoever that may be, and be completely comfortable. This again came from his family, but it also came from his personal experiences. He’s been bullied before for other people’s lack of understanding. Cal is one of the most loving people you could ever meet. He has a big heart and he's always trying to make people around him feel appreciated and irreplaceable.

Flaws - He has quite a temper and when you’re on the receiving end, it’s not a fun experience. His anger doesn’t play favorites and unfortunately he’s a master at hitting where it hurts. So if he’s not careful, what would otherwise be a simple argument could turn into a fight to end a relationship. The running joke is he gets said temper from Santana, who everyone knows has a whip for a tongue. But he’d rather keep his contained. In the past, Cal has almost lost friends and loved ones because of his temper. A lot of people have a hard time dealing with the levels he can take things to and he completely understands why. He’s also not the best at dealing with things that upset him or make him insecure. It’s easier for him to pretend something doesn’t exist than to deal with the negative emotions surrounding it. This makes him pretty hard to decipher when he’s hurting, and even harder to help. Combine the two, and it makes for a sticky situation when you’re on his bad side. He can go from real emotional to feeling nothing at all, on command. And when you’re not ready for it, that quick 180 can be a little devastating.

RELATIONSHIPS AND HISTORY: What is their family history like? How does it affect them? How do they feel about their family? How does their family feel about them?

Caleb has always known since he was small that his family was different than how most people would define one. He didn’t have a mommy and daddy like many of his friends, but he was never ashamed of that. He was always proud to have two moms and he never let anyone take that from him. He knew that growing up with two moms was going to have its struggles. People would look down on him and them, they’d laugh, they’d tease him, but it just rolled right off of his shoulders. He would always just say they were just jealous, because there was more love in their household in a day, than most of those people would experience in a lifetime. Cal was extremely proud to be his mothers’ son. They were amazing women, and they did so much for not only their loved ones, but their communities.

But Cal’s family life did impact him in a way he wasn’t expecting. Caleb is bi-racial; one half Hispanic, the other half White. And inside the P-Lo home it obviously wasn’t an issue. Inside their home, Cal and his sisters were always surrounded by their culture. They even grew up speaking Spanish as their second language. But the kids quickly found out that once they were outside of their home, it was a lot harder to feel connected to that culture. Caleb took this lesson really hard as the years passed. Even now, Caleb finds it difficult to relate and in certain situations it does take a toll on him. But for now, as always, he pushes these things down and tries to focus on positives instead.

Caleb’s family loves him so very much. They are so proud of who he is and what he’s been able to accomplish. Although they are all scattered across the country sometimes, they are all as close as ever. His mothers still love to call and harass him as often as they have the chance (especially with all the wedding planning things they want to “help” with). And he is always in contact with at least one of his sisters throughout the course of his days.

CHILDHOOD: What were they like as a child? What was their favorite toy? Favorite game? - Caleb was kind of hyperactive as kid. He was always running around and climbing or jumping off of things. It made his moms pretty nervous when he was small. He also had a bit of a knack for finding trouble. In his early elementary school days, both his parents and school counselors were concerned because Caleb kept getting into fights with classmates. They were concerned that as he grew the fights would turn more physical than they already had, and they believed he needed extra attention to turn that behavior into something more productive. Hence, contact sports became Caleb’s new extracurricular activities. As a kid his favorite toy was probably his little plastic lightsaber that he would swear was real. He would clip it to his waistband and be off on his adventures. Actually there was a time period of about a year or so where he wouldn’t go anywhere without it. His reasoning? A Jedi can never be caught without his lightsaber. He wanted to be a Jedi so bad. He’s actually still waiting for his force abilities to kick in. Caleb used to love to play pretend when he was a kid. He would spend hours in an imaginary world having some crazy adventures. He would draw inspiration from movies and tv shows some days. And other days his mind would spin a brand new adventure of its own. His favorite adventures were the ones he could convince his sisters and his friends to join him on. Because as much fun as he had playing pretend by himself, it always made it a little extra special when there was another leading character in the story of the day.

Playmates? - Caleb spent a lot of time around the Hummel-Anderson girls when he was very small and they’ve been close since practically birth. When the P-Los moved back to Lima, he found quick best friends in Janey Puckerman and Lucky Morales. And after some convincing from his sister, Jason Puckerman eventually came around and found a friend in Cal too.

MEMORIES: Describe their best and worst memories from childhood: Best - Caleb spent a lot of time with his grandparents when the family moved back to Lima and he loved it. But there’s one memory in particular that always brings him joy. It was a time when Santana had a meeting to attend to in Los Angeles and Brittany was going to take the trip with her. It was only for the weekend but naturally they needed someone to watch the kids. They ended up staying the weekend at Abuelo and Abuela’s house and it was great. At one point in the weekend, the kids had the idea to build a fort in the living room. They were sure their grandparents wouldn’t allow it, but to their surprise, they even helped. Abuelo had started stacking chairs and side tables to make a high ceiling, and Abuela had grabbed all the pillows and blankets they could find. When it was all done, they had stayed in there the whole night having a movie marathon and the kids all woke up still in the fort, the next morning. The fort stayed up the whole weekend. That’s actually where Brittany and Santana found the kids (and Abuelo) when they came to pick them up Monday morning. From that moment on, every time the kids came to visit, they would beg to build more forts. And they only got crazier each time.

Worst - One of Cal’s worst memories was a confrontation that had happened when he was 11 The P-Los were out to dinner and some guy had came up to their family screaming at the top of his lungs. He had seen Brittany and Santana kissing and decided he needed to tell them (and the rest of the neighborhood apparently) how disgusting he found them and their “disgrace to wholesome traditional families”. He threw around a lot of words that Caleb didn’t really understand like “Abomination” and “Damnation” and some other words that he eventually learned to despise. Santana had absolutely lost it on the guy and if it weren’t for Brittany reminding her that their kids were present, she might’ve gone to jail that night for what she later said she’d been planning to do to the man. But the worst part was when the guy had gone so far as to start telling the kids that they weren’t really a family; he’d told them that they probably weren’t even related. There was a lot more that had been said that night but at some point Caleb had to tune it out because his sisters and Brittany were already crying, he didn’t want to cry too. For a couple of weeks afterwards, Cal was very distant from both family and friends and it took a while for him to open up to his moms about what that night made him feel.

WHERE IS HOME?: Where (and when) did they grow up? How did they view it as a child, and did that change as they matured? How do they feel about the place now? - Cal grew up in Lima, Ohio. As a kid he always thought it was an okay place to be. He liked it because all of his friends and his moms’ friends were here with them too but sometimes it was just a little too small (and small minded) for him. As he grew older, he realized more and more that Lima was only the product of the people who lived there. And not all of them were bad. It was still a kind of conservative place to live, but not nearly as bad as the Lima his parents had grown up in. The people were still quick to gossip and judge, but their kids were learning more about tolerance and cooperation (mostly anyway). Now, when Caleb thinks about Lima, he thinks about how it will always be a home to him. It was the place that watched him grow up; where he found a new kind of family in his best friends; where he fell in love; where he learned the lessons that would mold him into the man he is today. And maybe when he thought of it that way, it wasn’t so bad after all.

