DH and I, before getting hitched, agreed that any name change I may make need not be legal- the expense and general bother just wasn’t worth it to us.  Alas, the many surprises that marriage brings included a complete about-face on the legal name change issue.
Never mind that it’s expensive.  Never mind the insanity of trying to get two new state IDs plus a new federal ID, and trying to figure out how to keep my school and work records straight, not to mention creating a couple aliases that look simply lovely on background checks.  DH is screaming for the name change to happen now.
This does, however, create an interesting opportunity for me.  I don’t have a middle name, and the change, unlike that available on the marriage license, need not be of my surname alone.  I can add on one or more middle names, and I can hyphenate my surname into next week, tacking on familial names and maybe one or two that just sound cool.  I’ve always loved the name Schiaparelli (she was half-Egyptian), and the allure of Asmahan beckons. 
Speaking of Schiaparelli, I’ve decided to take the Fashion Jihad to the next level: creating my own clothing.  I’m teaching myself to knit, crochet, and sew, and while I’m not whipping up anything in Schiaparelli pink now, rest assured that the hues shall be bold, the fabrics shall be soft, and I plan to recycle and recreate a Fashion Revolution.  I’ve whipped up a merino wool scarf in blues and sage green, and while I can’t post the pic here for some tech reason, you’ll take my word for it that it’s warm, soft, and altogether delightful

It brings to mind the fact that in the incipient Muslim community in Medina, indeed throughout history, people knew the people who made their clothes rather intimately.  Even if the fabric was imported, a luxury throughout most of history, the clothes themselves were made by the wearer’s own hands, a family member, or a local seamstress or tailor. It’s hard to obsess over size numbers when none of your clothes bear them- a fact that Fatima Mernissi discovered while working on Scherezade Goes West.

Body image problems indeed persist in the absence of numbered sizes, but if it’s one thing modern news media love, it’s a neat handle, and making your own clothes makes it harder to neatly label you as too fat/skinny/tall/short/curvy/flat/just plain wrong.

It’s easy to make or remake clothing to suit you-especially in the age of Ehow and YouTube, you can teach yourself quickly, and materials and equipment are not expensive for the basics.  Some thrift shops carry fabric and yarn, and with the knitting craze, needles, and yarn are available at drugstores and Target.  You can also get clothes at thrift shops to give new life to.

I’ve never meant it more before.  Be beautiful to yourself.