MENTORS & EDUCATION: Do they, or have they in the past, had a mentor? - Caleb had mentors in his parents, his grandparents, and even his “aunts and uncles”. But outside of them, Caleb had one mentor in particular that really helped him shape up. His Martial Arts Instructor, Cesar.

What was their relationship with this person, and how has it changed since then? - Caleb was brought to Cesar when he started having trouble in school with fighting and keeping his temper controlled. His grandfather and Cesar served in the military together back in their day and had been long time friends. So when Caleb was brought in, no time was wasted in getting his training started. But all the years he spent training, taught Caleb more than just how and where to throw a punch. As corny as it sounds, one of the most important lessons Caleb learned was how to walk away from a fight. He was taught self-control, patience, and that not every conflict needed to end with someone on the floor. It was this lesson in particular that was most important to keeping little Cal out of trouble. And if he’d never learned it, he might have been a completely different person today.

Cesar was always a strict but determined instructor. He made sure that all of his students were pushed to their fullest potential and Caleb was no exception. Now even though they no longer train together, they keep in touch through both social media and their shared connections. And when they end up back in the same town for a few days or so, Cesar is always ready to remind Caleb of his teachings.

What sort of education have they had? Do they want more? - Caleb graduated high school with honors. But he never necessarily wanted to go to college. He tried going to school with online courses for a little while but ultimately realized it wasn’t going anywhere. He was just wasting money on classes to fill requirements for a degree he wasn’t even sure he wanted. Not to mention the time schoolwork was taking out of his already packed schedule.

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES: Who is their closest friend, and why? What do they like to do with this person? - Caleb keeps a tight circle. He doesn't have a lot of close friends but the ones he does have are basically family. His closest friends are Janey and Lucky. Back when they all lived on the same side of the country, it was a lot easier to hang out together.

When Caleb and Lucky spent time together, it was always about distractions. There were parties to go to (there were a lot of them), sports to play, and pranks to pull. With Lucky, there was never enough time for Cal to sit down and be upset by whatever was getting him down that time. And even when there was nothing wrong, it was still a ton of fun. But now that they’ve both grown up a bit, they’ve calmed down. They’re still a couple of fools, but they’re a little more stationary nowadays.

Janey and Caleb have a completely different relationship. Janey had always been the person Cal would go to for heartfelt (also, usually good) advice, and emotional support. This meant quite a few heart-to-hearts during their excursions. Add in their similar thought processes and this meant a whole lot of geeking out too, sometimes a bit of existentialism thrown in for good measure. Oh, and food! Lots and lots of food. When those two got together, no diner or burger place within a 50 mile radius was safe

Do they have any rivals? Who and why? - Ohhh yes. There is definitely a rival in Caleb’s life. Although in recent years, it’s calmed down for the most part. Marc Vallieri and Caleb never got along. From the day they met, they were almost always on opposite sides of every line. And as they grew, it only got worse. Add in some pretty strong feelings for one Ms. Isabella Humderson, on both of their parts, and it was a recipe for disaster. Caleb tried to be civil while Izzy and Marc were together, but he also tried to not be around so it was a tricky situation. Then when they broke up, all bets were off. It got a little confusing during the on- and-off period but for the most part, Cal just tried to keep his distance. This was working out just fine until it started looking like Cal was finally going to get his chance with the girl he’d been crushing on since middle school. Marc didn’t like that. There were a lot of digs, a lot of jokes, and a whole lot of almost fights between the two boys. It even turned into an all out brawl at one point. (McKinley wasn’t ready for that one, but ask me about that later.) But eventually it turned into more of a stalemate when Caleb came to grips with Marc always being in Izzy and Noah’s lives; and when Marc realized that Caleb was a fixed feature in the family he could’ve had. Now they’re civil, for real this time, and both trying to make it work for the woman and little girl they share love for.

Have they ever been betrayed? By who, and how did it affect them? - The only time Caleb was ever really “betrayed” by someone was when his girlfriend junior year cheated on him. They’d only been dating a few months and it wasn’t a particularly serious relationship. Looking back on it, Caleb only regrets the time he wasted trying to fill a space with someone who wasn’t worth it. But her betrayal didn’t sting too bad in the long run. At first it messed with his head a little bit in terms of feelings of inadequacy. But his friends and family were quick to snap him out of that mindset. After that, though, all it did was make him more careful about who he spent energy on and who he brought into his life.

SEX AND ROMANCE: What is their sexual orientation? Do they ever question it? - Caleb grew up understanding that sexuality can be a fluid thing. It wasn’t something he ever questioned or actively explored, but his mind was always open to the possibility of having feelings for anyone regardless of sex or gender. But at 23 years old, he’s yet to feel any kind of serious attraction or romantic feelings for a man. And since he's about to marry the actual love of his life, it's probably a safe bet that he never will. So if you ask him, Caleb will tell you he's straight.

When did they lose their virginity? Who to? Where? What was it like? - Caleb lost his virginity during spring break of his sophomore year, to his girlfriend at the time. They were at her house and her mom had gone out for the day with her little brother. It was a little awkward as one could expect, being it was the first time for both of them. But all in all it wasn't a bad experience.

What is their favorite sexual fantasy? - Listen, cheerleaders are everyone’s thing. But when your fiancée actually used to be one, it just makes things a little more fun. And yes he knows it’s very cliché.

Do they have any particular fetishes or kinks? - Caleb doesn’t mind a little power struggle every now and again. He also gets a kick out of walking around with any marks Izzy’s given him, exposed. (Bites, Hickeys, Scratches)

What’s the strangest thing they’ve ever done in bed? - Well not strange in general but strange to Caleb. He had a headache one day and Lucky thought it’d be hilarious to slip him a little blue pill instead of the painkiller he’d been asking for. But joke was on Lucky cause as it turns out, medicine isn’t the only way to get rid of a pounding headache.

Is there anything in particular that they won’t do? - Anything involving degradation. He ain’t about it.

What are they attracted to in a partner? - Confidence. And he’s gotta admit, he likes a little fight.

RELATIONSHIPS PAST AND PRESENT: If applicable: Who is their current partner, and what attracted the character to them? - Isabella Hummel-Anderson is his fiancée . And he was initially attracted to her personality. He really just enjoyed the way being around her felt.

How did they meet? - They’ve known each other almost literally since birth. Their parents were close friends for years so naturally, since they were so close (geographically and personally) it was pretty much guaranteed that they’d be spending quite a bit of time together as kids.

How long have they been together? - Since October of 2011 so...5 years going on 6.

What kind of a relationship is it? - The two of them couldn’t find better matches in this world if they were given a millennium to search. If soulmates exist, they are definitely each other’s.

Do they have any plans for the future? - Broad future? Get hitched, raise a family, live happily ever after. Near future? Get through the wedding without killing somebody.

What would be their perfect date? - They’re disgustingly adorable so pretty much anything that involves them spending quality alone time together. But their perfect date night involves nothing but Disney movies, snacks, and cuddles. Also singing at the top of their lungs for all of their neighbors to hear.

Describe one of the character’s past relationships and what was significant about it. - Caleb’s only ever been in one other relationship that actually meant a lot to him. He started dating Alisa Souza their sophomore year. She was an army brat who’d moved to Lima the year before, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Her and Caleb shared some classes and they became really fast friends. It took them a while to start dating, but when they did, popular consensus was that they were the perfect couple. Their relationship was definitely important to Caleb because it was the first relationship he’d been in where he felt like it was okay to be himself. Every other time he’d tried to date, he always felt like he was meant to play a part. It was also the first time he genuinely thought he could move past his feelings for Isabella. This relationship became Caleb’s basis of comparison for the rest of his relationships up until he started dating Izzy. He learned to take note of different things that could make or (more likely) break a relationship for him; How comfortable he was with the person; How deep (or not) the connection really went; How valued he felt by the other person. The relationship ended because Alisa’s family moved away again, the summer after their Sophomore year. It hurt them both pretty bad, but they managed to stay friends until they eventually just drifted and lost contact.

Have they ever hurt someone they loved? - Unfortunately Caleb has. He wishes he could say he never meant to, but he’d be lying. Again, that temper of his does not play nice.

Do they fall in love easily? - Depends on who you ask. He’d say no, absolutely not. But others would say we’ll never know for sure because he’s been in love with one special someone for as long as anybody can or chooses to remember.

FUTURE: What are their dreams? What do they want to do someday? - Caleb always dreamed of being an entertainer. And he loves being able to do so in his current career. But he wants to expand his skill set and see what the film and tv industry has to offer. He’s actually already started trying, going on auditions here and there for small tv roles. But he loves the theatre so he has no intention of leaving it at this moment in time.

Are there places they want to go? Where and why? - Hawaii, Australia, Greece. Why? Cause he’s been told they’re beautiful places to be.

If these don’t apply already: Do they want to get married? - Again, engaged. Yes.

Have kids? - Already has a daughter, Noah.

Would they ever consider adopting a child? Why or why not? - Absolutely. Every child deserves love and to feel like they’re wanted. If he and Izzy can bring a child into their life and give them that, that’d be a beautiful thing for everyone involved.

HEROES AND OLD AGE: Who do they want to meet? - If Cal ever got the chance to meet Mark Hamill or Harrison Ford, he’d probably lose his shit. But it would be the best thing ever.

What about them is heroic? - Caleb’s willing to do whatever he has to do for his friends and family. He would bend over backwards to help them or protect them.

What would the character be like in their old age? - When Caleb’s an old man he’ll be that Grandpa that acts more like a kid than a grown up. His kids will be responsible for making sure he doesn’t run off to get into trouble. And if he manages to sneak away, he’ll be sure to sneak any little ones off with him. He’ll probably also be flirting with his wife like they’re teenagers all over again. It will make the kids cringe, the grandkids laugh, and the rest of the population “aww”. When he’s getting into his senior years, Cal’s going to definitely be older, hopefully wiser, and possibly in a motorized wheelchair. But he’s going to be the same goofball, wannabe Peter Pan he is now.

PLOTS: Describe one (or more) plots you would like to do.

Okay so fun fact, waaaaay back when this whole thing originally came together, I had been toying around with this one plot in my head. It goes back to the original storyline, but we carried some of this plot over so it still exists. Caleb used to be in a touring production of Spring Awakening. While he was going around the country (this is the part where things differ from the way we changed it), Izzy was still in Lima and then going to college in Florida. So one of my genius ideas at the time was this whole elaborate breakup plot that basically just involved the two of them being heartbroken and it shaking up every single relationship with every single person they’d been connected to. And it was great, in my head. There were also a few songs thrown in there for good measure. But ultimately, we never did it because Nicky wouldn’t let me release the angst. It’s okay though, i’m over it now, but it would’ve been a fun kind of shit show back in the day. Anyway, as far as plots i’d like to do currently...I have a list:

I’d really like to see the conversation that happens between Caleb and Marc that is essentially them burying the hatchet.

When Cal first meets Janey and Lucky

And a whole bunch of other ones that I have written down but won’t make sense until we release the list of changes.

VALUES: What is one thing in their past they’re ashamed of? - Trying to push the people that matter to him most away from him. Especially because of the ways he went about it.

One thing they’re proud of? - Caleb’s proud of himself for never giving into peer pressure to be someone he wasn’t. It was tempting sometimes to just go with what everybody else was doing so he wouldn’t have to deal with arguing with people. But every time that temptation came close, he would look around and see exactly the kind of people he didn’t want to become. And although it was a struggle, he made it out of McKinley as one of the few people who knew who they really were on the inside.

What is one thing they feel strongly about? - Equal rights for all.

One trait they admire? - Cal admires when people are willing to look beyond image, and when they’re willing to push past their own impressions, to see the real person underneath it all. He thinks the ability to judge people only on the content of their character is incredible.

What disturbs them? - One thing he will never understand is how people can be full of so much hatred for others. Especially when they don’t even know the person beyond a first impression.

Do the ends justify the means in their eyes? - Not always.

Would they be more likely to act for the good of one or the good of many? - Depends on who the one and many are.

Are they manipulative? - He absolutely can be when he feels it’s necessary.

Are they a leader or a follower? Why? - Caleb is definitely a leader. He might only be leading himself, but he’s okay with that. He refuses to be anything other than the most authentic version of himself, and if that means he walks alone, so be it.

What do they feel responsible for? (Ex. I owe it to the world to do this.) - Caleb feels responsible for taking care of his family and friends.

Do they believe that a person can redeem themselves from mistakes of the past? - Yes. He believes that people can change for the better and while they can’t change the past, they can learn from it and become better people for it.

What scares them? - Cal’s worst fear is not leaving behind a positive legacy when he’s gone from the world. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, or even for a lot of people. But he wants to be a positive influence in something or somebody outside of his own life. If not, he’s scared that it will mean in the grand scheme of things, his life served no purpose.

DEATH: How do they feel about death? Have they been significantly affected by it? - Caleb’s not afraid of dying. He’s not ready to die yet, but he doesn’t fear it. For him, the part of death that scares him is the idea of having to watch his loved ones die. That would break him in unimaginable ways. Luckily, Cal hasn’t lost anyone he’s particularly close to (he’s hoping it stays that way.) But he has come close a few of times. He’s even come close to losing his own life on a couple of occasions. And all it’s done is made him more grateful for the time he has, and the people he has around him.

How would they like to die? - Cal would like to die in his sleep. Sounds corny, but he’d rather go out in literal peace.

RELIGION AND BELIEFS: Is the character religious? What are their views, and why or why not? - Cal’s not religious at all. He’s agnostic but also polytheist. Basically he isn’t sure if any God exists or not, so why not believe in them all? He thinks the stories written in the bible and other religious texts are just that, stories. But there’s nothing wrong with telling a good story. His only issue with religion is that people then use these stories to cause pain to others and he’s not about that.

Do they value faith over reason or vice versa? - Reason and Faith each have their time to be valued, as far as Caleb is concerned. But he’s more inclined to value reason over faith. He can accept logical reasoning a lot easier.

Do they believe in an afterlife? - Yes. He’s just not sure which one he believes in. Right now, he likes the idea of Elysium.

Do they have any habits that reflect their beliefs? (Ex. regular prayer, vegetarianism, etc.) - None that can be recalled.

Do they respect the beliefs of others? - Of course. Everyone is free to believe whatever they believe. Just don’t use your beliefs to do any kind of harm to others and Cal has no issues.

RANDOM: First crush? - Alexa Vega in Spy Kids 2. He thought she was really pretty and funny and her attitude would be perfect for her to fit into his family.

Do they have any prominent sensory associations? (Ex. the smell of their mother’s perfume, the sound of ice cracking under their feet as a child, etc.) -

Sound: The sound of footsteps on the hardwood floor of an empty dance studio; The beeping of hospital monitors; Rain pattering against his window

Smell: Fresh cut grass; Fresh baked brownies; Burning charcoal

Sight: The stars from an open field; Flickering diner signs; The black and white old school movie countdown

Taste: Fresh popped popcorn; S’mores; Vanilla soft serve ice cream

Touch: Crushing fallen leaves in his hand; Soft pillows; The cold when you first dive into a body of water.

Stuck in a waiting room. Which magazine do they pick up? - National Geographic or Time.

#[character development]#[ooc: my apologies for any noticeable mistakes. if I edit this any more i'm gonna go nuts.]

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larsbjorge-blog · 5 years ago

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KAOHS 2016-07-156357

Photo by: Roman Kajzer @FotoManiacNYC FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / FLICKR / TWITTER

KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

On Friday, July 15th, 2016, hundreds of guests including top media, influencers and buyers, attended the WET Lounge, at the W South Beach, to experience a amazing runway show. Kaohs Swim debuted its Resort 2016 and Spring 2017 collections at the W South Beach in Miami, which included 22 new bikinis and three returning favorites: Hampton Salty bikini, Rie bikini and Gypsy bikini — famously worn by Kim Kardashian.

Kaohs Swim’s new collections featured touches of stretch denim contrasted with white nylon/spandex swim fabric, as well as simple, structured bikinis inspired by the 90’s embellished with silver rings, criss-crossing straps, sea shells, and one-shoulder tops. In addition to the three returning bikinis, the new collection included 16 new tops, two never-seen-before one-pieces, and 15 new bottoms. Many of the swimsuits were comprised of solid one-tone or color blocks of black, white, blush, peach, and denim sewn in high-quality swim fabrics made to withstand years of use. Seven new colors are offered in the 2016 collections, including an earthy-red hue (Mars), a muted purple (Purple Haze), a dark-bright-tropical blue (Fiji), a shiny metallic olive green (Gimlet), and copper (Penny).

The KAOHS 2017 collection show was easily one of the best shows at SwimMiami. The California-based brand’s vibe backstage was true to LA, with great energy brought by DJ Sam Blacky. KAOHS has gained some major heat, among influencers like Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, Rocky Barnes, Alexis Ren, Pia Mia, Natasha Oakley, and more ringing in the summer with these seriously sexy looks.

ABOUT KAOHS KAOHS Swim was born in 2013 when two best friends, Tess Hamilton and Ali Hoffmann came together to curate a line of swimwear inspired by sKAte, bOHo and Surf = KAOHS. They were zealous to launch a label that offered edge and functionality, all while showing a free spirited aesthetic. Their designs are for beach girls whose lifestyles demand comfortable and active (and sexy) beachwear. With swimsuits in a variety of cuts – from Brazilian to hipster and low to high – KAOHS Swim makes a swimsuit to flatter – and become the ultimate confidence booster for – every beach-going figure. Focusing on two-piece bikinis with a nod to one-piece swimsuits, KAOHS Swim’s collections feature edgy, feminine cuts, and a playful, modern, and earthy palette of colors. The high quality fabrics and seamless cuts were designed to compliment every shape of every woman. They really wanted KAOHS Swim to be the most perfect confidence boost when hitting the beach- or anywhere that calls for a good tan line!

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

After IMG announced in May 2015 that it would be pulling out of what was formerly called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, following the loss of its title sponsor, those involved had a lot of scrambling to do. Without a strong sponsor or an experienced organizer, could Swim Week even continue in all its stringy, deeply spray-tanned glory? True to the old adage, the show did go on thanks to the (somewhat) cohesive efforts of the affected brands, production companies and publicists.

A week spread between the sweaty Miami heat of three separate trade shows – Swim Show, Cabana and Hammock – of various personalities, with relevant brands occupying space in the show that suit their vibe. All of these shows are situated within walking distance of each other. Brands also have parties or fashion shows throughout the four days at nearby hotels and pools, making Miami Swim Week super busy and a whole lotta fun.

There is a lot to take in with over 25 external runway shows after 5pm, parties and the three simultaneous trade shows, but it’s plenty pleasing on the eye. There’s hot, Miami energy and it’s awesome to be seeing a preview of swim collections from the hottest brands for 2017.

MIAMI SWIM SHOW: The world’s biggest swim show which occupies the convention center with hundreds of brands from across the globe. Brands featured that we liked included Seafolly, Billabong, NLP Women, Kopper & Zinc, and Rhythm amongst hundreds of others.

CABANA: This is the boutique show where the brands showcase in two big, cabana-style tents near the beach with coconuts issued to buyers, media and guests on entry. A few of our faves included Beach Riot, Minimale Animale, Tori Praver Swim, Mara Hoffman, Bec and Bridge, Boys and Arrows and Bower Swim.

HAMMOCK: Situated in the W Hotel, with the coolest brands of today occupying the luxury suites to showcase their latest collection with their marketing teams and a bevy of hot models. Leading Instagram swim brands seemed to be the big brands in this year’s Hammock W show including Mikoh, Indah and Frankies Swim.

LINKS: fashionfilesmag.com/kaohs-swim/ estrellafashionreport.com/2016/07/kaohs-swim-at-swimmiami… allfashion.press/kaohs-swim-runway-debut-miami-swim-week/ www.instagram.com/kaohs_swim/ thelafashion.com/2016/07/20/kaohs-2017-miami-swim-week/ www.bizbash.com/kaohs-runway-years-swim-week-miami-includ…

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

-Micheline Bernardini models the first-Ever Bikini (1946) -"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (1960) -Annette Funicello and Beach Party (1960’s) -The belted Bond-girl bikini (1962) -Sports Illustrated’s first Swimsuit Issue (1964) -Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) -Phoebe Cates’ Bikini in Fast Times at Ridgemont High -Princess Leia’s golden bikini in Return of the Jedi (1983) -Official uniform of the female Olympic Beach Volleyball team (1996) -Miss America pageant’s bikini debut (1997)

The history of the bikini can be traced back to antiquity. Illustrations of Roman women wearing bikini-like garments during competitive athletic events have been found in several locations. The most famous of them is Villa Romana del Casale. French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini, modeled by Micheline Bernardini, on July 5, 1946, borrowing the name for his design from the Bikini Atoll, where post-war testing on the atomic bomb was happening.

French women welcomed the design, but the Catholic Church, some media, and a majority of the public initially thought the design was risque or even scandalous. Contestants in the first Miss World beauty pageant wore them in 1951, but the bikini was then banned from the competition. Actress Bridget Bardot drew attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on the beach during the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. Other actresses, including Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, also gathered press attention when they wore bikinis. During the early 1960’s, the design appeared on the cover of Playboy and Sports Illustrated, giving it additional legitimacy. Ursula Andress made a huge impact when she emerged from the surf wearing what is now an iconic bikini in the James Bond movie Dr. No (1962). The deer skin bikini Raquel Welch wore in the film One Million Years B.C. (1966) turned her into an international sex symbol and was described as a definitive look of the 1960’s.

The bikini gradually grew to gain wide acceptance in Western society. According to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, the bikini is perhaps the most popular type of female beachwear around the globe because of "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $ 811 million business annually, and boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning.

Interval

Between the classical bikinis and the modern bikini there has been a long interval. Swimming or outdoor bathing were discouraged in the Christian West and there was little need for a bathing or swimming costume till the 18th century. The bathing gown in the 18th century was a loose ankle-length full-sleeve chemise-type gown made of wool or flannel, so that modesty or decency was not threatened. In the first half of 19th century the top became knee-length while an ankle-length drawer was added as a bottom. By the second half of 19th century, in France, the sleeves started to vanish, the bottom became shorter to reach only the knees and the top became hip-length and both became more form fitting. In the 1900’s women wore wool dresses on the beach that were made of up to 9 yards (8.2 m) of fabric. That standard of swimwear evolved into the modern bikini in the first of half of the 20th century.

Breakthrough

In 1907, Australian swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman was arrested on a Boston beach for wearing a form-fitting sleeveless one-piece knitted swimming tights that covered her from neck to toe, a costume she adopted from England, although it became accepted swimsuit attire for women in parts of Europe by 1910. Even in 1943, pictures of the Kellerman swimsuit were produced as evidence of indecency in Esquire v. Walker, Postmaster General. But, Harper’s Bazaar wrote in June 1920 (vol. 55, no. 6, p. 138) – "Annette Kellerman Bathing Attire is distinguished by an incomparable, daring beauty of fit that always remains refined." The following year, in June 1921 (vol. 54, no. 2504, p. 101) it wrote that these bathing suits were "famous … for their perfect fit and exquisite, plastic beauty of line."

Female swimming was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1913, inspired by that breakthrough, the designer Carl Jantzen made the first functional two-piece swimwear, a close-fitting one-piece with shorts on the bottom and short sleeves on top. Silent films such as The Water Nymph (1912) saw Mabel Normand in revealing attire, and this was followed by the daringly dressed Sennett Bathing Beauties (1915–1929). The name "swim suit" was coined in 1915 by Jantzen Knitting Mills, a sweater manufacturer who launched a swimwear brand named the Red Diving Girl,. The first annual bathing-suit day at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1916 was a landmark. The swimsuit apron, a design for early swimwear, disappeared by 1918, leaving a tunic covering the shorts.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, people began to shift from "taking in the water" to "taking in the sun," at bathhouses and spas, and swimsuit designs shifted from functional considerations to incorporate more decorative features. Rayon was used in the 1920’s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits, but its durability, especially when wet, proved problematic, with jersey and silk also sometimes being used. Burlesque and vaudeville performers wore two-piece outfits in the 1920’s. The 1929 film "Man with a Movie Camera" shows Russian women wearing early two-piece swimsuits which expose their midriff, and a few who are topless. Films of holidaymakers in Germany in the 1930’s show women wearing two-piece suits,

Necklines and midriff

By the 1930’s, necklines plunged at the back, sleeves disappeared and sides were cut away and tightened. With the development of new clothing materials, particularly latex and nylon, through the 1930’s swimsuits gradually began hugging the body, with shoulder straps that could be lowered for tanning. Women’s swimwear of the 1930’s and 1940’s incorporated increasing degrees of midriff exposure. Coco Chanel made suntans fashionable, and in 1932 French designer Madeleine Vionnet offered an exposed midriff in an evening gown. They were seen a year later in Gold Diggers of 1933. The Busby Berkeley film Footlight Parade of 1932 showcases aqua-choreography that featured bikinis. Dorothy Lamour’s The Hurricane (1937) also showed two-piece bathing suits.

The 1934 film, Fashions of 1934 featured chorus girls wearing two-piece outfits which look identical to modern bikinis. In 1934, a National Recreation Association study on the use of leisure time found that swimming, encouraged by the freedom of movement the new swimwear designs provided, was second only to movies in popularity as free time activity out of a list of 94 activities. In 1935 American designer Claire McCardell cut out the side panels of a maillot-style bathing suit, the bikini’s forerunner. The 1938 invention of the Telescopic Watersuit in shirred elastic cotton ushered into the end the era of wool. Cotton sun-tops, printed with palm trees, and silk or rayon pajamas, usually with a blouse top, became popular by 1939. Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber. In 1942 the United States War Production Board issued Regulation L-85, cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women’s beachwear. To comply with the regulations, swimsuit manufacturers produced two-piece suits with bare midriffs.

Postwar

Fabric shortage continued for some time after the end of the war. Two-piece swimsuits without the usual skirt panel and other excess material started appearing in the US when the government ordered a 10% reduction in fabric used in woman’s swimwear in 1943 as wartime rationing. By that time, two-piece swimsuits were frequent on American beaches. The July 9, 1945, Life shows women in Paris wearing similar items. Hollywood stars like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner tried similar swimwear or beachwear. Pin ups of Hayworth and Esther Williams in the costume were widely distributed. The most provocative swimsuit was the 1946 Moonlight Buoy, a bottom and a top of material that weighed only eight ounces. What made the Moonlight Buoy distinctive was a large cork buckle attached to the bottoms, which made it possible to tie the top to the cork buckle and splash around au naturel while keeping both parts of the suit afloat. Life magazine had a photo essay on the Moonlight Buoy and wrote, "The name of the suit, of course, suggests the nocturnal conditions under which nude swimming is most agreeable."

American designer Adele Simpson, a Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards winner (1947) and a notable alumna of the New York art school Pratt Institute, who believed clothes must be comfortable and practical, designed a large part of her swimwear line with one-piece suits that were considered fashionable even in early 1980’s. This was when Cole of California started marketing revealing prohibition suits and Catalina Swimwear introduced almost bare-back designs. Teen magazines of late 1940’s and 1950’s featured designs of midriff-baring suits and tops. However, midriff fashion was stated as only for beaches and informal events and considered indecent to be worn in public. Hollywood endorsed the new glamour with films such as Neptune’s Daughter (1949) in which Esther Williams wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child". Williams, who also was an Amateur Athletic Union champion in the 100 meter freestyle (1939) and an Olympics swimming finalist (1940), also portrayed Kellerman in the 1952 film Million Dollar Mermaid (titled as The One Piece Bathing Suit in UK).

Swimwear of the 1940’s, 50’s and early 60’s followed the silhouette mostly from early 1930’s. Keeping in line with the ultra-feminine look dominated by Dior, it evolved into a dress with cinched waists and constructed bust-lines, accessorized with earrings, bracelets, hats, scarves, sunglasses, hand bags and cover-ups. Many of these pre-bikinis had fancy names like Double Entendre, Honey Child (to maximize small bosoms), Shipshape (to minimize large bosoms), Diamond Lil (trimmed with rhinestones and lace), Swimming In Mink (trimmed with fur across the bodice) and Spearfisherman (heavy poplin with a rope belt for carrying a knife), Beau Catcher, Leading Lady, Pretty Foxy, Side Issue, Forecast, and Fabulous Fit. According to Vogue the swimwear had become more of "state of dress, not undress" by mid-1950’s.

The modern bikini

French fashion designer Jacques Heim, who owned a beach shop in the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, introduced a minimalist two-piece design in May 1946 which he named the "Atome," after the smallest known particle of matter. The bottom of his design was just large enough to cover the wearer’s navel.

At the same time, Louis Réard, a French automotive and mechanical engineer, was running his mother’s lingerie business near Les Folies Bergères in Paris. He noticed women on St. Tropez beaches rolling up the edges of their swimsuits to get a better tan and was inspired to produce a more minimal design. He trimmed additional fabric off the bottom of the swimsuit, exposing the wearer’s navel for the first time. Réard’s string bikini consisted of four triangles made from 30 square inches (194 cm2) of fabric printed with a newspaper pattern.

When Réard sought a model to wear his design at his press conference, none of the usual models would wear the suit, so he hired 19 year old nude dancer Micheline Bernardini from the Casino de Paris. He introduced his design to the media and public on July 5, 1946, in Paris at Piscine Molitor, a public pool in Paris. Réard held the press conference five days after the first test of a nuclear device (nicknamed Able) over the Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads. His swimsuit design shocked the press and public because it was the first to reveal the wearer’s navel.

To promote his new design, Heim hired skywriters to fly above the Mediterranean resort advertising the Atome as "the world’s smallest bathing suit." Not to be outdone by Heim, Réard hired his own skywriters three weeks later to fly over the French Riviera advertising his design as "smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Heim’s design was the first to be worn on the beach, but the name given by Réard stuck with the public. Despite significant social resistance, Réard received more than 50,000 letters from fans. He also initiated a bold ad campaign that told the public a two-piece swimsuit was not a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring." According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it."

Social resistance

Bikini sales did not pick up around the world as women stuck to traditional two-piece swimsuits. Réard went back to designing conventional knickers to sell in his mother’s shop. According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it, just like the upper-class European women who first cast off their corsets after World War I." It was banned in the French Atlantic coastline, Spain, Belgium and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Portugal and Australia, and it was prohibited in some US states, and discouraged in others.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest (originally the Festival Bikini Contest), was organized by Eric Morley. When the winner, Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. Håkansson remains the first and last Miss World to be crowned in her bikini, a crowning that was condemned by Pope Pius XII who declared the swimsuit to be sinful. Bikinis were banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. In 1949 the Los Angeles Times reported that Miss America Bebe Shopp on her visit to Paris said she did not approve the bikini for American girls, though she did not mind French girls wearing them. Actresses in movies like My Favorite Brunette (1947) and the model on a 1948 cover of LIFE were shown in traditional two-piece swimwear, not the bikini.

In 1950, Time magazine interviewed American swimsuit mogul Fred Cole, owner of Cole of California, and reported that he had "little but scorn for France’s famed Bikinis," because they were designed for "diminutive Gallic women". "French girls have short legs," he explained, "Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer." Réard himself described it as a two-piece bathing suit which "reveals everything about a girl except for her mother’s maiden name." Even Esther Williams commented, "A bikini is a thoughtless act." But, popularity of the charms of Pin-up queen and Hollywood star Williams were to vanish along with pre-bikinis with fancy names over the next few decades. Australian designer Paula Straford introduced the bikini to Gold Coast in 1952. In 1957, Das moderne Mädchen (The Modern Girl) wrote, "It is unthinkable that a decent girl with tact would ever wear such a thing." Eight years later a Munich student was punished to six days cleaning work at an old home because she had strolled across the central Viktualienmarkt square, Munich in a bikini.

The Cannes connection

Despite the controversy, some in France admired "naughty girls who decorate our sun-drenched beaches". Brigitte Bardot, photographed wearing similar garments on beaches during the Cannes Film Festival (1953) helped popularize the bikini in Europe in the 1950’s and created a market in the US. Photographs of Bardot in a bikini, according to The Guardian, turned Saint-Tropez into the bikini capital of the world. Cannes played a crucial role in the career of Brigitte Bardot, who in turn played a crucial role in promoting the Festival, largely by starting the trend of being photographed in a bikini at her first appearance at the festival, with Bardot identified as the original Cannes bathing beauty. In 1952, she wore a bikini in Manina, the Girl in the Bikini (1952) (released in France as Manina, la fille sans voiles), a film which drew considerable attention due to her scanty swimsuit. During the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, she worked with her husband and agent Roger Vadim, and garnered a lot of attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on every beach in the south of France.

Like Esther Williams did a decade earlier, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot all used revealing swimwear as career props to enhance their sex appeal, and it became more accepted in parts of Europe when worn by fifties "love goddess" actresses such as Bardot, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren. British actress Diana Dors had a mink bikini made for her during the 1955 Venice Film Festival and wore it riding in a gondola down Venice’s Grand Canal past St. Mark’s Square.

In Spain, Benidorm played a similar role as Cannes. Shortly after the bikini was banned in Spain, Pedro Zaragoza, the mayor of Benidorm convinced dictator Francisco Franco that his town needed to legalize the bikini to draw tourists. In 1959, General Franco agreed and the town became a popular tourist destination. Interestingly, in less than four years since Franco’s death in 1979, Spanish beaches and women had gone topless.

Legal and moral resistance

The swimsuit was declared sinful by the Vatican and was banned in Spain, Portugal and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Belgium and Australia, and it remained prohibited in many US states. As late as in 1959, Anne Cole, a US swimsuit designer and daughter of Fred Cole, said about a Bardot bikini, "It’s nothing more than a G-string. It’s at the razor’s edge of decency." In July that year the New York Post searched for bikinis around New York City and found only a couple. Writer Meredith Hall wrote in her memoir that till 1965 one could get a citation for wearing a bikini in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest, originally the Festival Bikini Contest, was organized by Eric Morley as a mid-century advertisement for swimwear at the Festival of Britain. The press welcomed the spectacle and referred to it as Miss World, and Morley registered the name as a trademark. When, the winner Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. The bikinis were outlawed and evening gowns introduced instead. Håkansson remains the only Miss World crowned in a bikini, a crowning that was condemned by the Pope. Bikini was banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. Catholic-majority countries like Belgium, Italy, Spain and Australia also banned the swimsuit that same year.

The National Legion of Decency pressured Hollywood to keep bikinis from being featured in Hollywood movies. The Hays production code for US movies, introduced in 1930 but not strictly enforced till 1934, allowed two-piece gowns but prohibited navels on screen. But between the introduction and enforcement of the code two Tarzan movies, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), were released in which actress Maureen O’Sullivan wore skimpy bikini-like leather outfits. Film historian Bruce Goldstein described her clothes in the first film as "It’s a loincloth open up the side. You can see loin." All at sea was allowed in the USA in 1957 after all bikini-type clothes were removed from the film. The girl in the bikini was allowed in Kansas after all the bikini close ups were removed from the film in 1959.

In reaction to the introduction of the bikini in Paris, American swimwear manufacturers compromised cautiously by producing their own similar design that included a halter and a midriff-bottom variation. Though size makes all the difference in a bikini, early bikinis often covered the navel. When the navel showed in pictures, it was airbrushed out by magazines like Seventeen. Navel-less women ensured the early dominance of European bikini makers over their American counterparts. By the end of the decade a vogue for strapless styles developed, wired or bound for firmness and fit, along with a taste for bare-shouldered two-pieces called Little Sinners. But, it was the halterneck bikini that caused the most moral controversy because of its degree of exposure. So much so as bikini designs called "Huba Huba" and "Revealation" were withdrawn from fashion parades in Sydney as immodest.

Rise to popularity

The appearance of bikinis kept increasing both on screen and off. The sex appeal prompted film and television productions, including Dr. Strangelove. They include the surf movies of the early 1960’s. In 1960, Brian Hyland’s song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, followed by Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) that depicted teenage girls wearing bikinis, frolicking in the sand with boys, and having a great time.

The beach films led a wave of films that made the bikini pop-culture symbol. In the sexual revolution in 1960’s America, bikinis became quickly popular. Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, and Jane Russell helped further the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin-up posters of Monroe, Mansfield, Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch also contributed significantly to its increasing popularity. In 1962, Playboy featured a bikini on its cover for the first time. Two years later, Sports Illustrated featured Berlin-born fashion model Babette March on the cover wearing a white bikini. The issue was the first Swimsuit Issue. It gave the bikini legitimacy, became an annual publication and an American pop-culture staple, and sells millions of copies each year. In 1965, a woman told Time it was "almost square" not to wear one. In 1967 the magazine wrote that 65% of "the young set" were wearing bikinis.

When Jayne Mansfield and her husband Miklós Hargitay toured for stage shows, newspapers wrote that Mansfield convinced the rural population that she owned more bikinis than anyone. She showed a fair amount of her 40-inch (1,000 mm) bust, as well as her midriff and legs, in the leopard-spot bikini she wore for her stage shows. Kathryn Wexler of The Miami Herald wrote, "In the beginning as we know it, there was Jayne Mansfield. Here she preens in leopard-print or striped bikinis, sucking in air to showcase her well noted physical assets." Her leopard-skin bikini remains one of the earlier specimens of the fashion.

In 1962, Bond Girl Ursula Andress emerged from the sea wearing a white bikini in Dr. No. The scene has been named one of the most memorable of the series. Channel 4 declared it the top bikini moment in film history, Virgin Media puts it ninth in its top ten, and top in the Bond girls. The Herald (Glasgow) put the scene as best ever on the basis of a poll. It also helped shape the career of Ursula Andress, and the look of the quintessential Bond movie. Andress said that she owed her career to that white bikini, remarking, "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent." In 2001, the Dr. No bikini worn by Andress in the film sold at auction for US$61,500. That white bikini has been described as a "defining moment in the sixties liberalization of screen eroticism". Because of the shocking effect from how revealing it was at the time, she got referred to by the joke nickname "Ursula Undress". According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, "So iconic was the look that it was repeated 40 years later by Halle Berry in the Bond movie Die Another Day."

Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) gave the world the most iconic bikini shot of all time and the poster image became an iconic moment in cinema history. The poster image of the deer skin bikini in One Million Years B.C. made her an instant pin-up girl. Welch was featured in the studio’s advertising as "wearing mankind’s first bikini" and the bikini was later described as a "definitive look of the 1960’s". Her role wearing the leather bikini raised Welch to a fashion icon and the photo of her in the bikini became a best-selling pinup poster. One author said, "although she had only three lines in the film, her luscious figure in a fur bikini made her a star and the dream girl of millions of young moviegoers". In 2011, Time listed Welch’s B.C. bikini in the "Top Ten Bikinis in Pop Culture".

In the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, Star Wars’ Princess Leia Organa was captured by Jabba the Hutt and forced to wear a metal bikini complete with shackles. The costume was made of brass and was so uncomfortable that actress Carrie Fisher described it as "what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell." The "slave Leia" look is often imitated by female fans at Star Wars conventions. In 1997, 51 years after the bikini’s debut, and 77 years after the Miss America Pageant was founded, contestants were allowed wear two-piece swimsuits, not just the swimsuits (nicknamed "bulletproof vests") traditionally issued by the pageant. Two of the 17 swimsuit finalists wore two-piece swimsuits, and Erika Kauffman, representing Hawaii, wore the briefest bikini of all and won the swimsuit competition. In 2010, the International Federation of Bodybuilders recognized Bikini as a new competitive category.

In India

Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore appeared in a bikini in An Evening in Paris (1967), a film mostly remembered for the first bikini appearance of an Indian actress. She also posed in a bikini for the glossy Filmfare magazine. The costume shocked the conservative Indian audience, but it also set a trend of bikini-clad actresses carried forward by Parveen Babi (in Yeh Nazdeekiyan, 1982), Zeenat Aman (in Heera Panna 1973; Qurbani, 1980) and Dimple Kapadia (in Bobby, 1973) in the early 1970’s. Wearing a bikini put her name in the Indian press as one of Bollywood’s ten hottest actresses of all time, and was a transgression of female identity through a reversal of the state of modesty, which functions as a signifier of femininity in Bombay films. By 2005, it became usual for actors in Indian films to change outfits a dozen times in a single song — starting with a chiffon sari and ending up wearing a bikini. But, when Tagore was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2005, she expressed concerns about the rise of the bikini in Indian films.

Acceptance

In France, Réard’s company folded in 1988, four years after his death. By that year the bikini made up nearly 20% of swimsuit sales, more than any other model in the US. As skin cancer awareness grew and a simpler aesthetic defined fashion in the 1990s, sales of the skimpy bikini decreased dramatically. The new swimwear code was epitomized by surf star Malia Jones, who appeared on the June 1997 cover of Shape Magazine wearing a halter top two-piece for rough water. After the 90’s, however, the bikini came back again. US market research company NPD Group reported that sales of two-piece swimsuits nationwide jumped 80% in two years. On one hand the one-piece made a big comeback in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, on the other bikinis became briefer with the string bikini in the 1970’s and 80’s.

The "-kini family" (as dubbed by author William Safire), including the "-ini sisters" (as dubbed by designer Anne Cole) has grown to include a large number of subsequent variations, often with a hilarious lexicon — string bikini, monokini or numokini (top part missing), seekini (transparent bikini), tankini (tank top, bikini bottom), camikini (camisole top and bikini bottom), hikini, thong, slingshot, minimini, teardrop, and micro. In just one major fashion show in 1985, there were two-piece suits with cropped tank tops instead of the usual skimpy bandeaux, suits that are bikinis in front and one-piece behind, suspender straps, ruffles, and daring, navel-baring cutouts. To meet the fast changing tastes, some of the manufacturers have made a business out of making made-to-order bikinis in around seven minutes. The world’s most expensive bikini, made up of over 150 carats (30 g) of flawless diamonds and worth a massive £20 million, was designed in February 2006 by Susan Rosen.

Actresses in action films like Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Blue Crush (2002) have made the two-piece "the millennial equivalent of the power suit", according to Gina Bellafonte of The New York Times, On September 9, 1997, Miss Maryland Jamie Fox was the first contestant in 50 years to compete in a two-piece swimsuit to compete in the Preliminary Swimsuit Competition at the Miss America Pageant. PETA used celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Traci Bingham and Alicia Mayer wearing a bikini made of iceberg-lettuce for an advertisement campaign to promote vegetarianism. A protester from Columbia University used a bikini as a message board against a New York City visit by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By the end of the century, the bikini went on to become the most popular beachwear around the globe, according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women", though one survey tells 85% of all bikinis never touch the water. According to Beth Dincuff Charleston, research associate at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The bikini represents a social leap involving body consciousness, moral concerns, and sexual attitudes." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $811 million business annually, according to the NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries.

Continued controversies

The bikini remained a hot topic for the news media. In May 2011, Barcelona, Spain made it illegal to wear bikinis in public except in areas near the beaches. Violators face fines of between 120 and 300 euros. In 2012, two students of St. Theresa’s College in Cebu, the Philippines were barred from attending their graduation ceremony for "ample body exposure" because their bikini pictures were posted on Facebook. The students sued the college and won a temporary stay in a regional court.

In May 2013, Cambridge University banned the Wyverns Club of Magdalene College from arranging its annual bikini jelly wrestling. In June 2013, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also is interested in fashion, produced a bikini for her clothing line that is designed to be worn by girls 4 to 8 years old. She was criticized for sexualizing young children by Claude Knight of Kidscape, a British foundation that strives to prevent child abuse. He commented, "We remain very opposed to the sexualization of children and of childhood … is a great pity that such trends continue and that they carry celebrity endorsement."

Four women were arrested over the 2013 Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for indecent exposure when they wore thong bikinis that exposed their buttocks. In June 2013, the British watchdog agency Advertising Standards Authority banned a commercial that showed men in an office fantasizing about their colleague, played by Pamela Anderson, in a bikini for degrading women.

Links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_variants en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimsuit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_in_popular_culture en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure_in_the_United_States

Posted by FotoManiacNYC on 2017-01-11 07:28:31

Tagged: , KAOHS , designer , SS17 , collection , SpringSummer , 2016 , Miami , South Beach , W Hotel , W , swimming , pool , Florida , Swim Week , fashion week , clothing , bikini , swimwear , swimsuit , fashion , walking , catwalk , runway , designs , trendy , new , preview , sexy , beautiful , topless , almost , nude , naked , boobs , butt , booty , model , agency , nycphotographer , long legs , legs , heels , chic , flirting , teasing , presenting , hair , long hair , makeup , eyes , lips , thin , fit , body , tall , MIAMISWIM , SWIMMIAMI , FUNKSHION , curvy , woman , female , girl , show , vacation , vacations , sunbathing

The post KAOHS 2016-07-156357 appeared first on Good Info.

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larsbjorge-blog · 5 years ago

Text

KAOHS 2016-07-155699

Photo by: Roman Kajzer @FotoManiacNYC FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / FLICKR / TWITTER

KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

Interval

Breakthrough

Necklines and midriff

Postwar

The modern bikini

Social resistance

The Cannes connection

Legal and moral resistance

Rise to popularity

In India

Acceptance

Continued controversies

Links:

Posted by FotoManiacNYC on 2017-01-11 07:30:48

The post KAOHS 2016-07-155699 appeared first on Good Info.

0 notes

larsbjorge-blog · 5 years ago

Text

KAOHS 2016-07-156368

Photo by: Roman Kajzer @FotoManiacNYC FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / FLICKR / TWITTER

KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

Interval

Breakthrough

Necklines and midriff

Postwar

The modern bikini

Social resistance

The Cannes connection

Legal and moral resistance

Rise to popularity

In India

Acceptance

Continued controversies

Links:

Posted by FotoManiacNYC on 2017-01-11 07:28:27

The post KAOHS 2016-07-156368 appeared first on Good Info.

0 notes

larsbjorge-blog · 5 years ago

Text

KAOHS 2016-07-156354

Photo by: Roman Kajzer @FotoManiacNYC FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / FLICKR / TWITTER

KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

Interval

Breakthrough

Necklines and midriff

Postwar

The modern bikini

Social resistance

The Cannes connection

Legal and moral resistance

Rise to popularity

In India

Acceptance

Continued controversies

Links:

Posted by FotoManiacNYC on 2017-01-11 07:28:32

The post KAOHS 2016-07-156354 appeared first on Good Info.

0 notes